Daniel Kumler Flickinger

American bishop of the United Brethren (1824–1911)

the Protestant bishop and missionary to Africa

Daniel Kumler Flickinger (25 May 1824 – 29 August 1911) was an American bishop of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, elected in 1885. He was the twenty fifth Bishop of this Christian denomination, and the first elected to the office of Missionary Bishop.

Bishop Flickinger was born 25 May 1824 near the village of Seven Mile, Butler County, Ohio, the sixth of the fourteen children born to Jacob and Hannah (Kumler) Flickinger. Jacob's ancestors were Swiss Mennonites; Hannah was the daughter of Henry Kumler Sr, a Bishop and influential leader in the early years of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Henry's son Henry Kumler Jr likewise was elected Bishop. Bishop Flickinger was therefore a grandson and a nephew of U. B. Bishops. His mother, Hannah, was the daughter, sister and mother of U. B. Bishops. Flickinger's parents were married in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, there establishing their first home. In 1818 they moved to Ohio. The next year Hannah's parents followed, there too establishing their home in Butler County. Jacob became a prosperous farmer and a zealous local preacher in the Miami Annual Conference of the U. B. Church. As was true of many of the pioneers of that day, he believed in hard work and rigid economy. He was also known for his deep seated prejudice against higher education, also not unusual in that day. The itinerating pioneer preachers always found a welcome in the Flickinger home. There they held services and found lodging and board as long as they wished to remain in the community. Jacob Flickinger was very generous in supporting these preachers. For example, it is said that on one occasion a preacher arrived with his clothes tied in a cotton cloth. It was evident he needed a pair of saddle bags, having no money with which to purchase them, however. His host told him to stop at a certain saddle shop, buy the saddle bags, and have them charged to him. The preacher, doing as instructed, continued to use those same bags for nearly a half century!

Flickinger's youth was marked by experiences common to the pioneer children of his day. Much work and little time for play was the lot of most every one of them. Daniel took advantage of every opportunity which the rural school of his community offered. His deep religious interest dated back to when he was eight years old. Having heard a relative tell his father that many children were dying in a community about four miles (6 km) from their home, the boy became fearful that he would die and that he would certainly go to perdition. This morbid condition continued throughout the years of his boyhood. In November 1839 Daniel became a member of the U. B. Church. He made it a rule thereafter to pray four times a day and to take part in public services whenever possible. Flickinger married Miss Mary Litner 25 February 1847. The newlyweds established themselves on a good farm near the parental home. All seemed to go well until about a year and one half later, when his wife fell victim to an affliction from which she never recovered. In the autumn of 1848 she and their child went to live with her mother, while Flickinger taught school. In the spring of 1849 he sold his stock and rented his farm. At that time he owned of fine farming land in Butler County in the Miami Valley of Ohio. If his wife's health had not broken, he probably would have become known as a prosperous and progressive farmer. But the course of his life was soon to take a very different turn.

Flickinger continued reading and studying. He taught another school term the winter of 1849 50. Meanwhile, his Pastor, the Rev. John Coons, who had also served as Bishop for one quadrennium, asked the local congregation to recommend Daniel Flickinger for quarterly conference License to Preach. This was done without his knowledge, and the license was granted April 1849. In the next year and a half the young minister tried to preach four or five times. He received his Annual Conference License to Preach at the Conference session of October 1850, signed by Bishop J. J. Glossbrenner. From there Rev. Flickinger was sent as the Junior Preacher (with the Rev. R. Norris) to the Mt. Pleasant Circuit, including nine preaching places all located near the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Determined to enter college and take a full course of study, Rev. Flickinger purchased a home in Oxford, Ohio, planning to enter Miami University. This was in the autumn of 1851. However, in September he was called away from the conference session to find his sick wife's condition so grave that she died a few days later, leaving him with two children (one about two and one half years old and the other less than a week). This changed his plans entirely and he never returned to the university. "provided no better person could be secured." At first his offer was rejected on the grounds of his poor health. But in December the call came to him. According to his own account, the message reached him at ten o'clock in the morning, his acceptance was given at two o'clock, and by six o'clock that same evening he was on his way to New York City to make plans for sailing. He returned to Dayton, resigned his pastorate on Christmas Day, and went back to New York on 4 January to board a vessel en route to Sierra Leone. After some delay the three missionaries sailed 23 January 1855, reaching Freetown 26 February. They spent the first few months surveying the field. On 30 June his two companions returned to the U. S., leaving Flickinger alone. He spent his time seeking a suitable location for the mission of his Church. During these months Rev. Flickinger made his home with the Mendi mission of the Congregational Church. Six of their missionaries had arrived on the same boat with Flickinger. One of these six, Miss Susanna Woolsey of Willoughby, Ohio, a teacher in the Mendi mission, became the wife of Daniel Flickinger 30 October 1855.

Flickinger spent most of his later years in the homes of his children. When past eighty seven years of age, he attended the session of the Miami Annual Conference, 23–28 August 1911 in Dayton, Ohio. Bishop Flickinger died suddenly on 29 August 1911 in Columbus, Ohio. His funeral was held in the U. B. Church in Hamilton, Ohio. Dr. H. H. Fout (later Bishop) gave the Memorial Address. Dr. W. J. Shuey, who had gone to Africa with Flickinger in 1855, spoke intimately of their associations throughout the years. Interment was in the cemetery at Oxford, Ohio. In an editorial statement in the Religious Telescope (a U. B. denominational periodical), Dr. J. M. Phillippi wrote,
A great life has closed great in its comprehensive grasp of affairs, great in its attention to details, great in the maintenance of its faith and good will to the close.

Off Hand Sketches of Men and Things in Western Africa, 1857. Discourses on Doctrinal and Practical Subjects (with Dr. W. J. Shuey), 1859. The Church's Marching Orders, 1979. Ethiopia; or Twenty six Years of Missionary Life in Western Africa, 1882. Our Missionary Work from 1853 1889, 1889. Fifty five Years in the Gospel Ministry (autobiography), 1907.