Rev. David Frederick Bittle Papers

Collection

Identifier: ULS-MS-102

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the activities of Rev. David Frederick Bittle. Included are lectures and outlines, sermons, addresses, correspondence, and financial records. The lectures are presumed to have been given during Rev. Bittle’s time at Roanoke College where he taught Moral and Intellectual Science.

Dates

Majority of material found within 1844 - 1879

Biographical / Historical

Rev. David Frederick Bittle, D.D. was the first president of Roanoke College from 1853-1876 and was also Professor of Moral and Intellectual Science. He completed his undergraduate studies at Gettysburg College in 1835 and received a Doctor of Divinity from Gettysburg Seminary in 1837. That same year he accepted a call from St. John’s Congregation near Staunton, Virginia and was ordained in 1839. He served as pastor in Staunton, VA from 1837-1845 and Middletown, MD, 1845-51. He founded Virginia Institute (now Roanoke College) in 1842 with co-founder Rev. Christopher C. Baughman. He also founded Hagerstown Female Seminary and Home Missions Society in 1852-1853. Rev. Bittle married Louisa C. Krauth on November 13, 1837.

Sources Consulted: Miller, Mark F. Dear Old Roanoke: A Sesquicentennial Portrait, 1842-1992. Macon: Mercer University Press, 1992.

Wentz, Abdel, Ross. Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary Volume Two Alumni Record. Harrisburg: The Evangelical Press, 1964.

Extent

1.3 Linear Feet (3 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The records are arranged in 3 series: 1) Lectures, Outlines, and Sermons, 2) Graduation Addresses, and 3) Correspondence, Financial Records, and Reports. The contents of series 1 are arranged in the order in which they arrived to maintain the collection’s integrity. The contents of series 2 and 3 are arranged in chronological order.

Related Materials

Bittle, D. F. A Plea For Female Education; Comprising Documents and Facts Illustrative of the Importance of the Subject. Hagerstown: M’Kee & Robertson, Publishers, 1852.

¬------. An Address Delivered Before the Ladies of Wythebille Female College in the Pyesbyterian Church at the Annual Commencement on Thursday Morning June 30th, 1859. Wytheville: D.A. st. Clair, 1860.

------. An Appeal to the German Population of Virginia and Adjacent States. Salem: W.N. Wilson, 1854.

------. Our Responsibility: An Address Delivered Before the Alumni of Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Sept. 16, 1857. Gettysburg: Henry C. Neinstedt, 1857.