Introduction

Biography

Lucy was the daugh­ter of Ri­chard Dun­ning Rid­er and Cla­ra Jane Child, and wife of Me­thod­ist Epis­co­pal min­is­ter Jo­si­ah Shel­ly Mey­er.

She taught high school in Bran­don, Ver­mont, and in a school for freed­men at Greens­bo­ro, North Ca­ro­li­na. She then be­came prin­ci­pal of the Troy (Me­thod­ist) Con­fer­ence Aca­de­my in Poul­tney, Ver­mont, and a chem­istry pro­fes­sor at McKen­dree Col­lege, Le­ba­non, Il­li­nois.

She and her hus­band op­ened the Chi­ca­go Train­ing School for Ci­ty, Home and For­eign Mis­sions, where she was prin­ci­pal (1885–1917). This school was one of the pro­gen­i­tors of the Gar­rett-Ev­an­ge­li­cal The­o­lo­gic­al Se­mi­na­ry.

In 1886, she found­ed the Mes­sage pe­ri­od­i­cal (lat­er re­named the Dea­con­ess Ad­vo­cate), ed­it­ing it un­til 1914. In 1908, she formed the Me­thod­ist Dea­con­ess As­so­cia­tion.

Works

• Deaconesses: Bib­li­cal, Ear­ly Church, Eu­ro­pe­an, Am­er­ican, 1889
• Everybody’s Gos­pel Songs (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Chi­ca­go Train­ing School of Mis­sions)
• Sundays and Week­days with the Child­ren, with Vir­gin­ia Kent (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Re­vell, 1902)
• Mary North; a No­vel (New York: Flem­ing H. Re­vell, cir­ca 1903)