Roger E. Sappington Research Collection | Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections

By Tanner Simon '20

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Collection Overview

Title: Roger E. Sappington Research Collection

ID: MSS/MSS-0006

Extent: 24.88 Linear Feet

Collection Historical Note

Roger Sappington (1929-1989) was born on March 6, 1929 to Ross and Beulah Sappington in Avon Park, Florida. He attended Manchester College and Bethany Theological Seminary before attaining his Ph.D from Duke University in 1959. In 1949, Sappington married LaVerle Hochstetler, with whom he had four children. In 1951, Sappington was ordained as a minister for the Church of the Brethren, serving a congregation in Lima, Ohio. In 1958, he took a position at Bridgewater College in Virginia as a professor of history, where he would teach for 31 years until his death in 1989. In addition to being a professor, Sappington was also the debate coach at the College. He was a member of the National Historical Committee of the Church of the Brethren, serving as chairman between 1958-1963 and 1970-1973. A dedicated Brethren historian, Sappington authored a number of books, including Brethren Social Policy (1960), Courageous Prophet (1964), The Brethren Along the Snake River (1966), The Brethren in the Carolinas (1971), The Brethren in Virginia (1973), The Brethren in the New Nation (1976), The Brethren in Industrial America (1985) and The Brethren in Tennessee and Alabama (1988). Sappington passed away in 1989 at the age of 60.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Brethren Service Committee, 1938-1952],
[Series 2: Brethren Social Policy, 1959-1961],
[Series 3: Research Material, 1800-1985],
[Series 4: Brethren in Virginia, 1889-1989],
[Series 5: Meeting Minutes and Committees, 1957-1980],
[Series 6: The History of the Bridgewater Virginia Church of the Brethren, 1813-1978],
[Series 7: Sappington's Sermons, 1935-1958],
[Series 8: Brethren Committee Meeting Notes, 1912-1985],
[Series 9: Professorial Papers, 1962-1987],
[Series 10: Assorted Biographical Research and Resources, 1833-1988],
[Series 11: General brethren Research, 1865-1970],
[Series 12: Brethren in Industrial America & The Brethren in the New Nation, 1893-1970],
[Series 13: The Brethren in the Carolinas: the history of the Church of the Brethren in the district of North and South Carolina, 1869-1986],
[Series 14: General Notes on Conscientious Objection and Peace, 1926-1988],
[Series 15: Correspondence, 1955-1988],
[Series 16: Sappington's Graduate Work, 1950-1992],
[Series 17: The Courageous Prophet: chapters from the life of John Kline; The Brethren Along the Snake River; Reuel B. Prichett: Tennessee churchman and antiquarian, 1964-1972],
[Series 18: Sappington's Classes, 1937-1991],
[Series 19: Sappington's Undergraduate Class Papers, 1946-1959],
[Series 20: Index Cards],
[All]

Series 10: Assorted Biographical Research and Resources, 1833-1988

Box 10

Folder 1: My Father and the First Dunker Colony in North Dakota
Folder 2: Annual Meetings
Folder 3: J.D. Haughtelin
Folder 4: Lyman Beecher
Folder 5: Baptists
Folder 6: Botetourt Co. Virginia
Folder 7: Writings of Brethren
Folder 8: A Collection of Writing from Elder Philip Boyle
Folder 9: Brethren in Christ
Folder 10: Biographies
Folder 11: Chapter by R.E. Chaddock
Folder 12: Maryland Histories by Cooper
Folder 13: Brethren Biographies
Folder 14: Civil War Papers
Folder 15: A Collection of Histories
Folder 16: Notes & Papers
Folder 17: Papers on Elder Jacob Faw
Folder 18: Franklin County, VA. Brethren
Folder 19: Germantown Cemetery Records
Folder 20: Far western Brethren
Folder 21: Elder William Gish
Folder 22: Gospel Visitor, Vol. I, 1851
Folder 23: Gospel Visitor, Vol. II, 1852
Folder 24: Gospel Visitor, Vol. III, 1853
Folder 25: Gospel Visitor, Vol. IV, 1854
Folder 26: Gospel Visitor, Vol. V, 1855
Folder 27: Jacob Gruber (Methodist)
Folder 28: Elder J.D. Haughtelin
Folder 29: Peter Hon- Honites
Folder 30: H.R. Holsinger. Christian Family Companion
Folder 31: Hoover Family
Folder 32: Joseph Hostetler
Folder 33: Illinois Brethren Pioneers
Folder 34: Kern Family
Folder 35: Elder John Kline
Folder 36: Kurtz, German Baptists
Folder 37: Biographies of Elders
Folder 38: Long Family
Folder 39: Sarah Major
Folder 40: Brownsville Church, Maryland
Folder 41: Elder John Metzger
Folder 42: Pioneer Brethren
Folder 43: Biographies of Brethren Elders
Folder 44: Elder B.F. Moomaw
Folder 45: Biography of Catherine Ann Myers
Folder 46: Peter Nead
Folder 47: Writing on Emmanuel Newcomer
Folder 48: North Carolina Historical Review
Folder 49: Southern Ohio Brethren History
Folder 50: Eastern Brethren
Folder 51: James Quinter
Folder 52: Elder George Philip Rothenberger
Folder 53: Elder D.P. Slayer
Folder 54: Sears Family
Folder 55: Elder G.W. Studebaker
Folder 56: Elder D.B. Sturgis
Folder 57: Elder Jesse Stutsman
Folder 58: Early Sunday School
Folder 59: William C. Thurman
Folder 60: Report of the Greenmount Congregation, Durnbaugh #192, 1867
Folder 61: John Troyer of Canada
Folder 62: Universalism
Folder 63: Minutes of VA. and TENN. dist, Conference, 1860
Folder 64: A Defense of Christian Baptism, Durnbaugh #157, 1854
Folder 65: Elder John Wise
Folder 66: Elder George Wolfe
Folder 67: Jacob Wright
Folder 68: Elder John Wright
Folder 69: Elder Philip Younce
Folder 70: Elder S.R. Zug
Folder 71: Rights and Ordinances
Folder 72: John Wright, Sr.