Isaac Lane (1834–1937) was an American bishop and educator. He was the fifth bishop of the

Colored Methodist Episcopal Church The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (C.M.E.C.) is a Methodist denomination that is based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. Though historically a part of the black church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal church ...

in America. Lane College, established in 1882 in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...

college was named after Lane.

Biography

Isaac Lane was born March 4, 1834, in

Madison County, Tennessee Madison County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 98,823. Its county seat is Jackson. Madison County is included in the Jackson metropolitan area. History Madis ...

. Lane was born a slave on the plantation of Cullen Lane. At age nineteen Lane married Frances Ann Boyce, also a slave, but from Haywood County. The Lanes had eleven children and several became ministers, educators, and physicians. In 1870 after freed slaves founded the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (CME), Lane quickly became a popular minister of the denomination, and in 1873, he was elected as a bishop by the 2nd General Conference of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, called together for the purpose of electing a bishop after the death of Bishop Richard Vanderhorst. In 1882 Lane founded a Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) school in Jackson, and Lane's daughter, Jennie Lane, served as the first teacher and principal of the institution. In preparation for petitioning for the school to gain college status, Lane selected a white Methodist pastor, Thomas F. Saunders, as the first president of the college to ease the process of peer recognition of the school. In 1907, Lane's son, James Franklin Lane, Ph.D. was chosen as president of Lane College and he served for thirty-seven years.

Death and legacy

In 1937, Bishop Lane died at the age of 102.College Profile
, Lane College website. Retrieved March 13, 2010. He is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Jackson, Tennessee, U.S.. In addition to Lane College, a Merchant Marine

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engin ...

was named in Lane's honor during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The SS ''Lane Victory'' is still afloat in San Pedro, California as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

References

External links

Autobiography Online

Autobiography of Isaac Lane, LLD: with a short history of the C.M.E. Church in American and of Methodism (1916)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Isaac 1834 births 1937 deaths University and college founders People from Madison County, Tennessee African-American Methodists American former slaves American Methodist bishops People of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church