Alfred Wesley Wishart

Born in New York in 1865, Alfred Wesley Wishart studied at Colgate University and later pursued graduate work at the University of Chicago, where he was a fellow in church history. Alongside his ministry, he wrote books meant to make religious ideas and church history easier for general readers to approach.

His best-known book is A Short History of Monks and Monasteries, first published in 1900, a survey of monastic life and institutions from their beginnings through the Reformation. He also published Lessons and Sermons and other religious writing, showing the same practical, explanatory style.

Wishart served as pastor of Fountain Street Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and remained associated with that church during an important period in its history. He died in 1933. A suitable verified portrait image could not be confirmed from the sources reviewed, so no profile image is included.