MOODY, Dwight Lyman, American evan gelist: b. Northfield, Mass., 5 Feb. 1837; d. there, 22 Dec. 1899. He worked for a time on a farm, then went to Boston as a salesman in a shoe store, and while there became a member of a Congregational church. He later obtained a position in a shore store in Chicago and there began his active religious work in the Sunday School by forming a class of poor boys ; from this beginning he built up a large Sunday school and after 1860 devoted himself entirely to re ligious work. During the Civil War he worked among the soldiers in the employ of the Chris tian Commission and at the close of the war resumed his mission work in Chicago, becoming president of the Young Men's Christian Associa tion in 1865. A large church was built for his work, of which he became pastor, though never regularly ordained. In 1870 he was joined by Ira D. Sankey, the singer, and in 1873 the two visited England and Scotland, where, in spite of their American methods, they were the in struments in a great religious awakening that had not been paralleled since the days of White field and Wesley. On their return large meet ings were held in New York, Brooklyn and Phil adelphia, and subsequently in many cities throughout the United States, at which it is estimated Mr. Moody addressed over 50,000,000 people. Without abandoning entirely his evan gelistic tours, he made Northfield his headquar ters and established there a girls' academy (1879) and a training school for religious work ers, and at Mount Hermon a boys' academy. Later he founded a school for Bible study in Chicago; and inaugurated the custom of hold ing, at Northfield, summer conferences of col lege students and missionary volunteers, and the annual meetings of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian associations. He
also established systematic preaching and dis tribution of religious literature among inmates of the prisons; and built up at Chicago and Northfield establishments for the publishing of inexpensive religious books, tracts, etc. His marked executive ability won him the confi dence of men of wealth, who gave generously to his enterprises. Though a Bible student, he was not a theologian and did not understand the methods of Higher Criticism; he was primarily a preacher of the Word of God as he believed it. The power of his preaching was due to his strong personality, his simplicity of thought and language, and his thorough sincerity and ear nestness. In conjunction with his colleague, Mr. Sankey, he surrendered the great profits on their 'Sacred Songs and Solos' to public pur poses. He published 'How to Study the Bible> ; 'Men of the Bible'; 'Weighed and Wanting';
and Anecdotes> (1877) ; 'The Way and the Word> (1877) ;