where he organized ten Lutheran congregations
and did mission work in general. Mr. Jerdcc
remained in Polk county until i88g wdien he was
called to Immanuel Norwegian Lutheran Church
in Minneai>olis, wdierc he has remained as pastor
ever since, taking a leading part in the affairs
of his denomination of the Northwest. Since
1891 he has been one of the directors for home
missions and for about the same length of time
has been one of the board of visitors for Luther
Seminary. From 1890 to 1898 he was treasurer
of the Minnesota district of the Norwegian
Evangelical Church of .-Xnierica. He has been
president since 1896 nf the Imard of Enclist mis-
sions. Mr. Jerdee w.is a member of the com-
mittee editing a new explanation of Luther's
catechism, published in 1904, and for the trans-
lation of Luther's catechism into English, pub-
lished in 1906. During his pastorate in Minne-
ipolis he has also had charge of Santiago and
South Santiago in .Sherburne county, Gethsemane
Church, Minneapolis. Brooklyn Church in Hen-
nepin county, and Bergen Church in McLeod
county and was prime nio\er in organizing St.
Johannes Evangelical Churcli in .Minneapolis.
He belongs to the Synod of the Norwegian Evan-
gelical Lutheran Church of America. Mr. Jerdee
was married in 1S86 to Miss Turine Husevold of
Cyrus, Minnesota. They have had five children
— three sons, Joseph C, now studying at Luther
College, at Decorah, Iowa, and Theodor Ruben,
who died, and a third son also nained Theodor
Ruben, a student at Minnesota College; and two
daughters, Thina.and Laila Tonetle, the first of
whom died while a child.
KNICK I'.KI'.ACK l-'.K. David I'.uel, was one of
llie pioneers of religious work in Minneapolis
and the Northwest and one of the most con-
spicuously useful anil successfid clergymen which
the Episcopal church sent into the Northwest in
the early days. Bishop Knickerbacker was born at
Schaghticoke. New York, February 24, i8,!,3. His
father, Herman Knickerbacker, inherited a large
fortune from his father Johannes Knickerbacker,
â– md for his lavish hospitality was called tlie "Prince
of Schaghticoke." He was a lawyer of ability,
occupied a seat on the bench of the county and
re])rcsentcd his district in congress. The son
wa> given a liberal e diicction and graduated from
Trinity College, Hartford, in 1853. He then took
a theological course and graduated from the
General Theological Seminary in 1856. The
young deacon was at once appointed by the
Board of Missions in New York as a missionary
assistant in Minnesota .-md witli his yomig bride
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
81
he arrived in Minneapolis in July of the same
year. He was placed in charge of the Ascension
parish — a name shortly afterwards changed to
Gethsemane, under which the strong church of
that name developed. The future bishop's salary
was at first $500. The church had but five coni-
numicants at the beginning; it had no church
building — although the original structure at Fifth
street and Seventh avenue south was completed
during the j^ear. Bishop Knickcrbacker's work
was for a time of missionary character, serv-
ing a number of points in association with Rev.
Mr. Chamberlain. By the following spring, how-
ever, his work in Gethsemane had so strength-
ened as to require his constant services, his out-
side missionary work, for which he afterwards
became so famous, becoming from that time in-
cidental to his work in Gethsemane. By this
time the communicants had increased from five
to fifty-three in one year. On July 12th, 1857,
Bishop Kemper made a visitation of the parish,
and Mr. Knickerbacker was ordained to the
priesthood. Under ilr. Knickcrbacker's rector-
ship Gethsemane church grew very rapidly. At
the end of five years the number of communi-
cants had increased to 102 and the church was
in a very flourishing condition. In i860 Rev.
Mr. Knickerbacker commenced his outside mis-
sionary work, holding services more or less reg-
ularly at Crystal Lake, .\nnka, Hnssnn. Water-
IlEV. L.VRS J. JEKDEE.
ville, Mahnomin, Monticello, Clear Water, Big
Lake, Rockford, Eden Prairie, Fort Snelling and
Bloomington. In 1863 he says, "There is no
limit to churcli extension in this vicinity save
the ability and strength of one clergyman to do
the work." In 1869 he organized the "Brother-
hood of Gethsemane" to assist him in this field
of church work. Harvest Home Festivals were
inaugurated and a Free Church Reading Room
opened and maintained on Washington avenue,
corner of Nicollet, afterward removed to Geth-
semane Parish House. In 1870 Rev. Mr. Knick-
erbacker, having accepted his election as Dean
of "Seabury Divinity School," resigned his rec-
torship but, on the urgent protests of the vestry
and congregation to himself and the Bishop,
was induced to remain. After the chaplain at
Fort Snelling left in 1866, Mr. Knickerbacker
and his helpers maintained services at the Fort
and occasional services at the Indian village of
Mendota. This w-as continued for more than
ten years. On the first Sunday of the month
a goodly number of Sioux Indians from Men-
dota generally appeared at Gethsemane and re-
ceived the Holy Communion. After service they
received a feast of baker's bread furnished by the
rector. This custom continued all through the
remaining rectorship of Mr. Knickerbacker and
for many years after. In 1873 Mr. Knickerbacker
received the degree of D. D. and four years later
was elected missionary bishop of Arizona and
New IMexico. He did not sever his connection
with Gethsemane church, however, until 1883
when he was elected Bishop of Indiana. He had
then served as rector of Gethsemane for twenty-
seven years and had seen the church grow from
five to 274 communicants and with 1,000 souls
in the parish. Meanwhile numerous missions
established through his efforts had developed into
independent churches. In the same year the
corner stone of the new Gethsemane church
building at Fourth avenue south and Ninth street
was laid. Bishop Knickerbacker was consecrated
Bishop of Indiana on October 4, 1883. and died
December 31. 1894, at Indianapolis. His life and
work in Minneapolis endeared him to a very
large number of people, as his influence and
service extended much beyond the boundaries of
his own parish and of denominational lines. He
was a man of great personal magnetism, warm
sympathies and broad views and was loved by
Iicoplc of all classes.
JOYCE, Isaac Wilson, (Bishop Isaac Wilson
Joyce, D. D. LL. D., one of the Bishops of the
Methodist Episcopal Church) was one of the
most conspicuous figures of the denomination to
which he belonged. He was born October II,
1836, in Colerain township, Hamilton county,
Ohio; the son of James W. and Mary Ann Joyce,
and the grandson of William and Hannah Joyce,
of Dublin, Ireland. To this inheritance of Irish
blood was doubtless due something of his unusual
charm in public address, and his genial spirit
82
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
which iii.'uK' him cvorywlu'rc a favorite. As a
youth many obstacles were in the way of his in-
tellectual training; his poverty, the opposition of
his family, the ridicule of his associates; but he
loved hooks, he was an enthusiastic student and
pcrsislentlj- availed himself of every opportunity
to secure coveted knowledge. He taught school
to pay his way at Hartsville, Indiana, tlie dc-
ni>minational school of the United Brethren
Church. He alternately taught school and went
to college for several years; finally winning his
A. M. degree at Asbury (now De Pauw) Uni-
versity. Later Dickinson College gave him his
Doctorate while the University of the Pacific
honored itself and him by the LL. D. He was
licensed to preach by the United Brethren
Church, but in 1857 united with the Methodist
Hpiscopal Church, and in 1859 was admitted into
the Northwest Indiana Conference. As a very
young preacher he became pastor of some of the
leading churches in this conference, and during
the ten j'cars following promotions and honors
came rapidly. At thirty-three he was presiding
Elder of the East Lafayette district, then pastor
of Trinity Church, La Fayette. His health be-
came somewhat impaired, and he was prevailed
upon to fill the pulpit of Bethany Independent
Church, Baltimore, for one year. In that cli-
mate he rapidly regained his healtli, but, though
that church earnestly solicited him to become its
settled pastor, he returned to Indiana, and in 1877
was appointed to old Robert's Chapel, Green-
castle. Here he was enabled to erect a commodi-
ous church which today is a monument to his
untiring zeal and energy. In 1880, at the close of
his term in Greencastle, he was elected to Gen-
eral Conference, meeting in Cincinnati, out of
which grew his transfer to the Cincinnati Con-
ference, and his first apijointment to St. Paul's
church in that city. After serving this important
church for a full term, he was sent to Trinity
Church, which he .ilso served for a full term, and
was then reappointed to St. Paul's. In 1886 he
was the official representative to the General
Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada,
held in Toronto. In 1888 he was elected to the
I',])iscopacy by one of the largest votes, up to
that time, ever given to an incumbent of that
office. For two quadrenniums, from 1888 to 1896,
liis Episcopal residence was Chattanooga, Tennes-
see, where he greatly impressed the church by his
power as a preacher and his skill as a leader.
During this time he was Chancellor of Grant
University for five years, and for four years
president of the Epworth League, and also held
the conferences in Europe and Mexico. The
(jeneral Conference of 1896 transferred him to
Minneapolis, which was his I'"piscopal home until
the time of his death. The first two years of
this time he was under appointment to visit and
supervise the churches in the Orient. He visited
and carefully examined the work of the denom-
inat'on in Japan, Korea and China, penetrating
into many sections of the country never before
visited by a bishop. His administration in China
resulted in a spiritual quickening unsurpassed
anywhere in the world in modern times. The
church in that far away ijuarter of the globe has
felt the impress of this visit to the present day,
and it is the judgment of many on the field that
the gigantic strides made in China in recent years,
arc largely due to his administration and influ-
ence. Returning he visited Malaysia, making a
zigzag journey across India, meeting the Central
Conference at Lucknow, preaching everywhere
a stop was made. In 1903-4 he was in charge of
the missions in South America, giving them
unusually painstaking attention and administra-
tion.
During his residence in Minneapolis his broad
catholicity was peculiarly manifest. He devoted
himself without reserve to the interests of his
own denomination, yet, at the same time exhibit-
ed a spirit of deep sympathy with all forms of
Christian work. He was particularly solicitous
for the weaker churches, and it is a matter of
official record that he visited and ministered unto
something like one hundred of the smaller com-
munities throughout the northwest where no
Bishop before him had jienetrated. In these gen-
uinely missionary visits, he frequently paid his
own expenses, and never received compensation
for services rendered. On Sunday morning, July
2nd, 1905, while preaching at Red Rock Camp
Meeting, he suffered a partial paralytic stroke.
He evidently felt a premonition of the approach-
ing end for he abruptly changed the thread of
his discourse, as he grasped a piller for support,
he said, "I have preached this gospel around the
world and it has always met the needs of men."
The Bishop was married in 1861 to Caroline
Walker Bosserman of La Porte, Indiana, who
died in 190". Their only son. Colonel l'"rank M.
Joyce, is a resident of Minneapolis.
MERRILL, Rev. George Robert, was born
and educated in tlie East, though a great part of
his work has been in the West. The family from
which Mr. Merrill is descended has been estab-
lished in America from the time of its early
colonization, — his ancestors emigrating to this
country with the Puritans and settling at New-
bury, Massachusetts. His parents were Robert
Merrill, a ship joiner and builder and .Ann (Bab-
son) Merrill, who lived at the time of their son's
birth at Newburyport, Massachusetts. The son
was born on December 26, 1845. He was brought
up at Newburyport and there began his educa-
tion, attending the public schools and graduating
in 1861 from Brown high school. In April. 1862,
he entered Amherst College, and owing to his
careful elementary work was able to join the class
which had entered the College in the fall pre-
ceding his matriculation. In addition to his col-
lege work Mr. Merrill taught school at East
Corinth, Maine, .it Bcemerville, New Jersey and
&2^-*>^^c 4/
i/y-
84
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ui:\ (JioiJitci': K. .MEitiiii,!.. 1). i>.
ill tlu- liigli schnol al Amherst. lie gradiiatcil
in 1865 with the degree of B. A. The additional
lionorary degree of M. A. ad eundcm was later
awarded him by Amlierst. ludlowing his gradua-
tion in 1865 lie was offered a position as in-
struetor in tlic Academy at I'.liie Hill, Maine, and
taught in that school for two semesters. He
then began his theological studies, entering I'.an-
gor Seminary at Bangor, Maine. The course in
that college was supplemented by further studv'
:ilong theological lines at the Seminary at
Rochester, New York, and niuU-r President K.
G. Robinson, D. IX Unring the time devoted to
acrjuiring bis education, Mr. Merrill lilled, in tho
interval of his study, various positions with busi-
ness houses, as a grocer's clerk, a supply-teachei'
in the grade scliool at Newburyport and an as-
sistant mail carrier. l''or some time he was lo-
cated at h'ortress Monroe and llaiii|ilon, \'ir
ginia, where he carried on the umk I'l tlic
American Missionary Associaliun .Luiong the
â– â– "reednien after the close of llu- Civil War. He
completed his theological studies and u.is ordained
at Henrietta, New ^'ork, for the Congregational
ministry on January a, 1867, after short pastorates
in New York, Michigan and Maine, he received a
call from the h'irst Congregational Church of
Painesville, Ohio, wdieie he remained for eight
years. In 1886 he resigned and moved to .Min-
neapolis to become the pastor of the b'irst Con-
gregational Church, of which he continued in
charge for more than twelve years, resigning in
1898 to accept a call from the Levitt Street
Church of Chicago. Since 1900 he has been the
Superintendent of Home Missions, for the Con-
.grcgational I^enomination of this city and has
devoted his whole time .and energy to the ad-
vancement of this work. In .iddition to his work
as a clergyman Mr. Merrill has .always been in-
terested in educational wuk, and has served as
a trustee of various schools and colleges at dif-
ferent times, among them Hallowell Classical
School in Maine; Lake iM-ie College, Ohio; Chi-
cago Theolo.gical Seminary and Carleton College
at Nortbfield; and in iSg,? received from Ripon
College, Wisconsin, the degree of D. D. His
work has also included his connection for several
years with the International Sunday School ex-
ecutive committee as a member and the secre-
tary. In political faith Air. Merrill is a republi-
can. He was married on Alay i, 1867, to Eunice
Thurston Plumer of Newburyport, Massachu-
setts, after whose death he was again married on
June 19, 1885, to Miss Mary Morse House of
P;iynesville, Ohio. By his first wife he had three
children: John Ernest Merrill, president of the
Central Turkey College at .Aintab, Turkey, Asia;
George Pliimer Merrill, pastor of Prospect Street
Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Mary
Merrill, now the wife of Dr. W. L. Burnap of
Pelican Rapids, Minnesota.' From his later mar-
ria,ge there are four children, Eunice House Mer-
rill, now the wife of Rev. Harold B. Hunting of
Rochester, Wisconsin, Robert Charles, Laura
.Mice and M:n-jorie .\nnie Merrill.
MORRILL, Rev. Gulian Lansing, pastor of the
People's Church of Minneapolis, was born on
December i, T857, at Newark, New Jersey, the
son of Rev. D. T. Morrill and Alida L. i\Iorrill.
The father was a Baptist clergyman for forty-
four years, a native of Vermont and a cousin of
Senator Lot Morrill; the mother was of the Lan-
sing family, of Plolland Dutch descent. A clergy-
man's family is very likely to be brought up in
many towns but it happened that a considerable
part of Air. Alorrill's youth was spent in .St.
Louis, where he studied in the public schools and
graduated from the hi.gh school, and where he
first developed Ihe marked talent for music,
which, but for parental training and his own later
inclin.-ilion. would have made of him a profes-
-ioii.-il ninsici.oi rather than a minister. While
Ntill almosi a boy he studied the organ with the
lest masters available, receiving the highest com-
mendation from Prof. E. M. Bowman. In later
years he has by no nie.ins ab.andoned the organ
and has many times combined the offices of
I>reacher and Drganist. He li.is played on some
of the most noted organs in Ibis country and
dining his wanderings abroad has been privileged
III perforin upon famous instruments in old Eu-
ropean cities. Mr. Alorrill began his study of
theology at Shiirtleff College and afterwards
graduated from the Baptist Theological Seminary
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
85
at Chicago, He took post-graduate work in He-
brew and philosophy under Dr. Wm. R. Harper
and Dr. G. W. Northrup. Coming to Minneap-
olis he became pastor of the Calvary Baptist
Church and remained during ten years, during
which time the new church edifice was erected.
Later he was pastor of the Chicago Avenue Bap-
tist Church for three years. ?Ie has filled pastorates
at Anamosa, Iowa, Denver, and Owensboro, Ken-
tucky. During his early pastorate in Minneapolis.
Mr. Morrill took a practical interest in the aiTairs
of the city and particularly in the amelioration of
the condition of the masses — the unchurched and
unchurchable. He had an active part in the work
which ended in the removal of the Washington
avenue dives and made possible the establishment
of the Union City mission. He has always stood
for temperance reform and the restriction of the
liquor traffic. In i-go,? Mr. ^Morrill established
the People's church as "a place for all creeds,
classes and conditions of non-church-going peo-
ple." Services have been held in the Masonic
Temple, Uni(|ue theater and Auditorium .ind the'
pastor has brought to his aid the orchestra, organ,
soloist and chorus as well as art in the form of
lantern pictures illustrating the subjects of his
discourses. His methods have been original,
unique and sometimes sensational, (not what
would Ih' rrquired in the ordinary church vvnik)
but they lia\e been concededly effective in his
REV. C.Vlil. J. I'ETIII, i>. i>.
field. Mr. Morrill has made his work a clearing
house for the churches of the city, sending those
persons wishing permanent mcmliershi]) to one
or another of the denominational churches. In
1881, on December 14, Mr. Morrill was married
to Miss Ada B. Wilkinson al Chicago. They have
two sons, David W. .Morrill and Lowell Lansin.g
Morrill. It has been Mr. Morrill's constant habit
to write and speak outside his clericil labors,
lie has lectured extensively on many subjects and
li.'is written several books on subjects growing
directly out of his experiences in pastoral work,
111 music and in travel abroad. An extensive tour
in Africa, Palestine, Asia and Europe a few years
.igo pr. i\idcd material for "Tracks of a Tender-
ize )t," a luunormis and graphic account of per-
^im.'il eNpcriciu-es and (iliservatinns.
I'l'-TKl, Carl Jiihan. one of llu: most distin-
guished clergymen of the Lutheran Church in
this country, was born at Rockford, Illinois, June
16, 1856. His father was a tailor of that town
and the son received his early education at the
Rockford public schools, later attending the .\u-
gustana College at Paxlon, Illinois, with the
class of 1S77. In the latter year he graduated
with the degree of A. B., being a member of the
first class sent out from that institution, and in
1884 received the degree of A. M. from the same
college. During his college work he made es-
86
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
pecial study of the modern and classical lan-
guages and history, devoting particular attention
to classical English and at tlie completion of his
course was particularly proficient in these branch-
es. One year after leaving Augustana he moved
to Minneapolis. At that time it was his inten-
tion to continue his English studies for the pur-
pose of becoming, at the request of the board of
directors, an instructor in that subject at Augus-
tana College. He entered the University of ^lin-
nesota and for a year put his energies to the
study of English and .-^nglo-Saxon; following
which he returned to the East, locating at Phila-
delphia, from which place he had received a call
to take charge of a Swedish Lutheran congrega-
tion. This position he held for several years.
In the University of Pennsylvania he again re-
sumed his studies in English and history shortly
after his location in Philadelphia, at the same
time attending Dr. Krauth's lectures on philoso-
phy. He was ordained to the Swedish Lutheran
ministry in 1880. He returned to the West four
years later and became one of the faculty .of Gus-
tavus Adolphus College, at St. Peter, Minnesota,
as an instructor of history. In 1888 Dr. Petri
was called to iSlinneapoIis to assume the re-
sponsibilities of the largest congregation of his
denomination in the city — the Augustana Swedish
Lutheran Church. This was the beginning of a
long and successful pastorate. During his resi-
dence in Minneapolis, Dr. Petri has been active
in educational and public work as well as in
his religious connections. He has served as a
member of the board of directors of Gustavus
Adolphus College and was a member of the first
board of directors of the Minnesota College.
Minneapolis, and still serves on that body, being
the vice president. For a number of years he
has been the vice president of the Jilinncsota
Conference of the Swedish .\ugustana Synod
and is now secretary of the Board of Missions
of the Conference. In 1881 he was one of the
founders of the "Augustana Observer," a l.ntli-
eran religious p?per — the first of its kind to l)e
published in the English language by tlic Swedes
in this country. At a later period he was also
associated with the editorial department of an
English Sunday school paper issued under the
direction of the churcli and is now a incnil.er
of the Hoard of Publication rjf tin- Synod .-it
Rock Island. He was tlie originator and a prin-
cipal promoter of the celebration in 1R88, at Min-
neapolis, of the two hundred and fiftietli anni-
versary of the landing of the Swedes in America
during the seventeenth century. Likewise he
was active in arranging the celebration, in 1893,
of the tlirec Inmdredtli anniversary of the Upsala
Decree, being also the first scholar to translate
this decree into tlic F.nglisb l;inguage. In tlic
same year he was a member of the advisory
council of the religious congress at the World's
Fair. He is a member of the Institute of Civics;
and was one of llic 111. ist inlhunli.il organizers
of the Swedish hospital in 1898 and the first pres-
ident of the board and of the hospital associa-
tion. Dr. Petri was married in 1880 to Miss
Christine Anderson, of Rattvik, Delarne, Sweden,
the ceremony being performed in the historical
Old Swedes' Church, or Gloria Dei Church, in
Philadelphia. They have si.x children. The The-
ological Seminary of Rock Island, Illinois, con-
ferred upon him, in 1899, the degree of D. D.
Dr. Petri has always been conspicuous in the
counsels of his church. He is fluent and con-
vincing in debate and courteous and engaging
in manner and his influence is commanding;
.111(1 he is frequently called upon to lecture
Ihrougliout the Northwest in connection with
various lecture courses.
POPE, Rev. Edward Ritchie, was born in New
Bedford, Massachusetts, June 25, 1855. Here his
pareius, VV. G. E. and Anna F. Pope, were born
and here his ancestors lived from the earliest
settlement of the place. His paternal ancestor
111 this country came to Plymouth in 1630, and
on his mother's side the first ancestor in this
country was John Coggeshall, the first governor