John Emory Godbey Papers

John Emory Godbey, American Methodist preacher, teacher, editor, and author, was born August 11, 1839, in Casey County, Kentucky. He was educated in private schools. His education at St. Charles College, in St. Charles, Missouri, was interrupted by the Civil War. The college was seized by Union troops.

He joined the St. Louis Annual Conference in 1859. Godbey married Mary S. Halloway on November 2, 1865. She died in 1910. He then married Martha Virginia Dunnavant in 1911.

In 1867, while stationed in Washington, Missouri, Godbey opened a private high school, his first educational venture. After two years as presiding elder, he was appointed to First Methodist Episcopal Church, South and afterward to Cook Avenue Church, both in St. Louis.

While in St. Louis, Godbey played an important part in establishing the Southwestern Methodist in 1882. He was elected editor, and served in this post until it was combined with The St. Louis Christian Advocate in 1890. He was then appointed to the presiding eldership of the Kansas City District and served until 1894, when he was elected editor of The Arkansas Methodist in Little Rock. While editing that paper, he was sometime professor of philosophy at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. He served in these roles until 1905. He returned to the St. Louis Annual Conference in 1910 and was stationed in Kirkwood, Missouri. He died on February 29, 1932, at the age of 92.