Henry Harness Fout (October 18, 1861 – December 4, 1947) was an author and a missionary for the

Near East Foundation The Near East Foundation (NEF) is an American international social and economic development organization based in Syracuse, New York. The NEF had its genesis in a number of earlier organizations. As the scope of relief expanded from aid to Greek, ...

which aimed to assist

Armenian refugees Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

from the

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

who were dispersed throughout the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. He was one of eighteen commission members returning to the United States from the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

in 1919, when he reported on the massacre of Armenians. Earlier, he had written ''The 1900 Pilgrimage to Egypt and the Holy Land'' after touring the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

between 1899 and 1901.

Early life and family

Fout was born on October 18, 1861, in

Grant County, West Virginia Grant County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,976. Its county seat is Petersburg. The county was created from Hardy County in 1866 and named for Civil War General and the 18th pres ...

to Henry and Susan Catharine Powell Fout. He graduated from Shenandoah Collegiate Institute in 1885 and Bonebrake Theological Seminary in 1890. In 1900, he married Adah C. Fout and they had one daughter Lois Virginia Fout.

Career

Preaching

Fout began preaching in 1885 and was ordained into the Ministry of the United Brethren in Christ in 1890. Subsequently, between 1891 and 1899, he served as

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of Oak Street Church in

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, Ohio and afterwards toured the

in 1899, returning in 1901. During this time, as presiding Elder and Miami conference superintendent, he wrote ''The 1900 Pilgrimage to Egypt and the Holy Land''. He was in charge of the United Brethren Church periodicals from 1901 to 1913 when he supervised Sunday school and became a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. In 1914, he was the bishop of the Northwest District.

Missionary

Fout became a missionary for the Near East Foundation which aimed to assist

from the

who were dispersed throughout the

. He headed one section of this Commission in the relief and was one of its eighteen commission members returning to the United States from the Near East in 1919. During the stopover in Rome, he affirmed that a third of the Armenian nation had been executed and that those remaining were in a dreadful state and required immediate assistance from the United States. His message to America at the time was published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Turkey by her inhuman treatment, in my opinion, has lost the right to be entrusted with authority to rule. From various estimates I have reached the conclusion that out of the Armenian nation of 3,000,000 at the outbreak of the war, 1,000,000 were massacred. The condition of the remainder is most appalling.

Death

He died on December 4, 1947, and his grave is at Woodland Cemetery in Arboretum, Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, US.

Selected publications

''The child and the church''
Dayton, Ohio, Otterbein Press, 1913.
''The 1900 Pligrimage to Egypt and the Holy Land: Including Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and France''
Creative Media Partners,
''Our Heroes; Or United Brethren Home Missionaries''
co-authored with W.M. Weekly, Otterbein Press, 1911, Volume 2