Wilbur Fisk Tillett (1854–1936) was an American Methodist clergyman and educator.

Early life

Wilbur Fisk Tillett was born August 25, 1854, in

Henderson, North Carolina Henderson is a city in and the county seat of Vance County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,060 at the 2020 census. History The city was named in honor of former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Hender ...

,Kenneth Wilson, ''Methodist Theology'', Continuum, 2011, p. 90
/ref> which at that time was in

Granville County Granville County is a county located on the northern border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,992. Its county seat is Oxford. The county has access to Kerr Lake and Falls Lake and is part of the ...

(later Vance). He was named for the early 19th-century Methodist theologian Willbur Fisk. His father was an itinerant Methodist minister in North Carolina, John Tillett (1812–1890). Tillett graduated from Randolph–Macon College in 1877 and from

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

in 1880.

Career

Tillett spent the bulk of his teaching career at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. He was Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean of the Theological Faculty after 1884 and vice chancellor after 1886. During his tenure, he invited

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

to speak at Vanderbilt on the topic, "How can a young Southern man help in the lifting up of the Negro race?". Tillett argued that the United States had been established by God himself to usher in the Kingdom. Moreover, he argued that the emancipation of black

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

as a result of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

of 1861–65 had been good for white Southern men as it had turned them into self-reliant hard workers instead of idle planters.

Death

Tillett died on June 4, 1936, in Nashville.

Bibliography

*''The White Man of the New South'' (in ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associati ...

'', No. 33, 1886-1887). *''Southern Womanhood as Affected by the War'' (in ''The Century Magazine'', November 1891). *''Our Hymns and Their Authors'' (1900). *''The Date and Authorship of the Book of Daniel'' (1900). *''Personal Salvation'' (1902). *''Modern Archaeology and the Old Testament'' (1903). *''A Statement of the Faith: World Wide Methodism'' (1906). *''Theological Seminaries and Teacher Training: A Discussion of the Preacher's Relation to the Sunday School and the Young Life of the Church'' (1910). *''Hymns and Hymnwriters of the Church'' (1911). *''Methodism and Higher Education in Tennessee'' (1913). *''Dr. George H. Detwiler, Pastor and Preacher'' (1914). *''Providence, Prayer and Power: Studies in the Philosophy, Psychology and Dynamics of the Christian Religion'' (1926). *''The South's Greatest Teacher of Boys: An Appreciation of the Character and Work of the Late Professor William Robert Webb of Tennessee'' (1928). *''Henry Beach Carré: An Appreciation of the Character and Life Work of One of Vanderbilt University's Noblest Sons and One of the Christian Church's Wisest Moral and Religious Leaders'' (1928). *''A Heaven Within the Hearts of Men: A Tribute of Appreciation and Love to Benjamin Newton Duke''.

Secondary source

*Lester Hubert Colloms, ''Wilbur Fisk Tillett, Christian educator'' (Cloister Press, 1949).Google Books
/ref>

References

External links

Wilbur F. Tillett
at the

Tennessee State Library and Archives The Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA), established in 1854, currently operates as a unit of the Tennessee Department of State. According to the Tennessee Blue Book, the Library and Archives "collects and preserves books and records of h ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tillett, Wilbur Fisk 1854 births 1936 deaths People from Henderson, North Carolina People from Nashville, Tennessee Randolph–Macon College alumni Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Vanderbilt University faculty American Christian theologians American Methodist clergy Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville)