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William Moses Welch (1837–1914) was a Methodist minister in Hillsboro, Indiana. He and his wife Mary (?–1931) were farmers. The Welches raised chickens, potatoes, raspberries, and blackberries, and had an orchard. One of their sons, Raymond, lived on the farm with them. Another son, Eldred, lived in Portland, Oregon, where he worked as a clerk for a railroad. His wife's name was Lulu. He was the president of the Men's Brotherhood of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church.
The William Moses Welch Papers consist of the diaries of Welch and the letters of he and his family. Most of the material is fairly personal, some of the most informative reflects on the family's doings in the world of agriculture, religion, and business.
Series I, the William Moses Welch Diaries, contains two diaries from 1858 and 1872. In the earlier diary, Welch describes his daily events, predominately work and religion related, and he expostulates on his personal religious ideas and growth. The latter diary consists of strictly descriptive notes describing the day's events.
Series II, Correspondence, consists of the outgoing and incoming correspondence of members of the Welch family, organized by date, from 1892 to 1919. The letters consist of correspondence between family, friends, and associates, and are addressed from all over the United States. Most of the letters were written and received by Eldred and Lulu Welch. There are many letters written by William from his farm in Indiana and many written from all over Oregon. Eldred's friends Burton and Addie wrote letters from Fresno, Los Angeles, Washington state, and North Dakota. The Mayor of Portland sent Eldred a letter, written May 7th, 1915, regarding his interest in movie censorship. Eldred received a couple of reports from a Chinese missionary, one concerning a furlough voyage from October 5th, 1916, and the other a report from Canton Christian College from March 25th, 1913.