Bishop Evans Tyree (August 19, 1854 - November 12, 1920) was a doctor and Bishop in the A.M.E. Church in Nashville Tennessee.

Early life and education

Tyree was born enslaved in

DeKalb County, Tennessee DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,080. Its county seat is Smithville. The county was created by the General Assembly of Tennessee on December 2, 1837, and was named ...

. In 1865 after emancipation he and his mother lived and worked on a farm in a DeKalb County. He learned to read in 1866 and shortly thereafter joined the Methodist Church. He was "licensed to preach at fourteen, joined the conference at eighteen, and was made elder at twenty-two." He attended

Central Tennessee College Walden University was a historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1865 by missionaries from the Northern United States on behalf of the Methodist Church to serve freedmen. Known as Central Tennessee College from 1865 to ...

for six years, graduating as valedictorian in 1883 then continuing on for two more years and attending

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a private historically black medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first m ...

. He received his MD in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

in 1894.

African Methodist Episcopal Church

Tyree had been preaching since 1868, often having to do farm work to support his family while also preaching. In 1900 he was elected bishop in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, the Senior Bishop of the five Bishops elected at that General Conference. He was originally in charge of the Eighth Episcopal District of the Church which covered Mississippi and Arkansas and then moved on to the Tenth District, the "Texas Conference," which encompassed Indian Mission, Oklahoma Territory, Central Texas, Texas and West Texas. He was a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference of Methodism in London in 1901. In 1912 he was listed as one of the compilers of the first edition of the ''Book of Discipline of the A.M.E. Church'' that was "edited, set, print and bound" by Black people.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyree, Evans 1854 births 1920 deaths African Methodist Episcopal bishops 19th-century Methodist bishops 20th-century Methodist bishops