Iowa Universalist Convention.

The first Universalist preached in Iowa in 1837, by 1843 the Universalist parishes in Iowa had formed the Iowa Universalist Convention in Iowa City. The church expanded as Iowa grew and had fifty parishes by 1875. By 1900 only nine churches formed the backbone of the Iowa Convention. Herbert L. Stoughton and Effie McCollum Jones were two dominant church leaders in the first half of the twentieth century who appear in the records. The Iowa Convention suffered a financial crisis in the 1930s and was reduced to only four parishes. The church merged with the Unitarians in 1961.

From the description of Iowa Universalist Convention papers, 1879-1972. (Iowa Sate Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 48615689