Biographical/historical information

Reverend Bates (1884-1957) was a distinguished Methodist Protestant clergyman who served as secretary of the N.C. Annual Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church, secretary of the national conference of the church, and secretary of the executive committee of the church. During his pastorate, he served twenty-two different churches throughout North Carolina.

Scope and arrangement

Correspondence is concerned entirely with Methodist-related activities and includes letters from such state and national denominational leaders as Robert Macon Andrews, Neil Graham Bethea, John Calvin Broomfield, Thomas Hamilton Lewis, Jarrett M. Sheridan, A. G. Dixon, Charles H. Beck, and Lyman E. Davis. The correspondence deals mostly with denominational concerns including the Children's Home (November, 1920), the Pastor's Summer Conference, and a dispute over the removal of the Chestnut Street Methodist Protestant Church in Asheville, N.C., to an area near a "sister denomination" (January, 1926).

Also included is a copy of the centennial edition of the Methodist Protestant (1928), which elaborates on the history of the denomination; newspaper clippings; and other miscellaneous items.

Administrative information

Custodial History

October 25, 1984, 68 items; Correspondence (1918-1928), programs, clippings, and miscellaneous materials of Methodist Protestant minister. Gift of Mrs. Mary M. Bates Brown, Roanoke, Virginia.

June 21, 1989, (unprocessed addition 1), ca. 50 items; Papers (1936-1988), including correspondence, reports, clippings, programs, photographs, and a 1939 conference roster. Donor: Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives.

March 2, 2009, (unprocessed addition 2), 102 items, 0.25 cubic feet; Papers (1904-2009) of an Asheboro, and Western North Carolina Methodist Protestant minister and church official and including correspondence with church members, his daughter, Mary Margaret Bates (Mrs. S. W.) Brown and his son-in-law, S. W. Brown, of Roanoke Rapids, NC; also his daughter's correspondence with Ralph Hardee Rives, of Enfield and Greenville, NC, including receipts, newspaper clippings and ephemera on the career of Rev. Bates and aspects of the Methodist Protestant Church; and oversized newspaper clippings. See preliminary inventory attached. Donor: Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives.

February 23, 2023, (unprocessed addition 3), 0.125 cubic feet; This portion of the collection holds primarily sermons (1935, 1946-1947) written and delivered by Reverend Cuthbert Warner Bates, and sermons (1975, undated) by Dr. James Roy Smith. It also includes Volume VIII Number 3 (1963) of "Christianity Today," a 1978 report of the NC Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church, and clippings related to religion. Gift of Samuel Weldon Brown, III.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Mary M. Bates Brown

Gift of Dr. Ralph Hardee Rives

Gift of Samuel Weldon Brown, III

Processing information

Processed by M. Quintanilla, June 1988

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Key terms

Personal Names

Bates, Cuthbert W. (Cuthbert Warner), 1884-
Dixon, Arminius Gray--Correspondence

Corporate Names

Chestnut Street Methodist Church (Asheville, N.C.)
Methodist Protestant Church (U.S. : 1830-1939)
Methodist Protestant Church (U.S. : 1830-1939). North Carolina Conference

Topical

Methodists--North Carolina

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