Elmer Ellsworth Schultz Johnson: pastor, educator, historian; born 26 June 1872, at New Berlinville, Pennsylvania, attended Perkiomen Seminary, Pennsburg (1893-95); Princeton University (1895-99); and Hartford Theological Seminary (1899-1902, B.D.; Ph.D., 1911). He was pastor of the Hereford Mennonite Church, Bally, Pennsylvania, 1921-47; Professor of Church History, Hartford Theological Seminary, 1922-43; director of the Schwenckfelder Historical Library, Pennsburg, 1919 ff.; and editor of the Corpus Schwenckjeldianorum 1904-59.

Johnson was an outstanding scholar whose major contribution besides his monumental work of editing the Corpus was the building up of the Schwenckfelder Library, which contains primarily all valuable material pertaining to the Schwenckfelder movement, but also some Anabaptist and Mennonite materials that he collected and purchased abroad and in Pennsylvania. Johnson's ancestry was both Mennonite and Schwenckfelder, and he served both denominations throughout his life, but his membership was in the Schwenckfeld Church at Palm, Pennsylvania. He died 15 May 1959.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1098. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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