Bio of WILEY, Samuel Wirt (b.1878), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical

Vol II, pg 771-772
S. WIRT WILEY (Samuel Wirt Wiley)
S. Wirt Wiley has made a splendid record as general secretary of the Young Men's
Christian Association in Minneapolis through the past seventeen years. He was
born near Peoria, Illinois, on the 6th of May, 1878, being the only child of
William and Leannah (Patton) Wiley, both of whom are deceased. The father
followed the occupation of farming throughout his active life.
In the acquirement of an education S. Wirt Wiley attended the common schools of
his native state and subsequently entered Monmouth College, a United
Presbyterian institution of Monmouth, Illinois, from which he was graduated as a
member of the class of 1901. In the following year Yale University conferred
upon him the degree of A. M. He then occupied a Y. M. C. A. secretaryship in
Chicago for nearly three years and afterward spent a year in European travel and
study. It was in July, 1906, that he came to Minneapolis as general secretary of
the Y. M. C. A., which position he has filled most acceptably to the present
time. On his arrival here the organization owned one old building on Tenth
street and had a membership not to exceed twelve or fifteen hundred. There are
now seven branches throughout the city with an enrollment of thirty-two
thousand. The present buildings on Ninth street and LaSalle avenue were erected
at a cost of one million dollars, while the structure at Fifteenth street and
University avenue represents an investment of one hundred and forty thousand
dollars. Plans for the erection of four other buildings have been made and sites
therefor have been obtained. An endowment of one-quarter million dollars has
been secured. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the organization is its
"community policy" for the active cooperation of five fundamental agencies-home,
church, school, municipality and business and industrial enterprises-to the end
that resources may be mobilized in the interests of boys and young men to such
an extent that all may have an opportunity to develop physically, mentally and
spiritually. Another important feature is the large use of school equipment at
night which otherwise would be unused. This policy has been widely adopted in
the main not only throughout the cities of the United States but also in Europe
and to an increasing extent in Japan, China and South America. Mr. Wiley served
as president of the International Employed Officers (Secretaries) from 1918
until 1921. In the latter year he was sent to South America by the international
committee to assist in working out a building program for the larger cities of
Brazil and Uruguay and to help devise and establish a continental system of
professional training for Y. M. C. A. secretaries.
In 1903 Mr. Wiley was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Oliver, a native of
Toulon, Illinois, and a daughter of Henry H. Oliver, farmer and stockman. Mr.
Wiley supports the republican party where national questions and issues are
involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. His religious faith
is indicated by his membership in the Westminster Presbyterian church and he is
likewise identified with the Athletic Club, the Rotary Club and the Six O'clock
Club.