Erastus Otis Haven

Erastus Otis Haven

a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in Boston, Massachussetts, November 1, 1820, being a descendant of Richard Haven, of Puritan stock, who emigrated from the west of England, and settled in the town of Lynn, Massachusetts Bay Colony, about the year 1640. He graduated from the Wesleyan University in 1842, immediately took charge of a private academy in Sudbury, and thence went to Amenia Seminary, filling first the position of teacher of natural science, and afterwards becoming principal of the institution. In 1848 he entered upon the work of the ministry in the New York Conference, and occupied the following positions: Twenty-fourth Street (now Thirtieth Street) Church, New York city, 1848 and 1849; Red Hook Mission, N.Y., 1850 and 1851; Mulberry Street (now St. Paul's) Church, New York city, 1852. In 1853 he was elected professor of Latin in the University of Michigan, and the next year was made professor of English language, literature, and history. In 1856 he was elected editor of Zion's Herald, Boston, and filled the position with eminent acceptability for seven years.

In 1862 and the year following he was a member of the Senate of the State of Massachusetts; from 1858 to 1863 of the state board of education, and of the board of overseers of Harvard University. In the latter year he was elected president of the University of Michigan, filling that position till 1869, when he accepted the office of president, of the North-western University. Here he remained till the General Conference of 1872 elected him corresponding secretary of the Education Society. In 1874 he was called to the chancellorship of the new university at Syracuse. In 1880 he was made a bishop, and was engaged in the duties of that office at the time of his death, which occurred at Salem, Oregon, Aug. 2, 1881. Although a fine preacher and a graceful speaker,' he attained chief prominence among the Methodists of America for his sound scholarship and his steadfast interest in the cause of education. His principal published works are The Young Man Advised (1855): — The Pillars of Truth (1866): — and a Rhetoric (1869). He contributed largely to the periodicals of the Church, and, as editor of one of the Church papers, took no small part in the discussion of many important denominational questions.