The Archbishop William H. Elder Records consist predominantly of records generated during his tenure as the Archbishop of Cincinnati. These are mostly paper records in the form of correspondence with the archbishop. This record group includes correspondence among Elder family members, and notably, records relating to the Civil War and Bishop Elder's imprisonment in 1864 for refusing to require Catholic Churches to publicly recite a prayer for the President of the United States. The bishop had refused and protested that this order violated rights of religious freedom. Bishop Elder took control of administrative duties of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1880 until 1883. Upon the death of Archbishop John B. Purcell in 1883, Elder became the Archbishop of Cincinnati, which he remained until his death in 1904. Records created during his time as coadjutor and as archbishop are separated into two separate record series. Other record series from his tenure as archbishop include legal and marriage case files, as well as outgoing correspondence files. A series of miscellaneous records include parish boundary line delineations and financial matters, the Catholic Knights of Ohio, and Archbishop Elder's funeral. In 1903 Bishop Henry K. Moeller took over administrative duties of the archdiocese and records from 1903-1904 can be found in RG 1.4. Lastly, and alphabetical listing of record series include personal papers such as Elder family correspondence, sermons and notes written by Archbishop Elder, his 50th priestly ordination jubilee, personal journals of the archbishop, and scrapbooks of newspaper clippings regarding archdiocesan news and Archbishop Elder's death.
