Born: Hearne, Texas, December 5, 1876.
Died: 1956.

Edgar DeWitt Jones, as his name implies, is of Welsh stock, and that means the best preacher stock to be found in all the world. This stock gives the necessary intellectual grasp of theological questions in union with a well-balanced heart power, without which preaching will always lack something in order to its highest efficiency.

Edgar DeWitt Jones was born in Hearne, Texas, on Dec. 5, 1876, but his mother dying at his birth he was reared by his grandparents. The first nine years of his life were spent in the Muskingum Valley near Beverly, Ohio, and from 1886 his home was northeast Missouri. He was educated in the public schools of Missouri, a student at the State University in 1894 and 1895; Western College, northeast Missouri, 1895-98; read law in office of Hon. E. A. Dowell, La Belle, Missouri; left law for the Christian ministry; student at Kentucky University, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901; minister at Erlanger, Kentucky, 1901-03; organized church there and led in building enterprise; minister at Franklin Circle Church, Cleveland, Ohio, 1903-06; First Church, Bloomington, Illinois, 1906, now in eleventh year with this congregation.

As a preacher, Dr. Jones has won a deservedly high place. His steady and solid work with the Bloomington church has proved both his ability and faithfulness. His qualifications for making a successful pastor are excelled by very few, if by any, among Disciple preachers. By giving his best thoughts to his pulpit requirements, like the great preacher Alexander Maclaren, his sermons overflow with magnetic power, as well as logical consistency, both of which are necessary in preaching the glorious gospel of the grace of God.

Dr. Jones' personality is pleasing and his delightful social qualities make him a most agreeable companion and add much to his popularity among the people whom he serves.

Dr. Jones has been a frequent speaker at chautauqua assemblies and in lecture courses. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him in 1915 by Illinois Wesleyan University. Most of his literary work is of recent date and has been well received. He is the author of "The Inner Circle," "The Middle Estate," "The Wisdom of God's Fools," and in the field of fiction, a story entitled, "Fairhope, the Annals of a Country Church." This work shows his fine literary culture and gives encouraging promise of success in his new field of labor. It is to be hoped that this divided interest of Dr. Jones will not swamp the pathway to the temple of fame.