author

D. O. (David Oyer) Van Slyke

1818–1890

A 19th-century Methodist minister and Civil War veteran, he is best remembered for an unusual and lively claim: that the biblical Garden of Eden could be found in western Wisconsin. His surviving work blends local landscape, scripture, and bold imagination in a way that still catches readers off guard.

1 Audiobook

Found at Last: the Veritable Garden of Eden Or a place that answers the Bible description of the notable spot better than anything yet discovered

Found at Last: the Veritable Garden of Eden Or a place that answers the Bible description of the notable spot better than anything yet discovered

by D. O. (David Oyer) Van Slyke

About the author

Born in 1818 and dying in 1890, David Oyer Van Slyke was an American Methodist minister whose life later became closely associated with western Wisconsin. Historical and genealogical records identify him as a minister, and also as a Civil War veteran who served in the 30th Wisconsin Infantry.

He is known today chiefly for Found at Last: the Veritable Garden of Eden, a book published in the 1880s and preserved by Project Gutenberg. In it, he argues that the region around Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, matches the biblical description of Eden better than places traditionally proposed in the Middle East.

That idea is striking, but it also helps explain why his work remains interesting: it brings together preaching, local history, geography, and a very personal style of religious interpretation. Even for listeners who do not share his conclusions, Van Slyke offers a vivid glimpse of how one 19th-century writer tried to connect the American landscape with the oldest stories in the Bible.