Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a transcription of a letter sent by Norris Hays to members of Rock Springs Baptist Church located in Rock Springs, Illinois.
Norris Hays was a member of the Rock Springs Baptist Church during the early 1840s. Under the leadership of John Mason Peck, the church set high moral and ethical standards for its members. After Hays traveled on a Sunday in order to move to Fayette County, the church became angered and refused to transfer his membership to a new parish. In this letter, sent on April 12, 1844, Hays begged the church to reconsider its position.
The original letter is in the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.