Collection (1899-1957 [Bulk: 1899-1954]) of diaries by Rev. J.G. Cassel, a Brethren of Christ missionary in Guatemala, 1899-1957; also an untitled history of missionary work in Guatemala by William Haymaker, written in 1947, describing his missionary career, 1887-1947. 8 vols. Photocopy holograph & Carbon typescript.
The seven Cassel diary volumes were written by Rev. J. G. Cassel as a daily record of his missionary activities for the Brethren in Christ Church in Guatemala. He served at various locations in Guatemala during this time and traveled extensively between various locations. Aside from large, unexplained, gaps between, 1903-1906 and 1907-1932 and 1941-1942, Cassel generally maintained his diary consistently during his missionary career. It also records his opinions and comments on personalities, places, and events. It records his location, the weather, his companions, and his daily activities. Cassel was from Grater's Ford in Perkiomen Township, Montgomery County, in Southeastern Pennsylvania near Philadelphia. Today, the town is known as Graterford.
The history of missionary activities in Guatemala was written by William Haymaker who was a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian missionary from Western Pennsylvania and a graduate of Princeton Seminary. The volume covers missionary activities from the 1500s to 1940s. Haymaker served first as a foreign missionary in Zacatecas, Mexico, 1884-1887, before he transferred to Guatemala City. During his service in Guatemala, from 1887-1947, he also worked as a missionary in eight other Guatemalan towns. Miss Ella Williams assisted him from 1917 to 1928, when she returned home to care for her father. Following her marriage to Mr. Haymaker, she returned to Guatemala and resumed her missionary work from 1935 until 1947. Mr. Haymaker's sister-in-law, Belle Martha McClellan, and his sister, Mathilda N. Haymaker, also assisted him, 1887-1947. Haymaker wrote his history of missionary activities in Guatemala toward the end of his missionary career, when he was anticipating retirement.
Despite the fact that Haymaker and Cassel were both Protestant missionaries in Guatemala, and must have been aware of each other's activities, neither mentions the other.
The collection includes seven diaries, 1899-1957, written by Rev. J. G. Cassel, a Brethren in Christ missionary in Guatemala and a history of missionary activities in Guatemala from about 1500 to 1947. The diaries are photocopies of the original holographs. The history is a carbon typescript.
The diaries recount J. G. Cassel's early life, 1884-1898, including accounts of his conversion experience, his membership in the Brethren in Christ Church, his decision to become a missionary, and his training. The bulk of the diaries relate to his missionary work, experiences, and travels in Guatemala and the United States. The diaries are arranged in chronological order. They include information on the places and conferences to which he travelled, descriptions of his sermons, the names of his travelling companions, and Bible verses used in sermons and meetings, 1899-1957. There three major gaps in the diaries: 1903-1906 and 1907-1932 and 1941-1942.
The untitled, unbound, carbon typescript history of the Presbyterian, Quaker, and other evangelical missions working in Guatemala from 1882 to 1946 was probably written in 1946-1947, by William Haymaker, a Presbyterian missionary, based at the El Rancho, in Progresso, Guatemala, in 1946-1947. It lacks a title page; the authorship has been deduced from passages in the text. The history traces missionary activity in Guatemala from the earliest Spanish settlements to 1946. It concentrates on Protestant missionary activity after 1881. The history provides biographical sketches of many missionaries and describes the origins and developments of many of the missions, school, hospitals and clinics, publications, and other institutions. The history is written in a topical fashion, including chapters entitled: Beginnings, First Permanent Mission, A New Start, Evangelistic Work, Quetzaltenango Station, Educational Work, Medical Work, Press Work, Uplift Work, Outstanding Personalities, Parenthesis (vignettes of missionary life). It focuses on the activities of the Presbyterian mission and its activities.
Despite the fact that Haymaker and Cassel spent most of their lives as missionaries in Guatemala, neither mentions the other.
Gift of Dr. Wilkins B. Winn
Encoded by Apex Data Services, March 2002; Processing, Inventory & Finding Aid by Rachel Mason, 4/20/2011; Finding aid revised, 6/18/2012; Encoded by Jonathan Dembo, 7/2/2012; Encoding revised by Jonathan Dembo, 7/19/2012.
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.