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Letter to Rev. Alden Scovel Columbiaville in Columbia County NY from the Board of Mission of the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, appointing him to the commission of missionary for 1832.
Alden Scovel was born in Peru, Massachusetts, in 1801, graduated from Yale College in 1826, and completed his theological training at the prestigious Princeton Theological Seminary in 1829.
Signed twice by Ashbel Green, Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives (1792–1800), President of Princeton University (1812–1822)
Letter is preprinted form along with written text. Includes instructions for the missionary.
COMMISSION
The Board of Missions, acting under the authority, and by order of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America….do appoint you Alden Scovel their missionary to preach the Gospel & to administrate its ordinances in Columbiaville Columbia Co New York
In this service you are to spend twelve months from April 4th 1832 ….Your compensation will be $200 dollars for the time…at Philadelphia , on the 2nd day of April in the year of our Lord on e thousand eight hundred and thirty two
Ashbel Green President Joshua Russell Cor. Secretary
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Dear Brother I have the pleasure of forwarding you a new commission. We have made the same appropriation as we did last year but we hope, & shall expects you will --- some part of the amount, by the contributions of an Auxiliary – we have about 40 Missionaries in your State & we receive very little money from the State, except for the City of New York
Joshua Russell
Red ‘PHIL 3 APR’ circular postmark along with manuscript 18 postal rate
Joshua Russell (fl. 1825–1835) — Corporate Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Missions, headquartered in Philadelphia. Served as the Board’s principal administrative officer during the early 1830s, responsible for missionary appointments, correspondence, and official certifications. His signature appears on missionary documents dated 1832.
Rev. Alden Scovel (1801–1887) was a Presbyterian minister active in Columbia County, New York. In 1832, he became the first pastor of the newly erected Presbyterian church serving Stockport and Columbiaville. His work reflects the missionary‑pastoral expansion of Presbyterianism during the Second Great Awakening.
His role fits the pattern of early 19th‑century Presbyterian missionary‑pastors, who:
His installation as first pastor of a newly organized church in a frontier‑adjacent community is consistent with missionary‑pastoral work.
Ashbel Green (1762–1848) was one of the most influential American Presbyterians of the early 19th century — a minister, educator, editor, and national church leader whose work shaped the Presbyterian Church during the era of the Second Great Awakening.
He lived and worked in Philadelphia for decades and was one of the most powerful voices in the church.
Served as a sergeant in the New Jersey militia during the American Revolution A complex stance on slavery — he condemned it morally but owned enslaved people during his Princeton presidency, a contradiction documented by Princeton’s historical project.
He emancipated his family's slave Betsey Stockton in 1817, taught her and recommended her as a missionary to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, making her the first single female overseas missionary
