John McConnell collection, Series I, Folder 3: Correspondence, January 1876-September 1878

Rev. John McConnell (June 24, 1825 - February 15, 1913) was a pastor in the Reformed Church in the United States, popularly known as the German Reformed Church. He served in the United States Army during the Mexican-American War and was in Mexico from about 1847 until 1849. As of 1859, he was serving as pastor to a congregation in Corydon, Indiana. A dispute in the church prompted McConnell to resign and to accept an offer from his friend, J. L. Swander, to serve two congregations near Salina, Pennsylvania. Leaving his wife Rachel and son [Yeakle Xenophon, born 1853] in Corydon, McConnell went to Pennsylvania. His assumption of the pastorate was complicated by the fact that a Mr. G. A. Albright was already leading one of the two congregations, though without the approval of the classis, the regional governing body of the German Reformed Church. The classis approved McConnell, not Albright, and McConnell served churches in Pennsylvania at least until the 1880s, though he maintained a farm in Corydon until selling the land in 1885. The John McConnell Collection consists of forty-nine letters written to John McConnell between October 1859 and August 1885 by a variety of correspondents, including his fellow ministers in the German Reformed Church and his brother George McConnell. Of particular interest are discussions of the organization of the German Reformed Church, relations of the German Reformed Church to other Christian denominations, problems in individual churches, and theological questions. George McConnell discussed many personal issues with his brother, including his wife Catharine's mental problems, his son John F.'s alcoholism, and his unhappiness at his son Elias's choice of a wife. For more information, see the complete finding aid to the collection at http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/1335