Lewis McNeely Letter

Collection

Identifier: M68

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

One autograph letter dated March 10, 1849, containing Lewis McNeely's request to Rev. Eli F. Cooley in Trenton, New Jersey, for release from the New Brunswick (New Jersey) Presbytery in order to preach to the congregations of Otockaloffa (i.e., Water Valley) and Centre. McNeely requested in the letter postmarked at Water Valley, Mississippi, on March 13, 1849, that a certificate of dismission be issued in time for the next meeting of the Chickasaw Presbytery in the third week of April 1849. A notation below the original letter indicates that dismission was given McNeely in a letter sent March 27, 1849.

Dates

March 10, 1849

Creator

McNeely, Lewis (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Noncirculating; available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Biographical / Historical

O' Tuckalofa (Otockaloffa) church in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, was organized in 1843 by the Rev. Angus Johnson and since 1850, the congregation has been known as the First Presbyterian Church of Water Valley, Mississippi. Centre Church, also in Yaloabusha County, was formed by 1848, but no specific pastor's name was associated with the organization of this congregation. Both Centre and O' Tuckalofa (Water Valley) were occasionally served by "supply" pastors that had been newly licensed and/or released from other presbyteries.

O' Tuckalofa and Centre churches were associated with the Presbyterian Church in the United States, which is structured by regional units called presbyteries. Both churches belonged to the presbytery known successively as Tombigbee (ca. 1829-1830), Tombeckbee (1830's), Chickasaw (1843), and North Mississippi (1856).

No biographical information has been located on Lewis McNeely, the author of this letter. Eli Field Cooley, to whom the letter is addressed, may be Eli Field Cooley whose works are listed in the Pre-1956 Imprints.