Taylor University - Ilium / Gem Yearbook (Upland, IN)

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BISHOP lUlLLlAM TAIJLOR Page Eighteen

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Q ' he Historic of Our College In Taylor University ' s seal aj)]:)ears the date, 1846. The catalogue which shall chronicle the present year and announce the next will have on its title page, Seventv-Ninth Annual Announcement. The history of the college dates its beginning with the Fort Wayne Female College in 1S46. This, uniting with a Collegiate In.stitute of Fort Wayne in 18. 2, assumed the name of Fort AVayne Methodist Episcopal College. A ' hen Bishop Taylor, the a]:)ostle to the world , reached the high tide of his well deserved influence, in the year 1890, the authori- ties at Fort A ' ayne rededicated the school as Taylor University. Shortly after that it was moved from the city of Fort A ' ayne to its ])resent cam])us, and the Administration Building now in use, was erected. The corner stone was laid by Bishop Taylor and Dr. Thaddeus C. Reade, the saintly man who was then President of the institution, whose picture hangs over the college platform along with that of Bishop Taylor, and whose grave is on the campus of the college for which he gave his earthly possessions and his life. While Taylor has always been Methodist in its afiiliation, it has jjeen strong in its interdenominational service and has been a])proved by the interdenomina- tional movements for the promotion of holiness and evangelism as their patron- izing college. The attitude and spirit of the school may be surmised from the fact that about midway in its history it selected such a man as William Taylor for its patron saint. He symbolized several things which were characteristics of the institution. It was a school that deferred to the laity and the plain people. It believed in personal salvation and revivals and lived up to its belief. It stood for a safe and sane presentation of the fullness of the Gospel without frills or side tracks. It stood for a constructive contention for the faith without strife. In other words it defended the Gospel by preaching it. It stood for an evange- listic world movement, for an education that trained its students to feel that anywhere with Jesus will be home, sweet home. The Taylor of William Taylor ' s day and Thaddeus Keade ' s day is the Taylor of today, unmoved by the modernizing tendencies and the unbelief that has crept into the system of modern education. By this we do not mean to sa - that Taj ' lor has shut her doors against progress. She is a student of every new movement, method, or theory of any consequence in the life of the world, and she keeps step with the best that is in modern education. The institution has proved that this can be done without neglecting or calling in question the time honored fundamentals of society and the recognized essentials of the Gospel as set forth in the New Testament. Taylor now has more than three score classes that have graduated from college. They have entered all the worthy pursuits of our own land and have gone to all the continents of the world. Included in the number were men who have filled the highest offices in the nation, a number of nationally known edu- cators, preachers and business men. And so the character mill continues to grind. Page Seventeen

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Bishop lUillidm Tdi lor It was a high day in his Hfe, and an epochal day in the history of this in- stitution, when th e school took William Taylor ' s name. This occurred while the institution was yet in Fort Wayne, but under the presidency of Dr. Thaddeus C. Reade. Under Dr. Reade, with IJishop Taylor ' s co-operation, the school was moved to its present campus. The devout Bishop carried this institution upon his heart to the last hour of his life. It is therefore fitting that we should make some note of his life, a complete volume of which is now being written by the President of Taylor University. The high days in I ' ishop Taylor ' s biography are as follows: l!orn, Alay 2, 1821 ; Received into the family of God and licensed to exhort, 1841 ; licensed to preach, 1842 ; admitted to full connection in the Baltimore Conference, 184 . ; entered California, 1849; entered his great evangelistic campaign in the east and the middle west and Canada, 1837 ; entered his Australian campaign, 1862 ; entered his first African campaign. South Afri ca, 1866; entered mission to India, 1870; entered South America, 1877; elected Bishop of Africa, 1884; passed to his heavenly reward. May 19, 1902. Bishop Taylor was of Scotch Irish stock, originating in the hills of ir- ginia. l!oth he and his father, of Presbyterian training, had a wonderful con- version in the Methodist camp meetings and his ministry took on the revivalistic type from the beginning. Though only twenty-eight years old when he entered California, his seven years of experience there made him a settled man known as Father Taylor. ' lien a peculiar providence brought him back to the old States for five years of evangelism, he had had a training and an adventure that made him one of the most interesting and spectacular characters in the American nation. The historian, Ridpath, then only a college boy at Asbury College, now DePauw University, gives in later life the impression of William Taylor which he received in his boyhood days, and finds in his personality the type wdiich has influenced our better class of evangelism and reform for the last sixty years. An interesting feature of his life which we should not overlook was his connection with the founders of the National Association for the Promotion of Holiness, and the modest, intelligent and manly way in which he promoted the full message and testimony of the Gosjjel in all his writings and ministrations. William Taylor was apostolic in his missionary policies. His idea of self supporting missions was a bit revolutionary and not quite practical in the es- timation of some of his brethren ; but it illustrated the spirit of heroism in his ministry which bore fruit everywdiere. Indeed there was something contagious m the devotion and zeal and insurgent faith of William Taylor which abides in the spiritual centers that felt his ministry and which we trust will always be found on the campus of Taylor University. Page Nineteen