Osman Cleander Baker was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 biblical scholar and Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...

.

Early life

Osman was born in Marlow, New Hampshire

Marlow, New Hampshire

Marlow is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 742 at the 2010 census. Marlow is home to Honey Brook State Forest.-History:...

. He entered the Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy

Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy

Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy was one of the oldest educational institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was originally established by Methodist clergy of New England, in 1818...

 at the age of fifteen, where soon after he was converted to Christ, and was received into the church by Dr. Wilbur Fisk

Wilbur Fisk

Willbur Fisk , also known as Wilbur Fisk, was a prominent American Methodist minister, educator and theologian. He was the first President of Wesleyan University. Willbur Fisk (August 31, 1792 – February 22, 1839), also known as Wilbur Fisk, was a prominent American Methodist minister,...

 (who was at that time Principal of the school).

Osman was licensed to exhort in his seventeenth year. In 1830 he entered Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

. He had successfully completed three years at Wesleyan when failing health compelled him to leave the institution. Yet, while in college he also was licensed as a Local Preacher

License to Preach (Methodist)

A License to Preach in Methodist and related churches was the official authorization of a person to preach the Gospel and to do other tasks of ministry so authorized...

, laboring diligently in that office

Ordained and Academic Ministry

The Rev. Mr. Baker became a teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

 in the seminary

Seminary

A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

 at Newbury, Vermont

Newbury, Vermont

Newbury could be either of the following places in the U.S. state of Vermont:*Newbury , Vermont*Newbury , Vermont...

 in 1834. He was elected Principal of this seminary in 1839.

Having resigned the seminary principalship in 1844, the Rev. Mr. Baker was appointed Pastor of the M.E. Church in Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester, New Hampshire

Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...

. He was appoiinted Presiding Elder of the Dover District in 1846. During the next year he accepted a professorship in the General Biblical Institute in Concord, New Hampshire

Concord, New Hampshire

The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....

, which later became the Boston University School of Theology

Boston University School of Theology

Boston University School of Theology is the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University, the largest private research university in New England. It is one of thirteen theological schools maintained by the United Methodist Church...

. Dr. Baker became a distinguished scholar. He also continued to reside in Concord for the remainder of his life.

Episcopal ministry

The Rev. Dr. Osman Cleander Baker was elected

Elected

Elected is the latest EP by Dutch Progressive metal project Ayreon. It was released on April 25, 2008 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and on April 28 in the rest of Europe...

 and consecrated to the Episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church by the 1852 General Conference. He discharged the varied duties of this office with diligence and success until 1866.

In 1866 Bishop Baker was attacked with partial paralysis while on his way to preside over the Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 Annual Conference. He reached his destination with great difficulty. He thus examined and ordained the ordinands in a private room, rather than before the entire Conference. He then returned home, having suffered much pain and extreme exhaustion.

Bishop Baker's health then became sufficiently restored to enable him to preside at a few other Annual Conferences, and to attend the annual and semi-annual meetings of the Board of Bishops of the M.E. Church for two more years, when his strength again declined and his voice was greatly affected.

Final Illness and Death

Bishop Baker was no longer able to take a public role in the work of the Church. Nevertheless, he continued to attend the various meetings and enjoyed them, up until a short time before his death.

Returning from worship one Sabbath, he fell helpless at the threshold of his home, but regained his strength for a time. The fatal stroke of paralysis came 8 December 1871. Bishop Baker lingered but a few days afterwards. He died 20 December 1871 in Concord, New Hampshire

Concord, New Hampshire

The city of Concord is the capital of the state of New Hampshire in the United States. It is also the county seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2010 census, its population was 42,695....

, aged fifty-nine years.

Honors

The Rev. Mr. Osman Cleander Baker was awarded the honorary degree

Honorary degree

An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...

 Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

. Also, Baker University

Baker University

Baker University is a private, residential university located in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools...

 in Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 is named in his honour. Chartered 12 February 1858, Baker University is the oldest University

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 in the State of Kansas.

Bishop Simpson's Assessment

Matthew Simpson

Matthew Simpson

Matthew Simpson , was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1852.-Early life and family:...

, who was made a Bishop at the same General Conference, wrote this of his colleague Osman Cleander Baker:

In his general character he was distinguished for regularity and symmetry

Symmetry

Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...

. His temperament

Temperament

In psychology, temperament refers to those aspects of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion, that are often regarded as innate rather than learned...

 was even and quiet; he was possessed of sound judgment and retentive memory, and combined calmness with firm religious convictions. As a teacher, he was assiduous; as a preacher

Preacher

Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...

, he was persuasive in manner, chaste in style, and often his ministrations were attended with divine power. As a Bishop, he was impartial and judicious, and his administration

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 was marked by a clear understanding of the constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

 and laws of the church. His published work on the Discipline indicates his thorough knowledge of the administration of the church.

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