Linus Parker (23 April 1829 – 5 March 1885) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

, elected in 1882.

Birth and family

Linus was born on a farm near

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Oneida County,

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. He married Sarah E.F. Sale in 1853. She died of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

September 13, 1855. Her tombstone still stands in Lewisberg, Louisiana. After five years Linus married a second time, to Ellen K. Burruss. They had three sons, one of whom later became

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of the

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also one ...

, Franklin N. Parker.

Young manhood and military service

Linus worked for an older brother in a store in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

in 1845. During this time, he studied Latin and Greek before daylight in the morning and after his return from business in the evening. In 1846 he served as a soldier in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. After that he began the study of law, but was convinced to enter the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

ministry.

Ordained ministry

During March 1849 Linus served as a Supply Pastor for the church on Algiers Street. He was Licensed to Preach in May of that year. He joined the

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

, becoming an

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

elder in 1853. Rev. Parker served the following appointments, all in Louisiana: Lake Providence (1849),

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

(1850–51),

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, New Orleans (1852–54),

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, New Orleans (1855–57), Presiding Elder of the New Orleans District (1858), Felicity Street again (1859–61), Shreveport again (1862–63), the

Caldo Caldo may refer to: Food * Broth, whose Spanish name is ''caldo'' * Caldo de costilla ("rib broth"), served as breakfast in Colombia * Caldo de pollo, Latin American chicken soup * Caldo de queso, also known as Sonoran cheese soup, served in centr ...

Circuit (1864–65), and Felicity Street a third time (1866–69). Rev. Parker then became the editor of the ''Christian Advocate'' (1870–81). He also was elected a delegate to General Conferences in 1866, 1874, 1874 and 1882.

Episcopal ministry

Linus Parker was elected to the episcopacy in 1882. As bishop he gave episcopal supervision to the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

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and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

annual conferences. Bishop Parker died of an apparent cerebral hemorrhage on 5 March 1885 in New Orleans.

Publications

* C. B. Galloway, ''Linus Parker: His Life and writings'' (Nashville, 1886)

References

*Leete, Frederick DeLand, Methodist Bishops. Nashville, The Methodist Publishing House, 1948.
Linus Parker Papers, 1853-1885, MSS 091
Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University. Attribution: *

External links

Linus Parker papers, 1853-1886
at Pitts Theology Library,

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Linus 1829 births 1885 deaths Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South American military personnel of the Mexican–American War United States Army soldiers Clergy from New Orleans Editors of Christian publications American Methodist bishops 19th-century American clergy