Isaac William Wiley
Encyclopedia
Isaac William Wiley ' onMouseout='HidePop("74444")' href="/topics/Pinyin">Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Huáilǐ; Foochow Romanized: Huài-lā̤; 29 March 1825 – 22 November 1884) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who distinguished himself as a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, a Methodist missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, a Pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
, as the President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of a seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
, as an editor, and as a Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
, elected in 1872.
Birth and Early Years
Isaac was born 29 March 1825 in LewistownLewistown, Pennsylvania
Lewistown is a borough in and the county seat of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies along the Juniata River, northwest of Harrisburg. The number of people living in the borough in 1900 was 4,451; in 1910, 8,166; and in 1940, 13,017. The population was 8,998 at the 2000 census,...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. He united with the M.E. Church at ten years of age.
Education
Isaac had been preparing to enter the sophomore class at Dickinson CollegeDickinson College
Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...
, but the affection of his throat being considered permanent, he commenced the study of medicine, instead. He was graduated in 1846 from the medical department of the University of New York
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. He pursued a course of classical study in the same institution.
Medical Missionary
Dr. Isaac Wiley commenced the practice of medicine in Western Pennsylvania, subsequently moving to PottsvillePottsville, Pennsylvania
Pottsville is the only city in and the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,549 at the 2000 census. The city lies along the west bank of the Schuylkill River, north-west of Philadelphia...
in 1849. Shortly thereafter, at the request of Dr. Durbin, Isaac agreed to go as a medical missionary to Foochow, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Isaac first was received into the ministry of the Genesee Annual Conference of the M.E. Church. He also attended an additional course of lectures in the University of New York. Finally, he sailed for China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, March 1850, transferring his conference membership to the Philadelphia Conference.
Pastoral, Academic, and Editorial Ministries
The Rev. Dr. Wiley returned from China in May 1854. He then was appointed to fill a pastoral vacancy on Staten IslandStaten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. In 1855 he transferred his conference membership again, this time to the Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
Annual Conference. He was successively appointed to Newark and then Jersey City.
In 1858 the Rev. Dr. Wiley took charge of the Pennington Seminary
The Pennington School
The Pennington School is a selective, independent, coeducational college preparatory school for students in grades 6 through 12, located in Pennington, New Jersey, a small community midway between New York City and Philadelphia in the northeastern United States.As of the 2009-10 school year, the...
. He served this position until 1863. In 1864 he was elected Editor of the Ladies' Repository, an important periodical of his denomination. He was re-elected to this position in 1868. While editor, he also edited books for the M.E. Book Concern.
Episcopal Ministry
The Rev. Dr. Isaac William Wiley was elected to the episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church by the General Conference of 1872. As Bishop he was one of the founders of Wiley CollegeWiley College
Wiley College is a four-year, private, historically black, liberal arts college located on the west side of Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is notable as one of the oldest predominantly...
, the first and oldest historically Black college
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
west of the Mississippi River, located in Marshall, Texas
Marshall, Texas
Marshall is a city in Harrison County in the northeastern corner of Texas. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Marshall was about 23,523...
. Wiley College was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1873 and chartered by the Freedman's Aid Society
Freedman's Aid Society
The Freedmen’s Aid Society was founded in 1861 during the American Civil War by the American Missionary Association , a group supported chiefly by the Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist churches in the North. It organized a supply of teachers from the North and provided housing for them,...
of the M.E. Church in 1882 for the purpose of providing education to the "newly freed men" (following Emancipation
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
and the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
), preparing them for a new life.
Bishop Wiley traveled extensively to the various U.S. States and Territories. In 1877 he made an extensive tour in support of the M.E. missions in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and China.
Bishop Wiley died in Foochow, China, 22 November 1884. The funeral services took place the next day at Tieng Ang Tong.