DePauw University) in Greencastle, Indiana, remaining until 1848. The Rev. Simpson was then elected editor of the Western Christian Advocate, which he made a strong temperance and anti-slavery organ, from 1848 to 1852. The Rev. Dr. Matthew Simpson was elected to the episcopacy of his denomination by the M.E. General Conference, May 1852. In discharging his duties, Bishop Simpson visited and presided over conferences in all of the states encompassing the M.E. Church as well as most of the related U.S. Territories. He was sent by the General Conference as a delegate to the Irish and British Wesleyan (i.e., Methodist) Conferences in 1857, as well as to the Evangelical Alliance in Berlin the same year. He traveled with John McClintock. From Berlin, Bishop Simpson extended his travels through Turkey, the Holy Land, Egypt, and Greece, returning to the United States in 1858. In 1859, Bishop Simpson changed his residence from Pittsburgh to Evanston, Illinois, where he accepted the position of president of the Garrett Biblical Institute (now, Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary). In 1868 he became a Trustee of Drew Theological Seminary (today Drew University), the new Methodist seminary in Madison, NJ, and served as president of its board from 1877 to 1880. American Civil War Before the Civil War, debates over slavery were highly contentious among Northern Methodists, but Simpson did not take sides, playing instead a moderate and cautious role. With the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, he became a staunch champion of the Union and helped his denomination take a leading role in providing chaplains, volunteers and civilian support for the war effort. Simpson became a trusted friend of President Abraham Lincoln, who considered his advice of great value. He attended the family at Lincoln's death and gave the sermon at his funeral in Springfield. During the War, Bishop Simpson delivered a number of speeches in behalf of the Union. He was urged by the Secretary of War to undertake the organization of the freedmen at the establishment of the Freedman's Bureau. After the war, Bishop Simpson was invited by President Grant to go as a commissioner to San Domingo but he declined both offers. More foreign travel In 1870, at the death of Bishop Kingsley, Bishop Simpson again visited Europe to complete the work which had been assigned to him on the continent. He also went as a delegate again to the English Wesleyan Conference.