The Rev. George Fisher Linfield (1846-1890) was an American clergyman and educator. Linfield College (now Linfield University) in McMinnville, Oregon, was named in his honor.
George Fisher Linfield was born September 6, 1846 at Randolph, Massachusetts. He was the son of John Porter Linfield and Louisa Fisher, both descended from early New England colonists.
Linfield graduated from the University of Rochester in New York, in 1873 and from the Rochester Theological Seminary in 1876. He was ordained as a Baptist minister January 4, 1877 in Moline, Illinois, where he served as pastor from 1876 to 1881. He was pastor at Muscatine, Iowa in 1881 and 1882. He served as the principal of Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin from 1882 to 1890. [1]
The Rev. Linfield died April 30, 1890 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and was buried there in Oakwood Cemetery.
George Fisher Linfield married Frances Eleanor Ross December 4, 1878 in Moline, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Linfield had had one son, Ross Linfield, who was born May 8, 1883 in Muscatine, Iowa. Ross died in infancy and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
During their tenure at Wayland Academy, George and Frances agreed that they should dedicate their life savings to promote Christian education. This purpose was realized in 1922, when Mrs. Linfield gifted real estate she owned in Spokane, Washington, valued at $250,000, to McMinnville College in McMinnville, Oregon, a Baptist institution. In honor of the gift, the college changed its name to Linfield College after the Rev. George F. Linfield. [2] [3] [4]
The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainline, although varying theological and mission emphases may be found among its congregations, including modernist, charismatic and evangelical orientations. It traces its history to the First Baptist Church in America (1638) and the Baptist congregational associations which organized the Triennial Convention in 1814. From 1907 to 1950, it was known as the Northern Baptist Convention, and from 1950 to 1972 as the American Baptist Convention.
Linfield University is a private university in McMinnville, Oregon. It also has a campus in Portland and an adult degree program online and in eight communities throughout the state. Linfield Wildcats athletics participates in the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference. There are a combined 2,282 students at Linfield, which employs more than 150 full-time professors. The institution officially changed its name from Linfield College to Linfield University, effective July 1, 2020.
Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. Andover Theological Seminary and Newton Theological Institution merged in 1965 to form the Andover Newton Theological School (1965–2018). In its original and merged forms, it was the first and thus the oldest theological seminary founded in the United States. The seminary continues as Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School launched in 2017.
Francis Wayland, was an American Baptist minister, educator and economist. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washington, D.C., Wayland Seminary was established in 1867, primarily to educate former slaves, and was named in his honor.
Wayland Academy is a private, coeducational college preparatory boarding high school located in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, United States. The student population at the beginning of the 2021–22 school year was 125. Nearly three-quarters of the students board at the school.
Wayland Seminary was the Washington, D.C. school of the National Theological Institute. The institute was established beginning in 1865 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS). At first designed primarily for providing education and training for African-American freedmen to enter into the ministry, it expanded its offerings to meet the educational demands of the former enslaved population. Just before the end of the 19th century it was merged with its sister institution, the Richmond Theological Seminary, to form the current Virginia Union University in Richmond.
Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts. Affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ, it was an official open and affirming seminary, meaning that it was open to students of same-sex or transgender orientation and generally advocated for tolerance of it in church and society.
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William Ross Schoemaker was an American Baptist pastor.
Frances Ross Linfield was an American educator, social activist and philanthropist. In 1922, she made a gift to McMinnville College worth $250,000, prompting the school to change its name to Linfield College, in honor of her late husband, the Rev. George Fisher Linfield. In 2020, the school became Linfield University.
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Oregon City College was a short-lived school in what is today the U.S. state of Oregon. Organized by the Baptist Church in 1849, it was located in Oregon City and is partly a predecessor to Linfield College.
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