A quarter century has elapsed since the passing of D. S. Warner
from the scenes of his earthly activity, and full forty years have
gone since the beginning of the great reform of which his labors
constituted so large a part. While there are many still living whose
personal knowledge of him and his ministry will suffice to them
for an encouraging testimony of Christian attainment and of God's
marvelous use of human instrumentality when permitted to have his
way, the time has come when the absence of any published account of
this remarkable man begins to be felt. The rising generation and the
generations that follow should have access to a study of such an
example of Christian devotion and usefulness, as well as of God's
faithfulness to one who will fully trust him. When it was announced
that a biography was contemplated, the proposition at once met with
hearty approval and encouragement.
That due to the lapse of years there should be some difficulty in
securing the necessary data with reference to his early life is of
course consequential. His brothers and sisters are all deceased.
A nephew and a niece and some of his earlier acquaintances were
interviewed, and correspondence was had with other relatives and
acquaintances. The most valuable acquisition, however, was the use
of his diaries, kindly granted by his son, D. Sidney Warner, now
living in Canton, Ohio. These diaries do not cover all of his early
ministerial career, but the quotations from them will reveal the
Christian character of the man as well as show considerable of his
itinerancy and of the facts of his life.
As to the source of information respecting the latter period of his
ministry, when his work took the character of a reform, recourse has
been had to the files of the periodicals he edited and also to the
personal recollections of some who were pioneers with him in the
movement. Of these may be mentioned as giving particular information
Mrs. Allie R. (Fisher) Allen, Lansing, Mich.; William N. Smith, North
Star, Mich.; David Leininger, Akron, Ind; Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Howard,
Nappanee, Ind.; Mrs. Anna J. Slagle, Bucyrus, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. B.
E. Warren, Springfield, Ohio; and Mrs. Frankie Warner, Anderson, Ind.
It was my privilege to have a personal acquaintance with D. S. Warner
and to be more or less closely associated with him during the last
five years of his life. To one who never knew him personally no
printed account can afford an adequate conception of what it was to
come in contact with this wonderful ambassador of God, whose presence
wrought conviction in the unregenerate, and inspired confidence and
courage in the hearts of believers. The divine manifestations in his
preaching, his prayers, and his ministrations can not be told. Many
very striking instances of physical healing which we have not space
to speak of attended his ministry; but that these pages may reveal,
if in no other light than the historical, that here is an example of
true consecration, devotion, courage, diligence, humility, faith,
patience, kindness, self-denial, and the Christian graces generally,
that is worthy of being followed, is the earnest hope of