Excerpt from 1991 The Witan, "A Brief History of Tomlinson College"

This collection consists of business and personal items belonging to members of the Tomlinson family spanning the years 1900 to 2015. The items have been divided into series according to family members, and organized chronologically within each series.

The first series contains photographs, papers, books, and artifacts relating to the patriarch of the family, Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson. These items trace Tomlinson’s early work in the Church of God and the birth of the Church of God of Prophecy. Along with personal papers there are thirteen family and individual portraits of A.J. Tomlinson and his wife, Mary Jane. Also included are two ribbons from General Assemblies, and two bust statues.

The original A.J. Tomlinson journals, among other Tomlinson items, are housed at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Homer Tomlinson presented them to the Library in 1952 and the Library acquired them between 1952 and 1957. A copy of these microfilmed journals is in this collection, M0015.

LOC Listing: Correspondence, diaries (1901-1943), copy of the published diaries (3 volumes; 1949-1955), clippings, and printed materials relating chiefly to Tomlinson's work as bishop of the Church of God of Prophecy, known as the Church of God (Tomlinson) prior to 1907.

All material related to the legal proceedings of the 1920s and consequences thereof are housed in M0021, Church of God vs. A.J. Tomlinson, which includes correspondence from Tomlinson and other key players in the dispute, as well as original legal records and printed materials.

Contained within the second series are items relating to the younger son of A.J. Tomlinson, Milton Ambrose Tomlinson, and his wife Ina Mae Turner Tomlinson. The series spans M.A. Tomlinson’s forty-five year tenure as general overseer of the Church of God of Prophecy. Included in the series are forty business planners spanning 1957 to 1993 as well as other personal papers. In 1990, the world missions department of the Church of God of Prophecy issued a commemorative coin in honor of M.A. Tomlinson, which is included in the collection. In addition to these items is an early edition of Like A Mighty Army bearing an inscription to M.A. Tomlinson by the author, Charles W. Conn. The series also holds twenty-two photographs, five books, two video tributes to M.A. Tomlinson, and the Church of Prophecy flag which draped M.A. Tomlinson’s casket during his funeral. A subseries contains items relating to M.A. Tomlinson’s eldest daughter, Wanda Tomlinson Edwards, and her husband Hugh Edwards. Notably, this subseries contains correspondence, manuscripts, and notes pertaining to the 1984 republication of The Last Great Conflict, to which M.A. Tomlinson provided the introduction. Other Edwards materials include vinyl records of Wanda Edwards songs, sheet music, wedding and funeral programs, Hallelujah House script, and other photos and correspondence.

The third series holds items relating to the elder son of A.J. Tomlinson, Homer Tomlinson. This series includes five campaign buttons from Homer’s candidacy for President of the United States. There is also a photograph of Homer in front of the Jamaica Church of God in New York, as well as research notes gathered by Bill Snell in 2001, with information regarding Homer Tomlinson and The Church of God in Queens, New York, and a The Church of God flag that Homer Tomlinson flew in New York’s Central Park during an Easter service. Homer Tomlinson gathered and compiled many Tomlinson family materials, such as family portraits and other photos, and newspaper articles about his father.

The fourth series is in reference to the daughter of A.J. Tomlinson, Iris Tomlinson, and her husband, Avery Denver Evans. Within these series are four pamphlets written by the Reverend A. D. Evans, as well as a family photograph of A.D. and Iris Evans, with their three-year-old son, Denver.

Other papers belonging to the Tomlinson family are contained within a fifth series. These papers include four pamphlets, newspaper clippings, and a postcard from Lillie Duggar addressed to her mother, Matilda Duggar.

The sixth series contains general biographical information about the Tomlinson family as a whole. This includes family trees, a coat of arms, and a scrapbook. In one instance, an A.J. Tomlinson family biography is referenced in this series but actually housed in Series 1, since it only pertains to A.J. Tomlinson’s immediate family.

Some items are cross-referenced between series in the collection, because they are pertinent to more than one family member in the collection, but can only be housed in one series. These items are cross-referenced for the benefit of the researcher.

Artifacts in artifact trays are numbered as follows: tray number . row number . column number

For example: 1.4.2 refers to the first tray, fourth row (Top-Bottom), second column over (Left-Right)