Melvin E. (Melvin Earnest) Trotter

Born in Illinois in 1870, Melvin Ernest Trotter is remembered as an American evangelist and rescue mission leader whose life changed dramatically after his conversion at Chicago's Pacific Garden Mission. He later became the founder of the Grand Rapids City Rescue Mission, where he served for more than forty years.

Accounts of his life consistently describe a troubled early struggle with alcoholism, followed by a deep religious conversion that redirected his work toward helping people in crisis. That personal history became central to his ministry, and he became widely known for preaching, revival work, and support for rescue missions.

Trotter died in 1940, but his name remained closely connected with the mission he started in Grand Rapids. He is also associated with the growth of the American rescue mission movement, with later sources crediting him with helping inspire or establish dozens of similar missions across the country.