Wesley W. Dale

WESLEY W. DALE
PASTOR [of the First Methodist Church, Sharon], 1899-1900

Wesley W. Dale was born in Fryburg, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1853. His parents were English Lutherans. The early part of his life was spent on a farm and later in the oil business. He took his religious training very seriously at an early age. The was only ten when he became convinced of sin, and this conviction never left him until the age of eighteen when he was soundly converted at South Oil City under the labors of Rev. R. B. Boyd. Immediately after his conversion he received exhorter's license.
Mr. Dale says: "Even before conversion I felt a clear call to the ministry, but for years tried to avoid this responsibility by going into business. In 1876 I was graduated at Scio College, and in the summer of same year I received license to preach at Cherry Run Camp meeting, at an adjourned quarterly conference. In 1876 he was appointed to Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, as a supply. Feeling the great need of a better education for the work, I again sought employment in the oil country. I then entered Drew Theological Seminary, where I spent four years, and graduated in 1882."

Two more important events in Mr. Dale's life were to take place that same year. He was admitted on trial at Erie Conference, and on May 30th he was united in marriage with Miss Ella Francis Taylor.

Mrs. Dale was one of those splendid women often referred to as "an ideal minister's wife." She was a kind and affectionate wife and mother and possessed a lovely disposition that endeared her to everyone with whom she came in contact. She was always an active and faithful worker in the church and the different societies connected with it and took special delight in the teaching of children. She was always interested in the W.C.T.U. in the various places where Mr. Dale served as pastor. She preceded her husband in death and was laid to rest in the beautiful cemetery at Franklin, Pennsylvania.

Rev. W. W. Dale was blessed in his work in the Conference with gracious revivals on all the charges where he served. After his stay in Sharon he served four other charges including three years as Conference Temperance Evangelist, he retired from active preaching in 1932. On March 12 of the next year he passed on to his great reward at Royal Creek, Michigan.

One Hundred Fifty Years of Methodism, by Roscoe C. Wilson, pages 62-63