George D. Herron

George Davis Herron (1862–1925) was an American clergyman, lecturer, writer, and Christian socialist activist. Herron is best remembered as a leading exponent of the so-called "Social Gospel" movement and for his highly publicized divorce and remarriage to the daughter of a wealthy benefactor which scandalized polite society of the day. A self-imposed exile from America followed. During World War I, Herron broke with the anti-militarist Socialist Party and filed regular intelligence reports on German public opinion to the American and British governments in support of the Allied war effort.

George Davis Herron was born January 21, 1862, in Montezuma, Indiana, the son of poor parents, Isabella Davis and William Herron.

Herron referred to his father as "a humble man who believed in the Bible and hated unrighteousness," with Christian ancestors dating back to the days of the Scottish Reformation. His mother, similarly dedicated to Christianity, Herron characterized as "an invalid." Herron's father was identified as the decisive intellectual force of his boyhood, with Herron noting his role in teaching him to read as well as being the one who "selected my books and directed my thoughts."

After serving for a time as an apprentice to a printer, Herron enrolled at Ripon College in Wisconsin, his only formal education.

In 1883, Herron married Mary Everhard. The couple had five children together.

In 1883, Herron became a Congregationalist minister. He was the pastor of a Congregational church in Lake City, Minnesota from 1890 to 1891, before moving to another church at Burlington, Iowa. He would remain there for 17 months, preaching twice weekly on Sunday morning and evening. Many of Herron's sermons were published in the pages of the local newspaper and two or three volumes of these were collected in hard covers. Young men of the church he organized into a Christian Social Union, to which he lectured each Monday evening; a similar gathering was held for young women every Tuesday. He also attended over a midweek meeting of the church every Thursday evening.

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