The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections The University of Toledo

Finding Aid

William C. and Mildred M. Burns Papers, 1912-1966

MSS-034

Size:  1 linear ft.         

Provenance: This collection came to the Ward M. Canaday Center in 1983. Miss Burns died in 1983, leaving no relatives closer than first cousins. Her boarder Hetty Wang, donated this collection to the Center.

Access: Open

Collection Summary: Collection consists of minutes and reports of the Toledo Presbytery (1927-1931) and the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, Michigan.  Included are reports from individual churches in northwest Ohio as well as financial and organizational reports. Some materials in the collection were generated and collected by William, including correspondence, essays, poems, ephemera, photographs, and clippings, especially those related to his one-hundredth birthday.

Subjects:  Philosophy and Religion  

Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns.  Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code.  The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.

Completed by:  Paul M. Gifford, December 1986.

Reformatted: Arjun Sabharwal, May 2009; last updated: June, 2014.

Introduction

This collection contains correspondence, .essays, poems, ephemera, photographs, and clippings generated by William C. Burns, a Presbyterian and Congregational minister in Michigan and Toledo, and his daughter Mildred M. Burns,• a high school teacher in Toledo. It might be useful for the study of Presbyterianism in Northwest Ohio or the history of Morrison R. Waite High School.

Biographical/Historical Sketch

	William Clark Burns
1854, Feb. 10.	Born in Pittsburgh, Pa.; raised in Orange, Ohio.
1880 -	Th. B., Hillsdale College.
1881 -	B. D., Hillsdale College.
1881-1883	Pastor, Free-Will Baptist Church, Paw Paw, Mich.
1883 -	M. Ph., Hillsdale College.
1885. Sept. 9.	Married Alice M. Collins of Macon, Mich.
1885-1896	Pastor, Congregational Church, Stanton, Mich.
1887 -	Graduate, Auburn Theological Seminary.
1893 -	Traveled on an expedition to the Grand Canyon.
1896-1900	Teacher and librarian, Michigan Military Academy, Orchard Lake, Mich.
1900-1906	Pastor, Congregational Church, Honoeye, N. Y.
1906-1916	Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Monroe, Mich.
1911 -	D. D. (honorary), Hillsdale College.
1916-1924	Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Weston, Ohio.
1924-1933	Executive and promotional secretary, Presbytery of Toledo, Ohio; member of the Synodical Staff, Synod of Ohio.
1955, Aug.  4	Died at Toledo, Ohio.
	Mildred M. Burns
1889, June 27.	Born at Stanton, Mich.
1911 -	B. A., Alma College.
1915 -	M. A., University of Michigan.
1915-1924.	Teacher in schools in New York, Michigan, and Ohio.
1924-1957.	Teacher of English, Latin, and German, Morrison R. Waite High School, Toledo, Ohio.
1983, Mar. 3.	Died at Toledo, Ohio.

 

Scope and Content Note

The William C. and Mildred M. Burns Papers consist primarily of material generated by the elder of the two. Since he reached such an advanced age, he received much attention in publications and in the community. As a result, many of the letters and other material have to do with his one-hundredth birthday. Certain other items in the collection have to do with celebrations at churches where he had served as a pastor, especially those at the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, Michigan.

The material likely to have the greatest interest to researchers is the minutes and reports of the Toledo Presbytery (1927-1931). These contain reports from individual churches in Northwest Ohio as well as actions taken by the Presbytery concerning financial, organizational, and other matters. Noteworthy too are the questionnaires concerning the history and present conditions of local churches to which pastors responded in 1927. Besides this material, researchers may find the school publications and commencement programs of Morrison R. Waite High School and the history of the Toledo branch.

Folder List

Box	Folder
1		William C. Burns
		Toledo Presbytery
	1		Minutes and reports, 1927-1931
	2		Historical questionnaires, 1927
		Correspondence
			Outgoing
	3			General, 1912-1939
	4			To Henry M. Ford, 1936-1946
	5		Incoming, 1923-1955
	6		Essays, poems, sermons
	7		Commonplace book
	8		100th birthday, testimonial dinners, and death 100th birthday -guest register and scrapbook
	9		First Presbyterian Church, Monroe, Mich.
	10		Miscellaneous church programs
	11	Alice M. (Collins) Burns -correspondence
		Mildred M. Burns
	12		Correspondence, Incoming, 1937-1966
	13		Essays, poems, short story
	14		Morrison R. Waite High School
	15		School material, miscellaneous
	16		Wilson Bible Class
	17		Alma College alumnae material
	18		Certificates
	19	American Association of University Women. Toledo Branch -History, 1900- 1950
	20		Photographs
	21		Clippings