Thomas D. (Thomas Davis) Whittles

Thomas D. Whittles, born Thomas Davies Whittles on December 27, 1873, in Lancashire, England, was a Presbyterian missionary, novelist, and an early college football coach. He later lived in the United States, studied at Waynesburg College in Pennsylvania as a pre-ministry student, and helped organize the school’s first football team, playing on it and coaching the 1895 team to a 3–0 record.

He is remembered most as the author of missionary books centered on the life and work of Frank E. Higgins, including The Lumberjack Sky Pilot, The Parish of the Pines, and Frank Higgins, Trail Blazer. These works focus on ministry among lumber workers in Minnesota and reflect Whittles’s interest in religion, frontier communities, and the demanding lives of working people.

Whittles died on December 6, 1950, in Carlton, Minnesota. I found reliable biographical details and information about his books, but I did not find a confirmed suitable portrait image to include from the pages I checked.