Kerr Boyce Tupper Collection

Collection

Identifier: MU-PP-0128

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains Kerr Boyce Tupper’s diaries, personal sermon notes/readings, and ministerial records, 1872-1904; class notes at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1872-1875; lectures and addresses in 1882-1895. Also included in the collection are the church membership lists of First Baptist Church, Paducah, Kentucky, 1877-1880; Michigan Avenue Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois, 1880-1881; and First Baptist Church, Marquette, Michigan, 1881. The collection also contains minutes of the Pastors’ Conference of Grand Rapids and Vicinity, 1879-1883. It also contains notes and stories of unknown authors.

Dates

Creation: 1872-1904

Rights Statement

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the World Wide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original.

Biographical / Historical

Kerr Boyce Tupper was born in Washington, Georgia, on February 2, 1854, the son of Rev. Henry Allen and Nancy Boyce Tupper. At the age of 13, he entered Mercer University, and he graduated with the A.B. degree in 1871. From 1872-1875, he attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Greenville, South Carolina. He received the M.A. (1874) and LL.D. (1897) degrees from Mercer and the D.D. degree (1888) from the Pella University of Iowa. Tupper was married to Lucilla Sloan of Greenville, South Carolina. Their children were May Belle (Mrs. Warren Marshall) and Frank Boyce. For over half a century, he served in some of the largest pulpits in the country, including First Baptist Church of Charlottesville, Virginia; Denver, Colorado; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City. At the age of 81, when he was one of its oldest alumni, he returned to Mercer University to teach theology and public speaking in the department of Christianity. He remained in this position until his death on September 23, 1941, in Macon, Georgia.