John Vassar

John Vassar was an American Christian layman of the nineteenth century, who was known as Uncle John Vassar. He is remembered as a colporteur and soul winner, who spent years traveling the country distributing Bibles and tracts and speaking to people about their need of Christ. He was born in 1813, and he grew up in the Hudson River Valley of New York. He was educated in the common schools and for some time worked in a variety of occupations. As a young man, he lived a life of little spiritual concern, but he was brought to faith in Christ in his early twenties through the influence of a friend.

After his conversion, he gave his life to the work of spreading the gospel. He felt that he was called to be a colporteur, a person who traveled with a stock of religious literature and shared it with those he met. He was employed by the American Tract Society and by the American Bible Society. He traveled on foot and by wagon, often hundreds of miles in a year, and went from house to house. He spoke to each person he met about his soul. He was a man of simple faith, who did not argue but gently pressed the claims of Christ. He had a talent for friendship and a warm manner.

He was especially active in the years of the Civil War, when he went to the camps of the soldiers and gave them Bibles and tracts. He spent time with the wounded and the dying and prayed with them. He was known for his tenderness. He is said to have led many young men to Christ in the hospitals and on the battlefield. He also worked among the poor, the sailors and the immigrants. He ministered in the Southern states in the years after the war.

He was known to the leaders of the revival movements of his day. He was a friend of Moody, who is said to have spoken of him with admiration. He had a part in the work of the YMCA and of other benevolent organizations. He was a man of the rank and file, and he was content to stay out of the public eye. He was said to be one of the most effective personal workers of his time, a man who could speak to a stranger in a train and see him converted.

The records of his life that I hold are thin, and many of the details here need to be checked against fuller sources, including his dates and the places where he worked. What can be said with confidence is that he was a layman who devoted a lifetime to personal evangelism. A short biography of his life was written after his death, and it was widely read. He died in 1878.

His life shows the effect of a plain man who spends his strength in speaking to individuals. He held no office and held no pulpit, but he reached many. His example calls the ordinary believer to take up the work of witness in daily life.