Leroy J. Halsey

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Leroy Jones Halsey
Born(1812-01-28)January 28, 1812
Richmond, Virginia
DiedJune 18, 1896(1896-06-18) (aged 84)
Chicago, Illinois
Resting placeRosehill Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Nashville
Occupation(s)Preacher
Author
RelativesHenry F. Halsey (brother)
Signature

Leroy Jones Halsey (1812-1896) was an American Presbyterian scholar and author.

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Leroy J. Halsey was born near Richmond, Virginia on January 28, 1812. He graduated from the University of Nashville in 1834.[1]

Career[edit]

He worked as a professor of Historical and Pastoral Theology at the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.[2][3]

Although he was living in Chicago during the American Civil War of 1861–1865, he was directly affected by the war through his direct family. Indeed, in a letter addressed to Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), who served as the 17th President of the United States from 1865 to 1869, sent on September 26, 1865, Presbyterian minister David Xavier Junkin (1808-1880) explained that Leroy's brother, Henry F. Halsey (1815-1887), had been ruined by Union troops, who took over his factory in Alabama.[3] As a result, Leroy was the only one left to support his brother's family in the vanquished South.[3] Junkin asked Johnson to have the factory returned to Henry Halsey, making it possible for him to earn his livelihood again.[3]

Halsey's grave at Rosehill Cemetery

He is credited for first coining the sobriquet "Athens of the South" to refer to Nashville.[4] The phrase was later promoted by Reverend Philip Lindsley (1786–1855), a Presbyterian minister who founded the University of Nashville.[4] He went on to edit a volume of Lindsley's publications. Additionally, he wrote a memoir about Reverend Lewis W. Green (1806-1863), another Presbyterian minister who served as the President of Hampden-Sydney College from 1849 to 1856, of Transylvania University from 1856 to 1857, and of Centre College from 1857 to 1863.[5]

Death[edit]

He died at his home in Chicago on June 18, 1896, and was buried at Rosehill Cemetery.[1][6]

Bibliography[edit]

As an author[edit]

  • The Literary Attractions of the Bible (R. & R. Clark, 1858).[7]
  • A Sketch of the Life and Educational Labors of Philip Lindsley, D.D., Late President of the University of Nashville (1859).
  • The Beauty of Immanuel (1860).
  • Memoir of the Life and Character of Reverend Lewis Warner Green, D.D., With a Selection From His Sermons (New York, 1871).
  • Scotland's influence on civilization (1885).

As an editor[edit]

  • The Works of P. Lindsley. Edited by Le Roy J. Halsey. With Introductory Notices of His Life and Labours. (1866).[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard, eds. (1904). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Vol. V. Boston: American Biographical Society. Retrieved April 5, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1873, p. 578
  3. ^ a b c d Paul H. Bergeron (ed.), The Papers of Andrew Johnson: September 1865-January 1866, Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 1991, p. 133
  4. ^ a b Christine M. Kreyling, Wesley Paine, Charles W. Warterfield, Susan Ford Wiltshire, Classical Nashville: Athens of the South, Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press, 1996, p. xiii
  5. ^ John D. Wright, Jr., Transylvania: Tutor to the West, Louisville, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2006, p. 181
  6. ^ "Rev. Dr. Leroy J. Halsey Passes Away". Chicago Tribune. June 19, 1896. p. 5. Retrieved April 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Google Books
  8. ^ Google Books