Jacob C. Clemens Papers
MHEP.Hist.Mss.003

Summary Information

Repository
Mennonite Heritage Center
Creator
Clemens, Jacob C., 1874-1965
Title
Jacob C. Clemens papers
ID
MHEP.Hist.Mss.003
Date [bulk]
Bulk, 1900-1965
Date [inclusive]
1832-1977
Extent
10.0 Linear feet [10 boxes]
Language
English
Abstract
Jacob C. "J.C." Clemens (1874-1965) had an influential role in the life of Franconia Mennonite Conference in the first half of the twentieth century. Ordained in 1906 to serve the Plains congregation near Lansdale, he left a promising banking career to answer that call. He was one of the first ministers in Franconia Conference to preach regularly in English, and his services were much in demand across the conference. In 1909, he was chosen as the first secretary of Franconia Conference, and served 40 years in that role. He was a traveling evangelist and was called often to Lancaster County and beyond. He was instrumental in the beginning of historical preservation work in Franconia Conference and in the larger Mennonite Church. The J. C. Clemens Papers includes personal and family papers and correspondence, sermons, files from church and committee work, and a great deal of correspondence from fellow ministers and lay people. Also included are the papers of J.C.'s wife, Hanna Rittenhouse Clemens, and over 1,000 letters from son James R. Clemens to his parents while in college, Civilian Public Service, and until Hanna's death in 1977. In addition, there are some photographs and books.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Mennonite Heritage Center 2013

565 Yoder Road
Harleysville, PA
215.256.3020
library@mhep.org

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • Franconia Mennonite Conference.
  • Mennonite General Conference.
  • Plains Mennonite Church (Hatfield, Pa.).

Genre(s)

  • Correspondence
  • Family papers
  • Photographs
  • Sermons

Personal Name(s)

  • Clemens, Hanna C. Rittenhouse, 1880-1977
  • Clemens, Jacob C., 1874-1965
  • Clemens, James R., 1913-2008

Subject(s)

  • Bible--Study and teaching
  • Evangelists

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Collection Inventory

Series 1. Personal papers 

Separated Materials note

Marriage certificate and genealogical chart are in oversize folder loose on shelf.

Subseries 1a. General personal papers 
Box Folder

Education and teaching 1910-1915 

 1 1-4
Box Volume

Household account books 1901-1905 

 8 1-2
Box Folder

Farm and home records 1908-1953 

 1 5-13

Collected poetry 

 1 14

Autobiographical 

 1 15

Greeting cards 1939-1964 

 1 16-20

Sunnyside School and Hartzell Academy reunions 1928-1957 

 1 21

Death of J. C. Clemens 1965 

 1 22

Miscellaneous 

 1 23

Subseries 1b. Genealogy 
Box Folder

Allebach 

 1 24

Cassel 

 1 25

Clemens 

 1 26-29

Wambold/Wampole 

 1 30

Assorted: Bertolet, Clemmer, Godshall, Kriebel 

 1 31

Correspondence from Lizzie Fretz re: Hendricks, Hunsicker, Kratz 

 1 32

Correspondence from Edmund Field re: Fretz, Hanes 1948 

 1 33

Subseries 1c. Local history 

Separated Materials note

See oversize items in box 8.
Box Folder

Lectures, writings 

 2 1

Jacob Cassel Day Book 1882-1891 

 2 2

Local church history: Brethren, Mennonite, Frick's, Delp's 

 2 3-7

Subseries 1d. Hanna Rittenhouse Clemens papers 
Box Folder

Biographical 

Separated Materials note

1975 diary is in box 8 [oversize].

 2 8

Diary 1975 [legal-size, right side of box] 

 2 8A

Education 

 2 9-11

Bible Studies 

 2 12

Financial 

 2 13

Honorary membership Goschenhoppen Historians 

Separated Materials note

Commemorative fraktur by Jack Armstrong is in oversize folder loose on shelf.

 2 14

Greeting cards, post cards 

 2 15

Correspondence 

Scope and Contents note

See separate inventory: http://www.mhep.org/files/inventories/HM003hannaclemenscorrespondence.pdf; 1971 scrapbook from niece Sarah Kulp Longacre is in box 8 [oversize]; see also family correspondence in box 6.

 2 16
Box

Correspondence with son James R. Clemens (256 letters) 1965-1977 

Separated Materials note

Earlier correspondence with James (815 letters, 1922-1965) is in box 6 with J. C. Clemens family correspondence.

 2A
Box Folder

Parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Clemmer Rittenhouse (marriage certificate, family Bible record, papers and clippings from their Bible; undated colorful school drawing from Hanna's father) 

 2 17-18

Letter from Joseph Freed to Hanna's grandfather Samuel Rittenhouse (13-year-old Joseph, Samuel's cousin by marriage, was a student at Nazareth Hall) 1832 

 2 19

[folders 20 and 21 removed] 

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Series 2. Church work 

Subseries 2a. Pastor, Plains Mennonite Church 
Box Folder

Record of services 1906-1965 

 2 22-23

General files 1906-1964 

 2 24-29

Programs 1917-1963 

 2 30-31

Sermon notes and outlines 1906-1965 

Separated Materials note

Two preaching charts are in oversize folder loose on shelf.

 2 32-35
Box

Sermon notes and outlines (bound, including confession lists from evangelistic meetings) 

 3A
Box Folder

Marriage licenses (alphabetical by groom's name) 

 2 36

Funeral cards (alphabetical) 

 3 1-1A

Plains cemetery tombstone inscriptions 

 3 2

Scrapbook from Priscilla Delp's girls' Sunday School class circa 1952 

 3 3
Box

Framed commemorative calligraphy from the congregation on J. C. and Hanna's 65th wedding anniversary (made by Fred Bowers), 1964 [oversize] 

 8

Subseries 2b. Secretary, Franconia Mennonite Conference 
Box Folder

Conference agenda, resolutions, etc. 

 3 4-7

Committees, institutions, education 

 3 8-16

Nonconformity Conference 1936 

 3 17

Economic Study Conference 1950 

 3 18

Bible teaching 

 3 19-28

WWI and WWII conscientious objectors' experiences 

 3 29-33

Subseries 2c. Mennonite General Conference committees 
Box Folder

Board of Publication 1915-1950 

 3 34

Historical Committee 1927-1953 

 3 35

Sunday School Committee/Commission for Christian Education 1925-1948 

 3 36

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Series 3. Correspondence 

General note

See conference and committee files (above) for letters related to committee work; see separate inventory for correspondents with only a few letters: http://www.mhep.org/files/inventories/HM003jcclemenscombinedcorrespondence.pdf.

Subseries 3a. Church-related correspondence 
Box Folder

Baer, Isaac and Laura Fuss (30 letters) 1910-1957 

 4 1

Bean, Warren G. (18 letters) 1911-1944 

 4 2

Bechtel, Francis G. (6 letters) 1909-1959 

 4 3

Bechtel, Jesse B. (6 letters) 1915-1944 

 4 4

Bechtel, Joseph and Catharine Diehl (8 letters) 1911-1964 

 4 4A

Beidler, John C. (26 letters) 1915-1955 

 4 5

Bender, Harold S. (13 letters) 1934-1939 

 4 6

Bergey, Nelson H. (8 letters) 1952-1953 

 4 7

Bittinger, Elmer E. (6 letters) 1930 

 4 8

Boll, Joseph A. (5 letters) 1927-1939 

 4 9

Brackbill, Harry G. (8 letters) 1913-1925 

 4 10

Bressler, John F. (11 letters) 1919-1948 

 4 11

Brubaker, Landis H. (6 letters) 1926-1948 

 4 12

Burkhart, Irvin E. (10 letters) 1938-1952 

 4 13

Burkholder, John S. (9 letters) 1921-1929 

 4 14

Burkholder, Oscar (15 letters) 1927-1957 

 4 15

Clemens, Manasses C. (6 letters) 1907-1924 

 4 16

Clemmer, Abraham G. (8 letters) 1907-1926 

 4 17

Clemmer, Markley H. (20 letters) 1938-1953 

 4 18

Coffman, Samuel F. (5 letters) 1935-1947 

 4 19

Delp, Howard K. (5 letters) 1916-1931 

 4 20

Denlinger, Mary S. (6 letters) 1916-1923 

 4 21

Derstine, Clayton F. (13 letters) 1913-1937 

 4 22

Derstine, Herbert A. (5 letters) 1943-1955 

 4 23

Derstine, Isaac L. (7 letters, 6 printed pamphlets) 1930-1938 

 4 24

Detweiler, William G. (23 letters) 1929-1944 

 4 25

Diller, Jesse D. (6 letters) 1925-1939 

 4 26

Ebersole, Seth E. (5 letters) 1928-1934 

 4 27

Erb, Paul H. (11 letters) 1939-1951 

 4 28

Freed, Allen A. (5 letters) 1910-1921 

 4 29

Fretz, Clarence Y. (15 letters) 1940-1950 

 4 30

Frey, Elias L. (7 letters) 1929-1939 

 4 31

Friesen, Peter and Florence Cooprider (5 letters) 1932-1941 

 4 31A

Fuss, John and Anna Kulp (9 letters) 1909-1940 

 4 31B

Gauger, May S. (6 letters) 1944-1948 

 4 32

Gehman, John G. (9 letters) 1919-1938 

 4 33

Gingerich, Simon S. (6 letters) 1933-1945 

 4 34

Gish, Daniel and Barbara Hoffman (5 letters) 1927-1936 

 4 34A

Good, Aaron C. (5 letters) 1937-1938 

 4 35

Graber, Joseph D. (8 letters) 1935-1947 

 4 36

Grassmyer, A. Fay (15 letters) 1931-1935 

 4 37

Graybill, J. Paul (40 letters) 1925-1949 

 4 38

Graybill, J. Silas (7 letters) 1937-1955 

 4 39

Graybill, William W. (10 letters) 1919-1925 

 4 40

Great Northern Railway Co. (6 letters) 1937-1938 

 4 40A

Groff, Aaron L. (7 letters) 1927-1945 

 4 41

Gross, Abram G. (5 letters) 1922-1931 

 4 42

Gross, Mahlon G. (8 letters) 1920-1934 

 4 43

Habecker, Jacob C. (20 letters) 1923-1950 

 4 44

Harris, E. H. (5 letters) 1947-1948 

 4 45

Hege, William W. (19 letters) 1919-1926 

 4 46

Heistand, Martin and Elizabeth Brinser (7 letters) 1930-1934 

 4 47

Herr, Jacob O. (10 letters) 1954-1959 

 4 48

Hershberger, William C. (6 letters) 1935-1940 

 4 49

Hershey, Henry (5 letters) 1925-1933 

 4 50

Hertzler, Henry C. (5 letters) 1915-1920 

 4 51

Hess, John S. (8 letters) 1926-1939 

 4 52

Hess, John W. (6 letters) 1930-1946 

 4 53

Hess, Maris W. (6 letters) 1925-1937 

 4 54

Hildebrand, G. Henry (5 letters) 1905-1909 

 4 55

Histand, Abraham O. (8 letters) 1909-1935 

 4 56

Horsch, John L. (7 letters) 1917-1940 

 4 57

Horst, Amos and Nora Stoner (10 letters) 1926-1941 

 4 58

Horst, John L. (23 letters) 1923-1948 

 4 59

Huber, Elam H. (11 letters) 1914-1928 

 4 60

Hunsicker, Abram M. (6 letters) 1909-1911 

 4 61

Jennings, William and Anna Good (5 letters) 1930-1939 

 4 62

Johnson, Elmer E. S. (12 letters) 1922-1954 

 4 63

Kauffman, Daniel W. (140 letters) 1909-1944 

 4 64

Kauffman, Nelson E. (6 letters) 1938-1950 

 4 65

Kaufman, Ammon and Emma Yoder (6 letters) 1935-1951 

 4 65A

Kolb, Amos B. (8 letters) 1911-1941 

 4 66

Kolb, Elmer G. (10 letters) 1930-1965 

 4 67

Kratz, Isaac O. (7 letters) 1909-1932 

 4 67A

Kratz, Lyman A. (5 letters) 1906-1957 

 4 68

Kreider, Frank N. (5 letters) 1924-1935 

 4 69

Landis, Ira D. (37 letters) 1922-1953 

 4 70

Landis, Noah L. (8 letters) 1925-1929 

 4 71

Lantz, D. Parke and Lillie Forrey (5 letters) 1923-1930 

 4 71A

Lapp, John E. (26 letters) 1933-1961 

 4 72

Leaman, H. Frank (5 letters) 1924-1936 

 4 73

Leatherman, Daniel S. (8 letters) 1915-1950 

 4 74

Leatherman, John D. (9 letters) 1939-1959 

 4 75

Leatherman, Martha D. (6 letters) 1925-1950 

 4 76

Lederach, Marcus K. (10 letters) 1917-1918 

 4 77

Lehman, Chester K. (9 letters) 1922-1950 

 4 78

Lehman, M. Clifford and Lydia Liechty (7 letters) 1931-1945 

 4 79

Litwiller, Nelson J. (7 letters) 1934-1956 

 4 80

Loucks, Aaron S. (5 letters) 1921-1928 

 4 81

Lutz, Henry E. (8 letters) 1924-1932 

 4 82

Mack, Elmer M. (9 letters) 1917-1941 

 4 83

Mack, Harvey and Barbara Hess (20 letters) 1918-1954 

 4 84

Mack, Jesse H. (5 letters) 1907-1924 

 4 84A

Mack, Noah H. (8 letters) 1918-1933 

 4 85

Mack, Philip G. (5 letters) 1917-1920 

 4 86

Mast, Aaron (7 letters) 1924-1940 

 4 87

Mensch, Abraham B. (10 letters) 1907-1925 

 4 88

Metzler, Abram J. (20 letters) 1934-1949 

 4 20

Miller, Noah E. (8 letters) 1925-1927 

 4 90

Mininger, Jacob D. (19 letters) 1921-1938 

 4 91

Mininger, Paul K. (7 letters) 1936-1939 

 4 92

Mosemann, John H., Sr. (22 letters) 1920-1935 

 4 93

Moyer, Elmer B. (5 letters) 1919-1931 

 4 94

Moyer, Jacob M. (23 letters) 1916-1951 

 4 95

Moyer, Moses and Lizzie Mack/Carrie Kulp (9 letters) 1909-1943 

 4 96

Moyer, William M. (24 letters) 1913-1952 

 4 97

Moyer, Wilson R. (6 letters) 1915-1930 

 4 98

Mumaw, John R. (9 letters) 1928-1948 

 4 99

Mumaw, Levi S. (9 letters) 1910-1935 

 4 100

Musselman, Christian and Marcella Landis (5 letters) 1937-1953 

 4 101

Nissley, Joseph M. (7 letters) 1918-1934 

 4 102

Oberholtzer, Samuel L. (5 letters) 1926-1931 

 4 103

Otto, Roy M. (8 letters) 1930-1937 

 4 104

Overholt, Wilson M. (5 letters) 1940-1946 

 4 105

Reinbold, Jacob J. (5 letters) 1930 

 4 106

Ressler, Jacob A. (12 letters) 1924-1933 

 4 107

Risser, John and Susan Eshleman (81 letters) 1920-1946 

 4 108

Risser, Noah W. (6 letters) 1923-1930 

 4 109

[folder 110 removed] 
Box Folder

Sauder, Levi S. (7 letters) 1927-1929 

 4 111

Senger, John B. (5 letters) 1920-1926 

 4 112

Shank, Charles and Anna Wingert (7 letters) 1930-1933 

 4 113

Shank, Harvey E. (15 letters) 1919-1940 

 4 114

Shank, Peter D. (5 letters) 1926-1927 

 4 115

Shelly, Paul R. (5 letters) 1943-1952 

 4 116

Shenk, Daniel B. (4 letters) 1910-1934 

 4 117

Shenk, Oliver H. (14 letters) 1924-1940 

 4 118

Shetler, Samuel G. (29 letters) 1917-1939 

 4 119

Shoemaker, Charles B. (5 letters) 1932-1949 

 4 120

Snyder, Lottie B. (22 letters) 1925-1931 

 5 1

Souder, Frederick H. (9 letters) 1908-1922 

 5 2

Souder, John D. (5 letters) 1913-1936 

 5 3

Springer, Nelson P. (5 letters) 1947-1949 

 5 4

Stauffer, Hazel E. (6 letters) 1924-1933 

 5 4A

Stauffer, John L. (12 letters) 1910-1944 

 5 5

Stauffer, Rudy L. (6 letters) 1920-1933 

 5 6

Steinhauer, Ivins W. (5 letters) 1948-1951 

 5 7

Swanenburg, Marcus (16 letters) 1926-1949 

 5 8

Swartz, I. Frank (9 letters) 1901-1924 

 5 9

Taylor, Edgar H. (13 letters) 1921-1924 

 5 10

Weaver, Benjamin W. (11 letters) 1922-1926 

 5 11

Weaver, John W. (51 letters) 1910-1939 

 5 12

Wenger, Amos D. (9 letters) 1919-1933 

 5 13

Wenger, John C. (89 pieces) 1931-1964 

 5 14

Yake, Clayton F. (6 letters) 1931-1947 

 5 15

Yoder, Abram and Laura Stoudt (9 letters) 1920-1947 

 5 16

Yoder, Sanford C. (10 letters) 1929-1947 

 5 17

Combined church-related correspondence (A-Z) 

 5 18-36

Subseries 3b. Family correspondence 
Box Folder

Clemens, Silvanus C., brother (7 letters) 1906-1936 

 5 37

Allebach, David and Leahanna Clemens, sister (43 letters) 1907-1954 

 5 38

Clemens, John and Ella Shisler, brother (25 letters) 1907-1958 

 5 39

Kulp, Elias and Elizabeth Clemens, sister (35 letters) 1909-1947 

 5 40

Kulp, Jacob C., nephew (5 letters) 1931-1956 

 5 41

Schlosser, Edna Clemens, sister (7 letters) 1906-1952 

 5 42

Clemens, Ernest and Clara Ruth/Lois Gunden, son (21 letters) 1907-1964 

 6 1

Fisher, John and Pauline Clemens, granddaughter (17 letters) 1944-1962 

 6 1A

Landis, Ruth Clemens, daughter (50 letters) 1923-1937 

 6 2

Clemens, Paul R., son (55 letters) 1924-1943 

 6 3

Clemens, Jacob R., son (12 letters) 1922-1965 

 6 4

Clemens, James and Eva Moyer, son (815 letters) 1922-1965 

 6 5-20

Nyce, David and Elizabeth Clemens, daughter (17 letters) 1924-1943 

 6 21

Combined family correspondence (A-Z) 

 6 22

Clemens, J. C. and Hannah--correspondence with each other (192 letters) 1910-1942 

 6 23-27

Chronological inventory of correspondence (made in 1984) 

 7 1

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Series 4. Photographs 

Scope and Contents note

Includes photos related to family, Plains Mennonite Church, J. C. Clemens' schoolteaching, local scenes, and portraits of friends; two oversize photos are in box 8.

 Box
7		 Folder
2-7

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Series 5. Library 

Scope and Contents note

39 volumes--personal Bibles, books on Bible study and teaching, prophecy and millenialism, history and genealogy; also lists of books from J. C. Clemens' library that went to his children (folder 6-19).

 Box
7

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