Martin Ruter
| Martin Henry Ruter | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
April 3, 1785 Charlton, Worcester County, Massachusetts, U.S.A. |
| Died |
May 16, 1838 Washington-on-the-Brazos, Republic of Texas |
| Occupation | Theologian, Educator |
Rev. Martin Henry Ruter, D.D. (April 3, 1785 - May 16, 1838) was a prominent Methodist minister, missionary and educator of the early 19th century.
The son of a blacksmith, Ruter was born in Massachusetts but moved with his family to Vermont at an early age. Largely self-educated, he read English literature and taught himself Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French. After being called into the ministry, he joined the New York Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1801 and received his elder’s orders from Bishop Francis Asbury in 1805.
The early years of Ruter’s ministerial career were spent in New Hampshire. There were few Methodists in New England at that time, forcing ministers like Ruter to ride a large circuit. In 1811 he was sent to Portland, Maine, and then on to North Yarmouth. In 1815 he was stationed in Salisbury, Massachusetts, for a time and then sent to Montreal. There he took advantage of the settings to learn French while also becoming a pupil of a rabbi and studying Hebrew. By 1817, Ruter was back in the United States and preaching in Philadelphia. The following year, Asbury College in Baltimore granted him a Master of Arts degree.
In his thirties, Ruter began to focus his career more on education. He was hired as the first principal of Newmarket Academy in New Hampshire and in 1821 was offered a professorship of Oriental Literature at Cincinnati College. The following year, he helped found Augusta College in Kentucky and served as the institution's first president. In recognition of his contributions to education, Transylvania College, Lexington, Kentucky, awarded Ruter a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1822. He was the first Methodist clergyman to receive this honor.
In 1820 the General Conference chose Ruter to establish a new branch of the Methodist Book Concern in Cincinnati. During his eight years as book agent, he edited or wrote more than a dozen books, the most influential of which, History of the Christian Church (1832), was required reading for Methodist preachers for several decades. At his death, he left unfinished a "Plea for Africa as a Field for Missionary Labor" and a "Life of Bishop Asbury."
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