Guide to the George Emerson Barnes Papers

George Emerson Barnes was educated at Olivet College, MI, and at the University of Montana. After graduation in 1902 he spent two years as a lay missionary in the mining camps of Montana and Wyoming. He won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University in 1904, and graduated three years later with an MA degree and a First in theology. Upon his return to the United States, he was ordained to the ministry and served as pastor of various Michigan churches for the next several years. He married Myrtle Kendall Montague in 1908; they had three children. In 1915 Barnes was elected moderator of the Synod of Michigan. During World War I he served as pastor of Camp Custer, MI, and chaired the Presbyterian War Service Commission for Michigan and Wisconsin. In 1922 he accepted a call from the Overbrook Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia; he remained with this church for the rest of his life.

Barnes was twice elected moderator of the Philadelphia Presbytery, and he chaired several General Assembly committees. He was a leader in many community and Church organizations, including the Masons and the Presbyterian Minister's Fund.