Holland, John M

Holland, John M.

A Methodist Episcopal minister, born in Williamson County, Tenn., about 1803 or 1804, was converted in early life, and entered the ministry in 1822. After holding several important charges, he was appointed presiding elder of the Cumberland District in 1829. Two years later he was sent to Nashville, and in 1832 was reappointed presiding elder over the Forked Deer District, transferred in 1833 to the Memphis, and in 1836 to the Florence District. In 1837 he was selected as the agent of La Grange College, but in 1838 he returned to the active work of the ministry as presiding elder of Holly Springs District, in Mississippi. In 1839 he was once more chosen agent for a college-this time for Holly Springs University; but in 1840 he again returned to the presiding eldership, that of the Memphis District. On this district he died in 1841. Holland was one of the most able and useful servants of the Methodist Episcopal Church in his day, and is generally acknowledged to rank foremost among the preachers of Tennessee. — Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, 7, 662.