John James Tigert

Background

John was born on November 25, 1856 in Louisville, Ky. He was the son of John and Mary (Van Veghten) Tigert. His father was a pump maker.

Education

Carefully reared by his Methodist parents, the boy obtained his early education in the schools of Louisville, and in 1875 matriculated at the newly opened theological school of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. Completing his studies there in two years, he received license to preach in 1877.

In 1884, having obtained his master's degree.

Career

In 1877 he joined the Louisville Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. For four years he served small churches near his native city, continuing, also, his studies in the Baptist Seminary of Louisville.

In 1881 he returned to Vanderbilt as instructor in sub-collegiate courses and candidate for the degree of master of arts. Here he began to show that enormous capacity for work which was to characterize his entire career. His hours during this period were regularly from seven o'clock one morning to one the next. In 1884 he was appointed professor of philosophy in the University. This relation continued six years.

Meanwhile, he had become much interested in history and English, developing a lucid and robust style of writing. In 1885 he published a textbook on logic. Tigert gave up his professorship in 1890 to engage again in the work of the active ministry. Assigned to a pastorate in Kansas City, Mo. , he remained there four years. During this time he continued his studies and wrote much.

In 1892 he was the fraternal delegate of his Church to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His address on that occasion, "A Voice from the South, " and the personal contacts incident to the visit resulted in a series of friendships with the leaders of the sister denomination which continued throughout his life. Elected in 1894 to the position of Book Editor, he devoted twelve years to editing, revising, annotating, writing, and publishing books, mainly theological. At the same time, 1894-1906, he edited the Quarterly Review of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, known also during this period as the Methodist Quarterly Review. For its columns he wrote voluminously and established contacts with numerous scholars and writers throughout the world. His reviews of books were widely read and had much influence. The list of his published volumes grew; among them were The Preacher Himself (1889), Theism; a Survey of the Paths that Lead to God, Chiefly in the Light of the History of Philosophy (1901), and The Christianity of Christ and His Apostles (1905).

In 1894 he published his most important work, A Constitutional History of American Episcopal Methodism, and later compiled and edited, with a historical introduction, The Doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America as Contained in the Disciplines of Said Church from 1788 to 1808 (2 vols. , 1902). In the General Conference of 1906, such was the esteem in which he had come to be held, that on the first ballot he was elected to the episcopacy.

In November of that same year, some six months later, having presided at but a single annual conference, he went to Indian Territory to prepare for another. There while taking one day a hurried wayside luncheon he accidentally swallowed a small bone. It lodged in his throat in such a way that a physician when called was unable to locate and remove it. Blood poisoning followed and within two weeks, at the city of Tulsa, four days short of his fiftieth birthday, he died.

Achievements

• John James Tigert was an outstanding editor and clergyman, whose most important work, A Constitutional History of American Episcopal Methodism.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Christianity of Christ and His Apostles; Historical Studies of Fundamental New Testament Problems

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Theism; A Survey of the Paths That Lead to God, Chiefly in the Light of History of Philosophy

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • A Constitutional History of American Episcopal Methodism

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

Personality

Tigert was a large, vigorous man, of great vitality, rarely ill, never tired. In the pulpit and on the platform he was an impressive figure. His voice was powerful, though a little harsh, his vocabulary was affluent, and his sermon themes invariably human and spiritual.

Connections

On August 28, 1878, he was married to Amelia McTyeire, daughter of Bishop H. N. McTyeire, then president of Vanderbilt University, by whom he had three sons and three daughters.

Father:

John Tigert

Mother:

Mary (Van Veghten) Tigert

Spouse:

Amelia McTyeire

References

• Who's Who in America 1906 - 1907 - Vol. IV: : A Biographical Dictionary Of Notable Living Men And Women In The United States