Harris Parker Bates (1888-1937) was a Presbyterian minister in Texas and a graduate of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Bates was born in Centreville, Mississippi, July 15, 1888, and attended Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee intermittently from 1906-1911 without obtaining a degree. In 1912, he moved to Texas and attended Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary until 1915, graduating with a Bachelor of Divinity. He was ordained in 1915 by Fort Worth Presbytery and became the pastor in Spur and stated supply in Crosbyton and Lorenzo, Texas from 1915-1917. He was then pastor in Ballinger (1917-1920), San Marcos (1920-1927), and at Westminster Presbyterian Church in San Antonio (1927-1937). While in San Marcos, he attended Southwestern State Teacher’s College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Bates also received a Doctorate of Divinity from Daniel Baker College in Brownwood, Texas in 1934. He died on November 10, 1937.
The Harris Parker Bates papers consist of nine sermons and two funeral services that occurred at Westminster Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas (1929-1937).
Materials are available by appointment only. Contact the archivist for details.
Harris Parker Bates papers, 1929-1937, Austin Seminary Archives, Stitt Library, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Materials in accession #2007-009 were originally held at the Montreat office of the Presbyterian Historical Society. They were transferred to the Austin Seminary Archives in 2007. Some items in this collection have handwritten numbers in pencil that were added by staff at the Presbyterian Historical Society.