Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

MS 23
Jesse Samuel Dancey (1876-1936)
Papers, 1870-1985, n.d.


Descriptive summary

creator:

Dancey, Jesse Samuel (1876-1936)
title:

Papers
dates:

1870-1985, n.d.
extent:

5.39 linear feet (9 document boxes, 1 half-document box,1 map case folder)
collection number:

MS 23
repository:

Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access:

Open for research
publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:

Jesse Samuel Dancey Papers, MS 23, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Biographical note

Jesse Dancey was born on a farm in Fairbury, Illinois in 1876. His father was a farmer who had emigrated in 1847 from County Cavan, Ireland, and received the family farm through a land grant from President Pierce. Dancey attended a college preparatory school in Bloomington, Illinois, and studied for the ministry beginning in 1894 at the Lodemia Methodist Church. McDowell Circuit certified him and in 1898 he was ordained as Deacon by Bishop William Nende. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan (1899) and Boston Theological School (1902). He received an M.A. (1910) in sociology from the University of Chicago (his Master's thesis was entitled "The Church and Society: A Working Program"), and a D.D. (1916) from Illinois Wesleyan. During World War I, he served as a Red Cross Chaplin with the Northwestern University Medical Unit in France and England.

Dancey married Lua Marion Akers in 1901 and had three children: Thomas Brooks Dancey, Alice Dancey Paul, and Marcia Dancey Ketcham. From 1889 through 1936, Dancey held pastorates in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.

Dancey died in 1936 in Keokuk, Iowa.

 

Collection description

This collection (1870-1985, n.d.) contains biographical materials, newspaper clippings, letters, diaries and journals, sermons, articles, unpublished manuscripts, his master's thesis, notebooks, credentials, and photographs. Events covered include various ministries, a diary of when he was a student at Boston Theological Seminary (1899-1901), World War I letters and diaries (when he served as a Red Cross Chaplain), and journals of a 1922 European tour. Dancey's writings reveal spiritual sincerity and fearless honesty about social action and development long before they were popular concerns.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

1

1

Early Ministries: second parish (Monticello, Illinois.)

1902-1904

1

2

Sermons (Bloomington and Danville, Illinois.)

1907-1909

1

3

Sermons (Chicago and Auburn Park, Illinois)

1911

1

4

Sermons (Chicago and Auburn Park, Illinois)

1912

1

5

Sermons: prepared earlier and re-written (Chicago and Auburn Park, Illinois)

1913

1

6

Sermons (Chicago and Auburn Park, Illinois)

1914

1

7

Sermons (Chicago and Auburn Park, Illinois)

1915

1

8

Sermons (Englewood)

1916

1

9

Sermons (Englewood, Rockford, and Oakland, Illinois) - See Also World War I letters and diaries in 3/5 and 4/1

1917-1920

2

1

Sermons (Rockford, Illinois)

1920-1926

2

2

News clippings: "What is Wrong" series of sermons (Rockford, Illinois)

1921

2

3

News clippings: "Jesus Visits Rockford" (Rockford, Illinois)

1921

2

4

News clippings: European Travel Series (Rockford, Illinois)

1922

2

5

News clippings: series on the Ten Commandments (Rockford, Illinois)

1923

2

6

Sermons (Canton, Ohio)

1926-1927

2

7

Sermons (St. Louis, Missouri)

1927-1929

2

8

Sermons (Ames, Iowa)

1929-1930

2

9

Sermons (Ames, Iowa)

1931

2

10

Sermons (Ames, Iowa)

1932

3

1

Sermons (Ames, Iowa)

1933

3

2

Sermons (Ames, Iowa)

1934

3

3

Sermons (Ames, Iowa)

1935

3

4

Sermons: "The Last Year" (Keokuk, Iowa)

1935-1936

3

5

WWI Letters: to and from mother (Mrs. Frances Dancey)

1917-1918

3

6

WWI Letters: to wife and family (May-July)

1917

3

7

WWI Letters: to wife and family (August-October)

1917

3

8

WWI Letters: to wife and family (November-December)

1917

3

9

WWI Letters: to wife and family (January-March)

1918

3

10

WWI Letters: to wife and family (April-August)

1918

3a

1

Letters: written for patients (August-September)

1917

3a

2

Letters: written for wounded soldiers (September)

1917

3a

3

Letters: written for wounded soldiers - copies (September-October)

1917

3a

4

Letters: written for wounded soldiers (October-November)

1917

3a

5

Letters: written for wounded soldiers (March-April)

1918

3a

6

Letters: written for wounded soldiers (April-May)

1918

3a

7

Letters: written for wounded soldiers (May-July)

1918

3a

8

Letter: from Joseph L. Walker (minister)

1919

4

1

WWI diaries (3)

1917-1918

4

2

Journals: European Tour

1922

4

3

Articles and Talks: The Beatitudes

n.d.

4

4

Articles and Talks: Catholic Methodism

n.d.

4

5

Articles and Talks: God (How shall we think of God)

n.d.

4

6

Articles and Talks: Jesus

1932 ca.

4

7

Articles and Talks: Methodism

1920s

5

1

Articles and Talks: Various

1932-1935, n.d.

5

2

Articles and Talks: Modern Missions and Four Great Patterns of Society

n.d.

5

3

Articles and Talks: Religion - general

1929, n.d.

5

4

Articles and Talks: special articles, "The Christian Century: A Journal of Religion"

1932-1936, n.d.

5

5

Articles and Talks: The Unity of the Church, Facing the Problem of War

n.d.

5

6

Articles and Talks: W.O.I. radio addresses, "Sermons in Song" (Ames, Iowa)

1931-1935

5

7

Unpublished manuscripts: The Emerging Church and its Gothic Prefiguration

n.d.

5

8

Unpublished manuscripts: The Family of God (Rockford, Illinois)

1920-1926

6

1

Publications: Master's Thesis (University of Chicago)

1910

6

2

Published articles: mostly during WWI

1909-1922

6

3

Published articles and last sermon preached (Zion Herald)

1928-1938

6

4

"Building a Better World"

1929-1933

7

1

Notes: general (Ames, Iowa)

1930

7

2

Epworth League Course in Religion

n.d.

7

3

Sermon Notes

n.d.

7

4

Notes: during illness (Keokuk, Iowa)

1936

7

5

Notes: The Mind of Jesus

n.d.

7

6

Notes: "The Ministry" sermon

n.d.

7

7

Notes: "On the Church"

n.d.

7

8

Notes: sermon (St. Louis, Missouri)

1929

7

9

News clippings: WWI, Dancey's obituary

1918-1936, n.d.

7

10

Biography, correspondence, photographs (4- 5x7 b/w, 3- 4x6 b/w, 6- 3x4 b/w, 1- 5x8 b/w)

1936-1959, n.d.

8

1

Correspondence: The Christian Advocates, Wesley Foundation of Iowa, Boston University

1931-1937

8

2

Various: Ames Ministerial Association minutes, prayer, "Conventions, Conceptions, and Convictions", article (in French), The Christian Advocate

1934-1936, n.d.

8

3

Diary and Records during theological school: includes Methodist ritual

1899-1901

8

 

3 books: Greece-Her Art, History of Painting, Art

1925 ca.

9

1

Certificates and letters: credentials, license to preach, letter from Julia Lathrop, announcement of appointment as pastor (St. Louis, Missouri)

1894-1927

9

2

Correspondence: The Andrews School for Girls and Lua M. Dancey's letters, autobiography - 1-5x5 b/w photograph

1901-1985

9

3

Photographs (churches): 2- 6x4 b/w, 1- 3x4 b/w, 1- 4x4 b/w

1903-1926, n.d.

9

4

Photographs (family members): 2- 6x4 b/w, 1- 5x7 b/w

1915-1921, n.d.

9

5

Photographs (family members): 1- 5x7 b/w, 1- 6x4 b/w

1915-1922

10

1

Photographs (Bonaparte, Iowa): 1- 5x7 b/w, 3- 3x2 b/w, 1- 4x3 b/w

1870 ca.

10

2

Photographs (7): 6- 3x4 b/w, 1- 4x4 b/w

1880-1890, ca.

10

3

Photographs (Bloomington, Illinois-5): 2- 3x4 b/w, 1- 5x4 b/w, 1- 4x4 b/w, 1- 6x7 b/w

1898-1899

10

4

Photographs (15): 12- 3x5 b/w, 3- 4x4 b/w

1899, n.d.

10

5

Photographs (18): 2- 4x1 b/w, 3- 2x1 b/w, 4- 2x3 b/w, 7- 4x4 b/w, 1- 3x5 b/w, 1- 4x5 b/w

1901-1904, n.d.

10

6

Photographs (9): 6- 6x4 b/w, 2- 2x3 b/w, 1- 3x5 color

1906-1907, n.d.

10

7

Photographs (Bloomington and Danville, Illinois-15): 1-2x3 color, 3- 2x3 b/w, 11- 5x4 b/w

1906-1908, n.d.

10

8

Photographs (2): 1- 4x4 b/w, 1- 8x10 b/w

1913

10

9

Photographs (7): 3- 2x3 b/w, 1- 1x1 b/w, 1- 3x5 b/w, 1- 5x7 b/w, 1- 6x9 b/w

1914, n.d.

10

10

Photographs (10): 3- 5x7 b/w, 1- 4x8 b/w. 6- 3x5 b/w

1910 ca.

10

11

Photographs (6): 2- 6x4 b/w, 2- 4x5 b/w, 2- 5x6 b/w

1915-1917

10

12

Photographs (1): 1- 7x8 b/w

1917

Map case

C406 D02

S.T.B. degree (Boston School of Theology), Master's degree (University of Chicago)

1902-1910