MORLEY, John P. (1868-1964)

MORLEY

Posted By: Deb (email)
Date: 10/12/2010 at 09:25:18

Unknown newspaper of Indianola, Iowa

LAST RITES FOR JOHN P. MORLEY

Mrs. T.L. Owens received the news of the death of her uncle, Dr.John Pearl Morley, 96, of Los Angeles, Calif.
He had many relatives in this community, including the family of Joseph McClure, who was a nephew.
The following is a memorial sketch written by D. Oscar B. Jenson, Associate Minister of the First Methodist Church of Los Angeles:

Distinguished Educator -
Beloved Minister -
Devoted Christian -

John P. Morley was born January 19, 1868, in Mount Pleasant, a college town in southern Iowa. The early years of his youth were spent on a farm located in the unsettled prairies of the western part of the state. He saw the first furrows turned in sod never before disturbed. He remembered the time when he was four and half years old the family moved in a covered wagon leading a cow, to a quarter section or raw prairie land in Wayne County, Iowa. There were no roads, no fences, but his father had faith and hope and courage in building a home for his family.

When Dr. Morley was four years old, his great-grandmother, who lived with the family and whom he remembered well and who had known George Washington was 103. "Her memory and mine," he writes, "span the history of the United States."

At the age of five and half Dr. Morley started his formal education in a little country school where his sister, Grace, was the teacher. Providence guided his educational career through many great institutions of learning, including the Western Normal School, Simpson College where he became Professor of Philosophy and Vice President; Garrett Bible Institute, Boston Theological Seminary, and Harvard where he earned his PH.D.degree. Altogether he had earned six college degrees in higher learning. He says that in school he was taught Latin, Greek, German, French and Hebrew, but found it more important to know when to keep still in English.

When he was ten years of age his mother promised him a colt if he would read the entire Bible. This task took him some time, but he finally got his colt. Unfortunately, the colt got sick and died before he ever had an opportunity to ride it. Therefore, he taught a calf to let him ride.

At seventeen his father sent him to California to visit two sisters. He traveled by a combination freight and passenger immigrant train. The sleeping cars had no mattresses nor bedding, so the passengers carried their own sleeping coverings. He shared an upper berth with another man, so they had a blanket under them and one over them. On the return trip he took advantage of a railroad rate war between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and proceeded on to El Paso, St. Louis, and Chicago for a total fare of ten dollars.

When Dr. Morley had spent his first four months at Western Normal School in 1889, he was called home by the death of his father. He was deeply touched when the minister took his hand as they stood by his father's open grave and said, "God bless you, John." The next month, on February 13th he converted to Christ, and began the next 75 years of devotion to Christ and a faithful and fruitful ministry.

During his sophomore year at Simpson, Dr. Morley became engaged to Hattie Berry. They were married in August 1893 following their graduation from college, and spent nearly 60 years working together in devoted service to Christ and His Church.

The next two years were spent furthering their education where Dr. Morley completed a three-year course in two years at Garrett Bible Institute, and his wife, Hattie, earned her Master's Degree at Simpson College and delivered her Master's oration at the 1895 Commencement Exercises.

The following year was spent at Boston University where Dr. Morley had to work long hours and varied part-time jobs to keep body and soul together. One of these jobs was the caring for the horse of a Boston architect. This architect was drawing plans for the Tremont Temple and he was looking for suggestions for an ornament for the iron balustrade of the gallery. Dr. Morley drew a monogram of the Chi Rho symbol, which was accepted for the this beautiful masterpiece.

His early ministry began with a circuit in Iowa - Valley Junction, Ashaus, Walnut Hills with a small salary of $600.00 out of which he paid $100.00 a year for his parsonage. When he came back from the Annual Conference for the second year, he discovered that his house had been rented for someone else. The church then decided to build a new parsonage which was to be financed in a very unusual way. The developers of the town had given the church two lots - one for the church and the other for a parsonage. But since there was little real money, Dr. Morley proposed that the members donated the labor and bank finance the $700.00 needed for materials to be repaid at $100.00 a year, which was the amount of the rent to be paid by the pastor. So by Thanksgiving they had a new parsonage. The next year they built a new church but before it was dedicated the Conference transferred Dr. Morley to Dallas Center.

In 1904 he organized and published the first Conference Daily Journal of the Des Moines Conference.

In 1911 he left the ministry to become a member of the faculty at Simpson College, teaching Bible, Psychology, and Philosophy, and later he became its Vice President.

In 1917, he was given a year's leave of absence to be a part of the Educational Jubilee of the General Conference to raise $20,000,000 for Methodist colleges. His first assignment was at U.S.C where he helped raise $2,000,000.

In 1920 he came to Los Angeles to make his home, and became the teacher of the Women's Bible Class at First Methodist Church in July of 1926. Here the most outstanding ministry of 25 years began, and probably the happiest of his life.

During these 25 years he and his good wife, Hattie, averaged 1,000 calls a year or a total of 25,000 calls on the sick and shut-in and members of the Women's Bible Class.

We must also pause here to that the strength of his ministry was his devoted wife, Hattie, who traveled with him day after day on street-cars, or walking to make these many calls.

In 1962 Dr. Morley was honored at the Golden Anniversary Exercises of the Simpson College where he was the oldest living alumnus of the School. An oil portrait of him was unveiled at that time, and this was to be hung in the new Letters and Arts building bearing his name.

There are many additional note-worthy events in the life of John P. Morley which should be mentioned, including the writing of his book, "Beyond the Bar" - the Story of the Apostle Barnabas, published in 1961.

Dr. John P. Morley is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Alice L. McAbery, and three sons, Arthur E. Morley, John V. Morley, and T. Herbert Morley.

I can think of no man who has inspired me more than the sincere Christian spirit of Dr. Morley. So often in my calling on the sick and the shut-in, Dr. Morley had called a few days before me.

He was dearly loved and admired by countless hundreds of people to whom he ministered in their home, hospitals, and nursing homes. His ministry brought comfort, warmth, and inspiration in every circumstance of life. This unique ministry continued until his health prevented him from traveling, which was only a few months ago.

Finally his work was completed, and God received him unto Himself that he might be released from his earthly labor to share the spiritual triumph with his Heavenly Father. It was on Friday, January 31, 1964 that his mortal body put on immortality and was translated to the Church Triumphant.