Wilbur Fisk Tillett (1854–1936) was an American Methodist clergyman and educator.

Early life

Wilbur Fisk Tillett was born August 25, 1854, in

Henderson, North Carolina Henderson is a city and the county seat of Vance County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,060 at the 2020 census. History The city was named in honor of former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Henderson, w ...

,Kenneth Wilson, ''Methodist Theology'', Continuum, 2011, p. 90
/ref> which at that time was in

Granville County Granville County is a county located on the northern border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,992. Its county seat is Oxford. Granville County encompasses Oxford, NC Micropolitan Statistical Are ...

(later Vance). He was named for the early 19th-century Methodist theologian Willbur Fisk. His father was an itinerant Methodist minister in North Carolina, John Tillett (1812–1890). Tillett graduated from Randolph–Macon College in 1877 and from

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

in 1880.

Career

Tillett spent the bulk of his teaching career at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He was Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean of the Theological Faculty after 1884 and vice chancellor after 1886. During his tenure, he invited

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

to speak at Vanderbilt on the topic, "How can a young Southern man help in the lifting up of the Negro race?". Tillett argued that the United States had been established by God himself to usher in the Kingdom. Moreover, he argued that the emancipation of black

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

as a result of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

of 1861–65 had been good for white

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men as it had turned them into self-reliant hard workers instead of idle planters.

Death

Tillett died on June 4, 1936, in Nashville.

Bibliography

*''The White Man of the New South'' (in ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...

'', No. 33, 1886-1887). *''Southern Womanhood as Affected by the War'' (in ''The Century Magazine'', November 1891). *''Our Hymns and Their Authors'' (1900). *''The Date and Authorship of the Book of Daniel'' (1900). *''Personal Salvation'' (1902). *''Modern Archaeology and the Old Testament'' (1903). *''A Statement of the Faith: World Wide Methodism'' (1906). *''Theological Seminaries and Teacher Training: A Discussion of the Preacher's Relation to the Sunday School and the Young Life of the Church'' (1910). *''Hymns and Hymnwriters of the Church'' (1911). *''Methodism and Higher Education in Tennessee'' (1913). *''Dr. George H. Detwiler, Pastor and Preacher'' (1914). *''Providence, Prayer and Power: Studies in the Philosophy, Psychology and Dynamics of the Christian Religion'' (1926). *''The South's Greatest Teacher of Boys: An Appreciation of the Character and Work of the Late Professor William Robert Webb of Tennessee'' (1928). *''Henry Beach Carré: An Appreciation of the Character and Life Work of One of Vanderbilt University's Noblest Sons and One of the Christian Church's Wisest Moral and Religious Leaders'' (1928). *''A Heaven Within the Hearts of Men: A Tribute of Appreciation and Love to Benjamin Newton Duke''.

Secondary source

*Lester Hubert Colloms, ''Wilbur Fisk Tillett, Christian educator'' (Cloister Press, 1949).Google Books
/ref>

References

External links

Wilbur F. Tillett
at the

Tennessee State Library and Archives The Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA), established in 1854, currently operates as a unit of the Tennessee Department of State. According to the Tennessee Blue Book, the Library and Archives "collects and preserves books and records of hi ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tillett, Wilbur Fisk 1854 births 1936 deaths People from Henderson, North Carolina People from Nashville, Tennessee Randolph–Macon College alumni Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Vanderbilt University faculty American Christian theologians American Methodist clergy Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville)