Edgar John, Dd

Edgar John, D.D., a Presbyterian minister of Ireland, was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1797, and entered the ministry in 1820. His life from the outset of his ministry in 1820 was one of ceaseless toil. "His energy of character was immense, and his name became a tower of strength to all the Christian enterprises with which he was identified. Upon the union of Presbyterians in 1840 he was made one of the professors of Divinity for the Assembly, and the influence he wielded over its students was very great, and he put forth strenuous and successful efforts for the erection and equipment of its theological college in Belfast. He fired the hearts of his students with his own meal in the work of the evangelization of their country, and spent much of his vacation in personal labors for it. His spirit in church extension was remarkable. His last great effort was in undertaking to raise about $100,000 for erecting additional manses among the churches. By far the greater part of this had been secured before his death." At least fifty of the houses of worship belonging to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland owe their existence to his persevering efforts. He died in Dublin August 26, 1866. See Killen, Memoirs of John Edgar (Belfast and London, 1867); American Annual Cyclopaedia for 1866, page 277.