William F. Oldham

William F. Oldham

15 December 1854 - 27 March 1937


Bishop Oldham - Beloved in Michigan

NOTHWITHSTANDING the fact that Bishop W.F. Oldham only served a short time in Michigan, we have always tried to claim him as one of our sons.


Bishop William F. Oldham was born in Bangalore, India, December 15, 1854. His early education was received at Bishop Cotton's Grammar School, Madras, India, and at the Madras Christian College. For a time he was a teacher, and then became a surveyor in the service of the governor of India.

In the revivals conducted by the Rev. William Taylor, 1872 to 1875, Bishop Oldham was converted, and under the influence of the late Bishop James M. Thoburn, he decided to give his life to missionary work.


In order to prepare himself for wider usefulness, Mr. Oldham came to the United States in 1879 and entered Allegheny College. After three years at Allegheny, he became a student in the Theological School of Boston University, from which institution he was graduated in 1883, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts; he received the degree of D.D. from Allegheny College in 1900 and that of L.L.D. from the same institution in 1905.


Comes To Michigan

In 1883 Mr. Oldham was admitted to the Michigan Conference, transferred to India, and in the following year inaugurated the work of the Malaysia Methodist Episcopal Mission, at Singapore, Straits Settlement. In February, 1885, he founded the Anglo-Chinese School at Singapore, and this famous institution still stands as a monument to his great genius for missions. In 1889, owing to ill health, Dr. Oldham was ordered away from the tropics, and returned to America for a period of rest.

He served a number of pastorates in the United States and in 1895 he founded a chair of missions at Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, where he served as professor of missions and comparative religions for five years. In 1900 he was assistant secretary of the missionary society of the denomination and in 1904 was elected by the General Conference missionary bishop for southern Asia.


In the General Conference of 1912 he was elected corresponding secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions and shortly after his election resigned as missionary bishop. In 1916 he was elected a bishop of the church and assigned to Buenos Aires, where he exercised supervision over the South American, Chile, Bolivia, and North Andes Conferences of the Church. He retired from active service in 1928 after a ministry of 45 years.

A Memorial

During the 12 years of his service as bishop, Bishop Oldham was closely identified with Methodist work in South America. In recognition of his leadership there, the church is creating a fund for the erection of Oldham Hall on the campus of the Colegio Americano Ward, a Methodist school for boys in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Offerings in Methodist churches and church schools throughout the United States will create this fund.

The Bishop's Own Story

The only pastorate I served in Michigan except as a supply, was Edmore, including McBride and another outpoint whose name I forget. I succeeded Dr. Bready, an eloquent preacher and difficult to follow. But I remembered the tonic there was in the air in my first contact with the snows of Michigan, and particularly I recall the long walk on the Sunday afternoon to reach the outpoint, part of the way through a strip of forest where the path was not well marked and was a bit bewildering to a tenderfoot from India.

During that year I built the church at McBride, and had an experience at Edmore which was valuable. It was this: a Brother Farnum came to see me one day and said, "Why don't you hold a revival meeting? You preach sermons that ought to be followed by a call to the altar." Farnum was not a member of the church but he showed me large affection and I was very willing to hear anything he had to say. I answered him saying that I was unfamiliar with the methods he proposed. Said he, "Just go on and do it; ask the people to come to God and to show what they want by coming up to the pulpit railing." The next Sunday night, the Opera House where the evening service was held was very full of people and I was more than half scared, but I kept my word with Farnum and blundered through an invitation to the congregation to openly seek the Lord. He was the owner of a shingle mill and scores of his employees and friends were present. Several others joined him at the altar and what I think was a sincere revival of religion broke out in Edmore.

My presiding elder was Dr. Barnhart and a beautiful spirit he was. Towards the close of the year he came to see me with an invitation from a church in Grand Rapids, but it was time for me to return to India and with very deep regret I turned my back on Grand Rapids and bade farewell to my Edmore friends and Michigan. But there has always been a warm spot in the very centre of my heart for Michigan, -- W.F. Oldham.

P.S. Regarding my three months at Albion, others will undoubtedly write you, but all I will say is, they were very stirring to me and some of the friendships there formed have been maintained through life.

A Soldier's Memory

I AM unable to give you the year but at the Michigan Annual Conference, Rev. J. W. Rawlinson was sent to the M.E. Church at Edmore, Montcalm Co. Only for a short time was he able to fill the appointment. Then he went to Grand Rapids to the hospital. W.F. Oldham was sent to fill his place which he did most acceptably.

Sixty-six years ago a hungry, foot-weary band of soldiers filed into Chattanooga, Tenn., just off the starved tramp to Knoxville, to relieve the beleaguered division of Burnside; 4 long weeks and never drew good rations once; not much of any other kind to ease a growing desire for food. -- LeRoy Parks, ex-member of Co. K 82nd regt. O.V.I.. 1st. Brigade 3rd. Div. 11 Corps. Eighty three years old, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Echoes of Albion

WASHINGTON GARDNER was the pastor of the Albion Church, 1887-1888, and was followed by J.C. Floyd, one of the most popular of the pastors among the students.

There was a large Bible Class and we had Dr. Floyd as our teacher. In the early spring of 1891, W.F. Oldham, a tall, gaunt, dark-complexioned man, who we understood was a missionary, came to take Dr. Floyd's place as our pastor and we wondered if he could make good. He did.

Dr. Floyd's large Bible Class doubled and then grew three fold and we had to go down in to the basement to find room for our meeting place. There was nothing dramatic about Dr. Oldham but there was a peculiar persuasiveness in his teaching of the Sunday school lesson. Even the town folks after hearing him preach would go down in to the Bible class to hear him teach the lesson. We all loved W.F. Oldham. -- John E. Mealley, Albion Student.

Are We Headed That Way?

"Eight maids of St. James' choir , N.Y., garbed in lily white, will leap from airplanes 5,000 feet over the city airport in Flushing , L.I., on Sunday, April 27. This stunt will be the climax of a five-day air circus the dominie and his congregation are staging to raise money to pay off a mortgage to save their church property.

'St. James' church needs the money and we will get it if I have to jump from a plane myself,' Mr. Stockdale said."

That is a recent news item that may serve as a reminder that ot her churches are also at "the jumping off place." Many of them always will be. Teach your boys and girls the joy of tithing and make all future stunt stuff unnecessary.

- Michigan Christian Advocate, 17 April 1930, p. 3

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