This genial, faithful minister of the gospel, was born in Youngstown, Ohio, September 17, 1813. He was the youngest of eight children, seven of whom were sons, and was also the father of eight children, seven of whom were sons. From early boyhood he was studious, and devoted much of his time to reading useful books. Was especially fond of religious works.
His religious convictions were early and deep. His parents were members of the Baptist Church, and he was brought up in that belief, but was never satisfied with the doctrines of that church. In his fifteenth year he heard the gospel preached by Walter Scott, by whom he was immersed, and soon after began to speak in public. In 1832 he began to hold protracted meetings. In 1840 he located with the church at Collamer, Ohio, as its pastor, and in 1850, when Western Reserve Eclectic Institute was founded, at Hiram, Ohio, he was unanimously elected its Principal. After seven years successfully devoted to that work, he resigned, and returned to his church work in Collamer.
Early in 1808 he accepted a call from the church at Eureka, Illinois, where he spent three years in earnest, faithful work in the congregation and among the college students. He was a man of refined nature and of fervent devotion, and his influence always and everywhere was excellent. He was much beloved for his work's sake. In 1871 he again returned to Collamer, where he spent the remaining ten years of his beautiful, useful life, ministering to the church. with which he had lived so long, then entered into his rest.
Source:
A History of Eureka College, St. Louis: Christian Publishing
Company, 1894.