Wilhelm (William) Nast (1807–1899) was a German-born

religious leader Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and editor. He founded the German Methodist Church of the United States. In addition, he was the grandfather of

Condé Montrose Nast Condé is a French place name and personal name. It is ultimately derived from a Celtic word, "Condate", meaning "confluence" (of two rivers) - from which was derived the Romanised form "Condatum", in use during the Roman period, and thence to t ...

Biography

Nast was born on 15 June 1807 in Stuttgart, capital of the German

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...

, with the original forename Wilhelm. He was educated at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

with a view to entering the ministry, but preferred literary pursuits, and after his graduation was connected with the

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

. Nast emigrated to the United States in 1828, taught at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, and subsequently became a professor in

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is ...

, Ohio. He united with the

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 ...

in 1835, was licensed to preach, and at the conference of that body in 1837 was appointed to establish a German mission in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

. He proved so successful in that enterprise that in the course of twenty years German Methodist churches were established in almost every state in the Union, and in various parts of Germany,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, and Sweden. Beyond this Nast served as the first President of German Wallace College which eventually became

Baldwin Wallace University Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace C ...

He died in Cincinnati on 16 May 1899.

Publications

After 1859 he edited the German publications of the Methodist church, and after 1840 was in charge of the ''Christian Apologist'', the organ of his branch. He translated a large number of religious works into German, and was the author of ''Christological Meditations'' (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1858); a commentary on the New Testament in German (1860); the ''Gospel Records'' (1866); ''Christologische Betrachtungen'' (1866); and ''Das Christenthum und seine Gegensätze'' (1883).

External links

Nast's Biography: http://archives.gcah.org/bitstream/handle/10516/6506/MH-2001-April-Daniel.pdf

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nast, William American Methodist clergy University of Tübingen alumni Kenyon College faculty United States Military Academy faculty German emigrants to the United States 1807 births 1899 deaths 19th-century Methodists 19th-century American clergy