Pitcher, Edwin Frank

Pitcher, Edwin Frank a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born Feb. 14,1846, near Fairmount, Marion County, West Virginia. He was the youngest of thirteen children. Very early in life he gave evidence of religious culture, and at the age of eleven was converted, and joined the Methodists. His school life was noted for its spiritual tone. At fourteen he entered Dickinson College. At sixteen he took the prize medal in the junior contest, and graduated the first in his class. The year following his graduation he became professor in Emory Female College, Carlisle, Pa., and while in this position was licensed to preach. Impressed with the value of a higher theological training, he went to Evanston; but the climate proving unfavorable to his health lie returned to his home. In the fall of 1865 he entered the theological school at Concord, N. H., where he remained until the spring of 1867, when he graduated. Joining the New England Conference, he was sent to Amherst, Mass., which was a new field for Methodism. In 1868 he was called to Morgantown, West Virginia, where his labors were very successful. In 1870 he was stationed at Lawrence, Mass., but finding his wife's health failing, he entered the Philadelphia Conference, and in March 1872, was stationed at Lebanon, Pa. In March 1873, he was sent to Allentown, Pa., which proved to be his last appointment. In the spring of 1875, his own health failing, he sailed for Europe. Returning the middle of September, his pastoral work occupied his time until Feb. 23, when he was taken with hemorrhage from the lungs. He died May 18, 1876. His scholarship was thorough and elevated, his style classic and chaste. His manner was gentle and unpretentious, and his presentation of truth forceful and vivid. His favorite theme was the all-powerful Name. See Zion's Herald, Aug. 10, 1876.