A Southern Methodist minister, Oscar Penn Fitzgerald (1829-1911) of North Carolina was sent to California as a missionary by his denomination in 1855. He remained for more than twenty years, winning appointment as state superintendent of public education in 1867 despite his pro-Southern position during the Civil War. In the late 1870s, Fitzgerald returned to the East, editing the Nashville Christian Advocate, 1878-1890, and accepting appointment as a Southern Methodist bishop. California sketches: New series (1881) is the second installment of his reminiscences, again focusing on his Southern Methodist ministry in California, 1855-1880. Topics include his pastorate in Sonora, clergy in California, rivalry with Northern Methodists, and the Pacific Methodist Advocate