Rev. Henry E. Dosker is pastor of Third Reformed Church, of Holland, Mich.,and was born in the Netherlands, near the city of Utrecht, February 5, 1855, ason of Rev. Nicholas H. Dosker, a minister of the Christian Reformed Church ofthat country. In 1873 he came to America as pastor of the Second Reformed Churchof Grand Rapids, which position he held for ten years thereafter, when he becamepastor of the First Reformed Church at Kalamazoo. While discharging his dutiesthere he was called from his labors, his death occurring in 1887. His wife wasWilhelmina De Ronde, a descendant of an old and prominent Huguenot family, andtheir union resulted in the birth of nine children, of whom the subject of thisketch was the third in order of birth, only three of the others now living. Rev.Nicholas H. Dosker was a very prominent church worker and he co-operated instrengthening a large number of churches of his denomination throughout theState of Michigan which had run down in membership, his career in this workbeing one of uninterrupted success. His widow survives him and is living atGrand Rapids.

Rev. Henry E. Dosker received his early education in the gymnasium at Zwolle,Holland, from which well-known institution of learning he graduated in 1873.Immediately after finishing his education he came to America, and resided for atime at Grand Rapids, Mich., after which he continued to pursue the paths oflearning at Hope College, and from this institution he was also graduated, in1876. When he came to this country he could not speak a word of English, but hewas quick and intelligent, and was soon able to make himself understood in thatmost difficult of languages. After finishing his literary studies in HopeCollege, he began the study of theology in that institution, and later in theReformed Seminary, at New Brunswick, N.J. In April, 1879, he graduated fromMcCormick Seminary, a Presbyterian institution, after which he traveled inEurope for about six months. Upon his return he located at Ebenezer, Mich., aspastor of the Reformed Church, which position he filled from 1879 untilFebruary, 1882, when he was called to the First Reformed Church at Grand Haven,of which he remained pastor until August, 1886. He then became Professor ofHistorical Theology at the Western Seminary of the Reformed Church of America,at Holland, Mich. In 1888 he made a second tour through Europe, travelingthoroughly over the Netherlands and Germany, but gladly returned to his adoptedcountry in 1889, and soon after accepted the position of pastor of the churchwith which he is at present connected. His labors in the vineyard of his Materhave been earnest, conscientious and energetic, and he has succeeded inincreasing the membership of his congregation until it now has about two hundredand sixty members. The church is a handsome, convenient and well-constructedbuilding, an ornament to the city, and is furnished with the fines pipe organ inthe county.

Rev. Mr. Dosker was first married September 19, 1879, to Miss Frances L., adaughter of Henry Doorninck. She was born in Grand Rapids, and died on the 31^stof May, 1880, and on the 21^st of February, 1882, Rev. Mr. Dosker tookfor his second wife, Miss Minnie, a daughter of D. Doorninck, a cousin of hisfirst wife. She was born in Milwaukee, Wis., and has borne her husband threechildren: Emelia O., Nicholas H. and Richard J. Rev. Mr. Dosker is a man ofrefined tastes, very highly cultivated, and is quite a gifted writer. He hascontributed to papers, magazines, etc. His chief literary work is a biography ofDr. A. C. Van Raalte, the founder of the Dutch settlement in Michigan. Oursubject is the clerk of the Council of Hope College, in the welfare of which heis deeply interested. He has ministered to the spiritual wants of his fellow-menfor the past fourteen years, and his career has been ever honorable and upright.During this time his name has been inseparably linked with the religious historyof Michigan, whose annals bear testimony to the integrity of his character andthe brilliancy of his mental powers. He is a man of strong will, clearconceptions, generous impulses, and scrupulously mindful of the rights ofothers. His life has been singularly pure, and all his acts are stronglycharacteristic of good, sound sense. His sermons are terse in style, firm indiction, logical in thought, and yet free from all ostentatious display, beingfilled with Biblical citation, historic references and earnest, religiouspathos. He is a diligent student and a ripe scholar, and the world is decidedlybetter for his having lived in it.