Moses Franklin Shinn (January 3, 1809 – 1885) was a pioneer

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

minister in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. Aside from founding Omaha's first cemetery, called Prospect Hill, he was also renowned for renouncing his Methodist affiliation in

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

in order to remain a member of the Freemasons. The incident was probably the only of its kind ever to occur in the history of the Masons.(1993
"The Preacher who Refused to Renounce Masonry"
''Scottish Rite Journal'' article reproduced on an MIT website. Retrieved 8/11/07. Late in his life, Shinn was reportedly "one of the wealthiest citizens of Omaha".

Biography

Shinn was born in

Hillsboro, Ohio Hillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Highland County, Ohio, United States approximately 35 mi (56 km) west of Chillicothe, and 50 miles east of Cincinnati. The population was 6,605 at the 2010 census. History Hillsboro was p ...

in 1809. In 1842 he was a Methodist circuit rider around Birmingham, Iowa. His circuit included Birmingham, Colony, Philadelphia (Kilbourne), Keosauqua, Bentonsport, Bonaparte, Utica,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Winchester, and several private homes throughout Van Buren and

counties. Historical records place Shinn in Council Bluffs, Iowa after 1851, when it was noted he was a "fiery Methodist preacher" who some claimed was "as learned in full deck poker as in theology". Around 1851 Shinn was a minister at a settlement in Iowa called Blue Point in Jefferson County. In 1852 he was sent to

Council Bluffs Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is loc ...

. He was the presiding elder of the Council Bluffs District of the Methodist Church, which included work that developed in the new neighboring

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebrask ...

Shinn's Addition

Moses Shinn was the first minister in Omaha, estimated to have moved there in 1854. He laid out "Shinn’s Addition" just northwest of the city early in Omaha's life."Historic Prospect Hill Cemetery"
Omaha Public Schools. Retrieved 8/11/07. In that section Shinn plotted out for a cemetery, which he called Prospect Hill. This land was eventually sold to

Byron Reed Byron Reed (March 12, 1829 – June 6, 1891) was an American pioneer real estate businessman and local politician in Omaha, Nebraska. He founded the first real estate office in the Nebraska Territory and became the foremost agent after Nebraska ...

, who in turn sold it to the Forest Lawn Cemetery. In 1876 the North Mission Church, a Methodist Episcopal church, was built in that subdivision, as well.

Shinn's Ferry

Shinn was an early settler in Butler County, joining a dozen other settlers listed by the federal government in 1859. He operated an early

rope ferry A cable ferry (including the terms chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

twelve miles (19 km) east of

Columbus, Nebraska Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Platte County, in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 22,111 at the 2010 census. It is the 10th largest city in Nebraska, with 24,028 people as of the 2020 censu ...

for

emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

s following the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itsel ...

. Established in 1859 near the town of Savannah, Nebraska in Butler, then county seat, Shinn's Ferry provided an alternative to both the Loup Fork ferry and the often frustrating ford at Fort Kearney. Thousands of wagons crossed at Shinn's Ferry between 1859 and 1872. Shinn reportedly held daily services for travelers using the ferry. After a bridge was built downriver at Schyler, Nebraska in 1872, the ferry closed. The town of Savannah lost the county capitol and folded several years later.

Methodist career

In 1884 Moses Shinn was a Methodist minister in Keokuk, Iowa, and a member of the

Fort Madison, Iowa Fort Madison is a city and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States along with Keokuk. Of Iowa's 99 counties, Lee County is the only one with two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of the 2020 census. Located along the ...

Masonic Lodge. Shinn was a powerful leader in his church and his Lodge, and reportedly was greatly appreciated by many people. That year local Methodist leadership asked Shinn to increase his participation in the church by requiring him to renounce Masonry and devote all his energy to the church. At the next general conference of the church, a resolution to that end was adopted by Shinn's fellow ministers. In response, Shinn acknowledged the will of his peers and choose to leave the ministry. Seeing this as a powerful example by an admirable man, one of his fellow pastors stood up to ask Shinn to teach him about Masonry and have him inducted into Shinn's lodge. One after another, other ministers joined in the request, and soon Masonry was accepted throughout the Methodist Episcopal Church. That action is said to have influenced the spread of the Freemasons throughout the American West. Shinn was also instrumental in the development of the

's first college proposal for Simpson University. Meant to be developed on of land donated by the federal government, the university never came to fruition.

Death

After accumulating almost $250,000 of land in his time, before his death Shinn became concerned about the wealth he accumulated. He wanted to go to heaven the way the Beatitudes of the Bible told him to, poor. So he gave his wealth away until he was down to assets of $10,000 at the time of his death in 1885. A portion of the money went to help some families, including relatives; however, the majority of it went to building new churches across Iowa and Nebraska."Priority for the Poor"
''St. Luke United Methodist Church Sermons''. Retrieved 8/11/07. Shinn is reportedly buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery.

References

External links

Photo
of Moses Shinn {{DEFAULTSORT:Shinn, Moses F. Clergy from Omaha, Nebraska People from Council Bluffs, Iowa History of Methodism Burials at Prospect Hill Cemetery (North Omaha, Nebraska) Pioneer history of Omaha, Nebraska 1809 births 1885 deaths People from Hillsboro, Ohio People from Keokuk, Iowa People from Birmingham, Iowa