Rev. Stephen Joseph Herben (11 May 1861 – 22 February 1937) was an editor and clergyman in 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 ...
. Born in London but raised in America, by 1906 he was considered "one of the best known men in the Methodist Church". In 1931 he conducted the service at the burial of
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
, a close friend.
Early life and education
Herben was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and moved to the United States as a child, where he attended public schools in Jersey City. Following a move west, he attended Evanston Academy in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, and then in 1889 obtained a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
. That year he was ordained to the Methodist Episcopal Church ministry; he continued studies at the
Garrett Biblical Institute Garrett may refer to:
Places
;United States
* Garrett, Illinois
* Garrett, Indiana
* Garrett, Kentucky (multiple places)
** Garrett, Floyd County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community
** Garrett, Meade County, Kentucky, an unincorporated commun ...
, and received a Bachelor of Divinity in 1891. Later, he would also receive two honorary degrees: a
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...
Herben served as the associate editor of ''The Epworth Herald'' from 1890 to 1895, and the assistant editor of '' The New York Christian Advocate'' from then to 1904; the same year he was elected editor of the Herald, serving for the next eight years. From 1902 to 1904 he also served as the minister of Morrow Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church in Maplewood, New Jersey, and in 1912 he left editorship to take up the pastorate of the Methodist Episcopal Church in
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000.
Orange was original ...
. From January 1916 to 1919, he served at the Methodist Episcopal Church in
Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,Interchurch World Movement, serving through 1920. In 1921 he was then appointed to oversee book publicity for the Methodist Book Concern in New York, a position he held until his 1933 retirement.
By 1906 newspapers considered Herben "one of the best known men in the Methodist Church". He was a close friend of
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
, and in 1931 conducted the service at his burial.
Personal life
On 27 May 1891 Herben married Grace Ida Foster, a classmate at Northwestern, in Park Ridge, Illinois. They had two children,
George Foster Herben
George Foster Herben (17 March 1893 – 17 March 1966) was an American physician. He spent his career in New York, predominantly treating tuberculosis. After interning at Brooklyn Hospital, Herben worked at the Loomis Sanitarium by Liberty, and ...
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
who taught at
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...
. In later life Stephen Herben returned to Maplewood, where he died of heart disease on 22 February 1937.