Skip to main content

Full text of "Baptist biography"

See other formats 


Google 



This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project 

to make the world's books discoverable online. 

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject 

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books 

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover. 

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the 

publisher to a library and finally to you. 

Usage guidelines 

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the 
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to 
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. 
We also ask that you: 

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for 
personal, non-commercial purposes. 

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine 
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the 
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help. 

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find 
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it. 

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just 
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other 
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of 
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner 
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe. 

About Google Book Search 

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers 
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web 

at |http: //books .google .com/I 



i 



k 







^.-- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



VOLUME II. 



EDITED BY 

B. J. W. GRAHAM, D. D. 



INDEX PRINTING COMPANY, Publishers 
ATLANTA, GA. 






' , - , , - ^ - 



■ ' J V. s. • , 



• \ • 



PubIiCLIBRAR'i 

I. i>...:4A 






ASTOR, LEN^X ANB 

TlLDiN FO'.MDATIONS 

1^ iWkX L 



Copyright, 1920, By 
B. J. W. GRAHAM. 






• 1 



fc" • . 






^ 



To the faithful servants of Jesus Christ who 
have been inspired to higher ideals and to 
nobler purposes by the examples of their 
fathers and of their contemporaries , this the 
second volume of Baptist Biography is most 
affectionately dedicated. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Volume I, 

Al-I-EN. W. C 1 

Arxoi.d. W. W 5 

Bailey, T. J 8 

Barton, L. E 12 

Barton, W. J 16 

Beck, T. J 20 

Bell. J. A 24 

Bernard. II. R 26 

BiriNs, R. L 30 

Black, J. G 32 

Brewton, J. C 36 

Bristow, L. J 40 

Brittain, M. L 43 

Bhoi'ghton, L. G 45 

BlCKNER, B. C 50 

Btrrows, Lansing 53 

Bi-ssEY, A. W 57 

Callaway, T. P 60 

Callaway, T. W 63 

Clary, Amos 66 

CoiLE, W. Jl 71 

Coin. J. II 74 

Collier, B. W 79 

CoorER, L. A gl 

Crawford, P. F 85 

Cree, a. C 87 

Creighton J. H 92 

CiiMBEB, R. A. J 94 

Cutts, W. L 9g 

CtTTTS. W. Lee lOi 

Daniei., C. W . . 10:i 

Davidson, A. C lOjj 



Davis, C. A. 



118 



(▼) 



Dawson, J. SI ^1' 

Dawson, L. ^21 

DlLWORTH, C. G 



DODD, J. M. 



129 



DowuNQ, W. H 132 



Elgin, 



136 



FjRB, W. E 1*> 

Faust, W. H ''*^ 

Forrester. E. J 1"*^ 

Fort, Allen lo2 

Fowler, C. L l'*5 

Frier, 0. J 158 

Fulton, J. E 161 

Graham, B. J. W 163 

Gray, B. D 169 

Gray, Claude 1'^ 

Grime, J. H 1'8 

Groner, F. S 182 

Hampton, J. E 186 

Hanks, R. T 189 

Hardaway. J. S 193 

HOOAN, W. A 197 

Holt, A. J 201 

Hi:bbabd, W. H 205 

Hudson, J. E 207 

Hunt. J. G 211 

IvEY, W. 213 

Jameson, S. Y 216 

Jenkins, M. A 221 

Jenkins. J. W. E 225 

Jones, H. S 227 

Jones, T. J 232 

Keese, W. S 235 

Key, D. W. 238 

Landrum, W. W 242 

Lawrence, J. B 245 

LmDSEY. S. P 248 

Long, J. M 252 

Lyon, E. F 255 

<«) 



MuLLiNS, E. Y 259 

Murray, J. S 268 

McCall, H. S 272 

MCCONNELL, F. C 274 

NowLiN, W. D 278 

O'Kelley, a. F 283 

Owens, C. A 286 

PiRKEY, R. J 289 

Porter, H. A 291 

Reeves, W. C 296 

Rich, W. H 300 

Robertson, A. T 303 

Sammons, J. E 308 

Sampey, J. R 310 

Sanders, F. 316 

Settle, J. S 321 

Sims, Lamar 323 

Solomon, J. C 326 

Stone, E. W 329 

Tribble, R. H 333 

Upsiiaw, W. D 335 

Vickery, E. B 338 

Wade, 0. J 340 

Walker, I. R 345 

Warren, L. B 348 

Weaver, R. W 351 

WiiiLiAMS, J. T 355 

Wilson, J. G 358 

WiNBURN, H. L 360 

Volume II. 

AlRHART, D. P 1 

Amis, F. J 5 

Andrews, M. T 8 

Ball, Fleetwood 12 

Ballard, Levi 15 

Blasinoame, W. L 19 

Bolton, R. L 22 

Bond, Albert B . 25 

(vll) 



Brantley, A. L 29 

Briggs, John E 32 

Brown, II. A 36 

BlTSSEY, (J. W 41 

Carroll, J. M 45 

C^vRSON, C. A 49 

Carswell, J. H 52 

Catts, Sidney J 54 

Chamlee, Aqfila 58 

CoRB, Andrew J 64 

Coleman, Robert H 70 

Collins, E. C 73 

(bPASs, B. A 75 

CorsiNs, S. B., Sr 79 

Crouch, J. P 84 

Crumiton, W. B 87 

Davis, W. E 93 

DeWeese, R. D 97 

DoDi), F. J 101 

DoDD, T. E 105 

Drewry, N. B 107 

Eager, Geo. B 114 

Freeman, A. D 117 

Garner, G. W 122 

GoTT, Sam P 125 

Hailey, 0. L 128 

Ham, John W 131 

Harrison, John G 134 

Hawkins, R. D 138 

Held, John A 141 

HoGE, B. Lacy 145 

Howard, W. J 148 

Hurt, John Jeter 151 

Jackson, J. L 155 

Jamison, A. T 159 

Johnson, A. J 163 

Jones, W. M 166 

Kendricks, Alexis D .170 

King, E. E 173 

(viil) 



Lemons, Robert L 178 

Mabry, W. W 183 

Maiian, a. F 186 

Marsh, Robert T 189 

^Iassky, M. n 194 

Minor, Carl W 197 

MOXCRIEF, A. J 201 

MoxcRiEF, A. L 205 

MOXCRIKK, I). M 211 

:Moncriek, O. T 214 

Moore, IIight C 218 

Morgan, A. J 222 

Morris, A. N 224 

Morris, C. C 228 

:McCau., J. G 231 

McCrTciiEN, T. E 235 

McNew, George J 240 

O'Kelley, T. W 244 

Orr, I. N 248 

Parks, Wade H 252 

Phillips, J. B 255 

PicKARi), W. L 258 

Potter, Andrew 261 

Potts, Thos. S 266 

Porter, J. W 269 

Ray, S. 0. Y 273 

Ray, T. B 281 

Reaves, Edw. S 288 

Rees, II. S 293 

Robertson, B. P 296 

Robinson, R. L 30o 

Roop, W. W 302 

RouTn, E. C 305 

ScoGGiNs, T. S 307 

SniPMAN, T. J 321 

SiMMs, Jno. D 32Y 

Snead, a. K 320 

Steed, Geo. C 323 

Talley, T. Joe 326 

(ix) 



TiDWELL, J. B 329 

Vaughan, a. B 333 

Walker, B. S 337 

Walker, Clifford M 340 

Walker, W. S 344 

Ware, J. B 348 

We.vr, Wallace 351 

Wea\'er. M. E. . 356 

Wheeler, ^I. F 359 

WiLLLvMS, n. W 364 

WlLLL\MS. SiDXEY J 367 

WiLLINGHAAI. E. 6 371 

Wright, E. F 377 



it) 



PREFACE 



Volume 1 of Baptist Biography was prepared aiid published in 
1917. It was expected that the entire set of four volumes would 
be out by the latter part of 1920. The war, however, greatly inter- 
fered with the work. It was difficult to get the sketches of Volume 
2 prepared, and when this was done, paper of the quality of the 
first volume could not be secured on account of the ruling of 
the War Boaid. After this ruling was set aside and the paper was 
put in stock, scarcity of labor caused further delay. 

In this volume, as in the first, the sketches have not been pre- 
pared by the subjects. In every case they have been wTitten by 
those who knew the subjects intimately, and what has been said 
of them i.s trut? to their characters and lives. Not a man whose 
sketch appears asked the privilege of furnishing data concerning 
his life and work for publication in this volume. This was also 
true of the first volume. Every one of them was asked, and most 
of them repeatedly, to furnish data from which a brief biography 
might l)e written. 

The original plan of publishing four volumes will be carried out, 
but it will require more time than was contemplated at the outset. 
It is h()|K*(l that this work will continue through the years and that 
many volumes will be published. The volume published in 1881 
is in greater demand now than at any time since it came from the 
press. It is out of print and should be republished at an early 
date. It contains much valuable historic and biographical infor- 
mation that should have wide circulation. 

Interest in biography will increase with the years. This, with 
the good it w^ill do, makes the effort to secure the co-operation of 
the brotherhood and to gather the material worth while. The 
expense of the publication of these volumes has more than doubled, 
due to the high cost of materials and labor, but these difficulties 
will not be allowed to interfere. 

It is hoped that this and Volume 1 will inspire those into 
whose hands they fall to higher ideals, to nobler purposes and to 
greater achievements as ministers and laymen. 

The Editob. 
(xl) 



INTRODUCTION 



The Baptist interpretation of Christianity places the empliasis 
primarily upon spirituality. The vital jwwer of the Christian 
religion is manifest during any period through the characters of 
the men and women in whose lives there is regnant the spirit of 
the living Clirist. The true history of Christianity is to he found 
not in the numerical progress of the denominations, not in the 
events which church history records, not in the formulation or the 
development of doctrine, but in the spiritual ex[)eriences of the 
faithful whose lives are dedicated to the establishing of the King- 
dom of God on earth. There is therefore no pha^^e of religious 
literature more valuable, or possessing when rightly written greater 
inspiration than the biographies of consecrated Christian men 
and women. 

The emphasis which Baptists place upon domocracy creates a 
certain reluctance on the part of our people to recognize and to 
appreciate our denominational leaders. This reluctance rests upon 
a fundamental truth which we recognize and emphasize : the saint- 
liest among us is a sinner saved by grace, and the achievements 
which accompany a Christlike character are to be attributed to the 
favor of God rather than to anything which the individual him- 
self is capable of doing. Our democracy does not lend itself to 
the creation of ecclesiastical officials to whom we give reverence 
and deep appreciation. We all stand together upon the level of 
a common need, and we all are what we are by the grace of God. 

The Master taught us that greatness was to be measured in 
terms of service. The development of Southern Baptists has been 
one of the marvels in religious history. Seeley says in his "Expan- 
sion of the British Empire," "It grew in a fit of absence of 
thought.'- There was neither purpose nor plan nor program. 
The same may be said of the development of Southern Baptists. 
No missionaries were sent to us; no organizations existed in the 
early days save the little companies of local believers. Associa- 
tions of churches later were formed. The leading purpose of these 
great assemblies was the hearing of the preaching of the gospel. 

(xiil) 



There also were conferences of the messengers to consider the state 
of religion in all the churches represented. 

The foreign mission enterprise brought into the South a man 
who has not received the appreciation that his work merits, Luther 
Rice, the colleague of Adoniram Judson. In order that foreign 
missions might be adequately supported he, with statesman-like 
vision, led in the establishing of schools and colleges, state conven- 
tions and boards, religious monthlies and weeklies, among the latter 
the Christian Index. 

The success of the movement thus inaugurated was due not to 
Luther Kice, but to the hundreds of pioneer Baptist preachers, 
many of thoni with scanty education but wise in the interpretation 
of the Scriptures, who gave themselves to the work of the Master 
unstintedly, and who thus laid the foundation of the greatest 
spiritual dtniocracry on earth today which we call ''The Southern 
Baptist Convention." 

The development of Southern Baptists can be accounted for 
onlv when we take within our survev the racial inheritance of 
our Southern people. Various strains of blood mingle, but the 
predominant strain is the Scotch-Irish. During the early part of 
the eighteenth century there was living in the North of Ireland 
a large body of Scotch people who had immigrated there a short 
time before. They were Presbyterians in their form of government, 
Calvinistic in their theology, evangelical in faith, and constant and 
earnest students of the Bible. John Fiske calls attention to the 
fact that during this period there was less illiteracy in this section 
of Ireland than anywhere else in all the world. Between 1730 and 
1770 practically half of these ]x»ople, fully five hundred thousand, 
emigrated to America. They landed at Northern ports and 
journeyed Southward. They streamed through the valley of Vir- 
ginia into Piedmont Carolina and spread Southward and Westward. 
Thev offered ten vears before the American Revolution the first 
resistance on this continent against the English oppression. Where 
ever settlements were formed, the Presbyterian church was erected 
and a schoolhouse close by. 

The Great Awakening aroused the consciences of the peoj)le 
and no small number of Presbyterians and Congregational ists ac- 
cepted Baptist principles and teachings. The people on the 

(xlv) 



frontiers with only the Bible to guide them, spontaneously in 
obedience to its teachings accepted the Baptist interpretation of 
Christianity. The spirit of Gk)d not only inspired revival move- 
ments that swept colony after colony, but also called into the 
ministry men of native ability and of manifold gifts. From this 
movement there sprang a generation of preachers who walked with 
God. Fortunately for us who live in Georgia, there is extant a 
rare old book, "The History of Georgia Baptists" with a bio- 
graphical compendium giving us sketches and emphasizing the 
religious experiences of our Baptist fathers. This work should bb 
reprinted and a copy placed in the hands of every Baptist family 
in the State. 

The service which is hemg rendered by the publication of "Bap- 
tist Biography" of which this is the second volume, cannot be 
too highly regarded. The work will be valuable as a source book 
in the hands of the future historians of Southern Baptists. It is 
of interest to everyone who wishes to become acquainted with our 
present day leadership. The sketches possess considerable literary 
worth and contain many delightful and instructive personal in- 
cidents. Young men, especially those who are planning to entei 
upon religious work, will find here guidance and inspiration. 

However, these do not indicate the chief value of such a book. 
This is to be found in the revelation that is given of God, moving 
by His Spirit upon the lives of men who are now living and active 
in His service. Each biographical sketch is a new story of divine 
grace. Each record furnishes new truth of the power of the gospel 
to save. Each personality was made ready for his task by an 
experience of God. Spirituality is the outstanding fact that these 
various biographies emphasize. 

No facts are so valuable as these which show that God is still 
revealing Himself to men and therefore the repeated proofs of 
the presence of the Spirit of God in the lives of men is the evidence 
which Christianity most needs. As Henry Drummond used to say 
"Tlie evidence of Christianity is not the Evidences; the evidence of 
Christianitv is a Christian." This book is rich in the evidence 
which proves the power of the gospel unto salvation, and the effect 
of the acceptance of the gospel to be sacrificial service for the sake 
of Jesus Christ. 

Bupus W. Weaver, D.D., LL.D., Macon, Ga. 

(XV) 



D. P. AIHHART. 




While not a native of the Lone Star 
state, Rev. D. P. Airhart is really a 
Tesas preacher. Born in Cleveland, 
Tenneasee, on September 10, 1849, he 
went to Texas in 1850. He is now in 
his sixty-eighth year. Hie childhood 
and yoiitb were spent on the farm and 
ranch. The War between the States 
so upset educational imtitutionB in the 
South that the subject of this sketch 
was deprived of the advantages of a 
high school and college education. But 
being a man of exceptional native ability, poaaessing a mind of 
extraordinary capacity for concentration and adaption, he has by 
the rough route of experience amassed a stock of knowledge and 
information that splendidly equip him for the duties of the pastor. 
His parents, Henry R. and Nancy J. Airhart, moved to Texas 
when our subject was quite young. The hardships and privations 
incident to frontier life fitted him for the privations and disap- 
pointments that come to the average preacher. 

It can truthfully be said of him that he never sought an easy 
place. Hard work has always made an appeal to him, and to be 
invited to pastor a "down and out" church, so to speak, has always 
had a strong attraction for him. His delight seems to have ever 
been to go to a place where the cause that lay so close to his heart 
was languishing, and to throw himself, with all his energy and all 
his soul into the work of building up. Many South Texas churches 
can date their real vision, their first real uplift to the period of 
iSr. Airhart's pastorate. He comes as near filling the ofGce of 
pastor-evangelist as any man who ever labored in South Texai. 
He was not satisfied to do ordinary pastoral work through fifty 
weeks of the year and have a revival season for the other two weeks. 
With him the revival season was on nearly all the time. 

Ifo great amount of his time is spent in "nursing" those 
already saved. His time is spent in efforts to win the lost. He 



2 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

puts in more hours a day in seeking out the lost^ in going into 
their homes, in giving Bible readings to them, in praying with 
and for them in their homes, in urging upon them the acceptance 
of Jesus as a personal Savior, than mos^ men put in at their usual 
callings. It is the exception, rather than the rule, that some one 
does not make a profession and seek church membership at some 
of the Sunday services. With Mr. Airhart, the mere profession 
of conversion does not satisfy. He urges and insists that the new 
convert shall join the church and join now. He does not encour- 
age waiting to attend to this important matter. Furthermore he does 
not invite the convert to joint "the church of your choice.*' He asks 
him, he insists that he join the Baptist church. He always has 
his Bible at hand and proceeds to prove from the Old Book that 
the Baptist church is the proper church to join and that to join 
any other is to fail to live up to one's full duty and privilege. 

While he preaches the Evangel with great earnestness, he no 
less emphasizes the doctrines of his church. His first purpose is 
to lead the lost to accept Jesus. His next purpose is to trouble 
the baptismal waters. While he would not in an offensive sense 
intiTide himself upon •thers, yet if a member of some other organi- 
zation should express a desire to have more light thrown on some 
point of doctrine Mr. Airhart rejoices to take the Book and show 
from its pages what he conceives to be the right way. Should this 
procedure result in again troubling the baptismal waters the 
preacher in the case is not the least bit sorr\'. 

He is bold to declare the whole counsel of God, as he under- 
stands it, never shirking for fear of wounding some one's feelings. 
He never makes a statement about doctrine that he does not prove 
from the Scriptures. He preaches a full gospel. He is not much 
given to union meetings. He is a man of boundless energy and 
works all the time up to the full limit of his strength. In his 
pastorates, he always finds plenty of work to do, and he does it. 
Still he frequently accepts invitations to hold meetings in other 
communities, where his zeal,- his earnestness, his evangelistic fire 
and his untiring energy have enabled him to do a wonderful work. 
The dread expressed in the song, of going empty handed, has no 
terrors for him. If measured by real accomplishments and 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 8 

achievemeiits there will be many stars in his crown in the Great 
Day. 

Mr. Airhart enterea the active ministry rather late in life. He 
was converted at the age of twenty-three, but continued in secular 
business until 1888. From 1881 until he entered the ministry he 
was engaged in merchandising. During these years he took ad- 
vantage of opportunities to teach music^ both vocal and instru- 
mental. As a musician he has imusual talent and no doubt his 
ability to sing the gospel has aided largely in his success as a soul 
winner. He is the author of several splendid song books, among 
which are "Song Gem^* and "Awakening Melodies/' and he is a 
joint author of "Soul Songs.*' Some seven of the earlier years 
of his ministerial activities he was engaged exclusively in evangel- 
istic work. During most of this period he was associated with the 
lamented M. S. Kerby. Mr. Kerby himself being a musician of 
no mean ability, they formed an admirable team for the Master's 
work. Their vocal duets were a feature of their services and with 
their splendid voices and capacity for interpreting musical selec- 
tions there were not many audiences that were not stirred to the 
depths by their soulful singing. Thousands of Central and South 
Texas people have been literally sung into the kingdom by these 
two consecrated servants of the King. He has baptised more than 
4,000 persons. 

The pastorates held by Mr. Airhart include Prairie Springs, 
Jewett, Buffalo, Marquez, Oakwoods, Heidenheimer, Rogers, 
Bosebud, Austin Second Street church, Yoakum, Lampasas, Runge, 
Devine, Alvin, Houston, Bishop Street, Kerrville, EI Campo and, 
at present, Alice, all of which are in Texas. He also served Colo- 
rado Association as missionary for two years. Since entering the 
active ministry his entire time and energy has been given to the 
work. He has not stepped aside for any other enterprises whatso- 
ever. 

He was ordained at McDade, Bastrop county, Texas, on August 
30, 1888. The presbytery consisted of Messrs. Thomas Morrall, 
P. M. Fleming, Dr. W. A. Jarrall and J. W. Gillespie. 

Mr. Airhart is a constructive pastor. He is a builder. He is 
as near the ideal, when it comes to unselfishness, as any man caa 



4 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

be. His own interests are always subordinated to the interests of 
the Master's kingdom. Should opposition to him develop in any 
of his pastorates, that opposition never attains much magnitude. 
He simply gets out and leaves the place for some one else to fill. 
Nor does he wait until another good opening shows up for himself. 
He simply trusts Grod implicitly for a place and through these 
nearly thirty years of active preacher life he has never been idle 
except because of physical breakdowns on one or two occasions. 
He believes implicitly in the direction of God's Spirit in calls to 
pastorates. This writer happens to know one occasion where out of 
a vote of more than forty, one vote was recorded as against Mr. 
Airhart. It took a lot of persuasion to get him to accept the call, 
since he took the position that if God^s Spirit was directing the 
call it would have been unanimous. 

Mr. Airhart has always been a fighter for civic righteousness 
and against the liquor traffic. On this account he cannot always 
claim the warm friendship of every citizen of the community in 
which he lives. He is against evil of all kinds and is not content 
to merely be against it. He works against and fights against it. 
In these efforts he necessarily has to "rough it up" with the friends 
of the Wicked One and of course incurs their displeasure. But 
that does not deter him from his course. He makes no compro- 
mises with sin, whether among his amen comer brethren or in the 
downtown dives. He fights it open-handed and makes no apolo- 
gies for his fight. If he happens to antagonize people with whom 
he works he does not apologize, but stands his ground. 

As stated previously in this sketch, Mr. Airhart was denied the 
advantages of school and college training in his boyhood and young 
manhood, but spent two years of his early ministerial life in the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louisville Kentucky. 
The training he received there, coupled with his unusual native 
ability, has made of him a preacher of righteousness of marked 
success. Many who have had far superior opportunities and far 
superior equipment can not show more favorable results than he. 

He is loyal to his denomination to the limit. No enterprise 
fostered by Southern Baptists is so unimportant or so insignificant 
as to be ignored by him. Any church he pastors will have ample 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 6 

opportnnity to contribute to the support of all the miseionary, 
educational and benevolent enterprises that our State and Southern 
Baptist Conventions project. 

Mr. Airhart is nearing the three score years and ten. Accord- 
ing to nature's laws his work is nearly done. While in both body 
and mind he is still strong and vigorous, yet it mnst not be ex- 
pected that he shall be able to do active work much longer. But 
with his unstinted faith, with his life well filled with good works, 
we doubt not that when thu time comes he will step into the chilly 
waters, serene and unafraid. And if 'twere left with the hundred 
thousand and more Texas Baptists with whom he has lived and 
labored to pronounce the verdict it would be "Well done good and 
faithful servant." Nor do we doubt that the Sovereign Arbiter 
of heaven and earth will, at the final summons, pass this judgment 
npon this consecrated brother who fights the good fight and has 
kept the faith. 



FRANKLIN J0SEPHU3 AMIS. 



Franklin Josephns Anua, son of 
William and Jane Pinson Amis, was 
bom November 3, 18S4, on hig father's 
white oak plantation in Coweta county, 
Georgia. In his early years he was a 
student in the Daniel Walker High 
School, Newnan, Georgia, and in the 
George Looney High School, Hogans- 
ville, Georgia, in which he was pre- 
pared to enter the Sophomore class of 
the ITniversity of Georgia, from whiidi 
he graduated in 1874. After leaving 
college he spent several years in teaching school and in the manu- 
facture of shingles. For two years he was president of Bowdon 
C<dlege, Bowdon, Georgia. He served with acceptance on the board 
of education of Coweta county, and for more than twenty years 
was a trustee of Welcome school, in Coweta county, which was lo- 
cated in the commonity in which he lived. 




6 BAPTIST BIOQKAPHY 

As a pupil he was ambitious^ and by close application to his 
work and by his considerate and respectful deportment he won the 
commendation of his instructors. From young manhood he was 
inspired with high ideals and with a purpose to prepare for a life 
of service and usefulness. As a teacher^ business man and preacher 
he has given expression to. these ideals and has won and main- 
tained the confidence and the esteem of all with whom he has come 
in contact. 

On December 22, 1881, Mr. Amis was united in marriage to 
Miss Fannie Stinson Pitmen, of Corinth, Heard county, Georgia, 
by Eev. Greorge W. Colquitt. This union resulted in the promotion 
of the mutual happiness of husband and wife, and to them have 
been born four sons, C. M., W. H., F. J. and T. B. Amis, and two 
daughters, Mary Pitman and Jane Pinson Amis. The mother of 
these children has been a mother in deed and in truth, and at the 
same time she has been an ideal wife for a country preacher. 

In the early Christian life of Mr. Amis he showed qualities of 
leadership, and the church of which he was member recognized 
that God had laid on him the obligation of preaching the gospeL 
Accordingly, in 1882, Mr. Amis was ordained to the full work of 
the gospel ministry in Whitesburg, Carroll county, (Jeorgia. The 
presbytery was composed of Revs. George W. Colquitt, W. W. Roop 
and J. W. Hood. The ordination sermon was preached by Rev. 
George W. Colquitt, from the text: "Preach the Word." 

The years which have followed that of his ordination have re- 
vealed that neither his church nor Mr. Amis was mistaken in 
recognizing that God had called him into the ministry. During 
all these years he has been a faithful preacher of the gospel, a tact- 
ful, sympathetic and successful pastor. His ministry has been con- 
fined, in the main, to Heard, Coweta, Carroll and Campbell coun- 
ties. Amonp: the churches which he has served as pastor in Heard 
county are Yellow Dirt, Enon, Bethel, Franklin, Glenlock and 
Corinth : churches in Coweta county of which he has been pastor 
are Elim, Providence, New Lebanon, New Hope, Grantville; 
churches served by him in Carroll county are Bowdon, Bethesda, 
Salem. Pleasant Grove and Tyus. He was also for a time pastor 
of Sardis church, in Campbell county. The terms of his service 



BAPTIST BIOQKAPHY 7 

88 pastor of churches have been from one to thirty years. He was 
pastor of Elim for more than thirty years and of Providence for 
eighteen years; Bethel, ten years; Franklin, ten years; New Hope, 
ten years; Yellow Dirt, seven years; Enon, five years. In many 
ways he ministered to the families of these churches. He baptized 
many of the fathers and mothers, and then in turn baptized and 
married their children and officiated at the funerals of fathers^ 
mothers and children. Few country pastors have been called into 
more homes where there was distress, that they might have comfort 
and counsel, than Mr. Amis, all of which is but an expression of 
the confidence and love in which he has been held as a minister 
of the gospel. 

From the time of his ordination as a minister he has lived and 
preached in the same section, with the exception of some two years, 
and all the people have reposed confidence in him and loved him 
because his preaching has been Scriptural, his spirit like that of 
Christ, and his life exemplary and blameless. His ministrations, 
public and private, have been an inspiration to holiness for the 
many whose good fortune it has been to listen to his gospel mes- 
sages and to note his humble, gentle, circumspect and Christlike 
walk and godly conversation. His theme has been and is now 
Christ and him crucified. He is not and never has been sensa- 
tional, but always thoughtful, forceful and sound to the core. He 
has emphasized in his preaching repentance toward Gk)d and faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and obedience as a manifestation of the 
presence of these Christian graces. He has always insisted that 
salvation is by grace, through faith, as the gift of Gk)d, and that 
good works were the sign of a new heart. While the pulpit eflforts 
of Mr. Amis have been thoughtful, instructive, strong and always 
in accord with the teachings of the Scriptures, they have been made 
more effective by his consecrated life. 

The influence of the humble life of Mr. Amis as a minister of 
the gospel^ like the sweep of the deep-flowing river, has been used 
of Gk)d to bring men and women to Christ and into the churches, 
and to mould their characters into the likeness of the divine pat- 
tern. Though modest to a fault, the uplifting power of his life 
can never be estimated by any human measurement and therefore 



1 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



irill never be known until on that final day when the Judge of all 
the earth shall sum up and disdoee the result. He has been and 
is serving his day and generation well by the will of God, and the 
people have given back to him, if not in money, yet in love, confi- 
dence and sympathy, good measure, pressed down, shaken together 
and running over. Though he has passed the meridian of life, and 
though the weight of years is beginning to press down upon him, 
he is still strong in body and mind and heart, and is in demand 
as the servant of the churches. 



MATTHEW THOMAS ANDEEWS. 




Eev. Matthew T. Andrews, D. D., 
pastor of the First Baptist church. 
Temple, Texas, was bom uear Lih- 
ei'ty, Amite county, Mississippi, His 
father, Thomas J. Andrews, was a man 
of culture and deep piety, and tixe An- 
drews family were among the earliest 
settlers in south Mississippi. His 
grandfather, Matthew Andrews, came 
from Fairfield district, South Carolina, 
and settled in Amite county, Mississ- 
ippi, in 1817. Both father and grand- 
father were members of the Ebenezer Baptist church, a church 
irbich celebrated its one hundreth anniversary in 1906. The 
father served the entire four years in tha Confederate army, and 
died, of injuries received in the war, a few weeks before Matthew 
T. Andrews was born. To him belongs, therefore, the distinction 
of never having seen his father. His mother, Margret E. Andrews, 
nee Rollins, was a woman of rare graces, descending from one 
of the first families that settled in north Louisiana. Several chil- 
dren were bom to the union, but all died in infancy except Mat- 
thew T. and one sister. 

The home in which young Andrews grew up was a home where 
the grace of southern hospitality reigned lavishly. More particn- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 9 

larly was it a home where ministers of the gospel were welcomed. 
He remembers to this day and can recall the names and faces of 
the patriarchs of God who crossed the threshold of the home when 
he was a small child. One incident among them stands out above 
the rest: Rev. S. A. Hayden, D. D., now of Dallas, Texas, had 
nnited his father and mother in marriage, and was a frequent 
visitor to the home. Dr. Hayden was then pastor of the old Eber- 
nezer church, where the Andrews family were members. Matthew 
T. was probably four or five years old, and had inherited from his 
mother the gift of song. At this early age he could sing by heart 
any of the hyms that were used in the services of the church where 
his mother attended. Dr. Hayden knew this, and when on one 
occasion the great country congregation failed in trying to sing 
"Pass Me Not, Gentle Savior,'' which was then a new song there, 
he walked back to where young Andrews was sitting by his mother, 
took him in his arms and carried him to the front and stood him 
on a table that sat near the pulpit, and had him lead the congrega- 
tion in singing that song. He remembers he did it, he knows not 
how well, but with less fear and trembling than he stands before 
a congregation now to preach. 

He grew up on the farm and had only the advantages of the 
country public schools until he was grown. At eighteen he en- 
tered the Gillsburg Collegiate Institute, in Amite county, and 
worked his way through that institution and Mississippi College, 
by teaching in the public schools during and after the college 
term. 

In 1887 he was married to Miss Theodosia Ernest Cook, also of 
Amite county, to whose fidelity and deep consecration much of his 
success in the ministry is due. 

His first pastorate was at Amite City, Louisiana, where he re- 
mained four years. Prom Amite City he went to Clinton, 
Louisiana, from which place, after two years, he came to Texas. 
In Louisiana, Dr. Andrews gained recognition among the leaders 
while yet a young man. He was elected recording secretary of the 
Louisiana Baptist Convention in 1894 and held the position until 
he came to Texas. Having developed early in his ministry strong 



10 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

eyangelistic gifts, he held meetings in the principal cities and towns 
in Louisiana. 

In 1898 he was called to the First Baptist church, Marshall, 
Texas. Here he had a successful pastorate of four years, paying 
off a large church debt and adding greatly to the membership and 
eflBciency of the church. In 1902 he accepted a call to the First 
Baptist church, Marlin, remaining there nearly six years. He was 
one year at the First church, Lampasas, in connection with the 
Texas Baptist Encampment at that place, and had largely to do 
with the purchase of the Hancock Park for the Baptists, one of 
the prettiest encampment spots in the Southwest. In 1909 he was 
elected by the Education Board of the Baptist Oeneral Convention 
of Texas to be its Field Secretary, but after one year went back 
to the pastorate, accepting a call to the First Baptist church, Den- 
ton. Here he remained two and one-half years, and was very popu- 
lar with the students of the two large State institutions located 
there. It is said that he preached to one of the largest sustained 
congregations of any man in the State. In 1912 he accepted an 
urgent call to the First Baptist church, Hillsboro, one of the 
largest and best churches in Texas. Here he remained seven years, 
until March 1919, when he accepted a hearty call to the First 
Baptist Church, Temple, Texas. He is happy in the esteem of this 
great church. He is much in demand for revival work in and out of 
the State. Perhaps the most remarkable meeting he ever held was 
at Baylor College, Belton, Texas, in 1909, when in an all-day meet- 
ing in the college chapel every unsaved student in the institution 
was converted. It is the outstanding experience in his and many 
a student's life. 

He was for several years, until the consolidation of the boards of 
Texas, a member of the Education Board of the Convention, and 
took a leading part in its activities. Since the consolidation he 
has been a member of the Executive Board, which handles all the 
work of the Convention. When Baylor University was in the field 
for $400,000 endowment, his church was requested by the trustees 
to release him temporarily, to assist in raising the money. The 
request was granted and he did the work successfully. He is also 
a trustee of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louis- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 11 

TiUe, Elentncky. In 1908 the Texas Woman's College conferred 
on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1919 
Howard Payne College, Brownwood, Texas, honored him with the 
same degree. 

Dr. L. B. Scarborough, of the Southwestern Baptist Theological 
Seminary at Fort Worth, in his introduction to a volume of ser- 
mons being prepared for publication by Dr. Andrews, says of him : 
''He is a stalwart man, true, loyal, successful, virile, every inch 
consecrated to the main matters. He is a preacher with a brain 
and a heart. He is a pastor with the soul of a shepherd. He is 
an evangelist winning men week by week in his own and in other 
fields. His sermons bristle with truth, pulsate with love, breathe 
with power, and in them all is the compassionate note. He loves 
lost men. He sounds no uncertain, no unsound notes. He speaks 
the truth in love. He exalts his Master. He seeks to win men, 
and winning them, sends them out and on to win others. His 
volume of sermons will bless where it goes, and it ought to go far.'' 

Dr. M. E. Hudson, of Marshall, in nominating Dr. Andrews for 
president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, for which 
oflBce he was defeated by the popular layman, Mr. M. H. Wolfe, 
of Dallas, said of him: "He has served on boards in this body for 
years, and in that capacity has demonstrated his ability for clear, 
constructive thinking, wise planning and able leadership. He has 
stood by the denominational program, leading his churches with a 
master hand into active sympathy and understanding of the world- 
wide ministry of the denomination. In the churches he has served, 
and where he now serves, his praise is on every lip, and the evi- 
dences of his constructive ability are on every hand. He is as 
modest as a maiden, seeks no notoriety, is wise in counsel, faithful 
in work, able in leadership, dean in life. He is, from head to foot, 
that 'noblest work of God — a man.' " 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 




FLEETWOOD JAMES BALL. 

PromiDfiiit among the pioneer Bap- 
tist preachers of Mississippi were Ber, 
Martin Ball and his brother, Ber. 
Lewis Ball. Rev. Martin Lewis Ball, 
son of ReT. Martin Ball, has for many 
years been a prominent figure in the 
State conventionB of Tennessee, Arkan- 
sas and MiseiBsippi. The wife of Rev. 
Martin Lewie Ball was Miss Lizzie Mc- 
Kay, and OQ March 16, 1876, was bom 
nnto tiiem a son, who waa given the 
name of Fleetwood James Ball, the 
subject of this sketch. The birthplace of Fleetwood James Ball 
was Cherry Creek, Pontotoc county, Mississippi, where he spent 
the first three months of his life. With his parents he removed to 
South Carolina and thence to Fayetteville, Arkansas, thence to 
Jonesboro, Arkansas, then to Fulton, Kentucky, and thence to 
Paris, Tennessee, 

The early education of Mr. Ball began under the teaching of his 
mother, a skillful and gifted instructor. His first attendance upon 
the public schools was in Jonesboro, Arkansas. When prepared 
for college he entered Ouachita College, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, 
where he spent one year, after which he entered the Southwestern 
Baptist University, at Jackson, Tennessee, from which he graduated 
with the B. S. degree in 1896, taking the C. H. Strickland first- 
honor medal for oratory on the day of bis graduation. From 1896 
to 1901 he devoted his time to the preaching of the gospel. In 
1901 he entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at 
Louisville, Kentucky, in which he took the English course. 

Mr. Ball was converted at the early age of ihirteen, and united 
with the Baptist church at Jonesboro, Arkansas, of which his 
father was pastor. But he was baptized by Rev. M. D. Early. 
While a student in the Soathwestem Baptist TTniversity at Jack- 
son, Tennessee, Mr. Ball yielded to a call of God to preach the gos- 
pel and was licensed by the First Baptist church, of Jactmon, on 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 13 

October 5, 1892. Two years later, July, 1894, he was ordained to 
the full work of the gospel miniBtry by the church at Paris, Ten- 
nessee. The presbytery was composed of Dr. G. M. Savage, Revs. 
S. C. Heame, Asa Cox, W. J. Beale, N. S. Castleberry and his 
father. Rev. Martin L. Ball. He preached his first sermon in 
June, 1893, at Liberty church, near Fulton, Kentucky. 

The first pastorate of Mr. Ball was at Friendship church, Henry 
county, Tennessee, upon which he entered the second Sunday in 
March, 1894. This relationship was sustained nine years. He has 
also served Henry, Denmark, Malesus, Cottage Grove (twelve 
years), Erin, Union Academy, Mt. Nebo, Wildersville, Huntingdon, 
Parsons, Perryville and Decaturville churches during the twenty- 
five years of his ministry, preaching at each church only once a 
month, and to some of them in the afternoon of the day he preached 
elsewhere in the morning. His present pastorate, 1918, is the First 
church, Lexington, Tennessee, with which he has been laboring 
since December, 1902, a period of seventeen years. Under his leader- 
ship this church has developed in many ways. For the past five 
years it has maintained full time preaching. 

As an evidence of the success of Mr. Ball as preacher and pas- 
tor, every church he has served has enjoyed a large increase in 
membership and in gifts to missions and benevolence. It was his 
delight to lead the congregations at Cottage Grove, Perryville and 
Lexington in the erection of new houses of worship. Although 
many flattering calls have come to him to fields in the cities and 
places of larger worldly renown, Mr. Ball has pelded to the im- 
pression to labor in fields of less note but offering equally as good 
opportunities for the uplift of humanity and the saving of souls. 

Mr. Ball is a strong preacher of the old-fashioned gospel of 
Jesus Christ. For twenty-five years, in connection with his pas- 
torates, he has spent much time in evangelistic work, in which he 
has been greatly blessed. In the evangelistic field he has labored 
principally in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas 
and Mississippi. In connection with the meetings he has conducted 
there have been conversions and additions to the churches running 
up into the thousands. 



14 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

On May 14^ 1907^ Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss Flos- 
sie Lee Melton, of Lexington, Tennessee. Their union has been 
fruitful in their mutual happiness and usefulness^ and the home 
irhich they have made has been blessed with four children, Mary 
Elizabeth, Flossie Melton, Lily McKay and Martha Josephine. Mrs. 
Ball possesses exceptional gifts for making an ideal wife for a 
Baptist preacher. She passed to heaven on Sunday night, Dec. 8, 
1919, five days after the birth of her last child. 

During the college days of Mr. Ball he chanced to get printers' 
ink on his fingers by serving as editor of the monthly college maga- 
zine. The Eatonian, That ink developed in him an insatiable de- 
sire for newspaper work, and he has been identified with that avoca- 
tion throughout his whole ministerial life. For several years he 
was joint editor with his father of the Baptist Reaper, published 
in Paris, Tennessee. Later he became corresponding editor of the 
Baptist and Reflector, of Nashville, Tennessee, which position he 
still holds. The contributions he makes to the columns of that 
publication every week are newsy and are read with interest. 

Mr. Ball has served his denomination in the capacity of mod- 
erator for several years of the Western District Association, and 
also moderator of Beech River Association, secretary of the West 
Tennessee Baptist Sunday School Convention for fifteen years, and 
recording and statistical secretary of the Tennessee Baptist Con- 
vention for many years. For nearly ten years he has been a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Mission Board of Tennessee. He is a general 
utility man in all the Baptist affairs of his State. Many alluring 
temptations have been offered him to enter the field of secular 
journalism, but the Baptist ministry has ever held the chief affec- 
tion of his heart and his most loyal support. He has been and 
still is much in demand for Bible Institute work, commencement 
sermons and addresses and for dedication and ordination sermons. 
He would be untrue to the spirit of his ancestry did not the minis- 
try have the first place in his heart. 

Mr. Ball, while in college, was a member of the Sigma Alpha 
Epsilon fraternity, and on assuming the duties of the larger world 
life, he became a Mason, advancing to the Knight Templar degree 
of the York Rite, and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



IS 



He filled practically every respoosible office in the various degrees 
of the York Bite and attained widespread fame as an orator on 
occasions of Masonic import. He is also a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellors, Knights of Pythias and Woodmen 
of the World. 

Mr. Ball is small of stature, but strong in constitution, and 
therefore capable of doing a vast amount of work. His energy and 
industry are commensurate with his physical and mental powers, 
and few men can do more difFerent things and do them well than 
he. He is still young in years and has accumulated a vast store of 
general information. In denominational affairs he is veil versed, 
not only as to matters pertaining to his own State, but to the 
South and to the world. By reason of his education and long ex- 
perience, he is capacitated for achieving still greater things in the 
llaster*s kingdom. 



LEVI BALLARD. 



^^Hj The Ballard family is traceable as 
^^H far back as the fourteenth century. 
^^H Levi Ballard, the subject of this sketch, 
4H is a son of Joshua and Elizabeth Bal- 
t. ^^1 '^''^' ^"<^ ^^ ^^° ^^ November S2, 
f-JM 1833, in Gwinnett county, Georgia. 
j^^B Benjamin Ballard, his grandfather, 
^^H moved from Princess Anne county, Vir- 
^^H ginia, in ITSS, and settled on Cnni 
^^H Creek, in Wilkes county, Qeorgia. The 
^^1 wife of Benjamin Ballard, the grand- 
' mother of Levi, was Katharine Ham- 
mond, a native of Wilkes county, Georgia. Elizabeth Bennett, who 
married William Bryant, in Oglethorpe county, Georgia, was his 
maternal grandmother. Benjamin Ballard was the grandson of 
Captain John Ballard, of Yorktown, Virginia, whose father was 
C<J. Thomas Ballard, a vestryman of Bruton Parish, and was one 



16 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

of the makers of the early history of Virginia. His father was 
named Thomas, who came from Greenwich, England, to America 
with his father, William Ballard, in 1627, when he was only ten 
years old. William Ballard was a direct descendent of Thomas 
Ballard, High Sheriff of Kent, England, whose father was Sir 
George Ballard, butler to King Richard II. Sir George Ballard 
was the son of Fulco Ballard, who came to England in the train 
of Queen Phillipa in the fourteenth century. The family name 
Ballard is derived from the Flemish proper name, Ballat. 

The ancestry of Levi Ballard has been distinguished for four 
centuries. In each generation the men of his family have occu- 
pied positions of honor and trust, botli in Church and State. In 
England they were favorites of crowned heads, and in America 
they have stood to the front in business, politics and religion. Levi 
inherited the essential qualities of a business genius and of tactful 
leadership. In his long and useful life both of these qualities have 
been developed to a high degree. 

Mr. Ballard received his early training, outside of the home, in 
the local schools of his community. The schools in his boyhood 
were very limited in their courses of instruction, and the terms 
were of short duration. Opportunities for high school and college 
education were few in those days. It was not his good fortune 
to enjoy the advantage of either. Having a strong mind, and not 
being afraid of hard work, he mastered the elementary branches 
of a liberal education. In his young manhood he entered the pro- 
fession of teaching, first in Georgia and then in the West. His 
commanding personality won the respect of his students, and he 
was a success as a teacher from the very start. 

At the beginning of the Civil War Mr. Ballard was teaching in 
the West. At the call of his country he laid down his profession 
and first became a member of the State troops. Later he joined 
the Fifty-sixth Georgia Regiment, and throughout the entire war 
was a gallant soldier. During the first period he was in the West- 
em army, but during the latter part of that bitter struggle he was 
in Bragg's army, under the command of Johnston and Hood. The 
scenes of the campaign through Georgia and Kentucky and his ex- 
periences at Vicksburg have been the topics of many fireside con- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 17 

yersations. It was at Greensboro^ North Carolina, that he Barren* 
dered at the dose of the war. 

After the war Mr. Ballard settled on a farm in Campbell county, 
Georgia. Only those who lived through it can appreciate the diffi- 
culties of the Beconstruction Period. In spite of these and of 
the impoverished condition of the South, Mr. Ballard followed his 
agricultural pursuits with persistence and determination. In ten 
years he became one of the most substantial farmers in his section. 
His business ability led him to turn aside from tilling the soil and 
to enter the mercantile business. For ten years he was a success- 
ful merchant and dealer in real estate. While in the mercantile 
business he continued his farming interests. 

After ten years of confinement in the store he went back to the 
freedom of the farm, and from then until now he has farmed on 
an extensive scale. Knowing how to save as well as how to make 
money, he is interested in a number of financial enterprises, being 
president of the Bank of Palmetto, stockholder in the Palmetto 
Cotton Mill and in the Fairbum Oil Company. Though eighty- 
five years old, his business judgment was never better, and he 
finds his highest temporal pleasure in looking after his various 
business interests. 

Mr. Ballard is a staunch Democrat, but has not been obsessed 
with political aspirations. The people of his community and 
county have delighted to honor him by putting him in positions of 
responsibility and trust. In 1884-85 he represented his county in 
the Georgia Legislature. In 1888-89 he was a member of the 
State Senate. In the halls of legislation, as in his private busi- 
ness, he showed himself a man of superior judgment. It was 
known by his colleagues that he woxdd be on the right side of every 
moral question. As the representative of the people he served 
them faithfully and well. It has been the habit of his long life 
to guard the interests of his conmiunity, county and State, and 
to be no less loyal to his national government. When he surren- 
dered at Greensboro, North Carolina, after four years of gallant 
service in the interest of the Confederacy, he returned to the stars 
and bars with as unswerving devotion as if there never had been a 



18 BAPTIST BIOGKAPHY 

Confederacy. The sincerity of that devotion has stood the tests 
of more than a half century. 

Mr. Ballard was converted in 1858 and united with the Hamah 
Baptist church, being baptized by Bev. John S. Dodd. On a 
beautiful plat of ground, almost in front of his stately home^ is the 
Bamah Baptist church, of which he has so long been a devoted 
member. Ramah is a member of the Western Association. When 
the Fairburn Association was formed, Mr. Ballard was unwilling 
for his church to go into its constitution. The ties of friendship 
between him and such men as Rev. H. S. Reese, J. B. Ware, John 
D. Simms, A. D. Freeman, L. N. Orr and others were too strong 
and of too long standing to be broken. These men, with Mr. Bal- 
lard, have been familiar figures in the Western Association for more 
than forty years, and those who survive still attend its annual ses- 
sions. Ramah church has occupied a conspicuous place in the 
community in which it is situated and in the tovm of Palmetto, 
near the incorporate limits of which it stands. It has been liie 
mother of nearly all the churches in that immediate section, indnd- 
ing the Palmetto church. For more than twenty-five years the 
lamented Reuben C. Rhodes was its honored pastor. It was his 
dream to erect for the church a stone structure adequate to ac- 
commodate the large congregations which attended its monthly serv- 
ices. Reuben Rhodes found in Mr. Ballard a staunch friend and 
supporter. But for his generosity the stone building would have 
been a practical impossibility. Strong preachers from the early 
years have been pastors of Ramah, and Mr. Ballard has been one 
of the chief instruments in securing their services and in giving 
them material support. He is a Baptist of the old school and 
does not hesitate to stand for the defense and proclamation of Bap- 
tist principles. 

On December 18, 1861, Mr. Ballard married Miss Sarah Smith 
Harrison, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah Harrison, of North 
Carolina. Of this union twelve children were born, the following 
of whom are living: Villeta, now Mrs. Chas. B. Moseley; Nathan- 
id H. Ballard, one of the leading educators of Georgia; Cora V., 
now Mrs. T. P. Arnold ; Maude, now Mrs. C. W. Hudson ; Mabel, 
now Mrs. Rush Irwin, and Jacob H. Ballard. The Ballard home 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



19 



hs8 been a favorite place of entertainment, not only for the pastors 
of Ramah, but for hosts of others, preachers and friends. 

Mr. Ballard is a high type of the old Sontbern gentleman. In 
his long and useful life he haa helped many of his fellows on the 
▼ay to success. The less fottanat« have shared his benefactions 
and he has been a generous contributor to Christian and benevolent 
institutions. As he faces the setting sun of his earthly career he 
can look back over a well spent life and forward to a happy re- 
union with those who have gone on before. 



WILLIAM LUTHER BLASINGAME. 




William Luther Blaeingame was bom 
n Walton county, Georgia, June 12, 
1860. There were troublous times in 
this country when he came into the 
world. The war clouds were gathering 
thick and fast, and before he was a 
year old the death grapple betweeji the 
North and the South began. William 
. Blasingame, his father, enlisted in 
I the Confederate army in 1861 and was 
assigned to the western division. A 
year later, in 1868, he died in Vicks- 
burg, Mississippi. Mrs. Mary Matildah Rains Blasingame, was 
left a widow with five small children. Two of these diiid while 
quite young. The other three, Josiah, William Luther and Mrs. 
R. A. Cook, are still living. Josiah is a prominent business man, 
and has his home at Jersey, Walton county, Georgia. He has rep- 
resented his county several times in the Georgia legislature, is a 
deacon of Alcova Mountain Baptist church, and moderator of the 
Appalachee Association. Mrs. Cook, who has been bereff, of her 
husband, lives at Social Circle, Walton county, Georgia, and in an 
active member of the Baptist church. 

The Blasingame family is of Scotch descent, and tho present 
generation hears the marks of their ancestors, in appearance, in< 



20 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

dustry and determinatioiL The grandfather of William Luther 
was Powell Blasingame^ and his grandmother was Martha Starke. 
Josiah Barrette and Mary Bains Barrette were his maternal grand- 
parents. These two families were among the early settlers of Goor- 
gia, and they reared large and influential families, lliey were 
planters^ and they educated their children in the school of honest 
toil, and gave them such literary training as the schools of the 
times afforded. 

William Luther was reared on the farm^ and in his early years 
experienced the hardships common to boys who were brought up 
by widowed mothers during the Beconstruction Period. The schools 
of that time offered very limited courses of study^ and their terms 
were only a few months in the year. The children could illy be 
spared from the farms, and the parents were scarcely able to pay 
the necessary tuition. Mr. Blasingame received his most valuable 
instruction from his godly mother, and her noble Christian life 
was one of the greatest factors in shaping his character for useful- 
ness. A collegiate education being beyond his reach, he left the 
farm at the age of twenty-two and accepted the position of derk 
in the store of Abercrombie and Blasingame, at Jersey, (Georgia. 
As on the farm, so in the store he was not afraid of hard work. 
By the tactful exercise of a vigorous mind and body he became 
a successful salesman and soon acquired a working interest in the 
business. In 1905, he disposed of his interest in the business and 
moved to Winder, (Jeorgia, where he has since been engaged in the 
banking and insurance business. 

In 1885, Mr. Blasingame was married to Miss Lillie Starr, the 
oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Starr, of Loganville. To 
them have been bom two sons and three daughters. Two daugh- 
ters are now living: Miss Starr, who married Lieutenant H. A. 
Carithers, Jr., and Miss Bobbie, who married Col. B. H. Kimball, 
•both of Winder, (Georgia. 

Mr. Blasingame was converted in 1874, when he was only four- 
teen years old. In those times children of that age were not 
encouraged to join the church. It was not until 1885, when he 
was twenty-five years old, eleven years after his conversion, that he 
united with the Alcova Mountain Baptist church, in Walton county. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 21 

and was baptized by Bev. John C. Burton^ on the 28th of Augnat 
As in business, so in his church he became an active member in all 
its work. In recognition of his piety and leadership, the church 
elected him to the office of deacon on the third Sunday in May, 
1893. Feeling his unfitness, he declined to accept the office and 
to submit to ordination until February, 1894. The presbytery was 
composed of his pastor, Bev. T. E. McCutchen, and his brother, 
Josiah Blasingame, and his brother-in-law. Dr. B. A. Cook. From 
1894 to 1906 he was an active and an efficient deacon of the Alcova 
Mountain Baptist church. 

Upon his removal to Winder, (Jeorgia, in January, 1905, he 
united with the First Baptist church of that city. In the short 
time of two months his interest and devotion were recognized, and 
in March the church elected him as an active deacon. In recog- 
nition of his fitness for the office, his fellow deacons made him 
chairman, and for twelve years he has held that important posi- 
tion. Perhaps no church in (Jeorgia has enjoyed greater and more 
continued prosperity during this period than the First Baptist 
church in Winder. To that prosperity Mr. Blasingame has been 
a liberal contributor. 

Mr. Blasingame has always been progressive in educational and 
religious movements and has taken an active interest in Bible school 
work, is a regular attendant at prayer meeting, and no more loyal 
Baptist is to be found in all the State. One of the pleasing things 
in his long and useful life has been the fact that the churches of 
which he has been' a member have been evangelistic and have re- 
ceived yearly goodly numbers of additions by baptism. 

Seldom is a man found in these days of materialism who gives 
so largely of his time and talents to the Lord's work as does Mr. 
Blasingame; and yet it pays in a financial way, as evinced in his 
own life. No little of his prosperity in the financial world is due 
to his loyal service to Christ and his church. He is a loyal sup- 
porter of his pastor, and holds the respect and love of all the peo- 
ple of his city, regardless of denominational affiliation. He is a 
leading spirit in the North Georgia Trust and Banking Company, 
though he declined to accept the position of director after having 
been elected by the stockholders. Next to his family and Savior 



SS BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

he loves the First Baptist church of Winder, to the building of 
which, financially and spiritually, he has contributed so largely. 

Mr. Blasingame readily multiplies his friends, and as easily 
maintains their friendship. He is a man of pleasing address, his 
countenance bearing the marks of a spirit of optimism. There is 
nothing light in his personal demeanor; on the other hand he is a 
man of gravity, a man of conviction and of courage to give wise 
expression to his convictions. He is a type of citizen and Christian 
which needs to be greatly multiplied in these days when shams in 
both respects unhappily abound. 



EGBERT LEWIS BOLTON 



0Here is one of the most gifted and 
efficient of the younger Baptist minis- 
ters of Georgia. 
He was bom at Milner, Georgia, No- 
vember 15, 1883. His grandparents 
were all of sturdy Irish and Scotch- 
Irish stock, coming to Georgia from 
South Carolina. Two of the four 
grandfathers were ministers of the gos- 
pel, one of them being a Baptist and 
the other a Methodist The Methodist 
forbear approached the Baptist pofliticm 
in at least one point, viz., in his belief in immersion as baptism, 
which he administerd to the father of the subject of this sketch. 
These grand-parents were : Alfred Perdue and his wife, Mary Ann 
Mabrj-, on the maternal side; John Marvin Bolton and his wife, 
Elizabeth Dover, on the paternal side, 

William H. Bolton and Lorina H. Perdue were married Decem- 
ber 3, 1876. They made an ideal home — a home where religion 
was dominant, where family worship was maintained, where good 
religious literature found a place, where preachers were welcome 
and where they often came. In this godly and intelligent home 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 23 

were reared five sons. Two of them live in GriflBn, Gkorgia, where 
W. H. Bolton^ Jr., is superintendent of the sciiools for Spalding 
county, and H. A. Bolton is deacon in the First Baptist church. 
W. 0. Bolton is a deacon in Newnan, and C. W. Bolton lives in 
Cedartown. The sons were all brought to Christ while yet in 
the home where they grew up a priceless tribute to the character 
of the home. 

It was of such parents that ^^ Lewis'' was bom, and in such fl 
home he was brought up. He received his earliest school training 
in the schools of his native county. His education was continued 
at Gordon Institute, Bamesville, Georgia; Mercer University, 
Macon, Georgia; and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 
Louisville, Kentucky. At Mercer he graduated in June 1906, with 
the degree of Bachelor of Science. At the Theological Seminary 
he graduated, two years later, with the degree of Graduate in 
Theology. 

While still at Mercer University, April 30, 1906, he was ordained 
to the gospel ministry, at Milner, by a presbytery consisting of 
J. A. Drewry, W. T. Smith, J. W. Johnson and E. J. Forrester. 
On the afternoon of the same day, at Milner, he preached a very 
effective sermon, which was a presage of the kind of ministry that 
he was to exercise. 

During his college course, he served churches at Hillsboro and 
Irvington. At the same time he also actively engaged in the Y. M. 
C. A. work of the University. In the course of his service as 
committeeman charged with the program of the daily devotional 
meeting, he performed a most marvelous feat. It had been decided 
to conduct a series of evangelistic meetings at the hour of the regu- 
lar evening devotional service, and it fell to his lot to act as leader, 
the Association having decided, in conference with members of the 
faculty, to call in no outside help, but to lay the responsibilit}^ of 
the unsaved students upon the hearts and efforts of the saved ones. 
For several weeks young Bolton stood up each evening and spoke 
to his fellow-students ; and the meeting was the best that the uni- 
versity has had in at least a dozen years. 

During vacation from the Seminary in the Summer of 1907, 
Mr. Bolton supplied the church at Thomson, Georgia, and gave 



24 BAPTIST BIOGHAPHY 

great satisfaction to the brethren there. From the Seminary^ 
June, 1908, he went to the Valence Street church. New Orleans, 
Louisiana, where he wrought faithfully and well, and from there 
to Millen, Georgia, in October, 1911. 

At this juncture he greatly increased his already admirable 
equipment for his work by taking into partnership a beautiful and 
accomplished daughter of North Carolina, Mrs. Lizzie GriflQth 
Compton. The marriage was solemnized October 4, 1911. Three 
children have blessed their home, Elizabeth Grier, Robert Lewis, 
Jr., and Louise Isabel. 

In Millen his ministry was vital and dynamic. Not only in his 
church but in the city also he was a force for righteousness that 
had to be reckoned with. From Millen he went to Madison, Geor- 
gia, January, 1918, where he has already taken a strong hold upon 
the city and won a high place in the esteem of his people. 

Lewis Bolton has everywhere been a leading spirit among his 
fellows, and his talent has been readily recognized. While at col- 
lege he was one of the editors of the Mercerian, the college publica- 
tion; he was one of the officers of the Y. M. C. A. of the college, 
and was class orator at his graduation. Just out of college he was 
elected moderator of the Centennial Association, of which his home 
church at Milner was a member. During his pastorate at Millen 
he was chairman of the executive committee of the Middle Associa- 
tion, of which the Millen church was a member. For two years 
he served as a member of the Georgia State Board of Missions. 

Mr. Bolton has a fine evangelistic talent and has held many 
series of meetings that were very fruitful. He has held such meet- 
ings at various places in South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana. 

It is the hope of his many friends that this fine, manly specimen 
of the pastor, the evangelist and the promoter of civic betterment 
may live yet many years and labor even more successfully than ever 
before. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 




ALBERT RICHMOND BOND. 

It was a Baptist ancestral tree that 
flowered and fruited into the life of the 
subject of this sketch. The records 
show that maternal and paternal lines 
of parentage contributed each its share 
of Baptist influence. Elder John Bond, 
the grandfather, served a country 
churcli as pastor for thirty-uine con- 
secutive years, — a distinction calling 
for as unfolding power of miniBtry. 

Albert Richmond Bond was born 
March 9, 1874, to James Houston Bond 
ind Mary Cason Bond, in Wilson county, Tennessee. His father 
had just been graduated in medicine by the University of Nash- 
ville when the clarion call of the Confederacy sent him into mili- 
tary service where he gained a captaincy. 

Though bom in the country, he was reared in the city of Nash- 
ville, the family having moved there when he was about four years 
old. Without interruption he passed through the city schools, be- 
ing graduated from the Fogg High School in June, 1892. He 
then entered the University of Nashville, Peabody College, where 
he received the degree of Licentiate of Instruction in 1894. and' 
Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in 1895. He has the sole 
distinction of being the only one in the history of the college to 
receive the bachelor and master degrees at the same time. He 
took an active part in the life of the student body, serving as 
president of the Students' Christian Association and of the Eroao- 
phian Literary Socie^ ; he represented the latter in the annual de- 
bating contest with the Agatheridan Literary Society in 1895, win- 
ning the medal. He also served as assistant librarian. 

Dr. Bond supplied for the Central Baptist church, Nashville, 
Tennessee, for Dr. Geo, A. Lofton, during the Summer of 1895, 
and in the Fall entered the Southern Baptist Theological Semi- 
nary, Louisville, Kentucky. He finished the full course and five 
post-graduate studies, receiving the degree of Master in Theology 



26 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

in 1898. During his second year he was department editor of 
the Seminary Magazine, succeeding then to the place of editor-in- 
chief, in which he was signally successful. He also acted as the 
seminary correspondent for three years for the Baptist and Re- 
flector. 

Dr. Bond was converted at the age of thirteen and was baptized 
by Dr. Geo. A. Lofton, pastor of the Central Baptist church, Nash- 
ville. Immediately he became active in church work, being elected 
secretary and treasurer of the mission Sunday school. He con- 
tinued in this work until a chapel was built and a congregation 
secured ; as a young preacher he held services at the mission. The 
Centennial Baptist church is the result of this mission work. 

He was licensed to preach in 1892 and ordained in 1895. In 
the council were, among others, Drs. Gteo. A. Lofton, I. J. Van 
Ness, J. M. Frost, Edgar E. Folk and J.^O. Bust. He preached 
frequently during his college and seminary days, though he did 
not serve as pastor until his graduation from the Seminary. 

After graduating from the Seminary in June 1898, Dr. Bond 
engaged in supply and evangelistic work until January 1, 1899, 
when he became pastor of the Magnolia and Brookhaven, Missis- 
sippi, churches. Here he remained for a year and a half, resigning 
because of ill health. After two months of recuperation he ac- 
cepted the pastorate of the Pembroke, Kentucky, church, where he 
remained for three years, then accepting work with the Price Hill 
Baptist church, Cincinnati, Ohio, in order to engage in mission 
service among the Catholic population. His next pastorate was 
with the church at West Point, Georgia, for three years. Marietta, 
Georgia, three years. After a period of social service in the Asso- 
ciated Charities of Memphis he was pastor at Clarksdale, Missis- 
sippi, and Aberdeen, Mississippi. In 1914 he moved to Nashville, 
Tennessee, to engage in literary work while recuperating from an 
operation. In November, 1915, he accepted the pastorate of the 
Franklin, Tennessee, church, serving until May 1, 1917, when 
he resigned to become editor of the Baptist and Reflector. 

As a pastor Dr. Bond has sought to give a distinctive trait to 
his church life in the development of the membership in sincere 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 27 

piety and denominational loyalty. His churches have grown in 
missionary zeal and liberality. 

December 20^ 1898, Dr. Bond was married to Miss Ruth Pugh, 
of ClarksYille, Tennessee. Mrs. Bond was an A. B. graduate of the 
University of Nashville, Peabody College, and was a brilliant 
speaker and writer. She published a number of booklets for use 
of Women's Bible Classes, besides being a frequent contributor to 
the Sunday school periodicals and magazines. One son, Richmond 
Pugh Bond, was bom to them. Mrs. Bond died at Aberdeen, Mis- 
sissippi, June 6, 1914. 

The distinct contribution that Dr. Bond has made has been 
along literary lines. For many years he has been a frequent con- 
tributor to the periodicals of the Sunday School Board and to 
the religious press. In 1910 the American Tract Society of New 
York published his book, ^^The Master Preacher: A Study of the 
Homiletics of Jesus." Dr. E. C. Dargan in the introduction says: 
''The selection of topics, as shown in the chapter headings, is alike 
comprehensive and discriminating, giving evidence of careful 
thought and of a vigorous grasp of both details and general prin- 
ciples. The treatment of the topics exhibits first-hand and thor- 
ough study. The author's wide reading is apparent, but he has 
not been content to be a follower only. And, so, in addition to 
its general and special value as a contribution to a want in our 
literature, the discussion has a newness and suggestiveness of its 
own." A reviewer of the book writes: "The author has produced 
a masterpiece as to the preaching of Jesus. The thought moves 
along the line of His Preparation, Audiences, Themes, Rhetorical 
Forms, Parables, Miracles, Personal Delivery, Simplicity and 
Originality, with Dramatic Power, His Authoritativeness, and above 
all his Messianic Consciousness as the source of his marvelous 
preaching power. No student of the life of Christ can afford to be 
without this volume, which emphasizes facts not duly appre- 
ciated." Dr. Bond has two other books in course of preparation, 
entitled, "The Cross in the Door: A Study of the Cross in Ex- 
perience and Culture," and "The I AM of Jesus: A Study in the 
Affirmation of Christhood." 



28 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Upon the death of Dr. Edgar E. Folk, the editorial work upon 
the Baptist and Reflector, Nashville, Tennessee, was assumed tem- 
porarily on March 1, 1917, by Drs. I. J. Van Ness, William Luns- 
ford, and Dr. Bond; it was understood that the details should be 
looked after by Dr. Bond. Having purchased the stock in the 
paper formerly owned by Dr. Folk, who had for so long been editor 
of the Baptist and Reflector, Dr. Bond became editor and manager. 
The brotherhood has given Dr. Bond a cordial welcome into his 
responsible place. The other two members of the Editorial Com- 
mittee give an apt expression of such welcome and confidence: 
"It is a great pleasure to commend the new editor. As an edi- 
torial committee we had no part in the negotiations which led to 
the purchase of the paper, but it has met with our heartiest ap- 
proval, for we have found him during these weeks prudent, con- 
servative, true and eflBcient. We have watched his work with pe- 
culiar interest because we shared in a measure the responsibility 
with him, and we have found nothing to disapprove. Dr. Bond 
has been known to us for a long time, and we gladly bear testi- 
mony to his character as a man, iiis loyalty as a Baptist, and his 
eflfectiveness as a worker.'' 

In 1910 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him 
by the Florence Universit}% Florence, Alabama. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 




ALONZO LEWIS BBANTLET. 

Yew men have achieved ft Urger de- 
gree of nsefiilBess under advene condi- 
tions than A. L. Brantley. Saitained 
by a atrong will, a Arm determinatioD, 
a deep sense of dnty and an abiding 
faith in God, he has carved his way 
through difficnltiea which wonld have 
quite Tanqnished less resolute minds. 

Alonzo Lewis was the flnt bom of 
W. G. ajid E. B. Brantley, and the eld- 
est of a family of ten children. He 
was bom in the soathero part of Wash- 
ington county, Georgia, January 21, 1853. His life up to man- 
hood was spent on the farm. He grew up without any sdtooling 
at all. From early boyhood he was inured to bard work, and thus 
laid the foundation for a courageous career that quailed at no ' 
obstacle. He had the will, and the way opened up as he pressed 
onward and upward. He was converted when a child, but he did 
not confess Christ until he was sixteen years old, when he joined 
Mt. Moriah church and was baptized by J. W. Goston. It was 
at this age that he felt called to preach, but a total lack of educa- 
tion and other needed preparation delayed his entrance upon the 
work to which God had called him. 

On January 31, 1874, he was married to Miss E. F. Johnson, 
and the event proved that he had made a wise choice. This good 
wife has been a helpmeet indeed to him through all the struggles 
and hardships it has been his lot to pass. She has cheerfully 
shared all his burdens and responsibilities and contributed much 
in the promotion of his success and usefulness. This union has 
been blessed with eight children, four dying in childhood, and four, 
a son and three daughters, now living, and all active and useful 
members of the church. He did not want his children to have to 
struggle under the embarrassments which had so encumbered his 
life. He purposed to give them a liberal education, which under 
God he did. They have had fine advantages, which they have 



30 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

wisely improved, and thus fitted themselves for spheres of large use- 
fulness. The son is a very popular physician, with a large and 
growing practice. 

At thirty-one years of age he could barely write his name, and 
was totally unacquainted with the simple rudiments of granmiar 
and arithmetic. At this age he entered the school at Biddleville, 
then under the care of Bev. J. J. Hyman. He applied himself 
with great diligence that year, and made rapid progress. The 
next year he taught school, earning sufficient means to enable him 
the following year to enter Tennille High School, under Prof. 
W. L. Duggan. The work he did that year was a great help to 
him, qualifying him to higher and more remunerative work as 
teacher. After teaching two more years, he entered Mercer Uni- 
versity, where he remained two years, studying theology under Dr. 
J. G. Byals and completing the Freshman class in the regular 
course. During these two years he served four churches, all of 
which were some distance from Macon. Hence it required the 
sacrifice of much-needed rest to make the necessary trips. Con- 
sequently, the wear and tear upon his physical powers was too great 
for endurance, and so he had to leave college. 

He has been the pastor of a large number of churches, among 
them Swainsboro, Union in the Mount Vernon Association, Mt. 
Moriah, Oak Chapel, Garbutts, Bussellville, Downs, Midville, 
Sardis, Bethlehem, McDonald Branch, Green Hill, Newington, 
Turkey Branch, Brewer, Big Horse Creek, Scarboro, Clito, Mace- 
donia and Union in the Middle Association. Some of these pas- 
torates were of many years' duration, at McDonald Branch for 
thirteen years (where he is still pastor) ; Sardis, ten years; Mace- 
donia, fourteen years; Downs, fifteen years; North Newington, 
twenty-eight years. Here he is still pastor. At present he is serv- 
ing five churches. 

As a pastor he has been very successful. Hundreds have been 
baptized by him and built up in the faith of the gospel. Churches 
in his charge have grown in numbers and zeal and become noted 
for their activity and benevolence. Notwithstanding his educa- 
tional disadvantages, with a vigorous mind and close, hard study 
of the Word of God, he has attained a laudable proficiency as a 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 31 

pure gospel preacher. He has the happy faculty of bringing out 
of the Scriptures things new and old, to the entertainment and 
edification of his hearers. He never fails to give his congregation 
something worth taking home with them. He is never dry, and 
always attracts and holds the attention of his audience. 

Since he entered the ministry he has been closely identified with 
all our denominational enterprises, and has proved himself a 
staunch friend to all the benevolent institutions fostered by our 
denomination. He has ever taken a very active interest in the 
religious training of the children and in the growth and promo- 
tion of Sunday schools. Every branch of church work has his con- 
stant and prayerful attention. For a nimiber of years his labors 
have been seriously hampered by rheumatism. Still he has done 
an amount of work rarely surpassed. He is now, and has often 
been, honored with the moderatorship of his association, and always 
presides with modesty, dignity and intelligence. Everywhere and 
at all times he "wears the air of a consecrated servant of (Jod." 

No trait in his character is more conspicuous than his hos- 
pitality. He knows full well how to make his guests feel free and 
easy and happy in his pleasant home, as all who have visited him 
<»n testify. He has an ample plantation and a congenial home — 
entirely unencumbered. 

A. L. Brantley, while interesting as a public speaker, is not 
possessed of the cultured graces of oratory. His manner is that of 
a man deeply in earnest, thoroughly convinced of the truth of that 
which he enunciates and profoundly anxious in his endeavor to 
produce conviction in the hearts of his hearers. His style is 
didactic rather than hortatory; intensely earnest rather than pro- 
found; yet at times he warms up with his subject and bursts into 
an impassioned strain that stirs the feelings of his audience pro- 
foundly. He loves to preach the gospel. He never tires of telling 
the "old, old story of Jesus and his love." He is a very laborious 
pastor. He never slackens his efforts in the prosecution of his 
work. He is ever studying and planning for the edification and 
development of his people. He is endowed with a peculiar fitness 
to deal with the sick, the distressed and the bereaved, and to ad- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



minister to them instmctioo and consolation. Many mors ;ean 
of increasing use! nlneee, it is hoped, are jret in store for him. 



JOHN E. BRIGGS. 




John E. Briggs, — pastor, evangeliat, 
missionary and traveler, — ^firm believer 
in the subjective as well as the objec- 
tive perseverance of the saints, — a sin- 
ner saved and kept by grace. He is ■ 
militant pacifist who believes that Bap- 
tists should put their heads together 
rather than their heels, and that they 
should lock shields rather than horns. 
He is a philosopher, never losing bal- 
ance through Buper-bouysnt optimism 
and never discouraged though the odds 
seem overwhelming. Above all, he is a man who believes that God 
answers prayer. 

When asked for this sketch of the life of Mr. Briggs, the writer's 
first thought was of the Seminary days and of the inspiration which 
came through the prayer life of his fellow student. Any night after 
all the lights were out, one passing a certain room could hear a 
voice raised in supplication. Then reports would come from his 
field of labor, wonderful reports of souls saved and great offerings 
for missions, and, when asked how these things came to be, the sim- 
ple answer of him who wrestled through the night was this : "God 
answers prayer and brings things to pass." How much of the 
wonder-working of his life since the Seminary days is due to this 
unbroken connection with the divine power house, will not be 
known until in eternity we look upon the majestic structure of gold 
and silver and precious stones which he has been building through- 
out the years. 

John E. Briggs was born July 18, 1873, in Bushy Fork Town- 
ship, Person county, North Carolina. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 33 

He was converted on the fifth Sunday in July, 1888, while riding 
horseback from a revival meeting at Clement church, Person county, 
North Carolina, where two months later he was baptized by the 
Eev. J. H. Lamberth. 

Though for years he felt a call to the ministry, it was not until 
during a serious and prolonged illness that he made the final sur- 
render, and from that time every energy was devoted to prepara- 
tion for his great life work. 

He received his early education in the public and private schools 
near his home, and later at Bethel Hill Institute, Bethel Hill, 
North Carolina. Until nineteen he did farm work in the summer 
and attended school during the winter months. At nineteen years 
of age he became assistant cashier of the People's Bank, Roxboro, 
North Carolina. In September, 1894, he entered Mercer Univer- 
sity, Macon, Georgia, where, aided and encouraged by that conse- 
crated layman, Calder B. Willingham, he graduated with the A.B. 
d^ree in June of 1898. During his Junior year he was awarded 
the medal for the best original oration. He entered the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, in October, 
1898, graduating with the Th.M. degree May 28, 1901. During 
the three Seminary years he did much post-graduate work, but did 
not apply for any further degree. 

He was formally set aside to the gospel ministry just before his 
graduation from Mercer University. On April 20, 1898, the ordi- 
nation services were held in the First Baptist church of Macon, 
Georgia, the presbytery being composed of Dr. E. B. Carroll, Dr. 
W. A. Nelson, Dr. Millard A. Jenkins and Dr. Jacob L. White. 

His pastorates have been Bellevue Baptist church during his 
Senior year at Mercer; Millville, Kentucky, and Lancaster, Indiana, 
while in the Seminary; Greensboro, Georgia, and the Siloam Bap- 
tist church for three years after leaving Louisville. He did State 
Mission work under the Mission Board of the Georgia Baptist Con- 
vention during most of 1904, preaching in tents, school houses and 
brush arbors. From 1904 to 1909 he was pastor at Capitol Avenue,. 
Atlanta, Georgia, and for the past nine years has been the leader 



34 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

of the great Fifth Baptist church of Washington, District of Co- 
lumbia. 

In every field ''God has answered prayer and brought things to 
pass" in a very wonderful way. 

While at Capitol Avenue, the membership of the church and the 
attendance of the Sunday school doubled, although the South Side 
and Grant Park churches were during this time organized in the 
immediate community. Eleven hundred were added to the church 
in five years. The Capitol Avenue B. Y. P. IT. became the great- 
est in the State and one of the greatest in the world. The build- 
ing debt was paid off and plans outlined and some money raised 
towards the present commodious Sunday school rooms. Under the 
inspiration of his ministry and daily life, the Rev. H. L. Grice 
felt called to the gospel ministry, and the Rev. Thurman McCoy 
was baptized and later ordained. It was his privilege during this 
pastorate to baptize Dr. J. McF. Gktston, who, with Mrs. Gaston, 
went as a missionary to China. The church assumed the support 
of Dr. and Mrs. Gaston in addition to their great share in all phases 
of missions, benevolences and charities. 

The pastorate at the Fifth Baptist church of Washington evi- 
dences even more wonderfully the power of God working through 
the leader of the people. The annual reports to the Columbia Asso- 
ciation for the past seven years show 661 additions by baptism and 
405 additions by letter, restoration and statement, a total of 1,066. 
The contributions have averaged something more than $15,000 a 
year, about one-half of which has been expended for missions, edu- 
cation, benevolence and social service work. The present mem- 
bership of the church is 1,240 and the average Sunday school at- 
tendance for the past year has been 740. In addition to the pastor 
and a city missionary, the church at this time is supporting : 

1. The Rev. Alex. Westel, who works among the foreign speak- 
ing people of Missouri. 

2. Miss Gertrude Joerg, missionary to the Spanish speaking peo- 
ple of Tampa, Florida. 

3. Dr. H. E. Chambers, head of the Chinese Baptist Publication 
Society, Canton, China. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 35 

4. Dr. George Green, medical missionary, Ogbomoso, West 
Africa. 

5. A native Chinese preacher, pastor of the Meador Memorial 
Chapel in China. 

6. A native missionary in Persia. 

During the Washington ministry, the joy which came to the 
pastor in other fields has been increased by seeing many who sat 
imder his ministry led into the consecrated service of the Master 
as preachers of the gospel. Among these are the Bev. M. B. Japhet, 
who is pastor of the Washington Heights Baptist church, Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, and the Bev. William Barlow, pastor of the Baptist 
church at Berlin, New York. 

The blessing which has been evident in every field shows that Dr. 
Briggs has a marked talent for organization and co-operative work, 
not only in his own church but in the broadest denominational and 
social service connections. The result of his ministry has been 
the preaching of the gospel to every creature, in the home land and 
in the lands beyond the sea. 

This breadth of denominational leadership has been recognized 
by his brethren. For the past twelve years he has been a member 
of the Home Mission Board, for many years he has been a trustee 
of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, and is at present the moderator of the Columbia Association 
of Baptist churches in the District of Columbia. 

He has traveled extensively in his own and in foreign lands. He 
is a popular preacher in London, and is in demand whenever in 
that great city. In 1912 he toured Palestine and the Bible lands 
and lectures frequently on the various inspirational and educational 
phases of his world-wide journeys. 

His one glory is in preaching the simple gospel of the Christ, 
and his endeavor is that every sermon shall point plainly to the 
cross. Due to the great ingatherings of souls in his local work, 
many invitations come to him for revival meetings, and he always 
accepts regardless of remuneration when conditions on his own field 
permit. 



86 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

On September 84, 1903, he was married to Mrs. Marion T. Law 
of Portemoutb, Virginia, a lady of broad culture, charming per- 
sonality and many graces. She has been to him a trae help-meet 
and a constant inspiration in his work. 

Though a natire of Norili Carolina, a graduate of Mercer T7ni- 
versity, of Macon, Georgia, and a resident of the District of Colum- 
bia, Richmond College, Richmond, Virginia, conferred upon Mr. 
Briggfl the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, on June 4, 1918. 
This was a high but well-deserved compliment, and Dr. Briggs wears 
his honor with becoming dignity. 

Still young in years, strong in body and highly cultured in mind 
and heart, he uses well his exceptional opportunities in the national 
capital. His splendid gifts and fail vast store of technical and gen- 
eral information, together with his large experience as a leader of 
men, make his future full of fond anticipations for ever-enlarging 
usefulness. 



REV. HENRY A. BROWN. 



I One of the best known and most 
universally beloved ministers in North 
Carolina is Henry A. Brown, of Win- 
ston-Salem. Dr. Brown was bom in 
Hockingham county, North Carolina, 
September S8, 1846. His paternal 
grandfather was a soldier in the Revo- 
lutionary War, and his father's mother 
was a relative of Sam Houston. 

At the age of seventeen Henry 
Brown entered the Confederate Army, 
and, though a mere youth, was one of 
the most valiant soldiers in the Confederacy. In 1865, soon after 
his return from the army, he was converted, and was baptized by 
Rev. F. H. Jones, a missionary of the State Board of MiBgiona. 
Simultaneously witii his conversion came the impression that he 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 37 

should preach the gospel. The South was devastated^ and young 
Brown had a hard time securing his education. While attending 
preparatory schools in Guilford county, he preached to the coun- 
try people, who heard him gladly. 

In his twenty-second year Mr. Brown entered Wake Forest Col- 
lege, from which institution he graduated with honor in 1871. In 
those days it was customary to have a salutatory address, delivered 
in Latin, by some member of the class whose scholarship entitled 
him to that distinction, and this honor fell to Henry Brown. In 
1891, just twenty years after his graduation, he delivered the 
alumni address at Wake Forest College. Some years ago the col- 
lege honored itself by conferring upon him the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity. 

In 1871 Dr. Brown was ordained to the ministry, in the church 
at Yanceyville, in Caswell county. The ordination sermon was 
preached by Dr. W. M. Wingate, then president of Wake Forest 
College, and the prayer was offered by Hev. F. H. Jones, who bap- 
tized him. His first regular work was in Rockingham and Stokes 
counties, as a missionary of the State Board of Missions. During 
the two years that he labored on that field he traveled long dis- 
tances on horseback, and preached in protracted meetings almost 
continuously during the summer and fall months. Under his min- 
istry on this mission field nearly two hundred were added to the 
churches. This continuous preaching and singing, under all sorts 
of unfavorable conditions, much of it being in the open air, brought 
on an affection of the throat, which made it necessary for him to 
give up preaching for twelve months. 

Dr. Brown was called to the Baptist church in Fayetteville, 
North Carolina, and entered upon his work there in September, 
1874. For three years he was pastor in Fayetteville, during which 
time a large debt was paid off, important improvements made on 
ihe church building, and a fine congregation built up. In 1877 he 
was called to a little mission church in Winston-Salem. Though 
his people in Fayetteville were devoted to him, and urged him to 
remain with them, the needs of the Winston-Salem field appealed 
to him and he accepted the call. 



38 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

While Dr. Brown was pastor in Payetteville, a tie was formed 
which never could be broken, and in 1878 he went back to Pay- 
etteville to claim as his happy bride Miss Julia E. Cain, a charm- 
ing and accomplished young woman, who journeyed with him until 
a few years ago, when Gk>d called her home. The Lord spared this 
good woman long enough for her to see the fruits of the sacrifice 
which she willingly shared with her consecrated husband, in plant- 
ing the seeds in that difiScult but important field. Three children 
— a son and two daughters — ^were given them. A short time since 
the son, on whose strong arm the father expected to lean as he 
Beared the sunset, was taken. With his unfaltering faith, Dr. 
Brown interprets this providence as God's method of causing him 
to lean harder on the Unseen Arm. 

When Dr. Brown went to Winston-Salem forty years ago, he 
found a little church with fifty members, and an unfinished house 
of worship, upon which there was a heavy debt. Por two or three 
years after he became pastor the church was aided by the Mission 
Board. He proposed to serve them for the small salary of $520.00 
provided they would agree to come off the Board. They accepted 
the proposition ; then followed a period of great struggle and sacri- 
fice on the part of both pastor and people. The day began to 
dawn at last. By vigorous and continuous pastoral visiting, regu- 
lar preaching services, and special revival meetings, the memb^ 
ship increased from year to year. 

In 1886 a second church was organized in Winston-Salem, which 
took away some of the best members from the Pirst church. This 
second organization is a liberal, vigorous body and bears the ap- 
propriate name of "Brown Memorial church.'* Three other col- 
onies were sent out later, which have become strong churches, and 
two others have been organized recently, making seven churches in 
the city now, with a total membership of 2,400, and other mission 
points are being cultivated in the suburbs. 

Dr. Brown did not fall into the mistake made by so many pas- 
tors of confining his efforts to his own church. He threw himself 
with all his soul into the work of his association. The Pilot Moun- 
tain Association was mission territory, and almost every church 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 39 

within its bounds was established by the State Board of Missions. 
For more than twenty-five years Dr. Brown was chairman of the 
Executive Committee of his association. During this time more 
than forty churches were established^ and good houses of worship 
built for them all. He has spoken on State Missions at more than 
fifty associational meetings, has held evangelistic meetings with 
nearly, if not quite, all the churches in the association, and has 
had the co-operation and love of the entire brotherhood. As he 
looks back across the forty years he can see how marvelously the 
Lord has blessed his labors. 

Dr. Brown has not confined his efforts and influence to the 
Pilot Mountain Association. For many years he was a useful 
member of the State Board of Missions, and an honored trustee 
of Wake Forest College, and he has been appointed several times 
to preach the annual sermon at the meeting of the Baptist State 
Convention. Many of his sermons and addresses have been pub- 
lished in papers and in tract form, and he has been a correspondent 
for a number of Baptist papers in the South. He has had invita- 
tions to become pastor of other churches in North Carolina and in 
other States, but his heart is in Winston-Salem, to which he has 
given forty years of faithful service. 

Such is the brief record of an exceedingly useful life; but such 
a life can not be portrayed in cold type. In order to form a just 
estimate of the man one must come dose to him, and feel the throb 
of his great, warm, sympathetic heart. His work in Winston- 
Salem is a contradiction to the foolish notion that preachers must 
resort to sensational methods in order to draw and hold the crowds. 
For forty years Dr. Brown has stood in the same pulpit and preach- 
ed **Je8US Christ, and him crucified,*^ and through all these years 
the people have flocked to hear the story that never grows old. It 
would be a great mistake, however, to suppose that he did not keep 
his own mind fresh and active. A glance at his magnificent library 
wiU dispel any such false idea. Many years ago Dr. Charles E. 
Taylor, then president of Wake Forest College, was a guest in the 
home of Dr. Brown. As he glanced at the well-filled shelves he 
said: "This is the best working library I have found in any pas- 



40 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

tort study/' Since then many valuable volumes have been added, 
and although on his own motion he retired on the fortieth anni- 
versary of his pastorate, the second Sunday in December, 1917, he 
is still adding to his library, as was evidenced by the number of 
new books which the writer saw on the table in his study during 
a recent visit. 

But this successful pastor does not get sermons from his books 
alone. He does a vast amount of pastoral work. When he went 
to Winston-Salem it was but a little country village. In an after- 
noon he could visit every home in the community, and there was 
not one into which he did not go frequently. As the town grew 
the demands for pastoral work increased, and the faithful shepherd 
did not spare himself in his efforts to meet the demands. He did 
not confine his visits to his own people, but went wherever his 
presence was needed. The name of Dr. Henry Brown is a house- 
hold word in every home in the "Twin City.'' He knows the sor- 
rows, the troubles, the temptations of the people among whom he 
lives, as all make of him a confidant. No wonder the man him- 
self is "as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land," and his 
preaching like the ^T)alm of Gilead" to bleeding hearts. 

The association in which Dr. Brown has lived and labored for 
forty years gets its name from the Pilot Mountain, which stands 
not far from the center of the territory. This mountain is unique 
in that it stands alone, with no other mountain near. From any 
point of the association that one looks, he can see the old Pilot 
standing in its solitary grandeur. Somehow the writer has always 
had Henry Brown and the Pilot Mountain inseparably associated 
in his mind. In sight of the mountain his great life work has 
been done. Upon its pinnacle he has stood and, looking over the 
field of his successful labors, has counted the churches in whose 
organization he has had such an important part, and for whose 
prosperity he has worked and prayed. It is eminently fitting that, 
when his labors on earth are ended, his body will sleep in the 
shadow of Pilot Mountain which, like a lone sentinel, will keep 
its eternal vigil o'er his grave. 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 



G. W. BUSSEY. 




Rev. 0. W. BiiBsey, pastor of Jordan 
Street Baptist churcli. Greenwood, 
South Carolina, was born in Edgefield 
county, South Carolina, September the 
14th, in the year 1845. His paternal 
lage is traeeable from Ireland to 
Virginia, thence to South Carolina. 
His mother was Miae Eliza Jane Vance, 
from near Shelbyville, Kentucky. His 
father, Joseph Buseey, was a Buccessful 
farmer, owning many slaves before the 
war. Hie homestead remained in the 
family from the date of its grant by Eing George until it was 
sold after his death by his youngest son. 

The Bussey family, though never aspiring to public oflBce, haa 
long been prominent and influential in their section of the State. 
The Tillman family, of which Senator B. R. Tillman ia the most 
prominent, was intimately associated with them. 

Mr. Bussey worked on his father's farm until, at the age of 
sixteen, he went out with the reserves in the Confederate war to 
guard the coast at Charleston. Later he served under Longstreet 
in Tennessee and Virginia, in the Ith South Carolina Begiment, 
Company I. He was wounded in tiie arm in the battle of the 
Wilderness, Virginia. 

His educational advantages before the war were such as were 
afforded by the old field school. After the war, he helped his 
father awhile to lift some debts incurred in the purchase of slaves, 
which then were free. But at leisure seasons walked six miles to 
school. He spent one year in Furman University and two in the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, then in Greenville, South 
Carolina, taking the full English course. 

Mr. Bussey'a religious life dates to his early childhood, which he 
attributes to the training of his godly parents. Yet his public 
profession did not occur until the age of twenty-one. He waa or- 
dained to the ministry in 1S69, in the Red Oak Grove church, the 



42 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

family cnurch, the presbytery consisting of Bevs. S. P. iSetson, 
Lather Broadus, J. P. Mealing and D. D. Branson. He imme- 
diately became pastor of this charch^ and has served it contina- 
oasly since^ except six years, and is its present pastor. Daring the 
first twenty-nine years of Mr. Bassey'a pastoral work he served 
charches in the Edgefield Association as follows: Bed Oak Orove, 
1869-98, 1905-1917; Callahan (now Parsville), 1870-98; Beho- 
both, 1873-85; Plam Branch, 1885-98; McCormick, 1896-98; Re- 
publican, 1880; Red Hill, Stevens Creek, Berea, Modoc and Oilgal 
at various times. In 1898 he was commissioned as chaplain of 
1st South Carolina Regiment, by Governor Elerby, and served dur- 
ing the Spanish-American war at Columbia, South Carolinay 
Chickamauga, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida. On returning 
from this service he located at Pelzer, South Carolina, and served 
the First Baptist church there as pastor from 1899 to 1906. 
Thence he went to Fountain Inn for a pastorate of seven years, 
1906-1912. While at these two places he served the following 
churches at various times as pastor: Barksdale, Ebenezer, Beulah, 
Grove Station and Clear Springs. In 1913 he became pastor of 
Jordan Street church of Greenwood. He moved there and is still 
serving that church in connection with Grendel church, same town. 
During recent years he has served Doves Creek and Falling Creek 
churches in Elbert county, G^rgia. 

Though the enumeration of these names and dates indicates a 
long and extensive career, it is wholly inadequate to convey the 
force of the life they are intended to sununarize. Mr. Bussey is 
naturally endowed with a strong body which makes itself felt in 
all of his work. He is deliberate in thinking and in speaking, and 
is the embodiment of vigorous energy in his work. Laziness with 
him is as intolerable as meanness. This attitude puts him early 
on the ground where there is something to do. He visits a great 
deal, and knows his people, not only by name and occupation, but 
as well their disposition and daily life, soothing their sorrows and 
sharing their joys to an extent not experienced by many pastors. 

At the ripe age of seventy-two he is yet vigorously prosecuting 
his work, taking a keen interest in denominational affairs and the 
general work of the kingdom. 



BAPTIST BIOQBAPHY 43 

The contrast between Mr. Bussey and many preachers of his age 
who narrow down their interest to local affairs is very easily ac- 
counted for when certain facts are known. Besides being naturally 
endowed with a youthful and jovial spirit, he has during his entire 
ministry kept in close touch with the progress of the kingdom, both 
by broad reading of religious literature and regular attendance 
upon such general meetings as State Conventions, the Southern 
Baptist Convention and International Sunday School Conventions. 
The inspiration and information thus obtained has been reinforced 
by the personal touch of denominational leaders. During a long 
period of his ministry in Edgefield county he was the only resi- 
dent Baptist pastor in a territory of twenty miles square or more. 
His home at Parksville naturally became the Mecca of representa- 
tive men. As the date of the associational meeting approached 
each year the presidents of our Baptist colleges, the editor of the 
Courier, the State Mission Secretary, and others representing de- 
nominational interests, assembled at his home to be conveyed to 
and from the place of meeting. In this benevolent work he was 
always very materially aided by his friend and neighbor in the 
person of the lamented L. P. Dom. 

The preaching qualities of Mr. Bussey are the resultants of a 
happy blending of the conservatism of the old school and the pro- 
gressiveness of the new. While broad enough to adopt new ideas, 
he is conservative enough to do so with due caution. He is a 
calm but vigorous speaker, always practical, seeming to love truth 
both for its own sake and for the good it can do humanity. His 
chief test of logic is experience rather than theory. A man of 
skeptical tendencies was heard to say, after hearing Mr. Bussey 
preach one day, "Though his logic may be answerable his preach- 
ing is irresistible. '* 

The confidence begotten in his people by his consistent life, to- 
gether with his fair-mindedness has often caused them to call upon 
him to become the sole arbiter of their diflferences. Although some 
cases arbitrated by him were of a serious nature his decisions were 
abided bv as final. 

In enumerating the factors which have made Mr. Bussey's life 
count for what it has, it would be an injustice to truth to close 



44 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

without mentioniiig the noble wives who have shared his joys and 
trials alike. His first wife was a neighbor girl^ Miss Hattie Mor- 
gan^ who died about a year after their marriage^ leaving an infant 
one day old, who is now Mrs. J. A. Waldrop, of Chicago, Illinois. 
Later he married Miss Emma Whitmire, of near Oreenville, South 
Carolina, to which union were born eight children, five of whom 
are living. Her companionship and fidelity have been his greatest 
earthly asset during his strenuous struggles in rearing and educat- 
ing their children. 

Disastrous fires have burdened him financially, and the cares 
of his life have been many, yet he rejoices in preaching the gospel 
of the same God whose grace has sustained him all the way. 

The heroism of Mr. Bussey^s character is indicated by the fol- 
lowing reminiscence: 

At the time his father, Joseph Bussey, was called out with the 
reserves to guard the coast, the subject of this sketch, G. W. 
Bussey, was only sixteen years old and small to his age. As his 
mother was low with a disease known to be fatal he proposed to 
go in his father's place. "Son, you are too little. They won't 
take you," was the first response. "But, papa, mother is on her 
death bed and you can be of more comfort to her than I can. They 
may accept me when I tell them how it is.'* 

His father yielded and he was soon ready to start. Having bid- 
den the family good-bye, except his mother, whom he thought 
he could not bear to tell good-bye, he passed out of the back door 
and started around the kitchen. When about half way across the 
yard he was hailed from a window by a relative. "George, aren't 
you going to tell your mother good-bye ?'* 

He turned to come back as he resolved that he would see his 
mother again. His hand reached forward as he entered the room 
to clasp the outstretched bony hand of his mother. Realizing the 
solemnity of the occasion she, after the farewell greeting, calmly 
said: "Son, be good, be brave; I know I shall not see you again 
on earth. Strive to meet me in heaven.*' He has not seen her 
since, but that parting admonition helped to make him a brave 
soldier during the war and has not lost its force in his life during 
tho half century of useful service since. 




BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 46 

JAMES MILTON CAEROLL. 

It is the judgment of his co-laboTen 
in the field of educational and religions 
work, that the name of Jaraes Milton 
Carroll, D.D., should occupy an ex- 
alted place among those of the men 
to whom the great Southwest is in- 
dehted for the wonderful strides which 
have carried this section rapidly to the 
forefront within the past several de- 
cades. Beginning hie career without 
means or educational advantages, he 
has prosecuted his labors with euc^ 
earnestness and with so great a degree of success that his record 
equals that of any worker iu the ranks of the Baptist denomina- 
tion. 

Mr. Carroll was born January 8, 1853, at Monticello, Drew 
county, Arkansas, and is a son of Benajah and Mary Eliza (Mal- 
lard) Carroll. His father was of Irish descent, and was related 
to Charles Carroll, of Maryland, the last surviving member of the 
signers of the Declaration of American Independence. He was 
married in North Carolina to Mary Eliza Mallard, a Frencdi 
Huguenot, and there were two children horn in that State. Sub- 
sequently they moved to Carroll county, Mississippi, where eight 
children were bom, and two children were born in Arkansas, their 
next home. Eventually, the family moved to Burleson county, 
Texas, and there, near Caldwell, both parents died. Of their 
twelve children only one is living : James Milton. 

James Milton Carroll accompanied his parents to Texas in the 
Fall of 1858, being six years of age. Owing to disturbed condi- 
tions which accompanied the outbreak of the Civil War, he re- 
ceived few educational advantages, his schooling being confined to 
instruction in the very small country and village schools of that 
period. The property of the family consisted principally of slaves, 
who were freed during the war between the North and South, and 
Mr. Carroll's father died when he was but ten years of age, and 



46 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

his mother when he was sixteen^ and he was thus thrown upon his 
own resources when at a tender age. He was married before 
reaching his nineteenth birthday, his wife. Miss Sudie E. Wom- 
ble, not being quite sixteen, and they settled down to farming 
on rented land. They were thus engaged when Mr. Carroll felt 
a call to the ministry, and was licensed to preach by the old Lib- 
erty church, in Burleson county, located about eight miles from 
Caldwell. He soon realized the need of an education, and al- 
though he could then, possibly, not have entered the seventh 
grade of a public school of to-day, he decided to go to Baylor 
University. He and his wife reached Independence, Texas, in 
January, 1873, and both went to school, Mr. Carroll to Baylor 
University, and his wife to Baylor College, which institutions at 
that time were located near each other in Independence. He re- 
mained there for five years, completing in that period the whole 
course up to a Master of Arts degree, and took what would now 
be called a double course each year, having never less than six 
and most of the time, eight studies, carrying that many at all 
times while there. His faculty for learning was marvelous, and 
he won all the medals given by Baylor University. He had what 
might be termed an iron constitution, and although he reached 
Baylor University with but forty dollars, he was able, through 
his capacity for hard labor, to pay his way through his college 
course, except about $250.00. A remarkable thing was that dur- 
ing his entire period there he recited all of his lessons, with the 
exception of a very few, under one teacher, Dr. William Carey 
Crane, probably at that time the best educated man in Texas. 
Under Dr. Crane he took courses in the sciences and mathematics, 
Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and the various other courses such as 
are given in the college of to-day. 

At his graduation Dr. Carroll became pastor at Anderson, 
Grimes county, Texas, in addition to which he was pastor of 
the church at Oakland, and so continued for two years. During 
that period he became Corresponding Secretary of the Sunday 
School Convention of Texas, and from that time forward was in 
some way connected with denominational interests in addition to 
his regular church work. Prom Anderson he went as a missionary 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 47 

pastor to Corpus Christ!^ Texas, where he remained for very nearly 
three years, and subsequently spent something less than five years 
at Lampasas, Texas, as pastor. It was here that he probably did 
his best pastoral work. He still has a warm place in the hearts 
of the older members of that church. 

Dr. Carroll then became interested in the cause of prohibition 
and with his customary zeal threw himself heart and soul 
into the prohibition State campaign, although it was neces- 
sary for him to resign his church. At the close of that campaign, 
in 1887, he became pastor for thirteen months at Taylor, Texas, 
having gone to that place with the understanding that he was 
to remain but a short time to try to make the church self-sustain- 
ing. This accomplished, he became agent of Foreign Mission 
work for Texas, and remained in that position until about 1892, 
when he was given the position of Corresponding Secretary for 
the Baptist General Convention of Texas, together with the foreign 
mission work, a position he held for three years, but resigned on 
account of his wife's ill health. Later he became agent of Baylor 
Female College, which at that time was more than $140,000 in 
debt, and after reducing that debt more than $40,000, he became 
Corresponding Secretary of the Texas Baptist Education Commis- 
sion, which organization was the result of his suggestions. All the 
Baptist schools in the State at that time, with one exception, were 
correlated, and the Commission undertook to raise $200,000 for 
the purpose of liquidating all of their indebtedness and putting 
them on a sound basis. Mr. Carroll became first Corresponding 
Secretary, which position he held until he finally induced hia 
brother, B. H. Carroll, to join him in the work, he giving to his 
brother the first place, while he took the second for himself. The 
$200,000 was raised, and the Baptist schools of Texas were thus 
relieved from debt. Immediately following this achievement, Mr. 
Carroll was elected pastor of the First church at Waco, this being 
his only pastorate since Taylor. At the end of nine months he 
resigned at the earnest solicitation of the board of trustees of 
Baylor University and of the Baptist Education Commission, to 
begin work for the endowment of Baylor University. 



48 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Eventually, Mr. Carroll decided to give up all work of that 
kind, with the intention of devoting several years to the writing 
of a Texas Baptist History, for which he had been gathering 
material for thirty years, but by the time he had gotten under 
headway in this work, the call came for him to accept some work 
in Southwest Texas, in the building of a school for that section 
of the State. So five years were given to the planning and build- 
ing of San Marcos Baptist Academy, probably the greatest single 
achievement of his career. During the period of Mr. CarroU^s de- 
nominational work he raised for missions and education something 
like $800,000. 

In 1911 Dr. Carroll was elected as president of a university 
to be built at Shawnee, Oklahoma, and moved to that city and 
began the work, but soon found conditions there not ready for 
an enterprise of that magnitude, as continued droughts had para- 
lyzed conditions in that State, and it was thought wise to dis- 
continue the enterprise for the time being. The school, how- 
ever, was opened without any buildings belonging to it, and en- 
rolled over two hundred students the first year. Dr. Carroll 
was not willing to carry on the work without buildings, and 
hence returned to Texas. In 1913 he became president-elect of 
Howard Payne College, where he has just commenced his work. 
He is a man of studious and scholarly habits, with great executive 
ability and organizing power. In whatever community he has 
found himself he has attracted to him a wide circle of friends, 
and few if any preachers in the Lone Star State are better known 
or more highly esteemed. Politically he is a Democrat, with pro- 
gressive proclivities, being, in fact, progressive in all things. 

He and his wife have had three children, of whom two died 
while in infancy, the other being a daughter of twenty years. 
In addition they adopted a four-year-old son, who is now a man 
with his own family, living in Houston, Texas, J. J. Carroll, con- 
nected with the W. T. Carter Lumber Company. 

It would not be right to close this sketch without adding this 
just tribute to Dr. CarrolVs wife. Though she was never very 
strong physically, she has ever had a strong faith and marvelous 
courage, a never-give-up spirit and an unfailing ambition. These 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 49 

dotninant elements of her character have always been, from their 
marriage even to this hour, of untold help to her husband. During 
her husband's hard struggling college days, and the days of his 
early ministry, and many times since, she uncomplainingly en- 
dured many trying hardships and always added her bit, not only 
to the homekeeping, but to the toils, also, of earning their living. 
The world has never known her real worth. 



CHARLES A. CARSON. 




The subject of this sketch, bom in 
Macon county, Georgia, November 10, 
1862, son of James A. Carson and 
Melissa, bis wife, whose maiden name 
was Bryan, was educated in Mercer 
University, obteining first the degree 
of Bachelor and, later, Master of Arts. 
After graduation in 1880, he tau^t 
three years. 

Converted in 1875, he was in 1885 
crdained a deacon in the Baptist 
church at Kissimmee, Florida, the 
presbytery consisting of Rev. T. J. Bell, Rev. S, F. Gove and Rev. 
Mr. Simmons. 

Differing from very many who have come to Florida to achieve 
only personal success, to secure a fortune or for other selfish ends, 
Mr. Carson from the beginning of his life in that Stete has given 
to his community, the commonwealth, his local church and the 
Baptist denomination the best that was in him, the best in thought 
and in act, in purpose and accomplishment. His strong and vigor- 
ous mind, developed in early years by a liberal education and then 
by teaching, has realized even larger powers of achievement through 
the anccesaful conduct of great business affairs, and active and 
admirable service in the Senate of his adopted State. By this 
discipline of mind and heart he has risen to unusual fitness for 
leadership in the councils of his denomination. 



50 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

Elected in 1897 to the State Senate, he served in that body 
with marked distinction until 1903. For five years he was presi- 
dent of the Florida Baptist Convention, declining re-election, and 
has served for years on the Baptist State Board of Missions. In 
these positions he has made signal contribution to the political 
history of Florida and to the growth and expansion of the Baptist 
denomination. 

While Senator Carson has shown marked ability in great busi- 
ness enterprises, not only winning therein a high and honorable 
reputation, but also adding greatly to the wealth and prosperity 
of his community; while in aflfairs of state he has led where other 
strong men have willingly and trustfully followed; and while he 
has given and gives to-day generously of his talents of intellect 
and spirit to the growth of his denomination, perhaps his greatest 
work is the service which he has rendered and is daily rendering 
to the cause of Christian education in Florida as trustee and presi- 
dent of the Board of Trustees of Columbia College. Becoming 
connected with the Board of the College at the beginning of its 
existence in 1907, he has as trustee and as head of the Board ren- 
dered to the school service so unselfish, so noble in consecration 
to a great cause, so marked in wisdom and sound judgment, so 
fruitful in results, and so helpful in his own great and repeated 
gifts, that the writer does not, in a long connection with colleges 
in several states, recall a trustee who has done so much for Baptist 
education as Senator Carson. 

Connected with a number of important business enterprises, head 
of several and in constant demand for counsel and guidance in the 
aflfairs of other large interests, he is yet never too busy to turn aside 
from matters of purely personal interest to give thought and time 
to the College. 

Under his administration as chief of the corporation of this, the 
only institution of higher learning owned by Florida Baptists, the 
school has become a standard college, the number has grown until 
neariy two hundred students are enrolled, the faculty has so ad- 
vanced in efficiency that no other college in Florida has a finer 
corps of teachers, and the school enjoys the privilege, shared by 
the State University, of having its diplomas accepted without ex- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 51 

amination by state authorities for certificates to teach in the public 
schools of Florida. If in the history of denominational education 
an institution of learning owes its very life to one man, Columbia 
College is so indebted to C. A. Carson; and in the coming years, 
when the school shall make even larger contribution to Baptist 
scholarship and Baptist growth, when it shall be, as to-day in part 
it is, the greatest asset of Florida Baptists, to Senator Carson most 
ot all will credit be due, and the school will stand as memorial 
of the great mind and true heart of this Georgia lad, grown to 
be the foremost Baptist layman of his adopted State. 

Mercer University, in the long roster of its distinguished alumni, 
has sent forth no other man who in the business world, in service 
to his State, in usefulness and high endeavor as a Baptist layman 
and in contribution of mind and heart and means to the cause 
of Baptist education has planned more wisely or achieved more 
successfully than Senator Carson. 

In 18 — Mr. Carson married Miss Annie Bryan, daughter of 
Hon. Jno. M. Brvan, and sister of two men who served with dis- 
tinction in the United States Senate, viz., Senators Wm. J. Brv'an 
and Nathan P. Bryan. 

Mrs. Carson is a woman of strong intellect, thoughtful, kindly 
and generous, a sharer in her distinguished husband's plans and an 
adviser whose counsel may ever be sought with profit. 

Senator and Mrs. Carson have five children, all of whom have 
inherited from father and mother talents which make them use- 
ful and successful. 

Still in the prime of life, with intellect richly developed, his heart 
in sympathy with every great and worthy cause, ever heedful of 
the call of need ; in the truest sense a Christian citizen and patriot, 
admired and respected by all who know him best, this faithful and 
noble man is an honor to the State that gave him birth, and an 
honor and blessing to the State that now claims him as her own. 




BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

JOHN HAMILTON CARSWELL. 

In the year that Zachery Taylor, hero 
of the Mexican War, became president, 
there was bom to John P. and Mary 
■Jones Carswell on their plantation on 
the old Louisville and Savannah stags 
lighway in Burke county, Georgia, 
their son, tTohn Hamilton Carswell, on 
January 21, 1849. 

Descended from Batt Jones and Alex 
Carswell, both brave American Boldiers 
of the Revolutionary War, J. H. Cars- 
well inherited in large measure their 
love of liberty and freedom of thought, and beinK the grandson of 
the distinguished Rev. J. H. T. Kilpatrick, an early leader of Geor- 
gia Baptists, his acceptance of Baptist teachings, principlefl and 
democracy was most natural and logical. Furthermore, both hie 
parents were faithful, devout Baptists. 

He was educated at the Hepzibab High School and Mercer TTni- 
varsity, graduating at the latter in 1870 while at Penfield. With 
measured tread and quiet, studious manner at Mercer he won the 
confidence of faculty and students, and when an occasion required 
special application and ability to prepare an oration on "Be What 
You Seem," he was chosen by his fellows for the task. It took a 
dose of Dr. J. E. Willet's laughing gas to make him onoc depart 
from his sober movements, and then it is said he became quite 
belligerent. 

After finishing at Mercer, he took a course at the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary with equal credit to himself and 
satisfaction to his instructcrs. 

While attending the students' twilight prayer meeting at Mer- 
cer, he was converted, and was baptized in August, 1869, into the 
fellowship of Hopeful church, Burke county, by his uncle. Rev. 
W. H. Davis, and was here ordained to the gospel ministry in 
1876, as had been his two other uncles. Revs. W. L. and J. H. 
Kilpatrick, at the same place. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 63 

On Sept. 16, 1871, he was married to Miss Fannie M. Janes, a 
daughter of Dr. Thomas P. Janes, of Penfield, Georgia. This 
happy union has been blessed with children as follows: John F., 
Thomas J., A. Eugene, W. Davis, W. Kilpatrick, Henry J., 
J. Hamilton, Alexander, Mrs. Eliza Smith, and Mrs. Harriet Tur- 
ner, besides the little adopted son, Hoke Wells. 

In his more than forty years of pastoral work, he served the 
following churches: Belair, Brushy Creek, Botsford, Buckhead, 
Duharts, Fort Creek, Grove, Hephzibah, Hopeful, Louisville, Mox- 
ley, Mt. Horeb, Mt. Ziou, Mt. Tabor, Rocky Creek, Rosier, Staple- 
ton, Telfairville, Wrens and McBean, which was his first and last 
charge, having served it more than forty years, and at which an 
appropriate and impressive memorial service was held the first 
Sunday in June, 1918. In addition to the foregoing churches of 
the Hephzibah Association, he was also pastor of Shiloh, in the 
(Jeorgia Association. 

In his long and useful career as leader of God's children, he 
was never absent from an appointment except when providentially 
prevented, always scorning convenience and comfort when they 
conflicted with. duty. In the severest weather and most trying 
seasons, he was found at his post of duty, being oftentimes the 
only one so minded. 

He showed the same devotion and regularity in his attendance 
upon the prayer-meetings, general associational meetings, and con- 
ventions of the Baptists, in' all of which his presence, counsel and 
wisdom exerted a telling influence. His ability and fidelity fitted 
him for places of greatest usefulness and responsibility, and so he 
was not only a frequent chairman of an associational committee, 
and trustee of the Hephzibah High School from 1885 to his death, 
but in 1896 he was elected clerk of the Hephzibah Association, 
serving till 1916, when he was elected by acclamation and unan- 
imous vote its moderator, succeeding himself likewise in 1917, 
departing this life in the highest office in his association. 

His whole life was spent within the bounds of this association 
and he came to be regarded as authority on all questions of doctrine 
and polity arising within the churches of this body. He was a 



U BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

close student, and, as a preacher, souod in doctrine, logical, and, 
at times, quite eloquent. 

Many of the years of his pastoral service were also spent in 
teaching school in the counties of the Hephzibah Association, and 
hundreds of the beet citizens of this section proudly recite the 
fact that he was their preceptor, as well as spiritual leader. 

Rev. J, H. Carswelt never doubted the word or wisdom of God, 
and made no apology for accepting it as his only and sufBcient 
guide in faith and practice. He believed in honoring his heavenly 
Father by keeping his temple clean and his chnrch above reproach. 

Believing in the love and providence of God, he did not tmet 
in insurance companies, and counted on his treasure in heaven. 
Truly he lived the life of the righteous, and in his last days gave 
every assurance of perfect faith and perfect Bubmission. 

On Sunday morning, April 7th, 1918, at his own home at Heph- 
zibah, Georgia, surrounded by his family and loved ones, the spirit 
of J. H. Carswell left its temple of clay for mansions in glory to 
be with the blessed Son of God whom he served, honored and 
obeyed. 



SIDNEY JOHNSTONE CATTS. 

GOVBRNOB OF FlOBIDA. 




Catts, Sidney Johnstone — Born near 
Pleasant Hill, Alabama, July 31, 1863, 
son of Samuel W. and Adeline R. 
Catts. 

Capt. Samuel W. Catts, father of 
the subject, was a planter and mer- 
chant at Pleasant Hill, Dallas county, 
Alabama, and became a very large land 
owner and was wealthy. 

Sidney Johnstone Catts receive<l hia 
preliminary education in the private 
schools in Dallas county, Alabama; 
went three years to the Agricultural and Mechanical College at 
Auburn, Alabama; attended also Howard College, Marion, Ala- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 55 

bama, and was graduated in Lebanon, Tennessee, Law School in 
1882 with the degree of LL.B. Thereafter he practiced law in 
Dallas county, Alabama, and attended to his mother^s plantation 
for three years. In 1886 he entered the Baptist ministry for four 
years, was pastor of a number of country churches in Dallas and 
Lowndes counties, Alabama. He moved to Ft. Deposit, Alabama, 
at the expiration of this time and was pastor of Bethel Baptist 
church for five years, which he left to accept a call to the First 
Baptist church, Tuskegee, Alabama, where he remained five years, 
subsequently returning to his charge at Ft. Deposit, where he 
remained five years. He resigned the Ft. Deposit church in 
1904, having been the year before a candidate for Congress from 
the 5th Alabama district. When he resigned the pulpit in Ft* 
Deposit he moved to Dallas county, Alabama, where he entered 
into farming and mercantile ventures, while at intervals he 
preached to rural congregations. In 1911 he moved to De Funiak 
Springs, Florida, and was pastor of the First Baptist church for 
three years when he became the State agent for a fraternal life 
insurance company and entered the race for Governor of Florida 
in 1914. He made some American issues in this race as follows: 
"Nothing in Florida above the nation's flag; the red school house 
against the Parochial school; all closed institutions in Florida to 
be opened by process of law and America for Americans first, last 
and forever." 

The politicians of the State sought to draw him out of the 
Democratic party by a set of resolutions known by the name of the 
author, who was Mr. Sturkey. These resolutions sought to put 
out of the Democratic party every one who would have the religion 
of any candidate or secret political affiliation to weigh in the bal- 
ance for or against them. 

In 1916 the State canvassing board gave to him a certificate of 
nomination for Governor of Florida by the Democratic party as a 
result of the June primaries and in the following November, over 
the protest of all party politicians, court house rings, the Supreme 
Court decisions and every known political agent and device in 
Florida, he was elected by a majority of practically ten thousand. 



o6 BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 

In discussing some of the unusual aspects of his success in the 
primaries a Florida newspaper said editorially: "The successful 
candidate was an entire stranger to the people of Florida when he 
announced his candidacy. His first announcements were greeted 
with derision — as a political joke. It is doubtful if there were 
more than a dozen citizens of Florida who entertained the slightest 
idea that he had a possible chance. Yet he defeated four of the 
strongest and best-known men in the State. He had against him 
not only these four men and their following, but practically the 
solid liquor influence, office-holding influence. Catholic influence, 
and the State press. He made the race practically without a cam- 
paign fund. Throughout the campaign he boldly denounced from 
the stump certain things which no candidate for office in Florida 
had ever dared to denounce, pursuing a campaign policy which 
had always theretofore been considered equivalent to political 
suicide. Yet this man, a new comer, virtually a stranger, with no 
record of public performance to stand upon, with no part in the 
history of the State, political, commercial or otherwise, has been 
chosen as its governor. His friends were concerned for his per* 
sonal safety, and within the State and without they warned him 
of the possibility of assassination. His fight for the democratic 
nomination was made with the support of the Guardians of Lib- 
erty and a large number of prohibitionists. It cost him to make 
the race less than half as much as any of his opponents spent.*' 

As Governor he advocates: Prohibition, Federal Aid Road Act, 
Inheritance Tax, State Tax Commission, Vocational Education, 
chan«:e in election laws, simplifying the same, taxation of church 
property with the exception of the church and pastor's home, open- 
ing closed institutions, same school license for public, private and 
denominational school teachers, drainafi^e of Everglades, increased 
pensions for old soldiers, Seminole Reservation, a Flag Law for 
the State, benefit tax on right to hold large bodies of land, bank 
guarantee fund, laws favoring federation of labor, better shipping 
■facilities for the producer, gross tax receipts on corporations, 
lowering legal rate of interest, and a new provision in the history 
of the world whereby a new office is created for the prisoner 
loi'^wn by the name of "The Friend of the Convicts,'' whose duty 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 57 

it shall be to remain in prison, come in contact with the convicts, 
learn their stories of sorrow, desolateness and woe, form a fiduciary 
relation with these people to such a degree that this man shall in 
virtue take their part as an advocate even as the Son of Man came 
to earth and took the part of a lost and ruined world. 

Sidney Johnstone Catts is a member of the Masonic Order, the 
Woodmen of the World, the Junior Order of American Mechanics, 
Knights of Pythias and the Guardians of Liberty. He is also a 
minister of the Missionary Baptist church, in good standing with 
the local church at Tallahassee, Florida. He is also a member 
of the farmers* organizations of every kind and a deep sympathizer 
with the federated societies of labor. He finds his chief recrea- 
tion in getting up at daylight, working his garden, and is a con- 
stant reader; having read possibly all of the literature that is cur- 
rent in the libraries of the State and all private libraries at his 
disposal; reading sometimes on a dead stretch of eight and ten 
hours, lying at length upon a couch with one arm thrown over 
his head and the other holding a book as he absorbs its contents. 
He seems to be a leader of men and is fearless in what he thinks 
is right and also is equally fearless in advocating his denunciations 
of wrong. He is abrupt, reserved in manner and hard to make 
friends with, but once his friend he never deserts those who are 
thus tied to him. He was married at the age of twenty-three at 
Montgomery, Alabama, to Miss Alice May Campbell of that city 
who was a daughter of Marcus B. Campbell and Alice May Camp- 
bell. These two parents of his wife being full-blooded Scotch and 
coming from the stock of Lord Colin Campbell. 

Sidney Johnstone Catts from his maternal parentage is of Irish 
descent, his mother being Adeline R. Smiley, whose parents came 
from Carie Tergus, Ireland, and settled in Edgefield district, 
South Carolina, before the war of the Revolution. 

Capt. John Smiley, his maternal great-grandfather, was a com- 
mander of troops in the State of South Carolina during the 
Revolutionary War. On his father^s side he is in direct lineal 
descent from Jacob Catts, the Dutch poet of Holland, who is recog- 
nized as the Shakespeare of Holland and who went to the court 



58 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

of St. James as a minister plenipotentiary to plead against Catho* 
lie persecutions over the Holland Dutch Reform Protestants. 

Sidney Johnstone Catts is now in oBice in Tallahassee, Florida. 
He is the father of six living children and two dead. 



AQUILA CHAMLEE. 




"Mercy and truth are met together; 
right eousnesB and peace have kissed 
each other," Truly can these state- 
ments be applied to the life and char- 
acter of Dr. Aquila Chamlee. In hie 
daily life mercy and truth are beauti- 
fully blended. His nature is so deeply 
spiritual, his life bo filled with righte- 
ousness that he is possessed with that 
peace which passetii understanding. 

Dr. Chamlee is a product of the 
hill-country where so many hnman 
nuggets of pure gold are found. 

On December 3, 1869, he was born in Cherokee county, Georgia. 
His father is George W. Chamlee and his mother Malinda Robert- 
son Chamlee. His parents belong to that sturdy class of farmer- 
folks to whom the world owes so much as the producers of real 
men, men of 

"Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and willing hands; 
Men whom the lust of ofBce does not kill; 
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; 

Men who possess opinions and a will ; 
Men who have honor: men who will not lie; 

Men who can stand before a demagogue 
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking; 

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog 
In public duty and in private thinking." 
To this class of men belongs the subject of this sketch. Bom 
on a farm, where his early life was spent with hie family, he 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 59 

soon came within the loving and ennobling influence of a Christian 
mother and his daily life and conversation shows that he has never 
passed beyond the influence of that training. Blessed is the man 
who has a Christian mother who watches carefully over the train- 
ing of his first years and whose wise head and loving heart unite 
in molding his mind and directing his life. 

In September, 1887, when 18 years of age, young Chamlee joined 
the Canton Baptist church, was baptized by Dr. A. B. Vaughan 
and at once conmaenced to live up to the Christian standard and 
take an active interest in church work. As a young man he was 
energetic, studious and ambitious. Soon after becoming a mem- 
ber of the church his love for the uplift of humanity and the desire 
to serve his Maker obsessed him with a desire to preach, and on 
the 28th day of December, 1892, at the request of Central Point 
church, Dodge county, he was ordained in the Baptist church at 
Canton, the presbytery consisting of Doctors J. A. Wynne and 
A. B. Vaughan. His early school days were spent at Etowah In- 
stitute, at Canton, in his native county. In September, 1891, he 
entered Mercer University, the Baptist university for boys belong- 
ing to the State Baptist Convention and located at Macon, Geor- 
gia. From Mercer University he graduated with the A. B. degree 
in 1895 and his Alma Mater, realizing how richly he deserved it, 
at the commencement in 1912 conferred upon him the degree of 
D.D. After graduating at Mercer he spent two years at the Bap- 
tist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., where, in 1897, the de- 
gree of Th.G. was conferred upon him. 

Whether in the high school, at Mercer University, or at the 
Seminary, he was quiet and studious, never wasting his time in 
frivolity, but devoting himself to those things that looked to his 
own advancement and the uplift of those about him. He was ever 
obedient to authority and greatly beloved by his fellow-students 
and associates. Among those who were with him at the Seminary 
are a number who are now serving churches in Georgia, all of 
whom speak of him in terms of praise and endearment. Among 
these are: C. W. Daniel, J. M. Dodd, C. W. Durden, J. G. Harri- 
son and J. W. R. Jenkins. Soon after being ordained he was 
called to the pastorate of the church at Butler, which he served 



60 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

for one Sunday in each month (1893-1895) while attending Mer- 
cer and until he entered the Seminary. During this same period, 
he was pastor also of Central Point church, Dodge county (1893), 
and of Island Creek church, Hancock county (1894-95). Since 
his return from the Seminary he has been pastor of the following 
churches: Bartow (1897, seven months); Wadley (1897-1899); 
Bethlehem church, Warthen, Georgia (1898-1904) ; Sisters church, 
Washington county, Georgia (1900-1904); Sandersville (1898- 
1908) ; Forsyth (1909-1913) ; Cartersville (1914). He began his 
pastorate in Hawkinsville, where he now is, November 1, 1914. 
At Hawkinsville, as at all the churches he has served, he is greatly 
beloved, and the people there are showing their appreciation of 
his services by building under his leadership a magnificent church 
building to cost about $35,000.00. 

While at Forsyth he successfully served for three years as teacher 
of Bible at Bessie Tift College, which college is the property of 
the Baptists of the State. 

On September 6, 1898, at Tennille, Georgia, he married Miss 
Mamie Louise Beck, a daughter of T. J. Beck, D.D., a well-known 
and popular Baptist minister. Although over 80 years old Dr. 
Beck is still preaching. 

The marriage of Dr. Chamlee was a most happy and fortunate 
one. Mrs. Chamlee is not only an intelligent, educated, cultured 
and refined woman, but she possesses in a remarkable degree all 
those qualities that make her a real help to her husband in his 
work as pastor. With a bright and cheerful disposition, with not 
only the willingness but an eager desire to help in every good word 
And work, she passesses the rare tact that makes her the friend of 
all with whom she comes in contact. She gives unstintedly of her 
time and her talent to every worthy enterprise connected with the 
upbuilding of the church and the uplift of the community. With 
such a helper added to his own charming personality, it is not re- 
markable that his congregations love Dr. Chamlee and never will- 
ingly give him up, and are always in sorrow when he feels that he 
is called to other fields of labor. In all his relations to life Dr. 
Chamlee measures up to the full standard. 



BAPTIST BI06BAPHY 61 

As a friend he is as loyal as friendship itself. There is some- 
thing in and about him that ties men to him as with hooks of 
strongest steel and whenever he lives in a community the people 
who reside there are his friends ever afterward. Bacon has aptly 
said: "No receipt openeth the heart but a true friend, to whom 
you may impart griefs, joys, fears, hopes, suspicions, counsels and 
whatever lieth upon the heart to oppress it." So this confidence, 
this desire of impartation of whatever lieth upon the heart, 
whether the joy or sorrow, is inspired by Dr. Chamlee as by few 
people. That the people appreciate and love him as a friend is 
shown by the fact that wherever he is serving a church the people 
of all creeds and classes for miles around call upon him to per- 
form marriage ceremonies and to conduct funerals, and after leav- 
ing a community perhaps no preacher in the State is called back 
so frequently for these purposes. 

As a son he is loving, kin(i and obedient, ever living up to the 
Biblical injunction, "Honor thy father and thy mother." 

As a husband he is gentle, faithful, affectionate, at all times be- 
stowing upon his beloved wife those tender ministrations that show 
his deep and abiding love for her. 

As a neighbor he is beloved, considerate and generous, never 
withholding from those around him anything which he thinks 
would add to their material comfort and their spiritual uplift. 

As a citizen he takes an active interest in all those matters which 
tend to civic righteousness. On public questions that affect the 
morals of the community he can always be found on the side of 
right, and always has the courage actively to fight the wrong. 
Whenever he has decided that a course of action is right, he moves 
fearlessly to its discharge and never counts the cost. 

As a church member he lives up to his every obligation, per- 
haps always, in proportion to his ability, being the most liberal 
giver in his congregation. 

As a pastor he takes an active interest in the life of each mem- 
ber of his flock and is ever ready to render aid in seasons of sick- 
ness or distress. His kind and gentle ministrations, his soothing 
and comforting presence always act as a balm to those who are 
sick and distressed. 



62 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

As a preacher he impresses the truths of the Bible on those 
who hear him, and his sermons are always good, ever abounding 
in gospel truths and are doubly impressive because of the true 
Christian life behind them. There are more eloquent preachers 
than he, but none who preach sermons richer in the truths of the 
Bible. 

His knowledge of the Bible is extensive and accurate; few 
people are more familiar with its every book. He has studied it 
80 closely and so intelligently that of it he is a wonderful inter- 
preter. The Bible Institutes which he frequently holds in his 
churches are sources of great help to the members of his congre- 
gations. 

His fine judgment and splendid business ability are large assets 
of any church he may serve. His uniform cheerfulness and seren- 
ity, his interest in his fellowman, his gentleness and tenderness, 
his kind sympathy and deeply spiritual nature make him an ideal 
pastor. 

Nor is his love for his fellowman confined* to the members 
of his own congregation, but embraces all in the community, and 
his helpfulness and delicate and intelligent ministrations make 
him ever welcome in homes where there is need, sickness or sor- 
row. He has the happy faculty of inspiring his members with 
the desire actively to serve the church, the community and their 
God, and in laymen's meetings his talks inspire the men to engage 
in the various activities necessary for the spiritual development 
of the church and for the uplift of the community. Not only are 
the men well led by him, but assisted by his worthy wife the 
women of the church are kept at work in their various societies 
and in other activities helpful to the church. 

His congregations always grow in numbers and in spirituality. 
When he was called to the church at Sandersville in 1898 it had 
a membership of 114 only, and services held only two Sundays 
in each month, the other Sundays being given by him to country 
churches. In 1905 the church called him for his full time. While 
he was pastor at Sandersville a splendid brick church building 
was erected at a cost of about $20,000.00. When he left the mem- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 63 

lership had increased to 346, and services were held every Sun- 

While he was pastor at Warthen the house of worship there was 
greatly improved by the expenditure thereon of about $1,000.00. 

The spiritual improvement in the churches that he serves is 
shown by their increased contributions to all missionary as well 
as to all worthy local purposes. 

His great love for his Master and the salvation of the souls 
•of his fellow-man is shown by the fact that each year he conducts 
several meetings outside his own church, most of these being held 
in churches unable to pay much, if anything, for his services; and 
yet no preacher ever labors with more zeal and earnestness to lead 
sinners to Christ than does he in these meetings. His chief joy 
in conducting them is not in the receipt of the material compensa- 
tion that may come, but in the consciousness of service rendered 
"his fellow-man, his church and his God. 

An illustration of how his sermons are appreciated and that they 
have in them both "meat and merit" is given by the following 
actual experience of his. He was called to assist in a revival at 
a country church. He preached for two or three days, and as was 
his custom, limited his sermons to not over forty-five minutes. He 
was then waited upon by a committee from the church who told 
him that he was not preaching long enough, that he must preach 
•«t least an hour or an hour and a quarter. This was perhaps as 
great a compliment as was ever paid a preacher. 

When Dr. Chamlee moved from Sandersville to Forsyth he was 
moderator of the Washington Association, which position he filled 
with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. 

In 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, and in 1915, 1916 and 1917 he was 
assistant secretary of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He was 
asked to serve in 1909 but declined on account of the condition 
of his eves and but for this eve- trouble would probablv have been 
asked to serve the intervening years, for the secretary recognized 
"his splendid fitness for this work. 

Dr. Chamlee is a man of great modesty and whatever advance- 
ment or honor has or mav come to him is and will be duo to the 
recognition of his real worth as a man, a preacher and a Christian. 



64 



BAPTIST BIOQEAPHT 



Dr. Chamlee lives what he preaches. Hie character ia bo in 
harmony with the infinite, his life so consistent with the religion 
he preaches, that his daily walk and conversation is a sermon con- 
tinued from day to day and his example an inspiration to pure and 
holy living. God give us more such men. 




ANDREW JACKSON COBB. 

Among the sons of Georgia who in 
public and private life have achieved 
lasting distinction, none rank higher 
than Judge Andrew Jackson Cobb, 
whose record as citizen, teacher, law- 
', and jurist forms a conapicuouft 
part of the ' imperishable history of 
that great commonwealth. 

He was bom in Athens, Georgia, 
April 12, 1857, and came of distin- 
guished ancestors, many of whom 
achieved national prominence. His 
father was General Howell Cobb, one of the most illustrious of 
all Georgians, who was Governor of Georgia, Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of 
President Buchanan, President of the Provisional Congress of the 
Confederate States, and Major-General in the Confederate Army. 
His mother was Miss Mary Ann Lamar, daughter of Col. Zacb- 
ariah Lamar, a successful merchant and planter of Milledgeville, 
Georgia. She was a member of the Lamar family which has 
representatives in nearly all the Southern states. Mirabeau B. 
Lamar, President of the Republic of Texas, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, 
United States Senator and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, and Joseph R. Lamar, also Associate Jus- 
tice of that highest of American legal tribunals, were cousins of 
the distinguished subject of this sketch. 

The days of his boyhood were spent in Athens, where he at- 
tended the best schools of that city. In the early seventies he 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 65 

entered the University of Georgia, being graduated therefrom 
in 1876 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1877 he was 
graduated from the Law Department of that institution with the 
degree of Bachelor of Law and at once entered upon the active 
practice of his profession, having been admitted to the bar dur- 
ing the session of the court at Athens, August 12, 1877. 

He formed a partnership with (Captain Alexander S. Erwin, 
who was the husband of his eldest sister. This partnership was 
dissolved by the election of Captain Erwin to the Judgeship of the 
Western Circuit in 1879. After that date he practiced alone until 
1891, when he and Judge Erwin formed a partnership a second 
time under the firm name of Erwin & Cobb. 

In 1893 he went to Atlanta as counsel for the Seaboard Air 
Line Railway and continued in the general practice of law in that 
city for four years. 

From the practice of his profession he was called in 1896 to the 
position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, 
where he served with distinguished ability for eleven years, the 
last three of which were as Presiding Justice. He resigned in 
1907 on account of ill health and resumed the practice of law 
in Athens in partnership with his nephew, Howell C. Erwin, 
under the firm name of Cobb & Erwin. Later on he associated 
with his firm another nephew, Lamar C. Rucker, the firm be- 
coming Cobb, Erwin & Rucker. 

While a justice of the Supreme Court, he gave to Georgia 
services that were of inestimable value, passing upon many ques- 
tions of vital interest to the State and adding largely to the illus- 
trious reputation of that great judicial tribunal. He was but 
thirty-nine years of age when he became a member of the supreme 
bench, and with the exception of Judge Linton Stephens, who was 
elected to that position at thirty-six, he enjoyed the distinction 
at that time of having been elevated to that high office at an earlier 
age than any other man. His decisions as Associate Justice of 
the Supreme Court are regarded as models of judicial reasoning, 
dear and concise expression, and comprehensive grasp of the legal 
points involved. Some of them have taken rank among the great 
judicial decisions of the country. 



66 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

Judge Cobb has an eminently judicial mind^ and, while achieving 
success in a marked manner as a practitioner, his most eflFective 
service is rendered upon the bench. On the retirement of Judge 
Charles H. Brand from the Judgeship of the Western Circuit, 
following his election to congress, hundreds of the leading citi- 
zens from all over the circuit called upon Judge Cobb to take his 
place, and to that position he was appointed January 22, 1917, by 

Governor N. E. Harris. 

« 

Since the days of his young manhood* he has been a most promi- 
nent factor in public life. His exalted character, his fair dealing, 
his strict integrity, his loyalty to friends, his devotion to his 
church, his unselfish interest in the betterment of community and 
state and nation, his readiness to serve whether in the lead or in 
the ranks, have all through the long stretch of his useful life 
caused his people to look to him for advice and counsel on all 
questions of serious moment. 

At the age of thirty he was chosen as City Attorney of Athens, 
and served with ability as such for the period of four years. Dur- 
ing this time quite a number of important questions- were up for 
settlement, embracing constitutional points. In this oflBce Judge 
Cobb made a most gratifying record, his work being of the high- 
est order of legal merit. 

Evidencing his rank in the legal profession and the confidence 
reposed in him by his brethren, he has served since 1911 as 
chairman of the permanent commission of the (Jeorgia Bar Asso- 
ciation on the Revision of the Judicial System and Procedure in 
Courts. In this position he has already rendered conspicuous 
service to the State and in the years to come will continue to 
do so. 

In 1913 he was made a member of the legislative committee on 
Eevision of Procedure in the Courts. This subject has given the 
State of Georgia much concern in the past few years and the aid 
of the very best lawyers in the State is being invoked to bring 
about such reforms in court procedure as will make the judicial 
system of the State more effective in every way and better serve 
the ends of justice. 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 67 

Judge Cobb has at all times been the consistent and energetic 
foe of the barroom. His only defeat for public office came in 1890 
when he ran for the legislature and was defeated by a plurality 
vote of nineteen^ having refused to advocate local legislation which 
would have the effect of authorizing the licensing of saloons in 
Clarke county. This issue was renewed the following year, and 
in order to prevent the re-establishment of barrooms he advocated 
the sale of liquor under the dispensary plan. The dispensary ad- 
vocates carried the election and Judge Cobb is the author of the 
*^ Athens Dispensary Law/' which went into effect in 1891 and 
remained in effect until state prohibition was enacted. 

Judge Cobb is a member of the American Bar Association and 
of the Georgia Bar Association, having been president of the 
latter body in 1912-13. He is an honorary member of the 
Augusta Bar Association and an active member of the Athens 
Bar Association, having served as president of that body in 1909. 
He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, of the Elappa Alpha Fra- 
ternity, South, and Associate Judge Advocate, vnth rank of Major, 
Georgia Division, United Confederate Veterans, as a son of a Con- 
federate veteran. 

At all times Judge Cobb has been vitally interested in th« cause 
of education. He was among those who led in the establishment 
of a system of public schools in Athens, and from 1886 to 1889 
was a member of the Athens Board of Education, serving one term 
as president of that body and giving most efficient service in build- 
ing up the schools of that city, which to-day have no superior in 
the State. He has served since 1907 as a member of the Board 
of Trustees of Lucy Cobb Institute, an institution for the educa- 
tion of young women founded by his uncle. General Thomas R. R. 
Cobb, and since 1910 as president of that body. 

Judge Cobb has always been closely identified with the Univer- 
fity of Georgia. From 1891 to 1893 he was a trustee of the 
University, and was again appointed to that position in 1916 for 
the term of eight years. He has the keenest interest in every- 
thing looking to the development of that great institution of 
learning, and some of the very best work of his life has been de- 
voted to it. 



68 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

In 1884^ at the age of twenty-seven^ he became a member of the 
University Faculty as professor of law, in which position he 
served faithfully and with splendid results for nine years, laying 
down his work at that time only because of his removal to Atlanta. 
But even then his teaching of law did not end, for at once he b^ 
came Dean of the Atlanta Law School, serving in that position 
five years. The high rank of the (Jeorgia bar, the ability pos- 
sessed by hundreds of its members, the clear conception of the 
fundamental and guiding principles of law as shown by them, come 
largely from training received while students in the University 
Law School under the tutelage of this distinguished Georgian. 

Few teachers have ever attached themselves as firmly and last- 
ingly to their pupils as Judge Cobb. His ready sjrmpathy and 
help, his patience and kindness, his lofty example, his unswerving 
devotion to principle, made him friends whose loyalty has never 
been shaken. When Georgia increased the number of Supreme 
Court justices from three to six in 1896, Judge Cobb was then 
but thirty-nine years of age. and had never mingled in State poli- 
tics. But all over Georgia were the young men whom he had 
taught, who knew his ability and his high character. The State 
democratic convention was the rallying ground of those young 
Georgians and the election of Judge Cobb was a tribute from the 
boys who loved and honored him as their former teacher. 

Since returning to Athens in 1907 he has been lecturer on 
Constitutional Law and Procedure in the Law Department of the 
University of Georgia and since the establishment of the School 
of Commerce in that institution has been lecturer on Constitutional 
Law in that school also. 

In politics Judge Cobb has always been an unswerving, organized 
democrat. His services have been at the conmiand of the party 
in many campaigns. In 1912 he was presidential elector from 
the State at large and was president of the electoral college of 
Georgia, casting the vote of the State for Woodrow Wilson for 
president. During his life he has never voted for an independent 
or a bolter. His democracy is of the Jeffersonian kind and has 
known no change under the varied conditions that have confronted 
the party in recent years. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 69 

Judge Cobb's home life has been one of beautiful and tender 
devotion. In March^ 1880, he married Miss Starkie Campbell, 
of GriflBn, Georgia, a daughter of Jesse M. Campbell, a prominent 
lawyer of that place, and a granddaughter of Judge James H. 
Stark, former Judge of the Superior Courts of the Flint Circuit 
Pour children are living as the result of that union, two having 
died in infancy and one having recently passed away. Mrs. Cobb 
died in 1901. 

The story of a man's family life is after all the best index to 
his character. The kind, the loving, the generous, the true around 
the fireside are always the greatest, greatest in the things that 
count, even when they are not in the limelight of public acclaim. 
As son, as son-in-law, as brother, as husband and as father, the 
great Georgian of whom this is written measures up to the high- 
est standard. He can look back across the years and know that 
every duty has been well-performed. 

Judge Cobb is a man of strict religious views, and exemplary 
religious life. In 1878 he united with the Athens Baptist church. 
He is still a member of that church and is one of its deacons. 
Since 1911 he has been chairman of the Board of Deacons, and 
under his administration the affairs of the church have been ably 
and successfully managed. He has throughout his life taken 
great interest in Sunday school work and for years conducted one 
of the largest and most interesting classes for young men in the 
city. In all the activities of the church he takes a lively interest 
and his judgment and wise counsel and advice are of untold value 
to the several organizations doing church work. 

Such, in brief, is the measure of the man. Strong in mind, 
clean in life, loyal to friends, affectionate to loved ones, devoted 
to principle, faithful to duty, a true and valiant defender of home, 
of country and his religious faith, he takes rank among the great 
figures that have best illustrated (Jeorgia since the foundation of 
the colony in the days long gone. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHT 



ROBERT HEKRY COLEMAN. 



Robert H. Coleman came of ttie 
type of ancestry and the kind of early 
surroundings that produce trae men 
and gennine leaden. 

His father, Thomas Henry Coleman, 
was a heroic Baptist preacher and a 
id man. His mother, Quintella 
Belle (Jones) Coleman, vaa a woman 
of the type described by Paul in Sec- 
ond Timothy 1 :6, where he speaks of 
the unfeigned faith that dwelt in Tim- 
othy's grandmother Lois, and his 
mother Eunice. Coleman thus had the same sort of advantage of 
ancestry that young Timothy had, and he, too, owed it to his an- 
cestry, to humanity, and to God to be a good man and a leader of 




The place of his birth and the circumstances of his early life 
were also in his favor. He was bom at Bairdstown, Kentucky, 
November 1, 1869, and spent his early years on a farm near Little 
TTnioB, Kentucky. Those early years covered a period when Ken- 
tucky was in the mighty throes of the results of the Civil War. The 
men who led then were giants and the women were heroic in mold 
and spirit. A nation was being reborn, religion was taking on 
new expressions. Baptists were active and forging to the front, 
-The growing young life felt the impulses that were surging around 
it. 

Again, Robert H. Coleman had the advantage of a good place 
in which to be educated. Four and one-half years of hie life were 
spent at Georgetown college. Many of the future leaders, political 
and religious, went to Georgetown College in those days. Cole- 
man came into contact with them in the formative period of his 
life and the friendships made at that time have lasted. Fortunate 
is the man who has friends from student days that lead in the 
affairs of the world. Those years were influenced greatly by 
religion. No one has yet measured the power of a Chriatian home 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 71 

and a Christian school. Besides this, Coleman gave hia young 
heart to Christ before he was twelve years of age^ and his whole 
after life has been shaped by that vital fact. Everything was and 
is seen by him from the standpoint of its relation and his relation 
to Gk)d and eternity. 

During his early young manhood^ B. H. Coleman went to Texas* 
He is fully identified with Texas life and especially with Texas 
Baptist life. He is known by as many. Baptists all over the South, 
perhaps^ as any other Baptist in Texas. Who of our readers does 
not know ^^ob Coleman'' ? 

At first he. settled at Piano, Collin county, where, in a short 
while, he ran for office against a veteran politician. Happily for 
the Baptists and the religious world at large he was defeated by a 
few votes. As a politician he would have gone to Congress, per- 
haps, but his influence for good would have been far less than it 
has been in Baptist life. A little later he came to Dallas, where 
he was soon ordained deacon by the First Baptist church. Very 
soon he was elected to assist Dr. J. B. Gambrell in the State Mis- 
sion Booms during that critical period of State Mission history. 
Dr. Gambrell says of him: "No truer man lives than he. It has 
been good to work with him. He is as nearly a New Testament 
deacon as we have ever known.'' Twice he has been elected Pastor 
Truett's assistant and has served faithfully and ably. The first 
period was from 1902 to 1908. The second period was from 1914 
to the present time. Of his work in this relation his pastor says : 
"I have no words with which to express my appreciation of R. H. 
Coleman. In all my relation with men, I have never met a nobler, 
better, truer nor more useful man than this man." Upon this 
layman assistant rested the duty of leadership in the great First 
Baptist church, Dallas, with a membership of 3000 and a total 
Sunday School enrollment of 4500, during Pastor Truett's mis- 
sion of seven months over-seas; and during that trying period 
the splendid work of the church moved on without relaxation, 
and the generous offerings of the church were advanced even be- 
yond former years. 

For eight years he has been superintendent of the great Sunday 
school of the First Baptist church. From 1908 to 1914 he was 



72 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

business manager of the Baptist Standard, coming into this posi- 
tion when the paper became denominational property and serving 
through the testing years that followed. The Standard now has 
the largest circulation of any Baptist paper in the world. Foi 
many years he has been president of the State B. Y. P. U. Much 
of the success and power of that great organization^ including the 
annual encampment at Palacios, is due to his guiding hand. He 
and W. B. Kendall practically carried the organization by the sheer 
force of their personalities during its formative period. 

His greatest work, perhaps, has been that of his service to Chris- 
tian song. As joint-editor with W. W. Hamilton, he published 
"Evangel" in 1909. Since then he has compiled, edited and pub- 
lished the following song books: "New Evangel,'* 1911; "World 
EvangeV' 1913; "Herald,** 1916; "Treasury of Song,** 1917, and 
Popular Hymnal 1919. More than 3,000,000 copies of these books 
have been published and distributed; the largest number ever dis- 
tributed by any compiler with one exception, in that length of time. 
From one end of this coimtry to the other and beyond the seas, 
Goleman*s song books are in use and the demand for them continues 
and grows. Brother Coleman has more elements of power in lead- 
ing great congregations in song than any other man we ever saw, 
and we have seen the great song leaders of the past quarter of a 
century. If he had devoted himself to that one thing he would have 
been known as a song leader around the world. Moreover, he knows 
the kind of music that will appeal to the human heart, as a remark- 
able sale of the song books shows. 

We are depending upon him to interpret to itself in song the 
new age into which tlie world is being ushered, and we believe 
that he will find the songs that are to meet the call of hearts torn 
by the war and reaching out after the deep things of (Jod. Into 
all of his activities he brings the exact methods learned from early 
habits of life and some years of experience in banking while he 
was young — methods which he nevertheless warms with good humor 
and glowing spirituality. Whatever he does is religiously done. 

Hale and vigorous, in the prime of manhood, pastor's assistant 
and superintendent of the Sunday school in one of the great 
churches of the world, president of the greatest B. Y. P. U. or- 



BAPTIST BIOaUAPHY 73 

ganization and assembly, compiler and publisher of a remarkable 
serieB of song books, it would seem that liis usefulness in the 
affairs of the kingdom is just now well under way. The ridiest, 
ripest years are yet to come. Baptists need more laymen like 
him. They need their consecration, their ability, and their money, 
none of which has the subject of this sketch withheld from those 
cbaDnelfi vhidi bless the world. 



ERNEST CLYDE COLLINS. 




Among the early settlers of Liberty 
j and Tattnall counties, Georgia, were 
( the Collins and Tillman families. 
The Collins family was of Scotch- 
Irish descent, while the Tillmans were 
. of French stock. They settled in the 
virgin pine forests of Southern Geor- 
I gia, and cleared the land for their 
I farms, both families being planters. 
I Perry Collins married Sarah Tillman, 
I a sister of James Tillman. Jamee Till- 
-^ man married Sarah Everett. Both 
families wielded a wide influence in their section of the State. 
James Tillman represented Tattnall county in the General As- 
sembly when the capitol was at Milledgeville instead of Atlanta, 
making the joarney on horseback. Among the sons of Perry Col- 
lins was Joseph Perry Collins, who married Lela 0. Tillman. 
Joseph Perry Collins was a planter and merchant. In 1888 he 
moved from Liberty county and located in the town of Glennville, 
in Tattnall county. Later Mr. Collins served as clerk of the 
superior and city courts of Tattnall county for four years. 

One of the sons of Joseph Perry Collins was Ernest Clyde 
Collins, the subject of this sketch, who was born in Liberty county, 
Georgia, July SO, 1880. He received his primary and high school 
education in the Baptist Union Institute, at Glennville, Georgia. 
Afterwards he entered Mercer University, at Macon, Georgia, 



74 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

where he made a fine record as a student. On account of the im- 
perative need of his services in his father's business^ he gave up 
the literary course, but graduated from the Law Department of 
Mercer University in 1899. After his graduation he located at 
Beidsvillcy the county seat of Tattnall county, and began the prac- 
tice of law. During the years he has enjoyed a good business in 
his chosen profession. 

Mr. Collins was converted at the early age of twelve years, and 
united with the Philadelphia, now Glennville, Baptist church. 
He was baptized by Rev. Geo. W. Smith, of Hagan, Georgia, but 
originally from Washington county, thirty-one others being bap- 
tized at the same time. From the beginning of his Christian life 
he was an active and energetic member of his church. In church 
life he has developed high ideals and holy ambitions. 

On December 20, 1900, Mr. Collins was united in marriage to 
Miss Beulah Rogers, of Reidsville, (Jeorgia. She was a daughter 
of W. Millard Rogers, a planter and merchant Her paternal 
grand-parents were Joseph B. Rogers and Samantha Strickland 
Rogers, while her maternal grandparents were Simon P. Smith 
and Clarissa Brewton Smith. She has been a faithful helpmeet 
to her husband in his busy life. Their home has been blessed 
with three sons, the oldest of whom is a student at Mercer Uni- 
versity. 

Mr. Collins was elected Judge of the City Court of Tattnall 
county in 1911, which position he held for eight years retiring 
Dec. 31, 1918. Judge of the Court he has proved himself to be a 
capable jurist. The faithful administration of the law in the 
punishment of evil doers, and the vindication of the righteous has 
marked his course. 

In the religious spheres Judge Collins has enjoyed the confi- 
dence of the brotherhood. He has frequently been honored by 
them. For more than ten years he has been the faithful and 
beloved superintendent of the Reidsville Baptist Sunday school. 
Under his minis.try the Sunday school has rapidly grown in num- 
bers and efficiency. In point of fineness this school ranks with 
the best in the State. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



75 



la 1913 Judge Colliju was elected moderator of the Tattnall 
Counly Baptist Asaociation, and still occupies this office. He ear- 
nestly seeks the upward and onward movement of all the churches 
of the association. He was elected by the Georgia Baptist Con- 
Tention as a member of the. State Uission Board, and served one 
year, when he was elected by the same body as a member of the 
Committee of Five. This election made it necessary for his rela- 
tion to the Mission Board to cease. The Committee of Five is 
charged with the responsible and heavy work of organizing and 
directing a state-wide campaign known as "The Debt Faying 
Campaign," to raise $500,000 with which to pay all the debts of all 
the institutions fostered by the Georgia Baptist Convention. Id 
this work Jndge Collins has manifested great interest and ability. 
He is always ready to go anywhere to advance the cause. He is 
prompt, enthusiastic and generous in all church work. 

Few men of the age of Judge Collins rank higher than he as s 
citizen, jurist and denominational leader. Unless all signs fail 
he has not yet reached the zenith of his usefulness in the civic 
and religious affaire of his community and State. 



BENJAMIN ANDREW COPASS. 




in their day. It will be 

mbject of this sketch, has a mixture of good blood. 

in his diaracteri sties and achievementp. 



Benjamin Andrew Copass, son of 
('harles Wesley and Lucy Bowman 
Copasa, was born near Clementville, 
Tennessee, May 39, 1865. His paternal 
grandparents were John Co pas," , of 
French descent, and Anne Fitzgerald 
Copass, of Scotch-Irish stock. His 
maternal grandparents were William 
Carroll Bowman, of Dutch ancestry, 
and Nancy Denton Bowman, an Eng- 
lish woman. Two of her uncles, named 
Denton, were noted Baptist preachers 
that Benjamin Andrew Copass. the 
It all tells 



76 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Gk)ing back to his ancestors, as must always be done in getting 
a true estimate of any man, it is found that they were sturdy, 
loyal, heroic men and women. Some of them fought in the Revo- 
lutionary War. One of them, his great-grandfather Copass, fought 
through that war and was at the battle of Yorktown and witnessed 
the surrender of Cornwallis. In fact, the Copass family has fought 
in every war in which this country has ever been engaged. As 
this sketch is being written, two brothers are in Prance, having 
fought for the freedom of the world. 

Reared in the mountains^ on the dividing line between Kentucky 
and Tennessee, young Copass was acquainted with the hardships 
and adversities of frontier life. Although his parents were poor, 
he determined to get an education and never turned aside from 
that steadfast purpose. He also provided for the education of four 
sisters. After completing the course in the academy near his home, 
he secured his A. B. and A. M. degrees from Bethel College, of 
Russellville, Kentucky. Later he took the full course in the South- 
ern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louisville, Kentucky, and 
ranked in his studies along with such men as W. J. McGlothlin, 
Weston Bruner, D. G. Whittinghill and others, who were his class- 
mates. In after years Bethel College, Kentucky, his Alma Mater, 
conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. So modest 
is he that some of his most intimate friends in Texas did not know 
for years that he was the possessor of such degree. When alone 
he might have written his name, B. A. Copass, D. D., but he was 
never known to advertise that fact or to send articles to the news- 
papers with the degree appended to his name. 

Dr. Copass was converted November 30, 1879, and united with 
Skaggs Creek Baptist church the next day, December 1st. On 
December the 7th the same year he was baptized by Rev. Samuel 
Walden. On Saturday after the third Sunday in July, 1889, nearly 
ten years later, he was ordained by the BeUewood Baptist church, 
Willette, Tennessee, to the full work of the gospel ministry. The 
ordination sermon was preached by Rev. M. B. Ramsey, and the 
other brethren composing the presbytery were Wiseman Smith, 
W. H. Smith, J. H. Matthews and J. W. Bailey. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 77 

Dr. Copass has held a number of pastorates^ in each of which 
he has been successful. His pastorates have been as follows: 
Clinton, Kentucky, 1894-1896; Los Angeles, California, 1896- 
1899 ; Marksbury, Kentucky, 1899-1901 ; Waxahachie, Texas, 1901- 
1906; San Marcos, Texas, 1906-1912; Denton, Texas, 1912-1913. 
This pastorate was made short by his resignation to save San 
Marcos Baptist Academy from an indebtedness of $100,000. 

While pastor at San Marcos, the San Marcos Baptist Academy, 
one of the best secondary schools of the South, was opened. He 
was so familiar with its purposes and needs, and had so thoroughly 
the confidence of its constituency, that it was not surprising that 
he should be called some time later, from his happy pastorate in 
Denton to lead in a quiet campaign to save the institution in a 
time of imminent peril. He succeeded so well that he was asked 
by the Education Board of the Baptist General Convention of 
Texas to become Associate Secretary with Dr. A. J. Barton, who 
was then Secretary of that Board. When the Education and Mis- 
sion Boards of the Baptist General Convention of Texas were 
consolidated, in 1914, h'j was elected Assistant Corresponding 
Secretary of the Baptist Executive Board, which position he held 
until his retirement in December, 1917. 

During the three years of his secretaryship, his greatest contri- 
bution to the Baptistd of Texas was the outlining of a program 
for the enlistment of all the forces. He emphasized especially the 
associational idea and aroused Texas Baptists to the need of appre- 
ciating and utilizing properly this unit of denominational co- 
operation. So quiet and modest was he that the full value of his 
labors was not apparent to all; but in the years to come a just 
appraisal of Baptist activities in Texas will recognize the worthy 
contribution that he made to the denominational life. 

When Dr. Copass turned aside from the pastorate he was happy 
as the undershepherd of one of the strongest Baptist churches in 
Texas. He had the shepherd heart and the soul of a prophet. 
In his library was the best literature produced by the master minds 
of the past and present. He was conversant with the achievements 
of modem science and the pronouncements of modem philosophy. 
He was a close student of history and was able to trace accurately 



78 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

the development of natiom and the growth of institutions. Above 
all, as a pastor and now, he is a lover of the Word. Through hia 
intimate knowledge of Hebrew and Qreek he is the better enabled 
to interpret and appreciate the teachings of the Scriptures. He 
knows how to sympathize with and win the plain people; because 
he suffered, he knows how to sympathize with others who suffer 
likewise; because he has trod the paths of adversity, he knows how 
to speak a word of cheer to despondent and discouraged hearts; 
because he has been led by the divine Shepherd, he himself knows 
how to be patient and considerate. 

These qualities make him all the greater as a preacher and 
writer. He is an accurate thinker. He is the author of an exposi- 
tion of Hosea, which was published by the American Baptist Publi- 
cation Society^ and has had a wide sale. The manuscripts for 
other volumes were destroyed some years ago in a fire at San 
Marcos. Since that time his life has been too strenuous to permit 
him to write books, although he has contributed many articles to 
the denominational press, and has prepared for the Executive 
Board quite a number of tracts. 

Dr. Copass was married in 1894 to Miss Cloantha Williams, of 
Russellville, Kentucky. Soon after coming to Texas, she went to 
the Father's house. In 1904 Dr. Copass and Miss Crickett Keys, 
of Waxahachie, Texas, were married. In the home are four 
children, Cloantha, Benjamin, Lucile and Mike. Cloantha received 
her A. B. degree from Baylor University in 1917, and is now at 
the head of the department of French in Burleson College, Green- 
ville, Texas. She is also studying for her A. M. degree in Chicago 
University. Benjamin completed the course at San Marcos Acad- 
emy and was a student in Burleson College, Greenville, when he 
volunteered for the army, receiving his commission as lieutenant 
in sixty days after he entered service. He is now a student in 
Baylor University. Lucile is in Burleson College, Greenville, Texas; 
and Mike, a tA'pical American boy, very much like his father, we 
imagine, when he was a boy, is in High School, Fort Worth, Texas. 

Dr. Copass is now in the prime of life, and his friends believe 
•that with him ''the best of life is yet to be." Just before the sign- 
ing of the armistice he resigned, from the superintendency of 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 



79 



Baptist War Work for Texas and eatered upon his duties as 
ProfeaBor of Hebrew and Old Testament History and Theology in 
the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Wortii, 
Texas. We believe he will be faithful in this position also, and vill 
serve well his day and generation. Or, if God in his providence 
should direct him to pastoral activities or secretarial duties, as 
in the past so in the future he will be tactful and efficient. If it 
is left to him he will spend the rest of his years as a teacher of 
preachers and in making whatever contribution he can for the 
advancement of the cause of his denomination in all the world. 
Wherever he goes and whatever he does there will accompany him 
the shadow of a man who stands erect both in body and in soul. 



SOLON BOLIVAR COUSINS. 

Among the early settlerB of Amelia 
county, Virginia, was the Cousins 
family of French descent. One of 
the prominent members of that family 
was Richard Henry Cousins, whose 
wife was of Scotch descent. He was 
a planter and lived and died in the 
neighborhood where his father settled. 
One of his sons, Richard Henry, Jr., 
came to Georgia in the early part of 
I the last century and settled in Meri- 
wether county. He married Miss Ann 
Uilla, of Jasper county, Georgia. Like his father, he was a planter, 
and his plantation was in one of the most fertile parts of the 
county. It was on this plantation that Solon Bolivar Cousins, 
the subject of this sketch, was born May 15, 1849. 

The youth of young Cousins was spent on the farm, and he 
received his primary education in the old field school. In his 
early manhood he entered the Hogansville High School, of which 
Prof, Geo. C. Looney was principal. As a teacher Prof. Looney 
was in a class to himself in the estimation of his patrons. It was 




80 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

• 

under his tutorship, assisted by Prof. A. D. Candler, that Mr. 
Cousins was prepared for the Senior class in college. After two 
successful years as principal of the Haralson High School, he 
entered the Nashville Medical College, from which he graduated 
March 21, 1872. 

Dr. Cousins began the practice of his profession, immediately 
after his graduation, in Heard county, and for ten years was a 
successful and beloved physician. On Christmas day, 1873, the 
next year after his graduation in medicine, he married Miss J. D. 
Hollingsworth, of Heard county, Georgia, who was a daughter of 
Hon. Levi and Lizzie Hollingsworth. This union was made short 
by the seemingly untimely death of his wife, the mother of their 
child, Joseph Byron Cousins. 

Dr. Cousins was converted in August, 1873, and united with the 
Yellow Dirt Baptist church, being baptized by Bev. William H. 
Daniel. The new life in Christ was very real to him. It added 
to his skill in ministering to the sick. As he grew in grace and 
in the knowledge of the truth, his desire for the salvation of the 
lost became a consuming passion. Soon he felt that it would be 
woe to him unless he yielded to the call fo God to preach the gos- 
pel. In response to that call and to the calls of the churches, 

• 

he has spent thirty-five years of his vigorous life in the ministry. 

Dr. Cousins was ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry 
by Yellow Dirt church. Heard county, Georgia, October 8, 1881. 
The presbytery was composed of Bevs. B. H. Jackson, pastor, W. W. 
Boop, M. Owensby and T. L. Layton. Prom that time until now 
he has been much in demand as pastor of town, village and country 
churches. The churches he has served have been located in the 
county in which he was born, and in which he has lived all his 
life, and in contiguous counties. Quite all of them are members 
of the Western Baptist Association, and the record he has made 
as their pastor has been exceptional. 

The following is a list of the churches he has served and the 
time given to each: Moreland, twenty-one years; Corinth, three 
years ; Grantville, one year ; Union, Meriwether county, four years ; 
Union, Harris county, five years; Oakland, eleven years; Long 
Cane, Troup county, nine years; Antioch, Meriwether county, nine 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 81 

years; Whiteoak Grove, two years. The present field of Dr. 
Cousins is as follows: Turin, fifth year; Mt. Zion, Meriwether 
county, thirty-fourth year; (lay, Meriwether county, first year; 
Haralson, twentieth year, all located in the Western Association, 
and all in a prosperous condition. 

It will be observed that he has given thiriy-f our years to Mount 
Zion church, which is located in his home county. During these 
years he has seen almost a complete change in the membership. 
Nearly every home has shared his sympathetic ministry in their 
deepest sorrows, and many of them have had his cheering presence 
on the occasions of the marriages of their sons and daughters. 
Within the time of his pastorate children have been born and have 
grown to maturity. He has officiated at their marriages and is 
now leading their children to Christ. A like experience is being 
had at Haralson, where he has been pastor for twenty years, and 
where he taught school as a young man. 

As a preacher Dr. Cousins is thoughtful, systematic and force- 
ful in the presentation of his message. The genuineness of the 
man, his deep spirituality, his earnestness and his striking person- 
ality re-enforce his preaching and make it productive in edifying 
the saved and in convincing the lost of their need of salvation. 
The churches he has served have been noted for the well-developed 
membership and for the steady ingathering of the unsaved. Few 
men have had a more fruitful ministry. 

"In honor preferring one another" has been the practice of 
Dr. Cousins throughout all his ministerial life. Only twice in 
thirty-five years has he served as moderator of the Western Asso- 
ciation, first in 1888 and second in 1912. Only twice has he 
preached the introductory sermon, first in 1887, second in 1911. 
It is his delight to honor his brethren, and especially young minis- 
ters. Those most intimate with him have never been able to de- 
tect a spirit of jealousy in his relation to his brother ministers. 
Had he been so disposed, he could have monopolized the places of 
honor in his association because of his popularity in that body; 
but such a thing has never been his desire. 

Any story of this good man's career would be incomplete that 
did not mention his contribution to the lives of the young men 



82 BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 

and the young women who have come under his pastoral care. 
Endowed with extraordinary insight into human nature^ he has 
always been quick to discern the potentialities and possibilities of 
the young. Not only has he encouraged and inspired them to 
lives of usefulness and power, but not infrequently he has assumed 
for them responsibilities, thus making possible their training for 
eflSciency. There be many who will call his name blessed for his 
work's sake. 

Among the many priceless legacies which Dr. Cousins will be- 
queath to his family and friends is his uncompromising antagon- 
ism to all forms of evil. Long before the sentiment for prohibi- 
tion had gained the momentimi which it now has, and when it 
was not the most popular thing for a preacher to fearlessly advo- 
cate it. Dr. Cousins not only preached against the liquor traffic, 
but led several campaigns for its suppression in his own imme- 
diate section. 

The Master said that ^'Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake 
shall find it." To those who have touched the life of the subject 
of this sketch, these words would seem to fitly characterize his 
ministry in his home, in his community, in his church, and in the 
kingdom of God. 

Dr. Cousins has distinguished himself as a husband and father, 
as well as a citizen and minister. God blessed him with a second 
good wife in his marriage to Miss Lou Ella Fuller, daughter of 
William J. and Elizabeth Fuller, of Meriwether county, Georgia. 
This marriage was solemnized January 1, 1885, Rev. Elim Cul- 
pepper being the officiating minister. This union has been blessed 
with four sons and one daughter. The oldest son is Bev. Solon B. 
Cousins, Jr., pastor of the First Baptist church, of Columbus, 
Georgia; the second son is Paul Mercer Cousins, Professor of 
English in Shorter College, Rome, Georgia; the third son was 
Albert Roy Cousins, a graduate of Locust Grove Institute, where 
his two brothers taught, and of Wake Forest College. He had 
accepted the chair of History in Norman Institute, at Norman 
Park, Georgia, but before entering upon his duties was killed at 
the home of his father by a stroke of lightning, in 1916; the 
fourth and youngest son, Robert Lanier, gives promise of measur- 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 83 

ing up to his gifted brothers. The only daughter, Ella Buth 
Cousms, is a college graduate and is a young lady of exceptional 
gifts and attainments. In the home of Dr. Cousins the spirit of 
Christ is regnant and the family fellowship is of the highest type. 

When Dr. Cousins settled in Luthersville it was a small coimtry 
village, with no railroad facilities. He has seen it grow into a sub- 
stantial town, with splendid railroad accommodations and with a 
good school. No citizen in his community has been more inter- 
ested in education than he, and the Baptist high schools and col- 
leges of the State have had his unstinted support in influence, 
money and patronage. Two of his sons and his only daughter have 
been students of the Locust Grove Institute, Locust Grove, Geor- 
gia; two sons are graduates of Mercer University and the daughter 
a graduate of Shorter College, at Borne, Georgia. The youngest 
son is a prospective student of both Locust Grove Institute and 
of Mercer University. 

The father of these children is a princely man and their mother 
a queenly woman. As they face the setting sun the luster of their 
godly lives grows brighter with each passing day, and that luster 
will never fade from the vision of their children, comrades and 
future generations until it is lost in the dazzling glory of the 
Son of Bighteousness when he appears the second time without sin 
unto salvation. 



JOHN PBESTON CBOUCH. 



j^^^fc j^^^ J. F. CroDch, of McKinney, Tezaa> 

^^^V ^^B '^ ^^ eminently useful layman. For 

^^^^ ^Vl^H many generations his forefathers were 

^^^^ i -^^^ sturdy Baptists, and among them there 

^^^HLj|fl|^^f were a namber of good preachers. He 

^^^H ■'^^k ^QB ^"> >° Washington county. East 

^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ Tennessee, near Boon's Creek, Novem- 
^^^^Ej^^PI^B ber 10th, 1861. He was reared on the 
^^^^^^^S^^^^^H farm on which he was bom. His edn- 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 catioDsI advantages were limited. There 
^l^^^^^^^^^^^^l were po public schools when he was a 
boy, but he attended for a time a pri- 
vate school in his community, and for a few terms Boon's Creek 
Seminary. There were no regular Sunday schools in his neigh- 
borhood, but there was preaching once a month in a neighboring 
Baptist church of which his parents were devout m^nbers. When 
sixteen years old he attended a revival meeting at this church, 
during which he became deeply convicted of his sins. One night 
returning from the service, he stopped in the woods by the road- 
side to pray, was converted, and went home rejoicing. He at 
once became active in Christian work in such ways for service as 
were open to him. Being among the eldest of eleven children he 
remained at home assisting his father till he was twenty-six, at 
which time he moved to Texas. He farmed in Dallas county 
three years. 

In June, 1880, Mr. Crouch was united in marriage with Urs. 
Molly Smith Crouch, a widow with three children. Soon after 
his marriage he settled in UcEinney and went into the hardware & 
furniture business, in which he has greatly prospered. He stil! 
retains interest in two hardware sfores, one at McKinney, the other 
at Ft, Worth. He also has investments in a number of other enter- 
prizes. His vision of business matters is quite clear, his jadgment 
is good and he has rarely made an unfortunate investment. His 
counsel, as well as his capital, is sought by numerous business or- 
ganizations; and he is the president or a director in a number of 



r 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 85 

business concerns. His good wife, who was for thirty-five years 
his economic helper at home, died in 1916. He has no children, 
but is a faithful father to his step-children. Following the death 
of their mother he divided with them his property. 

On moving to McKinney, Mr. Crouch at once identified him- 
self with the struggling little Baptist church. It is now the first 
of three flourishing Baptist churches in the town. In 1883 he 
was ordained a deacon and has magnified his office, making an 
efficient church official. For a nimiber of years he was also the 
treasurer of his church, and in this position was vigilant and dili- 
gent, seeing to it that the necessary finances were provided to meet 
the monthly obligations of the church. He gave one of his clerks, 
who was employed as church collector, the time for doing the col- 
lecting. He loves his church and is devoted to its welfare; but 
he also has a heart of sympathy and a hand of help for every worthy 
cause, and takes an active interest in denominational enterprizes. 
He attends his county Baptist association, and takes an active 
part on its committees and in its discussions. He also, from time 
to time, attends the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the 
Southern Baptist Convention, and takes the keenest interest in 
their work. 

Although deacon Crouch is not a very wealthy man, he is a gen- 
erous supporter of Christian enterprises. He liberally contributes 
to the current expenses of his church, and gives to every special 
oflEering it makes. He is the churches chairman of the committee 
on the destitute, and he devotes much time, labor and means, in 
an endeavor to give relief to the poor, the widow and the orphan. 
By his generous aid he has made it possible for a number of young 
people to obtain a college education, some of whom are now occupy- 
ing important positions. He has also made some very worthy and 
commendable gifts to denominational institutions. Among these 
gifts was $7,500.00 toward the building of the present house of 
worship for his church, $7,000.00 to the Baptist Memorial Sani- 
tarium, $5,000.00 to Baylor University, $5,000.00 to the South- 
western Baptist Theological Seminary, and $5,000.00 to Baylor 
Female College. He also has definite plans for generously help- 



86 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

• 

ing, at some future time, other worthy Baptist institutioDB. He 
is wisely preparing to give an account of his stewardship. 

As a Christian, brother Crouch is devout and active. He at- 
tends the evening as well as the morning hour of worship. He has 
been a faithful Sunday school teacher for nearly half a century, 
and has been attending prayer meeting ever since his conversion. 
He often leads the mid-week devotional service and gives excellent 
interpretations of the Scripture he reads, his talks being of a prac- 
tical Christian character, and always helpful. In his daily life 
he practices what he preaches as a layman. He is modest and 
retiring as to Christian endeavor, shrinking from leadership but 
doing cheerfully his best when called by his brethren into public 
service. He is a member of the Executive Board of his Associa- 
tion, a member of the Board of Directors of Buckner Orphans' 
Home, a trustee of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Semi- 
nary, and president of the Board of Directors of the Baptist 
Memorial Sanitarium. 

By nature John Preston Crouch is a nobleman, genial and hos- 
pitable. He loves his friends and delights to entertain them, es- 
pecially his brethren in the ministry. He lives in a modest house, 
but in it, at its building, he set apart a "prophets chamber, *' and 
it is ever open with a welcome to the visiting minister. In the 
passing years his most frequent guest has been his pastor, but 
he has entertained many of the distinguished Baptists of the South, 
and most of the prominent Baptist ministers of Texas. In his 
home Dr. F. M. McConnell introduced Dr. B. H. Carroll to Geo. W. 
Truett, who was then a young teacher, and there and then they 
began to formulate their great plans for the Baptist schools of 
Texas. 

It is the fond hope of his admiring friends and brethren that 
he may be spared many years to the Christian work in which he 
delights. 



WASHINGTON BRYAN CBUMPTON. 




The writer of these few pages has 
I often said that Washington Bryan 
Crumpton, in point of usefulness, has 
been Alabama's foremost citizen for 
many years. He probably knows and 
I is known by more people than any 
I other man in the State. Thousands 
love him, a few hate, but all respect 
him. As Secretary of the Alabama 
State Board of Missions, he was the 
leader of probably one-half the white 
population of the State. He was among 
the pioneers in creating the anti-liquor sentiment of the State, was 
one of its wisest organizers, and as president of the Anti-Saloon 
League is now the victorious general of the forces that droTe the 
liquor dealers from Alabama and keeps them from our borders. 
His life work was probably done as Alabama's Secretary of Mis- 
sions, and looking back to his early days it is easy to see how 
Providence specially prepared him for that exalted station. Mr. 
Crumpton was bom at Camden, in Wilcox county, Alabama, Feb- 
ruary 24, 1842. Beginning school at eight years old, he was edu- 
cated largely from common schools of such character as existed 
at that time in Alabama. His people moved to old Washington, 
ten miles below Montgomery, when he was yet a lad, and there he 
received his first impressions of the horror of the liquor trafBc. A 
prominent citizen whose brother was a drunkard, saw two bar- 
rels of whiskey being rolled from a wagon to the stoop in front 
of the village store. 

With an axe he burst them open and poured their contents on 
the ground paying the merchant for the whiskey. It would be 
several weeks before more could be gotton up from Mobile, and 
during that time hia brother would be sober. The whole scene 
made an impression on the little boy that has had much to do 
with the famous saying of the man, who as president of Alabama's 




88 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

Anti-Saloon League declared: '^e are camping on the trail of 
the liquor traflSc and our fires will never go out/' 

When about eleven years of age the family moved to Pineapple 
and soon after the mother of the family went to heaven. At thir- 
teen years of age he was baptized by pastor Miles McWilliams, 
into the fellowship of the Friendship church. Soon after this, his 
father broke up housekeeping and young Crumpton lived with 
various relatives, giving much of his time to actual farm work, 
which is one of the finest schools any boy can enter. 

One of his elder brothers having gone to California with the 
early forty-niners, Washington Bryan decided he would go for a 
visit to the far western State. He had some rich experiences there 
that were worth much to him in after years, but very soon the 
excitement of the Civil War swept like a fiood over California, and 
the young Alabamian, whose blood was hot, and whose resentment 
was keen at much of the anti-Southern spirit of California, deter- 
mined to make his way back to the Confederate armies. It would 
be a most interesting story to follow that lone boy on his long and 
dangerous trip home. He tells of it in a lecture of absorbing in- 
terest, which can be found in a book written by himself and his 
brother describing their adventures in California and the return 
of the younger brother to his people. 

He saw real service in the armies of northern Mississippi. He 
was in the siege of Vicksburg and lived for a time on pea bread 
and mule meat. He was taken as a wounded prisoner and sent 
to Mobile, where he was afterwards exchanged and returned to the 
active service. He was in Company H, 37th Mississippi Infantry, 
Shelly's Brigade, Walthall's Division, and Stewart's Corps. He 
was in the battles about Atlanta, (Georgia, where he was slightly 
wounded on July 28th. He marched with Hood in Tennessee, was 
in the battle of Franklin, and was wounded again in the first day's 
fighting at Nashville, Tennessee. The last gun of the war heard 
by him was at Columbus, Georgia, when Wilson's raid captured the 
city. He was third sergeant of his company most of the time and 
was made lieutenant just before the surrender. 

Retiring from the war he spent a year around his old haunts in 
Dallas and adjoinin<r counties, Alabama, where he renewed his al- 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 89 

legiance to his Master. But it was not until as a farmer in Mis- 
sissippi, a year later, that he finally made the complete surrender 
to his call to the ministry, at which time he was licensed to preach 
by the Garlandsville church. He spent two years in Georgetown, 
Kentucky College, and there formed the friendship of A. C. David- 
son and J .M. Frost, who in after years were to play an important 
part in shaping his life. While at school at Georgetown, and for 
a short while after, he did much preaching among Kentucky 
churches, but finally settled in Dallas county, Alabama, as the 
pastor of Providence, Shiloh and New Bethel churches. By re- 
quest of the Providence church he was ordained, November 30, 
1870. The ordaining council was composed of B. H. Crumpton, 
T. M. Bailey and W. C. Cleveland. For a number of years he 
preached in Dallas and surrounding counties, giving tremendous 
impetus to the work in that section, and creating a church life 
and spirit that bears his peculiar stamp to this day. 

In 1872 he married Miss Ellen Cochran, a daughter of C. U. 
Cochran, one of his deacons in Providence church who came from 
South Carolina in the early days of Alabama. For two years he 
was pastor of the First church at Meridian, Mississippi, passing 
through a scourge of yellow fever with his church, showing the same 
soldierly qualities during those terrible days that marked his service 
in the army. This pastorate gave him a clear insight into the work 
of city churches and pastors, enabling him in after years to enter 
fully into their trials while serving as Mission Secretary. 

But the farm and country life held his heart, and he returned 
to it after his faithful service at Meridian. He loved husbandry, 
country ways and country people. His deep interest in missions can 
be seen at an early date, in the fact that he reserved one Sunday 
from regular pastoral work so as to give himself to the building 
of destitute sections on his vacant day. An example of this is to 
be seen in a visit he made to his old home at Camden, where the 
discouraged church had been pastorless for a long time. Half in 
jest, but wholly in earnest, he said that he had come seeking a call, 
which they readily extended. It was far away, over bad roads, 
and across the river, but he held on until he found a pastor for 



k 



90 BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 

them^ and so conserved the religious life and Baptist interests in 
one of the most important sections of the State. 

After returning to his farm from Meridian he began to advocate 
prohibition in his county, and from that hour to this he has waged 
a successful war on King Alcohol, — perhaps the greatest foe of the 
human family. 

When Alabama Baptists organized their State Board of Missions 
with T. M. Bailey as its Secretary, W. B. Crumpton was often 
called to visit associations and perform various important tasks 
for the new Board. He was soon made State Evangelist, and cov- 
ered a vast territory in that capacity, saying of himself: "My min- 
istry is to church members. I love to see souls won to Christ, and 
I have baptized a good many, but I love most of all to get churches 
to do things." This probably is true, though the evangelist held 
many meetings and baptized many precious souls. He was a mem- 
ber of the State Mission Board with Frost and Davidson, who 
meantime had moved to Alabama, the former being bishop at 
Selma and the latter at Marion. When Dr. Bailey resigned to 
take up his work in South Carolina, it was but natural for the 
Board to turn to young Crumpton, whose boundless energies and 
wide experience made him the logical man for the place. 

It is here that he did the great work of his life. With the ex- 
ception of three years spent in Georgetown, Kentucky, as the finan- 
cial agent of the College, over which his great friend Davidson was 
then presiding, he covered twenty-eight years of service as Secre- 
tary of Alabama's Missionary Board. He ought to write a story 
of his work during that period. An autobiography would contain 
manv a thrilling story of Christian trial, heroism and triumph. 
The State during that time passed through many crises, and per- 
haps the Baptist cause passed through more, but in every situation 
the Secretary rose to the occasion and guided his people safely 
through the storm. The State was growing by leaps and bounds. 
New towns were springing up on every side, great cities were 
growing, country districts were being depopulated by reason of 
the movement of the people to the centers, and strong churches 
were going to the wall in rural communities that had been at one 
time the backbone of the denomination. Crumpton was every- 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 91 

where, organizing, directing, encouraging, supporting and building. 
There are strong churches all over Alabama now that were bom 
in his prayers, and made possible by his foresight and courage. 
The broad sympathy of the man was extended to every struggling 
group of workers in new fields, and to surviving members in ex- 
piring churches, from which the people had moved away. Tire- 
less in his energy, wise in his plans, persistent in their execution, 
when once he laid his hand to a new situation he never turned 
loose until the new church was able to stand alone. He was a 
wonderful discoverer of men, and had an unusual talent for making 
fortunate matches between churches and pastors. He kept in close 
touch with the young men entering the ministry, became their 
warm personal friend, and used them in the development of the 
growing life of the State. He always deplored the fact that he 
did not graduate at college, but it was wonderful to see how he 
became the beloved leader of college men as well as country pas- 
tors. His knowledge of men, his broad vision, his unusual com- 
mon sense, practical wisdom and saving sense of humor, made him 
one of the greatest Secretaries the country has ever known. The 
colleges felt the touch of his strong and loving hand. The Sunday 
schools of the State looked to him as a matter of course for leader- 
ship. He was as much a foreign missionary and a Home Board 
man as he was the secretary of Alabama — indeed every interest 
fostered by the denomination found a fountain of inspiration in 
him, and it was impossible to tell in which phase of the work his 
interest was greatest, so broad his sympathies, so deep his conse- 
cration, so boundless his ambition for his people. 

In November, 1915, at the Huntsville Convention, ripe in years, 
rich in experience, still clear in mind and possessing the devotion 
of his people, he was made Secretary Emeritus of the State Board 
of Missions, which position he now holds and will hold until his 
Master calls him home. He is the advisor of the Board and the 
patriarch of the churches. He is the pastor of a country church, 
and still pursues his lifelong interests in the distribution of good 
literature of all kinds. While not so strenuous, the labors in which 
he is now engaged are as important and successful as any that 
ever filled his hands. 



92 BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 

As a husband and father, he has been strong and tender. His 
wife, Ellen Cochran, died while he was with (Jeorgetown College, 
as its agent. She was the mother of ten children, one-half of whom 
remain on earth. After nine years he was married to Mrs. Flor- 
ence Harris, of Montgomery, the widow of Dr. William Harris, 
who died while pastor of the First church in that dty. 

Mention has been made of his work for the cause of temperance. 
His practical judgment, as well as his deep devotion to the cause, 
made him the natural leader of the temperance forces in Alabama. 
It must be remembered that when he began his work against liquor, 
the State was in the clutches of that nefarious traflSc. Politicians 
were subservient to its power and public men generally were afraid 
to touch it. Even when they approved temperance measures, many 
good men lacked the heart to attack the saloon keepers because the 
whole task seemed so hopeless. But the young crusader knew no 
fear. He had no ambitions except to serve his people and to re- 
deem his State. With a courage born of a certainty of the right- 
eousness of his cause and assurance of its ultimate triumph, he at- 
tempted the impossible and won. From seeing his people helpless 
in the grip of the liquor interests, he has lived to see a day when 
no one dreams of bringing back the ancient curse of the State. He 
is still president of the Anti-Saloon League, and as such must be 
reckoned with by the forces of iniquity that fain would return to 
their accustomed haunts and to their prey upon the people. 

As Alabama has grown in material, intellectual and spiritual 
power, he has grown along with it, and in all of the advance made 
by his native State his hand has been one of the most powerful 
agencies in her growth toward better things. He is still busy 
about his work, and it is the prayer of the thousands who love 
him that the evening time of life shall see its most brilliant glories. 

Of a truth 

''He shall come rejoicing. 
Bringing in the sheavcB.*' 




WILLIAM ELI DAVIS. 

Dr. W. E. Davis is a preacher of 
more than ordinary ability. He pos- 
sesses in a rare combination the essen- 
tial qualities of an all-round man of 
God. He is first of all a prophet. His 
message is from above, and is made by 
him attractive both in the manner of 
preparation and in the consecrated per- 
sonality through which it comes. He 
clothes it in living words, and with 
easy earnestness delivers it to dying 
men. His knowledge of the Scriptures 
is comprehensive. His exposition is clear and luminous. His 
voice is full of pleasantness and persuasiveness. His gestures are 
interpretative. In the delivery of his sermons the whole man is 
in harmonic action. In his most rapturous moments the content 
of his message is focalized in a language that subdues the rebel- 
lious, heartens the timid and compels the slothful. It seems 
easy for him to preach. Through an uninterrupted application 
to systematic study covering a period of ten years, he has main- 
tained a standard of preaching which has lifted his people to 
successive heights in religious growth and activity. 

He is also a pastor. In his bosom he carries a true shepherd 
heart. His compassion reaches out to all who need his spiritual 
attention and care — the sick, the poor, the discouraged, the forlorn, 
the aged, the outcast, the lost. With increasing devotion he repeats 
the rounds from year to year among the people who have a claim 
upon his gracious ministry. Because of this sacrificial service 
be wins the love and esteem of all in the community. He is seen 
to be a good servant of Jesus Christ. 

The subject of this sketch was bom on a farm near Odessa, 
Hiseonri. The date of his birth was May 2, 1880. He was 
regarded by his parents as a love gift from heaven. Being devout 
Christians, deacon John S. Davis and wife craved a son for ih« 
gospel ministry. During the days when the mother anxiously 



94 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

awaited his coming, she gave herself in earnest prayer to the 
divine request that the Lord might use him for the proclamation 
of his holy message. Perhaps she had offered the same petition 
in advance of the coming of an older son, Bev. J. E. Davis, who 
has been for twelve years one of the faithful missionaries in 
Mexico. At any rate, the Lord answered her prayer for a preacher 
son by giving her two preachers. Dr. W. E. Davis, in explaining 
his call to the ministry, alludes to the pre-natal desire of his 
saintly mother as expressed in the prayer that conquered. 

One of the most important events of his life was his marriage 
to Miss Anna Jane Prather, of Saint Joseph, Missouri. The 
date of the wedding was November 25, 1902. During the years 
they have travelled life's pathway together there has been a beauti- 
ful mutuality in magnifying the interests of the kingdom. In 
his numerous strenuous labors as pastor she gives always a heart 
of tender sympathy and a hand of willing helpfulness. They found 
a new joy in their home with the coming of a baby boy just a few 
days before their tenth wedding anniversary, William Eli, Junior. 
The three compose a family of rare happiness. Friends who linger 
for a brief time in their home go out to live better lives from the 
inspiration of its gracious hospitality. 

A strong foundation was laid for his ministerial career when 
Dr. Davis invested in an education. Living on the farm until his 
eighteenth year, he spent most of his early school days in the 
rural public schools. Here he found some of the richest ex- 
periences of his educational life. In the year 1899, he entered the 
Academy of William Jewell College, at Liberty, Missouri. In 
1901 he was compelled to leave school for a time. After an absence 
of three years he resumed his studies in the same institution. 
By herculean labor he completed the full college course in three 
years, graduating with the A. B. degree in the Summer of 1907. 
Four years later he received the A. M. degree for post-graduate 
study. He was given from the Potomac University of Washington, 
District of Columbia, in the Spring of 1916, the degree of Ph. D. 
after the completion of a three-year course by correspondence 
given by that institution. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 96 

Even before beginning his college education he did some ef- 
fective preaching. He was licensed to preach in the Pall of 1898. 
The license was granted by the New Liberty Baptist church, in 
Jackson county, Missouri. His ordination to the gospel ministry 
occurred in his twenty-second year. It was conducted in the 
West Plains Baptist church, of West Plains, Missouri. This 
event took place a little more than eight years after his conversion. 
He remembers with delight that the ordination sermon was 
preached by the beloved Rev. C. F. Whitlock. 

The eighteen years, or more, he has been in the active ministry 
have been years crowded with the multitudinous labors of a busy 
twentieth century Baptist preacher. His work began as a district 
missionary in the Union Association in southern Missouri. A 
second work of similar nature was given to North Central Asso- 
ciation in the northern part of the same State. He gathered 
rich harvests for the Master in both these fields of labor. During 
the years in college he served as pastor of different country 
Baptist churches. His first pastorate after graduation from 
college was with the Pine Street church, Nevada, Missouri. Here 
he served nobly, and grew noticeably. In May, 1908, he accepted 
a hearty call to the First church of Stansbury, Missouri. In this 
city he gave his best for two years. A strong request from the 
Baptist saints at Monte Vista, Colorado, to become shepherd of 
the flock there, induced him to leave his native State in the 
Summer of 1910. But he was gone from home only one year. 
He returned to Missouri in September, 1911, to take up the work 
of Robberson Avenue church, Springfield. To this church he 
has given up to this time in his ministry, the best work of his life. 
During the almost four years of his holy toil here he builded into 
the spiritual structure of the church such qualities of material 
and workmanship as will manifest a strength and beauty for years 
to come. At the time of this writing, 1918, he is making a remark- 
able record in what promises to be the most fruitful pastorate of 
his erstwhile career. He went to the First church, Clinton, Mis- 
souri, in November, 1916. In a period of a little more than two 
years he has led a scattered, discouraged, persecuted membership 



96 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

into a body of imited, optimistic, respected Christian men and 
women. 

The various spiritual efforts given by Dr. Davis to the kingdom 
tasks have been largely blessed of Qod. In the numerous revival 
meetings he has conducted it has been his privilege to witness the 
conversion of a great number of people. Because of his evangelistic 
gifts^ his brethren frequently call upon him for evangelistic meet- 
ings. Grenerally he holds from two to four such meetings eadi 
year away from his own church. He is called upon to deliver on an 
average as many as twelve special addresses each year. These are 
on various phases of religious and literary subjects. He is an in- 
defatigable worker. His strength of mind and body and bigness of 
hearty together with a fixed habit of systematized work^ make it 
possible for him to accomplish the maximum of service. 

But the strongest element in all his ministry is his outstanding 
manhood. This makes a compelling appeal to those who make 
his acquaintance. He is a man among men. He is so recognized 
among his fellows. His Christian manhood gives impetus to the 
burning messages which fall from his lips. It makes easy access 
for him into all the homes of the community in which he lives. 
The finest thing that can be said of Dr. William Eli Davis is that 
he is a Christian gentleman. In measuring his character, the 
words of another express the opinion of his friends: 

"The elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up 
And say to all the world, ^This is a man.' " 



REUBEN DEAVEB DeWEESE. 



^ Rev. E. D. DeWeese is one of the 

^^•^ V well-known, faithful Georgia Baptist 

^■L pastors, having preached in several of 

^^^^_,^^ ) the towns and cities of the State while 

^^^^B * ' a student at Mercer University, and 

^^H^^ having held pastorates in the southern, 

<^^^C^ middle and northern parts of the State. 

^^^^^BP'^^^ Though an adopted son of Georgia, he 
^^^^^ I^^^K ^^ loved the State devotedly and has 

l^^^^^k ^^^K found delight in his increasing labors 
^^^^^^k ^^V ^°^ ^^ huilding up of the cause of his 
Lord in the land of his adoption. 
In his early ministry he felt strangely pressed in spirit to go as 
a missionary to the foreign field, but gave up that thought for 
reasons which have not proven fully satisfactory to himself. Hence, 
he has ever been a true exponent of the spirit and principle of 
missions as much as possible at home. He loves nature and the 
freedom of the towns, and has therefore never desired the complex 
life involved in the citv pastorate. He is a preacher of the teach- 
ing type, and has an eager tongue and ear for the doctrines that 
center in the cross. 

Mr. DeWeese has studied and labored to show himself approved 
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, and has 
succeeded well in this respect. Though of an affable nature and 
an obliging, winning personality, with love for all and malice to 
none, he endeavors to please God rather than man by rightly divid- 
ing the word of New Testament truth to the best interest of the 
souls of his hearers. His message sounds out no uncertain note. 
Though loving, he is loyal and has definite, positive convictions 
and the courage of them. He is one true man. 

Withal, Mr. DeWeese greatly loves the souls of men and delights 
much in winning them to hia Master, and hence has held a large 
per cent of the revivals in hia own churches, with great satisfac- 
tion to his people. He has ever been a deep and warm sym- 
pathizer with the organized work of his denomination, and every 



98 BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 

association in which he has lived has felt and appreciated his 
work for their upbuilding and progress. 

The subject of this sketch was bom in Cherokee county. North 
Carolina, October 27, 1866. His father, G. A. DeWeese, was 
the grandson of Rev. Garrett DeWeese, a prominent pioneer 
preacher of Buncombe county, North Carolina, in the early part 
of the nineteenth century. His mother was the oldest daughter 
of Rev. Reuben Deaver, a preacher of great native ability in western 
North Carolina and Union county, Georgia, who was active in 
the ministry for nearly fifty years; was a preacher of wonderful 
power to the unsaved in those mountains; was a debater of 
unusual ability for his opportunities; and did much to save that 
section from the spirit of 'Tlardshellism'* and retrogression. 

Mr. DeWeese grew up as a laborer on the farm, with only such 
religious and educational advantages as the coimtry church, a 
pious home and the short-termed public schools of the country 
afforded. At the age of seventeen he was converted with a pro- 
found religious experience, and after five years of spiritual struggle, 
ever recurring, he made a definite surrender to what was to him 
an overpowering call to the ministry. This decided, he counted no 
sacrifice too great that Ije might secure for himself an education 
adequate to a suflBcient preparation for his life work. 

In 1888, the last year that Dr. George W. Truett served as prin- 
cipal of the Hiawassee High School, Mr. DeWeese entered that 
institution, where later he had the instructive and inspiring 
tutorship of Drs. T. W. O'Kelley and John G. Harrison, and 
of Rev. S. C. Hood and A. B. Green, all of the class of 1889, 
at Mercer. In 1894 he was ordained to the ministry by a presby- 
tery composed of Dr. P. C. McConnell, then our Home Board 
Secretary, and Revs. J. T. Piatt, B. M. Ledford, J. W. Lawing 
and J. J. Kimsey. In the same year he won a scholarship al 
Hiawassee to the Junior class at Mercer and entered there in 
September, but was forced to give up his work that year on 
account of enfeebled eyes, made so by measles. On leaving 
Mercer he was asked to supply the pulpit of Griffin First Baptist 
church for six months, while the pastor. Dr. T. W. O^Kelley, was 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 99 

• 1 

privileged to be absent for work in the Seminary, but declined 
for the same reason for which he left Mercer. 

On his return to Mercer in September, 1895, on consultation 
with the faculty, it was decided that mathematics in the Junior, 
and astronomy in the Senior class would best be left oflE, lest 
his old eye trouble might return, though he did all the other 
work required in the A. B. course, taking a very high stand in 
his Senior year. He had planned to make up the omitted work 
and take the A. B. degree with his class, but just then the very 
serious illness and death of his mother upset his plans. Later, 
however, he did most of that work, but never saw fit to return 
for his degree. In October, 1897, he went to the Southern Bap- 
tist Theological Seminary, and again in 1908. 

In 1898 Mr. DeWeese accepted a call to an unexpired term 
in each of the pastorates of Camilla and Pelham churches, half 
time each, at the end of which term he continued with the 
Camilla church, accepting pastoral calls to Flint and Baconton 
churches for once a month each. In this delightful, harmonious 
and fruitful field of labor his love for the pasjtorate and his 
shepherd heart were developed. 

In 1900 it was his fine fortune to marry Miss Vannie Dewell, 
one of the personally charming and highly accomplished young 
lady graduates of Bessie Tift college of the same year, who, having 
later been given by the Camilla people a charming introduction 
to a pastor's work, has ever since been an eflBcient and faithful 
helper to her husband. 

Late in 1901 Mr. DeWeese became pastor at Dahlonega. Here 
the Sunday school was greatly built up, contributions to missions 
much increased and a Bible Institute of power held, wherein 
Mr. DeWeese had the responsive co-operation of the mountain 
preachers in that section. In October, 1902, his election to the 
presidency of Hightower Baptist Institute, at Cumming, Georgia, 
moved him to that town, where for two school years he was the 
honored and successful head of that institution. During these 
two years and one other, he did mission work, organizing Sunday 
schools and holding Sunday school and Bible institutes, and 
preaching all over the bounds of the Hightower Association, then 



i.i.-.)4' 



100 BAPTIST BIOGSAPHY 

having a constituency of sevten thousand. But the shepherd 
heart would not let him rest outside the pastorate. So in No- 
vember, 1905, he became pastor at Lawrenceville, and continued 
with Norcross another year, where he had been the gratifyingly 
successful pastor for the two previous years. 

In the early part of 1906 Mr. DeWeese was persuaded to resign 
the position he held with the Mission Board of the Georgia Baptist 
Convention and give that time to the Baptist church at Winder. 
This happy and prosperous year saw the membership at Lawrence- 
ville enlarged, the debt lifted, the church dedicated, a lot for a 
pastorium purchased and other improvements made. A great 
meeting was held at Norcross, the pastor doing the preaching, 
and at the year's close the Norcross church went from once to 
twice a month services, and great success attended the work at 
Winder also. 

The first few months' work at Winder brought unity, life and 
hope to the church, and at the close of a fine meeting, wherein 
the pastor did the preaching, a movement began that resulted in 
the pastor's moving there, the purchase of a pastorium and the 
erection, in 1907, of a magnificent granite and brick church 
house, costing about $20,000. At the end of almost three years 
of excellent work, when Mr. DeWeese resigned to take special 
work in the Seminary, in 1908-09, the church had gone from once 
a month to full time services, was in a flourishing condition, and 
nearly doubled in membership, partly as the result of a great 
revival, held by Rev. H. C. Buchholz, in the year 1908. 

In 1909 Mr. DeWeese accepted a call to the church at Wadley, 
where he spent three prosperous pastoral years. In 1912 he yielded 
to an urgent call back to the Lawrenceville church, where for two 
years he did much earnest and constructive work. In 1914, 
desiring to rest from resident pastoral work, he accepted a call 
to the Loganville, Duluth and Watkinsville churches, and con- 
tinued with Norcross, which he had served the year previous. 
Prom his residence in Lawrenceville Mr. DeWeese served these 
four churches with satisfactory success until, in response to a 
call to the Abbeville church, in January, 1916, he resumed the 
pastorate of that church, where he now labors with gratifying 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 101 

success, with afternoon appointments at Kramer and Cedar Creek 
diiirches. 

Thus ends, bo far, to May 89, 1917, the career of a busy, con- 
secrated, earnest, dependable, godly man and servant of the Man 
of Galilee. 



FRANCIS JEFFERSON DODD. 




In the early settlement of the Amer- 
I ican colonies, King George gave Wil- 
liam Dodd a tract of land, embracing 
G25 square miles, in what is now known 
as Union and Laurens counties, South 
Carolina. His grandfather, William 
Dodd, had come from England to 
imerica with Captain John Smith. 
Edward Dodd, who was bom June 14, 
1778, was a son of William Dodd, and 
the father of Rev, John S. Dodd, who 
first saw the light August 3, 1809. 
John S. Dodd was one of the pioneer Baptist preachers of Georgia, 
and was for fifty consecutive years pastor of Bethsaida church, 
Campbell county, Georgia. Among his offspring is Thomas 
Edward Dodd, an honored deacon of Bethsaida church for more 
than fifty years, and a long resident of Campbell county. In 
early life he married Margaret Bethewel Mash, and setUed in 
Greenville, Alabama, where Francis Jefferson Dodd, the subject 
«f this sketch, was bom June 10, 1867. 

The Dodd family is of French, Welsh and Scotch-Irish blood. 
The last generations bear the distinct marks of Scotch-Irish in 
their personal appearance and in their native wit. It has been 
M prolific family. The great grandfather of Francis Jefferson 
Dodd was twice married and was the father of twenty-two children. 
In religion it is Protestant. The Georgia branch of the family 
is Baptist. FraBcie Jefferson is a Baptist preacher, and his three 
jonnger brothers, J. E., Jesse M. and R. L., are preachers of that 



102 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

faith, and all of them are graduates of Mercer University, Macon, 
Georgia. 

In 1868 Francis Jefferson Dodd was brought from Greenville, 
Alabama, to Campbell county, Georgia, where his father settled 
on the farm on which he still lives and where he was taught to 
work. As a youth he was vigorous, and in early life he could do 
a man^s work. Thomas Edward, his father, believed in education, 
and he gave his children the best advantages his section afforded. 
Neither time nor money was spared in the establishment and main- 
tenance of the community school, in order that they might have 
educational opportunities second to none in any other community. 
Young Dodd was spared from the farm to attend the local school 
until he had finished the course of study it afforded. After his 
marriage he entered the Pairbum High School, Fairbum, Georgia, 
where he prepared himself for college. In 1883 he entered Mercer 
University, Macon, Georgia, from which he graduated in 1886 
with the A. B. degree. 

In August, 1873, Mr. Dodd was happily converted and united 
with the Bethsaida Baptist church, Campbell county, (Jeorgia, 
and was baptized by his grandfather, Rev. John S. Dodd. Early 
after his conversion he felt called to preach the gospel, and his 
gifts were recognized by his church. In September, 1884, while 
a student at Mercer University, he was ordained to the full work 
of the gospel ministry by the Bethsaida church. His ordination 
was a great occasion, both in his history and in that of the church. 
The presbytery was composed of T. N. and R. C. Rhodes, father 
and son, Aaron E. Cloud, A. C. Smith, B. L. and J. T. Johnson, 
J. H. Weaver and his grandfather, John S. Dodd. 

For more than thirty years Mr. Dodd has devoted the activities 
of his ministry to country and town churches. The number of 
churches he has served and the additions they have had under 
his ministry, tell their own story. The record is as follows: 
Chapel Hill, 1886 — six years, sixty additions; Friendship, 1887, 
four years, thirty-five additions; Enon, 1887, nine years, seventy- 
five additions; Sunny Side, 1890, two years, twenty additions; 
Villa Rica, 1890, two years, twenty-five additions; East Point, 
1892, ten additions; Flat Creek, 1893, three years, seventy-five 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 108 

additions; Providence, 1889, nine years, one hundred additions; 
Bethsaida, 1893, fifteen years, one hundred twenty-five additions; 
Sandy Creek, 1909, two years, fifty additions; Ebenezer, 1897, two 
years, twenty-three additions; Central church, CarroUton, 1910, 
two years, eighty additions; Union City, 1908, four years, sixty 
additions. At the present time, 1917, he is pastor for two Sundays 
at Hillside church, LaGrange, G^eo^gia, and two Sundays at the 
Second church, Hogansville, Georgia. His work at both places is 
being signally blessed. 

In connection with his pastoral work, beginning in 1892 to 
1912, Mr. Dodd was County School Superintendent of Campbell 
county. The record which he made in that office is best told by 
the Board of Education in the following testimonial: 

*Ttfr. Dodd was a law abiding, public-spirited, generous and 
progressive citizen, always doing his part in anything undertaken 
by his town or county. He is spoken of as such by all our people 
since he left us. As a business man he was always hustling, in 
the possession of a good home and some enterprise, and on account 
of the failure of a concern in which he was interested, we under- 
stand he gave up everything he had, including his home and milk 
cow. Before this misfortune, his notes were worth face value, 
as he met his obligations honorably. 

"As a minister of the gospel, he was a leader among our people 
and while he was orthodox, his religion was broader than his 
creed. He possesses such a generous and Christlike spirit that he 
knows no creed when a duty was to be done or a favor to be shown. 

"As a county officer, he was eminently successful. His popularity 
was such that for eighteen years he had no opposition, yet during 
these years he was progressive, possessing a leading spirit. He led 
his Board and the people until Campbell county is justly proud 
of her educational standing in Georgia. 

'TThile Mr. Dodd was exacting of teachers, he was courteous and 
kind, and was always held in high esteem by them. He was never 
short in his accounts one cent, but the county owed him $1,840.00 
when his term of office expired. 

"This Board, three of whom served with him, the old members, 
and numbers of our people would be glad to bear testimony to 



104 BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 

these facts any time^ and we are anxious to resent any attack on 
the man who loved us and served us as few men ever enjoy/' 

Mr. Dodd presents a pleasing appearance^ is an interesting con- 
versationalist and has acquired a vast amount of general informa- 
tion. He is a ready and fluent speaker on the platform and in the 
pulpit. He is a Baptist of the truest type, but is seldom in print, 
and as a rule does not attend the general conventions. In his 
association he is active, and to all the organized work of the 
Baptist denomination he is loyal. He is never so happy as when 
fully engaged in the preaching of the gospel as pastor. In his 
present field he has large opportunities for doing a great work. 
The common people find in him a sympathetic and helpful friend, 
and his pastoral strength lies in his tact in commanding their 
Sympathetic co-operation. With a vigorous body and mind, and 
with a good field, he seems now to be doing the crowning work of 
his life. 

In 1877 Mr. Dodd was united in marriage to Miss Julia E. 
McWilliams, niece of M. P. Kiser. To them were bom three sons, 
two of whom, Howell E., of Atlanta, and Boyce J., of Fayette 
county, are living. In 1896 his wife passed away, and in 1897 
he was married to Miss Etta Irene Cleaveland. This imion was 
blessed with four boys, John S., Prank J., William Lamar and 
Qrover Cleaveland. 



THOMAS EDWARD DODD. 




The life of Thomas Edward Dodd ia 
conspicuous for fixedness of purpose, 
persistent energy, and tireless effort. 
He is the son of Rev. John Sample 
Dodd, who was the son of Edward and 
Jane Langs ton Dodd. His mother 
was Elizabeth Word, daughter of 
"Bill" Word, of South Carolina. 
Mr, Dodd was born in Fayette coun- 
' ty, now Campbell, September 23, 1834. 
His early life was spent on his father's farm of which when but a 
youth he was made the overseer, a responsibility involving the con- 
trol of several negroes, besides his brothers and the hired help. 
Thus he developed a sense of confidence which prepared him for 
the successful management of his own larger affairs in after life. 
Mr. Dodd's educational advantages were meager. The school 
facilities of those days were poor, and the interests of home and 
farm required most of his time, the absence of the preacher father 
being continual. He was converted in 1848, was baptized by his 
father into the fellowship of Bethsaida church, was ordained dea- 
con in 1866, the pastor being one of the presbytery, and shortly 
thereafter was made church treasurer, in which office he was al- 
ways diligent and trustworthy, looking carefully after all the 
finances of the chnrch, pastoral, charitable, and denominational. 
Also he has served as chorister, as clerk, and for a number of years 
as Sunday School Superintendent 

At the age of twenty he married Margaret Bethuel, daughter of 
Nathan and Mary Evans Mash, who has held up his hands through 
all the toils and cares of the passing years, and still lives — a de- 
voted mother, a faithful companion, the noblest type of womanhood. 
The world has yet to see a more unselfish, self- sacrificing mother. 
In ISfiS Mr. Bodd settled the place on which he now lives, five 
miles south of College Park, and except the year 1867 when he 



106 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

was with his father-in-law near Greenville, Ala., he has had his res- 
idence on almost the identical site selected nearly sixty-five years 
ago. He was never a rolling stone, but here, improving lands well 
worn in ante-bellum days and opening up new fields to agricul- 
ture, he has been one of the most successful farmers of his sec- 
tion. For industry, indomitable energy, and rare business acu- 
men, Mr. Dodd has been a really remarkable man. By imusual 
diligence and prudent management he has made an independent 
living, and has reared and educated a large family. He is the 
father of twelve children, eight of whom are living, six sons and 
two daughters. All the boys attended Mercer University, and 
four of them completed the B. A. course. These four, Francis 
Jefferson, James Edward, Jesse Mercer, and Bufus Lee, are min- 
isters of the gospel. 

As a soldier of the sixties, Mr. Dodd was patriotic, brave and 
ready to go to the front, prayerfully trusting to return to the bosom 
of his little family, consisting of a loving wife, one son, and two 
daughters. He bears branded' on his body the marks of that con- 
flict. His fine spirit of comradeship throughout that ordeal of 
fire and death is well known to his fellow-soldiers, for whom he not 
infrequently underwent painful privation. 

As a churchman he was always in his pew during the years of 
his strength and the congregation expected him as regularly as 
the pastor. He has ever stood ready to perform any duty required 
of him, and in an exceptional way the support of his pastor and 
all the interests of the church. Perhaps no one in his community 
has 80 diligently ministered to those in distress, among his conspic- 
uous virtues being great respect for the aged, deep solicitude for 
the sick and the infirm, and ready relief of suffering when in his 
power. 

In his will he has given to the Georgia Baptist Hospital five 
hundred dollars ; the same amount to the Orphans' Home ; and two 
thousand dollars to the Fairbum Association, of which his church 
is a member, for missions and benevolent purposes. 

In the closing days of their pilgrimage these aged servants look 
back upon more than four-score years of struggle and triumph. 
Their latest sun is sinking fast, their race is nearly run. The peace 
of Christ be theirs in full measure. 




NICHOLAS BUTT DREWBT. 

A large per c«nt of the earlier aet- 
tlere of Georgia were deseeodaiits of 
iminigraiits to America from England 
and central Europe. Upon landing in 
this country these immigranta settled 
mainly in the East and as far westward 
as Virginia and the Carolinaa. Among 
those who settled in Virginia was the 
Drewry family. Edwin Drewry, who 
was born in Southhampton county, 
Virginia, in 1798, came to Gleorgia in 
1818 and located in Hancock county, 
near Milledgeville, where he married Eliza Jones Williams in 
18S1. He moved to Pike county, which is now a part of Spalding 
county, Georgia, where both he and his wife died and are buried, 
at a place known as Drewryville, which took it« name from 
the Drewry family. Edwin Drewry was a planter. His wife, 
Eliza Drewry, was a devoted Christian and a regular attendant 
upon the monthly meetings of Flat Rock church, where she 
held her membership. Rev. William Mosley, of Henry county, 
Georgia, was her pastor. In the thirties the question of organized 
mission work was under discussion in her church, and her pastor 
was opposed to the church adopting the plan of missions. Through 
his influence the church voted to reject the theory of missions. 
As soon as this action was taken, Mrs. Drewry withdrew from the 
church and united with the White Water Missionary Baptist 
church, in Fayette county, Georgia. Hev, G. B. Davis was then 
its pastor. She thus demonstrated her missionary spirit by aban- 
doning the nearby church of which she had been a member all her 
church life, and by severing her relations with her pastor who had 
often been a guest in her home, and by affiliating her church life 
with a church eight miles from her home. This action was taken 
upon the part of the Shoal Creek church in 1836. 

In the early part of 1844 or 18i5 her husband, Edwin Drewry, 
was baptized into the fellowship of the White Water church, and 



108 BAPTIST BIOGSAPHY 

soon afterwards was made its clerk, a position which he held until 
his death. From the time he united with the church he held a 
devotional service at the family fireside every evening. After 
returning from the monthly meeting of his church in November, 
1849, Mr. Drewry complained of not feeling well. Following the 
usual devotional service of the evening, one of the sons of the 
family asked his father how he could get away from the sin of 
a foolish thought. The prompt reply was: "Carry it to God.*' 
During the night Mr. Drewry was taken seriously ill with typhoid 
pneumonia, and passed away on the 8th of December. 

One of the sons of Edwin and Eliza Drewry was Nicholas Butt 
Drewry, the subject of this sketch; who was born December 15, 
1834, in Pike county, Georgia, now Drewryville, Spalding county. 

The early life of Dr. Drewry was spent on the farm and in 
attending a nearby county school. After the death of his father, 
his mother sent him to a select boarding school, for which her 
deceased husband had made provision. The advantages of this 
school were enjoyed two and a half years, after which he was 
sent to a special teacher in Henry county, Georgia. Having com- 
pleted the course of this tutor, his mother insisted that he enter 
Mercer University, which was then located at Penfield, Georgia. 
There being four children younger than himself, he pleaded that 
they be educated and declined the offer of a course at Mercer. 

In 1854 Dr. Drewry began the study of medicine under Dr. 
Wm. Westmoreland. While preparing himself for his medical 
course, he assumed the management of his mother^s farm and spent 
his time in reading his text books, plowing and directing the farm 
until the first of October, the same year. On that day, which was 
Monday, he boarded a train at GrifBn, G^eorgia, for Philadelphia, 
reaching his destination at three o^clock in the afternoon the follow- 
ing Saturday. This gives an idea of the inconvenience of travel 
in those times. 

Mr. Tilman Burgamy, a friend and former schoolmate, who 
accompanied Dr. Drewry to Philadelphia, was arrested en route, at 
Washington, D. C, on suspicion of being connected with a murder 
in South Carolina. The arresting officer insisted that he bore 
physical marks of the description which had been furnished him. 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 109 

True to his whole life. Dr. Drewry stood by his friend until hB 
was released from custody, which required all night. The next 
morning they went on their way to Philadelphia. 

At the close of the college year Dr. Drewry spent several weeks 
in Virginia, visiting relatives. In the midst of his vacation 
pleasures in Virginia, he received the sad tidings that his devoted 
and godly mother had passed away. When he reached his home he 
found it all broken up. The mother who had been his wise coun- 
selor was gone to the better land. Through the encouragement of 
his brothers he continued his efforts to prepare himself for his 
chosen profession, and in August, 1855, he graduated from the 
Atlanta Medical College, of Atlanta, Georgia. Being under twenty- 
one years of age at the time of his graduation, he assisted his pre- 
ceptor until he reached his majority, after which he opened his 
oflBce at Sharon Grove, now Brooks, Georgia, where he begaii 
his distinguished career as a practicing physician. In spite of 
his youth and strong competition, he succeeded in his profession 
from the very start. 

On August 10, 1857, Dr. Drewry married Miss Marie Louise 
Ellis, daughter of Dr. J. T. Ellis, of Spalding county, (Jeorgia, 
Bev. J. H. Campbell, pastor of tlje First Baptist church. Griffin, 
officiating. After his marriage he bought land and opened up a 
farm with four servants, two of his own and two given his wife 
by her father. In 1859 he sold his land and opened an office in 
Jonesboro, Clayton county, Georgia, on January 1, 1860. 

Being encouraged with the flattering prospects of his location 
at Jonesboro, he spent the Winter of 1860 and 1861 in New 
Orleans at the Medical College and Charity Hospital. While in 
New Orleans, Georgia seceded from the United States. On his 
return home he spent a short time in Montgomery, Alabama, and 
looked in upon the first Confederate Congress, which was in session 
in that city. Soon after returning to Jonesboro he joined a 
military company that was being formed, and went into camp in 
July, Company E, 30th Georgia Regiment, as assistant surgeon, 
and remained in field service until October, 1862. After recovering 
from malarial fever, contracted in Jacksonville, Florida in 1862, 
he was placed in service in the Atlanta Medical College Hospital, 



110 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

with Dr. Willis P. Westmoreland. When Atlanta and middle 
Georgia were being overrun by Sherman's army, the hospital was 
moved to Milner, and afterwards to Albany, and finally to Colum- 
bus, Mississippi. When Dr. Drewry was in charge of the distribut- 
ing hospital until the last of February^ in 1865, and then was order- 
ed back to the hospital of the Atlanta Medical College, where he 
remained until June 1, 1865, caring for disabled soldiers from 
Virginia and the Carolinas on their return to their homes. 

At the close of the war Dr. Drewry returned to GriflSn, Georgia, 
having lost all earthly possessions and many of his dear ones. 
While the hospital was located at Milner, Georgia, Mrs. Drewry, 
his wife, passed away, August 4, 1864, after having cared for 
his children on the farm during the years of the war, leaving him 
with four motherless children. A little piece of land and these 
children were his possessions upon his return to Griffin, October 1, 
1865, where on borrowed money he started a small drug business. 

On January 10, 1868, Dr. Drewry was married the second time 
to Miss Mary Minor Herndon, of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dr. 
D. W. Gwin, pastor Griffin Baptist church, performed the 
ceremony in the Second Baptist church, Atlanta. Mrs. Drewry, 
his second wife, was a consecrated Christian woman of exceptional 
talents, and devoted herself to the training of her step-children 
and her only son. 

Dr. Drewry has not only been a successful physician and business 
man, but he has been a progressive citizen. As far back as in 
1869 he led in a movement for the founding of a Boys* High 
School in Griffin. Hon. J. D. Stewart, Judge John I. Hall and 
other leading citizens co-operated with him in the movement. The 
building was erected by popular subscriptions, and Col. Samuel 
Bailey being the largest contributor, the school was called after 
his name. Dr. Drewry was a member of the board of trustees from 
the founding of the institution, and in 1882 was made chairman 
and was occupying that position when the city established a system 
of public schools in 1884. The trustees turned over the building 
of the Boys* High School to the trustees of the public schools 
upon the condition that the board provide rooms for high school 
boys. Dr. Drewry was then made chairman of the board of 



BAPTIST BIOGKAPHY 111 

trustees of the city schools and held that position until 1913, 
when he declined re-election, but did not withdraw his sympathy 
and co-operation for the education of the future citizens of the 
community. In recognition of his ability, he was made a member 
of the city council, a position which he held for a number of years. 
In 1882 he was elected as the representative of Spalding county 
to the Georgia legislature, but declined to offer himself for the 
second term on account of business enterprises which required his 
personal attention. While a member of the legislature he in- 
troduced a resolution, which was passed, to place a life sized por- 
trait of the late Senator B. H. Hill, of Georgia, in the Capitol, 
in recognition of his faithful and forceful advocacy of the rights 
of the Southern States. 

In 1904 Dr. Drewry was elected mayor of the city of Grifl^, and 
served four years. On assuming the office he found the city em- 
barrassed with a local debt, which was entirely paid during his 
term of service. When he left the office the city was free of debt, 
except outstanding bonds used for paving the streets. Under his 
administration the streets in the fire limits were paved with brick, 
and the sidewalks of all the main thoroughfares were paved with 
cement. Dr. Drewry was a member and director of the first cotton 
mill of Griffin, and still holds that office, and is also a director of 
the Eushton Mills. He was appointed by the Governor as a director 
of the Georgia Experiment Station, to represent his congressional 
district, and served a term of eight years. In 1856 he was made 
a Mason, and in 1881 was made Master of Griffin Lodge, No. 26. 

Dr. Drewry has given his children the best of educational ad- 
vantages. His daughter Blanche received her primary education 
under Miss M. Porter, and her college training in the Richmond 
Female College, Virginia, under President John Hart. She 
afterwards married Charles H. Westbrook, one of the leading 
citizens of Griffin, whose oldest son, Charles Hart is an educational 
missionary in China. Thomas Ellis, the oldest son of Dr. Drewry, 
completed his literary education at Richmond College, afterwards 
graduating in the Atlanta Medical College, and then in Jefferson 
Medical College, Philadelphia, and is still active in the practice 
of medicine. Joseph Herndon, the youngest son, after graduating 



112 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

at Mercer University and at .the Law School of the State Univer- 
sity, began the practice of his chosen profession, but on account 
of an attack of catarrhal fever while at Mercer, his hearing 
became defective and he is now a certified accountant. In Sep- 
tember, 1881, N. B. Drewry, Jr., the second son, who was preparing 
to return to the University of Georgia for his Senior year, died. 
He was a bright young man and his seemingly untimely death 
cast a deep shadow over the home. On July 8, 1891, Mrs. Minor 
Hemdon Drewry, the second wife of Dr. Drewry, passed away. As 
an evidence of her devotion to her step-children, she desired to 
make her will, disposing of six hundred acres of valuable land, 
lest her own son would get the entire property, if left to her 
husband to dispose of it. The will was made and the property was 
left to her husband for his lifetime, and then to be equally divided 
between her own child and her step-children. Instead, the bereaved 
husband at once gave the property to the three children, and they 
are still in possession of it. In 1893, Dr. Drewry was married for 
the third time to Miss Julie McGk)wan McWilliams, daughter of 
E. P. McWilliams, a prominent citizen of Griffin. The ceremony 
was performed by Dr. Thomas W. O'Kelley, pastor of the First Bap- 
tist church. Griffin. This, like his other marriages, has been happy 
and his present wife is the care-taking companion in his declining 
years. 

Dr. Drewry was happily converted in June, 1849. It occurred 
at his home while his father and mother and the other children 
were at Sunday school and church. The day was spent in reading 
God's Word and in pleading for the pardon of his sins and for 
the leadership of the Holy Spirit. He had been led to realize the 
need of a Savior as the result of the devotional service at the family 
fireside every evening. About noon of that day the light of forgiv- 
ing grace shined into his heart because he had found Jesus as 
his Sa\ior and Friend. Soon afterwards he accompanied his father 
to a general meeting which was held at Old Salem church, where 
he enjoyed a great spiritual uplift, and at the next regular meeting 
at White Water church, he made application for membership and 
was baptized by Bev. John H. Corley, who was at that time 
pastor. In the Summer of 1856, after he had opened his office 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 113 

as a practicing physician, the White Water church elected h\m to 
the office of deacon. Being young and inexperienced, he hesitated 
to accept the office, but upon the insistence of the pastor and mem- 
bership he yielded and was ordained by Eev. James Spurlin, tlie 
pastor, and deacons Moses and Jacobs. From that day until this he 
has been an active deacon in three churches, first at White Water, 
second at Jonesboro, and now of the First Baptist church, of 
Grifiin, Georgia. 

Dr. Drewry has been a faithful and efficient servant of his denom- 
ination. In 1891, the Flint River Association held its annual 
session at Jackson, Butts county, Georgia. At the earnest solici- 
tation of Rev. James Klimbell and others, he was chosen moderator 
of that body, and has served in that capacity for twenty years, and 
still holds the position. He was baptized into the fellowship of 
a church of the Flint River Association, and his membership has 
been with churches that were members of that body during his 
entire church life, more than sixty-eight years. 

Dr. Drewry was elected a member of the Mission Board of the 
Georgia Baptist Convention in 1880, and was in continuous service 
until 1913. He served that Board as its president for eight years. 
In 1892 Dr. J. H. DeVotie, who was then Corresponding Secretary 
and Treasurer of the Board, died, leaving the work in the hands 
of H. M. Amos, his secretary. The Board met and appointed Dr. 
F. M. Daniel, who was then pastor of the First Baptist church, 
of Griffin, H. M. Amos and Dr. N. B. Drewry as a special com- 
mittee to finish the year's work and make report to the State 
Baptist Convention, which then met in May. The committee had 
a large number of photographs made of Dr. DeVotie and sent 
them out vrith appeals for contributions to relieve the Board of 
debt which had accumulated on account of the Secretary's pro- 
tracted illness. The responses were very gratifying and the com- 
mittee secured sufficient funds to free the Board of its entire 
indebtedness. 

It may be said that the city of Griffin has never had a more 
progressive nor higher type of citizen than Dr. Drewry. He has 
been even more devoted to the interests of his church and of his 
denomination. Truly it can be said that he is a gentleman of the 
old school, a good man. 



GEORGE BOABDMAN EAGER. 




George Boardman Eager, B?coiid son 
of Eleazer Chapin Eager and Harriet 
Ide Eager, woe bom near Bodney, Jef- 
ferson county, Mieeiesippi, February 
88, 1847. When the boy was five years 
old hia father moved to Clinton, Mis- 
BiBsippi, where George attended school 
in the preparatory department of Mis- 
Bisaippi College until the War of Seces- 
1 broke out. At sisteen years of age 
he enlisted as a soldier in the Confede- 
rate Army. He was first a member of 
CMopany C, Sixteenth Mississippi Infantry, Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia. He was appointed as a courier for General William 
Mahone, and served in the battles around Richmond and Peters- 
burg. He was later transferred to cavalry service in the Southwest 
and surrendered at the close of the war as Sergeant Major of 
Powers' Regiment, GrifBth's Brigade, being paroled at Meridian, 
Mississippi. Thus for two years the young man fought under the 
Stars and Bars and won promotion for courage and attention to 
duty. 

After the close of the war the soldier returned to the schoolroom, 
spending two years at Oakland College and three years at Mis- 
sisBippi College. He was graduated as the honor man in the class 
of 1871 with the degree of Master of Arts. The same year wit- 
nessed the ordination of the theological student to the full work of 
the ministry at Clinton, MiasiBsippi. The Presbytery consisted of 
Revs. J. L. Pettigrew, J. B. Hamberlin, and J. A. Hackett. The 
yonng ndnister served one year as misBlonar}' pastor at Lake Til- 
lage, Arkansas. 

Realizing his need of further training, the young preacher en- 
tered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Greenville, 
South Carolina, in the Fall of 1873, remaining two sessions, and 
returning for a third session in the Fall of 1876. He was pastor at 
Bastrop and Oak Ridge, Louisiana, from the Spring of 1874 to 
the Fall of 187S. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 116 

Upon the completion of his course in the Seminary in 1876, 
he was called to the pastorate of the Baptist church in Lexington, 
Virginia, where he served for three years, at the same time pursuing 
graduate studies in Washington and Lee University. 

The year 1879 was an eventful year in the life of the subject of 
this sketch: in January he became pastor of the First Baptist 
church of Knoxville, Tennessee, and on the 20th of February he led 
to the altar as his bride Miss Annie E. Coorpender, of Clinton, 
Mississippi, a woman singularly fitted to be the companion and 
helper of his ministerial life. 

In April, 1880, the rapidly developing pastor was called to St. 
Francis Street church. Mobile, Alabama. Here he found a field that 
afforded ample scope for the development of all his powers. For 
seven years he led this church with the most encouraging results. 
It grew steadily in numbers and in influence under his wise and 
gracious ministry. 

Honors began to seek the rising young minister: in 1880 the 
University of Tennessee conferred upon him the degree of D. D., 
and in the following year Howard College added its authorization 
for the use of the same title. 

From 1887 to 1889 Dr. Eager was pastor of the First Baptist 
church of Danville, Virginia. But Alabama would not surrender 
her claim on the man who had done such notable service in Mobile, 
and in October, 1889, Dr. Eager became pastor of the Parker 
Memorial church of Anniston. Within a little over two years the 
church increased threefold in numbers and became the foremost 
religious influence in the growing little city. It was during Dr. 
Eager's pastorate in Anniston that Professor Eobert Frazer paid 
him the following tribute: "As a preacher he has singular gifts, 
his sermons affording a rich combination of intellectual vigor, 
oratorical grace, and spiritual fervor. As a man he is genial and 
large-hearted, and his influence is potent beyond the pale of his 
own people. His congregations embrace a multitude of men, es- 
pecially young men of the nobler sort, who belong to no church and 
are attracted by his cordial friendliness and his pulpit power.'* 

In 1892 Dr. Eager was called to the First Baptist church, Mont- 
gomery, Alabama. Here he entered upon a widely useful ministry. 



116 BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 

The forces of moral reform in Alabama found in the wise and fear- 
less Baptist pastor in the Capital a leader whom they could safely 
follow. Both in the pulpit and in the council chamber his sane 
and earnest advocacy of civic righteousness carried great weight. 
He was offered positions of importance in the educational work 
of the State but preferred to continue in the pastorate. 

In 1895 Dr. Eager preached the Annual Sermon of the Southern 
Baptist Convention at its meeting in Washington, District of 
Columbia. The preacher^s reputation brought to him many invi- 
tations for commencement sermons and other occasional discourses. 

In 1901 Dr. Eager was called to the Chair of Biblical Introduc- 
tion and Pastoral Theology in the Southern Baptist Theological 
Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He at once threw himself heartily 
into this new field of work. Having been throughout his previous 
ministry a thoughtful student and omnivorous reader, he made the 
transition easily from the pulpit to the professor's chair. Dr. 
Eager at once won the love and respect of his pupils. His genial 
nature and cordial manner endear him to all. He is worth much 
to young ministers as a specimen of the highest type of the 
Christian gentleman. A wide and varied experience in the pas- 
torate qualifies Dr. Eager to give sound counsel to young men 
just entering the ministry. His instruction in Biblical Introduc- 
tion was greatly enriched by the results of his travel and research in 
Bible lands. 

Dr. Eager has served the brotherhood in many forms of prac- 
tical work. During his pastorate in Montgomery he was president 
of the State Board of Missions, trustee of Judson Institute, trustee 
of the Orphans' Home, and editorial writer for the Alabama 
Baptist. During much of the period of his sojourn in Louisville 
he has been president of the Anti-Saloon League of Kentucky. 
He has also served village churches in Kentucky in connection 
with his work in the Seminary. In 1910 Georgetown College 
conferred upon Professor Eager the degree of LL. D. in recognition 
of his ripe scholarship and distinguished services to the denomi- 
nation. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



117 



Though wieldmg a fadle pen. Dr. Eager has contented buuself 
with articles for the papers and magaziaes and a syllafaue of lec- 
tures for his classes. He has printed for the use of the stadenia 
in Pastoral Theology a hooklet of lectures on Ecclesiology, The 
treatment is modem and vital. 

Through past seventy years of age. Dr. Eager is alert and ac- 
tive physically and mentally. He is keenly interested in current 
issues. Reminiscence occupies a small place in his thought and 
conversation; he lives in the present, with his face to the future. 
He is progressive in spirit and open-minded. 



ALVAN DEAN FBEEMAN. 



HAIvan Dean- Freeman, son of Samuel 
Freeman, was born in Elbert county, 
Qeorgia, March 15, 1848. Samuel Free- 
man was for many years a prominent 
lawyer in Franklin county. As an 
evidence of bis high standing among 
his fellow citizens he was chosen to re- 
present the county in the lower house ot 
the General Assembly in 1847. In 
1853 be moved to Coweta county, Geor- 
gia, where he resided until his death. 
He was a devout member of the Bap- 
tist church and conspicuous for his fidelity to duty and love of 
justice and truth. Hts father before him was a brave soldier in 
the war of 1812, having lost an arm in battle. The great grand- 
father of the subject of this sketch, Mr. John Johnson of Massa- 
dmsetts, was an officer in the revolutionary war. It will be seen 
from this short recital of his distinguished ancestry that Alvan 
Dean Freeman inherited those principles which later shone in his 
patriotiBm and legal ability. 

He received his preparatory education at the Newnan Male 
Seminary, which at that time was one of the most thorough pre 



118 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

paratory schools in the State. After his graduation from this in- 
stitution he entered Mercer University, from which he received the 
degree of A. B. in 1861. Just before graduation he left the Uni- 
versity to join the Confederate army and remained in the service 
until April dtk, 1865. He entered the Confederacy as a private 
and was promoted, first to a Sergeant, and later to a brevet Lieu- 
tenant He was a member of the First Georgia Volunteers and of 
the Twelfth Battalion. As in the preparatory school and in Mercer 
University he did his duty with fidelity, so he discharged it as a 
soldier, and in spite of the many temptations of army life he 
maintained his integrity as a Christian gentleman. 

Immediately after the surrender he returned to his home in 
Newnan, Ga. It now became his duty to select his life work, 
and he promptly decided to study law. Accordingly he studied 
in the office of his father and was admitted to the bar in 1866. 
In the practice of his profession he won and maintained the con- 
fidence of his clients and the respect of the members of the court. 
During the years he acquired remarkable skill in the collection and 
presentation of evidence, and thoroughout his legal career he main- 
tained the highest standard in his profession. In 1889 he was 
made judge of the city court of Newnan, which office he held con- 
tinuously until 1910, at which time he was appointed referee in 
bankruptcy, which position he held until his death in 1917. In this 
office he became notable for his just and righteous service both 
to bankrupts and creditors. Thus in every department of his 
legal career he was an honor to his profession. 

On September 6th, 1865, he united with the Baptist church and 
was baptized by his pastor, Dr. F. M. Daniel. From the beginning 
of his Christian life he was consistent and faithful in his devotion 
to his church and his pastor. His brethren soon discovered in him 
splendid gifts as a leader and, therefore, on March 30, 1879, he 
was ordained to the office of deacon. Dr. F. M. Daniel, his former 
pastor, who had baptized him, preached the ordination sermon 
and Dr. H. C. Homady delivered the charge. It may be truthfully 
said of him that *Tie used the office of a deacon well and purchased 
to himself a good degree.'* At the time of his death in 1917 he 
was chairman of the Board of Deacons. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 119 

Mr. Freeman was for twenty-six years superintendent of tiie 
Sunday school of the First Baptist churchy of Newnan. This was 
divided into two terms^ one of which was eighteen consecutive years, 
and the other eight consecutive years^ including the year of his 
death. Under no consideration would he permit social engage- 
ments to interfere with his duties as an officer of the school. It 
was his unfailing habit to be present before the hour of meeting, 
so as to give cordial greetings to teachers and pupils upon their 
arrival. 

Through all the years of his Christian life he rendered much 
service to the poor and afflicted. 

On October 28, 1869, he was united in marriage to Miss Ella 
C. Hall. Having been bereft of this companion by death, years 
later he was again married to Mrs. Hattie Amall, December 4, 
1894. Six children blessed his home. In his home he was a 
most devoted companion and a dutiful and loving father. Like- 
wise, he was given to hospitality, his home being the home ever open 
to his friends, strangers, and especially to his preacher brethren. On 
one occasion when he was absent from the home, and not one of 
the family knew where he was, the cook was asked if she knew 
where he wa3 and answered : ^T don't know whar Mr. Freeman ia. 
I guess he is down town somewhar huntin* a preacher to come 
to dinner with him, as thar ain't been one here in about a week'*. 

Judge Freeman was ever active in moral reforms. He was a 
pronounced prohibitionist throughout his life — vigorous in his 
denunciation of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors 
as a beverage. He believed that the sale of whiskey was a high 
crime against the peace and good order of the State. His personal 
record was in full accord with his public position, as he was a 
total abstainer all of his life. He maintained the loftiest ideals 
of purity, and with him virtue was priceless. 

He was a man of large public spirit. All that concerned the 
good of his conmiunity, all the broader interests of the common- 
wealth of the world enlisted his active support. He was an un- 
tiring worker for whatever cause he espoused and did not know 
the meaning of defeat. 



120 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

He was thoroughly unfielfish^ and gave much of his time to use- 
ful work outside of his legal profession. Throughout the year he 
was thoroughly interested in educational problems and gave a 
great deal of time to the advancement of education^ and did this 
without charge for his time or his work. The denomination to 
which he belonged was loved by him and he gave of his best gifts — 
talent and money to its institutions. For years he was a member 
of the Education Commission of the Georgia Baptist Convention. 
In 1881 he was elected Trustee of Mercer University, and from that 
date till the time of his death he was one of the most e£5cient 
and faithful Trustees his Alma Mater ever had. In 1892 he was 
elected Trustee of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at 
Louisville, Kentucky, and from then till his death served that 
institution with marked ability and great efficiency. The Georgia 
Baptist Convention honored him with the office of Vice-President, 
first in 1891-92 and again in 1896. He was also a member of the 
Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

During the most of his life he was a tither but did not limit 
his gifts to the tenth of his income — ^holding that the tenth belonged 
to the Lord already and that he had given nothing except that 
which he gave over and above the tenth. These gifts he styled 
thank-oflferings. For no consideration would he accept a position 
social or political which interfered with his church or denomina- 
tional activities. His eflfort was to build a life of service and use- 
fulness to his fellows, and nothing was allowed to interfere with 
this purpose. 

Following his high ideals for citizenship, he endeavored to 
reach his ideal standard by living in the fear of God and keeping 
his commandments. Judge Freeman was a fine illustration of that 
sentiment : ^T)o only the things that are honorable so that life with 
all its fruits and achievements may be devoted to the service of 
God.'* He was ever willing to spend and be spent in the service of 
his fellow men and always on the highest plane of unselfishness and 
honor. 

Personally, he was not large of stature but was a man of pleasing 
address. Earnestness was stamped upon his face and expressed 
itself in his voice, both in private conversation and public address.' 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 121 

He was really gifted as a public speaker and his wealth of infor- 
mation on both civic and religious affairs made him an infor- 
ming writer and speaker. 

He had an insatiable desire that his church and community 
should be hosts to the Georgia Baptist Convention before his death. 
It was through his influence that the invitation was extended for 
the year 1917 session to be held with the First Baptist church, 
Newnan, Ga. During the year he looked forward vrith inexpressible 
pleasure to the coming of the hosts of Georgia Baptists and planned 
thoroughly for their entertainment, but before he could realize 
the happy fruition of his hopes vrith reference to the coming of his 
brethren, the fatal illness struck him down and he joined his in- 
numerable brethren on the other shore. 

The subject of this sketch came as nearly being ideal in all the 
relations of life as it is possible to find in one who is a member of 
the human family and possessed of human nature. As a husband, 
father, lawyer, judge. Christian, churchman, deacon, trustee — 
in every relation which he sustained to his fellow men, he was an 
honor to humanity. His wise counsel will be grelitly missed in his 
home, church, Sunday school, community, and in his denomination 
at large. He wrought vrisely and successfully in his day and 
generation. He has left a rich heritage to his children and fellow 
citizens. His kinsmen and his friends rise up and call him 
blessed. His going was the going of a prince in Israel. All Newnan 
seemed subdued with sorrow when he was called to cross the river 
of death, but light seemed to come from the other shore and 
impressed with its brightness the fact that the princely man who 
had gone from earth was an unanswerable argument for immor- 
tality. 



GEORGE WILLIAM GARNER. 




The subject of this eketcb, George 
William Oaraer, was bom on Ma; 1, 
1859, in Pike county, Georgia. His 
father was John P. Gamer and his 
mother was Elizabeth Mathews Gamer. 
His maternal ancestry were among the 
earlj settlers of Elbert and Wilkes 
counties, qnit« a number of them being 
among the ablest pioneer preachers of 
Georgia. His grandfather, Hev, Phil- 
lips Mathews, served a number of 
churches in Elbert and Wilkes coun- 
ties, was moderator of the Sarepta Association and was a trustee 
of Mercer University. All of the eight sons reared by this an- 
cestor volunteered for service in the Confederate Army in the 
War between the States, and four of them sealed their patriotic 
devotion with their lives. 

Mr. Gamer's early education was received at Union Academy 
and the Concord and Zebulon High Schools. In the Fall of 1881 
he entered Mercer University and graduated from that institution 
in June, 1886. Immediately after graduation he entered upon the 
active work of the gospel ministry. As in the high school, so in 
the college, he was a painstaking student. He sought not merely 
to make the requisite stand in his classes for promotion and gradua- 
tion, but the rather to secure accurate technical and general infor- 
mation. This has been his habit since the close of his college days. 
On Febmary 22, 18S8, Mr. Gamer was married to Miss Fannie 
R. Cherry, of Macon, Georgia, who ia a graduate of Wesleyan Col- 
lege. Of this marriage there are seven children, four sons and 
three daughters. Each of the three eldest sons is a college grad- 
uate, and each volunteered his services in the world war to 
maintain the liberties of the world. One of these sons was ac- 
cepted for immediate service and was in active dnty on the battle- 
fields of France. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 123 

Mr. Garner became a member of the Baptist church at the age 
of fifteen, and in the year 1886 was ordained to the full work 
of the gospel ministry by Mt Olive church, in Pike county. The 
presbytery was composed of E. M. Hooten, 6. R. McCall and 
W. C. Whittle. Among the churches he has served are Port Val- 
ley, for two years; Greensboro, four years; Thomson, six years; 
Commerce, five years; Eatonton, four years — also serving within 
this period the churches at Union Point and Warrenton, and Coch- 
ran, three years. At present he is pastor of Pleasant Hill and 
Clarke's Creek, two strong country churches in the Tugalo Asso- 
ciation, in which he is doing some demonstration work in the way 
of organization and enlistment. 

The work of every church which he has served as pastor has 
^n developed and systematized and put on a sound, business-like 
basis in the conduct of its activities. In the opinion of the active 
members of his churches there was never a more faithful pastor 
nor one more zealous in the work of the Master's cause. Not only 
does he consecrate his entire time, remarkable energy and excep- 
tional ability to the work to which he has been called, but in doing 
so he applies those most valuable attributes in attaining success — 
tact, method and common sense. Being a man of unbounded 
energy, supreme devotion and unfailing loyalty, he consecrates all 
of his zeal and great talents in the furtherance of the objects and 
activities of his church. No line of church endeavor is neglected 
or slighted. EflBciency alj along the line is the purpose always 
in view. The record of hip service at every church of which he 
has been pastor shows the result of his energy, consecration and 
e£5cient endeavors as preacher and as pastor. It can be truly said 
of him that among the pastors of Georgia he stands out as one of 
the most able, e£5cient, upright and useful. 

Mr. Gamer is a leader of marked ability in denominational af- 
fairs. While pastor in the Sarepta, Central and Pulaski Associa- 
tions, he did a great work as president of the Sunday school con- 
ventions of these bodies. Through his leadership new life was put 
into the Sunday schools by the employment of up-to-date methods. 
He has kept abreast with the times in graded schools, organized 



124 BAPTIST BIOGKAPHY 

classes and teacher training. During his pastorate at Cochran a 
modem house of worship was erected, with every facility for ef- 
fective Sunday school work. 

Mr. Oamer did a monumental work in the Flint Biver and Be- 
hoboth Associations as enlistment secretary. Many of the churches 
in these bodies were thoroughly organized and put on a sound finan- 
cial basis through his leadership. As a result, the pastors received 
better financial support and the churches became systematic con- 
tributors to all the objects fostered by the Georgia Baptist Con- 
vention. In all his denominational activities as pastor, as enlist- 
ment secretary of associations, as president of Sunday school con- 
ventions and as trustee of Mercer University and other educational 
institutions, he has been aggressive and yet a wise counsellor. 

Prom the beginning of his ministry until the present, Mr. Gar- 
ner has never lost sight of his responsibility as a citizen. In him 
vice and the liquor traflBc have had a vigorous foe. Por years he 
has championed the prohibition cause and has stood four-square 
for civic righteousness. Hypocrisy in and out of his churches has 
not escaped his notice, and when occasions demand it, it receives 
his scathing rebukes. With all his gifts and attainments, he is 
every whit a Christian gentleman. 



SAMUEL PERBY GOTT. 



The ancestors of Bev. Samuel Perry 

Gott were French Huguenots. They 

wete driven out of France about three 

hundred yeare ago because of their re- 

ligioua convictions. Large numbers of 

people by the name of Gotte went from 

France to England. There the final 

d^^^K^ ^^ ' e was dropped from the name. The 

^^B ^ ^^^^^^ mimediate branch of the family from 

^^^1 W^^^^^^^H which Sam F. sprung went from Eng- 

^^^B ^^^^^^^^H land to Wales and from Wales came 

to America. 

Peter Gott, the father of Samuel Perry Gott, waa born near 
Bowling Green, Kentucky. Mary Frances Proctor, hia mother, 
was also bom in Kentucky. They were married in 1846. To 
them were born seven sons and three daughters. On December 5, 
1868, amid humble Burtoundings, little Samuel made bis advent 
into this world near the present town of Odessa, Missouri. He 
was of such delicate mold that those who knew him in early child- 
hood despaired of his life; but with the tender and loving care of 
devoted parents he grew into robust manhood. 

Samuel was reared on the farm. He attended the country 
Bchools, and then spent a year in Odessa College, but the course 
there waa purely preparatory. Later he spent a part of a year 
at the Warrenahurg State Normal, after which he waa a country 
school teacher for two years. 

At the age of eighteen he was converted a)id united with Elm 
Spring Baptist church in Johnson county, Missouri. Within a 
month after this timid youth had joined the church he became 
the teacher of a class of restless country boys. To this early 
training and to the constant encouragement and kindly solicitude 
of some of the best people of the church, ia due his final decision 
to heed the call to the goapel ministry. Out of high and holy 
regard for the office, he was made to hesitate. There was also the 
bewildering advice of misguided friends. He had become known 



126 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

as a more than ordinary teacher. He had the pedagogical mind. 
His schools were successes. Better wages were offered and better 
schools were his for the asking. Some one more unthoughtedly 
than unkindly said^ ^'I fear they are spoiling a good school teacher 
to make a poor preacher.^' Amidst misgivings the church inducted 
him into the sacred work of the Christian ministry and granted 
him a b'cense to preach. The evidence of the years has been that 
the good teacher was not spoiled and the poor preacher was never 
made. He has been faithful to the trust conmiitted to him. 

Young Gott entered William Jewell College in the Autumn of 
1892, which is the same year that Dr. J. P. Greene became its 
president. Ever ready to help any student and especially a minis- 
terial student. Doctor Greene was at once in full sympathy with 
Mr. Gott. He did not seek to persuade him to preach, but one 
morning he did pray with him about his life-work, and since that 
morning the way has always seemed clearer to Sam (Jott. On 
another day, when his money was spent and there came the tempta- 
tion to return to teaching, Doctor Greene's earnest counsel saved 
valuable time for this young preacher who wanted to drop out of 
college a year or two in order to bring up his depleted finances, 
and also held him to his course. In one way and another, with 
pluck and earnest and constant endeavor, he managed to remain 
six years in William Jewell College, and graduated June 6, 1898. 

Previous to his graduation Mr. Gott had been called to the 
care of the Warsaw Baptist church, in Benton county, Missouri, 
and he accepted this work. On the fifth Sunday in July, 1898. 
he was ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry at his old- 
home church. Elm Spring. Rev. L. M. Berry was moderator of 
the council, and deacon Lightner was secretary. Other ministers 
in the presbytery were Rev. J. T. Osborn, Rev. B. G. Manard, 
Rev. F. P. Davidson, and Rev. R. L. Lemons. 

During the two years that he was pastor at Warsaw, Missouri, 
a new meeting-house was built and the membership of the church 
was just about doubled. At the same time he was pastor of the 
Spring Grove church, near Warsaw. He was also pastor at Jones- 
burg, Missouri, and of Zion church near Jonesburg. In all these 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 127 

fields the Lord blessed his ministry^ and he gleaned a good harvest 
in country-church experience. 

In September, 1900, Mr. Gott entered the Rochester Theological 
Seminary, and he was graduated from this institution in 1903. 

While in the Seminary he was pastor of the little Baptist church 
at Carlton, New York. When he went there the church had a 
property debt of $800 and had been paying interest on this debt 
for nearly twenty years. This offered a ready excuse to do nothing 
for missions or any other outside benevolence. In the face of 
their poverty and amid the protests of some of the members, Qott 
talked missions and ministerial education, and took offerings for 
every interest of the State Convention. In the two and a half 
years that he was pastor at Carlton the membership of the church 
was nearly doubled and a creditable showing was made in mis- 
sionary gifts. Just before leaving the church he saw the mortgage 
on the property burned. 

Inmiediately following graduation from the Seminary Mr. Gott 
was called to the leadership of the First Baptist church of Boon- 
ville, Missouri. Here he spent three very busy and happy and 
useful years. The membership of the church was largely increased 
and a solid, substantial work was done. 

In August, 1906, Mr. Gott was asked to become the field secre- 
tary of William Jewell College. This position he accepted and 
filled most acceptably for six and a half years. He shared in the 
raising of about a half million dollars for the college. In con- 
nection with this work he was ever on the lookout for earnest 
young men in quest of a college education, and many are they 
whom he turned to "The Old Hill.'' It may be said of Mr. Gott 
that he seldom left a man without making him a friend of higher 
education in general and of William Jewell in particular. 

In March, 1913, Mr. (Jott became pastor of the First Baptist 
church, Monroe City, Missouri. During his pastorate a new pipe 
organ was installed, at a cost of $2,300, and the contributors to 
missions and all other benevolences increased. He is now pastor 
of the church at Jackson, Missouri. 

'^Grif ' is a word easily found in the lexicon of Gott's character. 
The world cannot laugh him out of success. Difficulty to him is 



128 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 



incentive. He is keenly sensitive to the criticisim of his friends 
but he can rise to a "noble despising" of the injuHtiGea of those 
who lack sympathy with him or his cause. Unfair criticism only 
whets his sword. To his opponents he is kind bnt never cowering. 
Principle to him elicits his strength in its defense as would the 
citadel of heaven. Withal, he is modest, patient, gracious, sym- 
pathetic, genuine, — devoted to his friends and consecrated to his 
cause. He is a true man and "a good servant of Jesus Christ." 



ORREN LUICO HAILEY. 




Like BO many eminent men, the sub- 
I ject of this sketch is the product of the 
I old time country school. He first saw 
I the light of day in Payette connty, 
I Tennessee, his natal day being June 21, 
I 1862. Bom of honest, industrious par- 
I entage, he entered the affairs of life 
I during the Civil War, the formative 
I period of his youth being during this 
I internecine strife. At its close he waa 
I fourteen years of age. To obtain an 
education the better to fit him for life 
and its responsibilities, occupied his earlier endeavors. Having to 
forge his way largely by and through his own efforts, his progress 
was Becesgarily slow. He completed the common schools of his 
day at twenty-one, and then launched out for higher opportunities. 
Through a period of about ten years he struggled on and up, 
passing through the various schools of his State, completing hia 
course in the SouthwoBtem Baptist University in 1878. He waa 
converted to Christ at the age of eighteen, and was ordained to 
the public ministry when twenty-seven years of age. Having set it 
to his seal that the work of preaching the gospel was to he his 
life work, he entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 
and completed the course — the full course, of this illustrious in- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 129 

stitution in 1884. He is entitled to all the degrees which this 
famous school of the prophets confers^ only he graduated before 
these degrees were instituted. 

Perhaps not the least of the influences which have conspired to 
render successful the career of this superb Christian gentleman^ 
is the fact that he was so fortunate as to secure the copartnership 
for life of Miss Nora Graves, the talented daughter of the illus- 
trious Dr. J. R. Graves, who was himself one of the most eminent 
ministers the Baptists have had in any country and in any age. 
Another inspiring cause of his career may have been the early 
influence of the remarkable men who composed the presbytery 
which ordained him to the ministry. These were Rev. Matt Hills- 
man, D. D., Rev. W. A. Montgomery, D. D., Rev. R. W. Norton, 
D. D. and Rev. W. C. Grace, D. D. The name of any one of these 
eminent gentlemen was a guarantee of fitness to any aspirant 
to public favor among Baptists. But the endorsement of all 
this famous presbytery must have been inspiring to the young 
preacher. Then the influence of Dr. J. R. Graves, his father-in-law, 
must have been great, and if there was any danger in the influence 
of this unsurpassed leader of men, to make ultra the positions and 
principles of the young preacher, the teachings of Dr. John A. 
Broadus, the most famous teacher the Baptists have ever had, 
would offset in conservatism the leaning he may have received 
toward ultraism. *^Vho's Who .in America'', the red book on 
American biography, has a rare tact in securing information, and 
most of the figures we have quoted came from this most famous 
American biography. 

Dr. Hailey has held many prominent pastorates in the thirty- 
eight years of his public ministry. Among these have been Trenton 
and Knoxville, Tennessee, Aberdeen and Oxford, Mississippi, Fort 
Smith and Texarkana, Arkansas, and Corsicana, Plainview and 
Dallas, Texas. 

As a writer Dr. Hailey is at home, having been a joint editor 
with the lamented Dr. E. E. Folk in the Baptist and Reflector, 
while his talented wife was editing the "Young South", a depart- 
ment of the same paper. Dr. Hailey's style is graceful and always 
readable. Mississippi College, recognising his eminent qualifica- 



130 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

tions, conferred on him the title of Doctor of Divinity, which was 
well and meritoriously bestowed. For several years the Southern 
Baptist Convention has honored itself and Dr. Hailey as well, by 
appointing him as the chairman of the committee on Order of 
Business. In this position Dr. Hailey has been before the Conven- 
tion more than any other man, save its officers. He has displayed 
rare tactfulness in meeting the requirements of competing, and 
aometimes conflicting, interests and by giving each the coveted op- 
portunity of promoting its matters before the body. 

As an evidence of the versatility, general ability and sweet 
spirit of this man, a single instance is here recorded. An eminent 
gentleman, in writing to a widely circulated denominational jour- 
nal, was pleased to attribute much of the divided sentiment existing 
among Southern Baptists to the teachings of Dr. J. R. Graves. 
Dr. Hailey replied to this article. His reply was so clear of bit- 
terness, so fair as to the facts, so manly in matter and so sweet 
in spirit, that it rescued the reputation of Dr. Graves from being 
so widely misunderstood and placed Dr. Hailey at once before the 
reading denominational public as a fair-minded. Christian gentle- 
man. 

Dr. 0. L. Hailey is a modest Christian gentleman. As a schol- 
arly thinker, as a clean, upright, hard-working pastor, and as a 
safe and sound denominational leader he has but few if any su- 
periors in the Southern Baptist Convention, and his brethren 
delight to do him honor. 

Dr. Hailey has always been interested in the welfare of the 
Negroes. And in 1912 he conceived the idea that it would be a 
fitting thing for Southern Baptists to assist them in establishing 
and supporting a Theological Seminary for themselves at some 
suitable place in the South. He had the matter brought to the at- 
tention of the Southern Baptist Convention, at its session in St. 
Louis, and was made a member of a commission to report on the 
subject. From that time, through a series of years, he was the Sec- 
retary and moving spirit in that movement. At the present writ- 
ing, the matter is in progress hut not fully achieved. It will be a 
real contribution to tlic elevation and salvation of the Negroes and 
thus of the world. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 131 

In 1918 the Southern Baptist Convention at the snggestion of 
the Northern Baptist Convention appointed seven men to confer 
with a like commission from the Northern Baptist Convention to 
confer about our co-operation in the educational work among the 
negroes. Dr. Hailcy because of his devotion to the religious in- 
terest of the negroes was made a member of that joint commission. 




JOHN WYLEY HAM. 

Reverend John Wyley Ham, pastor 
Baptist Tabernacle, Atlanta, Ga., was 
born at Jackson, Georgia, April, 29, 
1888. He is the son of T. W. and 
Elizabeth E. Ham. The Ham family 
is one of the oldest of the Butts coun- 
ty families and one of the best families 
of Georgia. 

The early life of John W, Ham was 
spent upon the farm. After' gradu- 
ating from the Jackson High School he was in the mercantile 
business until 1904. 

He was born the second time on June 3, 1903, and was ordained 
as a minister of the gospel December 29, 1905, at the Baptist 
church, Jackson, Georgia. The Presbytery consisted of Rev. B. 
Lacey Hoge, Rev. Crowder Mays, F. S. Etheridge and J. H. Car- 
michael. It was through his own efEorts that he secured an edu- 
cation, which was received from the High School, Jackson. Geor- 
gia, the Moody Bible School, Chicago, Illinois. Mercer University, 
Macon, Georgia, and the University of Chicago. 

His first ministerial work was at Pepperton, Ga., where he la- 
bored without compensation with a cotton mill church. He met 
with such signal success that when the Baptist Tabernacle, Ral- 
eigh, N. C, was informed of his work it at once called him as as- 
Bistant pastor without hearing or seeing him. 



132 BAPTIST BIOGSAPHY 

He was assistant pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle at Baleigh^ 
N. C, from 1906 to 1907. He accepted a call to the Baptist Tab- 
ernacle, Newbem, N. C, and was pastor there from 1908 to 1909. 
Prom Newbem he went to Atlanta, Gleorgia, and was the assist- 
ant pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle from 1910 to 1912. When 
Dr. Len Broughton resigned as pastor of the Baptist Tabemade to 
accept a call to London, England, Mr. Ham resigned as assistant 
pastor and was in evangelistic work from 1913 to 1917, when he 
accepted a call and returned to Atlanta as pastor of the Baptist 
Tabernacle. 

He was married to Miss Sara Jean Ousley, daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. J. W. Ousley, of Middendorf, South Carolina, June 23, 1908. 
Mrs. Ham is a fine musician and soloist, and an honest, conse- 
crated worker, whose heart is in the work. She has been a valu- 
able assistant to her husband in all his work. 

Mr. Ham is a man of deep spirituality, a fine Bible scholar and 
a gifted orator, who is at home in the pulpit and upon the plat- 
form. He takes great interest in social justice and civic righteous- 
ness. 

When pastor in Newbem, N. C, he always preached to over- 
flowing crowds and souls were saved at nearly every service. The 
religious and law abiding people followed his leadership, while the 
forces of evil dreaded and feared him far more than they did the 
officers of the law. What was true at Newbern is true in his pres- 
ent pastorate in Atlanta. He preaches to great crowds, fights evil 
and is a great leader of the forces of righteousness against evil in 
all its forms. While he fights evil in season and out of season, he 
never loses sight of the fact that his great mission is to lead the 
lost to Christ. His people have caught his enthusiasm for the 
salvation of the lost and his church has become a real beehive of 
activity in seeking lost men and women. He is a fine organizer 
and possesses a wonderful faculty of getting others to work. 

He is one of the most successful evangelists of the whole coun- 
try, never using any of the claptrap methods used by some evan- 
gelists, but is sane and sound, both in methods of work and in doe- 
trine. He is in great demand for evangelistic meetings in the 
South and North and Middle West. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 133 

Both as an evangelist and as a pastor^ his ministry has been 
crowned with the presence and power of Grod, and though only a 
young man he can with pleasure rejoice over the great work that 
he has been used of God to accomplish. 

In 1918 he baptized more people than any other pastor in 
Georgia. His work is still being richly blessed of the Lord both 
as a pastor and as an evangelist. There are professions of faith 
in Christ and baptisms in his church nearly every Sunday. 

The most remarkable feat in the whole career of Mr. Ham was 
his relentless and successful effort to free the Tabernacle Baptist 
church, Atlanta, from a debt of $11,088.35. This tremendous 
debt was too much for his predecessors, though they were strong 
and successful men. On becoming pastor of the church Mr. Ham 
planted himself in an uncompromising way upon Baptist principles 
and practices, which gave tone to his preaching and served as a 
tonic to his people. The evangelistic spirit was kept at white 
heat, and frequent conversions encouraged his church and caused 
it to grow in numbers and in popular favor with the public. 

In raising the debt on the church Mr. Ham showed a remark- 
able degree of courage and determination, which was the fruitage 
of an unswerving faith in God and humanity. With all his heart 
he believed that his church had a distinct mission in Atlanta 
and in the South, and that it was the will of God that its work be 
continued. In the midst of the stress and strain of raising the 
money with which to pay the debt of the church, the Baptist 75 
Million Campaign was launched. Mr. Ham led his church in this 
great campaign to oversubscribe its quota, and then resumed his 
efforts to raise the money for the debt. Day and night he labored 
as if in a death struggle, and thereby won the victory. 

The greatest single hour in his ministerial career was that in 
which he had the pleasure of burning the mortgage on his church. 
Heavenly joys filled his heart and no general of a fearless army 
was ever happier over a victory than he was on that day. Friends 
in the city. State and South rejoiced with him in the completion 
of one of the greatest single tasks ever accomplished by a Baptist 
pastor. 



134 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



Of course, the membership sacrificed to the limit to pay the 
debt, and frienda outside of it gave liberally, and teems of 
volunteers worked faithfully, but Mr. Ham was the key man in 
it all, and to him more than to any other man the honor is doe 
for saving this great church to the Baptists, to the city and to 
the State. Though young in years he is devoted to his calling, and 
his future is as bright as the promises of God. 



DR. JOHN G. HARRISON. 




John G. Harrison was born forty- 
nine years ago in Washington county, 
Georgia. His father was Green B, 
Harrison, the son of John E. Harrison, 
a pioneer Baptist preacher of the Mt. 
Vernon Association. His mother was 
the daughter of Howeli and Younay 
Mayo, members of the historic Sisters 
church in the Washington Association. 
The mother was a woman of true 
piety, strength and tireless energy. 
The father, though possessed of few 
[vantages, was au intelligent and capable man of affairs. The 
town of Harrison, named for his father, recalls his enterprise in 
developing the country and the people. To these parents the son 
attributes largely the advantages, ideals, and habits which have 
made for good in his life. 

Beginning life under circumstances which tempt the youth to 
indifference and the man to a career of worldly success, he has 
given youth and manhood to constant work and the effort to 
serve. lie has by dint of tireless energy and sheer merit forged 
his way to the front rank of Georgia Baptists and made himself 
an essential part of the denominational machinery' of his native 
State. He has the habit of thoroughness, a passion for exact knowl- 
edge. He does not permit facts to dwell in the twilight zone, but 
persistently drags them into the sunlight so that "He who nm§ 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 136 

may read/' Convinced that the foundation is sure, he proeeeda to 
build, not with wood, hay and stubble, but with gold, silver and 
precious stones. Sham is a contemptible monster which finds no 
quarters in his workshop. 

Dr. Harrison is a man of broad and deep culture. His prepa- 
ration for college was in the common and high schools of Wadi- 
ington county, Georgia. He graduated from Mercer University 
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1899. But with him a 
college diploma only meant that he had entered upon the pursuit 
of learning. Consequently, he has taken advantage of many op- 
portunities for culture. 

He has done work in Education under Francis W. Parker and 
Faculty of Cook county at Lake Chautauqua; was a student at 
the Southern Theological Seminary for three years, graduating 
with the degree of Master of Theology and doing graduate work 
in Language and Sociology'; has at different periods done grad- 
uate work in the University of Chicago, mainly in Philosophy, 
Psychology, and Theology; has traveled in the East and studied 
three semesters at Berlin, his principal work being in Philosophy, 
History, and German. 

Dr. Harrison's student life has been of the kind to produce 
the most satisfactory results. Theory has been put to the acid 
test in the laboratory of experience. During the eighteen years 
which intervened between his graduation from Mercer University 
and the close of his study period at Berlin in 1907, he had ex- 
tensive experience in the school room and in the pastorate. 

Immediately on leaving college, he became a teacher and later 
Principal of the Hiawassee High School, Hiawassee, Georgia. 
Here for five years, he did a monumental work. Following this, 
he was Principal of the Hightower Institute, Cumming, Georgia, 
1894-1895, and Co-President of Orangeburg Collegiate Institute, 
Orangeburg, South Carolina, 1895-1896. 

In his Senior year at Mercer University he decided to preach, 
and during the seven busy years of teaching, as occasion offered, 
he did acceptable work in the pulpit. But with the deep convic- 
tion that the preacher should, of all men, be thoroughly equipped. 



136 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

he entered the Seminary in 1896 and remained until his graduation 
in 1899. 

Then came the opportunity to put his theology to the test in 
the pastorate of Tatnall Square Baptist church, Macon, Georgia, 
the college church for Mercer University. Here he remained from 
1899 to 1905, and proved himself to be not only an able expounder 
of the Word of God, but also a real shepherd of souls. 

The work of this pastorate brought him into constant touch 
with college life, kept keenly alive his desire for learning, and 
fanned the flame of ambition to be of the largest possible service. 
Consequently, after six years of fruitful ministry, he resigned his 
pastorate to travel in the East and study in Europe. 

Before his return to America, while his heart was still asking, 
"Lord, what wilt thou have me to do," he was selected for the 
chair of Philosophy and Education in Mercer University from 
whose walls he had gone forth eighteen years before. 

Having to meet heavy demands with moderate income, Mercer 
University needed versatile as well as learned men and required 
at his hands a number of services^. He served a while as Sec- 
retary of the Faculty and as Secretary and Treasurer of the 
Alumni Association. For some years he assisted in the department 
of German and gave a real impetus to the study. In building 
up the department of Education he introduced courses in Educa- 
tional Psychology, History of Education, Educational Methods, 
Child Study, High School Administration, Educational Sociology, 
and Experimental Education. He gave the firgt course in Educa- 
tional Measurements ever offered in a Georgia college. In the de- 
partment for which he was primarily chosen, his work in Psy- 
chology, Ethics, Logic, History of Philosophy, and Introduction 
to Philosophy were always attractive. 

For eleven years with distinguished ability and notable success, 
he taught in his Alma Mater. With scholarly instincts and 
attainments, with the fixed purpose to keep abreast of educational 
progress, with a passion for hard and honest work, with the pro- 
found conviction that the culture of spiritual life is the one 
thing of transcendent importance — he was eminently fitted for 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 137 

doing just that character of work which gives the Christian college 
its claim to support and its right to live. 

Dr. Harrison made the apostolic motto, "As much as in me is/* 
his own. He magnified his office, and was content with nothing 
less than the best that he could do for the quickening and develop- 
ment of his students. 

Such a man cannot escape honors at the hands of his friends. 
In 1903 Mercer University conferred on him the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity. He is a member of several societies and assodationa; 
namely, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psycology, the Georgia 
Teachers* Associations, and the Southern Educators* Council. He 
has read before these bodies occasional papers which met with a 
favorable reception. 

Three years ago he was asked to assimie in connection with his 
work as professor the secretaryship of the Georgia Baptist Educa- 
tion Board, then vacant. With but little promise in the work, 
he undertook it. Slowly the work of the Board began to improve 
and in December of 1917 the work had grown to where his full 
time was demanded to do it properly. 

Resigning his work as professor at Christmas, he entered upon 
the overwhelming work of developing the whole system of Bap- 
tist Education in Georgia. He is at once the representative and 
helper of Mercer University, Bessie Tift College, seven secondary 
schools, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His 
great interest in such an enterprise will call out the best in him 
in this service. 

The career of this man of the strenuous life has been saddened 
by the sorrows and lightened by the joys incident to home life. 
In 1894 Miss Bessie Winn Gilmore, known to him from childhood, 
became his wife. She was a woman of rare strength and beauty 
of character. For nearly a decade she made her husband a happy 
home, and then in her Christian death left him the blessings 
that come only from holy memories and high purposes found in 
affliction. Some years later he married Miss Ruth Barrett. She 
is a daughter of one of the strong families of Wilkes county and 
a cultured and capable woman. With this bright companion 



138 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



sharing hie ambition for better thiogB, with two bright childroi 
who light up the family circle with life's moming Bunahine, he 
has the inspiration which a happy home can give a man for life's 
prodigious tasks. 

But, after all, let it not be forgotten that the crucified Christ 
is his Ijord and Master. The early conviction to preach the gospel 
has never weakened its hold on his heart. His present position 
to him is only a means of enlarging the kingdom of God. Many 
are the calls upon him to supply pulpits or to make trips in th» 
interest of denominational work. His brethren have learned that 
whatever he undertakes will be well done. At the age of forty- 
nine, he is living and laboring in the strength of vigorous manhood 
with his heart toward the Master and his face toward the morning. 



UOBERT DUNCAN HAWKINS. 



Robert Duncan Hawkins is a veteran 
of two wars. At seventeen years of age 
he was in Wheeler's cavalry, contending 
vith Sherman. Since August, 1866, he 
has followed Jesus in the holy war 
against the jiowcrs of darkness. Brave 
and true in both these conflicts, the 
venerable soldier of the cross stands 
I still in line, ready for the orders of his 
Commander-in-chief to do and to die 
for the Lord Jesus, and like Paul he 
1 truly say, "Neither count I my life 
dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy 
and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to 
testify the gospel of the grace of God." 

Since January, 1879. Mr. Hawkins has been an ordained 
minister of the gospel and the faithful shepherd of the several 
flocks over which the Holy Spirit has made him overseer. Few 
men if any ever more literally fulfilled the Scriptural injunction to 
pastors; "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the 




BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 139 

oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy 
lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither as being lords over Gtod^s 
heritage, but being ensamples to the flock/^ 

Robert Hawkins was born at Hanesville, Alabama, on May 8, 
1846. His parents were Wilbert Ashly Hawkins and Amanda 
Melvina Mayne. The young country lad heard the call of his 
country and enlisted in the Confederate anny at seventeen years 
of age, serving to the end of the war, when he returned to the 
farm. Mr. Hawkins soon after the war was married to Miss 
Martha A. McMillan, of Habersham county, (Jeorgia, a union of 
mutual comfort and joy through all the days as they have filled 
the years. Mrs. Hawkins still lives at this writing to cheer the 
hours of lengthening shadows. 

In January, 1879, a presbytery consisting of Dr. A. F. Under- 
wood, Rev. J. P. Osborne, Rev. H. H. Harris, Rev. Green Trotter 
and Rev. Samuel Byers, at Amy^s Creek church, in Habersham 
county, Georgia, ordained Rev. R. D. Hawkins to the full work of 
the gospel ministry wherever in all the world Providence may 
cast his lot. In pursuance of the call of God and the choice of the 
churches, brother Hawkins was pastor at different and respective 
times of the Baptist churches at Amy's Creek, Blue Creek, 1879; 
Gillsville, 1880-1887; Webb's Creek, 1882-1887; The length of 
the following pastorates ranged from one to four or five years. 
NaiPs Creek, Damascus, Candler's Creek, Harmony, Clarkesville, 
MaysviUe, Academy, Oconee, Toccoa, all of Georgia; Little River, 
South Carolina, Williamston and First Creek, South Carolina ; Con- 
cord, Georgia; Center Grove, Georgia; Mt. Airy, Georgia; Level 
Grove, The Line, Damascus and New Holland, of Georgia, besides 
pastorates held, this faithful man of God served as missionary col- 
porteur, 1900-1905, and was Superintendent of the Georgia Bap- 
tist Orphans' Home, at Hapeville, Georgia, 1905-1909, and again 
1912-1914. 

These interesting remarks concerning the family ancestry and 
connections are in brother Hawkins' own words: ^TMy paternal 
grandparents were Wm. Eaton Hawkins and Pamelia Carr Dun- 
can, who moved from Greenville, South Carolina, to Southwest Mis- 
souri. Their children were eight sons and three daughters. My 



140 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

father was the third child. My maternal grandparents were 
Mathew Mayne and Elizabeth Buekner, who moved from Morgan 
<iounty, Georgia, to Hall county, Georgia, in 1839. Their children 
were two sons and four daughters. My father came from Missouri 
to Gainesville, Gteorgia, to sell goods for his uncle, John E. Brown, 
where he met my mother and married her, in 1843. Their children 
were one daughter and myself. Our mother died in Alabama, 
whence they had moved when I was four months old. Father 
returned to Missouri after mother^s death, leaving my sister and 
myself with our maternal grandparents, near Gainesville, Georgia. 
**My sister, Elizabeth Millicent Hawkins, became the second 
wife of Rev. John E. Rives, who was our spiritual father. He 
was one of the foremost preachers of his day. His longest pastorate 
was forty-nine years, he declining a call for the fiftieth year. 

"My father married a second and third time. His children by 
his second marriage were three sons and three daughters. The 
oldest of these sons is a deacon of a Baptist church, and the second, 
W. B. Hawkins, a Baptist preacher living at Starr, South Carolina. 
The children of father's third marriage were three daughters and 



one son.'' 



The Rev. John E. Rives, to whom reference is made as having 
married the eldest sister is known as "Uncle Jackie Rives,'* whose 
undisputed sway over a large territory in North Georgia leaves 
his name enshrined in loving memory. He was a towering orator 
and a most eloquent preacher, whose dictum was high authority 
far and near among the churches. 

Robert Duncan Hawkins is a man of a golden heart. His educa- 
tional opportunities were limited and came late in young manhood. 
Taking every possible opjxjrtunity, he went to the public schools in 
Gainesville, Georgia, studied privately under kindly tutoring, had 
a year at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louisville, 
Kentucky, and in every way that presented itself, this eager mind 
sought to improve its powers. At one time, in order to help along 
men who like himself had not been blessed with a classical educa- 
tion, he charted the English Grammar and taught it in institutes 
where such brethren were gathered. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



141 



B. D. Hawkins is a man of high moral worth and noble spirit. 
Hia greatness of spirit has been exemplified in the nnselfish zeal 
he has shown for the larger cause. To gratify a selfish ambitioD, 
seek an advantage, or nurse a whim, has never appealed to him. 

In ripe and beautiful age these life companions and public 
servants now sit under their own vine and fig tree, with a thousand 
happy memories and not a tinge of regret, except that the time of 
noble living draws on too rapidly toward the end. In the gloanung 
the neighbors often hear the shattered notes of a voice once as clear 
and sweet as a flute, chanting the eongs of victory. Some sad, glad 
day Bobert will sing no more on earth, and he and Uartha, hand 
in hand, will go in to see the King. 

Since the above sketch was written the beloved wife has entered 
into rest and there in the presence of the King awaits the coming 
of her honored husband whose faithful and useful life ie being 
lengthened out in service for the Master. 



JOHN A. HELD. 




■~ ^^'^^IV^^^HjH Johanes Adolphus Held was bom of 
I ^fl^^^^^l Q^^™^ parents, March 28, 1869, in 

r ^K ^^1 Austria near the Black Sea. His 

father's name was Emanuel Held, born 
in the Northern part of Austria, whose 
great grandfather was a general under 
Frederick the Great, while the mother's 
name was Louise Braun before her 
marriage. She belonged to one of tlie 
ancient families of the famous city on 
the Danube, Vienna (Wien). The 
permanent home of the family was 
Vienna. 

When quite small he lost his father, who, as chief engineer, was 
building a railroad under royal direction info the Balkan States. 
Nine years later the half-orphaned lad lost his mother. Thus 
at the age of ten, he was left alone in the world, and the hardships 



142 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

that he endured in the next few years are too horrible to record 
in a sketch like this. In a furnace of fire, in his own way, Qod 
was making a great preacher of liberty and freedom under grace. 

At about the age of eleven, under the laws of the Austrian 
Empire, he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker and painter, and 
his condition was very much improved, but still such as would be 
regarded as intolerable in this country. At the age of sixteen, 
through a rare occurrence, the opportunity came and he left his 
native land, that had done no more for him than to give him exiat- 
ence and a full measure of robust health. Through the kindness of 
some friends, he was enabled to take passage to America, arriving 
in the United States in May, 1886. He immediately set to work 
to learn the language, and putting in every hour he had from 
toil, he made remarkable progress. The first money he earned 
was on the Bridge Gang of the M. K. & T. R. R. 

Back yonder, years ago, in Austria at a Mission Station of the 
Baptists^ he had heard the call of G^d, and his little heart, 
under a mind beclouded in ignorance, led by him who said, 
"Suffer little children to come unto me,^^ answered the call. 
In Texas there was a glorious union of his hope in God with the 
chance of making a man, and out of this union he heard a second 
call to preach the gospel. 

He could go on in the Bridge Gang without an education, 
without means, and without friends — to preach he could do without 
none of them. Here Johanes came to the one crisis in his life. In 
railroading he saw big money, opportunity to rise in the world 
and in no distant time ease and comfort. In the ministry he saw a 
continuation of poverty, little chance to rise in the world, and no 
ease and comfort at any time. On his knees, as he had the op- 
portunity to get on them, the battle was fought to a perfect finish 
— and God subdued his ambitious child. 

The decision made, in his characteristic method and determina- 
tion, he set about to enter school. He saved every possible penny 
and in the Fall of 1890, he entered Baylor University. There he 
struggled, as many others have done, for six full years, making al- 
most his entire expenses as he went, part at one thing and part at 
another. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY U^ 

While he could by this time speak English well, he was handi- 
capped by a foreign accent. Still he made many friends and was 
greatly honored by his schoolmates. He was elected to various 
places of honor, being one of the founders of the Baylor Glee 
Club, the Business Manager of the first Baylor Annual, President 
of the Philomathean Literary Society, member of many Clubs, 
and an enthusiastic participant in almost all school activities. 
He graduated in June, 1896. He received his Master^s Degree 
from Baylor University, 1905, and his doctorate from Mississippi 
CoUege in 1913. 

In the Fall of 1896, he was married to Miss Annie Hardie, who 
through these years has been a joy and blessing to his life, and has 
in many ways been a real helper, encouraging him to higher and 
better things. 

Dr. Held is a finely balanced man. He is studious, and few 
preachers of his age have read more or better books. He reads 
more for information than for pleasure ; yet his sermons, addresses 
and writings are singularly free from pedantry. With a vast 
amount of knowledge always at his command, he dislikes to make 
any kind of deliverance without preparation; yet he possesses the 
rare art of concealing all labored effort. 

As a preacher, he is difficult to describe. He delights in simple 
and familiar texts. Ignoring every bearing of the text except 
the one he conceives to be the one best adapted to the occasion, 
he makes it burn with the flame of divine truth. Unless the cir- 
cumstances or the demand be unusual, he makes Christ, the Savior 
of sinners, the theme of every sermon. He is equally at ease in 
discussing abstract and doctrinal subjects, and the writer has never 
known any one who could set out the "Baptist position" in a 
clearer light. But he takes more pleasure in showing a lost sinner 
the Lamb of God than he takes in proving the final perseverance 
of the saints. 

His social qualities are of the best. Hopeful and enthusiastic, 
he encourages the people as he goes among them, and yet serious 
enough to leave no doubt that he goes among them on very im- 
portant business. 



144 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

There is not perhaps in the South his superior in Sunday 
school work. He has specialized in Sunday school pedagogy, 
methods, plans and modem needs. He has given special attention 
to Organized Class work; and in response to many requests, has 
written what many believe to be the best treatise on the ^'Organized 
Class'^ a book much in use throughout the territory of the Southern 
Baptist Convention. 

Dr. Held has been ])astor in Texas, in McKinney, Tyler, Taylor, 
San Marcos, Stamford and now at Bryan. More than four years 
he was pastor at Natchez, Miss. He is constantly in demand for 
Sunday school convention addresses, and for lectures at summer 

assemblies and institutes. 

< 

He is great among the young people, and he shows them hoiw 
to make the Sunday school and all other societies interesting and 
helpful. His motto is to give everybody something to do and to 
keep everybody at it. As a result, wherever he has been pastor, 
without a single exception, he has had an exceptionally large num- 
ber of young people actively engaged in some sort of church work. 

He has been honored by his denomination in that he has for a 
number of years been on the various Boards of Schools and Col- 
leges, member of the State Board and Executive Committee of 
B. Y. P. TJ. Encampment. He has been for many years the State 
President of Baptist Organized Classes of Texas, and also President 
of the Adult Division of International Sunday School Association. 

In the field of evangelism, he has shown equal ability. He id 
always much in demand for revival meetings. Nearly three 
thousand conversions have taken place in his meetings. Something 
like six thousand have been received in the church where he has 
been pastor and where he assisted in meetings. He is just in the 
prime of his life and the best years are yet before him. 



BEVERLY LACY HOOE. 




Hev, Beverly Lacy Hoge, pastor of 

ithe Central Baptist church of Way- 
cross, Georgia, wae bom at Blacksburg, 
Virginia, April 8, 1863. His father 
was James Fulton Hoge, a distin- 
guished lawyer and statesman of Hoot- 
gomery county, Virginia. His mother, 
Mrs. Eliza J. Hoge, was a daughter of 
the Hon. Andrew Johnston, of Qiles 
county, Virginia. 

The Hoge family has for over a hun- 
dred years been one of the most dis- 
tinguished families of Virginia. It is noted for the large num- 
ber of able ministers of the gospel and lawyers it has given to the 
world. The death of the father and the disasters that followed 
the Civil War placed Beverly Lacy Hoge at the age of ten upon 
his own resources. 

It was through his own efforts that he received his education. 
He lived upon the farm until fifteoi years of age, at which time 
be entered college. At the age of seventeen, he became a civil 
engineer, building a railroad from Radford, Virginia, to Poca- 
hontas, Virginia. Following this work be accepted a contract for 
the civil engineering which laid out and built the foundations of the 
first forty houses in the town of Pocahontas, and ditched the town. 
At the age of nineteen he returned to college and graduated 
from the V. F. I. of Blacksburg, following which be attended the 
Law School of the University of Virginia, graduating with the de- 
gree of B. L. He was born the second time April, 1893. He prac- 
ticed law from 1884 to 1897 at Eoanoke, Virginia. 

He married Miss Nettie Hatcher, daughter of R. E. Hatcher, 
May 19, 1887. To this union there were bom four children: 
Mrs. Dr. Geo. D. Vick, Selma, North Carolina; James Fulton 
Hoge, Robert Hatcher Hoge, and Nettie Hoge. He was ordained 
as a minister of the gospel, the first Sunday in February, 1898, at 



146 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

the Calvary Baptist churchy Boanoke, the presbjrtery consisting of 
Dr. Len G. Broughton, who also baptized him. Dr. T. J. Shipman, 
Dr. Wm. Lunsford, and Eev. J. A. Barnhardt 

His first pastorate was at Selma, North Carolina, under the 
State Mission Board and lasted from March 1, 1898, to November 
1, 1898. This was followed by a pastorate of the First Baptist 
church of Concord, North Carolina, November 1, 1898, to Novem- 
ber 1, 1901. This pastorate was followed by a pastorate of the 
East Macon Baptist church, of Macon, G^eorgia, dating from No- 
vember 1, 1901, to March 1, 1903, at which time he accepted the 
call to the first Baptist church, Jackson, Georgia, dating from 
March 1, 1903, to March 1, 1907. From there he went to Onan- 
cock, Virginia, March 1, 1907, and remained to January 15, 1908. 
His next pastorate was the First Baptist church, Charleston, South 
Carolina, beginning January 15, 1908, and continuing to Decem- 
ber 15, 1911. At this time he accepted a call to the Emanuel 
Baptist church, Bichmond, Virginia. This pastorate dated from 
December 15, 1911, to June 15, 1913, at which time he accepted 
a call to the Spurgeon Memorial church of Norfolk, Virginia, June 
15, 1913, and continued to May 1, 1917. His pastorate with the 
Central Baptist church of Waycross, G^rgia, where he is at pres- 
ent located, began May 1, 1917. 

Dr. Hoge was chairman of the Prohibition State Executive Com- 
mittee of Virginia and rendered effective service as a platform 
speaker in the early days when the prohibition movement was 
struggling for staunch leadership. The New York Voice styles 
him "The silver-tongued orator of Montgomery county, Virginia,** 
and gave him credit for the prohibition advance made by that State. 

He has held meetings with other pastors in various States with 
a total of 4,539 professions of faith. During his ministry ten men 
have heard the call to preach the gospel and been ordained by him. 
Among the number is John W. Ham, the present pastor of the 
Tabernacle church of Atlanta, G^eorgia, who received ordination 
at his hands, January, 1905, at Jackson, G^eorgia. 

Being of a legal turn of mind, coupled with training in the 
legal profession, his method of approach to the Bible and manner 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 147 

of interpretation of the facts of revelation is such as to command 
the respect, attention and admiration of men in professional life 
and likewise those of the student type of mind. His deep spiritual 
experiences and reliance upon the Holy Spirit as the revealer of 
divine truth, has enabled him to do a constructive work and leave 
to a marked degree his footprints in every pastorate that he has 
held. 

He is an orator and is at home upon the platform. His passion 
for social justice and civic righteousness, combined with his ability 
as a teacher renders him an asset, not only to the community to 
which he ministers, but to the State and the Nation. He is evan- 
gelistic and missionary at all times. He comes from good old 
Presbyterian stock and this, following his conversion to the Baptist 
position, has made him one of our leaders in orthodoxy. 

Coupled with his remarkable gifts of leadership, is the fact of 
the assistance of his wife, who as a Bible teacher has no superior. 
Both of these servants of Grod possess a zeal for missions that is 
all-consuming. Wherever they have labored, the mission cause has 
gone forward by leaps and bounds. In some instances churches 
have been erected on the foreign field at the expense of the church 
of which Mr. Hoge was pastor. 

It can be said in all truth that the ministry of Dr. Hoge has 
been crowned with the presence and power of God and though in 
the prime of life, he can look back with joy and pleasure over the 
work he has thus far been able to accomplish for our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ. 




HEV. WILUS J. HOWABD. 

In the year of the dosing of the War 
between the States, there was bom to 
William and Cynthia J. Howard, on 
their Jefferson county, Georgia, planr 
tation, oa November 19, 1865, their 
son, Willis J. Howard. 

He was reared on the fann of hia 
parents and engaged in all of tiie osnal 
farm indnstries incident to that loca- 
tion and period. He attended the 
common schools of the community and 
afterwards attended the high school at 
Spread for a time, finishing bis school days at the Hephzibah 
High School. At the age of nineteeo, in November, 1884, he was 
converted to the service of his Master and three yeare later, on 
June 16, 1891, at Berean church, (now Crawford Avenue church), 
Augusta, Georgia, was fully ordained to the gospel ministry, the 
presbytery consisting of Rev. Thos. Walker, Rev. J. S. Patterson, Dr. 
D. W. Marks, Dr. Lansing Burrows and Dr. John L. BurrowB. 
From that time his life has been one of great activity in ministerial 
labors. 

He has served with marked success and usefulness the following 
churches: Fellowship, Friendship, Old Union, Mt. Horeb, Mt 
Beulah, Sweetwater, Pleasant Grove, Mt. Zion, Woodland, Little 
Briar Creek, Silver Run. Reedy Creek, Duharts and Hopeful, the 
last four of which he is still serving. Some of the pastorates have 
been sixteen and seventeen years in duration. His labors have 
been fruitful and his services blessed in all of them. 

He resides at Wrens, which is located conveniently to all of hia 
work and not far from the place of his birth. He has been known 
here all of his life, although he spent a short period in the city of 
Augusta, and it was particularly complimentary to him when in 
1904 he was elected mayor of the town of Wrens. He had previ- 
ously, in 1903, been elected a school trustee on the local school 
board, which position he still holds. 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 149 

When the United States declared war against Oermany^ the 
slogan was sounded that food would win the war. Accordingly, 
President Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover as head of the Com- 
mission for the production and conservation of food. Dr. J. B. 
Gambrell, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, appointed 
one man from each State in the territory of the Convention as a 
commission to co-operate with Mi*. Hoover. The Georgia member 
appointed Bev. Willis J. Howard as a Stat^ member, to serve in 
the Kilpatrick Association. In this, as in all Other positions he 
has held, he proved faithful and eflBcient. It was a service of 
patriotism, and the churches of the association delighted to co- 
operate with him. In 1914 a number of churches from the north- 
western part of the Hephzibah Association and the southeastern 
part of the Georgia Association withdrew and organized the new 
Kilpatrick Association, in honor of the distinguished Baptist min- 
isters of that name in Georgia history. At the second session of 
the Kilpatrick Association, Bev. Willis J. Howard was elected 
moderator, which position he StiU holds. 

The records of the Hephzibah Association, of which he was 
formerly a prominent and useful member, show that year after 
year he was chaitman of one of its leading committees and was 
a member of its executive committee at the time his church with- 
drew to form the new Kilpatrick Association. 

Rev. Willis J. Howard having been reared in the country has 
spent his pastoral life by a natural preference in the country 
church work, having declined invitations and calls to the towns 
and cities, feeling that he could serve beet among the people with 
whom he had been brought up. 

On January 12, 1888, he Was married to Miss Virginia A. 
Chambers, of Augusta, Georgia. He has been blessed with a large 
family who lived with him at Wrens until they were called to 
work on their own account elsewhere. His son, Rev. D. Albert 
Howard, is also a Baptist minister of distinguished ability and 
is pastor of the church at Thomson. 

One of the events of special interest in the life of Rev. Willis J. 
Howard, was his pastorate at Hopeful church during its celebration 
of its centennial in 1915. This event was a great home-coming 



160 BAPTIST BIOOBAPHY 

occasion for hundreds of its former members and their deecendents, 
and marked a new epoch in the history of this distinguished 
diurch. 

Verses prepared by Henry S. Jones^ Esq., for this occasion are 
added to this sketch. 

1815— HoPBFUL Chxtboh Cbntbnkial — 1916. 

In the year that Wellington 

Won the fight at Waterloo; 

In the year that great Napoleon 

Ceased from troubling all of Europe; 

In the year that Andrew Jackson 

Bouted British Packenham; 

In the year that peace was Established 

'Tween our country and Great Britain; 

In the month of May or April 

In the year of eighteen-fifteen, 

In Burke county's northwest comer. 

Led by Eeverend Edmund Byne, 

At the place called ^Tiney Woods," 

Scarcely more than a score of Baptists 

Constituted Hopeful church. 

Here was licensed Joseph Polhill 

In eighteen and twenty-nine. 

As was also James M. Cross 

In eighteen and fifty-eight. 

Here both James and Wash Kilpatrick 

Were ordained to preach the gospel. 

In the church yard of Old Hopeful 

Buried lie their father and mother; 

In the church yard also slumber 

The remains of Nancy Johnson, 

Mother of our governor, Herschel, 

Now, for a term of ten long decades 

Trusting in the Great Jehovah 

And his all-atoning Son. 

Have the fathers and the children 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHT 

Met and worsMpped, prayed and song 
At this ancient place of vonhip 
To this good centennial year. 
May the great and loving Fatha 
Still with them at Hopeful dwell, 
And may here the blood of Jeeua 
For the ains of all provide, 
May they all be yet more faithful 
And their faith, in works, abound. 



JOHN JETEB HTJKT. 




Not long since the subject of this 
I sketch was being taunted by an old col- 
I lege mate with the fact that during his 
Junior year he failed to make an easy 
e^caminatioQ on EngliBh. And then, 
when the group had enjoyed their fun, 
the speaker informed them that daring 
the same year his friend won half the 
medals offered in College, all of them 
calling for skill in handling the Eng- 
lish language; one being the Inter- 
Society Best Writer's Medal, one the 
Historical Society's medal for "originality of research and elegance 
of statement," and one awarded by the faculty as judges for excel- 
lence in Public Reading. Next year he made up the deficiency in 
the English examination. 

This little incident of college life suggests the maturer man. 
His passion is for the real and practical, without deapising the 
conventional. He intended to make the examination in English; 
but he determined to get acquainted with English. Having felt 
that the prescribed course was not what it should be be went afield 
for himself, — went too far for the demands of examination day, 
but not too far to equip himself to win in every contest he ratered 



152 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

that year. From college days until now he has seemed to appraise 
theories^ methods and men only in the light of their adaptability 
to practical ends. He forms his own plans carefully and subjects 
them to his critical judgment before commending them to others. 
Once they have pi^^sed through the fires of his own testing he adopts 
them with full confidence and enthusiasm and will back them to the 
limit of his powers. And he is not a stranger to that word ^'con- 
fidence.'' He believes in counsel and in deliberation^ but his con- 
clusions are his own. *'Men will not follow a leader/' he often 
says^ 'Vho does not know himself where he is going." He believes 
God called him to lead. He loves people, and he expects them to 
follow his tender and confident calL 

John Jeter Hurt was bom at Ballsville, Powhatan count}', Vir- 
ginia, on the first day of March, 1873. Here he grew to young 
manhood, working in the fields, holding communion with the hills, 
learning at the old field school, worshiping at the once-a-month 
church hard by, absorbing heavenly wisdom from Christian par- 
ents and from the multitude of preachers who sought shelter eadi 
year under the hospitable roof of his country home. His father, 
G^eorge Samuel Hurt, was for forty years deacon in the country 
church. His mother was a leader in woman's work and none ex- 
celled her in training children for religious recitations and enter- 
tainments. She had large experience in these things at her own 
home, for God gave to these two servants ten children of their own, 
— eight boys and two girls. Of the eight boys he called four into 
the Baptist ministry, and of the remaining four three of them are 
deacons in Baptist churches. One of the two girls is the wife of 
a Baptist preacher. 

Mr. Hurt was born in the hill country, but he was not destined 
to remain there. The big world outside kept calling him, and at 
the age of seventeen he boarded the train for Louisville, Kentucky, 
where in record time he completed a course in the Bryant & Strat- 
ton Business College. He started out to make money for the 
kingdom. After graduation he entered the service of the Louisville 
& Nashville Railroad Company, and later took employment with a 
wholesale business house on Main Street. Here his advancement 
was rapid. But God had other plans for the ambitious son of 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 168 

business. He was calling him definitely and clearly now to preach 
God's call^ he had been taught^ must be the law of his life. He had 
no literary education^ but believed a call to preach involved a call 
to prepare. Consequently^ in the Fall of 1893 he matriculated at 
Bichmond College for a long course of training. Here he took the 
academic course and about two-thirds of the law course^ — all as 
part of a well-rounded education. He was Secretary to the Presi- 
dent much of the time and counts that training of inestimable 
value. In this capacity he rendered clerical service to^ and thus 
became acquainted with many distinguished lecturers before the 
college, among whom were President Benj. Ide Wheeler, of the 
University of California; President Arthur T. Hadley, of Yale 
University; President William Bainey Harper, of the University 
of Chicago, and President Woodrow Wilson, of Princeton Univer- 
sity. Thus, early in life, he became impressed with the exceeding 
importance of learning from men as well as from books. Following 
these impressions he has made it a rule to spend some recreation 
days each year at the National Capitol, renewing friendships with 
public men, forming new acquaintances and observing at close 
range the march of national figures and events. He has a habit, 
also, of attending each year some such meeting as the National 
Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Commercial Congress, or the 
National Education Association. 

While in college and at the Southern Baptist Theological Semi- 
nary, Mr. Hurt took conspicuous part in student activities. At 
the end of his Senior year in college it was voted in the annual 
student elections that he had rendered more service to the general 
body than any other member of his class. He was managing editor 
of the Richmond College Messenger and also of the Seminary 
Magazine. His work on these journals attracted attention, and just 
before graduation at the Seminary he was called to be associate 
editor of the Baptist Advance, which had just been launched as 
the organ of the Baptist Convention of Arkansas. The call was 
accepted, and after twelve months he was elected editor. This was 
during the stormy period of the organized work in the State. The 
young editor showed rare tact as a denominational leader, and was 
instrumental to no small degree in bringing the majority of the 



154 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Baptists of that State back into line with Southern Baptist Conven- 
tion methods of work. He is said to have won many debates on 
methods in the district associations of Arkansas by keeping his head 
when others all about him were losing theirs. 

Dr. Hurt has had but three regular pastorates. His first was 
at Conway, Arkansas, just following his resignation as editor of 
the Baptist Advance, Here he led in building a $80,000 church 
house and more than doubled the membership of the church. While 
in Arkansas he held many positions of honor and trust, among 
which are mentioned President Board of Trustees of Central Col- 
lege (of which institution he was offered the presidency also), 
Secretary Baptist State Convention, President of the Baptist Board 
of Education and Chaplain-Ceneral Sons of Confederate Veterans. 
From Conway he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist 
church of Durham, N. C. During his four years there a debt of 
$18,000 was lifted and more than 500 members were added to the 
church. It was while pastor in Durham that Union University 
(Tenn.) conferred upon him the honorary degree Doctor of Divin- 
ity. This institution also invited him to deliver its baccalaureate 
sermon in 1916. He has spoken on similar occasions before many 
other college audiences, such as Ouachita College and Central Col- 
lege (Arkansas), Richmond CoUege (Virginia), Meredith College 
and Oxford College (North Carolina), Furman University, Green- 
ville Female College and Goker College (South Carolina). 

At the time this sketch is written Dr. Hurt is pastor of the First 
Baptist church of Wilmington, North Carolina, a church having 
more than 1,200 members and drawing probably the largest Sunday 
night congregations in the State. He is president of the N. C. 
Baptist Board of Education, which fosters the three Baptist ool* 
leges and fourteen academies and high schools; president of the 
Baptist Seaside Assembly, of which he is one of the founders; 
member of the State Board of Missions, and one of the trustees 
from his State of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. 
But the work of the pastorate is his delight. His present church 
has gone forward rapidly under his pastorate of two years, having 
gained nearly 500 new members and increased its offerings to 
benevolence. He contributes frequently to the denominational 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



16B 



papers and is the author of two pamphlets : "Stru^les for Religions 
Liber^ in Virginia" and "Some Baptist Whys and Wherefores." 
He is fond of his books but fond of people also, and he tries to 
keep on intimate terms with both. He maintains an office in the 
heart of the basinesa district of his city and spends several hours 
there each day. He delights to hold revival meetings, especially 
in the country, and gets great pleasure also in supplying one of the 
larger pulpits of the North almost every Summer. 

In 1908 Mr. Hurt was married to Miss Ethelyn Lovell, of Fort 
Smith, Arkansas. She shares hia devotion to Tork, his natural 
friendship for people and his radiant optimism. Four little boys 
and one girl bless their home and brif^ten &eir plans for Qa 
future. 



JESSE LEE JACKSON. 




It has become almost, perhaps quite, a 
truism that our greatest men come from 
the mountains, vigoroas alike in body 
and mind, vith that upward, outward 
consciousness that carries such power. 
Why may it not be equally true that our 
best men come from the country ? They 
live and have their being in the land 
of parables, beauty and truth, and that 
commandment which is next to the 
greatest of all, neighbor-love, is the 
foundation stone on which the country 
dweller builds, and all must know how this attribute nourishes 
sympathy and practical helpfulness. 

Into such a sphere of life, Jesse Lee Jackson, son of William 
Andrew and Martha Arant Jackson, was bom in Tallapoosa 
county, Alabama, May 9, 1878, and through his baby veins flowed 
some kindred strain of Andrew Jackson, famous and beloved. This 
period of time was still one of struggle throughout the South, the 
Civil War having left the prosperous classes poor and made the poor 



166 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

rich. Thus the paternal JackBon followed the '^ck to the land 
movement/' and on a farm in Maoon oouniy, Alabama, young 
Jackson received his lessons in farming, while being schooled 
in the nearby town of Notasulga, for he was a student from the 
first. Coming from the delights of history and biography he learned 
upon the farm ^'a sower went forth to sow/' and it is safe to say 
that somewhere past the forks of the road was a little mill, with 
its rocky ford and noisy water-wheels where this yoimg student 
first learned that, 

^^ack of the loaf is the snowy flour 

And back of the flour the mill ; 

And back of the mill is the wheat and the shower. 

The sun and the Father's will." 
Still working upon the farm, young Jackson finished high school 
at sixteen, standing well in his classes, with special fondness for 
history and biography. He taught school for a year and intended 
entering the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, at Auburn, Alabama, 
in the Fall of 1896, but on account of illness hii oollege oourse 
was deferred until 1898, when he entered Howard College as a 
ministerial student. In 1901 he received his A. B. degree, and in 
1902 that of A. M. During his post graduate year he tauj^t the 
first classes in Latin and Greek in Howard College. TTpon his 
graduation he was offered the chair of Greek in one of the correlated 
Baptist colleges in Texas, but this was declined because his heart 
was fixed upon a course at the Louisville Seminary. His wagon was 
being hitched to a star, and is still upon its upward course. 

Mr. Jackson entered the Seminary in October, 1902, receiving 
in 1905 the degree of Th. M. (Master in Theology), being one of 
five chosen from a class of twenty-five, to speak at commencement. 
Just before his graduation he was called to the pastorate of the 
First Baptist church, Cumberland, Maryland, but on the advice of 
the faculty he declined and spent an additional year in post 
graduate study, specializing in Church History, with Greek and 
Homiletics as accessories. As a result of the examination for this 
course, he received the predicate, "Summa Cum Laude/' being 
the first student in the history of the Seminary to attain this 
standard of excellence. A severe illness, however, of seven weeks' 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 157 

duration, at the critieal pmod of the year, prevented the comple* 
tion of his Thesis, which with the examination would have won 
for him the degree of Th. D. 

A part of his college expenses, and all of those at the Seminary, 
were defrayed with money received from pastoral and evangelistic 
services. Bich experiences were gained when through June, July 
and August^ 1904, under the auspices of the New York City Bap- 
tist Missionary Society, he worked as missionary. He came in 
contact with "the ends of the earth'* through the city's foreign 
population, and the homesick country boy learned how near of 
kin is all mankind. 

Mr. Jackson was converted in the Summer of 1894, but did 
not unite with the church until a year later, learning during the 
intervening months one of his most helpful pastoral lessons, for 
his friends often have heard him say how in his timidity he longed 
for a friend to whom he could unburden his heart filled to aching 
fullness with hopes, aspirations and many undefined things in this 
new life that bad come to him with all its mysteries. 

In July, 1895, Mr. Jackson united with the Salem Baptist 
church, Macon county, Alabama, and was baptized by Rev. W. Q. 
Gregory. A few months later be was elected superintendent of 
the Sunday school, and in July, 1898, he was licensed to preach 
by this same church. On May 29, 1902, he was ordained to the 
full work of the ministry by the Ruhamah Baptist church. East 
Lake, Birmingham, Alabama, the ordaining council consisting of 
M. M. Wood, G. B. P. Stovall, J. M. Shelbume, J. M. McCord, 
P. H. Parrington, E. E. George, S. H. Bennett, H. R. Arnold and 
three or four other ministers who had been attending the Howard 
College commencement exercises. 

Mr. Jackson's first pastorate was Mt. Zion, Calhoun county, 
Alabama, which he filled during his post-graduate year at college, 
1901-02, building up a broken down church and baptizing eighteen 
converts. During his Seminary course he was pastor for two years, 
1904-06, of the Baptist church at Butler, Kentucky, and of the 
Richland church one year, 1905. 

In June, 1906, he became pastor of the famous *T)lack belt** 
village and country churches of Orville and Providence, in Dallas 



168 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

county, Alabama, where he remained until January 1, 1909. On 
the latter date he became pastor at Hurtsboro, Alabama, where he 
remained nearly four years, two years of which time he was modera- 
tor of the Harris, now the Russell county. Association. In the 
Summer of 1912, when the Baptist church at Kirkwood, Georgia, 
became shepherdless, rumors of Mr. Jackson's splendid work at 
Hurtsboro came to the church's ears, and a committee was sent to 
spy out, not the land, but the man. The pastor was away on his 
vacation, but from varied sources the committee heard nothing but 
commendator}' opinions ; beloved by young and old, useful in every 
phase of pastoral work, progressive with power to reach completion, 
and with a personality irresistibly winning, he was unanimously 
called to the Kirkwood church, beginning his work November 1, 
1912, and remaining to the present time. 

During the seven years of Mr. Jackson's ministry, thfe church has 
trebled in membership, with a corresponding growth and develop- 
ment along all lines of endeavor. A five thousand dollar pastorium 
has been built, the seating capacity of the church has been doubled 
and the Sunday school facilities have been greatly improved. Mr. 
Jackson holds the Sunday School Board's Gold Seal diploma, and 
is satisfied with nothing short of the Convention's Standard of 
Sunday school and B. Y. P. U. work, which is constantly main- 
tained in the church. He is also quite popular as a teacher and 
speaker in Sunday institutions and conventions. 

In his pastoral work Mr. Jackson is everywhere and everything 
to all men that he should be. With an unusually sympathetic 
intuition, he finds out one's troubles and is always able by prayer. 
Scripture or experience to give aid. In death, accident or illness, 
there the pastor will be found a source of comfort and reliance. 
If a social evening calls him out, he throws himself heartily into 
the fun and frolic of the occasion, and dearlv loves to make the old 
people laugh and be glad. Should you be in a hospital with but 
a breath between you and eternity, with your hand clasped in his 
you may feel the spirit of prayer as he talks to the great Physician 
in your behalf. These are some of the beautiful small things of 
life that will blossom out in eternity. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



169 



In his pulpit ministrAtions Ht. Jackson is a^^resaiTe and 
evangeliBtic, scriptaral and spiritual, miseioQar; and orthodox. Aa 
a result his people are generous and responBive to all the calls for 
kingdom work, and new conTerts are added to the church from 
Sabbath to Sabbath without special revival effort 

This sketch would not be complete without a word about Mrs. 
Jackson, who was Miss Ada Wilson, of BussellTille, Alabama, and 
wEo is one in heart and purpose and life with her husband. She 
too has a splendid education of both a literary and musical charac- 
ter, and is recognized bj all who know her ae an ideal pastor's 
wife. She and Mr. Jackson were married October 30, 1906. Three 
children hare blessed the union, William Owens, Elizabeth and 
Leland, but the first-bom while still a little one, was called to the 
heavenly home. Qod baa used this sorrow to bless and help many 
other weeping fathers and mothers. 



ATHA THOMAS JAMISON. 




The noted Thomas family of Ten- 
I nessee has touched the life of &at State 
in many helpful ways, radiating its 
influence from Brownsville. One of 
the family connection located near 
Murfreesboro, and when a son was 
brought forth he was named Atha 
Thomas Jamison, in honor of one of 
his uncles. The infant, Atha Jamison, 
son of Bobert D. and Camilla Patterson 
I Jamison, started on his life's journey 
on a farm near Murfreesboro, March 6, 
1866. He spent the first fifteen years of his life at bis farm home, 
where he became proficient in the several departments of the 
manual labor Bcbool after the strictest manner of the farm life 
of those days following the War between the States. Supplementing 
his life on the farm, he was clerk in a hardware store for three 



160 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

years. He enjoyed the school adyaotagee of bia oommunity, Umon 
XJmversity High School^ of Murfreesboro, 

As a boy he went in from the oountry home to Sunday school 
and to church at Murfreesboro Baptist church. When twelve 
years of age, he gave evidence of a genuine experience of graoe 
and was baptized into the fellowship of the Murfreesboro church 
by Dr. Lewis M. Ayer. Dr. Ayer was a native of Barnwell county. 
South Carolina, a member of both the National and the Confederate 
Congress^ and later a Confederate general; but he stood highest 
in the affection of young Jamison, not as a statesman, but as a 
preacher of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus. As a young 
Christian he took much interest in the Young Men's Christian 
Association and became so efScient that his name went out and he 
was sunmioned at nineteen to the important position of Gfeneral 
Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. in Charleston, South Carolina. Here 
he labored with wisdom and fidelity from 1885 to 1894, feeling a 
deep interest in the spiritual welfare and the salvation of those to 
whom he ministered. Under his aggressive leadership a Y. M. C. A. 
building was erected at a cost of $30,000, quite a large investment 
for that time. He was admired and trusted by young men, and 
followed as a leader. 

In June, 1895, after almost a decade of service as Secretary of 
the Charleston Y. M. C. A., at a time when his usefulness was 
growing, he was called to ordination for the work of the gospel 
ministry by the Citadel Square Baptist church. The presbytery 
was composed of the pastor, Dr. D. M. Ramsey, Drs. E. C. Dargan, 
Lucius C. Cuthbert and E. Wells. He had spent a year in the South- 
em Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky', and with 
his experience in the Y. M. C. A. work for several years, his heart 
yearned for the shepherd's work. He entered upon the pastoral 
care of the Camden Baptist church. South Carolina, in July, 1895, 
and continued until 1900. His passion for souls, his practical 
administration of church aflEairs, and his study of the Word of 
Gk)d caused him to be highly esteemed by his own congregation 
and community, and also to be known widely in his own denomina- 
tion as a pastor and preacher of unusual poise of character and 
diligence in his ministry. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 161 

His earnestness, his genuineness, his Nathanael spirit, attracted 
many friends to him, and when a crisis caused a vacancy in the 
superintendency of the Connie Maxwell Orphanage, at Greenwood, 
South Carolina, his selection for that position met with almost 
universal spontaneous approval. He entered upon this diflBcult task 
when there were unusual difficulties in the way of a successful 
administration, but his tact and wisdom linked with a love for 
children and for his brethren and, most of all, for his Savior, 
enabled him to direct the aflEairs of the institution with increasing 
interest and to the satisfaction of its friends and supporters until 
now he seems to be almost indispensable to the continued pros- 
perity of the Orphanage. The institution has more than doubled 
its capacity and its properties since he entered upon the super- 
intendency, there being at this date, 1919, 340 children in the 
Orphanage and the property possessions valued at more than 
$350,000. There are twenty-seven permanent buildings and the 
annual expenses total some $50,000. Although he has frequently 
been solicited to leave the Orphanage at salaries about twice the 
sum he received there, because of his attachment to the institution 
and the special kind of service it required, he has felt it his duty to 
remain at his post at the continued request of the trustees. 

When the Baptist Young People's Union for South Carolina 
was organized in 1896, at Orangeburg, he was chosen the first 
president and has continued in that position for several years with 
the utmost satisfaction of the young people. He took the initiative 
in the organization of the State Convention of Charities and 
Corrections in South Carolina in 1909, and was made its president 
for seven consecutive years. He keeps up his interest in this 
work by frequently attending the National Conference of Charities 
and Corrections, and has been its corresponding member from his 
State for ten years. He has been a member of the Child Labor 
Committee in South Carolina since its organization, and also a 
trustee of the South Carolina Industrial School from its founda- 
tion. This latter is a school for the reformation of incorrigible 
boys, and his services and his counsels have been of great help in 
critical situations. 



162 BAPTIST BIOGHAPHY 

Beoognizing his fine semces and his attainmentSy in 1913 the 
trustees of Furman TJniyersity, Greenyille, South Carolina, con- 
ferred on him the honorary d^ree of Doctor of Divinity. He 
is in frequent demand for commencement sermons and addressee. 
He is widely known throughout South Garolina, since the duties ol 
his o£Sce require him to visit almost every section of the State 
annually in the presentation of the claims of the Connie Maxwell 
Orphanage to the district associations. 

Dr. Jamison was married to Miss Emma C. Caldwell, of Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, in 1889. From this union there issued one 
daughter, now Mrs. Joel S. Bailey, of Greenwood, South Carolina. 
He was married the second time to Mrs. Margaret Caldwell, 
daughter of Col. Wm. Wallace, of Columbia, South Carolina. 

Dr. Jamison is in the prime of his powers and is in hearty accord 
with all movements that make for the advancement of the interests 
of the denomination he has served in so many ways and so accept- 
ably. At the same time, he is a co-worker of fine sympathy and 
wisdom with other denominations and in the State institutions 
in social service, and is recognized by them as a fellow-helper of 
high character and lofty ideals. His character is well rounded 
and he exerts the quiet influence of one who desires to do good 
rather than to become conspicuous as a leader. He is easily ap- 
proached by all in need of a friend, and he has made the spirit 
of brotherhood rule his conduct with such sympathy that he is a 
genuine servant. He has the acquisitive spirit of a student, and 
yet he is a worker. He is fond of his flute and plays to the delight 
of his friends and the large Orphanage family. He and his wife 
make a happy home atmosphere pervade Connie Maxwell Orphan- 
age, and they will be remembered and loved by hundreds of their 
adopted children in the years to come. Dr. Jamison looks after the 
religious life of the youth with a fatherly interest, and almost 
every child becomes a member of the Orphanage church in due 
time. For what he is and what he does, he is enthroned in the 
hearts of South Carolina Baptists. 



ALLISON JAMES JOHNSON. 




One of the old and prominent set- 
lera of Acworth, Cobb county, Georgia, 
was John Newton Johnson. In early 
manhood be was married to Miss Hen- 
rietta Northcutt, a member of one of 
the most prominent families of North 
Qeorgia. A. M. Northcntt, her father, 
B one of the first setflere of Acworth, 
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were devoted 
members of the Baptist chnrch. They 
i some of the greatest preachers and 
theologians of Qeorgia as their pastors. 
Among them was the late Dr. J. G-. Rjals, who for many years 
filled the Chair of Theology in Mercer University, Macon, Georgia. 
Later, they eat under the ministry of Dr. A, B, Yaughan, who 
ie recognized as a deep thinker, a strong preacher and an able theo- 
logian. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson knew why they were Baptists and 
could give Scriptural reasons for the faith they professed. This 
godly couple were devoted to their church and were always ready 
to give time and talents, as well as their influence and means, 
for the promotion of .the Lord's kingdom. 

Theirflrat bom son came to bless their home on September 27, 
1873, and was given the name of Allison James Johnson, the sub- 
ject of this sketch. It was the fond hope of his mother from the 
hour of his birth that he might become a preacher. This hope was 
cherished all through his childhood and boyhood, and when, at 
the age of twenty-one he made public his answer to God's call. to 
be a preacher of the gospel, her joy was full. In all the after years 
of her life she considered her "preacher boy" an answer to her 
prayers, a reward of her faith and the crown of her motherhood. 
Mr. Johnson spent his early years with his parents in Acworth. 
As a boy he was energetic and enterprising. For seven years he 
carried the Atlanta Journal, and the money he saved in these early 
years was used in meeting his college expenses. While a student in 
the local school he clerked at odd times in a store, and after finish- 



164 BAPTIST BIOGRA.PHY 

ing the high school he served as clerk and bookkeeper^ and taught 
country schools. Energy and thrift were inherited, and their firee 
were kept burning by the examples of his parents. 

In 1894 Mr. Johnson entered the Freshman class of Mercer 
University, Macon, (Jeorgia, from which he graduated in 1898 
with the A. B. degree. At Mercer, as in his home school, he was a 
diligent and painstaking student, and therefore stood well in his 
classes. Both his fellow students and the faculty of Mercer Univer- 
sity delighted to honor him because of his merit. Each year of the 
four years spent at Mercer he represented his class as one of the 
commencement speakers. In his Junior year he received the medal 
for general excellence. The example he set in his daily life and by 
his studious habits had a strong influence over his classmates and in 
fact over the entire student body of the college. It was recognized 
by the faculty and students that he would always be foimd on the 
right side of every moral question. 

Mr. Johnson was converted in May, 1891. Prom the beginning 
of his Christian life he manifested an unswerving interest in his 
church and in the cause of Christ. Devotion to duty and conse- 
cration of life led his church to believe that God had his hands 
upon him to preach the gospel. At the age of twenty-one he made 
public his impressions to preach and of his consent to yield to 
those impressions. On the historic day of July 4, 1897, he was 
set part to the full work of the gospel ministry. The presbytery 
was composed of Rev. M. A. McCoy, Rev. E. M. Dyer, Dr. A. B. 
Vaughan and the deacons of the Acworth Baptist church. The ordi- 
nation sermon was delivered by A. B. Vaughan. The ordination of 
Mr. Johnson took place while he was still a student at Mercer, 
and three years after his graduation from Mercer he entered the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., from 
which he graduated with the Th. M. degree in 1904. At the Sem- 
inary, as in the college, he was honored by the faculty and students, 
being one of the class speakers at the Seminary commencement 
on the occasion of his graduation. 

Mr. Johnson has held a number of pastorates, the first being 
Indian Springs, in 1899; then Jacksonville, Alabama, 1900-1903; 
Attalla, Alabama, 1904-1906; Cornelia, Georgia, 1906-1910; Boaz 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 165 

and Mt Vernon, Alabama, 1911; Oxford, Alabama, 1912-1918; 
East Macon, his present pastorate, 1919. The larger part of his 
ministry, as will be seen, has been in Alabama. While pastor at 
Cornelia, (Jeorgia, for half time, he served the churches at Demorest, 
Nail's Creek, Bethlehem and Clarkesville. He also did some gener- 
al work for the Mission Board of the Georgia Baptist Convention 
in the associations in the mountain section of Georgia, notably the 
Mountain, Clarksville, Babun County, Tugalo and Liberty Asso- 
ciations. 

Mr. Johnson has done constructive work in all the pastorates 
which he has held. Houses of worship were built at Nail's Creek 
and Mt. Vernon churches during his pastorate. It was under his 
ministry that the desirable lot on which the house of worship of the 
Cornelia church now stands was secured. While at Attalla, 
Alabama, extensive improvements were made on the house of wor- 
ship of the Attalla Baptist church. During his pastorate at Oxford 
a conmiodious Sunday school annex was erected. In all the 
churches he has served there has been encouraging growth in mem- 
bership and development among the members. The churches he 
has served and the communities in which he has lived have both 
alike held him in high esteem, and he has enjoyed ever-increasing 
popularity among his people. 

Mr. Johnson is a man of small stature, but of pleasing personal 
appearance. In his face he bears the marks of a happy, buoyant 
spirit and of a guileless life. It may be said of him that he is 
•every whit a Christian gentleman. Honesty and integrity charac- 
terize all his dealings with his fellow men. As a preacher he is 
thoughtful, analytical, earnest and forceful in the delivery of his 
message. His sermons are reinforced by a godly life, and like John, 
he speaks of the things which he has seen and heard. 

Mr. Johnson's ability and leadership were recognized by the Bap- 
tists of Alabama. In 1914, by their appointment, he preached the 
introductory sermon before the Alabama Baptist Convention, which 
was held with the First church of Selma, from the text found in 
John 10:10, and discussed the striking theme: "The Genesis, 
<}rowth and Glorification of the Christain Life.'' This sermon 



l«ff 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



established his reputatioii in Alabama as a presdieT of proDOimced 
abilit?. 

It was duriog the Cbrietmss hoUdajs of 1900 that Mr. Johnson 
WBB united in marriage to Miss Minnie Qlover, of Flovilla, Georgia. 
Mrs. Johnson is a graduate of Cox College, College Park, Georgia, 
and is a woman of exceptional gifts and attainments. Through 
all the years she haa been a model helpmeet to her husband, not 
only in their domestic life, but in bis pastoral work. All his work 
in the pulpit and out of it has been reinforced by her prayers, 
wisdom, deep consecration and hearty sympathy. These have been 
sources of inspiration and strength to him. Well mated as they 
are, and with the character they possess, and with the goodly store 
of general information they have acquired, and being comparatively 
young in years, their future is as bright as the promises of God. 
They will leave to their children a richer and a more enduring 
heritage than houses and lands and stocks and bonds. That heritage 
will he lives well spent in the service of God. 



WILLIAM MONTAGUE JONES. 




If one could choose Virginia, a State 
that is rich in material endowments, 
as the place of his birth, it would be 
diflBcult to believe that such a person 
would ever have good reasons for re- 
I gretting his choice. In addition to 
such honor in the place of birth, if one 
I could choose ancestors linked hack 
through a long past to the Cavaliers 
I who left England in the time of Oliver 
Cromwell to find asylum in the New 
world, and whose forbears wore such 
shining names as Custis, Lewis, Montague. Broadus, Jones and 
others of little less distinction in the military, political and reli- 
gions history of the nation, he would start in life with a predous 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 167 

inheritance. Such was the good fortune of William Montague 
JoneS; whose life is here briefly sketched. 

Dr. Jones was born in Gloucester county, Virginia, several 
years after the War between the States, while the dark shadow of 
that distressful period rested over the South. Among his paternal 
ancestors are found those bearing the names of Custis, Lewis, 
Taylor and many others. Through his maternal grandmother, 
Eliza Montague, his family connections reach back to the time of 
William the Conqueror. His maternal grandfather was a Broadus, 
a famed family from which sprang Dr. John A. Broadus, its most 
illustrious son. Among his antecedents were many ministers bear- 
ing the names of Broadus, Montague and Jones. In his early 
youth the occasional visits of some of these ministers to the home 
of his parents made a lasting impression upon his young heart and 
perhaps had much to do with determining his own life work later. 

Because of the lack of good school facilities in his native county, 
he was sent to Richmond when a young lad and was fitted for 
college by a Connecticut teacher, Mr. Squires, who had shown 
himself very efficient in such preparatory educational service. He 
entered Richmond College in 1889 and was graduated after a full 
course of four years, in 1893. He was ordained June 12, 1895, in 
the First Baptist church, of Richmond, Virginia. The examining 
council was made up of the pastors of the Baptist churches of the 
city and the preacher professors of Richmond College, being in- 
troduced and commended by deacon John C. Williams, near relative 
of John Skelton Williams. He was graduated with the degree of 
Master in Theology in 1896, at the Southern Baptist Theological 
Seminary, Louisville, Ky. At once he began his ministry in North 
Carolina, in a community where the Scotch Southern Presbyterians 
were numerous and some of them were in attendance frequently 
at his churches. Their character and intelligence had a very in- 
spiring and challenging effect upon him and provoked him to do 
his best, both as pastor and preacher. In 1900 he became pastor at 
Williston, South Carolina, and has continued with growing use- 
fulness until the present time, 1918. 

A few years after settling down at Williston he married Miss 
Jumelle Owen, of Elko, and they have lived happily together. His 



168 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

usefulness has been greatly enhanced by the tact and intelligence 
of his wife and her fine sympathy and interest with the people of 
his churches and the community. 

Two years after taking up his residence in Williston, Dr. Jonet 
was made a member of the County Board of Education, and has 
served continuously since that time to the present writing. This 
position gave him opportunity for rendering a fine educational 
service in many ways throughout Barnwell county. During this 
period the tax levy for public schools was practically doubled, and 
new school buildings erected in the county were valued at about 
$150,000. His comprehensive grasp of the educational needs of the 
country helped him to stimulate teachers, superintep46^ts and the 
patrons and friends of the schools to making better schools. His 
influence on the schools of the county will be one of the lasting 
benefits of his ministry. He is in frequent demand for school 
and college commencements. Without turning aside to be a teacher, 
he has been a patient and wise helper of many teachers. He has 
been conservative and progressive as a counselor of the trustees 
of schools and of superintendents of education in the county, and 
his work will abide the test of time. 

In 1907 he was placed on the Baptist Sunday School Board, 
located at Xashville, Tennessee, and still represents South Carolina 
in that body. When the South Carolina Baptist Convention origin- 
ated an Education Commission, because of his experience and 
scholarship, he was chosen to be one of its first members. Recog- 
nizing his varied attainments and services of unusual value in 
several fields, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity 
from Furman University in 1907. 

He has written many articles for the denominational weeklies, 
and his pen work shows that he is a thinker and a philosopher. 
Prom time to time he has contributed articles to the daily papers 
of Charleston, Columbia and Richmond, setting forth the principles 
of good citizenship, as well as giving news articles of merit. He was 
a writer for the Barnwell Sentinel for many years before 1917, 
when he was placed in full editorial charge of the paper, the editor. 
Major R. Boyd Cole, volunteering to enter the army of the United 
States in the World War. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 169 

There are frequent examples of ministers turning from the bar 
to the pulpit, and almost always the pulpit gains in the process 
a well more trained and highly effective preacher. But Mr. Jones 
reversed the more common way of doing things, studied law under 
a popular law firm in Barnwell, stood the examination and was 
admitted to the bar in 1915. He took up law so as to compel 
himself to study with a definite purpose, hoping thereby to enrich 
his mind and at the same time increase the effectiveness of his 
preaching and his pastoral labors and counsels. He does not prac- 
tice law, but he takes the results of his study of law into his 
ministry. 

Mr. Jones has had many calls to other pastorates, but after pray- 
erful consideration he has chosen to remain at Williston, and his 
many friends in the congregation there now begin to feel like he 
should remain "till the end.*' He has exerted a steady urge forward 
in his Williston pastorate, where the church has erected under his 
ministry a commodious house of worship and also one of the most 
attractive pastoriimas in all that section of the State. He is deeply 
interested in the work of the denomination generally, and especially 
in his own State and in his own association. He is a strong 
preacher, his sermons always showing the results of diligent study 
of the Word of God and a sound interpretation thereof. He is a 
symmetrical man and preacher, successful in his avocations, but 
always first a preacher and pastor. He subordinates everything 
he has, everything he knows and speaks, and everything he does 
to the work of the ministry. He is truly a servant. He has the 
gift of friendship to a marked degree. Attached to his work, 
always sensitive to the total life of the community, he jealously 
keeps himself splendidly insulated for the best service as a servant 
of the Most High. Now in the matured period of life, his capacities 
firmly developed, his many friends hope that his useful ministry 
may extend with growing honor into a long future. 



ALEXIS DAWSON KENDBICK. 



BDr. Alexis Dawson Kendrick cornea 
from iUmtrioiia sires. His father, Jtdin 
Frauds Kindrick, comes from Uiose 
prominent in edncatioDll and other 
professional lines. Hie maternal an- 
cestors have been Baptist preachers for 
six generations. His mother, Annie 
Delphia Uarshall, was a sister of Ber. 
Dr. Alexis Abraham Marshall, who was 
at one time President of Ifonroe Fe- 
male College, now Bessie Tift College, 
and held such pastorates as the First Baptist church, Gainesville, 
Qeorgia, First church, Anderson, South Carolina, First chnrdi 
of Raleigh, North Carolina. She was a niece of Ber. Dr. Wm. 
Clay Wilkes, who was the founder of the Honroe Female College, 
now Bessie Tift, also the founder of Georgia Female Seminary, 
now Brenau College, and was at one time the beloved pastor of 
the First church, Gainesville, Georgia. She was a daughter of 
Bev. Alexis Epinetus Marshall, who helped to organize the Geor- 
gia Teachers' Convention. When the legislature would not give 
the Baptists a charter for a college because it would give them, 
when educated, too much power in the State, Dr. Eendrick's great- 
grandfather, Bev. Jabez F. Marshall, was chairman of the commit- 
tee to apply for the charter and to raise the endowment. When 
Mercer University was founded, his gift was exceeded by only four 
others. Before there was a State Convention, when the Baptists 
of Georgia were only a missionary Board, he was the chairman year 
by year. 

The father of Rev, Jabez P. Marshall, Bev. Abraham Marshall, 
was the founder of the first Baptist church of Augusta, Georgia, 
and was its first pastor. The first Baptist church for colored people 
in Georgia was organized in Savannah, with the assistance of Abra- 
ham Marshall, in 1788. Rev, Abraham Marshall's father, Rev. 
Daniel Marahall, was bom in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1706, In 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 171 

June, 1771, he founded the First Baptist church of Georgia, Old 
Kiokee church, in Columbia county. 

The subject of this sketch was bom in Montezuma, Georgia, 
September 7, 1873. In his teens be became a Christian and united 
with the Fifth Avenue Baptist church, Bome, Georgia. He filled 
the offices of Sunday school teacher and secretary, and was instru- 
mental in organizing the first Baptist Young People's Union in 
the church and became its first president. When he was converted 
he felt called to preach, but for some time he let the call go un- 
heeded and continued as salesman and assistant business manager 
for W. H. Steele, Bome Georgia, wholesale and retail dealer in 
household furnishings. 

After some months quenching the Spirit, and even taking a 
business course, hoping to be able to find contentment in secular 
work, but which he did not find, he surrendered to the call of 
God and began his theological education at the Southern Baptist 
Theological Seminary. May 5, 1898, he was ordained to the Baptist 
ministry, having been called to the pastorate of the Edgewood 
Avenue Baptist church, Atlanta, Georgia, which was afterwards 
merged into the Jackson Hill Baptist church. When he was 
ordained, the presbytery was composed of Bevs. A. A. Marshall, 
Alex W. Bealer, Len G. Broughton, J. L. D. Hillyer and W. H. 
Bell. 

Mr. Kendrick's educational advantages have been varied. He 
has a Commercial Diploma from the Southern Shorthand Busi- 
ness University, of Atlanta, Georgia, a Blue Seal Sunday School 
Diploma from the Baptist Sunday School Board, of Nashville, 
Tennessee; and College Diplomas with the following degrees: B. 
S., Litt., B. D. and D. D. He has traveled extensively in this 
country and has visited two other countries. He has spent much 
time in attendance upon the Winona Lake and Northfield Bible 
Conferences, and has studied during his Summer vacations at the 
Bible Teachers^ Training School, in New York City and Newton 
Theological Institution. 

Some of the outstanding features of his pastorates are men- 
tioned: Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta, where with only ten dollars, 
and fifty members of small means, a church house was built and 



172 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

used for worship in six weeks' time. The pastor directed the 
raising of the funds^ superintended the building; bought the ma- 
terial on his own responsibility aud preached every Sunday during 
the time. At the Central Baptist church, Gkdnesville, Georgia, 
he began a revival with twenty-seven persons present, and in two 
weeks twenty-eight new members came into the church and the 
house could not hold the people after the first few sermons. At 
Davisboro^ Georgia, one of the deacons said, as he was leaving for 
his pastorate in Douglas ; '^ou go to a larger field, but you will 
never find a people who love you more than this church." 

At Douglas^ Georgia, he planned their present modem church 
and saw the foundation laid and much of the material on the 
ground. At the Parksview churchy Shreveport, Liouisiana, he led 
the church in increasing the size of the house of worship, and the 
last year of his pastorate 107 united with that church. 

While in Winnfield, Louisiana, a Tabemade holding 1,000 peo- 
ple was built and in one year 114 members were received into 
the church. At Yidalia, Greorgia, he was instrumental in uniting 
the churchy which was torn in factions^ and in seventeen months 
167 members came into the membership of that church. In his 
last pastorate in the South, the First churchy Americus, Georgia, 
the church increased its contributions to State Missions, and with 
the financial secretary placed the church finances on a business 
basis^ including the every-member canvass and the Duplex Envelope 
system. 

December 1, 1904, Dr. Kendrick was married to Carrie Phelps 
Marshall, of Windsor, Connecticut, the only living child of David 
E. and Charlotte Allen Phelps Marshall. It is a queer coinci- 
dence that both can trace their ancestry to one common ancestor, 
Capt. Samuel Marshall, who settled in Windsor in 1635. He was 
one of the five captains from Connecticut in King Philip's War. 
Mrs. Kendrick is descended from many of the oldest New England 
families, and is a graduate of Wheaton College, Norton, Massa- 
chusetts. In all of her husband's activities she has been an im- 
portant factor. In April, 1918, because of the death of his wife's 
mother and the physical condition of her father, he resigned his 
pastorate of the First Baptist church of Americus, Georgia, and 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



173 



moved to Windsor, Concecticut. Since hia arrival in Connecticut, 
among the churches in which he has preached, are the First Bap- 
tist churcheB of Rockville, Bristol, New Britain, Southiugtoo, 
Middletown, Bridgeport; and in Hartford, the Soutii, the Memo- 
rial and at present is the acting pastor of the Olivet church. 



EUSTACE EUGENE KING. 



a Among the nobly useful pastors of 
Texas and of the great Southwest it 
Ur. E. E. King, of McKinney, Texas. 
For fifty years this honored preacher 
of Christ's Word has given of his time, 
his talents and bis blood to the ongoing 
of the Master's cause in two States of 
the Union — Mississippi and Texas. If 
this writer were asked to select the most 
modeat, the gentlest, the sweetest- 
spirited and the best loved pastor that 

' Texas has known he would not have to 

go further than the subject of this sketch. He has moved among 
his brethren so quietly that many of them have failed to recognize 
his genuine greatness and nobility of head and heart. He haa 
never been a man to vaunt himself or push himself forward. Like 
the description the Savior gives of the coming of his kingdom, 
this pastor has come not with observation. While there have been 
many turbulent and mercurial spirits among Southern Baptist 
preachers, E. E. King has accomplished his work, not like the 
tempest and thunders of the hurricane, but more after the simili- 
tude of the slow and gentle approach of the coming dawn. With 
a heart of gold, a mind of rare culture and acumen, and with a 
character of singular transparency and purity, this truly con- 
secratod under-shepherd has been for a half century going about 
doing good, like the Master whom he loves and serves. Now that 
the sunset glow is soon to rest upon his noble face, he looks out 
upon life's horizon with a happy heart, with his countenance 
wreathed in smiles, and with undaunted hope and courage as he 



174 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

contemplates that ''City which has foundations whose bnilder and 
maker is God.'' 

Dr. King is the son of Joseph Monroe and Margaret Williams 
Eling. He was bom at Raymond^ Mississippi, September, 4, 1850. 
His father was a son of Henry King, a planter of Bang's Point, 
on the Mississippi river. His mother was the daughter* of Ira 
Williams, a State official in the land office in the early days of 
Mississippi. His parents were both Christians, his father a Baptist, 
his mother a Methodist. His father led the evening devotions at 
home and the song services in the village church. They both died 
when he was seven years old. He lived with relatives on farms till 
he was fifteen when he began the battle of life for himself. He was 
converted at thirteen, joined the Methodist church and was 
sprinkled, but was not satisfied with his baptism and read the Bible 
through before he was fifteen, marking every passage bearing on 
the subject. While studying the question he stopped out of a storm 
one evening in a Baptist home, where he discovered a copy of 
Pendleton^s "Three Seasons Why I Am A Baptist/' and sat up 
nearly all night reading it. At this time he was employed by a 
Methodist minister, with whom he had some lively discussions. He 
united with the Beulah Baptist church at Brownsville, Mississippi, 
May 6, 1966, and was baptized by James Nelson. He began at once 
to attend Sunday school and was soon awarded a prize for memo- 
rizing the Scriptures. His memory is his best mental faculty. He 
remembers incidents that occurred before he was three years old and 
most of the things he has seen and heard since. From childhood he 
desired an education and attended school every opportunity, for a 
time, walking five miles to the nearest schoolhouse. For three 
Summers he worked for his board, attended school and paid tui- 
tion out of his meagre wages as a farm hand. For two years while 
a boy he was in the home of the late T. J. Walne, D. D., of Dallas, 
and Mr. Walne discovering his anxiety for an education kindly 
taught him at night. He entered the Academy of Mississippi 
College at eighteen and graduated with the A. B. degree at twenty- 
three. In his Sophomore years he wrote a prize essay, he composed 
his class song and represented his literary society as debater, orator, 
salutatorian and anniversarian. A few years since, when the Col- 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 175 

lege desired to compliment twelve of her graduates, deemed useful 
and prominent, he was selected as one and given a good sketch in 
*Tj*Allegro*^ the College Annual. He received the degree of D. D. 
from Baylor University after preaching the commencement sermon 
in 1890. He spent two years in the Southern Baptist Theological 
Seminary at Greenville, South Carolina. Desiring to meet his 
expenses by preaching, he accepted an invitation of Brushy Creek 
church, seven miles from Greenville, where Dr. C. H. Toy and 
brother L. Vaughn were tied on a call to the pastorate. He was 
called and supplied the church during his Seminary course. He 
walked out on Sunday morning and deacon David Freeman sent 
him home in the afternoon. He baptized a number of the deacon's 
children, three of whom are now useful preachers. In his Homi- 
letics class the outlines of two of his sermons were put on the 
blackboard as "models" by Dr. Broadus. 

Pastor King began leading in public worship at fifteen, preach- 
ing at eighteen, and was ordained at twenty-one at Brownsville, 
Mississippi, July 14, 1872. A few hours after his ordination he 
baptized twenty-one, was invited to officiate at a marriage on the 
following Tuesday, and the next Sunday baptized twenty-three. 
He preached his first sermon at McNeil School-house near Bay- 
mond where he was conducting a mission Sunday school. His text 
was John 10:11, his theme Christ the Good Shepherd. He plowed 
all the day before and sat up late preparing this his first sermon, 
the notes of which he still keeps with care. Since that early begin- 
ning he has been carefully preparing, usually writing, his sermons. 
He has the manuscript of more than three-thousand sermons, some 
fifty of which have been published in papers or magazines. For 
eight months he furnished a sermon every week for the San 
Antonio Daily Express. He does not memorize his sermons or 
take notes to the pulpit, but in preaching largely reproduces what 
he has written. 

Although he has been a pastor for nearly fifty years he has had 
only five pastorates, Senatobia, Starkville and Greenville, Missis- 
sippi, and First church, San Antonio, and First church, McKinney, 
Texas. At Senatobia his work prospered and he remained six 
years, declining a number of fiattering calls. At Starkville he 



176 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

preached to great congregatione and baptized large numbers, many 
of whom were young men from the A. and M. College of which 
deacon Oen. Steven D. Lee was president. At Qreenville the 
growth of his church was phenomenal, and he found time to preach 
at many missions and to organize a number of churches in the 
Delta. He remained in San Antonio seven years, received over 
seven hundred members, organized three churches and built for 
each a chapel. At McKinney he received into the church two- 
thousand-sixty-one members, oprganized three diurches from 
the membership, and rounded out a happy pastorate of twenty-one 
years. He believes the Lord guided him to and through his 
pastorates. He endeavors to honor God in all things, never travels 
or reads a secular paper on the Lord^s day. 

May 8, 1877, pastor King married Elenor Augusta, daughter of 
deacon A. H. Frink, of Crystal Springs, Mississippi. The Lord 
was specially good to him in the gift of his wife. ''Who is Who 
Among the Women of America" gives her a worthy tribute. She is 
a gifted woman and an accomplished pianist and pipe organist. 
She is the constant inspiration of her husband. They have three 
children, each a useful Christian. 

Dr. King is ever wide awake to Christian and denominational 
endeavor. His brethren have called him into a number of positions 
of honor and usefulness. He has been the moderator of his asso- 
ciation most of the time since he has been a pastor. He was a 
member of the State Mission Board in Mississippi, and most of the 
time since coming to Texas he has been a member of the Board 
of Directors of the Baptist General Convention, a trustee of Baylor 
College, and of Westminster Baptist Academy, and for more than 
a quarter of a century has been a trustee of the Southern Baptist 
Theological Seminary. For many years he has been a director 
of the interdenominational Sunday School Convention of Texas. 
He is often called into church councils and is in constant demand 
for special sermons, as on commencement, ordination, dedication, 
memorial and anniversary occasions. In 1875 he attended for the 
first time a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention and has 
only missed three sessions since. To him they have been annual 
schools of instruction. 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 177 

Since a boy preacher Dr. King desired to be a "good minister of 
Jesus Christ/^ and the Lord granted the desire of his heart and 
enabled him to magnify his high calling. He is a faithful pastor 
of untiring zeal. He is methodical in his work and has kept a 
ministerial diary. Here are some statistics of what the Lord has 
enabled him to do, according to the records October 1, 1918: He 
has preached 8,963 sermons, made 35,106 pastoral visits, received 
into the churches of which he has been pastor or supply 4,031 mem- 
bers, and into the churches in which he held meetings 2,405 mem- 
bers, — averaging two for each week since he has been in the minis- 
try. He has assisted in the organization of fifteen churches, in 
the ordination of eighteen ministers and of many deacons. He has 
officiated at 931 funerals and at 1,000 marriages. He has built five 
pastor's homes and six mission chapels, and the church at McKin- 
ney under his ministry built a house of worship costing with the 
lot and furnishings $45,000. Besides, this church during his 
pastorate contributed $348,860, — most of it for missions, educa- 
tion and benevolence. 

When eight years old Eustace E. King went on a trip of 460 
miles, which gave him a desire to travel. Since then he has been 
in nearly every part of the United States, has made three visits 
in Mexico, has been in Canada, and made an extensive tour of 
Europe and the Orient, including Palestine. He made a number of 
lectures on his travels and published twenty-four letters on his 
observations in foreign lands. He is ever in close touch with his 
local editors and has furnished them much copy on various topics. 
He is also the author of a little book, "The Life and Labors of 
Sidney J. Williams", the evangelist, whom he led to the Savior 
and baptized, and under whose ministry more than 27,000 have 
been received into the fellowship of Baptist churches. Pastor King 
is a practical missionary. In his pastorates he preaches to one or 
more missions in the afternoons, and frequently preaches to the 
Negroes, to the unfortunate on the county farm and to the prison- 
ers in the county jail. He is a loyal friend. His friends are a large 
part of his capital and their name is legion. He knows thirty-six 
name-sakes. He is a member of a number of fraternal orders, takes 
an active interest in every enterprise for the welfare of his com- 



178 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



mnnity, and is an efficient leader for civic rigbteoneness. He haa 
given for Christian purposeB the tenth of all his income. Hia 
churches have paid him promptly and more than they promised 
and hiB perquiBites have been generous. When he resigned at 
McKinney the church elected him pastor emeritus for life on salary 
and presented him with a beautiful home, expressing the hope that 
he might abide with them until he moves up into the "House not 
made with hands." 
Died March 11, 1919. 



ROBERT LAFAYETTE LEMONS. 




Dr. B. L. Lemons is one of the 
noblest of God's noblemen. His think- 
ing is as pure as that of the most te- 
jincd woman, and his conduct as 
courageous as that of an old Roman 
soldier. In nature he is as sensitive 
and ajTnpathetic as a little child, while 
liis high sense of fairness and justice 
inspires him to stand up against the 
largest man in any denomination when 
he feels that the principle of right is 
involved. He makes one think of two 
passages of Scripture : "Their faces were radiant," and "Thy 
gentleness hath made ine great." His voice is clear and carries 
well. His manner is deliberate, distinct and definite, but not slow; 
his logic is clear and convincing and his thought is deep; all 
is expressed in language pure and simple. He is a most congenial 
Christian gentleman, always true to the highest ideals, a delightful 
conversationalist, a scholarly, cultured, trustworthy and warm- 
hearted friend. His preaching is pleasing, optimistic, forceful and 
rings true to the notes of gospel music; and, as a pastor, he haa 
the true shepherd heart. These characteristics have made him one 
of the most attractive personalities and successful preachers and 
pastors in the Southland. Frequently he is called upon for com- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 179 

mencement sermons and addresses. He is a regular lecturer on 
philosophic and educational subjects at Will-Mayfield College, 
Marble Hill, Missouri, which college in May, 1915, conferred on 
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. 

Bobert LaFayette Lemons was bom of Scotch-Irish stock, and 
draws his American blood from many worthy sources. The an- 
cestors of his father, James Arden Lemons, came from Virginia 
and the Southeast. His father was born in North Carolina, 
grew up near Lebanon, Tennessee, and in early manhood moved 
to South-central Missouri, where he married Robert's mother. 
Miss Nancy Neomi Coffman, who with her parents had moved 
from the Sweet Water Valley, Tennessee, to Missouri. Robert's 
father was akin to the famous Arden family, while his mother 
had in her veins such blood as produced Kit Carson, the irrepressible 
Indian Scout. Some years before Robert's birth his parents, with 
his older brothers and a half sister, moved to the highlands of the 
Ozark Mountains, in Shannon county, Missouri, where he was 
bom a few years after the War between the States. 

Dr. Robert was reared on his father's farm, and the hardships 
had their making power. The vast, untamed forest and lonely 
hills set no bounds to the aspiring soul of the country youth. 
With good blood in his veins, the ozone of the mountains in his 
lungs and a widening vision made by the solitary hills which stood 
to him as messengers from the Maker of the mountains, from whose 
voiceless silence came the call to come np higher, he longed for a 
world which could not be fenced in, and he had in him the deter- 
mination to find and possess it. 

Church-going opportunities were few, but the community was 
distinctly religious for the occasional visits and service of the con- 
secrated country minister wrought deeply for God. When Robert 
was sixteen years old he gave his heart to God, and was 
baptized into the fellowship of the newly organized Oak Grove 
Baptist church, near his old home, by Rev. J. F. Martin. 

Even before his conversion he felt called to preach, but for six 
years after that he declined to yield to the clear conviction. Dur- 
ing those years he was enthusiastic over education. After com- 
pleting the courses in the public school, he was a popular and 



180 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Buccessful teacher in the community. He studied in the graded 
school for a while, at Alto Pass, Illinois, and spent parts of two 
sessions at Carlton College and the Farmington Baptist College, 
both in Farming, Missouri. His love for teaching carried him 
back to the schoolroom for another session, after which he found 
himself a full-fledged ministerial student at William Jewell College, 
Liberty, Missouri. 

With robust health, grit and grace, and by the helpful encourage- 
ment of friends, he worked his way through college. As a preacher 
he was licensed in the fall of 1892 and ordained in July, 1895, at 
his old home church, Oak Grove, and during his school days he was 
pastor at different times, of New Hope, near Holt, nearly four 
years, and of Cosby, Low Gap and Greenton, all in Missouri. To 
him the tender touch of Dr. J. P. Greene, the president of William 
Jewell College, was like magic. The college faculty and com- 
munity were kind to him, and their words of counsel inspired him 
to do and be his best. He graduated with his A. B. degree in 
June, 1899. 

On the afternoon of his graduation day, Dr. Lemons entered 
upon his work as pastor of the First Baptist church, Marceline, 
Missouri. The church at once fell in love with him and was very 
kind and considerate as he worked his way, step by step, through 
a fruitful pastorate of sixteen months. He considers this as his 
first real pastorate, and the experiences there gained have ever been 
an inspiration to larger things. It was only a sense of duty that 
led him to resign there, to enter Rochester Theological Semi- 
nary, Rochester, New York, from which he graduated in 1903. Here 
the masterful touch of mighty minds like Dr. Augustus H. Strong, 
president, and other godly souls of the scholarly faculty formed 
him into their own image and enriched his mind by the theological, 
missionary and evangelistic spirit which they breathed into him. 
In the Summer of 1903 he became pastor of the First Baptist 
church, Jefferson City, Missouri, where he wrought very faithfully 
and effectively for more than three years. There he was pastor 
of such men as Gov. Joseph W. Folk, Prof. Howard A. Gass and 
others prominent in political and religious life. It was during that 
pastorate, and on November 17, 1903, that Dr. Ijcmons was married 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 181 

to Miss Anabel GrifBn, a graduate of Hardin College, of Mexico^ 
Missouri, who has ever been a faithful helpmeet. She was the grand- 
daughter of Dr. Jeremiah Vardeman, a noted Baptist minister of 
Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, and of Rev. James N. Gri£Qn, 
of Mexico, Missouri, and daughter of Rev. and Mrs. J. J. GriflSn, 
now of Mexico, Missouri. She is also related to Oliver Wendell 
Holmes. To them has been born one daughter, Mary Ruth. 

In August, 1906, Dr. Lemons resigned at JeflEerson City to be- 
come pastor of West Park, St. Louis, Missouri, where he had a 
very happy and successful pastorate of about four years. It was 
his privilege to see the church developed along all lines, better 
equipment, better organization and a large increase in member- 
ship. The opportunities were so numerous that they made a very 
heavy draft on his physical strength, which led him to accept the 
pastorate of the Mt. Vernon Baptist church, near Versailles, Ken- 
tucky, in March, 1910, where he had a very pleasant and restful 
period, which restored his vigor. 

Then he heard the call of the Third Baptist church, Nashville, 
Tennessee, where he served very acceptably and successfully for 
something less than three years. His success, especially with his 
young men, was a joy to his shepherd heart. Some years before 
his going there, friction in the church had led to the organization of 
the North Nashville Baptist church, not far away. These two 
churches were not friendly. Just before Dr. Lemons became pastor 
of the Third church, Dr. R. T. Marsh became pastor of the North 
Nashville church. These two pastors of rival churches lived just 
two blocks apart and saw each other practically every day. Though 
total strangers, they readily formed a very strong attachment for 
each other. They were intimately and oflBcially united in the com- 
munity interests, denominational and extra-denominational, they 
were in the thick of the fight for ''City-Wide Good Government,** 
and were mutually helpful in every good work. But their greatest 
work was with their own churches. They visited and took part 
in each other^s services, did all they could to stamp out the old bit- 
terness between the two churches; and it was a frequent remark 
that if they had accomplished nothing more in Nashville than the 
restoration of fraternal feelings between those two churches, their 



182 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

pastorates in Nashville would have been shining successes. Dr. 
Lemons was very popular and efiScient as a denominational worker 
in the city, as well as in his church. There he formed many pas- 
toral friendships which are imperishable. He was also a member 
of the State Board of Missions. 

Dr. Lemons has been for more than six years the imder- 
shepherd of the First Baptist church, Charleston, Missouri. He 
has seen the labors of his hand and heart greatly blessed of the 
God he loves to serve. He has welcomed into the church many 
new members, and has made his influence for good count, largely, 
not only in his own church and city, but his life and labors cover 
a wide territory round about. In his work in ministerial institutes, 
evangelistic meetings, missionary journeys, at times to remote 
sections, and in his lectures before the students and faculty of 
Will-Mayfield College, as well as in other general kingdom work, 
he is largely multiplying himself and hastening the coming of our 
Lord. As in Tennessee so in Missouri he is a member of the State 
Executive Board. He is yet a young man, growing in wisdom and 
power, and in spiritual vision, capable and worthy of the very best 
pastorate. To know him is to love and trust him. To know him 
better is to love and trust him without limit. He is a faithful 
servant who will some day receive a crown of life adorned with 
many stars, for he will be faithful unto dcatli. 



WILLIAM WOOTSON UABKY. 




The Bubject of this sketch could be 
well trnsted to write the story of his 
own life. Thoroughly capable, uncom- 
promisingly honest and genuinely 
Chriatiaii, he would not likely take a 
false view of himeelf, pen a line of self- 
praise, nor obscure a single recognized 
blemish in his character. 

He came of English stock. His great 
grand-father, Charles Mabry, came 
direct from England and settled in 
Virginia, where his grand-father Joshua 
Mabry was bom, and later moved to North Carolina and married 
a Miss Short. To this union was bom, September 34, 1820, Wm. 
J. Mabry, father of William Wootson Mabry. His mother, who was 
Miss Mary Bowers, was born December 3, 1834, Her fore-parents 
came from Central Europe in the eighteenth century and settled in 
South Carolina. Her father settled in Stewart county, Georgia, in 
1831, where the subject of this sketch was born, September 16, 
1853, on the same farm on which his mother was bom and reared. 
She lost no time in her efforts to instruct and train her first bom 
son, for he has often been heard to say, "I have no memory of when 
I learned the alphabet or the figures." 

This was quite characteristic of W. W. Mabry, who always loved 
books, and the privilege of study to supply his own conscious needs, 
though his educational advantages were limited to the average 
country school during the Civil War. Being the oldest of five 
children, he had to assome an important share of the support of 
the family after the emancipation of his father's slaves. 

In January, 1870, he was accidentally 6hot> disabling him for 
months, and causing him much suffering for years; but daring 
this enforced absence from hard labor on the farm he had the privi- 
lege of attending school for five months, this being the laat of his 
school days except a brief study at Mercer University where he 



184 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

took "A short course in Theology for Preachers and Ministerial 
Students/' 

He was converted in the year 1873; baptized into the fellowship 
of the Richland Baptist church, then Stewart county, now Webster 
county, in June 1875; licensed to preach by that church in April 
1877, and one year later, April 1878, he was ordained to the full 
work of the ministry with Revs. I. B. Deavors and R. A. J. Powell 
as presbytery. 

His first pastorate was Antioch church, Webster county, and 
from that time until now, he has given more than forty years of 
uninterrupted service to thirty-three churches in thirteen counties 
in Georgia and two in Alabama. 

These pastorates continued from one to thirty-three years, res- 
pectively. His present field is County Line, Stewart county, near 
his birth place; Macedonia, Webster county; New Providence, 
Marion county and Brooksville, Randolph county. 

At the last named church he is now serving his thirty-fourth 
year, consecutively. It is almost as natural to associate Wootson 
Mabry with Brooksville as it is to call him Brother Mabry. The 
prospects are that he will continue as pastor there until called up 
higher. He has ever been loyal as a pastor to his denomination in 
all its organized work and often called to serve in wider spheres. 
He was the efficient clerk of the Friendship Association five years, 
and in like capacity twenty-one years in the Summerhill Associa- 
tion, where he served two years as its moderator and at present is 
its clerk and a member of its Executive Committee. 

Surely the Lord will say, '^ell done," when he is called hence; 
for no man among us has devoted himself more assiduously to the 
general interest of the kingdom, or accomplished more in an im- 
portant sphere that he alone could fill. 

Never daunted by difficulties, always ready to discharge his duties 
in the various walks of life, public spirited and progressive he has 
achieved success along lines that require strong faith, unfaltering 
courage, deep convictions and no small stock of energy and "com- 
mon sense." 

It is a tribute to his influence and popularity as a man and ef- 
ficiency as a minister of the gospel, that he has spent his life in his 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 185 

native county and served many of its churches as pastor and other 
churches in every neighboring county, and now giving matured 
powers of mind and heart to his own community. 

He is a safe counselor, a loyal friend, an enterprising citizen 
and true patriot ; and above all ''a faithful minister of Jesus Christ/' 
His home life has likewise been greatly blessed. He was married 
January 22, 1874, to Miss Cornelia French, of Stewart county. 
To this union were bom four children, three daughters and one 
son, all living. He taught school a few years while a young man 
thus adding materially to his educational attainments. 

He loved mechanics and agriculture and has given much of his 
time to carpentry and farming, and in all of these avocations he 
has sucoeeded. With a strong native mind and a worthy ambition 
he naturally coveted success in the various undertakings of life, 
and has not been disappointed. It would be a source of satisfaction 
to his friends to know in detail the visible fruits of his ministry, 
such as the number of candidates baptized, marriages performed, 
funerals conducted and protracted meetings attended and ordina- 
tion services in which he took part, but he has been too modest and 
too busy to make a record of all these, leaving it to the recording 
Angel to keep the account. 

He has always been a close student of the Bible, and loved to 
interpret and expound its priceless truths, and "in labors abundant* ' 
he has made "full proof of his mini8try'\ He will be found faithful 
and watching when his Lord shall come. 



ALBERT FRANKLIN MAHAN. 



i] Bev. Albert Franklin Mahan may 
well be described aa a man of Tlie Book. 
His profound ezpoeitions of dJTise 
truth, and the eaae with whidi he 
I quotes from the Scriptures give evi- 
\ dence of a deep and diligent etud; of 
' the Bible, and a great reverence for the 
"thus saith the Ixrd." He preaches a 
well rounded gospel, overlooking none 
of the great doctrines of God's Word, 
but emphasizing all according to their 
■ place and importance. His langnage 
is incisive and persuasive and his logic convincing. Hie messages 
abound in apt quotations and illustrationB from The Book. His con- 
Buming passion for lost souls and Mb forceful presentation of the 
divine plan of salvation have made him a great winner of souls, 
and sought much by his brethren for evangelistic meetings. During 
a ministry of twenty years, eighteen of which he has been an active 
pastor, he has held ninety-seven revival meetings and has witnessed 
conversions into the thousands. His kingdom sympathies know no 
social limitations and no geographical bounds. Every kingdom 
interest has a place in his thought and efforts. Along with all 
the churches he has served as pastor, he has ever earnestly sup- 
ported the benevolent and missionary interests of his denomination. 
The churches he has served have always grewn in liberality and 
interest in the spread of the gospel to the uttermost parts of the 
earth. He is loved and honored by his brethren for his work's 
sake. Several times has he been honored with positions of tmet at 
the hands of his comrades. He is at present a member of the Board 
of Missions for Tennessee. He is also President of the Pastors 
conference of Tennessee. 

Brother Mahan was bom at Belltown, Monroe county, Tenn., 
June 21, 1874. He is the oldest of nine children bom to his father 
and mother, John Francis and Mary Elizabeth (Cochran) Mahan. 
He grew to young manhood on a farm, enjoying the few educa- 



BAPTIST BIOQBAPHY 187 

5 

tional advantages that the rural schools of his community afforded. 
At the age of sixteen^ he was converted and baptized into the fel- 
lowship of the Cane Creek Baptist church. His father was a mem- 
ber of the Methodist church when the son was converted, but he 
joined the church with him and they together were baptized in 
the beautiful Tellico river. Before the young man was twenty 
years old, he felt that God had called him to preach the gospel, 
and he soon began making preparations to fit himself for that 
exalted service. About this time the father was called to his 
reward, and the responsibilities of the family in a large measure 
fell upon the shoulders of this oldest son. But difficulties, however 
great, when once he had surrendered to his Father's will, could 
not conquer the indomitable will of Albert Mahan. Through the 
sympathies and prayers of his consecrated mother, who from the 
first time she learned that her son was to be a preacher joyfully 
gave him up from his home duties that he might better prepare 
himself for his life's work, he was able to go away to school. Early 
in the Fall of 1895, with but a few cents more than the price of his 
railroad ticket, he left home for Carson-Newman college at Jef- 
ferson City, Tenn. He soon found himself embarrassed for the lack 
of money to pay his board, which would have disheartened a less 
determined spirit, but upon his knees in a room where no human 
eye could see nor human ear could hear he won the victory. By 
sweeping the floors of the college and making fires, together with 
the aid of interested friends, he was enabled to meet the expenses 
of the first year. And after the first year he would teach a term 
in the public schools of his county that he might be able to go to 
school another term. 

On December 3, 1898, he was ordained to the full work of the 
gospel ministry by the Cane Creek Baptist church, Revs. M. B. 
Carroll, James Given and William McNabb constituting the pres- 
byterv. Two vears later he was honored with a call to become 
pastor of his home church, the church into which he had been bap- 
tized and the church that had ordained him. 

On the 18th day of June, 1901, he was married to Miss Ella R. 
Richards, of Madisonville, Tenn., who has been a faithful partaker 
of his struggles and a happy sharer of his joys. To this union haye 



188 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

been bom three children, one son, Samuel Ljmton, who died when 
he was but twenty months of age ; two girls^ Carrie Lou and Mary 
Grace. 

For a few years this yoimg preacher served country churches in 
his, the Sweetwater Association. In 1902 he became pastor of the 
church at Philadelphia, Tenn. The next year he was called to 
become pastor of the Third Street church, Knoxville, which he 
resigned in 1905 to accept a call to become pastor of the Baptist 
church at Blue Ridge, Ga. Prom Blue Ridge he went to Trion, 
Ga., where for more than three fruitful years he labored as pastor 
of the Trion Baptist church and other churches in the county. 
As a result of one meeting held at Trion, while pastor there, in 
which he did the preaching, ninety-one converts were baptized into 
the fellowship of that church. More than two hundred were bap- 
tized into that church during his pastorate there. Prom Trion, 
he was called for the second time to the pastorate of Third Street 
church, Knoxville, Tenn. Here he remained for two and a half 
fruitful years, then he accepted a call to the pastorate of the Tren- 
ton Street church, Ilarriman, Tenn. After two and one half years 
of successful and joyous service with this, one of the best churches 
in East Tennesse, during which time a pastor's home was purchased 
and the membership of the church nearly doubled, he resigned to 
accept the position as associational evangelist offered him by the 
Tennessee Baptist Association, believing that to be a larger field 
for the exercise of his evangelistic gifts and desires. While in this 
position the influence of his wise leadership and deep consecration 
was felt in all the churches throughout the entire association, and 
hundreds of souls were converted and added to the churches. That 
position he held until he was called and urged to become pastor of 
the Central Baptist church. Fountain City, Tenn. And his shep- 
herd heart would not permit him to decline. He took charge of 
this church February 1, 1916, which is experiencing a phenomenal 
growth, both in numbers and liberality, and which gives promise 
of being the crowning work of his ministry. 

In 1919 Carson and Newman College conferred upon him the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



189 



In connection with hie busy pastoral dntiea, Bro. Mahan is con- 
gtantly in demand for the general work of the denominatioii and for 
evangelistic meetings. To meet these demands he is unsparing in 
his Bacrifices and untiring in his efforts. May many along life's 
way rise up to call hira blessed, and at his Master's right hand, 
may the multitudes whom he has heen enabled to help during hia 
earthly ministry join with him in crowning Christ Lord of all. 



BOBERT THORNTON MARSH. 




Dr. Robert Thornton Marsh is a warm- 
hearted, trustworthy, congenial and 
faithful minister. His thinking, speak- 
ing and life are so clean and consistent 
that those who know him most intimate- 
ly in all relations in life give him their 
implicit confidence and hold him in the 
highest esteem — his word being his 
bond. As an evidence of this he has 
preached in six reviTals at his old home 
church. He has a pleasing personality, 
and his friendship is as true as steel. 
His heart is as tender as a child's, never forgetting the rights and 
feelings of others, and his splendid business ability has brought 
him offers of large salaries to conduct commercial enterprises. At 
school and college he was very successful, enjoying the fullest 
confidence and highest respect of students and professors. At 
Richmond College he was president of his literary society and 
officiated at scTeral annu&l public functions with grace and dig- 
nity. His good humor and ready wit, and his culture and prac- 
tical common sense have made him popular as an "after-dinner 
speaker" and brought him in demand for sermons and addresses 
on special occasions. His broad intelligence, extensive and accurate 
information and power of leadership have made him prominent in 
his denomination, qualifying him to serve at times as moderator. 



190 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

clerk^ trustee and editor. His scholarly, cultured, deliberate, fair 
and logical mind, deep conviction and discretion, his love for hu- 
manity and hatred for all injustice and sin, and his faith in the 
presence and power of God in human affairs fit him for the tasks 
of leadership to which his neighbors assign him in matters social, 
moral and religious. He has written several useful books, edited 
several papers, and several times been asked to take editorial control 
of one of the leading Baptist papers of the South. Now he is re- 
writing his "Scriptural Study of the Lord's Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper.'' 

As a preacher and pastor Dr. Marsh is at his best. With clear, 
pleasing voice, deep thought well expressed in simple, pure English, 
without notes and with fitting illustrations, he brings his well- 
prepared sermons down to every day life and trials. He is one of 
the ablest preachers in Virginia — a Baptist in heart and brain — 
and preaches the whole counsel of God with fearless, resistless hero- 
ism. Dr. R. H. Pitt, editor of the Religious Herald, says: "He is 
a very faithful and successful pastor, a man of excellent natural 
gifts, a clear, effective preacher, a diligent, prudent pastor and is 
also a skilful writer.'^ Recognizing his scholarship and merit, Will- 
Mayfield College, Missouri, in May, 1916, conferred on him the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity. 

Robert Thornton Mnr<h was bom on his father's farm in Lan- 
caster county, at Miskimoii, Virginia, January 20, 1871. His 
parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Thomas Marsh, were very devout 
and zealously active Christians, and brought their children up in 
church and Sunday school work. His father, at times, was Sunday 
school superintendent, Bible Class teacher, deacon and treasurer of 
his church. His mother was a teacher in the Sunday school and 
president of the Woman's Missionary and Aid Societies. 

At the age of nine years Robert gave his heart to God, and was 
baptized into the fellowship of Providence Baptist church, near 
his home, by Rev. A. D. Reynolds, and at once began active reli- 
gious service. Like Abraham and Sarah, his parents always had in 
their home "The Place of Prayer," and, at the father's suggestion, 
Bobert and his brother, Eulie J. Marsh, three years older, alter- 
nately shared with their father the responsibilities at the 'family 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 191 

altar/' Just after his conversion Bobert began leading prayer meet- 
ings in his home church. His brother became deacon, treasurer^ 
choir leader and Sunday school superintendent in his church. 

When Bobert was twelve years old he was the regular Sunday 
school teacher of a class of boys of his own age, and at the age of 
sixteen came within one vote of being elected a deacon of his church, 
his uncle winning by one vote. His church licensed him to preach 
when he was eighteen, and he preached regularly at a school house, 
near Heathsville, Virginia, where he organized and was superin- 
tendent of a Sunday school. He cannot recall when he did not feel 
that God wanted him to preach, and it was with great joy that 
during his high school course, he successfully preached in revivals 
in neighboring churches, one of which enthusiastically called him as 
pastor. But the "Training Camps" were essential to the most 
eflfective soldiery. The blood of Virginia heroes was in his veins 
and was not to be devitalized by the bacillus of the "short-cuf* lever. 
To him preparedness was a conscientious duty. 

So, with the course at the common school near his home, and 
the preparatory work in Baltimore and at Heathsville High school 
completed, September, 1890, found him a full-fledged ministerial 
student at Richmond College, from which he graduated in June, 
1894. In the face of calls to churches, revival and high school 
work. Dr. Marsh, in October, 1894, entered the Southern Baptist 
Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, from which he gradu- 
ated with the degree of Master in Theology in June, 1897. Grades 
count for much, and he made them high, his grade in Senior 
Hebrew for the whole year being ninety-eight and one half. 

At the close of his second year at the Seminary, for the vacation 
period, he became pastor of Currotoman church, his native county, 
where his success was so marked that the church called him three 
times in four months to remain pastor. But he felt impelled to 
complete his Seminary course. 

In June, 1896, Grace Street Baptist church, Bichmond, Vir- 
ginia, of which he was then a member, called for his ordination^ 
which took place at his old home church, Providence. Drs. William 
E. Hatcher, George W. Beale, John W. Byland and Bevs. A. D. 



192 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Reynolds, P. W. Claybrook and W. A. Street were on the presbytery, 
while Dr. W. E. Hatcher preached the sermon. 

From the Seminary he entered at once, June, 1897, upon a very 
happy and successful pastorate at Bishopville, South Carolina. He 
did much afternoon preaching at Cedar Creek, Wisacky and Luck 
Now. At the end of two and one-half years Miss Lula A. Parrott, 
the very accomplished organist and leader of the music in his 
church, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob L. Parrott, became 
the pastor's bride on November 16, 1899. She was bom of a fam- 
ily of efficient church workers, her father rfhd brother being deacons, 
and her father teacher of the Bible Class. Several of her uncles 
and one cousin were Baptist ministers, with several cousins in the 
Presbyterian ministry. By birth, nature, rearing and training she 
was well fitted for her future faithful work as his helpmeet. To 
them have been born Robert Thornton Marsh, Jr., Emmie May 
Marsh and Marian Rozelle Marsh, who are well worthv of their 
noble parents. 

After a fruitful service at Bishopville, Ridge Spring, with after- 
noons at Mount Pleasant, and Dovesville, with afternoons at 
Society Hill and Lumber churches. South Carolina, Dr. 
Marsh was the very successful pastor at Madison, Florida, for three 
years. While there he visited ten countries of Europe for three 
months. Mrs. Marsh had been educated at Winthrop College, 
Rock Hill, South Carolina, and when an enthusiastic call to the 
pastorate of the First Baptist church of that city came, old college 
ties and the wide open doors to large usefulness led them to Rock 
Hill. At Rock Hill, Dr. Marsh led in largely reorganizing the First 
Baptist church, paid oflP the debt on the pastorium, built and paid 
for several Sunday school rooms, established and edited the Rock 
Hill Baptist, wrote and published a History of Rock Hill Baptists, 
wrote and published a book on "The Lord's Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper," started and paid regularly into a sinking fund for the 
remodeling or rebuilding of the church house. He did much evan- 
gelistic work, gave himself largely to city missions and had the 
pleasure of seeing several churches organized in the city, three being 
dedicated on one Sunday. There were many members added to the 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 193 

church and Sunday school. Two Sunday afternoons each month 
he preached at Catawba church. 

In his fourth year he became pastor of North Nashville, Nash- 
ville, Tennessee. He became a close friend of Dr. R. L. Lemons^ 
two blocks away, who was pastor of the Third church, and they co- 
operated in helpfully touching every phase of community life, as 
well as their church and denominational interests, and formed many 
imperishable friendships. 

Pastoral calls came to him from Kentucky, Tennessee and Mis- 
souri; but he acceded to an earnest appeal of his Alma Mater, 
Richmond College, to come back to Virginia and help to raise a 
half million dollars for the college, and in April, 1912, he began 
that work ; and, although several pastoral calls came, never stopped 
until the last dollar was raised on December 31, 1913. During that 
time he was a regular correspondent for the Religious Herald. 
Several times since then the college has appealed to him to return 
and assist in raising a million dollars. 

Dr. Marsh has the shepherd heart, which responded to the call 
of the Clifton Forge Baptist church, one of the best in Virginia, 
September 1, 1913, and preached for the church every Sunday and 
worked for the college in the week until December Slst. He edited 
the Augusta Baptist more than two years. Many members have been 
added, every department of the church is in a very healthy condi- 
tion, and the future is bright with promise. Let two of his official 
members tell of his work at Clifton Forge. One says: ^^e has 
done a great work not only in this community, but also in the State 
at large.'* Another says : "Dr. Marsh has been pastor of the Clif- 
ton Forge Baptist church about five years and, with very few 
exceptions, has been in his pulpit twice every Sunday. He is a 
splendid preacher, whose sermons inspire the soul, an ideal pastor, 
never too tired nor too weary from overwork, day or night, to 
help any one in trouble or sorrow, ever ready to tackle and suc- 
cessfully accomplish the most difficult tasks, always at Sunday 
school ready to render any service, very helpful in missionary and 
charity work, and last year taught and inspired the best Teacher 
Training Class ever had in our church. Dr. Marsh was instru- 
mental in raising a debt of $16,700 off our church property. As a 



1»4 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



labor of love he preaches at the Y. H. C. A. every week and at the 
railway shops every month. He preaches at Low Moot two Sunday 
ftftemooDs each month, and at other places other afternoons. He 
lives the lessons he preaches, has a keen and penetrating mind which 
detests shams, and is a friend in whom there is no gnile. He is 
blessed with a wife whose piety and useful labors make her a valu- 
able helpmeet to him in every good word and work. He is a young 
man with a very bright future, a high-minded, clean. Christian 
gentleman, with a heart so tender as to respond to the faintest 
cry of a hurt world, and yet with a eoul so heroic that it ever dares 
to invade the fiercest intrenchments of sin. He is "a good soldier 
of Jesus Christ." 

After sii or eight months of serious, prayerful consideration, Dr. 
Marsh acceded to the long pressed call of Richmond College to come 
back and help raise the million dollars for the strengthening of 
Richmond and ffesthampfon Colleges, closing his very successful 
Clifton Forge pastorate of four years and eight months, on May 1, 
1918. at that timo a<rain becoming, for a while, financial secretary 
of Richmond College. 



MILO HATCH MASSEY. 



Milo Hatch Massey was born October 
11, 1875, in Washington countj', Geor- 
gia. 

ITis father was S. H. B. Massey, a 
highly esteemed citizen and public 
servant. His mother, Elizabeth R. 
Massey, was the daughter of Rev, Isaac 
Smith, a pioneer Baptist preacher of 
a large section of territory lying south 
of the Central Railroad. This grand- 
father was one of the moving spirits in 
the founding of the Mount Vernon 
Association. Four of his sons, Mrs. Masaey's brothers, were Bap- 
tist preachers. Thus Milo Massey comes of good Baptist stock 
devoted to the best things in life. 




BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 196 

When he was four years of age his father moved to Tennille 
where the lad fell under the tuition of two great school teachers. 
Dr. and Mrs. T. J. Beck. Dr. Beck was just then building the 
Tennille High School into an institution of great vigor and use- 
fulness and at the same time was pastor of the Baptist church. 
From his childhood, Milo Massey was a noteworthy boy. He was 
one of the brightest students in the school from the day he en- 
tered. He showed a gentle and serious temperament and an early 
interest in religion and the Word of God. Under the guidance of 
a good mother and the ministry of Dr. Beck, he gave his life to 
Christ at an early age and was baptized June 17, 1888. At once 
he showed great zeal in the Master^s work and gave evidence jhat he 
was called to be a minister. 

He entered Mercer University in 1892 and graduated with the 
A. B. Degree in 1895. After his graduation he served one year aa 
Principal of the high school at Pinehurst, Georgia, and then en- 
tered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Ky., 
to prepare himself fully for his Master^s service. January 2, 1896, 
he was ordained in the Tennille Baptist church. The presbytery 
was composed of T. J. Beck, T. J. Holmes, W. S. Bamsey, J. M. 
Smith, and L. A. Brantley. In 1899 he graduated from the Semi- 
nary with the degree of Master of Theology. 

In the early Summer of 1898, he was called to the pastorate of 
the Thomaston church at Thomaston, (Jeorgia. He served the 
church for four months and was allowed a leave of absence for 
his last year at the Seminary. Upon his graduation, he resumed 
his duties at Thomaston. Here, faithful to his trust, standing 
faithful to the Word of God, he saw many converted during his 
pastorate. He easily became one of the most highly regarded and 
best loved pastors the church had had for a quarter of a century. 

January 1, 1902, he became pastor of the Eastman church, East- 
man, Georgia, and entered upon a career of great usefulness and 
influence not only in the church, but in the territory. While here 
he served as Clerk of the Ebenezer Association and Chairman of 
its Executive Committee. 

In 1906, he accepted a call to the church at Statesboro, Georgia. 
Here his expanding service was at once manifest. The church in- 



196 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

creased rapidly in numbers and offerings. He laid foundations for 
much larger things in the churchy instilling into the membership 
a conscientious purpose not to neglect any of the organized work 
of the denomination. He served as Chairman of the Ezecutiye 
Committee of the Bulloch County Association and did a notable 
work in building up the rural churches of that important but com- 
paratively new territory. 

In 1910, he entered upon the pastorate of the church at Hart- 
well, Georgia. Here he served for eight years. This church is one 
of the most important in Northern Georgia. Under the pastorate 
of Milo Massey, it made great strides forward. Its record in sys- 
tematic benevolence was very marked. Here again he was pressed 
into service of a much wider circle than his own church. For 
three years he was clerk of the Hebron Association, three years its 
moderator and six years the Chairman of its Executive Committee. 
He served the State Convention also as a member of its State Mis- 
sion Board. 

The subject of this sketch is not only a man of capable mind, 
but is a thorough student and an able preacher. He is thoroughly 
honest with himself as well as with others in his studies, preaching 
and public activities. His is a call to do all he can. To this call 
he is loyal with all his strength. 

Only recently he gave up his pastorate at Hartwell to do work 
for the first time out of his native State, and accepted the pastorate 
of the church at Sanford, Florida. He takes to this field the 
richness that comes from an ever deepening experience and en- 
larging service. His friends and brethren will miss him sorely, 
but rejoice in the outlook for him under the blessing of God to do 
valiant things for his present field and the sister State. 

On November 8, 1809, he was married to Miss Rozzie Lee, 
daughter of Daniel M. Lee and Josephine Lee of Screven county. 
The ceremony was performed by Dr. T. J. Beck. Mrs. Massey 
is a bright and lovable woman. She is well educated,, a graduate 
of Cox College, moves easily among people, is a good Christian 
worker, and withal an ideal pastor's wife. They have three living 
children, Eugene Harris, and Mary Katherine and Carolyn Daniel. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY JO? 

The home life of this man of God is altogether such as to give him 
delight and courage in his life work in the service of God and man. 




CARL WINN MINOR. 

In the early part of the last century, 
Mr. Jim Minor moved from Virginia 
to Georgia and settled on a farm in the 
southern part of Hancock county. 
Among his children was Francis Minor, 
who was made an orphan by the death 
of his father when he was only six years 
old. In the early years of Francis the 
responsibilities of the family fell upon 
his shoulders This and the consequent 
hardships developed the manhood that 
was in bim and he became a successful 
farmer. At the age of thirty he married Miss Mary Jane Watson, 
a native of Greent county, Georgia They lived and labored on a 
farm in Hancock count>, where they reared a large family, Carl 
Winn Jlinor, the subject of this sketch being the eleventh of fifteen 
children. 

Mr, Minor was born July 29, 1868, and spent his youth on hiB 
father's plantation, where he was schooled in the art of tilling the 
soil. By the use of a club axe, the plow and the hoe, he developed 
a sfronjr body which has served him well in his educational pur- 
suits and in his ministerial career. In the community school, with 
its short terms, he laid the foundation for his education. Being 
a diligent student and apt to Icam he developed an insatiable desire 
for knowlodpe. In early manhood he entered the M, Q, M. & A. 
College, at Milledgevillc. Georgia, in which he prepared himself 
for the Freshman class of Mercer tTniversity, Macon, Georgia. 

On June 25, 1885, a month and three days before his seventeenth 
birthday, Mr. Minor was happily converted and united with the 
Milledgeville Baptist church and was baptized hv Rev. A. J, Beck. 
From the beginning of his Christian life Mr, Minor took an actiTe 



198 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

interest in the work of his church. It was soon recognized that he 
was a convert of promise and that he was endowed with the gifts 
of public speech and of leadership. Accordingly^ he was licensed to 
exercise his gifts in preaching the gospel^ and on December 18^ 
1888^ while a student at Mercer University^ he was ordained to the 
full work of the gospel ministry by Friendship church, Wash- 
ington county, (Georgia. The presbytery was composed of BevB. 
T. J. Holmes, W. J. Durham and D. W. Dewell. 

Mr. Minor was pastor of one or more churches during his entire 
course at Mercer University. The churches served while at Mercer 
were Liberty, Wilkinson county, 1888-1893, and Union, Washing- 
ton county, 1889-1893. The A. B. course and the duties of prepiff- 
ing sermons and of pastoral work in his churches were a heavy 
tax on his mind and body, but being accustomed to hard work from 
his youth up, and possessing an unusual degree of determination, 
he succeeded in the work of his churches and made a good record 
in his college classes, graduating with the A. B. degree in 1893. 
The income from the churches he served was not adequate to meet 
his college expenses, and it was necessary for him to devote one 
year to teaching. That year was spent in the grammar school of 
South Macon. During Mr. Minor's last year at Mercer he was 
pastor of the Dublin Baptist church. This church oflfered excep- 
tional opportunities for a young college graduate, but he was not 
satisfied with his educational attainments. Accordingly, he re- 
signed the pastorate of the Dublin church in the Fall of 1893 and 
entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminar}^ at Louisville, 
Kentucky, from which he graduated with the Th. G. degree in 
1895. While at the Seminary he was pastor of Tate's Creek and 
Elko churches, in Kentucky. 

After graduation from the Southern Baptist Theological Semi- 
nary, Mr. Minor became pastor of the Valdosta Baptist church, 
Georgia, which he served from 1895 to 1902. During this period 
the city of Valdosta had a verv rapid but substantial growth. The 
church of which Mr. Minor was pastor kept pace with the material 
development of the community. Throus^h his leadership it erected 
a ma^ificent new house of worshin. which cost $30,000. During 
his pastorate at Valdosta he snent a year in- travel and study abroad. 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 199 

Three months of the time were spent in the Holy Land. It was his 
privilege to read the thrilling instances recorded in the Scriptures 
on the ground where they took place. These opportunities gave 
him a clearer insight into the realities of the divine revelation. 
It has had a telling effect on his preaching through all the years. 
While abroad he spent much time in Qermany^ France^ England 
and Scotland. 

Mr. Minor has held only five pastorates since his graduation 
from the Seminary in 1895. The unanimous call of the church 
at Fitzgerald and the exceptional opportunities the field offered^ 
led Mr. Minor to resign his church at Yaldosta, in 1902, and to 
accept the pastorate of the church at Fitzgerald, where he remained 
through 1905. The church at Moultrie extended him a call in the 
latter part of 1905. It was an inviting field and the call was ac- 
cepted and he gave the church three years of faithful and efficient 
service, resigning its pastorate to accept a call to the church, at 
Bainbridge, where he did a great work during the years 1909 to 
1914. Up until 1914 all the pastoral work of Mr. Minor had been 
in the territory south of Macon. The church at Madison, Georgia, 
coveted his gifts and secured his services in 1914 and thereafter 
until 1917. During his pastorate at Madison a commodious Sun- 
day school room was erected at a cost of $25,000. 

It may be said that few pastors anywhere have been more suc- 
cessful and more universally popular than Mr. Minor. Qooi con- 
gregations attended the regular services of all the churches he has 
served, and the churches under his leadership have enjoyed steady 
and substantial growth in numbers and in Christian liberality. 
His work as a pastor has been constructive, and every field in which 
he has labored has been made more desirable for his successor by 
reason of the character of work he did while in it. 

The interest of Mr. Minor has not been limited to the churches 
he has served nor to the communities in which they were located. 
The district association of which his churches were members had 
his active support, and he ever maintained an active interest in 
the State and Southern Baptist Conventions. Educational insti- 
tutions have found in him a staunch friend, and he has rendered 
much valuable service in their interests. Mr. Minor is distinctively 



200 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

a denominational man, and his denomination has recognized his 
ability as a leader in the interest of its enterprises. Among other 
positions held, he is trustee of the (Jeorgia Baptist Orphans^ Home, 
Mercer University, and is president of the Mission Board of the 
Georgia Baptist Convention, a position which he has held during 
the past three years. In recognition of his ability as a minister of 
the gospel and as a theologian, the trustees of Mercer University 
conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1910. 

Dr. Minor is a man of pleasing personal appearance. Friends 
are easily made, and seemingly quite as easily held. As a preacher 
he is clear in his thinking, sound in his theology and forceful in 
his delivery. In his public addresses he warms up to his subject 
quickly and creates interest and enthusiasm in his hearers. As 
a citizen lie is everv whit a Christian gentleman. Honestv and in- 
tegrity with him are priceless virtues. In all the communities 
where he has lived and labored, he has maintained a high standing 
as a Christian citizen and as a man of good business judgment. 

It was a surpise to many of his friends that Dr. Minor could 
Imve been induced to leave the pastorate to become associate presi- 
dent of Cox College, where he began his labors in the Fall of 1917. 
In the college, as in the pastorate, he is a tireless and tactful 
worker. Wherever he has gone he has made friends for the institu- 
tion over which he presides. Though the college has no organic 
connection with the Baptist denomination, it is recogniz(?d as a 
Baptist institution. Dr. Minor's friendship and support of the in- 
stitutions of the Georgia Baptist Convention have been as hearty 
since his connection with Cox College as they were before. 

Dr. Minor greatly increased his personal happiness and use- 
fulness in his marriage to Mrs. Bessie Fair Sims, on September 17, 
1912. In his work as pastor and as president of Cox Colleire, she 
is a worthy helpmeet. With his home established and with his 
breadth of learning and with his varied experiences as pastor, 
educator and denominational worker, he is now at his best. The 
hard work on the farm in his youth, his struggles in securing an 
education, the stress and strain of growing pastorates and the ex- 
actions of a college president have in no way impaired his physical 
strength. At no time in his busy life has he been more capable 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 201 

of doing well a diversity of things than now. The brotherhood of 
his denomination and the people of the communities in which he 
has lived and labored tntst him implicitly and delight to honor him. 
The days of his greatest usefulness have just begun, and the re- 
wanls which lie has received and those which await him are well 
worth all the nfriigglcs of his youth and tiie sacrifices and labors 
of his manhoo8. 



ADIEL JARRETT MOXCRIEF. 




The eastern part of upper middle 
Georgia has been one of the richest 
sections of the State in the production 
of great men. This was especially true 
in the early settlement of the State. 
It was in that section the first Baptist 
church in Georgia, Kiokeo, was con- 
stituted, in the Spring of 1778, under 
the leadership of Daniel Marshall. The 
names of such illustrious men aa 
Marshall, Mercer, Baker and Sherwood, 
who lived and wrought in eastern mid- 
dle Georgia, are too numerous to mention here. The scenes of 
their activities were in Columbia, Greene and Wilkes counties. 
Among those Baptist worthies were the Moneriof and Price fam- 
ilies, who settled in Greene county, Georgia, between Greensboro 
snd Penfield. 

The leading representatives of these two families were William 
Alexander Moncrief and Ephraim Price. Tliey were soldiers of 
the Revolutionary War, and were close neighbors. They were 
planters and owned small landed estates and a number of slaves. 
Their children grow up together and the families were members 
of the same church. David Harvey Moncrief, son of William 
Alexander Moncrief, and Nancy Ann, the daughter of Ephraim 
Price, grew up together from childhood to maturity, and their mar- 



202 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

nage was bom of a friendship which ripened into love^ dating 
back to their childhood. After reaching middle life, David Harvey 
Moncrief yielded to a call to preach the gospel, and the last forty- 
five years of his life were given to the ministry. The eldest child, 
Bev. Adiel Lumpkin Moncrief, was bom March 23, 1831. The 
marriage of A. L. Moncrief to Miss Lizzie Jane Moore, daughter 
of Bev. D. H. Moore and Susan Callaway, niece of J^tshua Callaway, 
has been fruitful of mutual happiness and usefulness. They have 
been blessed with nine children, five of whom are living. 

Among the children of Rev. A. L. Moncrief and Lizzie Jane 
Moore Moncrief, is Rev. Adiel Jarrett Moncrief, the subject of this 
sketch, who was born in Russellville, Monroe county, G^eorgia, Au- 
gust 2y 1873. In his early life his parents moved to Bamesville, 
Georgia, where he began his education in Gordon Institute. In 
1882, his father moved to Marshallville, Georgia, where after grad- 
uating in the high school there he spent one year in the Technolog- 
ical School of Georgia. Yielding to a call to preach the gospel, 
he entered Mercer University, Macon, (Jeorgia. In July, 1896, he 
was ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry by the First 
church, of Macon, Georgia. The presbytery was composed of 
(Jeorge R. McCall, A. B. Campbell and his father, A. L. Moncrief. 

While a student in Mercer University Mr. Moncrief distinguished 
himself as an orator. In a number of inter-collegiate oratorical 
contests he won the victory over picked men. Gifts and attain- 
ments as a public speaker created a demand for his services as pas- 
tor of village and town churches. While a student at Mercer 
University he served as pastor, the churches at Unadilla and Butler, 
Georgia. The work he did as pastor during his college course was 
a prophecy of his distinguished career as preacher and pastor. 

The first pastorate of Mr. Moncrief after his graduation was 
Fort Valley. This church extended him a call in November, 1897, 
and he assumed the charge the first of the new year. The church 
grew in numbers and influence and in Christian liberality. In 
1899, plans and bids were submitted to the church, looking to the 
erection of a new house of worship. On September 10, 1899, Mr. 
Moncrief tendered his resignation to accept a call to the First Bap- 
tist church, of LaGrange, Georgia. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 208 

It was in October, 1899, that he began his work as pastor of 
the First church, LaGrange. The pastorate of Mr. Moncrief at 
LaGrange was rich in its fruitage. The attendance at the South- 
ern Female College in those days was large and the student body 
of the institution attended the preaching services of his church. 
In April of 1902 he accepted a call to Union Springs, Alabama. 
Under his leadership the house of worship was remodeled at a oast 
of $15,000. The church grew in numbers and in Christian liber- 
ality. 

During the pastorate of Mr. Moncrief at Union Springs, he 
was married to Miss Soslyn Patterson, an accomplished young lady 
and member of his church. She has been a loving helpmeet to him 
in his great work. 

In January, 1906, Mr. Moncrief resigned at Union Springs, Ala- 
bama, to accept a call to the First church, Brunswick, (Georgia. 
This church prospered under his ministry until Jime, 1906, at 
which time he became head of Cox College, College Park, G^rgia, 
succeeding Prof. Charlie Cox, who had passed away. The urgent 
call to the presidency of this institution came as a result of the 
splendid service he had rendered for four months in the Spring 
of 1902, while Prof. Cox was away from his duties for treatment. 
Thus the Brunswick pastorate, with such flattering prospects, was 
cut short. 

Though the college prospered under the leadership of Dr. Mon- 
crief, his heart yearned for the pastorate. The church at Forsyth 
extended him a hearty call in June, 1907. The opportunities it 
offered in connection with Bessie Tift College, led him to accept 
it. While ill the midst of forward movements both in the church 
and in the college, the Tabernacle church, Raleigh, North Caro- 
lina, coveted the gifts of Dr. Moncrief, and accordingly extended 
him a call in October, 1908. Its call was accepted, and from 1908 
to October, 1911, the church enjoyed a period of great prosperity. 
During that time the house of worship was remodeled and enlarged 
at a cost of over $30,000, and a splendid pipe organ was installed. 
The liberality of the church, both for current support and for the 



204 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

objects fostered by the Baptists of the Old North State, greatly 
increased. 

In the Fall of 1911 the church at Barnesville, (Jeorgia, where 
the early boyhood of Dr. Moncrief was spent, called him to become 
its pastor. The appeal of his native State and of his boyhood com- 
munity and of the church where he attended Sunday school in 
his childhood, could not be resisted. The coming of Dr. Mon- 
crief to Barnesville, with his exceptional gifts and large experi- 
ence, inspired the church and the citizens of the community to for- 
ward movements. Soon a Sunday school annex was erected. The 
church under his ministry developed in many directions. It be- 
came a leading factor not only in the Centennial Association, but 
beyond its limits in the increased liberality of the churches. 

This fruitful pastorate ended Jime 1, 1918, when Dr. Moncrief 
began his work as pastor of the First church, Rome, Georgia, This 
great old church, which has so long mothered Shorter College, is 
one of the most desirable pastorates in Georgia. It afEords the 
highest incentives for the full exercise of the gifts and attainments 
of its cultured pastor. 

Dr. Moncrief comes from a long line of distinguished preachers. 
Both his paternal and maternal grandfathers were preachers of 
marked ability, and his own fkther has long been recognized as 
one of tlie deepest thinkers and ablest theologians and sermonizers 
of his time. The son and grandson of these distinguished ministers 
is himself a discriminating thinker, systematic sermonizer and elo- 
quent speaker. 

Dr. Moncrief has enjoyed the recognition of his denomination 
in many ways. Mercer University, his Alma Mater, conferred 
upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1912. He has been 
a faithful and efficient servant as a member of the Mission Board, 
a member of the Georgia Baptist Education Board; a trustee of 
Mercer University and of Bessie Tift College, and has rendered 
efficient service on special standing committees. Few pastors have 
been in greater demand for commencement sermons, literary and 
special addresses, and with it all his brother pastors both in and 
out of the States where he has labored, have made heavy drafts 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



306 



upon his time and talents for evangeliBtic meetings. Ab an evan- 
gelist he has been successful in leading the lost to Christ. Being 
in the prime of life, and having one of the best churches in Geor- 
gia, his future yeare are full of hope and encouragement for in- 

creaaing usefulness. 



ADIEL LUMPKIN MONCRIEF. 




"The days of our years arc three 
score years and ten, and if by reason 
of strength they be fourscore years, yet 
. their strength labor and sorrow." 
The subject of this sketch has survived 
fourscore and seven years, and the 
strength of those years has indeed been 
labor and sorrow, for not in the en- 
durance of superior physical powers, 
nor in the conserving care of easy 
living, has bis life been thus prolonged. 
By the abounding mercy and unfailing 
care of Kim whom he has served and trusted through all life's 
vicissitudes has life been lengthened out. 

At the age of three years a virulent attack of scarlet fever left 

his ears so impaired that he has since caught none of the softer 

sounds. Only the louder tones of voices and the harsher noises 

have penetrated his dulled ears. The bird songs and insect voices 

that make the summer wood vibrant with melody have been unheard 

and unknown by him, as also all the tenderer accents and whispers 

of human voices. Yet his keen appreciation of the softer, sweet«r 

notes in the symphony of life has never been dulled, and his long 

ministry has ever sounded the tender strains of the gospel sfory. 

BgJ s affliction has not been wholly without compensations. 

..■-^'^ >ers of gossip and scandal have escaped him, and his mind 

een singularly free from suspicion and prejudice. He 

e better side of his fellowmen and has heard only those 

of them that are uttered in the open and without 'Cm 



206 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

tones of concealment. ^Tiove thinketh no evil/' and having heard 
little evil of others he has thought none. Thus his judgment of 
people has been most optimistic, and he has never attributed the 
best motives to men's actions and conduct. 

His deafness to the jargon of common sound has also seemed to 
make him more attentive to the voice that speaks to the inner life, 
and his sense of spiritual hearing more acute. With remarkable 
dearness he has caught the message of the upper world and has 
uttered it with peculiar impressiveness. His personal character and 
public and private life have likewise given evidence in their gentle- 
ness and purity, of very close and intimate communion with the 
infinite Spirit. 

On a farm in Green county, midway between Greensboro and the 
historic village of Penfield, he was bom on the 23rd of March, 1831. 
His grandfather, William Alexander Moncrief, was one of the 
pioneer settlers of this county, as was Ephraini Price his maternal 
grandfather. Both of these, the meager family records indicate, 
were revolutionary soldiers. Both were planters, possessed of 
modest landed estates and a number of slaves, and lived comfort- 
ably. Both bequeathed to their children names that were without 
reproach. They were neighbors and their children grew up in 
that neighborly freedom and friendliness that was characteristic 
of the countryside of that day. Both families were pious, being 
members of the same church, and the children were reared in the 
pure, simple ideals of Southern rural life. Thus it happened that 
his parents, David Harvey Moncrief and Nancy Ann Price, grew 
up together, and their marriage was the consummation of a friend- 
ship and affection which began in infancy. To them seven children 
were born, of whom Adiel Lumpjcin was the oldest, and of whom 
four still survive, all advanced far beyond the common age of man, 
and all pious and useful in more than ordinary measure. 

David Harvey Moncrief, the father of Adiel Lumpkin, entered 
the ministry in middle life, and served rural churches through 
Middle North Georgia during a period of some forty-five years. 
Among these churches were some that are still prosperous and prom- 
inent in that section, and active forces in their communities and 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 207 

the kingdom at large. Some of the more notable were Bethabara 
church, in Clark county; Bethel, in Walton county and Hebron, 
in Gwinnett. In the last named church, Hebron, Adiel Lumpkin 
Moncrief was licensed to preach in the year 1854, and one year 
later was ordained to the full work of the ministry. The presby- 
tery was composed of Willoughby Hudgins, Bedford Langford 
and D. H. Moncrief, all of whose names are familiar in the Bap- 
tist history of North Georgia of a period seventy years ago. 

The birth of A. L. Moncrief antedated the founding of Mercer 
University by three years, and occurred very near the original site 
of that institution. Ilis education was begim in a log school house 
not far from the campus on which the University afterward stood. 
The early struggles of the college and the illustrious names asso- 
ciated with it are familiar recollections of his childhood, and he 
has known personally every president from the first to the present 
one, as well as the illustrious founder. 

Adiel Sherwood was among the more notable co-laborers of Jesse 
Mercer in bringing the college into being, and was among the out- 
standing figures of the time. It was for him that the subject of 
this sketch received his first name ; and perhaps from him, too, that 
he received the spirit of ministry. Dr. Sherwood, who was a famil- 
iar friend of his father, passed the home on horseback when our 
subject was but a few days old and asked to see the baby. Still 
seated on his horse, he took the child in his arms and uttered a 
prayer that God might spare his life and make him a preacher. 

The second name, Lumpkin, was also given him in honor of a 
preacher, Rev. Jack Lumpkin, the pastor of Shiloh church, near 
Penfield, where the Prices and Moncriefs were members. It waa 
by the hands of this man that both his parents were baptized. 

In early youth, between fourteen and fifteen years of age, he 
united with Rehoboth church, in Morgan county, of which Joseph 
Loudermilk was pastor, and by him was baptized. His religious 
experience, however, probably antedated this event by four or five 
years, for the first spiritual impressions came when he was not 
more than ten years of age. The desire to preach had possessed 
him from very early childhood, for among the earliest recollectiona 



208 • BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

of his life are the scenes on the farm when he gathered the negro 
children together and preached to them. 

In 1853 he entered Mercer University, having an ambition to 
complete the course there offered and extend his studies still further 
if possible. But at the end of the session of 1855 he was forced by 
failing health to witlidraw, and was not afterward able to resume 
his studies. Thus ended his instruction before his college course 
was completed, but his education was never discontinued, for he 
is a keen student of men and books at his present very advanced 
age. 

While teaching school at Meansville, Pike county, he met Lizzie 
Jane Moore, daughter of Rev. D. H. Moore of Forsyth, Monroe 
county, Georgia, to whom he was married on December 7, 1856. 
The courtship and marriage were peculiarly happy and fortu- 
nate, for she has been his faithful companion and helpmeet 
through all the years of his ministry, the sharer of his joys 
and sorrows. Toward her he has been a fond lover through 
more than sixty one years of wedded life, while she has been an 
inspiration and strength to his life and labors. He has often ex- 
pressed the conviction that "from all eternity she was predestined 
to be his wife.^^ The union has given every evidence of having been 
made in heaven, for its peace and deep affection have been undis- 
turbed by the increasing social unrest and domestic disturbances 
which have characterized its period. I doubt not that whatever 
reward his ministiv luis earned the two will share alike as true 
yokefellows. 

To this union nine children were born, eight of whom lived to 
be grown, and five of whom still survive. In twenty-four grand- 
children and half as many great-grandchildren these aged parents 
are still manifesting the keenest interest, and are living over the 
hopes and ambitions of their former years. 

The larger part of Mr. Moncrief's ministerial work was done 
within the bounds of a single association, the Rehoboth, and except 
eight years residence in Barnesville he has lived and had his church 
membership in that association throughout his entire ministry, and 
has in some measure contributed to the life and work of the larger 



BAPTIST BIOORAPHY 209 

number of the churcheB that constitute that body. His pastorates 
have been long and fruitful^ and his work always conBtmetiye. In 
the record of his long ministry lliere is not a single instance of 
disruption^ discord or ditisite action. 

His longest pastorate was with Mount Zion, which is still a 
vigorous^ progressive rural church, in a splendid commimity, 
almost on the line between the counties of Bibb and Monroe. His 
ministry here was in two terms. It was one of the churches that 
constituted his first fields and was also the last church he served 
as active pastor. The first term of service began several years 
before the Civil War and covered the period of the war and recon- 
struction^ and the last the closing years of his pastoral work. In 
all twenty-nine years were given to this one church. 

Not far from this church, in the county of Monroe, is Holly 
Grove church, a once large and flourishing congregation. To this 
church the longest continuous service was given in a pastorate of 
twenty-six years. To the church at Russellville, which before the 
Civil War was a thriving inland village, he gave twenty-two years 
of consecutive service, while to Midway church, in Bibb county, his 
first pastoral charge, he gave sixteen years. These churches made 
up his first field, and it was the field of his activities through the 
years of his youth and early prime. 

While serving this field his residence was first at Colaparchee, a 
station on the stage line between Atlanta and Macon near the 
present site of Bolingbroke, and later at Russellville. In the 
seventies he moved to Barnesville that his children might have 
better educational advantages. During his residence here he served 
Antioch church, in Upson county, Mount Pleasant church, in 
Monroe county and Milner, in Pike, the latter church for half time 
during a part of his ministry there. 

At the beginning of the year 1881 he accepted a call to Marshall- 
viUe and moved his residence there. To the church at this place 
he gave half time, serving in conjunction with it, and at different 
times, the churches at Fort Valley, Perry, Buena Vista, Butler and 
Benevolence, in Crawford county. Of these pastorates Butler was 
the longest, covering a period of fourteen years. MarshallviUe was 



ilO BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

next, covering eleven years^ and Buena Viflta next with a term of 
seven years. 

Besides the churches already named he served the chorGhes at 
Thomaston, Enoxville, Ceres, Culloden and perhaps several otiier 
smaller churches, in shorter pastorates. With the exception of a 
few years spent in Macon in the later nineties his residence has been 
at Marshallville since his removal there in eighty-one. 

Handicapped by his deafness and a frail constitution, and de- 
terred by a modest and retiring disposition, he never achieved any 
great fame nor attained to any very distinguished position. But 
his ministry has been fruitful and useful in no small degree. A 
profound and discriminating student, he has few peers as a ser- 
monizer, and in pulpit power he ranked in his prime among the 
best in the Georgia ministry. In every field of his service he left 
behind him an abiding influence for good, and a memory that 
through all subsequent years has lingered as a sweet savor. The 
beet results of his quiet fidelity and faithful labors cannot be tabu- 
lated, and are still accruing. His richer reward awaits him beyond 
the stars. 



DAVID MELL MONCEIEF. 




Ber. David Mell Moncrief, yoimgeBt 
SOD of Hr. and Mis. W. J. Moncrief, 
was bom Ma; 7, 1886, in the city of 
Atlanta, Qa. His early schooling was 
in the public schools of that city, and 
in the High School, from which he 
graduated in June, 1906. He was a 
consdentioua and hard student, having 
many hindrances to overcome, but de- 
termined, oeTerthelesB, to obtain on 
education that would fit him for the 
duties of life. Of these duties, he bad 
a high conception, which was one of the heritages of home training 
and home influence, and the outworking of a lofiy mind. 

In an autobiography, written for one of his beloved Seminary 
professors. Dr. Geo. B. Eager, he gives the following sketdi of hia 
Christian life : "Passing through the younger years, I reached the 
age of eleven, at which age I was converted, and baptized by Dr. 
B. L. Motley into the fellowship of the Central Baptist churdi, 
Atlanta, Ga., &ue beginning my active career as a Christian. 

'^om the earUeat years, I was a pupil in Sunday school, winning 
prizes for work and punctuality; I was also a member of other 
childrens' organizations, working in various capacities, and loving 
the work. After my conversion, at eleven years of age, I led my 
first prayer-meeting and made my first public effort at prayer, and 
gradually entered the more advanced activitiee of church life 
through the Snnbeam Baud and the B. Y. P. TJ. I thus came to 
love the work very much, entering into it through whatever diannel 
opened to me. I learned music and could play the violin, witii 
which instrument I led orchestras in several of the Atlanta drardifla 
and Sunday schools, and often assisted my brother in revival meet- 
ings, leading the music with my violin. 

"WhOe pursuing my Seminary work, I have assisted in mission 
work in my home city and in Louisville, helping wherever and in 
what wav I waa needed." 



212 BAPTIST BIOORAPHY 

^'Mell^^ Moncrief — ^he loved to think that he was named after one 
of the greatest of Georgia Baptists— had kb life MUtppM ^ iH 
the thought of giving to the rural churdMs a ymgtmstft WHaMrj, 
and he gave this phase of work especial atte&tioli m the §illtiBife)r> 
and Would have entered into it but for his seemingly Bntiniely 
death. He died while yet in the Seminary, jart two weeki betet 
he would have graduated, after an operation perfor m e d to ntasH 
him of the most intense suffering. Dr. Mollins said of him : ^^A 
more heroic spirit never entered into the Seminary lifb.** 

Those who were with him in his daily life said they lowd to g^ 
to his room for it seemed to have the atmoiphere df prayer aboittt 
it as was not found elsewhere. He was in eonstant eommmuM 
with God. Before being carried to the hospital, while suffering 
the intensest agony, he lifted his hands in supplication and cried 
out, "0, Jesus, if it be thy will, relieve me of this suffering !'' and 
then seeming to realize what he had asked, he again lifted his 
hands: "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.*' While 
lying upon the bed in the hospital, one day before his death, he 
called his friend Hardawav to him and said: **Dick, I don't think 
sufficient prayer has been offered for me." 

As to his home life, he writes further in the autobiography quo- 
ted: "It was of the best. My father and mother being pious 
Christians, reared their children in the atmosphere of love and in 
the fear of God. Of Scotch descent, wo spran<r from the stock 
that even to now is making itself felt in the religious life of Scot- 
land. My grandfather was a preacher, and 1 have an uncle and 
cousins and a brother who are preachers." 

He loved home life. He loved the companionship of his sisters, 
and while yet a small boy, while his brother was a student in col- 
lege, he voiced his desire to %e a preacher, just like my brother/^ 
To his parents he was obedient, kind and affectionate; he was 
imselfish and a great lover of flowers and relics, while things his- 
torical were of great interest to him. His love for music led to the 
composition by him of several pieces, both instrumental and vocal, 
only one of which has been published, "Beautiful Isle Of Some- 
where.^' His love of travel led him to visit many points of interest 
and to spend his vacations in the mountain and on the seashore. 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 213 

His brother^ Bev. 0. T. Moucrief, wns with him when he died. 
It had been the fond desire of the brothers that after his gradu- 
ation, they should spend sweet fellowship ^iBg^ttm IH piwninf Wd 
working for the Lord' cause. Neith^ knew itmi Om do^m Unas 
gf his favorite hymn, ^Take Time To Be Holy/ would be pro- 
phetic of the early close of so promising # Ijfe, as lie oftw 9m$» 

"Thus, led by his Spirit, 
To fountains of love, 
Thou soon shalt be fitted 
For service above/' 

He became unconscious a day or two faatev hip deatll, ihi lipt 
name uttered to the brother attending him k^Mtg tktl #f ^ JFttWIg 
woman he loved and to whom iire was engaged to be married, before 
he closed his eyes on May 17, 1916, to earthly scenes and opened 
them "in the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'* 

This sketch shall close with the words penned by his dear old 
moliier, who patiently waits for the reunion with her baby bej, 
and those other faces that smile, 

^hich Ae has loved long since. 
And lost awhile': 

'^The sweet face is absent, and the happy voice with its dieerfnl 
greeting is hushed, but he is happy 'over there,' 

'Where the harp-strings, touched by angel fingers. 
Murmur in my raptured ear; 
Evermore their sweet tone lingers. 
We shall know each other there.'" 



1 




OTIS THEODOBB MONgKIEP. 

Bev. Otis Theodore Uoncrief w&b bom 
January 7, 1874, at Penfield. Greene 
county, Georgia, being the eldest son ctf 
Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Moncrief, then Teai- 
I dents at the historic site of Mercer 
University, and vhere its founder, Jes- 
j Mercer, is buried. He received hig 
name in honor of one of the first presi- 
dents of Mercer University, Dr. Otis 
Smith, and the first years of hie young 
: were spent in the shadov of the in- 
stitution which was afterward to be- 
come his educational home. At the time his father was a planter, 
and often came in contact with tiie honored men who gave Mercer 
XTniversity her impetus, in supplying them with the necessities for 
their homes. His mother is the daughter of Rev. David Hsrv^ 
Moncrief, and a sister of Rev. Adiel L. Moncrief. The influence 
of this godly woman upon her children evidently led her two sons, 
Otis and Mell, to dedicate their lives to the ministry of the gospel. 
Otis was a small boy when his parents moved from Penfield to 
Atlanta, and it was in that city he was reared and received his 
early education in the public schools and his business training in 
the Southern Shorthand and Business University. In his studies 
he was apt, especially in composition and verse writing. From the 
Business University he went into his first and only business posi- 
tion, which he held for five years. He was unusually economical 
for a young man, his purpose being to save his money for invest- 
ment in real estate in Atlanta, But God had other plans for him. 
As a youth, in the midst of the city's temptations, Mr. Moncrief 
was regarded as a very moral boy. In relating his Christian ex- 
perience, he said that he did not know when he was converted, but 
at the age of sixteen he knew that he felt called to take a stand 
for Christ. At that age he made a public profession of his faith 
in Jesus as Savior, and was baptized into the fellowship of the 
Central Baptist church, Atlanta, by Dr. William Henry Strickland, 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 215 

the pastor. The ordinance of baptism^ was administered in the old 
Second church. Immediately aft^r his baptism he found a place 
in the B. Y. P. IT. activities of the churchy in which he took part 
at every opportunity, and was always an officer in the society. By 
these activities he undertook to satisfy his conscience that he was 
doing aU the Lord wanted him to do; but ever at his hearths door 
was the insistent knocking as a reminder of the call that came to 
him one night while on his knees in prayer, that he enter into 
the active work of preaching the gospel. 

Mr. Moncrief was also prominent in Y. M. C. A. work in the 
city, and in association with others did a good deal of mission 
work as he found time from his daily duties. But the hand of God 
was slowly leading, and in th^ fourth year of his business career he 
began preparation at night to enter college. In the Pall of 1896, 
he drew his savings from the bank, took leave of an invalid mother 
who was just recovering from an operation, and began in earnest 
his preparation for the ministry as a student in Mercer University, 
at Macon, Georgia. 

Mr. Moncrief was not a brilliant student, but he steadily worked 
his way through college, overcoming trials and hardships in the 
confidence that Christ would insure suitable preparation for the 
work he wanted him to do. At times he was tempted to give up 
his college course, especially at the beginning of his Senior year, 
when he had no money. But having a conviction that he wa^, 
pursuing the right course, with his usual faith and courage he 
went to Mercer University with five dollars in his pocket and an 
earnest prayer in his heart. In June, 1900, he graduated with the 
largest class in the history of Mercer University, up to that time, 
in the branches of study to which he devoted his eflforts. 

During his college course Mr. Moncrief was a member of the 
Ciceronian Society, and at one time its president. He was also an 
editor of the Mercerian, and one of the editors of the college annual 
in his Senior year. In his Junior year he had the distinction of 
winning the only prize that had been offered for an essay up to 
that time. . . „ 

After finishing his course at Mercer University, Mr. Moncrief 
returned to Atlanta and was office assistant for one year to Dr* 



»16 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

S. Y. JameBon^ CorreBponding Secretary and Treasurer of the 
Miaaioii Board of the Georgia Bwptist Convention. In the Fall 
of 1901 he retired from that position and entered the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary, in Louisville, Kentucky. In tlie 
Fall of 1902 he vrss called to the pastorate of the church at Hamil- 
ton, Georgia. This church requested his ordination. Accordingly, 
on November 12, 1902, he vras set apart to the full work of the 
gospel ministry by the West End Baptist church, Atlanta, Georgia. 
The presbytery was composed of the pastor. Dr. John F. Purser, 
Dr. S. Y. Jameson and Dr. T. P. Bell. After a year of successful 
service as pastor of the Hamilton church, Mr. Moncrief accepted 
a call to the churches at Cassville and Acworth. At the expiration 
of a year's service with the Acworth church, he resigned to accept 
a call to the church at Monticello, for two Sundays per month. 

It was while pastor of the Monticello church that Mr. Moncrief 
was married to Miss Carolyn Louise Whitehead, of .Wayside, Jones 
county, (Jeorgia. Miss Whitehead was a descendant, on her mother's 
side, from the old Callaway family, having in her veins the blood 
of such men as Enoch and Joshua Callaway. She was educated 
at Monroe, now Bessie Tift College, Forsyth, Georgia, and was very 
popular both as a college student and as a teacher, in which calling 
she became better fitted for the work that was afterwards hers as 
the wife of a Baptist pastor. One child has blessed the home, re- 
ceiving the name of her grandmothers, Eleanor Celeste. 

Prom Monticello Mr. Moncrief moved to Tallapoosa, where in 
a pastorate of about nine mohths he baptized about one hundred 
people, baptizing seventy-one on a single afternoon. From Talla- 
poosa he moved to Albany, to become the associate pastor of the 
First Baptist church. At the end of the first year he constituted 
the Byne Memorial Baptist church and served it as pastor for 
nearly four years. During this pastorate he was elected chaplain 
of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. While at Byne Memorial, in 
Albany, he was called to the Elmwood Park, now the Second Bap- 
tist church of Columbia, South Carolina, where he was pastor for 
nearly two years. After retiring from the pastorate of the church 
in Columbia he returned to Atlanta, Georgia, and did some special 
work for The Christian Index and Bessie Tift College. After- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 217 

wards, he removed to Micanopy, Florida, where he is now pastor, 
in connection with the church at Mcintosh, the same State. 

Since the outbreak of the war with Germany, Mr. Moncrief bus 
been appointed as chaplain of the Alachua Battalion, Home Oaar49y 
Willi the rank of First Lieutenant. He is alao chairman of the 
Bed Cross Society, county member of the War Loan Organisatim^ 
and vice-president of Home Missions in the Marion AsfiociatiQii. 
Mrs. Moncrief is a fitting helpmeet to her husband. She ki superiA- 
tendent of the Sunbeam work in the Marion Aasociationj Md hlB 
occupied similar positions in Georgia. As a leader in the BfW 
Memorial church, at Albany, (Jeorgia, ahe bad at one tive (lie 
largest Sunbeam Band in the State. She ia playing an important 
part in the great war relief work, and in addition die hm gifen Ipp 
brothers, Lieutenant C. S. Whitehead, B. A., and Sergeant W. E. 
Whitehead, N. G., to her country's cause. 

Mr. Moncrief is of studious habits. He thinks clearly and is a 
pungent writer. He frequently makes acceptable contributions 
to the religious press. In his preaching he is free from sophomoric 
mannerisms and is systematic in the presentation of the subject 
matter of his sermons. Wherever he has lived and labored he liaa 
been recognized as a Christian gentleman of the truest lype, and hia 
influence as such will live to bless his memory. 




UIGHT C. MOORE. 

Descended from the Uoores of Pied- 
mont Virginia, who vere mostly of 
Engli^ noct, and from die >Hi^tB 
(or Hitesj of Peiaie7lTuu«T ^lo vere 
of German origin, Higfat C. Ifoore wh 
I txim JanuuT 28, 1871, on a farm in 
the apper John's Biver Yallej near 
I Globe poeloffice in Caldwell oomitj, 
Xorth Carolina. He was the oldest of 
ihe nine children of Patterson and 
XancT Ann Moore, both of whom were 
<l*-s<:i'ndaDts of Jesse Uoore, Senior, a 
Virginia planter, and of Read Hight, a Virginia school-teadier, 
the fonner comiog from Virginia jnst prior to the Berolutionar; 
War, ami the latter in t)ii' opening years of the nineteenth centoij. 
Hifl inrliest yt.ars were ^(H'nt in that fertile and pictnresqae r^od 
over^ihadow(r<] north anrl wi-st bj Blowing Rock and the Grandfather 
Mountain. 

Att'itrling Ins first schiwl at five years of age, the subject of this 
sketeli was given tlif meager but substantial advantages of the free 
publif iif-litrfils anfl tlic i>rivate subscription ecJiooIb of the comma- 
nity. Tic showed special aptitude in spelling and literature, but he 
abhorred mathematics and grammar. Soon after learning to read, 
he read witli absorbing interest Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress — the 
first volume he ever reail entire. About this time he also earned the 
proffered dime of his maternal grandmother for reading the Bible 
from the iM'ginning tn where the Children of Israel were settled in 
the Land of Canaan— far the most valuable dime he ever earned. 
When Clohe Academy was opened in 1882 under the principalship 
of Professor (afterwards Reverend) R. L. Patton, he was among 
those who registered on the first day. Here he spent continuously 
five and ft half years in what was then one of the best preparatory 
schools in the State. During the winter holidays of 1887 he went 
to Wake Forest College, registered for the Spring term of 1888, and 
graduated there in 1890 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 219 

the twenty-fifth anniyersary of his graduation^ his Alma Mater at 
its commencement in May^ 1915^ bestowed upon him the degree 
of Doctor of Divinity. In the Autumn of 1893 he spent four 
months in special study at the Rochester (N*. Y.) Theological 
Seminary. 

Brought up in a home and community characterized by its markr 
edly religious atmosphere. Dr. Moore cannot remember the time 
when he was not inclined to the church and to the ministry. But 
it was at the age of twelve that he was converted in a meeting held 
in the Globe Baptist church by Elder J. J. L. Sherwood, of 
Watauga county, N. C, and by that useful man of God he was 
baptized with thirteen others in John's River on Sunday morning, 
March 25, 1883. Just before reaching his seventeenth birthday in 
January, 1888, he received from his home church a license to preach 
the gospel. His first sermon was preached at Globe, July 8, 1888 
— a discourse of eighteen minutes on Acts 4:13 — "They took 
knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." After ac- 
cepting the call to Morehead City, his first pastorate, he was or- 
dained at Globe on October 26, 1890, the presbytery consisting of 
Elders E. P. Jones, then pastor of the church, and J. J. L. Sher- 
wood, who preached the sermon. Immediately after ordination 
and some months before he reached his twentieth birthday, he went 
to Morehead City as the first full-time pastor of that forward- 
looking flock by the seaside. Here he remained for nearly three 
years. In December, 1893, he succeeded Dr. Len G. Broughton 
as pastor of the Broad Street Baptist church, Winston-Salem, N". C. 
In June, 1894, he accepted the call to the First Baptist church at 
Monroe, N". C, and served in that capacity for four years. On May 
1, 1898, he began his five years' pastorate of the First Baptist 
church of New Bern, N. C. In March, 1903, he became pastor of 
the Baptist church at Chapel Hill, the seat of the University of 
North Carolina, where he spent the last twelve months of his 
fourteen years in the pastorate. 

In February, 1904, he removed to Raleigh, which till 1917 was 
his home, and entered upon the Sunday School Secretaryship of 
the Baptist State Convention which he held for three and a half 
years, when he became Field Secretary of the Sunday School Board 



MO BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

of the Southern Baptist ConTention with ike ezpactttion of nmov- 
ing to Nashville, Tenn. However, he was called to the ediitmbif 
of the Biblical Recorder and he felt it his duty to enter the field of 
religious journalism. He began work in this capacity on hit birth- 
day in 1908, and for nearly ten years his hand was cm the hehn 
of the influential organ of the Baptists of North Carolina. On 
August 1, 1917, he removed to Nashville, Tennessee, and entered 
upon his work as managing editor of the Sunday School Board of 
tiie Southern Baptist Convention. 

The first of his literary work to see the light of print was a bit 
of amateur religious verse, written in his early teens, and published 
in the Biblical Recofder, which was then edited by the late Bev. C. 
T. Bailey, D. D. During his Globe Academy days he was on flie 
stafF of the Olobe Student, which was published under the direction 
of the principal, Mr. W. F. Marshall. During his first pas- 
torate he was associated with Mr. M. S. Webb in the publication of 
the Morehead City Weekly News. At Monroe he edited for a time 
The Evangelist, of which Bev. J. T. Jenkins was the proprietor. 
At New Bern he edited and published monthly The Atlantic Mes- 
senger as the local organ of the Baptists in that part of the State. 
He was a frequent contributor to the Biblical Recorder and wrote 
occasionally for other papers,, including the Convention Teacher 
of Nashville, the Sunday School Times of Philadelphia, and the 
Homiletic Review of New York. The following volumes have come 
from his pen : "Seaside Sermons,'' 1892 ; "Selcfct Poetry of North 
Carolina" (a compilation), 1894; 'The Books of the Bible," 190»; 
'The Country Sunday School,'' 1905; 'TTorth Carolina Baptist 
Hand-Book," 1911 ; "The Man of Mark in the Church Tomorrow,** 
1912; "Points for Emphasis" in the International Sunday School 
Lessons for 1918 and 1919 (a pocket commentary) ; and "style book 
for writers and printers" (1918). He published serially in the 
Biblical Recorder four other works: "Sunday School Fundamen- 
tals;" "The Poets and Poetry of North Carolina," 'The Story of 
the Son of Man" and *The Story of the Early Churches." Some 
years ago his seven "Mothemook Sketches" ran serially in the 
Progressive Farmer, 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 221 

For the twdve anHiij&l Bisssions fmti 1895 to 1907, Dr. Moore was 
Assistant Becording Secretary of the North Carolina Baptist State 
Convention. He was Statistical Secretary trf the same body fmt 
1904 to 1907 inclusive. He served as Secretary of the Southetn 
Baptist Convention Committee of Nine to confer with a similar com- 
mittee from the Northern Baptist Convention relative to t e rritorial 
alignment; and was the North Carolina member of the Judson 
Centennial Committee which raised $1,260,000 for the better phys- 
ical equipment of our Foreign Mission fields. At Nashville, Tenn., 
in 1914, he was elected Jimior Secretary of the Southern B^itiit 
Convention and has since served in that capacity. 

Dr. Moore is most happy in his home life. On May S, 1893, he 
was married to Miss Laura Miller Peterson, of Ooldsboro, N. C, 
daughter of Captain Joseph E. Peterson and Mary Catherine 
(Parker) Peterson. Her father was for many years mayor of Oolds- 
boro. She was educated in the graded schools of her city under the 
superintendeney of such famous educators as E. P. Moses, J. Y. 
Joyner, E. A. Alderman, and P. P. Claxton; also at Chowan Bap- 
tist Female Institute (now Chowan College) under the Presidency 
of Mr. J. B. Brewer; and at Oxford College under the Presidency 
of T)r. F. P. Hobgood. She has been very active in church work. 
She has long been identified with the Woman's Missionary Union, 
serving the North Carolina Union as Recording Secretary for two 
and a half years, as Corresponding Secretary for four years, and as 
member of the Central (now Executive) Committee for fourteen 
years. She is now (1919) President of the State W. M. U. of 
Tennessee and Vice-President of the W. M. U. auxiliary to the 
Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. and Mrs. Moore have one 
son, Joseph Peterson Moore, who received training at Mars Hill 
College, Wake Forest College, and King's Business College, and 
for some years held a position in the Raleigh post-oflRce. In July 
1917, he enlisted in the U. S. Army and was among the first mil- 
lion men sent oversea. He spent ten months in foreign service as 
a member of Co. A, 105th Supply Train, Thirtieth Division. 



ADOXIBAM JUDSON If OBOAK. 




In 1834 the Tenoabk snd mudi be- 
loved Baptist pieadier, Ber. ^lomtim 
Burke, moved from Elbert connty to 
Cobb coim^, Georgia, and settled near 
Marietta. He did an actiTe and efficient 
mission work at his own charge among 
" • ■'- ^^. the Cherokee ladiaoB, and the few 

^^^ft ^^^^^^ white people who lived in that section. 
^^^V ^^^^^^^^k He organized Concord chorch, which 
^^^■^^^^^^^^^H was the first Baptist diorch established 
^^H^^^^^^^^^^l in Cobb count;, and became its first 

' pastor. He also organized the First 

Baptist church in Marietta, and was its pastor for several ;ean. 
One of hia expressions is often qnoted: "When God calls a man 
to preach he always calls somebody to hear him". Daring his 
ministry in that section of the State be did a substantial, funda- 
mental work, and departing, left behind him a savory inSence and 
a Christ-like impression, which is still bearing frait to tiie honor 
and glory of God. 

Notable among his descendants were three grandsons, who made 
Baptist preachers — Eugene Morgan, who died in Texas abont 
twelve years ago, Thomas B. Morgan, Smyrna, Ga., and Adoniram 
JndsoD Morgan, Acworth, Ga., the subject of this sketch, who was 
bom near Villa Bica. Carroll county, Georgia, February 4, 1865, 
of a sturdy and honorable parentage, the kind who are the very salt 
of the earth and the light of the world. His father was Eli S. 
Morgan, and his mother before her marriage was Mias Amanda 
Bnrke. 

His early life was spent on the farm in Carroll and Douglas 
Gonnties, Georgia, during tbe distressing times that followed the 
close of the late war between the States. Consequently his educa- 
tional advantsfrcs were necessarily limited, as he was only able to 
attend the ordinary country schools. In 1874, he united with the 
New Hope Baptist church. Douglas county, Georgia, and by Hie 
authoritv of that church was ordained to the full work of the 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 223 

gospel minifltry, October 1880; Reverends G. R. Moore and W. B. 
Smith, and the deacons of said church, constituted the Presbytery. 

The first manifestation of his good taste, safe and soimd judg- 
ment was in the selection of his life's companion, Miss Annie 
Wingo, of Douglas county, (Jeorgia, to whom he was married 
July 30, 1876. She has been truly his loving and loyal helpmeet 
and faithful standby through all the years. After he had been 
married eight years and preaching four he entered the High School 
at Powder Springs, which was taught by Dr. A. B. Yaughan and 
Prof. J. G. Camp, and remained under their instruction four years. 
His whole ministry has been in the central portion of Northwest 
Georgia, and around the home of his childhood. In his case we 
have one of the few exceptions to the general rule that "a prophet 
is not without honor save in his own country." 

He has held very successfully pastorates in New Hope, County 
Line, Pleasant Hill, Sweet Water, Beulah, Lost Moimtain, Powder 
Springs, Mt. Zion, Acworth, Kennesaw, Villa Rica, Taylorsville, 
Salem, Adairsville, Kingston, Bremen and Pleasant Grove. At 
present he is pastor of Dallas church, half time, and at Smyrna 
half time, this being his second pastorate of both churches. He 
has served Smyrna church in two pastorates for over thirty years. 
He was Moderator of the Noonday Association for ten years and is 
the present Moderator also served on the State Board of Missions in 
1911-12. Brother Morgan having spent his thirty-six years of min- 
istry practically in the same territory, has been called upon to do 
a great deal of extra work in the way of conducting funerals, per- 
forming marriage ceremonies and such similar duties in the fields 
of other pastors, also among the people of other denominations. 
It can truthfully be said of him that his service to humanity has 
known no bounds nor limits. 

Brother Morgan is a Baptist minister of the apostolic type. 
There are no frills or ruffles on his ministerial robe. Whatever 
his hands have found to do has been well done. He is unassuming^ 
but when pressed into service measures up to the task. No one can 
calculate the good that has been accomplished by his unostenta- 
tious life. Such lives are the influences that grip and inspire the 
lives of others. 



SM 



BAPTIST BIOQRAPHX 



The great need of the kingdom of Cluist today — u men — ^who 
know Christ by actual contact, as well as b; revelation — ^men, 
whose hearts and conscieucee have been purified by the Word; men, 
with messageB direct from the threahold of God's eternal truth; 
men, with missioiiB — giving their lireB witnessing for Christ; raen, 
who recognize Christ as their Lord and Ifaater, and who are witl- 
ing to spend and be spent in his service. Of such is A. J. Iforgan, 

No one is more highly respected and beloved in that section of 
the State than he. No one has done more for the uplifting of 
humanity. He spurns the idea of blowing his own trumpet — 
absolutely free from that obnoxious, yet almost universal weakness, 
newspaper notoriety. As to personal matters, be is reserved and 
rather timid, but as to the kingdom, bold and courageous. 



ALFRED NELSON MORRIS. 



The Morris family, of which the sub- 
ject of this sketch is a descendant, set- 
tled in what is now West Virginia, in 
nT3. Members of that family have 
gone out from West Virginia into about 
twenty-five States. A genealogy of the 
Morris family, prepared some years ago 
liy the subject of this sketch, contains 
some three thousand names. Among 
fliesu is Bishop Thomas A. Morris, D. 
D. and Rev. Thomas Asbury Morris, 
I>. D., the latter at one time Professor 
of Lii]i;;ii!ifri's ill St. Charles College. Missouri. So prominent 
were tlie early members of the Morris family in the affairs of the 
early settlement of the country that ex-Governor George W. Atkin- 
son, (if West Virginia, in his history devotes one chapter to that 
family. Hon. W. S. Laidley wrote an article which covered twenty- 
seven pages in the AVest A''irginia Historical Magazine on the same 
subject. Henry Morris and his brother John were aiisociates and 
co-laborers with George Washington. 




BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 225 

Mr. Alfred Nelson Morris, the subject of this sketch, was bom 
in Kanawha county. West Virginia, May 14, 1876. He is a son 
of John Silas and Mary Kathrine Morris. On his father's side 
his grandfather was Thomas Bird Morris, his great grandfather 
was John Morris, and his great-great grandfther was Henry Morris, 
his great-great-great grandfather was William Morris, who came to 
Philadelphia from London. Later he settled in Orange county, 
Virginia, where he married Elizabeth Stepps. The mother of Mr. 
Morris was a daughter of McKager Dodson and Bachel Jane Camp- 
bell. Her grandfather was Gteorge Campbell, of Virginia, and her 
mother's father was Henry Bird, son of (Jeorge Bird, of Germany. 

The early life of Mr. Morris was spent on a farm in West Vir- 
ginia. The labor common to farm life gave him a splendid phy- 
sique, which has served him well through the years in his educa- 
tional pursuits and in the ministry. The schools in his local com- 
munity furnished him opportunity for his primary education. After 
leaving the public schools he entered Shelton College, West Vir- 
ginia, and he received his training for the ministry in the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. Upon the 
foundation laid in the public schools, college and seminary Mr. 
Morris has acquired a liberal education. Having an inquisitive 
mind he has been and is a close student of books, men and things. 
The training he has received enables him to think for himself and 
to formulate his own opinions. When his mind undergoes any 
change there must be sane reasons for it. 

Mr. Morris was converted December 21, 1894, and was baptized 
into the fellowship of Jordan Light Baptist church. West Virginia, 
on the 23rd of the same month. Prom the beginning of his Chris- 
tian life there were evidences of leadership. In the development of 
his Christian character the members of his church which he origi- 
nally joined, recognized his gifts and believed that God had called 
him to preach' the gospel. Accordingly, it licensed him to preach 
on February 13, 1897, and he preached his first sermon the next 
day before that church. It is rather remarkable that five preachers 
were present to hear him. At the request of the Poca Pork Baptist 
church, which had called Mr. Morris to become its pastor, the 
Jordan Light church called a council to ordain him to the full 



\ 



826 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

• 

work of the gospel minifitry. This council was composed of 
•Jonathan Smith, J. W. Smith, A. H. Bailey, P. S. Chandler, T. B. 
Melton, Mark Jarrett, F. M. Young. The presbytery met and 
organized June 22, 1899, and examined the candidate preparatory 
to ordination. It was a rigid examination as to his '%iowledge of 
and soundness in Bible doctrine.'' The presbytery, after propound- 
ing to him two hundred questions, pronounced him soimd in the 
faith and that it was ready to proceed with the ordination. 

From the date of his ordination Mr. Morris has been in the 
service of the following churches as pastor: One-fourth time he 
served Poca Fork, Sandy Grove, Jordan Light, Doctor's Creek, 
Summerville, Fowler^s Knob, Lansing, Hopewell, Jennett, Payette- 
ville, in West Virginia. On moving to Kentucky he served Pollard 
church half time, and later Bussell and Jackson, full time each. 
Prom Kentucky he moved to G^rgia and served one-fourth time 
the churches at Lela, Calvary and Bethel. Later he served for 
half time the churches at Brinson, Donalsonville, Arlington, Hamil- 
ton and Manchester, in Georgia. He then became pastor at Yienna, 
(Jeorgia, for full time, serving in connection with this church. 
Liberty and Mt. Pleasant churches, preaching for them on Saturday 
and Sunday afternoons. In connection with his pastorates he has 
done a vast amount of evangelistic work. 

As a preacher Mr. Morris is pre-eminently doctrinal, and he ia 
Baptist to the core. Any sort of compromise with the truth meets 
with resistance. Nothing commands his respect in matters of doc- 
trine unless it is founded upon the plain and unmistakable teach- 
ings of the Word of God. In his preaching, therefore, he is earnest 
and fearless, believing with all his heart that his utterances are in 
perfect accord with divine revelation. The heresies of modem 
times do not escape his scathing, yet loving rebukes. In every case 
he earnestly endeavors to show the fallacy of the heresy in question 
and then to point out the way of truth and righteousness as is 
revealed in Jesus Christ. 

Mr. Morris is also a tactful pastor. He believes in organization 
and in co-operation, not only in his own church or churches, but in 
the denomination as well. The Sunday school at Vienna became 
A-1 under his pastorate, and all other phases of the work were 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 28? 

« 

-fhoroughly organized and did efficient service. In none of the 
departments is he offidons, but on the other hand in the exerdse 
of his executive ability he gets the maximum of service out of 
his membership. 

Mr. Morris is active in the work of his denomination. 

While pastor at Vienna Mr. Morris served the Houston Asso- 
ciation as moderator two years, and was chairman of the executive 
committee. In August, 1918, Mr. Morris accepted a call to the 
Baptist Church at Norman Park, (Jeorgia, and entered upon the 
work in September. In connection with his pastorate he teaches 
the Bible in Norman Baptist Institute. On account of his efficiency 
and versatility in Sunday school work, he is one of the sectional 
vice-presidents of the Sunday school work of the Mission Board 
of the Georgia Baptist Convention. With all his other gifts 
he is a forceful writer. At one time he was associate editor 
of the "Baptist Landmark,*' in West Virginia. In connection 
with his pastorates he has written a number of pamphlets on 
timely topics, such as ''The Lord's Supper," "Constitution of 
Man,'' "Bombs in the Whisky Camp," "Modem Holiness 
Examined." In his writing as in his preaching he thinks 
clearly and expresses himself succinctiy. The products of his pen 
are readable, informing and inspiring. 

The crowning achievement in Mr. Morns' life was winning the 
heart and hand of Miss Virginia Bell Given, with whom he was 
united in marriage on February 2, 1899. Bev. T. E. Melton, her 
unde, performed the ceremony. Mrs. Morris is a daughter of Mr. 
Amos and Mrs. Lucy Given, Eanawha county. West Virginia. Her 
father and mother are pronrinentiy connected in the affairs of iheir 
county and State. Mrs. Morris has been and is a helpmeet indeed 
to her husband, sharing his sorrows as well as his joys, gladly going 
with him as he felt the Lord's call to new and untried fields. She 
loves her home and believes it one of her essential duties to bring 
up her children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. With- 
out any reflection upon the husband in the activities of his life, it 
may be said that she has been the prime factor in the making of a 
home in which mutual love is the crowning virtue. 



228 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

Mr. and Mrs. Horris are yet young in years. They have not 
reached the zenith of their aBefulness in the Master's kingdom. 
Their esperiencea in different fields of labor, and the ever-increaBinff 
stores of knowledge which they have acquired, together with a aym- 
metrical growth in grace make their future as serrants of the 
churches and models of civic righteousness exceptionally bright. 
The successes they have had in the past are only foregleams of 
still grcaler achievements in the future- 
Mr, and Mrs. Morria have six children as follows : Alvah Way- 
land, age nineteen, graduate of Locust Grove Baptist Institute, 
and he has also taken a business course in Norman Baptist Insti- 
tute; Romeo Basel, age seventeen, graduate of Norman Baptist 
Institute; Enimitt Kmory, age fifteen, in Norman Baptist Insti- 
tute; Lucy Buelah, age thirteen, graduate of Norman Park Public 
Schools; Virginia Olive, age twelve, and vera Nelson, age six, 
both in Norman Park Public Schools. 



CLYDE CALHOUN MOREIS. 




Clyde Calhoun Morris is a native of 
Mississippi, having been bom at Dillon, 
October 29, 1885. His early life was 
spent on a farm. He was converted 
to Christ and baptized June 28, 1900. 
At the age of seventeen he accepted 8 
position with the Illinois Central Bail- 
road, serving ae agent for a period of 
sis years. His early education was in 
the public schools, and in 1903 he 
graduated from the Kentwood Col- 
legiate Institute, Kentwood, Louisiana. 
Having been impressed with a divine call to the ministry, he 
entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1910, hut 
feeling the need of a more thorough collegiate training as a founda- 
tion for theological study, he very wisely changed his plana and 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 229 

matriculated for the regular course in Union University, Jackson, 
Tennessee, where he graduated with the A.B. degree in 1916. Mr. 
Morris made a splendid record as a student. During his course 
in the preparatory school, he won a medal in oratory. While in 
the University he ranked high in his class work and made a reputa- 
tion as an orator. He was awarded the following medals: Festus 
Bhodes Medal, A. H. Young Medal, The Best Debater and the 
Joseph Eaton Medal. 

His ordination took place in the First Baptist church, Jackson, 
Tennessee, January 25, 1911. The presbytery was composed of 
the following ministers and deacons : Bev. H. W. Virgin, D.D., Bev. 
G. M. Savage, LLD., Bev. E. H. Marriner and Bev. W. T. Ward, 
also deacons J. C. Edenton and Dr. H. C. Irby. During his 
entire college course he was active as a pastor of churches in the 
surrounding towns and country. Among the churches thus served 
were the following. Eudora, Cane Creek, Bemis, Fruit- 
land, Ward^s Grove, Spring Creek and Boellen, Tennessee. His 
labors as a student-pastor were signally blessed and are prophetic 
of greater achievements. 

In 1912, while spending a vacation at Kentwood, Louisiana, he 
rescued Jesse L. Fettis from drowning in the Tangipahoa river. 
In the successful effort to save a stranger^s life he came very 
near sacrificing his own. This example of unusual heroism was 
brought to the attention of the Cameigie Hero Foundation, and 
after several months spent in obtaining and verifying the facts, 
Mr. Morris was, on October 28, 1916, awarded a hero's medal and 
one thousand dollars in gold. 

On June 3, 1914, Mr. Morris was married to Miss Stella Kather- 
ine Anderson, of Paducah, Kentucky. This happy union was the 
culmination of a love affair begun on the day they entered college, 
the wedding taking place on the day of Mrs. Morris' graduation. 
Mrs. Morris is a woman of rare gifts and attainments. During her 
high-school course she won the Western Kentucky Oratorical Medal 
over contestants from ten or twelve Kentucky cities. She also 
won two medals during her course in Union University. It is her 
great delight to use her talents in a co-operative way to promote 
the work in which her husband is engaged. 



230 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

While Mr. Morris was pastor of a wide-awake chnrch in tfacr 
growing town of Idabel^ Oklahoma, the county seat of McOurtain 
county, a beautiful house of worship costing $15,000 or $20,000 
was erected. In the midst of his usefulness in this pastorate, he re- 
sponded to a call to minister to the soldier boys through the Y. M. 
0. A., and on March 15, 1918, he began his work at Camp Scurry. 

He served at Camp Scurry until July 1st when he was ordered 
overseas. Upon his arrival in Paris, France, he was made Beligioua 
Director for the Third Division which was then at the Front 
fighting in the Argonne Woods. He served in this capacity until 
he was wounded on October 18th. After sixty days in the hospital 
he was sent home, arriving in New York January 7th, 1919. 

As in the pastorate, so among the soldiers he made friends 
readily, because he knows how to show himself friendly; and he 
has a way of making such relationships permanent. 

He was soon called to the pastorate of the First Baptist church, 
Ada, Okla., one of the strong churches of that State where he ia 
at present located. 

As a student he is careful and painstaking. Gifted as an orator, 
he uses but does not abuse this gift. He never obscures the truth 
by the use of high-sounding phrases. Directness of speech, earnest- 
ness of manner and intense spirituality mark his pulpit utterances. 
Thoroughly prepared for the work of the ministry, wise and tactful 
in his methods, patient and persevering at all times, it is confi- 
dently believed that in the subject of this sketch the denomination 
has a man whose ministry will be felt by an ever-increasing multi- 
tude, and whose life will be an inspiration and a lasting benedic- 
tion. 




JOHN GOLDWIBE McCALL. 

The UcCall family has played an im- 

iportant part in the making of Georgia, 
materially, politically and religiously. 
It ia of Scotch ancestry, the great grand- 
father of the subject of this sketch hav- 
ing emigrated from Scotland to Amer- 
ica in the early colonial days, settling, 
it ia probable, in the South. One of his 
sons was Bev. William S. McGall, a 
missionary Baptist preacher and planter 
of note. In connection with hia minis- 
try he carried on Mb agricultural pnr- 
Buita with the help of slaves. He spent the latter days of his long 
and useful life in Screven coonty. His vife vas Mary Fierce. 
They reared eight children : George, Hoses, Charles, Joshua, John, 
Jamee, Francis S. and Laura. 

A few years after his marriage, Francis S. UcCall removed from 
Screven county, Georgia, the place of his birth, to Telfair coonty, 
of the same State, where he engaged in agriculture. In 184fi, having 
sold his plantation, he removed to then Lowndee, but now Brooks 
county, Gteorgia, and located nine milee south of where Quitman is 
located. In these early days South Georgia was but sparsely popu- 
lated, and it abounded with deer, bear, wild tarkeys and other game. 
Mr. McCall settled in the woods, cleared a space for his dwelling 
which he erected from timbers first hewn ten inches square and 
then split with a whip-aaw, which was operated by two slaves, one 
standing on the top of the timber and the other below. Cotton 
and other products for sale were hauled to Tallahassee, Florida, 
and St. Marks in wagons, which on the return brou^t household 
supplies. .In these early days almost everything needed on the 
plantation was made at home, and the blacksmitii made most of 
the agricultural implements. In this active and independent way 
Francis S. McCall lived for years on the land he had cleared, until 
he died in 1876. 



232 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

Francis S. McCall married Ann Dodson/ who was bom in Beau- 
forty South Carolina, where her father, an extensive and wealthy 
planter, lived. She died in 1901, having lived to the ripe old age 
of eighty-five. To her and Francis S. McCall were bom thirteen 
diildren, all of whom lived to be grown. They were: John Qold- 
wire, the subject of this sketch, James H., Bebecca, Jane, Wilson 
C, Mary, Elvira, Clementine, Joshua B., Bichard M., Thomas B., 
Harry J. and Ada. 

John Goldwire McCall, the subject of this sketch, was bom 
January 18, 1836. He received the best of educational advantages. 
In 1858 he ^aduated from Union University, Murfreesboro, Ten- 
nessee. Three weeks later he was made Professor of Greek and 
Hebrew in that institution, and was successfully filling that posi- 
tion when the War between the States was declared. Immediately 
offering his services, he was commissioned as first lieutenant of 
Company K, Fiftieth Begiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry, and 
with his company joined the Army of Northern Virginia, and 
was afterwards commissioned captain of the company having 
charge of his company until he was wounded. Immediately after 
the engagement at Sharpsburg, he was given charge of a section of 
artillery and of three companies of infantry to guard a bridge 
across Antietam Creek, and while on duty there, though warned of 
the danger by Dennis Daily, one of his soldiers, who still lives in 
Brooks county, he was wounded by a minie ball passing through 
his face. It was during his convalescence at the hospital that he 
was elected Ordinary of Brooks county, Georgia. Being thus dis- 
abled for further service in the army, Captain McCall returned to 
Brooks county, Georgia, to accept the position to which he had been 
chosen, and for four years filled the office most acceptably. While 
thus employed, he studied law and was admitted to the bar and 
has practised in that profession in Quitman ever since, with the 
exception of four years, during which he was Judge of the City 
Court. 

Captain McCall has been very influential in public affairs, the 
people having great confidence in his ability, judgment and dis- 
cretion. Tie has served as Judge of Probate in Brooks county, 
and as Mayor of Quitman, and in both positions he manifested great 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 233 

efficiency and courageous ability. He has been vice-president of 
the State Agricultural Society, and is a life member of this or- 
ganization. Six times he has been made moderator of the Mercer 
Baptist Association, and twice he has served as vice-president of the 
Georgia Baptist Convention. 

As an evidence of his belief in education, he has not only gradu- 
ated his own five children, but he has contributed thousands of 
dollars to Baptist schools and colleges, and has rendered large and 
efficient service on their boards of trustees. For a long period 
of years he was a member of the board of trustees of Mercer Uni- 
versity, and much of that time was president of the board and 
only lately has retired from that important position. In recog- 
nition of his scholarship, Union University conferred upon him the 
degree of A. M., and in 1894 Mercer University conferred upon 
him the degree of LL. D. 

Dr. McCall, being fond of books, has accumulated a large library, 
and as an evidence of his profound interest in the Word of God, 
he owns every kind of translation of the Scriptures in English 
which has been published. He has many other rare and valuable 
books in his library. 

In early life he became a Christian and united with Concord 
Missionary Baptist church, Madison county, Florida. Upon his 
return from the Civil War he united by letter with the Quitman 
Baptist church and began teaching the Bible class in that church 
in 1863, having taught the same class continuously since that time, 
rarely missing a Sunday. In addition, he has conducted and taught 
other Sunday schools near Quitman. While his teaching is mostly 
adapted to advanced students, three generations at the same time 
have been members of his classes. A number of his pupils have 
gone out as well equipped teachers and preachers, or efficient 
Christian workers. Dr. McCall might be considered a dogmatic 
Baptist. Taking the Scriptures alone as the rule of faith and prac- 
tice, he believes in and adheres to the New Testament doctrines 
concerning the gospel and the church. While differing courteously 
from others, his faithful and fearless advocacy of the Baptist faith 
and order is a living illustration that where this is done Baptist 
churches multiply and flourish. At different times he has served 



234 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

as superintendent of the Sunday school^ and during his leadership 
it has enjoyed some of the most successful periods in its history. 

The activities of Dr. MeCall have not been limited to the Bible 
class and the Sunday school. The minutes of the conferences show 
that no name occurs so often as his in determining the policies of 
the church and in filling positions of trust requiring tact and sound 
judgment. For many years he was derk of the church. Being one 
of the most successful business men of Quitman, he has perhaps 
been the largest contributor to all the objects fostered by his church, 
and churches of other denominations have been beneficiaries of his 
Christian liberality. Few men in Georgia have contributed toward 
the erection of more Baptist meeting houses than Dr. McCall, and 
it has been his delight to be host, especially to ministers of the 
gospel. 

Dr. McCall was united in marriage to Miss Bosa Elizabeth Bobo, 
in 1867. Miss Bobo was a daughter of Dr. Yirgil and Sarah 
Hanson Black Bobo, and was bom in Greenville, Alabama. Their 
home has been blessed with six children, five of whom are living. 
They are: Mrs. Rosa Lee Lewis, Mrs. Eachie Black Cater, Miss 
Nonie McCall, Mrs. Edna Florida Tidwell and John Francis 
McCall. 

Dr. McCall has been an earnest advocate of temperance, being 
strictly temperate himself, having never used tobacco in any form, 
and through all his long life he has fought intemperance, espe- 
cially the sale and use of spirituous liquors. As an evidence of the 
high esteem in which he is held as a citizen and as a statesman, 
the people of his county delighted to make him a member of the 
Georgia Legislature in 1917, which position he still holds, 1918. 
From his earlier years he has been honored by the Baptists of the 
State in many ways. On one occasion, with the late Dr. H. H. 
Tucker, he was commissioned by the Geor^a Baptist Convention 
to go as a messenger to the Northern Baptist Anniversaries. As in 
the Mercer Baptist Association, with which he has so long been 
identified, so in the Georgia Baptist Convention, he has been a 
familiar fi^re, and in both bodies he enjoys the honor and reaped; 
of his brethren. Dr. McCall is a gentleman of the old school, and 
his sense of honor has grown keener with the passing of the years. 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHT 236 

In his long life of usefulnesB he has reflected honor upon the 
family name vhieh he bears, and also upon the name of hia crad'-. 
fled, risen and exalted Lord. 




THOMAS ELIJAH McCUTCHBN. 

Thomas E. McCotchen is the son of 
I Dr. William Wesley and Mrs. Mai; 
I Frelove McCutehen, and is of Scotcb- 
I [rish ancestry. His father was bom in 
I Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to 
] Virginia at the age of nine years. The 
I nother vas the dau^ter of W. E. El- 
n, of Eutherford county. North 
I Carolina. Eor twenty yean Dr. Mc- 
I Cutchen was a Protestant Methodist 
inister, serving churches in Virginia 
^ and Qeorgia, but five years before his 
death changed his views, united with the Baptist faith and served 
churches in Alabama. 

The son, Thomas, was bom September 6, 1860, near Stone 
Mountain, BeEalb county, Qeorgia. ^Vhen the infant child was 
given the mother she prayed to God that her son might be a minister 
of Jesus Christ and a winner of souls. Five years later the father, 
dying, laid his hand upon the child's head and prayed, "Lord Jems, 
let the mantle of thy servant fall on my child." 

Bom in the very atmosphere of prayer, reared in a Christian 
home, when the Southland was just emerging from the war 
that had devastated the land and brought suffering and privation 
to so many fatherless boys; facing the struggles and hardships 
of aiding a widowed mother and small children young Thomas 
escaped many boyish experiences in a wayward and sinful life by 
the responsibility he assumed in caring for his mother. These 
problems were solved and in a large measure fulfilled the e 
tions of his parents in the answer to their prayers. 



236 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

At the age of eight came the first impression to preach the 
gospel. In August, 1868, at the old Stone Mountain Baptist church 
during a revival conducted by W. H. Strickland and a minister 
whose name was Maddox, the young boy, sitting by his mother's 
side, listened earnestly as the preacher told of the glories of heaven 
and the horrors of hell. From that hour he dates his conviction 
of sin and the call to preach, even before he was conscious of his 
acceptance with God. During his school days he would preach 
to and pray for his companions, using for a pulpit an old chestnut 
stump which now stands under the new Baptist church at Stone 
Mountain. Thirty-five years later Mr. McCutchen held a revival in 
the town of his boyhood, this incident was referred to, and there 
were six men and women present who stood and testified that they 
received their first impression to seek the Lord at that time. 

In 1870 the family moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Some time before 
the mother had married Mr. Harison H. Bryan, a Christian gentle- 
man and loyal Baptist deacon. This made a way for the education 
of the children, and even as a boy Thomas was a genius, a dose 
student who made the best of every opportunity. He received only 
a common school education, then procured a position with the firm 
of J. Regenstein and Company, Atlanta, with whom he remained for 
nine years. These Jewish gentlemen favored the young man in 
many ways and allowed him to spend idle moments at the store in 
study, believing that he would be a minister. During these years 
he attended night school and Moore's Business College, and every 
means to get knowledge of the Bible was sought, his first lesson in 
Greek being given by a Greek fruit vender on Whitehall Street. 

At the age of fourteen he was happily converted, and baptized by 
Dr. Virgil C. Norcross at the Fifth Baptist church, now Woodward 
Avenue. He was greatly impressed to surrender his life to God 
for service and began by assisting his pastor in meetings, holding 
neighborhood prayer meetings, visiting the jail talking and praying 
with the prisoners, and holding meetings at shops and factories. 
Believing that he had been called to preach the church gave him 
license September 19, 1884. Providential circumstances now 
changed his plans and at the age of twenty-two he was married to 
Miss Lula Belle Richardson, adopted daughter of Mr. W. S. 



BAPTIST BIOQBAPHY 237 

Richardson, of Lewisberg, Kentucky. Mr, McCutchen was then with 
the firm of Moore, Marsh and Company, Atlanta, but trying to 
banish the haunting impression to preach decided to flee, like Jonah^ 
to another place and begin anew. He and his father-in-law located 
in Sharon Grove, Kentucky, and opened up a mercantile and 
tobacco business which was a splendid success. 

But God opened the way to other fields and the business was given 
up. By the order of the Antioch church, Logan county, Kentucky, 
he was ordained at the close of the session of the Clear Fork As- 
sociation at the Salem church, Simpson county, August 11, 1886, 
by a presbytery composed of the following brethren : C. W. Dicker- 
son, R. Jenkins, and J. F. Whitson. Was called to and accepted the 
Antioch and Green Ridge churches and organized the Sharon Grove 
church as the first fruit of his ministry, baptizing converts at every 
meeting in the year except one. Here Mr. McCutchen, with other 
ministers, organized a Union Bible Training School for pastors 
and deacons. Realizing the need of a more thorough knowledge 
of the Bible he attended the Baptist Theological Seminary, Louis- 
ville, Ky., but had to leave before completing his course because of 
insufficient funds, and accepted a call to the East Atlanta church. 

Soon other churches called him, and his work in (Jeorgia has 
been a phenomenal success. For thirty-three years as pastor and 
evangelist he has served twenty-seven churches, giving part of the 
time to business. The churches served are as follows: Antioch, 
Green Ridge and Sharon Grove, Kentucky; East Atlanta, Willow 
Spring, Harmony, Douglasville, Villa Rica, Ephesus, Tallapoosa, 
Watkinsville, Center Hill, Bethabara, Walker Chapel, Sandy Creek, 
Ebenezer, Rutledge, Buckhead, Centennial, Bethel, Alcova, Annie 
Mary, Winder, Ijithonia, Rockdale, Philadelphia and Jones Avenue, 
Atlanta, his present pastorate. 

Mr. McCutchen has kept a record of his ministry and the fol- 
lowing are some items taken from the record books: Sermons and 
special addresses 6731 ; attended and conducted 2592 prayer meet- 
ings; visited 10,343 homes; held 237 revivals; conducted 416 Bible 
studies; assisted in the ordination of 8 preachers and 73 deacons; 
constituted 21 churches ; built 13 houses of worship ; organized 23 
Sunday schools and 58 other societies; preached 237 funerals; 



«38 BAPTIST BIOQBAPHY 

xnanied 276 couples and received 6,136 members. Average salary 
has been $840.00 per year and his average gifts to benevolence more 
than ten per cent of that amount. 

On July 18, 1894, he was married to Miss Addie Kathleen 
Verdery, daughter of Dr. P. S. Verdery, Douglasville, Georgia. For 
twelve years he lived at Monroe, Georgia, and during these years his 
country churches gave more than twenty-five thousand dollars for 
Christian benevolence. He was clerk and treasurer of the Appala- 
chee Association for seven years, moderator of the Stone Mouniun 
Association for two years, and printed the first map on the minutes 
of an association in Georgia. He originated a fight in Walton 
county against still houses and blind tigers, raised a petition from 
the people and through his representative, Joseph E. Felker, passed 
the first law making a blind tiger a nuisance. With this law he 
captured, prosecuted and destroyed the largest blind tiger business 
in the State. 

In 1907 Mr. McCutchen was employed by the Georgia Baptist 
State Mission Board and moved to Atlanta. His first work was 
holding meetings in the city, afterward accepting the pastorate at 
Jones Avenue. In less than two years the building was repaired 
and beautified. There were more than six hundred additions and the 
church contributed to all purposes. In the midst of this splendid 
work he sustained a great loss in the death of his wife, leaving 
him the care of six young children. 

Mr. McCutchen has reared two sets of children all of whom are 
living : Mrs. Annie Belle Sheats, wife of James F. Sheats, Winder ; 
Mrs. Mary C. Floyd, wife of Dr. Jno. T. Floyd, Atlanta, and Mr. 
Virgil W. McCutchen, Chicago; Misses Leota, Mercedes and Louise; 
Mr. Mack D. McCutchen, First Lieut., 31 Balloon Co., Beg. No. 8, 
XT. S. A. ; Masters Thomas E., Jr., and Marcellus. 

His home life has been one of social sacredness, with great joy 
mingled with deep sorrow. Through the leading of Providence on 
April 25, 1910, he was married to Miss Ora Adelle Turner, only 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Turner, Atlanta, who has 
ever been an inspiration to him in his work, a faithful wife, a 
beautiful Christian character and a devoted mother to his children* 

The work at Jones Avenue called for larger things and Mr, 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 239 

McCutchen was elected Superintendent of Missions in the Atlanta 
Association. Within two years five churches were organized, seven 
church buildings begun and four finished and dedicated, and with 
the assistance of the pastor evangelists and his assistant^ C. W. 
Rowe, there were 3,100 people added to the churches. 

In 1911 Mr. McCutchen resigned his position in Atlanta, and ao- 
cepted a call to the Lithonia church and moved to Lithonia, Georgia. 
The record of his pastorate there shows splendid work accomplished. 
During the four years as pastor the church building was remodeled, 
twelve Sunday school rooms built and furnished, and an eight room 
pastorium erected, all at a total cost of $15,000. In addition to 
this work he preached at two country churches, Rockdale and Phila- 
delphia, and organized the South Lithonia Mission Sunday school. 

In December, 1917, he was recalled to the Jones Avenue church, 
removed to Atlanta and again resumed his duties with a great 
future for the best work of his life. 

Mr. McCutchen is a church builder, a preacher with unusual 
gifts, is known as a peace-maker, and is a lover of the great truths 
of the Bible. He illustrates his sermons with blackboard characters 
and sketches which attract the children, who love him. 

Aside from his ministry, too much cannot be said of the life of 
Mr. McCutchen as a Christian gentleman. Always patient, tender 
and kind, with an unbounded faith in God and a courage and zeal 
undaunted he wins the love and confidence of all who come in 
contact with him. Modest and retiring in private life, yet his bold- 
ness in denouncing sin and his absolute fearlessness in attacking 
the strongholds of Satan are his strongest characteristics. He 
knows men and how to reach them, is a student of human nature 
and is truly a man with a shepherd's heart. 



GEORGE JEFFERSON McNEW. 




The subject of this sketch — preacher, 
teacher and author — ^wae born near 
Lonoke, Lonoke county, Arkansas, 
October 3, 1875, being the elder of two 
preacher sons of WilUam E. and Sarah 
E. McNew. (The other eon is Jas. T. 
McNew, pastor of the First Baptist 
church, Lufkin, Texas.) Reared in a 
home poor in this world's goods, thou^ 
wealthy in spiritual treasure, this Qod- 
chosen boy was, in his tender years, 
tlirown upon his own resources for his 
education. But by the paradox of grace even this untoward cir- 
cumstance favored and contributed to hie higher development for 
the campaigns of the Cross, While building a rugged physical 
constitution on his father's farm, the ambitious youth eagerly 
seized every opportunity that the schools within reach afforded. 
There he soon became distinguished for the deep earnestDesa, 
patient thoroughness, and unswerving fidelity to duty that have 
characterized his whole career. Later, to acquire funds for his higher 
praparation and as a most valuable part of that preparation, he 
engaged in teaching, and rendered most efficient service for thirteen 
years in the public schools of this native State (1895-1908). 

On September 3, 1892, when in his seventeenth year, the young 
man received the opening of his spiritual eyes and caught the 
vision of dying love that breaks the hearts and saves the souls of 
men. Thenceforth a new world opened before his anointed eyea. 
Old things had passed away: all things had become newt No less 
than the best in intellectual culture and equipment could meet the 
noble aspirations that now leaped like angels from the temple of 
his heart, and he soon turned his face toward college halls for audi 
a trial of patience and steadfastness of purpose as is worthy to live 
in history. Entering the University of Arkansas in 1894, he did 
not complete and finish his college and seminary training till 1916, 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 241 

when he stepped from the Southwestern Baptist Ideological Semi- 
nary a Doctor in Theology. Part of his college work was done in 
Ouachita College, Arkansas, whither, even after taking his Th. M* 
degree from the Seminary, he repaired in 1913 to complete his 
work for the A. B. degree. 

During his seminary career his superior ability and accurate 
scholarship won such clear recognition that, during his senior year 
as candidate for the Master's degree, he was made assistant to the 
professor of New Testament Greek. Also during the year 1911-12, 
'14, '15, he was honored with the position of Assistant Librarian of 
the same institution. 

But while engaged in the most arduous labors as student and 
as teacher, George McNew "was not disobedient to the heavenly 
vision" that summoned him to declare "the unsearchable riches of 
Christ''; for from the day of his ordination, which took place on 
May 15, 1904, in the Baptist church of Ozan, Arkansas, he has 
never lost an opportunity to speak to the hungering hearts of men 
and break to them the Bread of Life. Since that time, as pastor 
or supply, his faithful ministry has blessed and strengthened the 
churches at Alvin, Texas (1905-6) ; Columbus, Arkansas (1907-8) ; 
Erick, Okla. (1909); Lipan, Texas (1910-11); Carlisle, Ark. 
(1913-14) ; Morgan, Texas (1915-16) ; Heame, Texas (1917) ; and 
Sparkman, Ark., where he has been as pastor since February, 1918. 

The labors and struggles of his young manhood were crowned 
with a great joy when, on October 3, 1913, he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Mary B. Chambers of Whitesville, Kentucky. 
The wedding day was also the birthday of both, and what could 
this remarkable coincidence mean unless that Gfod had ordained 
that these two lives should be one indeed? One boy has blessed 
this union. May he too become a herald of the Cross and wear his 
father's mantle! 

In the field of letters, Mr. McNew has labored diligently and 
well. Among his best treatises are "The Relation of Physical and 
Moral Evil," and "The Eealization of the Bangdom of God in 
Human Society." His most elaborate work, however, was based 
upon his thesis for the Th. D. degree, which he was encouraged by 
the Seminary faculty to publish. It is entitled *TVTiat Jesus Taught 



242 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Begarding Wealth/' and hais jnst <x)me* f rom the press, as a distinct 
and invaluable contribution to the sub j^ of matmal possessions 
and Christian stewardship. 

(George McNew became known to the writer during the seminary 
days of both. It is natural for one to say fine things about a friend/ 
at once esteemed, admired and beloved; but we shall say here no 
inore than the barest justice would demand. Oeorge McNew is 
a man, a gentleman, and a Christian. His life is controlled by 
the greatest of all motives, love to Christ. In all that he plans 
or does, it is apparent that "the love of Christ constraineth'* him. 
Gtentle as the gentlest woman, strong in the Spirit as some other 
Paul and sincere as Truth — ^with whom shall we compare him save 
with the shining Exemplar and glorious Type of every son of 
Gk)d? No one with spiritual insight ever came into personal, in- 
timate contact with the life of (George McNew without discerning 
there the spirit of the lowly Nazarene. Feeling the heart-throb 
in his manly grip and gazing at the pure light in his sincere eyes, 
one feels at once that here is one with whom he can safely enter 
into that compact that Emerson said is the greatest we can make 
with our fellows: Let there be truth between us two forevermore. 

Of two great . weaknesses that corrode the heart and break the 
bow of many a preacher — ^ambition for fame and ambition for 
power — the writer has never seen one trace in (Jeorge McNew. 
Many preachers lust after a name in the kingdoms of this world, 
and they seek it through eloquence of speech and the pleasing of 
men. G^eorge McNew has learned at the foot of the Cross that 
The glories of our blood and state 
Are shadows, not substantial things, — 
and his hearts desire is to reign in a kingdom of love established 
in the hearts of those whom he loves and serves. Many preachers — 
alas, how many ! — like Simon of old, want to get possession of the 
Power and use it. George McNew has allowed the Power to get 
possession of him and use him, as is attested by all who have heard 
his clear voice ring out in the power of a deep experience the mighty 
truths of law and grace. He devotes all the energy of his soul to 
a positive gospel, wasting no time in the endless meanderings of 
doubt. He Aedares a vital, virile message, straight from the throne 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 243 

of God, following no will-o'-the-wisp of specolatiye philosophy 
through ^^f ables and endless genealogies/' His philosophy is 
deeper and broader than that of Nietzsche or Mill or Kant' his 
is learned at the feet of the Sage of the ages^ who said : ^^ AM 
the Truth." He scorns all tricks of the ministry, and regards all 
the shallow and sensational methods of our day with a manly and 
high-souled contempt. On the altar of his heart bum the fires of 
evangelistic passion kindled at the Cross. His aim is not to parade 
his talents or his wit, and thus attract n^en to himself : it is always 
to hold up the Christ before their dying eyes and portray the One 
who saves men by drawing them unto himself. 

George McNew has not yet reached his prime. Through two de- 
cades of obscure and patient toil he has been paying the price of a 
success that will be ascribed to his labors by those who think and who 
achieve. Well has it been said that no man can be appreciated save 
by his equals or his superiors. This being true, George McNew*s 
name may never be heralded on the emblazonry of popular fame; 
but it will one day be called by a voice that shall say : *^ell done, 
good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'* 

Dr. McNew is seriously considering giving his life to the work 
of a chair in theology, for which he is so eminently fitted. Whether 
in this or in the pastorate and the pulpit, may his lamp never grow 
dim; and as he climbs to the zenith of all his powers, may he also 
rise in the confidence, affection, and admiration of an ever- 
enlarging host of Gfod's children, of serving whom he is never 
weary. Finally, of this humble nobleman of the kingdom of Truth 
we will say: — 

We praise thee, knight, and her with thee we praise 
Whom God hath given to cheer thee to the strife; 

God give you yet together length of days 
To reap in full the travail of your life I 



THOMAS WASHINOTON CKELLEY. 




Concord Baptist church, whidi is 
located in Hall county, Georgia, fifteen 
miles north of Qainesville, was for a 
long period of years one of the largest 
country churches in that section of the 
State. It was the center of the social 
and religions life of the eommuni^. 
Its membership was composed of etni^ 
dy country folk, and its pastors in the 
earlier years, though neither college 
bred nor seminary trained, were strong 
preachers of the simple and yet pro- 
found gospel of dying love and saving grace. Their preaching was 
edifying to the church and convincing to the nnsaved, and large 
congregations hung upon their ministry. In the course of yeara 
the pdiieational spirit of the community crystallized into the 
Chattahoochee Baptist High School. Its buildings are hard by 
the old churrh. With the establishment of the school, the popula- 
tion of the community began and has continued to increase. It ia 
now known as Clermont, Georgia, a prosperous little town which 
has been built around the old church and school. 

One of the pioneer citizens of the Concord community, as it was 
fonnerly known, was Edward Washington O'Kelley, of Irish stock. 
His wife was Elizabeth Barnes. They lived on the farm, and their 
home was blessed with six boys, three of whom, T. W., N. B. and 
A. F. have become distinguished Baptist ministers, Joseph, the 
youngest brother, died while a student of the State Normal School, 
Athens, Georgia, where ho was preparing himself to teach. It waa 
tliought by his fellow students, class umteR and intimate friends 
that God had laid his hands on him for the ministry. It may be 
said of him that he was not less brilliant than his gifted brothers. 
Thomas Washington O'Kelley, the subject of this sketch, and 
the eldest of the three preacher brothers, was bom in the Concord 
community. Hall county, Georgia, December 16, 1860. The early 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 248 

years of his life were spent on his father's farm^ on which he was 
accustomed to do hard work. In body he developed into a large and 
strong man more than six feet tall and weighing one hundred and 
eighty-five pounds. Between the busy seasons on the farm he at- 
tended the local school of his community. As a boy he was an 
apt and diligent student^ and with the meager advantages af- 
forded in a country school he prepared himself for the Freshman 
class of Mercer University^ at Macon^ Georgia. 

Of course Mr. O'Eelley was not as well prepared for college 
as many of his classmates^ but he had been accustomed to hard 
work and knew nothing but to be an honesty painstaking student. 
It was not enough for him to make a passing mark; his coll^ 
course was serious business, and he made it his habit to go to the 
bottom of the subjects he studied. Soon he was in the lead of his 
dass, and in 1889 he graduated with first honor. Unlike many 
first honor graduates^ he has continued to be a dose student of 
books and things. During the years of his busy life and respon- 
sible positions^ he has amassed a vast amount of exact knowledge 
and of general information. In point of scholarship he ranks high 
among his fellows. 

On his graduation from Mercer University with the A. B. degree, 
he became principal of the Hiawassee High School, at Hiawassee, 
Georgia, in the Fall of 1889. After a year of successful service 
as head of that institution, he was called to the chair of Latin in 
Mercer University, where he began his career as a college professor, 
in September, 1890. The following year he occupied the chair of 
Greek in the same institution. As a teacher of the classics he was 
gifted in inspiring his students to study and in making dear to 
them the technicalities of the languages. Had he chosen teadiing 
as his life work, he would have developed into the peer of any 
teacher in all the land. 

Mr. O'Kelley was happily converted in October, 1879, and in 
November, 1888, he was ordained to the full work of the gospel 
ministry by the First Baptist church, of Macon, (Jeorgia. The 
presbytery was composed of Drs. E. W. Warren, J. G. Byals, A. J. 
Battle, John J. Brantley and George R. McCall. Having felt 
called of God to preach the gospel he could not be content with the 



246 9af:tist biogkaphy 

work, of the bc}ioo1 ro<Hn. While professor at Meroer University he 
preached somewhere nearly every Sunday^ and for a time was pastor 
of Mount Zion churchy near the city of Macon. During the early 
part of the year 1892 he supplied the pulpit of the church at Haw* 
kinsville^ Georgia. That church was so pleased with him as pastor 
and preacher that it induced him to give up his professorship in 
Mercer University and to become its permanent pastor. For one 
year he led this great old church in doing a magnificent work. 

In 1893, the First church at GriflSn, Georgia, extended Dr. 
(VKelley a hearty and unanimous call to become its pastor. The 
call was accepted, and he began his work with this church on the 
first of May. The climate of South Georgia had undermined his 
health, but upon his return to the highlands his former vigor was 
restored. The Griffin church greatly prospered under his ministry 
from May, 1893, to July, 1899. It was during that period the 
church attracted State-wide attention on account of its increased 
Christian liberality. Every department of its work prospered under 
his leadership. During his pastorate it graciously gave him leave 
of absence to take a special course at the Southern Baptist Theolog- 
ical Seminary, at Louisville, Kentucky. 

In September, 1899, the West End Baptist church, of Atlanta, 
induced Dr. O'Kelley to retire from the pastorate of the Griffin 
church to accept its call. It was in Atlanta he had his first experi- 
ence in the grind of a city pastorate. In his other pastorates his 
churches were first in the community and were located in the 
center of things. In spite of the new and untried experience of 
a city pastorate, he did a great work for the West End church, 
and it was loath to give him up that he might accept a call to the 
Second Baptist church, of Little Rock, Arkansas, in March, 1908. 

It was hard for Dr. O'Kelley to break away from his family and 
State ties to take up work in a western State. But the opportuni- 
ties offered by the Second church of Little Rock, the leading church 
of the city and State, were too gr'^at to be turned down. In a 
short time he won his way into the affections of his people, and 
tactfully adapted himself to his new environment. Soon his repu- 
tation as a strong preacher and aggressive pastor became known 
farther West. Accordingly, the First Baptist diurdi, of St. Joseph, 



BAPTIST BIOGKAPHY 24? 

Missomi^ extended him a call in 1904. This c^ was accepted 
^d he began his work in that city in February of the same year. 
Seven of the best years of his life were given to that great church. 
Ail the departments of its work greatly prospered under his leader- 
ship. In the Fall of 1910 ^ number of leading churches in the 
South were seeking his services, but the .First Baptist church of 
Baleigh, North Carolina, made the strongest appeal. Its unani- 
mous call was accepted and he began his work. as its pastor in 
January, 1911. Under his leadership this church, located in the 
capital of the State, with Meredith College in the same community, 
and Wake Forest College nearby, has done the greatest work in its 
history. 

The Baptist denomination has given full recognition to the 
splendid gifts and attainments of Dr. O^Kelley, tt^an whom there 
is not a more modest and unassuming minister of his ability in 
th^ South. Mercer University, his Alma Mater, conferred upon 
him the degrees of A. B., A. M. and D. D. While in Georgia he 
was a trustee of Mercer University and of the Georgia Baptist 
Orphans' Home, and was a member of the State and Home Mission 
Boards. Since leaving Georgia he has served as a member of the 
Mission Boards of Arkansas, Missouri and North Carolina. At this 
writing he is the State member of the Foreign Mission Board for 
the State of North Carolina. These are only a few among the many 
honors conferred upon him by his denomination. In recognition of 
his ability as a preacher, he delivered the annual sermon before 
the Southern Baptist Convention at its session in St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, in 1913. 

Dr. O'Kelley has been twice married. His first wife was Miss 
Mamie Alexander, of Maysville, Georgia. She was a bright and 
consecrated Christian woman, a worthy helpmeet to her husband 
in his great work. She passed away in April, 1893. In July, 1900, 
he was married to Miss Eosa Meriwether, of Albany, Georgia, a 
woman of exceptional qualities for the wife of a pastor. Three 
children have blessed their home, Thomas W. Jr., Mary Cutliflf and 
William Meriwether. 

It may be said that Dr. (VKelley is a high type of Christian gian- 
fleman. In all the relations of life he is a true man. In diit 



848 



BAPTIST BIOQKAPHY 



kftairs he U ilwajB on the rig^t side of every question. As a friend 
he ia aa true as steel. In buainees his word is his bond, and vhik 
he knovs the valne of a dollar, he is generous in the use of hia 
money for the good of others. World-wide evangelization of tha 
Kew Testament order, and Christian education have commanded 
his beet gifts as a preadier and leader, and they receive more 
than a tithe of his income. While he looms large as a gospel 
preacher and a successful pastor, he ie not less as a man among 
men. 



ISAAC NEWTON OEK, SB. 




One of the most eubetautial and in- 

Ifluential pioneer citizens of the eastern 
part of Qeorgia in the beginning of the 
last century was Philip Orr. In 1829, 
he and hia wife and their children 
moved to Coweta county, Georgia, and 
settled ill a virgin forest ten miles from 
Newnan, the older boys cutting a road 
ten miles long through the woodland 
to the place they cleared for a planta- 
tion. Among the aons of Philip On 
was Robert, who was bom in Wilkes 
county, Georgia, in 1813. The wife of Robert Orr was Abnira 
B. Simms, who was born in Hancock county, Qeorgia, and belonged 
to one of the pioneer families of that county. On November 18, 
1840. a son was born unto Robert and Almira E. Orr, who waa 
given the name of Isaac Newton Orr, the subject of this sketch. 
Isaac Newton Orr received hia primary education in the old 
ante-bellum country school, finishing his literary training in 
Newnan. His early life being spent on the farm, he was free from 
the subtle temptations so common in towns and cities. The in- 
fluences of the home in which he was reared were the very best, A 
sense of honor was instilled in his mind and heart, and it gripped 
him nnd held him throughout his long and useful life. 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 249 

In 1861 Isaac Newton Orr enlisted in Company A^ First Georgia 
Begiment^ under Captain Handvey. After serving with an honor- 
able record for two years^ he was made enrolling officer for Coweta 
county^ a position which he held imtil the end of the war. He had 
four brothers in the war, one of whom, Frank, was killed. 

At the dose of the war Mr. Orr returned to Newnan, Georgia, 
and in 1875 went into business in a small way. By cloae applica- 
tion and honest dealing he built up and maintained a large and 
Buccessful mercantile business. As a business man he interested 
himself in all that concerned the welfare of his town and county. 
His fellow citizens recognized his superior ability, as a token of 
which they elected him to numerous local offices, all of which he 
filled most acceptably. As early as 1878 he was elected a member 
of the city council, and in 1893 he was chosen mayor. At the 
expiration of his term as mayor he was re-elected. As an evidence 
of his progressiveness, a system of water works was installed during 
his term of office. In fact, Mr. Orr heartily favored whatever he 
believed would advance the interests of Newnan and of Coweta 
county, and of his State as well. In 1905 the people of Coweta 
county elected Mr. Orr as a member of the (Jeneral Assembly. He 
served with such great acceptance to the people of his county that 
he was chosen for the second term in 1907. In fact, many of his 
fellow citizens did not hesitate to say that Mr. Orr was good guber- 
natorial timber. 

Since 1873, Mr. Orr was closely identified with the educational 
interests of Newnan. It was in that vear he was made a member 
of the school board, and he continued a member of that board, 
except for the periods during which he served on the council and 
as mayor, up to the time of his death, in 1917. He was an en- 
thusiastic friend of education and a warm supporter of every move- 
ment that promised to make the schools of his city, county and 
State more efficient. 

In 1867, Mr. Orr married Miss Dora Johnson, daughter of Berry 
D. and Cynthia Gibson Johnson. Mr. Berry T). Johnson was a 

■ 

pioneer citizen of Heard county, Georgia, and a man of sterling 
character and of fine natural ability. Twice he represented his 
county in the legislature and was a member of the first Convention 



m BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

after the war. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Newton Otr was 
blessed with eight sons, six of whom are living. They are : I. N. 
On, Jr., Benjamin, Robert, Cleveland, Frank and Paul. Two sons 
deceased, Sylvanus G. and Berry Johnson Orr. 

In 1866 Mr. Orr united with Bethel Baptist church. Heard 
county, Georgia. A short time after moving to Newnan, he trans- 
ferred his membership to the First Baptist church, of which he 
was a devoted and useful member until his death, which occurred at 
his home in Newnan, July 4, 1917. His widow, Mrs. I. N. Orr, and 
four sons are also members of the First church, Newnan. 

Mr. Orr was a loyal Baptist, and for many years he was actively 
interested in denominational affairs in the city, in the Western 
Association and in the State and South. For more than twenty- 
five years he was a familiar figure at all the meetings of the Western 
Association. He was always willing and ready to serve his church 
and denomination in any capacity desired by his brethren. Mr. 
Orr was jealous of the good name of his church, and under no 
consideration would he permit it to be tarnished because of its 
failure to meet its obligations to its pastor and others. During 
the long period of his membership in the First church he had only 
a few pastors. In the selection of a pastor he showed unusual tact. 
He made it a rule when his church was without a pastor to privately 
confer with his brethren who were in position to know the 
preachers of the State. When favorable consideration was given to 
the name of a given brother, accompanied by a group of his brethren 
he would visit the church of the pastor under consideration and 
attend the regular services of the church, and thus hear the pastor 
preach. If the preacher made a favorable impression, then an in- 
terview would be sought and had. In every case Mr. Orr insisted 
in dealing with only one minister at a time. 

Mr. Orr was given to hospitality. Especially was he fond of 
entertaining preachers. The following incident is cited : At a session 
of his association a visiting minister was invited to preach. The 
sermon profoundly impressed Mr. Orr, and at the close of the service 
he thanked the preacher for the message and insisted that he stop 
by with him and spend the night. The preacher accepted the invi- 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 261 

tation. After he had retired he heard a gentle tap on his door. Sua- 
pecting that it was Mr. Orr the preacher invited him to come in. 
He entered the room^ dressed for bed, and said to the preacher: 
'^Aiter preaching such a sermon as you did today, you deserve a 
pillow of down under your head. Baise up your head.*' The 
preacher obeyed, and Mr. Orr slipped a pillow of down under hia 
head and bade him good night and wished him sweet dreams. Few 
men were more gifted in the art of entertaining his brethren and 
making them feel at home that Mr. Orr. His good wife always 
shared his pleasure in entertaining preachers and others. 

Mr. Orr was easily one of the leading citizens of Newnan, Coweta 
county and Greorgia. He was a man of exceptional business ability, 
and therefore a man of fine judgment. He was blessed with an 
unusual degree of foresight, and he had acquired tact in handling 
delicate situations. He was one of those men who could so manip- 
ulate differences between fellow citizens or brethren as to bring 
about a return of friendship without making himself conspicuous. 

When Isaac Newton Orr passed away, the whole city of Newnan 
realized that it had lost one of its truest and most useful citizens, 
and as a mark of respect to him aU the business houses of Newnan 
were closed during the hour of his funeral. Men and women from 
all the walks of life delighted to pay tribute to his memory, not only 
as an ideal citizen, but as a model husband, tactful father, devout 
Christian and useful deacon in his church. Though he be dead, he 
yet speaks in the noble life which he lived, and not only his children, 
but his fellow citizens, rise up to call him blessed. 



WADE HAMPTON PABKS. 



a Life affords a vsst range of oppor- 
tunity for the development of character 
in effident service. Sometimes it gives 
an inheritance of personal traits of in- 
calculable value, Bometimes a setting in 
which traits of less merit may be cul- 
tivated to great excellence. There is 
inSnite variety in its gifts and oar 
estimates of their relative values are 
not always correct. Wade H. Parks, 
born on April 13, 1868, in the foothiU 
country of Banks county, Georgia, waa 
fortunate in his eaviromnent and heritage. He was additionally 
fortunate in the estimate placed oy his parents upon hie physical 
welfare, his mental training and his spiritual well-being. Hia 
father, David R. Parks, came of French-Irish descent, while his 
mother bears the good English name, Elizabeth Weaver. They 
were people of purpose and ideals, not drifters. It is the saving 
grace of American life that such families eiist in larg^ numbers 
throughout the realm, whose ambitions and principles, bom and 
nurtured in a free country, steadily point and lead to higher planes 
of living and righteousnesB. 

The early life of Wade H. Parks, spent on a North Georgia farm, 
was directed in its progress so that he grew up in an atmosphere of 
inspiration. He knew the fatigue of farm work and the pleasure 
of country sports, and above it all there was held up for him the 
ideal of an educated, equipped man to do the world's work. After 
his conversion, in 1884, his ambition found a new direction. Sub- 
mission to tlie leadership of Christ gave the desire to serve, and 
for proper equipment thereto. Such a desire required years to 
work out its accomplishment, but one may easily read its record in 
the setting furnished by family life, school and church influences, 
and the great uplift of spiritual response to the call of Christ, and 
see its realization in a life of ministry. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 268 

He attended the public schools^ and at the age of twenty years 
entered Oainesville College^ and later the Baptist school at 
Hiawassee, under the tutelage of J. G. Harrison and S. C. Hood. 
He was graduatel with the A. B. degree from Mercer University in 
1897. It was in 1896^ while at Mercer^ that he was ordained to the 
ministry by a presbytery consisting of J. B. Qambrell, B. D. Bags- 
dale, J. L. White, A. B. Vaughan and J. L. Gross, and found the 
trend to his aspiration to be equipment to do the Lord's work in 
specific ministry. 

School work thoroughly done throughout all the classes produced 
scholarship of such a degree that he was made principal of the 
Mercer Summer School in 1897. Since his ordination to the minis- 
try, Wade H. Parks has preached the evangel of the Christian relig- 
ion at Bethel, Hancock county, Georgia, in 1896; Dahlonega, 
1897-1900; Antioch, Morgan county and other churches in the 
Central Association, 1901-1904; Woodville, 1906-1909; Cochran, 
1910-1912; Clarksville and Cornelia, 1913 and in an organized 
field of churches in the Georgia Baptist Association, consisting of 
Tignall, Clark^s Station, Sardis and Beaverdam, 1914 to the present 
time, 1918. He was made chairman of the executive committee of 
the Georgia Baptist Association in 1916. 

No small part of the support and strength of his life has come 
from his faithful helpmeet, whom as Miss Sallie White, daughter 
of John Taylor White, of Maysville, Georgia, he married in June, 
1889. She has met the problems of a pastor's wife, many and dif- 
ficult, with tact and wisdom, bearing and forbearing, rendering 
great service out of greater love, to the people among whom she 
lived. As friend, teacher or leader, she has served no less faithfully 
than as wife and mother. From this marriage four children have 
lived to bless their home. 

There have ever been held out to Wade H. Parks such ideals 
of thoroughness, of accuracy, of organization and of efficiency in 
service, as to become elements of his own character, to be expressed 
in the standards promulgated by his preaching. He has stood on 
a Scripture basis for living and acting, and has accepted none but 
the simplest and most direct interpretation of Scripture for his 



264 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

■ 

guidance. Accurate scholarship has enabled him to really edify his 
people with right instruction and make his ministry contribute to 
intelligent Christianity. This is the working out of the ideals hcuA 
in his early home^ held to through school days^ and materiali^ea 
in his life's labors. 

Working patiently and persistently to evangelize, to instruct^ to 
exhort, he has gone about his Master's business in the labors of 
country fields, and the trials of town pastorates, always honoring his 
hearers with his best thought and preparation. Love and sympathy 
for his fellow man have brought him into intimate contact with men 
in their sorrows and in their joys, and these sensibilities have not 
been dulled by constricting selfishness. The dominant humanity of 
man must be fully considered in the efFort to develop his spiritual 
nature, and this Wade H. Parks was always willing to do, without 
ever accepting it as an excuse for sin. 

A preacher of the gospel of Christ, as teacher, friend, citizen 
and pastor, holds up a standard of righteousness that stabilizes 
thought and sentiment in his community; and in times of stress 
his stand for right and order is a bulwark against the anarchy of 
sin. This service rendered in the humility of dependence on God, 
and in gratitude for the opportunity to do his work, is characteristic 
of the subject of this sketch; indeed, his life represents fully, in 
its plan, its work, its sorrows, its joys, his belief that all of man*^ 
forces are to be intelligently organized to do God's service on earth ; 
that this is the main business of life; that he is honored in being 
called to that service; and that in so rendering it, he glorifies the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

Such men as Wade H. Parks build well in the Baptist denomina- 
tion and Christian life of our State, and in the fulness of time their 
works stand as a monument to their usefulness. 



JOHN BEHNAED PHILLIPS. 




The subject of thiB sketch, John 
Bernard Phillips, was bom in Twiggs 
county, Georgia, June, 8th, 1873. Hia 
early life, until Mteen years of age, 
was spent on the farm, which provided 
for him a robust physique. As a young 
man, etill in his teens, he moved to 
Macon, Ga., where he entered upon a 
buBincBS career. This he followed until 
his call to the ministry and ordination 
in the Winter of 1903. 
The life of Bernard Phillips, and his 
wonderful achievements under Qod, reads more like fiction than 
fact. It certainly exemplifies the marvelous power and grace of 
God. PhillipB, as a boy, lost the one dearest to him — his mother 
— and in so doing he missed the earlier moral training so needfol 
for a growing child. In moving to a large city, he became very 
wayward and sinful as he grew into manhood, but the wonderful 
grace of Gkid was shown in the Summer of 1890 when, as a young 
man, he was saved from the penalty and power of sin. Joining 
the Second Baptist church of Macon, he later became the superin- 
tendent of the Sunday school, and afterward was elected a deacon 
of the church. Hence it was that Bernard Phillips (as he was 
familiarly known over the city of Macon) began showing his faith 
by his works. The early waywardness had placed him in debt 
several hundred dollars, of long duration, and the most of which 
was pronounced hopeless by his creditors. However, after knowing 
Qod in full salvation, he began making restitutions, paid every cent 
of the indebtedness, with interest, and there is no one who believes 
more in the honesty and integrity of J. B. Phillips than his enemies 
and creditors of old. Surely it was an instance of a "sinner made 
whole", and no one had more right than he to sing, 
'rin loving kindness Jesus came, 
My soul in mercy to reclaim. 
And from the depths of sin and shame, 
Through grace he lifted me". 



256 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

While a deacon of the Second Baptist church, Macon, that diarcli 
called for his ordination, the presbytery consisting of Rev. B. Lacy 
Hoge, J. B. K. Smith and Jno. F. Cargile. He immediately became 
pastor of the church that called for his ordination, remaining as 
such some six years. It was in this first pastorate of the old Second 
church of Macon that Bro. Phillips did some of his most construc- 
tive work. There are ministers over this country, and missionaries 
on the foreign field, who came from this early work of this young 
pastor. The church grew with leaps and bounds, and remained on 
its high plane of usefulness throughout his pastorate. 

Qod has given to J. B. Phillips wonderful evangelistic gifts, 
and in order to exercise them more fully, he entered the evangelistic 
work in 1908, remaining active in same for about five years. In 
this work he is eminently fitted and successful, having held great 
evangelistic campaigns both North and South. 

In 1912 the Tabernacle Baptist church of New Bern, N. C, 
was looking for a pastor-evangelist, and succeeded in securing the 
services of Bro. Phillips, where he remained until 1914. There was 
a mighty constructive work done at this place, and in the eighteen 
months pastorate there were added to the membership of the church 
259 members. 

From New Bern, Bro. Phillips went to the Tabernacle Baptist 
church of Chattanoop^a, Tonn., succeeding as pastor Dr. Allen Fort. 
It is in the present pastorate that he is doing his best work for God. 
He has been a great factor of righteousness in civic affairs where a 
determined hand and word was needed, for it is known that he fears 
no one but God. 

Also the Tabernacle Bible Conferences for Chattanooga were 
founded by Pastor Phillips, bringing to that city some of the ablest 
Bible teachers of this country. These Bible Conferences have 
become State-wide in their blessings and scope. Hundreds in 
Chattanooga and points tributary annually take advantage of these 
Conferences for Bible study and evangelism, and they have now 
become a permanent fixture in the religious life of that city. With 
the advantages of a business education. Pastor Phillips has been 
doubly successful in all his church endeavors, and has succeeded in 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 257 

placing his church work, financially and otherwise, on a most sub- 
stantial basis. His members seem unusually liberal, and hia 
churches are always known as ^^soul winning and training stations'' 
for God. 

As a preacher, Bernard Phillips preaches the old time gospel in 
fearlessness, power and love. Beceiving but meager educational 
advantages while a youth, yet through observation and hard ap- 
plication to study, he has acquired an exciellent knowledge of the 
Word of Ood, becoming a profound thinker and a student of men. 
With his unlimited energy and enthusiasm, none of the Lord's work 
will ever be "found wanting" that has been entrusted to his steward- 
ship. 

On June 3, 1894, Mr. Phillips married Miss Annie Bebeoca 
Cowart, who has proven to be a worthy helpmeet to her husband in 
his great work. Five children have come to bless their home, who 
in the order of their ages are: Julian, Cecil, Bemice, Eobert and 
Mallary. 

Very few ministers of this generation have brought to pass 
greater things for God and have accomplished more as a pastor- 
evangelist than Mr. Phillips. With the knowledge he has gained 
from close study, observation and experience, he is better qualified 
than ever before for accomplishing great things in the interest of 
his Master's kingdom. Being a veritable bundle of energy, he is 
a persistent worker and he never loses an opportunity for the exer- 
cise of his gifts in connection with his own church and in doing 
evangelistic work for pastors anywhere and everywhere. Belatively 
speaking, he is young in years, well preserved in body and mind, 
and the future seems to have many rewards and blessings in store 
for him. 



WILLIAM LOWSDES PICKARD. 




WUliam Lowndes PickanJ was bom 
I in UpBon county, Ga., October 19, 
1861. His father, Jamea LaFayette 
Pickard, was a prosperous planter and 
noble specimen of the Christian 
I gentloman. His mother, Ann Haasel- 
tine Boss Pickard, was a refined 
Christian Toman. In America, his 
ancestors were Baptists; in Europe, 
Huguenots. On his mother's side 
I there has been a preadier in the family 
for the past three generations. Wil- 
liam's father died during the Civil War. At the close of the 
great struggle the family estate had been swept away, and early in 
life young Pickard was thrown upon his own resources. Soon after 
the war ho went to live in Talbot county, Ga., with his uncle by 
marriage, Mr. James Pound. This was a home of culture and good 
books. Here in his boyhood William became familiar with many of 
the great books of English literature, which now so enriches his 
style of discourse. His life was spent in the public and private 
schools of his community and at hard work during vacations. The 
atmosphere he breathed was wholesome physically, mentally, and 
morally. When seventeen years of age he went to College Temple 
at Newnan, Ga., where he spent one year. The following Fall 
he entered Jlercer University, Slacon, Ga. After three sessions of 
diligent study, he graduated with the full degree and high distinc- 
tion. He was very fond of the classics, literature, psychology and 
philosophy. lie was easily the debater and writer of the university. 
His graduating address was on 'Technological Education,' and was 
such a clear analysis of the subject that Henry W. Grady wrote a 
strong editorial about it in the Atlanta Constitution. After a long 
struggle ho yielded to the conviction that he should preach the 
gospel, and he commeneed during the vacation between his Junior 
and Senior years in Mercer University. From this school he went 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 269 

to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Ky., 
where after three years he graduated in full under the renowned 
teachers, Drs. James P. Boyce, John A. Broadus, Basil Manly 
and William H. Whitsitt. After graduating at the Seminary, he 
went with his young wife — nee Plorie May Willingham, of Albany, 
Ga. — to Eufaula, Ala. Here for two years God blessed him abun- 
dantly in his work, the church being constantly crowded and many 
souls saved. Then he became pastor of the First church, Birming- 
ham, Ala., remaining there for four years. Standing room was at 
a premium to late comers, and the church mightily grew under his 
ministry, hundreds being added to its membership. Thence he was 
called to Broadway Baptist church, Louisville, Ky., where his 
church grew as had his others, and in a ministry of a little less 
than five years about five hundred souls were added to the member- 
ship. After Dr. Pickard closed his work in Louisville he went to 
Mr. D. L. Moody's Bible Institute in Chicago, where he lectured 
daily for nearly six weeks. While lecturing there and preaching 
at the First Baptist church, the First Baptist church of Cleveland, 
Ohio, extended him a call, which he accepted. Three months after 
he commenced his pastorate there the great building could not seat 
the congregations that attended. In that great city he is easily 
leader among the ministers, and his church is regarded as the 
foremost in spiritual power. Dr. Pickard is a writer to whose pen 
the best magazines are open. Some of his poems have been copied 
literally over America and Europe. Notable among these are The 
Olden Rainy Day,' ^America's Fairy Land,' ^Memorial Day, and 
TPhe Resurrection.' One of the great editors of the North said: 
TDr. Pickard is a tremendous writer, and the world will read what 
he says. He ought to give his life to writing.' He has lectured and 
preached in thirty-five States of the Union, and everywhere he 
has struck the sympathetic chord of the human heart. His reading 
is broad and systematic, and he has ever been a critical, persevering 
student. He is a pure, spirit-fiUed man, a lover of humanity, and 
is full of common sense. His home life is a model of strength and 
gentleness. He has been called ^a combination of John and 
Elijah/ " 



860 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

The above sketch was published^ some years ago^ in the ^'Amer- 
ican Pulpit," and is inserted here by the courtesy of the publisher. 

Since that sketch was published Dr. Pickard has been pastor of 
the First church of Lynchburg, Va., and of the First church of 
Savannah, Ga. His ministry in Lynchburg continued for more 
than five years, and was a ministry of growing power from first to 
last. During his pastorate there, two Baptist churches were or- 
ganized and two missions were sustained, while the mother churchy 
of which he was pastor, grew constantly stronger. His ministry 
in Savannah covered more than seven years; and the church greatly 
grew under his leadership, doubling its membership, numbering 
fourteen hundred members when his ministry closed. Two new 
churches were organized under the inspiration and leadership of 
the First, and younger churches were nurtured by the mother 
church. During this pastorate, as was true elsewhere. Dr. Pickard's 
influence was profoundly felt throughout the city; and his church 
was a loyal and liberal supporter of all the general work of the 
denomination in the State and the Southern Baptist Convention. 

Since coming back to Georgia, Dr. Pickard has served seven years 
as trustee of Bessie Tift College and Mercer University, and eleven 
years as trustee of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. 
In all these positions, he has served with wisdom and fidelity, look- 
ing always to the enlarged usefulness of the institutions, to greater 
endowments for them and to the scrupulous guarding of all trust 
funds. 

For more than three years. Dr. Pickard was President of the 
Board of Education of the Georgia Baptist Convention. At the 
last meeting of the Board he was unanimously re-elected to serve in 
that capacity ; but, according to his interpretation of an amendment 
tp the Constitution of the Georgia Baptist Convention, adopted at 
the last meeting of the Convention, no officer of any of the schools 
in the Mercer System is eligible to that office, and with his charac- 
teristic delicacy of feeling and fidelity to law, he asked to be excused 
from serving as President. 

At the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of Mercer Uni- 
versity, June 1914, Dr. Pickard was elected President of that in- 



BAPTIST BIOGHAPHT 



261 



stitation. Believing it to be his daty to reapoDd to thia call from 
his Alma Mater, he requested a reluctant church to release him for 
that service, and assumed the duties of the position during that 
Sommer, in time to prepare for the opening of the session 1914-15. 
After four years of the most arduous presidency in the history of 
Mercer TJniTersity, President Pickard resigned the presidency in 
June, 1918. While President of the University he adjusted the 
painful differences between the non-fratemity men and ilie 
fraternities; enlarged the scope of the University; brought the at- 
tendance to high mark; preserved the corpus of the University 
intact; enlarged &e endowment and increased the income of the 
University materially. He stood four-square for the faith of our 
Baptist fathers. He is now pastor of the Central Baptist churdi, 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, where his pastorate has already become 
city-wide in its power and influence. 



ANDREW POTTER. 



Mr. Samuel Potter, father of the sub- 
I ject of this sketch, was of English 
I descent. In his early years he moved 
from North Carolina and settled in 
Henry county, Tennessee. Although 
t he never united with the church until 
I late in life, he was recognized as a de- 
I voted Christian from the beginning of 
I his married life. He was a close stu- 
I dent of the Bible and a regular attcnd- 
I ant at Spring Hill Missionary Baptist 
church in Henry county, Tennessee, 
though he was recognized as a Primitive, or Hardshell, Baptist, 
Being a man of deep religious convictions, no one talked to him 
very long before he introduced the subject of religion. He was 
a man of considerable personal magnetism and was a leader in the 
community where he lived. He was bom on a farm and lived 
there until he died, June 16, 1912, in his sixty-eighth year. 




262 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

The mother of the subject of this sketch was Miss Pardee Hasel- 
tine Beville. She was of French descent and her people were early 
day emigrants from France to America. She was bom and reared 
on a farm in the same conmiunity with her husband^ Mr. Samuel 
Potter. In her girlhood days she was converted and joined Spring 
Hill Baptist church, Henry county, Tennessee, where she still 
retains her membership. All her people back to the ancestors in 
France were Baptists. 

Of these godly parents Andrew Potter, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Henry county, Tennessee, January 4, 1886, and was 
the third child in a family of six children, two boys and four girls. 
His early life was spent on the farm, where he grew up a plain, 
sturdy country boy, being sent by his dutiful parents to the best 
school the neighborhood afforded. Among a crowd of urchins, 
fancy a slender boy with bright blue eyes, an abundance of hair, 
with bare feet dangling and kicking from the crude school benches, 
and you have in your mind's eye a picture of "Andy,*^ as he waa 
called and as he appeared in his early school days. Like most boys, 
he was mischievous, daring, reckless and generous to a fault. A 
resolute courage was one of the most striking traits in his character. 

Finishing the required course in the rural schools, he advanced 
to the Grove High School, in Paris, Tennessee, later attending 
Union University, Jackson, Tennessee and Hall-Moody Institute, 
Martin, Tennessee, from which he graduated with the B. L. degree 
in June, 1910. As an evidence of his high class standing, he was 
valedictorian and won the Alexandrian Medal for delivering the 
best oration on a religious theme. In college he was characterized 
by industry, persevering activity, studious and contemplative habits. 
He was held in universal esteem by the faculty and his fellow 
students. 

When nineteen years old the power of God came into his soul 
in regeneration, the second birth being experienced in August, 1906. 
He embraced religion with the same whole-heartedness and un- 
feigned sincerity and earnestness that distinguished his approach 
to every worthy subject, but with an all-consuming trustfulness and 
abandonment of self and a committal to God that changed the 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 263 

whole course of his promising young life. Forthwith he united with 
Spring Hill Baptist church, Henry county, Tennessee, and was 
baptized by Eev. Daniel Tolbert Spaulding, at present county judge 
of that county. Spring Hill church, into which he was baptized, 
has sent out twelve preachers in the last fifteen years, practically 
all of them under the ministry of Eev. D. T. Spaulding. 

Almost simultaneous with his happy conversion Mr. Potter was 
seized with an impression to preach to others the blessed gospel 
which had proved such a boon to his own soul. Within a few months 
he yielded to this impression with the same self-surrender which 
led to his conversion. On May 4, 1907, he was ordained by the 
Spring Hill church in which he had been converted, the presbytery 
consisting of Eev. Asa Cox, chairman; T. B. Holcomb, secretary; 
D. T. Spaulding, pastor and W. P. Doris. Before his ordination 
he was called to the pastorate of Birdscreek church, at Whitlock, 
Tennessee, the oldest church in Henry county and one of the oldest 
in all that section of the State; also to Oak Hill church, two excel- 
lent country churches. The following June he was called to Bells, 
Tennessee, where he remained pastor for nearly four years for one 
half time. Later he was called to Henry and Puryear, two good 
churches in Henry county. All these pastorates were held during 
his school days. In the Summer he was busy in evangelistic meet- 
ings, in which God graciously blessed him. During these same 
years he conducted evangelistic meetings in Tennessee, Kentucky, 
Arkansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. 

The essential elements of a good minister of Jesus Christ are 
found primarily in his personal character. There is no work in 
life in which fitness depends so largely on character as that of the 
ministry. (Jenius might set her seal on the spoken word and com- 
monplace truths may shine with new lustre; knowledge might 
buttress the truth with facts and arguments; imagination might 
clothe the Word with beauty so as to kindle the delight and awaken 
the emotion of hearers ; zeal might bring system and eiBBciency into 
every department of ministerial labor; yet these, separated from 
genuineness and goodness of character do not render one a good 
minister of Christ. The truth indeed is as shot fired from a cannon. 



«64 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

» 

but the force that sends it forth with effect lies hidden in the heart 
of life. Mr. Potter is pre-eminently a good man and a Christian 
gentleman. 

On August 1, 1913, Mr. Potter accepted a call to the First Bap- 
tist church of Collinsville, Oklahoma, a city of some six thousand 
souls. This pastorate was greatly blessed. During the first year 
156 people were received into the church, 127 of them by baptism. 
The evangelistic fires burned all the time while he was pastor in 
that goodly city. Following his election as evangelist of the Dela- 
ware Baptist Association, in northeastern Oklahoma, he left the 
Collinsville pastorate to accept the position. During that year, 
1915-16, he delivered 385 sermons, received 257 people into the 
churches, raised over $4,000.00 in connection with his work and 
dedicated four beautiful church houses. January 1, 1916, he was 
called to the pastorate of the church at Waurika, Oklahoma, where 
he had a most delightful pastorate of sixteen months. In April, 
1917, he accepted a call to the pastorate of the First church, Enid, 
Oklahoma, succeeding Dr. Edward L. Watson, who went back to 
his old pastorate in Memphis, Tennessee. God has graciously 
blessed liis labors with this great church, which is a credit to the 
beautiful citv of 25,000 inhabitants in which it is located. As an 
evidence of its prosperity, more than one hundred members were 
added to the church during eight months of 1917, most of them by 
baptism. The First church of Enid now has about 1,000 members 
and it has recently elected an assistant pastor to help take care of 
its growing membership. It led Oklahoma in gifts to State Mis- 
sions last Fall and it gave $1,525.00 to Christian education in 
February, 1918. The annual session of the State Baptist Conven- 
tion of Oklahoma was entertained by this splendid church and city 
in 1918. 

Mr. Potter answered the call of his country in the "World war." 
Six months was spent in service in France, under the auspices of 
the Y. M. C. A. as Religious director, without pay. The Enid 
church sending him and paying full salary. 

Mr. Potter has been very active in denominational affairs in 
Oklahoma, serving on the State Board for three years and taking 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 265 

an actiye interest in building up all the denominational causes in the 
State. His denominational judgment is sound and his leadership 
safe. This has given him great influence in the State as a denom- 
inational leader. 

The character of Mr. Potter is not marked by any one conspicu- 
ous, overshadowing excellence, but by the blending of many, so 
that there is symmetry in his life. There is in him the grace of 
proportion. The intellectual does not overtop the moral and emo- 
tional. Strength is blended with gentleness; strictness is softened 
by charity; self-assurance, which is an element in every successful 
life, is allied with humiliiy; fervor is controlled by sobriety. He is 
therefore, not an enthusiast, but an earnest man; he is not a re- 
former sent to destroy, but a wise builder. His wide success has 
been reached not by one particular gift — not by his gift of utterance 
alone, not by his pastoral and soul-winning skill alone, not by his 
scholarship alone — but by his varied powers and devotion working 
in harmony toward one specific end. 

The sermons of Mr. Potter instruct, quicken and comfort his 
hearers, often rising to sublime heights in eloquence, and never 
falling into weakness or commonplace; thoughtful and graceful, 
spoken with glowing countenance and couched in happy diction. 
Perhaps he owes as much of his success in the ministry to his pas- 
toral and evangelistic gifts as to his pulpit ability. In the exercise 
of the pastoral gift his gracious nature comes in loving contact with 
other natures. Two needed elements for pastoral work are the power 
of sympathy and godly conversation. Both of these are possessed 
in an unusual degree by him. His success in revivals, organizing 
new churches and re-habilitating old churches has been little short 
of remarkable for one of his age in the ministry. 

No more felicitous human event has occurred in his busy life 
than that of his marriage, on April 5, 1911, to Miss Dathel Carroll, 
of Bardwell, Kentucky. Her father, Col. R. M. Carroll, is a prom- 
inent citizen and a devoted Christian. Mrs. Potter is a cultured, 
modest, strong, attractive, sympathetic woman, and without doubt 
she has been a true helpmeet and a most vital factor in the signal 
success of her husband. It was after their marriage that he spent 



866 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

a year in the Southern Baptist Theolo^cal Seminary, at Ixmisnile, 
Eentuckj. 

With the blessing of God resting richly on his labors, Mr. Potter 
has entered upon a ministerial career of brilliant and ever-widening 
naefnlneas. The imprint of his inflnence is on many lives. Many 
are already what they are through his life and teaching. Many 
have been brought to Christ by him, and thousands of others viU 
likely be added to that number through hie maltiform labors. These 
labors bid to continue increasingly fruitful until an angel from Qod 
touches the mortal chains that hold him here and his spirit risea, 
ransomed and liberated, to walk in the light of God's face, with eyei 
opened upon the scenes of the eternal world. 



THOMAS SEMMES POTTS, D. D. 

Into an old fashioned country home 
six miles out from Clarksville, Texas, 
in 1859 there came a blue eyed baby 
boy. It was into the home of Reverend 
Ramsay Douglas Potts, and his wife, 
Mary Pickett Potts, that the young 
stranger came. His mother, a most 
saintly woman, called the boy Tommy; 
his father, a remarkably devout man of 
God, called him Thomas; we boys called 
him Tom. Tom was a "proper child". 
He began making a stir in the world 
soon after he discovered where he was. Before he was out of his 
one single garment, he began to clamor to go 'possum hunting with 
his older brothers. We had to take him, or there was sure to be 
a fuss in that family. Many a time we took him and had to bring 
him back asleep. His will power was ever beyond bis phynical 
strength. He attended the common country ecbool in his growing 
days. He was familiar with the cotton field. He learned with 
remarkable swiftness. Soon he was able to attend the high school 




BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 267 

in Glarksville^ and then he aspired to college^ and was sent to 
Waco, now Baylor University. After his attendance at this school, 
which was then the best in Texas, his church recognizing his 
gifts designated him for the ministry, and he was sent to the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louisville, Kentucky. 
He was under the necessity of adding to his income by preaching 
to surrounding churches as he might be invited. Pursuing this 
plan he became pastor of Hope Mission in Louisville, where he was 
ordained to the ministry, the presbytery on the occasion of his 
ordination being James P. Boyce, D. D., who delivered the ordina- 
tion sermon. Dr. Basil Manly, Dr. W. H. Whitsitt, Dr. A. J. Holt 
and Bev. J. J. Burnett. 

It was while he was pastor at Florence, Kentucky, that he became 
acquainted with Miss Annie E. Henry, a direct descendant of Bev. 
John Gano, the great revolutionary chaplain, and on her mother's 
side, related to Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner and Rev. A. J. Holt, 
D. D. The acquaintance ripened into a lifelong attachment. This 
was a most happy marriage and Mrs. Potts has contributed in no 
small degree to make the life of her husband so conspicuously 
successful. From this union there sprang three boys, Ramsey 
Douglas, Henry Buckner and John Oano, and a most charming 
little lady. Miss Ethelyn. 

In the Seminary Dr. Potts graduated in the full English course, 
besides taking the full course in Greek and Hebrew. His gradua- 
tion was before that institution had begun to confer degrees, else 
he would have received the degree of Th. M. or Th. D. He received 
the honorary title of D. D. from the Carson & Newman College, of 
Tennessee. 

His career of labor is as follows : 

On his graduation from the Seminary he was called to the care 
of the First Baptist church of Bonham, Texas, where he served six 
years; then becoming pastor of Washington Avenue church, at 
Dallas, Texas (now Gaston Avenue church), where he served two 
years; and was then called to the Second church at Little Rock, 
where he served a like length of time. His next call was to 
the Central church of Memphis, Tenn., where he served for 



268 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

nearly fifteen years. During this time, he not only led the Central 
church to first place among the Baptist churches of Tennejssee, but 
founded the Bellevue Avenue Baptist church — now one of the 
strongest church organizations in the State. Seeing the great need 
of a Baptist hospital in Memphis, he relinquished his church, to 
undertake the establishment of a great Tri-State Hospital. He 
succeeded in this mammoth undertaking and was then made its 
(General Manager where he served with distinction, until his love 
for the ministry led him afield, and he graduated into a most suc- 
cessful evangelist. 

The field of endeavor in building the great Memorial Hospital 
had won him fame, and his services have now been secured to found 
and build a great Southwestern Baptist Hospital in San Antonio, 
Texas. Should he be favored with health and strength, this last 
enterprise will be as successful as the others have been. He has at 
this writing but just entered this work. 

Dr. Potts is a striking figure anjrwhere. He is easily distinguished 
in any crowd of people as a man among men: tall, commanding, 
graceful, winsome, a veritable Chesterfield in politeness; self 
possessed, calm, serene, on all occasions; courteous to the aged, 
genial to the young, gallant to womankind, discreet in behavior, pure 
in life, gentle in disposition and dignified in demeanor. He would 
grace and fill acceptably any pulpit on this earth. He is an or- 
nament to the ministry, and a prime factor in (Jod's kingdom 
among men. As a scholar, a preacher, an orator, a pastor, an 
evangelist, a master of assemblies, he has few equals; and as a 
Christian gentleman of the highest type, he has no superior. In 
every field of Christian endeavor he has shown himself a master. 

When we saw him among his people as a pastor, we thought he 
was perfect, and should never do anything else. When we heard 
him preach, he gripped us so we thought he should just always 
preach. When he undertook the great work of building a Memorial 
Hospital, we thought he was peculiarly fitted for just that. When 
he entered the evangelistic field we concluded he was called for that 
superb work particularly. Rarely have we known a man of such 
varied talents. 



BAPTIST BIOGfiAPHT 289 

His biographer has known him intimately from the day of hia 
birtii tmtil nor. Never has a more correct, courteous, courageous, 
Christian gentleman come under my obeervatioii than Thomas 
Semmes Potte. While he lives, the world will be richer by know- 
ing him, and when he is called hence, the world will be the 
poorer by his going. 

The wife of his youth still abides with him, the inspiration of 
his life and the joy of his heart. 




JOHN WILLIAM POETEB. 

For the ancestral heritage of our sub- 
ject we may take ae a point of begin- 
ning July 16, 1860, when John Free- 
man Porter was married to Martha 
Caroline Tharp. To them was bom on 
August 8, 1863, in Fayette county, 
Tennessee, John W. Porter, the sub- 
ject of this sketch. John F, Porter, 
the father, was a wealthy planter of 
Tennessee, who served throughout the 
War between the States as captain in 
the Confederate Army imder General 
Bedford Forrest, and was for six months a prisoner in the Irving 
Block in Memphis, Tennessee. His wife, the mother of John 
W. Porter, was first-honor graduate of the Young Ladies' Model 
School, of SoraerviUe, Tennessee. She is still living and can read 
French fluently. She has decided literary gifts, which her son 
inherited. The two grandfathers of J, W, Porter, Benjamin 
Hooker Porter and Hardy Worldly Tharp, owned between them 
more than 400 slaves. The ancestry of the life under consideration 
was on the father's side Scotch-Irish and on the mother's side 
Scotch-English, 

Mr. John Freeman Porter, who owned more than 3,000 acres 
of land in Fayette county, Tennessee, and was one of the wealthiest 
men in the county, gave his son, John W. Porter, the best educa- 



270 BAPTIST BIOQBAPHY 

tional advantages. The lad was educated first under private tutors. 
One of them, Henning W. Prentiss, is now in charge of Brooklyn 
School, New York. Another, Prof. Kirkpatrick, was later con- 
nected with the Missouri Agriculture College. Another was Dr. 
Sayre, now of New York, and yet another. Prof. W. H. Tharp, 
late of the University of Louisville, Kentucky. 

Following this period, Mr. Porter graduated from the Universily 
of Mississippi, at Oxford, Mississippi, and later attended a law 
school at Lebanon, Tennessee, from which he received the degree 
of Bachelor of Laws. 

Mr. Porter began the practice of law, for which he possessed 
peculiar qualifications, being gifted with a thoughtful and analyti- 
cal mind and with pronounced abilities as a debater. He himself 
declares that his life at this period was quite other than a religious 
one. But a great change came over him with his conversion in 
November, 1889, followed by his baptism at the hands of Rev. 
P. H. Kennedy, in Vancouver, British Columbia. His conversion 
was early followed by strong impressions of his duty to preach the 
gospel, and he was ordained fo the gospel ministry in the following 
year, 1890. 

Mr. Porter attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 
during the closing years of the life of Dr. John A. Broadus, presi- 
dent of that institution, and thus came under the molding influence 
of that master of teachers and prince of preachers. In the mean- 
time he was serving churches. Previous to and during his semi- 
nary course he was pastor for half time of the churches at Collier- 
ville, Tennessee, Germantown, Tennessee, Olive Branch, Missia- 
sippi, and Eudora, Tennessee. 

From 1894 to 1898 he was pastor of the churches at Pewee 
Valley, Kentucky, and LaGrange, Kentucky, and from 1903 to 
1908 at Newport News, Virginia. In 1908 he became pastor of 
the First Baptist church, Lexington, Kentucky, and that position 
he still holds. 

During his ministerial career he has received more than 7,000 
members into the churches of which he has been pastor, and has 
led his people in building three of the finest church edifices in the 
South. He has striking gifts as a public speaker. During his 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 271 

<X)llege and seminary days and throughout later years be was 
recognized as a fine debater. He has a rich native endowment of 
ready wit and is gifted with wonderful powers of repartee, which 
«dom his private conversation and embellish his public utterances. 
His handsome figure, with broad shoulders, erect and graceful 
bearing, dark hair above a wide and noble brow, and flashing eyes 
that grip and hold the attention, adds greatly to the impressive- 
ness of his message upon an audience. There is a piquancy, a flash 
and sparkle in the lucid, crystalline sentences in which he frames 
his thought that carries a peculiar charm. 

He has always been in great demand as a pastor-evangelist. He 
has had frequent calls also for literary addresses, commencement 
fiermons and lectures, and addresses before missionary rallies and 
Bible institutes. His varied knowledge, logical exactness, torrential 
eloquence and evangelistic fervor have easily placed him in the 
front rank among gospel preachers. 

0* July 1st, 1909, he became editor of the Western Eecorder, 
Louisville, Kentucky, and also president of the Baptist Book Con- 
<sem in the same city. In connection with these responsible places 
he still holds his position as pastor of the First Baptist church of 
Lexington, and he administers all of these duties with consum- 
mate ease and power. As editor of the Western Eecorder he 
succeeds the late Dr. T. T. Eaton, though with an interval of some 
years, during which the place was filled by others. He is especially 
fitted by nature for that exact position. Like Dr. Eaton, whose 
mantle has fallen upon him. Dr. Porter is an uncompromising 
exponent of stalwart, orthodox theology. Higher Criticism and 
auch religious fads as Christian Science and kindred heresies often 
feel the keen edge of his Damascus blade. While a fearless critic 
he is usually a just one, free from bitterness, and seldom mistakes 
his vial of acid for his inkstand. 

Dr. Porter was happily married to Miss Lillian Thomas, of 
t^rmantown, Tennessee. Mrs. Porter is in one respect of similar 
ancestry to Dr. Porter, being the daughter of a Confederate captain 
under General Forrest. Captain Thomas, her father, was a cotton 
buyer and a prominent business man. Mrs. Porter's mother was 
known as a mathematician of unusual ability. 



»72 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

Union Univeml^ of Jackson^ Mississippi^ conferred upon oar 
subject the degree of LL.D. He also received from Liebanon Law 
College the degree of B.L., and from the Southern Baptist The> 
ological Seminary the degree of Th.Q. 

In the midst of his numerous addresses and his writing for the 
press^ Dr. Porter has put some of the products of his brain into a 
permanent form in the following publications: '^Christian Science^ 
Neither Scientific nor Christian ;^' two tracts, "Perpetuity of a Ne«r 
Testtament Church'^ and "Alien Immersion;'' two ofher books, 
'World's Debt to the Baptists" and '^Baptist Debt to the World.*^ 
The last book, 'baptist Debt to the World," reveals mental growth 
and advance in literary style and rhetorical art 

Dr. Porter has been honored by his brethren in many ways. He- 
is now a member of the Education Society of Kentucky, and mem.- 
ber of the executive committee of the board of trustees of George- 
town College, Kentucky, and has been trustee of Hall-Moody 
Institute^ Barbourville Institute, and a member of the American 
Academy of Science. Some years ago he preached the Convention 
sermon before the Southern Baptist Convention, which was re- 
garded as one of the strongest pulpit messages heard since the 
days of Fuller and Broadus. He has been twice elected moderator 
of the General Association of Baptists in Kentucky. He is 
recognized as an enterprising and sagacious leader and as being^ 
at the present time at the summit of his influence and usefulness^ 



REV. S. 0. Y. RAY. 




Samuel Oliver Young B&y was born 
lear Camdeo, Wilcox coun^, Alabama, 
October 1, 1847, and reared on a farm, 
being the son of Hall and Salina Bay, 
next to the joung^t of their seventeen 
children and the youngeBt of eight sons, 
three of whom became Baptist minis-. 
ters. He and all his brothers served 
in the Confederate Arm; and not one 
of them was killed or wounded. He was. 
educated in the countr; schools of Wil- 
cox county, was married in December, 
1869, to Miss Josephine Tate, a most estimable Christian woman,' 
who was also bom and reared in Wilcox county, Alabama. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bay began their married life on the farm and for 
many years pursued with marked success agricultural operations, 
accumulating considerable property, in the meantime buying and 
paying for a farm of 400 acres in Choctaw county, Alabama. 

Mr. Ray was baptized into the fellowship of Mt. Hope church, 
near Camden, Alabama, in July, 1867, being baptized by Rev. E. 
Bell. ^Tiile engaged in his agricultural pursuits in Choctaw county 
he received impressions to preach the gospel, but being of doubtful 
mind as to the genuineness of the call to preach, he hesitated fdt-- 
a time. Finally yielding to the impression and call of God he was 
ordained to the work of the gospel ministry on December 25, 18'75. 
The members of the ordaining presbytery were: Rev. J, E. Scott 
and Rev. E. Daughety. • 

Entering upon the work of the ministry, he served country 
churches within the bounds of Southwest Liberty Association for 
a period of eight years, at the same time continuing his farm work. 
Two years of tJiis time were spent in missionary work under the 
appointment jointly of the association and the State Mission 
Board. He held meetings in nearly every church in the association, 
and his work was very fruitful. This was about the beginning of 



274 BAPTIST BIOQEAPHY 

a wonderful revival of the spirit of missions which swept over that 
section of the State. The leading ministers in arousing this spirit 
of gospel evangelism were 0. D. Bowen and P. E. Kirvin. It was 
during this awakening that Mr. Bay became interested in mission 
work and girded on the armor for aggressive warfare upon the 
fields of spiritual conflict. He aided in organizing the mission 
forces of that part of the State. He was moderator of Liberty As- 
sociation and led in the organization of Antioch Association of 
Alabama. The fiery zeal and abundant labors which characterized 
the life of Bev. Mr. Bay and his missionary work among the people 
of Choctaw, Washington and part of Mobile counties, as State mis- 
sionary for half time, brought him later prominently before the 
brotherhood of Mississippi. 

His work as State missionary for Choctaw, Washington and a 
portion of Mobile counties, in Alabama, began in 1878. He had 
19 stations. He organized a church at St. Stephens, the first capital 
of Alabama. He began the work at Citronelle and re-organized 
the church at Prankville. He also organized four other churches 
at less important points, held several meetings in Summer, the 
most notable of which was at St. Stephens where no Baptist church 
had ever been before. Later on he also assisted in establishing 
churches in Butler, Choctaw county, and Greensboro, Green county, 
both county towns. 

In 1884, he was appointed by the Mississippi State Mission Board 
as general field worker or evangelist for southeast Mississippi. 
Moving his family to Enterprise, Miss., he continued in that work 
for six years. During that period he organized churches and built 
houses of worship in all the new towns on the Queen and Crescent 
railroad from Meridian to Hattiesburg. Among the most im- 
portant were Hattiesburg and Laurel where he was pastor for six 
years, other towns being Eastabouchie, Tuscanola, Sandersville, 
Heidleburg, Vossburg and Narknta, building houses of worship in 
all except Eastabouchie. He hold meetings in all this part of the 
State and hundreds were baptized by him and those he assisted. As 
a result largely due to a movement led by him, all the saloons in 
that part of Mississippi were closed. He led also in organizing 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 275 

the mission forces of this section, brought into the work new pastors 
in full sympathy with the missionary work, both in the city and 
country churches. 

During this six years in Mississippi he did a marvelous work. 
Besides building houses of worship at the places already named, he 
built others at Stonewall and State Line, on the Mobile and Ohio 
B. R., organized and built the Rawls Springs High School, near 
Hattiesburg, the property of the Chickasahay Association, of which 
he was moderator. In this field, during this six years, he travelled 
about 36,000 miles, collected for all purposes ten thousand dollars, 
held meetings in the counties of Marion, Lawrence, Perry, Jones^ 
Clarke, Jasper, Lauderdale, Kemper and Noxubee, adding nine 
hundred persons to the churches where he labored. 

Leaving his field of labor in Mississippi, in 1889, Mr. Bay ac- 
cepted a call to the pastorate of Palmetto Street church, Mobile, 
Alabama, and continued as pastor of that church for two years, 
supplying during two summers for St. Francis Street church. He 
reorganized Palmetto Street church, added to the church one 
hundred members, repaired the church building, built a pastor's 
home, and for the first time in its history made this church self- 
sustaining. While in Mobile he and Dr. J. J. Taylor edited a 
church paper in the interest of both the city and the associational 
church and mission work. 

In November, 1891, he resigned his pastorate in Mobile and 
accepted an appointment from the Mississippi State Convention 
Board to do evangelistic and missionary work within the Chickasa- 
hay Association and country contiguous to it, continuing in this 
field and work for one year, during which time one hundred and 
thirty persons were added to the churches where he labored. His 
labors were most helpful and uplifting to the churches and strength- 
ening to weak places. 

The State Mission Board of Alabama called him back to this 
State as State evangelist for southeast Alabama. He moved to 
Livingston, Ala., and entered this field of service on January 1, 
1898. He continued in this work, under the employment of the 
State Mission Board, for five years, moving his family in the latter 



«76 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

part of 1893 to Marion, Ala., where he resided for three years, 
and from there to Troy, Ala., where he lived for one year. 

During this period of five years Bev. Mr. Bay did a notable work 
among the Baptists of this field. He held enlistment meetingB 
in nearly all the churches, the object being to encourage a more 
liberal support of the ministry, more liberal giving to missions, 
denominational and ministerial education, and other work along 
similar lines. He encouraged young men and women to attend 
high schools and colleges. He organized Preachers^ Institutes, 
similar to those now held in the State. These meetings were 
largely attended by pastors, some of whom conducted them. Among 
those engaging in this work were Drs. Cleveland, Eager, Burr, 
Preston, Anderson, Lindsey, Bledsoe, Crumpton and many others. 
He held evangelistic meetings in both town and country churches 
with fruitful results. 

Mr. Bay also raised money during these years to pay off the debt 
on the Healing Springs High School. Also assisted in paying off 
the debts of the Judson as well as other debts of the State Board 
work. Three of these summers he spent canvassing for the Judson 
in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and raised money for mis- 
sions and general denominational work in the State. 

In 1898, he moved from Troy, Ala., to Midway, Ala., where he 
accepted a call as pastor of the church there, and he was also pas- 
tor while living at Midway for two years at Earner and Perote. 

He moved from Midway in the early part of 1900 to Elba, Ala- 
bama, where he served as pastor for two years. While serving the 
Elba church two Sundays in the month, he was also pastor one year 
at Luverne, and then for a short time at Enterprise. At Elba he 
built a pastor's home and put this church on a self-supporting basis. 
He held two meetings in which one hundred members were added 
to Enterprise church. He also did mission work in this section. 

In the latter part of 1901 he moved from Elba to Tuscaloosa and 
was missionary for that association for two years, editing with 
Dr. L. 0. Dawson, "Good News'^ a missionary paper in the interest 
of the associational work. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 277 

He became field editor of the Alabama Baptist and moved to Bir- 
mingham in the latter part of 1903, and continued in this work 
for two years. He was then appointed Secretary of Missions for 
the Birmingham Association, in which work he continued for six 
years. During this time he built ten churches in the city of Bir- 
mingham and its suburbs. He raised money in the State and in the 
dty to aid in building these churches. 

During these years he assisted young preachers in procuring work 
while at Howard College. He also aided quite a number in a 
financial way while in school. During part of this time he aided Dr. 
Crumpton in general State work, visiting associations, organizing 
and building churches in the State and holding great meetings in 
the interest of the organized Baptist work. 

After this he became Financial Secretary of the Orphans' Home 
at Evergreen, Alabama, serving in that position one year. He then 
became Financial Agent for the Newton Collegiate Institute, moved 
to Newton and served in that work for two years, at the same time 
serving as pastor for Samson and Headland churches. He raised 
$10,000.00 for buildings for the Newton Institute. 

In 1912 he was elected field worker by the Home and State Mis- 
sion Boards for Alabama. He remained in this work two years, 
visiting nearly every association in the State twice during this 
period. While engaged in this work he visited nearly every church 
in twelve of the associations, built ten churches and did enlistment 
work which was undertaken by the Southern Baptist Convention. 

In 1915 he was pastor at Daphne and Fairhope for some months, 
and later became pastor, and at present (1916) is pastor of the 
churches at Jemison and Bon Air. 

Rev. 0. D. Bowen, of Mississippi, with whom he worked for some 
years of his ministry, said of him : ^'But few who have labored in 
the gospel have been so active, industrious and energetic as he. His 
consecrated life and courageous faith have received the reward of 
him whose blessing descends upon the faithful laborer. Mr. Bay 
is endowed with fine common sense and is a marvel as an organizer 
:of forces and in laying the foundations for church extension. He 
is an humble, unpretentious man, a Baptist with pronounced viewi 



278 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

and strong convictions. He is a plain, earnest preacher. His ser- 
mons are pointed and forceful. To the faithful wife of this beloved 
brother belongs much praise. She has been to her husband a help- 
meet indeed. She has borne with Christian fortitude and peaceful 
resignation the cares and trials of the preacher's wife, and her 
self-sacrificing spirit for Jesus' sake has encouraged her husband 
in the good work, and enabled him to go forth untrammelled into 
the harvest field of immortal souls.*' 

Isaiah, the prophet of God, with the pen of inspiration, wrote: 
'^ut ye shall be named the priests of the Lord ; men shall call you 
the ministers of Gk)d". He again says: "And they shall build the 
old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall 
repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations/' 

Rev. S. 0. Y. Ray's conception of his work as the minister of 
God must have been expressed by this same inspired prophet as 
follows : "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord 
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath 
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the 
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to 
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance 
of our God; to comfort all that mourn." 

Dr. W. B. Crumpton, for many years Corresponding Secretary 
of the Alabama State Board of Missions, says of him: **Kind- 
hearted and sympathetic, he was a welcomed visitor in every home. 
He was perfectly honest about the views he advocated and entirely 
candid in their statement." 

About the time the State Mission Board of Alabama was organ- 
ized, its first work was to district the State and send out strong 
men to preach and organize the Baptist forces. Missions, Sunday 
schools and ministerial education were the great themes they were 
to put emphasis upon. The anti-missionaries were not all Hard- 
shells. The mass of country Baptists were practically agreed with 
the Hardshells, if doing nothing for missions was the token. Not 
many of them had ever had an opportunity to show their faith by 
giving. These district evangelists were to take collections and 
pledges everywhere and answer objections. One of these men was 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 279 

to cross the path of brother Ray; his name was Peter Kirvin in 
the district of Marengo, Clark, Choctaw and Washington counties. 
He was a strong preacher and a genial fellow out of the pulpit. 
Brother Ray had shared the anti-mission ideas of Hardshell parents 
and many of the Baptists of the time. 

When the great gatherings met at the associations, Peter Kirvin 
was one man who was sure to be put forward. Brother Ray at- 
tended the associations and Peter tore all his theology to pieces and 
knocked all the anti-mission notions out of his head. So marvelous 
was the change, when he was converted to missionary notions, like 
Paul, he was soon advocating publicly and from house to house 
the things he once endeavored to destroy. His development was 
so rapid he was selected by the Board, a few years later, to take 
the place of Peter Kirvin when he went West. 

Ray's ministerial education came solely from the study of the 
Bible, with few helps, and attending associations. Now and then 
a good book fell into his hands, and he eagerly devoured its con- 
tents. I have often heard him urging preachers to attend the as- 
sociations for the good they would get out of them. 

Prom his call to the ministry, God, whose call he answered, had 
him in school preparing him for the greater work he was to do 
later on. His Hardshell experiences were no disadvantage to him. 
He learned the deep things of God as he never could have learned 
them in the schools. He learned the power of prejudice and how 
to deal with it. Brought up among the common people, he had 
sympathy for them which he never lost. None were so prejudiced, 
or poor or ignorant that he could not approach them with his key 
of fellow-feeling and unlock their hearts. 

His farmer-preacher experience was no handicap either, although 
for years it kept him tied down to business to the neglect of his 
hi^er calling. With no lazy bone in him he succeeded in business 
and, I dare say, had better mules and higher fences and made 
bigger crops than many of his neighbors. With a good living as- 
sured, of course, he could not expect anything from his churches, 
even after he got in line with the Missionary Baptists. I doubt, 
if in those days, he ever said a word in his preaching about the 



\ 



280 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

laborer being worthy of his hire. How could he have the conscience 
to expect his people to pay him for his services, when he was 
making a better living than most of them! His real usefulness 
began when he turned his back upon the farm and began to give 
himself wholly to the work of the ministry. 

How much a good wife had to do with all his success, we can 
never know; but some of us feel that the wives of preachers who 
"stay by the stuff'' while their husbands are away preaching, may 
be, some day, will wear brighter crowns than their husbands. 

Not having had early advantages himself, he was ambitious for 
his children and labored to give them the best to be had. He reared 
eight children and educated them in our Baptist schools. He was 
fortunate, for some years, to reside in Marion where the best train- 
ing could be had under Christian influences. Any one who will 
read the sketch which gives a summary of his labors will be sur- 
prised at the number of places he has lived and the different capa- 
cities in which he labored. He it was who once making a speech 
on "Country Preachers" and having occasion to refer to a preacher 
by name, was asked : "Where was he born ?" He replied, "I doubt 
if he knows himself, his father was a preacher and was all the time 
moving/' Ray's children were liable to be born most anywhere 
in Mississippi or Alabama. 

His agency work probably was his most successful, though he 
did well in the pastorate too. A "money getter" is often the most 
dreaded man in the denomination, but it was not so with Bay. 
The people were always glad to see him whether they gave or not 
It was a common thing for the people to say : "Ray can get money 
where there is none." Because of his success in this line he was 
engaged at different times for almost everything until he was called 
"The pack-horse of the denomination." "When he is gone he will 
richly deserve a monument in the shape of a building for some 
useful purpose on some of our college grounds. 

Perhaps the best work he did was in church building. The writer 
wished him turned loose in the State to follow the lines of the new 
railroads and secure the erection of houses of worship in the new 
towns. In many places where the Baptists were numerous, but 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



281 



tmorganized, he dropped in, called the people together at the school 
hoiiBe for a night service, and before they dismiseed, had raised a 
good subscription and appointed a committee to secure a lot and 
proceed with the erection of a building. He had a good idea of 
church architecture and could submit plans for an up-to-date 
building. There ia no more useful work than this and Bay is fitted 
by nature and experience to lead in it. * (1). 

The writer of these lines, as Corresponding Secretary of the 
Mission Board, for many years, had occasion to use many men in 
all soris of ways. It is a great pleasure to him now, in his retire- 
ment, to think of these brethren and their loyal service for the 
Master. Brother Ray was tried in more ways than any other and 
for a longer time, he was never found wanting anywhere. * (2). 

Since the above was written brother Ray has passed on to his 
reward, May 9, 1917. It was a joy to see him surrounded by 
devoted children and supplied with every comfort their love could 
devise or bis heart could wish. "And so he fell on sleep." 



T. BRONSON RAY. 



H' I Rev. T. Bronson Ray was bom in 
Buckeye, Garrard county, Kentucky, 
August 14, 1868. His boyhood years 
were spent in the place of his birth. 
His father was Dr. William Ray, the 
leading physician of his town and com- 
munity and one of the foremost Chris- 
tian citizens of his county. He served 
in the office of deacon for forty years 
end gained for himself "a good degree 
and great boldness in the faith." He 
■ was a man of wisdom rather than of 

words, and the words he spoke had great weight, both in hia church 
and in his community. Religion had the iirst place in his home and 
the missionary program had a great place in his religion. The 



282 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

mother in this home was Nancy Jane Ray, who was a woman of 
unusual justness and poise of character, and withal of much firm- 
ness. While not a member of her husband's denomination, she 
joined with him in making his church, which was located on a lot 
adjoining their home, the religious center of their family life, and 
rejoiced with him when her children joined his church. 

Bronson's early education was received in this Christian home, 
in the healthful, wholesome labors on his father's farm, in the vil- 
lage school and later in Elliott Institute, a preparatory school at 
Elirksville, Kentucky. Before he quite finished at Elliott Institute, 
young Ray was stricken down by a spell of sickness which, among 
other things, resulted in postponing his entrance into college for 
two years. A part of these two years was spent in a normal school 
at Lebanon, Ohio, and a part in teaching the school in his home 
town. He entered Georgetown College, GJeorgetown, Kentucky, in 
the Fall of 1891 and was there for four years, graduating in 1896 
with the Master of Arts degree. The writer first came to know him 
in Georgetown and can testify that his college career gave full 
promise of all he has become. He stood very high both with the 
student body and with the faculty, and almost from the day he 
entered was the leader of the one and the reliance of the other. He 
was active in all the religious life of the college and was a potent 
factor in bringing the student body under the larger inter-coUegiate 
missionary movement of that period. It is to be doubted if Gteorge- 
town College has had a student whose life and work was more 
wholesome than that of T. Bronson Ray. In the Fall of 1895 he 
entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, 
Kentucky, and was under the instruction and influence of that great 
institution for three years, graduating from it in 1898 with the 
Th. M. degree. It need hardly be added that in the Seminary, as 
in college, he not only held a first place in the class rooms, but 
became a recognized leader in what may be called the denomina- 
tional life of the great school of the prophets. While there he was 
made teacher of the classes in praparatory Greek. The Louisville 
Seminary is the greatest missionary dynamo in the Baptist denomi- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 283 

nation, and in T. Bronson Bay it had a soul prepared by both home 
and college influences for its world-wide message. 

In the good doctor's home in which Bronson grew up, religion, 
as has been said, had the first place. He was regularly carried to 
church services long before he could remember anything about them, 
and grew up in that atmosphere of worship. When he was fourteen 
years of age, in 1882, he was converted and baptized into the mem- 
bership of his father^s church. Before he entered college he had 
decided the question of giving himself to the ministry of the gospel,^ 
and while in college was quite an acceptable preacher to the neigh- 
boring churches. He was ordained in the Baptist church of George- 
town, Kentucky, in May, 1893, and about this time became pastor 
of Clear Creek Baptist church, near Versailles, Kentucky. The or- 
daining presbytery was composed of the following ministers: Dr. 
John A. Broadus, Dr. T. J. Stevenson, Dr. W. C. Taylor, Dr. A. C. 
Davidson, Dr. W. H. Felix, Dr. Z. T. Cody, Dr. T. C. Stackhouse,. 
Bev. T. Warren Beagle and Rev. J. T. Stamper. Pastor Ray served 
Clear Creek church for three years. After graduating from the 
Seminary Mr. Ray was called to the pastoral care of the Immanuel 
Baptist church, of Nashville, Tennessee, which he served with much 
acceptance for eight years, from September, 1898, to November,. 
1906. His work in Nashville was successful, and his pre-eminent 
fitness for denominational responsibilities was very quickly recog- 
nized. The bare mention of the boards he became a member of and 
of the work assigned him will give a good idea of his life and worth 
at this period. He was a member of the Sunday School Board of 
the Southern Baptist Convention, of the Board of Missions of the 
Tennessee Convention, of the trustees of the Tennessee Baptist 
Orphans' Home, and of the City Mission Board. He was the 
secretary of the last two mentioned boards, and for three yeara 
managed the business of the Orphans' Home. Pastor Ray was the 
moving spirit in the organization of the Tennessee Baptist En- 
campment, and it was his idea that introduced the study feature 
into this encampment and made it something more than a mere 
talk fest; a feature which encampments and Summer assemblies 
in other States quickly adopted. Pastor Bay was for three terma 



284 BAPTIST BIOQBAPHY 

» 

the president of the Tennessee B. Y. P. U. and at this period 
rendered most valuable help in the literature work of our Sunday 
School Board. The B. Y. P. U. Quarterly was his idea, he himself 
writing the first two numbers^ and when the great and good Dr. 
Boykin became too feeble by reason of age to carry on his work. 
Dr. Ray was entrusted with the editorship of our Sunday school 
quarterlies and papers until the successor of Dr. Boykin, Dr. I. J. 
Van Ness, was chosen and assumed the task. 

Somewhere about 1901 the idea of organizing Southern Baptists 
for mission study got into pastor Bay's mind, and he began to talk 
it. About this time he secured the services of some students of the 
Seminary to devote a Summer to extension mission work among the 
churches, the Sunday School Board bearing the expenses. The two 
general boards were approached on the subject of taking up a sys- 
tematic work for organizing for mission study, but could not see 
their way to do it. But the matter would not die down in pastor 
Ray's heart. One day, in conversation with Dr. John 0. Rust on 
the subject. Dr. Rust asked him if he was willing to resign his pas- 
torate and undertake the work of class organization for mission 
study. His reply was that he was not willing to do that. The 
answer of Dr. Rust came : "Then, if you are not willing to carry out 
your own idea, donH talk about if This went home. And a few 
months later while he and his father were discussing the same sub- 
ject, pastor Ray's father, looking him straight in the eyes, said: 
^^ell, suppose God should want you to do that work, then what?*' 
It is no easy problem to lay down the pastorate, but when the call 
of the Foreign Board came to pastor Ray he could not forget the 
searching words that had been spoken to him by such friends. 

In November, 1906, the Foreign Mission Board of Richmond, 
Virginia, elected him to the recently created position of Educational 
Secretary. When he went before the Board and asked what they 
wanted him to do, their answer was : '"We have brought you here 
to answer that question/' It can be said that he answered it very 
effectively. The Board gave him a free hand, and results at once 
began to be seen. He began his work in November, 1906. The 
ground was new. Literary instruments and text books for mission 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 285 

study were inadequate. But by May 1, 1907, Secretary Ray had 
succeeded in organizing eighty-four mission study classes, with an 
aggregate membership of 924. His work and its possibilities most 
favorably impressed the Board, and in its report to the Convention 
in 1907, after describing the needs of the new ofSce, it said : "The 
Board feels that in Dr. T. B. Ray we have secured the man needed.'* 
Dr. Ray continued in this position until February, 1914, and saw 
his truly worthy idea firmly established in the missionary life of 
Southern Baptists. He gave himself at once to the preparation of 
a suitable literature and to organizing classes for the study of this 
literature. He also had the task of getting his idea before the 
churches, which is quite a different thing from getting before the 
leaders. He wrote, he visited the colleges, he preached, he lectured, 
he used Summer Assemblies, chautauquas, associations, conventions 
and always spoke on Mission Study Classes. In May, 1908, he was 
able to report 617 Mission Study Classes, with an aggregate mem- 
bership of 5,720, which was certainly a good showing for eighteen 
months of work. And in 1915-1916 there were reported 1,605 
Mission Study Classes, with a membership of 22,190. Besides 
editing books suitable for use in these classes. Secretary Ray gave 
his spare time to helping others edit and prepare such books, and 
also to writing books on mission subjects. In 1907 he edited 
'^Highway of Mission Thought,^* and in 1910 published his *^South- 
em Baptist Foreign Missions." It was, we believe, in 1910 that he 
had the privilege of visiting our mission stations in Brazil, and as a 
fruit of this trip gave to Southern Baptists in 1912 "Brazilian 
Sketches,'' a delightful book of travel, but which has been widely 
used in Mission Study Classes. 

One of the greatest achievements ever wrought by the hands of 
Southern Baptists was the raising of the Judson Centennial Fund, 
and in this undertaking Dr. T. Bronson Ray was our leader. This 
is not the place to write the history of the Judson Centennial cam- 
paign. The proposition was brought before the Southern Baptist 
Convention at the Jacksonville, Florida, meeting in 1911, by Dr. 
H. A. Porter. A year later a special committee, after a year's 
deliberation, recommended the raising of $1,250,000, and also rec- 



286 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

ommended that Dr. T. Bronson Ray be entrusted with the leader- 
flhip of the campaign for this fund. The thought at first was for 
nothing like so large an amount as was finally decided upon. When 
Dr. Ray was first approached, he was asked to raise $100,000, but 
he rejected the proposition because the amount was too small. It 
was then suggested that $250,000 be the aim. Dr. Ray's reply was 
that it would take about as much effort to raise that amount as it 
would to raise a half million. Thus the plans grew. By the time 
of the Oklahoma Convention an adequate program was reached, and 
the denomination found itself enthusiastically committed to a 
worthy undertaking. Dr. Ray accepted the responsibility laid on 
him, and for the next four years gave himself to the great task. 
He very wisely spent the larger part of the first year in getting from 
all of the mission fields in foreign lands an authoritative and care- 
fully estimated statement of their respective needs ; and from these 
was prepared an exact exhibit showing where and how the money 
would be used. He also organized an army of canvassers and 
through the denomination! papers kept the great cause before the 
churches. In the midst of the work the European war came on us, 
and to complete the campaign an additional year was required; 
but at the Asheville Convention, in 1916, the victory was celebrated. 
The part of Dr. Ray in this great undertaking is well expressed in 
the report of the Judson Centennial Committee, which was written 
and read by Dr. H. A. Porter. A part of that report follows : 

^^e placed Dr. T. B. Ray at the head of our tribes and he has 
been the Joshua to lead us to the conquest and possession of the 
land. In every great movement there are three essentials to suc- 
cess. There must be a conviction of the possibility of success. 
There must be an adequate conception of the magnitude and char- 
acter of the task to be performed. And, finally, those definite plana 
must be made and those resources provided by which success can 
be assured. These three elements in rich measure have belonged 
to Dr. Ray. Without bragging or blustering, without fiagging or 
flinching, with cool persistence of purpose, but with flaming soul, he 
has kept on to this high day when we crown him with love and 
praise.'* 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 287 

While this campaign was in full swing, Dr. Ray was made the 
foreign secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, and the educational 
work in Mission Study Classes, which he had begun and carried 
to success, was turned over to Mr. F. M. Purser. Dr. Ray now 
as Associate Secretary devotes himself mainly to the foreign cor- 
respondence of the Board. 

It is no part of the purpose of this brief sketch to give an estimate 
of Dr. Ray^s worth or a description of his character. That will 
oome when his tasks on earth are ended. His brethren are now 
thinking more of using him than of praising him. SufBce it to 
say that he lives in the love and esteem of his brethren, and es- 
pecially of all who are associated with him. In 1909, his Alma 
Mater, Georgetown College, bestowed on him the degree of D. D. 
While he was still a student at the Seminary he was married to 
Miss Maude Wayts, a beautiful young woman of Georgetown, 
Kentucky, and a charming Christian spirit. They were married 
April 30, 1897. She died in Nashville, Tennessee, March 18, 1901. 
Dr. Ray was married again, January 1, 1909, to Miss Davie Bruce 
Jasper, of Piano, Texas, and to them a child, Mary Nancy Ray, 
was born September 10, 1911. 



EDWARD S. REAVES. 




Dr. Edward S. Reaves, bom oa « 
farm near Mullins, Soutli Carolina, 
August 15, 1869, learned early the dig- 
nity of work and the dishonor of idle- 
ness. Having in his veins the blood 
which for generations urged his ancee> 
tors to take prominent part in church 
activities, he has loved to work with en- 
thusiastic zeal in the church and for 
the welfare of the kingdom. Prompted 
by the motives which inspired his 
father, who held worthily for sixty 
years the ofUce of deacon and Sunday school superintendent, he 
has stood with ancestral faithfulness and conspicuous devotion by 
every cause which is a helper of the right against the wrong, bdiev- 
ing that the church ought to be an aggressive force and not a 
mere defensive power. Living the Sermon on the Mount in every 
day life, he is one of the unobtnisively great preachers who can be 
eloquent without ostentation, scholarly without conceit, friendly 
without undue familiarity, dignified without aloofness, over pos- 
sessing that modopt manner and spirit of accomplishment which 
makes it worth while for one to know him and claim him as a 
friend. Preaching the old gospel with sweet freshness and im- 
measurable power, he has gone forth in the strength which makes 
one to live in the giving of himself. 

Without withholding friendship from the friendless, without 
buying pleasure at another's pain, he has steadly climbed until 
today he stands unquestionably among the foremost of our scholars 
and expository preachers. He has become a successful soul winner 
and pre-eminently a kingdom builder. Descended from ancestors 
who were Revolutionary patriots and officers in the Continental 
army, he possesses the true kernel of the old chivalry which luani- 
fests itself in speaking the very truth, performing a promise to the 
utmost, helping the weak, showing fairness to a bitter foe. His paa- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 289 

sion for the refined and dear, which he considers consonant with 
the strong and virile, has made him one of the most accurate of the 
real expository preachers of the day. Pew if any could love the old 
Bible more or find greater pleasure in accurate interpretation of its 
truth in delivering its message. What Dr. Reaves has done, whose 
daily living has been as eloquent as his Sabbath preaching, whose 
Christian example has been as mighty as his Christian precept, is 
better known than told, is more imperishably impressed on human 
hearts and more certainly finds expression in human lives which 
he has influenced, than can be written. 

After attending in boyhood the neighborhood school and after 
making preparation for college at Mullins Academy, he entered 
Wake Forest College in the Fall of 1888. During his college course 
he ranked high as a student, his four-year scholarship average of 
92^ made under the handicap of inadequate preparation for col- 
lege, so testifying. His exemplary deportment and spiritual poise 
won for him merited commendation from faculty and students. 

So marked was his ability as a writer that he was elected one of 
the editors of "The Wake Forest Student,'^ and twice elected editor 
of the "Seminary Magazine," at Louisville, where he pursued higher 
studies later. Since then this ability as a careful and discriminating 
writer, has shown itself with acceptable frequency in contributions 
made to the columns of the denominational papers. 

Dr. Reaves was graduated from Wake Forest College, class of 
1892, with the A. B. degree. Possessed of a sturdy self-reliance 
and begging favors of none, he made his own way through college. 
Being in debt somewhat, however, he found it necessary to teach 
for two years. He was put in charge of the Aulander Male Academy. 
His work there was so conspicuously efficient that he won the high- 
est approval of the school authorities who came to consider him a 
teacher and disciplinarian possessing superior qualifications. This 
same self-reliance and determination which enabled him to make 
his way through college was with him still when it came time to 
enter the Seminary and, with aid afforded in supplying country 
churches, he was enabled to graduate from this institution without 
debt. 



290 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

While in charge of the Aulander Male Academy^ he was ordained 
to the gospel ministry, July 28, 1893, by his home church at Mul- 
lins. At this home church his first preaching had been done while 
at home during his first vacation from college. Here he aided the 
pastor in two revival meetings during later college vacations. As 
an evidence of the confidence which his home people had in him, 
he was twice called to the pastorate of his home church. Thinking 
it unwise to accept, he did serve the church most acceptably as 
supply-pastor for several months. 

In October, 1894, being anxious for broader educational pursuits, 
Dr. Reaves entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 
at Louisville, Kentucky. In 189T, after pursuing post-graduate 
studies in Greek, History of Missions and History of Doctrines 
while still an under-graduate, he was graduated from that institu- 
tion with the degree of Master of Theology. After graduation he 
accepted his first pastorate at York and Fort Mill, dividing his 
time between the two. Entering on this pastorate in September, 
1897, he continiiod with it for more than two fruitful and success- 
ful years, when he moved to the First church, at Statesville, North 
Carolina, entering on the wH)rk there in December, 1899. This 
church, wliicli lie found divided into factions, he served faithfully 
for four years, and left it in a harmonious condition, having or- 
ganized from its membership a church in a mill community, which 
in two years became self-sustaining, with a pastor for full time. 

In August, 1900, Dr. Reaves was married to Miss Mamie 
Meacham, of Fort Mill, a talented and excellent woman who, full of 
love for the kingdom and the kingdom^s cause, has been a most 
faithful and competent helper in his activities and labors. 

From the First church at Statesville he went to Murfreesboro, 
Tennessee, entering on the work there immediately. Here, amid 
an atmosphere of culture, the young preacher, notwithstanding the 
fact that he was the successor of some of the strongest men in the 
denomination. Dr. J. M. Pendleton and the Batons having labored 
there, served for four years wnth great credit to himself and for the 
development of the church in grace and denominational activities, 
his influence b^ ing felt throughout the State. Some time during his 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 291 

pastorate here the State Convention was held at Knoxville and while 
in attendance thereon he was among the distinguished preacher- 
visitors selected to occupy the pulpits of the city. Concerning his 
sermon of that day, the leading Knoxville paper said : "The sermon 
of Rev. E. S. Reaves was one of the strongest delivered in the city.'' 
During his pastorate at Murfreesboro, the forces which organized 
Tennessee College, the college of Tennessee Baptists for the educa- 
tion of women, chose this young preacher as leading spokesman 
for the Murfreesboro interests before the Baptist Education Com- 
mission, which located Tennessee College at Murfreesboro, this 
Commission holding its session at that time in Chattanooga. He 
became one of the original trustees of the new college and aided 
in its organization. 

The pastorate in Murfreesboro came to a close in December, 1906, 
when he again became pastor of Fort Mill church, serving Flint 
Hill church in connection with it. The outstanding accomplish- 
ment of this pastorate was the building at Flint Hill of a handsome 
brick building, with all modern Sunday school equipment. This 
$12,000 house of worship, under the direction and help of the 
pastor, was paid for by a country membership of less than three 
hundred. Another notable feature of this pastorate was the num- 
ber of young men who, under his wise guidance and comradeship 
which made them to hear the voice of God more clearly and to see 
the need more vividly, decided to enter the ministry as a life work. 
Some who were converted under his preaching and some who were 
baptized by his own hands and some who were then members of the 
church, now hold successful pastorates in South Carolina, and hold 
him in affectionate remembrance. 

In 1909 Dr. Reaves became pastor of the First church of Honea 
Path, South Carolina, where he served with the admiring com- 
mendation of his flock until August, 1917. Here his ability as a 
financial director and skillfql organizer, as well as a wise spiritual 
adviser, manifested itself with power. He found the church carry- 
ing a debt of a few thousand dollars on a building badly in need 
of repairs and remodeling. The church, after remodeling its build- 
ing at a cost of several thousand dollars, also increased its gifts to all 



292 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

the missionary and benevolent objects. His services at Honea Path 
were so greatly appreciated that the church twice voluntarily raised 
his salary. While at Honea Path, he served Friendship church 
and was the leader in the erection of a commodious house of wor- 
ship. His last official act at this country church, an act which was 
evidence of his alertness in refusing to cling to outgrown standards 
in an on-going world, was to hold graduating exercises when a class 
of seven ladies received the Normal diploma from the Sunday 
School Board. He himself, in order thoroughly to equip himself for 
pastoral leadership, had formerly taken the full Normal course and 
also the post graduate course. He now holds both of these 
diplomas. 

During the last year of his fruitful pastorate at Honea Path, Dr. 
Beaves held the chair of Bible in Anderson College and filled the 
position with such credit to himself and with such satisfaction to 
the college authorities that on resigning he was oflfered doable his 
salary if he would remain. The college to which he had rendered 
such service and his church which loved him so, reluctantly let 
him go. He was not to leave the State, however, without receiving 
merited honor. At its meeting, the board of trustees of Furman 
University, by unanimous and hearty vote, conferred upon him the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity. This degree so worthily bestowed 
is modestly worn. 

With a good name that is absolutely above reproach, with the full 
confidence of the South Carolina brotherhood, and with an influence 
which will abide, he left the State and took up his work at Canton, 
Georgia. The brotherhood in South Carolina will suffer loss in 
the going of one who has ever been an aggressive supporter of edu- 
cation, missions and benevolence, as well as a hearty advocate of the 
doctrine of Christian stewardship. The State Convention, whose 
Secretary he has been, and the Board of Education and the Board 
of Ministerial Education in which he held membership, will with 
difficulty find one who is so faithful in service or wise in counsel. 
Of him and his labors for the Master it can be truly said that his 
love will chant its own beatitudes. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 293 

After a successful year in the pastorate at Canton, Ga. Dr. 
Beaves, on the first of September, 1918, yielded to the call of a 
larger opportunity and became the pastor of fte First Baptist 
«hurch, Union, S. C. On this field, true to his record of a life- 
time, he is bringing worthy things to pass in the development of 
the church and in hie service to the Kingdom. 




HENEY SMITH BEES. 

Rev. Henry Smith Rees has been one 
of the most useful Baptist preachers in 
Georgia. He is now in the middle of 
his ninety-fourth year, having been 
bom on November 23, 1827, He was 
one of twins. His twin brother, John 
P. Rees, died eighteen years ago. His 
parents were James Rees, a native of 
South Carolina, and Rebecca Smith, of 
Jones county, Georgia. His father was 
also a Baptist preacher. 

The subject of this sketch was bom 
in Jasper county, near Clinton, Georgia. Even as early as seven 
jears of age, he had impressions that he would preach. His early 
life was spent in the country, and his educational advantages were 
very poor. He never had more than sis months' training in an 
old-field school. He was converted in 1850. and was baptized into 
the fellowship of Aotioch Baptist church, Columbus Association, 
by Rev. Kimball MasBcy. His baptism took place in Bull Creek. 
Three years later he was ordained to the gospel ministry in Sardis 
church, Columbus Association. The presbytery' consisted of Rev. 
Ejmball Massey, Rev. J. C. R. Lockhart, and his father, Rev. 
James Rees. 

On his entrance into the ministry there began a life of great 
usefulness which has extended its active service through the long 
period of sixty-seven years. How many have been baptized by him 



\ 



294 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

he does not know, as he kept no accurate list, but the number must 
go up to several thousand. He has married more people, and con- 
ducted more funerals than any other preacher in this section of 
Georgia. To give some idea of the extent of his labors, let us 
look at the list of churches he has served. 

He served Mt. Zion and Horeb churches in Talbot county ; Anti- 
och, Piney Grove, Mount Olive, Shiloh and Bethany, in Harris 
county; Bethel, Union, and Friendship, in Meriwether county; 
Senoia, Sharpsburg, Macedonia, Mills Chapel, Bethlehem, Rock 
Spring, Pleasant Hill, and Moreland, in Coweta county; White- 
water, Line Creek, Flat Creek, Glenn Grove, Brooks Station, and 
Woolsey, in Fayette county. He also gave a year of missionary 
service to a negro church that is now a strong, self-supporting 
church, doing a good work. 

After the war he organized the negro membership of Mt. Leba- 
non church into a church called Bethel. This was perhaps the 
first negro church in G^rgia. He also assisted in the organization 
of the ^^Colored Western Association,*' the first negro association 
in Georgia. 

During the war when physicians were scarce, he assisted Dr. Mc- 
Intyre in his practice, and ministered to hundreds of people with- 
out charge, at a time when medical help was very inadequate. He 
had seven brothers who were valiant soldiers of the Confederacy. 

Early in life, in 1857, he married Miss Almeda Brawner. After 
four years she died leaving one daughter, now living in Senoia, 
Georgia. His second wife was Mrs. Martha Brooks, widow of Dr. 
Brooks, and daughter of Mr. Charles Lea veil, a highly useful dea- 
con of Mt. Lebanon church, not far from Turin, Georgia. By this 
union there were four sons and three daughters. This wife is still 
alive, the solace of his old age. 

Mr. Eees's activity was not confined to the pulpit. He was a 
teacher of singing, and a composer of a number of songs, both of 
the words and the music, in the "Sacred Harp" and other song 
books. Besides for fifty years he has been a correspondent of the 
county paper, published at Newnan. His weekly letters signed 
R. A. T. have been gladly read by hundreds. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 296 

His life has been a labor of love in the gospel ministry. He ha9 
not reaped a large reward in financial remuneration, but he has 
strengthened, comforted and blessed a great multitude of people. 
His life is a testimony for the Master. Simple, sincere, unob- 
trusive, he has lived out the great truths of the gospel. He has 
been a pattern to believers in word and in deed. He never swore 
an oath, nor told a lie, nor became drunken. All his life he has 
been an ardent advocate of temperance. No wonder is it that in 
his ninety-first year, he is physically and mentally active. Only 
last year, 1917, did he leave off the pastoral care of churches, and 
even now he responds to calls here and there to conduct funerals. 
He recognizes that his earthly life is drawing near its close, but he 
is confident that his Master ^'is able to keep that which he has com- 
mitted unto him against that day.*' Tennyson^s swan song may 
well be applied to him : 

Sunset and evening star. 

And one clear call to me; 
And may there be no moaning at the bar. 

When I put out to sea. 
But such a tide as moving seems asleep. 

Too full for sound and foam. 
When that which drew from out the boundless deep. 
Turns again home. 
1 



BENJAMIN PEEEY BOBEBTSON. 



HBenj&min Perry Bobertson comee 
from a strong Anglo-Saxon stock. He 
is a direct descendant of the noted 
Robertson family of Scotland and of 
the Westmoreland family of England, 
a family of royal connection. Both in 
the old country and in this conntry 
these two great families have made 
signal contributions of men and women 
of intellectual ability and leadership, 
and Dr. Bobertson in bia life and min- 
istry has given good evidence of a 
proper use of hia splendid heritage. 

Dr. RoIxTtson was born at Tigerville, South Carolina, January 
22, 1863. His father was William Davis Bobertson, and his mother 
was ilarinda Rachel Westmoreland, He pursued his academic 
education in the high schools at Tigorsville and Greer, South 
Caroliiiii, iirni his collegiate training in Judson College, North 
Canilina, fniiu wliich institution he received the degree of Master 
of Arts, lie litteinifd the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 
of Louif-viile, Kentucky, graduating with the degree of Th. M., 
and is also a graduate of the Columbian -George Washington Uni- 
versity, M'ushington, D. C. 

Dr. Robertson's domestic life has been full of sunshine, and that 
sunshine the brighter perhaps for the one tlark shadow. On June 
7, I89S, ho married Miss Mary Ida Osborne, of Brevard, North 
Carolina. This union was blosw'd with four children, Mary Mar- 
guerite, Lila Budd. Ruth Olivia and Grace Love. After eighteen 
years of Imppy fellowship, Jiis wife was called to the great home on 
June 29, ItHO, a devoted ChristiHn woman whose care and whose 
counsel meant much in the sjileiidiil service Br. Robertson rendered 
during those earlier yesirs of his ministry. On July 8, 1911, he 
married Miss Annie Liud Davis, of Atlanta, Georgia, a charming 
daughter of the Earle niul Davis families of South Carolina. In 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 297 

this marriage he was exceptionally fortunate in securing one who 
has been every whit a mother to the motherless, and a thoroughly 
trained Christian worker of large experience as the helpmeet in his 
ministry. This union has been blessed with two children, Marinda 
Lind and Benjamin Perry, Jr. 

In his ministry Dr. Robertson has been very successful in many 
things, but he is pre-eminently a pastor and a preacher. Upon his 
graduation from the Seminary, he entered upon the pastorate of the 
First Baptist church, of Gaffney, South Carolina. This pastorate 
was marked by a program of constructive achievement which 
ushered in a new day for the Baptist cause not only at Gaffney, but 
in that whole section of South Carolina. A splendid modern church 
building was erected, a substantial pastorium built, and the church 
trained for a constructive kingdom service. The Second Baptist 
church of Gaffney was organized under his leadership, from mem- 
bers who withdrew from the First church for that purpose, and a 
development program was projected for the entire Broad River 
Association, to which the First church belonged. During this pas- 
torate Dr. Robertson served as a teacher in Limestone College, and 
was president of the Baptist Young People's Union Convention of 
South Carolina. 

From Gaffney, Dr. Robertson was called to the Fuller Memorial 
Baptist church, Baltimore, Maryland, where he spent six years in 
some of the most effective and strenuous work of his ministry. 
During this pastorate he projected plans for the erection of a mag- 
nificent stone church house. His last service in this pastorate was 
that of the laying of the cornerstone of the new building. It is 
significant that all of the money for the new building, except five 
thousand dollars, was secured in cash and subscriptions before he 
retired. While pastor in Baltimore, Dr. Robertson was selected to 
conduct the united evangelistic work of the city for two years, 
during which time something over ten thousand people were led to 
decide for the Christian life. 

In the latter part of 1905, the ill health of a member of his family 
forced him to leave the more severe climate of Baltimore and to 
seek a benefit for his dear one in the sunshine of Florida. For 



298 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

thirteen months he was pastor of the First Baptist church of 
Arcadia^ in which time the membership of the church was doubled 
and subscriptions and plans secured for a new house of worship, 
which has since been completed and is one of the most convenient 
church buildings in the State. 

About this time, the Florida Baptist Convention, having estab- 
lished Columbia College, at Lake City, was seeking a finaTiniii] 
secretary for the educational interests of the State, and found tiiat 
man in Dr. Robertson. He accepted this position temporarily, and 
for six months spent himself in a canvass for subscriptions and 
students, averaging one address a day for that period. In June, 
1908, the trustees of the college elected Dr. Robertson as Dean of 
the Faculty, in addition to his duties as financial secretary. He, 
however, declined both positions because of his strong conviction 
that he should return to the pastorate. 

In the Summer of 1908 he was called to the pastorate of tho 
Central Baptist church, Atlanta, Greorgia, which he served for three 
years. In these three years the Sunday school attendance was 
quadrupled, a Sunday school annex erected, an assistant pastor 
found necessary for the growing work, the church house kept open 
all the time to serve people to whom it ministered, nearly six hun- 
dred added to the membership of the church and contributions 
for all purposes doubled. While pastor of this church Dr. Robertson 
was honored in many ways by his denomination, and the general 
Evangelical Ministers' Conference made him its vice-president in 
1910 and its president in 1911. 

In March, 1912, the Executive Committee of the Atlanta Baptist 
Association requested Dr. Robertson to become superintendent of 
the Baptist mission work for the city of Atlanta and suburbs, which 
position he filled until May 1, 1915. Dr. Robertson witnessed great 
growth in this association, the number of churches increasing from 
thirty-eight to fifty-three, the church membership from fourteen 
thousand to over seventeen thousand, the value of church property 
increased by more than a half million dollars, and practically every 
section of the city provided with aggressive Baptist church work. 
In the Autumn of 1915, Dr. Robertson became pastor of the St. 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 299 

Charles Avenue Baptist church. New Orleans, Louisiana, his present 
pastorate. 

The commanding pastorate of this noble church in the great 
city of New Orleans presented a fitting field for the versatile talents 
and the untiring energy of this faithful and efl&cient minister. The 
church, located in the best residential section of the city, with an 
immediate population of more than fifty thousand people, and 
within a few blocks of Tulane University and Sophie Newcomb 
School for Girls with about five thousand students, serves one of 
the most strategic communities in the South. 

As a citizen, as well as a minister. Dr. Robertson has made for 
himself a large place in the life and activities of the city of New 
Orleans. He is leading his people in the erection of a magnificent, 
modem house of worship. He was the originator and organizer of 
the Baptist City Mission Council, an organization of aggressive 
laymen, which has already established a half dozen new mission sta- 
tions and is giving general direction and support to other denomi- 
national activities in the city. It was largely due to Dr. Robertson's 
vision and leadership that the idea of a missionary training school 
for New Orleans was revived and pressed until the idea has become 
a definite and promising reality, with the help of the Sunday 
School and Home Mission Boards. When the Baptists of New 
Orleans invited the Southern Baptist Convention to meet with them 
in May, 1917, they turned to Dr. Robertson as the leader, who 
should bear the burden of the responsibility and the executive 
direction, as general chairman of the Committee on Entertainment. 
It is sufficient to say that never in its history has the Convention 
been better cared for. 

October 1, 1918, Dr. Robertson resigned the pastorate of the 
St. Charles Avenue church. New Orleans, in order to devote his 
entire time to the interests of the Baptist Bible Institute, in that 
great city. Though he was president of the Board of Directors, it 
was the unanimous request of the entire Board that he take this 
step. From the inception of this institution he was one of its 
strongest supporters, and from the day he began to devote his en- 
tire time to its interests it has enjoyed increased prosperity. The 



soo 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



Inetitution fille a unique place among Southern Baptists, and it 
vould be hard to find a more devoted friend and capable worker 
for its promotion than Dr. Robertson. Still in the prime of life, 
with increasing physical vigor and mental acumen, and with that 
rich ripening of the spirit which comee to all who faithfully follow 
the waj of the Lord, Dr. B. P. Robertson has the prospect of man; 
fruitful years of blessed service in the preaching of the gospd, in 
which his soul exulte, and in all of the activities of the kingdom 
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, 



ROBERT LEE ROBINSON. 



^^^^■^^^^^^^^^Ml Rer. R. L. Robinson was born in 
^^^^H^^^^^^^^^l Hampton county. South Carolina, July 
^^^H ^^^^1 20, 1874. He was reared on a farm by 

^^^^^^K^ S^^l Christian parents. His father was a 
f^^Km >^^l '3'^^^'*" ^'i*^ ^ great Sunday school 

I^^Hh*. ^^^^M worker in a Baptist church. He was 
^^^^K|r~ Jr^^^l <^onvortod at the famous old Beaver 
^^^^■MMIf^^^^H Dam diurch, on October 17, 1893, and 
^^^^^^^^^^^^H was baptized the following day by Rev. 
^^H|fl^^^^| H. 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M ^'^ public school in bis 

'home community, then entered Brun- 

flon Hipli s<'hool. Bninson, South Carolina, where be applied him- 
self well and made an oxrcllcnt record. He then taught school for 
five years. 

He wn.s callcil into service in the United States army in the 
Spanish-American war, after which he was in the insnruice busi- 
ness in Augusta. Georgia, for tive years. During that time he 
felt called to the ministry. Yielding at once to the call of God, 
he gave up a flourishing and well-paying buainess to take up this 
now line of work. 

Being anibititiiis to equip himself better for the Lord's work, he 
entered Mercer University in 1907. In 1908-1909 he attended the 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 301 

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He returned to Mercer in 
the Fall of 1909 and graduated with the A. B. degree in 1910. He 
supplied at Curtis church, Augusta, Georgia, for several months 
after graduation. While supplying the Curtis church he was or- 
dained to the ministry in the First Baptist church, Augusta, No- 
vember 30, 1910. The presbytery was composed of Dr. M. Ashby 
Jones and Revs. 0. P. Gilbert, Thomas Walker and R. E. L. Harris. 
He entered the pastorate at the call of the Conyers Baptist church, 
December 1, 1910, and remained there, a successful pastor and 
much loved by all, for five years, during which time he was married 
to Miss Julia Maddox, of Conyers, on June 26, 1913. In connec- 
tion with his work at Conyers he served the Stone Mountain church 
from November 1911 to December 1915, also Zion church, Newton 
county, from January 1911 to December 1915. On January 1, 
1916, he began his present work at Woodville and Union Point. 

As a man, Bro. Bobinson has a striking personality. One feels 
upon first meeting him that he is a true Christian in every sense 
of the word. He numbers his friends by his acquaintances, meets 
them with a cheerful smile, a hearty handshake and a kindly word. 
As a preacher, he is earnest and consecrated, putting Jesus and 
his work above everything else, and following him as a disciple. 
His faith and works, together with his influence and teachings 
have enriched and ennobled the lives of all who are under his care. 
His sermons are eloquent and forceful. Unusually earnest in the 
work of the Lord, he preaches clearly and painstakingly the gospel, 
and nothing else, standing for right, and right only. As a pastor, 
he is unsurpassed, always kind, gentle and considerate, always will- 
ing to extend a helping hand. He ministers to the sick and to the 
well, to the fortunate and the unfortunate alike; greets the Chris- 
tian with a word of encouragement, and the unbeliever with a word 
of advice. As he goes about his duties, quietly but earnestly, none 
know him but to love him. His deeds will live after him. What he 
really is radiates itself from the life he lives, and he stands as a 
living monument to all that is best in Christianity. 

His untiring efforts at his Union Point pastorate have been sur- 
prisingly successful. The church was deeply in debt when he began 



SOS BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

his miniBtry, but he took up the work with the determination of 
paying oiT this indebtednesB of $1,000.00 as earl; ae possible. He 

kept this aim always before his people, inspiring them to pat forth 
their utmost sacrifices, in order that they might accomplish this 
purpose. The fruits of his efforts have been realized, and the 
church building stands today, thanks to him and his leadership, a 

beautiful edifice, wholly free from debt. 



WILLIAM WRIGHT HOOP. 



\ 



William Wright Eoop was bom in 
Union District, S. C, April 23, 1841, 
being the second in a family of twelve 
children. Three years later bis parents, 
Martin and Elizabeth King Hoop, re- 
y moved to Georgia and located first in 

/■ ^^^^^ Jackson county, later in Coweta for 
L 9^^^^^^ S!c^Tv& years, and finally, in 1853, in 

Wk ^ ^H^^^^l '^^rroll county, where for two genera- 
H^M^Hj^^^^^l tions the family has been prominent 
^^^^^^^^^^^^H and all &e aSairs of the 

people. Hence from the age of twelve, 
the subject of this slvctch has spent three-score exceedingly use- 
ful years in thi* section of the State. 

His earl> educational advantages were only such as the common 
schools of those days afforded, but there is probably not another 
citizen of Carroll county who has given himself so long and with such 
diligence to the quest of knowledge. The late Dr. W. W. Fitta once 
said to the writer: "Billie Eoop has one of the most remarkable 
minds of all the men I have known." Perseverance in the prose- 
cution of his studies has achieved a goodly degree of learning recog- 
nized even among those of better opportunities. Some years ago 
Eowdon College, at tiie instance of Rev, George D, Harris, Mr. 
Boop's pastor for five years, conferred upon him the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity. At the age of twenty when the War betwe«i 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 303 

the States was bringing about general disorganization, further 
pursuit of a finished education became impossible, further effort 
was abandoned, and young Boop went bravely to the front with 
his comrades, being assigned for a short time with the coast defenses 
of our own State, where he had his first training in military 
discipline. But soon these limits were passed and the regular in- 
stallation as a Confederate soldier followed under Oeneral Robert 
E. Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia, where from May, 1862, 
to April, 1865, lessons were learned through experience and obser- 
vation that helped mature the man for the coming conflicts of life. 

On return he found reception of relatives and friends did much to 
dispel the gloom of war, and to encourage the returning soldiers to 
vigorous effort in the rebuilding of homes and the re-establishment 
of farms and schools. For much time the chosen work of the life 
under consideration was along educational lines, and even until the 
very recent past he has held various responsible positions in that 
sphere. At first he taught in the common country schools, then 
in the higher schools, and later he has been connected with the city 
schools of Carrollton as teacher, and as superintendent for one ses- 
sion, and for about twenty years as a member of the local board of 
education, much of this time in the capacity of secretary and 
treasurer. 

Notwithstanding the importance of the work of the teacher, the 
main business of W. W. Roop has been to preach the gospel, and 
even from the time of his conversion he has felt the compelling 
power of such a conviction. However, the circumstances and in- 
flences of the troublous days of civil strife and reconstruction, 
together with a deep sense of unworthiness, conspired to deprive the 
pulpit of his ministry until he reached the age of thiriy-two, at 
which time the call was so insistently recognized by many of his 
brethren and by churches seeking his services, that Bethesda church, 
Carroll County, set him apart to the holy office on October 11, 1873. 
It was here that he had united with the church twelve years prior, 
having been baptized by Rev. W. H. Daniel, the beloved pastor. 

On November 23, 1869, Mr. Roop was married to Miss Marilia 
Jane Moore, of Carroll county, an associate and school-mate of his 



3M BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

mrlj life, who for nearlr fortv-three Tean walked bv his ode »m 
a compaDion worthy of confidence and the most tender care. Her 
pre^nce wa» ever an in<:pi ration in the home and her devotion and 
gympathy an unfailing support in all his labors of love. But on July 
18, 191.'^, the dee[K:>t <:ha«Iow fell athwart the threshold of that 
home, when Mrs. Htiori 'leparted this life and her husband was left 
to journey alone, yet not alone, because of the presence of him who 
hath .^aid, ''I will ne\er leave nor forsake thee." About two years 
ago he was married again to Mrs. M. P. Huff, a near relative of 
hi.« first wife, and it i> a singular occurrence that there are many 
points of strikin;: n-seniblance between these two excellent ladies, 
alike accomplished in person, in the elegant science of home 
kwping, and in the gracious art of hospitality. 

Viewing this busy life as a whole, we have to note a continuous 
service of forty-three years, during about forty of which he was 
without a vacant Sabbath, with churches mainly in the small towns 
and the country, and for the most part within the Carrollton As- 
sociation, although he has labored in some important fields in the 
Western Tallapoosa and Fairbum. For more than four decades he 
has stood as a stronghold of orthodoxy, both doctrinally and denom- 
inationally. The following is a brief sunmiary of his labors for forty 
years; Baptisms 1047; houses of worship fourteen; ministers eight; 
marriages 266; for two terms moderator, Carrollton Association, 
and for thirty-two ycjirs secretary; associational sermons sixteen. 
All the young men set apart to the ministry have become active 
and useful, and sivoral of them quite prominent. 

One of the most marked traits of the man is industry. His hands 
hav(? been as busy as his active brain. Work is one of the prime 
functions of his life. Recently the writer has beheld an architec- 
tural miracle, in the change of a dilapidated building surrounded 
by most unattractive premises into a place of beauty, under the 
magic touch of this master workman's liaiuls. He is famous in these 
borders for both his flower and his vegetable gardens. Vigorous 
health and good fortune have smiled their approval upon this min- 
ister's tireless toil. No one could ever think of him as having an 
idle hour. He has never felt the need of a vacation. Since about 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 



305 



his sixtieth year this unusuel man has been in bed from illness but 
a single day, and that was in this year, 1917. His powers both of 
body and of mind have been preserved in an extraordinary way. 
For several years the weekly press has printed his "Little Sermons 

for Little Folks", now two hundred in number and in manuscript 
form for the publislior. Reading the Bible through every twelve 
months has been for some thirty years a fixed rule of his life, and 
such devout diligenet' has distinguished him as the authority for all 
his section on questions of faith and practice. 

Bro. Hoop gives proniisc of many more years of usefulness. May 
his strength be supplied as his days shall demand. 



EUGENE COKE ROUTH. 



B Eugene Coke South was born with 
the beat posBible heritage— religious 
parents in moderate circumatancea, 
whose honorable family history can be 
traced back through many generatioiu. 
Bouths came from Normandy to Eng- 
land during the time of William the 
Conqueror. Before the Revolutionary 
War members of the Engliah branch 
of the family came to America. For 
generations they lived in the highlands 
of Tennessee, North Carolina and Vir- 
ginia. The father of E. C. Bouth was bom in East Tenneasee in 
1842. The subject of this sketch was bom at Plum, near La 
Grange, Texas, November 26, 1874. His father's name was J. E. 
Bouth. His mother's name is Mary Stramler Routh. Both parents 
were Baptists. His father was a Baptist deacon. His father died 
in 1890, and the responsibilitiea of the family fell upon the son. 
His mother is still living at Giddings, Texas. There is one sister, 
Leila, who is teacher of Latin in Baylor College, Belton, Texas. 



806 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

December 20, 1897, E. C. Routh married Mary M. Wroe. Six 
children have come to bless their union : Mary Lucile, Ross Holland, 
Alice Elizabeth, Porter Wroe, Eugene Copass, and Leila Elatherine. 
Mrs Routh is a devoted and capable wife and mother. To her is 
due no small part of the success of her husband. 

E. C. Routh was brought up on a farm. He is accustomed to say : 
*'I was often up and at work before day, but not always from 
choice.*^ The schools attended by him were the typical country 
schools of the d^y in Texas. The studies were: the "Blue Back*' 
Speller, Davies^ Arithmetic, McGuflfy^s Readers, Smith's Grammar, 
Monteith's Geography — a splendid foundation for a good education. 

Later he attended the Flatonia High School and the University of 
Texas, graduating from the latter institution with the A. B. degree 
in 1897. During one year he was president of the TJniversily 
Y. M. C. A. and is now a member of the Texas State Historical 
Association. After graduation he was engaged four years in high 
school work, the last three at San Saba, Texas. 

Brother Routh was converted in August, 1891, and joined the 
Baptist church at West Point, Texas. After struggling over the 
call to preach he surrendered and was ordained by the San Saba 
church in May, 1901. For two years, 1901-1903, he worked as mis- 
sionary of the Lampasas Baptist Association. Prom 1903-1907 he 
was pastor of the Baptist church at Lockhart, Texas. It was here 
that the writer of this sketch first met him, and saw his possibilities. 
The Sweetwater Association in West Texas, asked for the services 
of brother Routh in 1907, but he was allowed to remain only six 
months, when South Texas called him back to become editor of the 
Baptist Visitor, located at San Antonio, which paper became the 
South Texas Baptist. This publication was consolidated with the 
Baptist Standard in January, 1912, and the editor of the South 
Texas Baptist became the associate editor of the Baptist Standard. 
In December, 1914, Dr. J. B. Gambrell was elected Corresponding 
Secretary of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention 
of Texas, and resigned the editorship of the Standard. Routh was 
elected editor the same day, which position he now holds, to the joy 
of his manv friends and to the lasting benefit of Baptist causes. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



301' 



Later he was elected business manager also and under his direction 
the Baptist Standard recently enlarged its plans so as to provide 
for a wider distribution of good literature. A large book-store ia 
now in coniioetlon with the paper. 

To those who know Eouth best, it looks as if he was bom to be 
an editor, He hae succeeded in everything that he has undertaken, 
but the other years have been years of preparation for the place he 
now occupies. Hi«: Rynipathies are broad and bis knowledge ac- 
curate. His laburs are painstaking to a degree. It is a saying 
among liis fissociatcs : "If vou want to know, ask Routh." Young 
in years, his work is just beginning. He ia making the Baptiat 
Standard one of the really great Baptist weeklies. Its influence is 
reaching round the world. Baptists need more like him. 



THOMAS SYLVESTER SCOGGINS. 



Mr. D. T. Scoggins, father of the 
I subject of this sketch, was bom in Car- 
I roll county, Georgia, and is a graduate 
I of Bowdon College. On reaching his 
I majority he married Miss Mary Rebecca 
I Wheeler. Before the smoke of the bat- 
I tie of Chickamauga had cleared away, 
I Mr. and Mrs. Scoggins settled on a 
I farm in Walker county, Georgia, near 
LaFayette, the county seat. During 
I the Reconstruction period following the 
War between the States, they established 
their home. Through industrious and economical habits they made 
for themselves a good living, and lived a good life. In the freedom 
(rf the country they led a quiet but useful career. 

On October 39, 1880, a bright baby boy came to bless their home, 
and he was given the name of Thomas Sylvester Scoggins. The 
childhood and youth of Mr. Scoggins were spent on his father's 
farm. When old enough he was trained in the art of tilling the 




308 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

soil^ and daring these yean he laid the foundation for the develop- 
ment of a strong physique. The community schools of the section 
were of only a few month^s duration each year. During the vaca- 
tion periods his time was spent in doing farm work. After reaching 
his maturity and finishing the grammar school, he entered Heam 
Academy. Yielding to a call to preach the gospel he became a 
student in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, in 1909. 

Mr. Scoggins showed in his boyhood special gifts in mechanics, 
and had a fondness for machinery. Much of his time was devoted 
to machine work and to the electrical business. On account of his 
special gifts in these lines, and because of his early experience in 
the operation of machinery and in the electrical business, the con- 
struction department of the city of Atlanta recognized him as being 
a suitable man to take charge of the sewer and brick work of the 
city. This position was filled to the entire satisfaction of that de- 
partment of public work, and of his own accord he gave up the 
position. In the meantime, he held positions with the Gfeorgia, 
C. N. 0. and T. P. Railroads. While in the employ of the Texas 
Pacific Railroad he had charge of the electric plant and headlights. 
In spite of the prospects for promotion, he laid down his railroad 
position to become assistant to the Manager of the Fulton County 
Reformatory for boys. 

While Mr. Scoggins was Assistant Manager of the Pulton Couniy 
Reformatory he had charge of the educational department of the 
institution. Its inmates, of course, were supposed to be all but 
incorrigible, but in spite of that fact Mr. Scoggins loved them and 
soon developed a wonderful degree of tact in appealing to their 
manhood. As a result, he enjoyed the respect and confidence of the 
boys, and he had very little difficulty with them. Be it said also 
that a good per cent of the boys, through the influence which he 
exerted over them, were soon returned to their homes to make glad 
the hearts of their parents by living consistent and useful lives. 
While no provision was made by Fulton county for the support of 
regular preaching services to the boys, Mr. Scoggins, on his own 
motion, secured diflferent ministers to hold preaching services in 



BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 309 

the chapel of the institution on Sunday afternoons. This spiritual 
instruction was given in addition to the Sunday school^ which was 
maintained the year round. 

The splendid success that Mr. Scoggins had in the Pulton County 
Beformatory attracted the attention of his Baptist brethren, who 
knew of his work. Accordingly, in the early Pall of 1914, upon 
the retirement of Bev. B. D. Hawkins as General Manager of the 
Georgia Baptist Orphans* Home at Hapeville, Mr. Scoggins was 
elected to that position, which he still holds, 1918. During the 
nearly four years of his administration many very desirable and 
helpful improvements have been made in the management of the 
institution. Among other things, the overhead expenses have been 
reduced to the minimum, without sacrifice of efficiency. The erec- 
tion of additional buildings and the purchase of additional land, 
besides the reduction of overhead expenses, have been the smallest 
things accomplished under the management of Mr. Scoggins. 
Somehow he at once won the affection and confidence of the chil- 
dren, and he gave them to understand that he trusted them im- 
plicitly. He has a wonderful degree of tact in appealing to the best 
that is in a boy or a girl, and of making the children to have self 
respect, and thereby become self-governing. Liberties are given 
the children, but in every case he inspires them not to abuse their 
liberties, but the rather to use them for their own personal develop- 
ment. During his administration many of the largest boys and 
girls have prepared themselves for responsible and lucrative posi- 
tions, and they are now self-supporting. As these older ones have 
gone out to make their own way in the world they have not been 
unmindful of their obligations to the Home and many of them con- 
tributed regularly and liberally for the support of the institution. 
It may be safely said that there is not a better managed orphanage 
anywhere in all the country than the Georgia Baptist Orphans* 
Home, at Hapeville, Georgia, and much of the credit is due and is 
given to Mr. Scoggins. 

Mr. Scoggins was happily converted in April, 1896, in the six- 
teenth year of his age. From the very beginning of his Christian 
life he manifested unabating interest in his church and in the cause 



310 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

of Christ. In church work, as on the farm, machine shop and 
public works^ he showed a spirit of interest and of determination. 
Littleness then, as now, had his supreme contempt. Honesty and 
integrity, which had marked his early years, were only reinforced 
when he became a Christian. In 1906 he was ordained to the full 
work of the gospel ministry by the Mobley Park church, Bomey 
Georgia. The presbytery was composed of Revs. L. B. Gwaltney, 
R. B. Headden, Spencer B. King, C. T. Willingham and C. L^ 
Conn. 

The life of Mr. Scoggins was diverted from the ministry by a 
call to institutional work. On that account he has exercised his 
gifts in the development of character rather than in serving 
churches as pastor. During his connection with the Georgia Bap- 
tist Orphans* Home he has preached in almost every section of the 
State, and has spoken before many general gatherings. Mr. Scog- 
gins is in no sense an orator, but he delivers his message with a 
directness that attracts and holds the attention of his hearers. The 
sincerity of the man is manifested in his face, and his sterling char- 
acter is shown by his manner of living. The inmates of the two 
institutions over which he has presided hold him in highest esteem, 
both while they are in the institution and after they have entered 
civic life. 

On November 8, 1900, Mr. Scoggins was united in marriage to 
Miss Margaret Jones, of Walker county, Georgia. Mrs. Scoggins 
is a daughter of 0. W. and Mary Ellis Jones, both natives of north- 
west Georgia. Mrs. Jones, the mother of Mrs. Scoggins, was bom 
and reared at Ellis Springs, Catoosa county. Mrs. Scoggins united 
with the Immanuel Baptist church, in Atlanta, after her marriage, 
and was baptized by Rev. Sam Cowan. 

Added to the natural endowments of Mr. and Mrs. Scoggins, 
their experience in institutional work makes them invaluable for the 
position they occupy. Being relatively young in years, the future 
of the work which they have chosen, because thrust upon them, 
is exceedingly bright. They recognize that they are in the business 
of making men and women rather than looking out for food and 
raiment, shelter and education. This is life's highest ideal and 
when faithfully followed will bring richest rewards in the end. 



THOMAS JUDSON SHIPMAN. 




Sorely there never lived a better 
man, a truer friend, a finer citizen, a 
more conaecrated Christian, a more 
faithful and beloved preacher and pas- 
tor, a more devoted son, brother, hoa- 
band and father, than Thomas Judson 
Shipman. 

He was bo genuine, so Bympathetic, 
so conaiderate, bo guileless, so self-eacii- 
ficing, Bo loyal, so ChrisUike, that to 
knoT him, to be with him was to be 
made better and stronger. A distin- 
guished citizen of Roanoke, not a professed Christian, said of turn 
when he was leaving his Virginia pastorate for the one in Meridian, 
Uiss., that Koanoke could well afford to pay him ten thousand 
dollars a year just to reside tliere, because of the good his very 
presence would accomplish. 

A Meridian daily, in an editorial written by one who was not a 
Baptist, said: "The passing of no other single individual of any 
station in life, could have brought to this city so much of general 
grief and sense of loss. He occupied a place in the lives of hun- 
dreds which no other can fill in just the same way. His beautiful, 
inspiring Christian life and character have left their impress upon 
the life of tins community. Hondreds of people have been made 
happier and more hopeful through his Christlike ministrationB. 
Love has been made more lasting and faith more real becaose he 
gave to it something reasonable to take hold of. 
'Thus would we pass from the earth and its toiling. 

Only remembered by what we have done.' " 
No wonder that, at the memorial service held in the Meridian 
church the day after his death, his pulpit chair was draped in ndiite 
instead of black, and that for many Sundays following, a bunch 
of fresh white roses wao placed there where his head was accustomed 
to rest. 



312 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

A great throng gathered at this memorial seryice, to do him 
honor^ and beautiful tributes were paid him by the ministers of 
the city, among whom were Rev. E. S. PTool, Rev. J. T. Phillips^ 
Rev. C. E. Dearman, of the Baptist churches; Dr. D. £L Scudon, 
Rev. D. L. Barr of the Presbyterian; Rev. J. H. Bootejy of the 
Episcopal; Rev. H. B. Watkins, Rev. E. C. Ounn, H. A. Pickard 
and B. L. Sutherland of the Methodist; and Rev. S. J. White of 
the First '^hiiiitian. 

Thf Ministerial Association of the city adopted resolutions, one 
paragraph of which said: "Inasmuch as his labors and in- 
fluence were not confined to his own church and people, but 
he was rather servant of all, ministering to the needy and sorrow- 
ing wherever found, his ministry of love and sunshine, which 
was reflected in his saintly face, will be sadly missed by the people 
of this city at large." 

Thomas Judson Shipman was bom at "Level Green'^ farm, in 
Nelson county, Virginia, August 23, 1862. His father, a beloved, 
honored and successful Baptist minister, was Dr. William Jordan 
Shipman, and his mother, queenly and godly, was Mrs. Sarah 
Louise Johnson Shipman. The boy spent his first nine years on the 
farm where lie was born, and then lived at Salem, Virginia, where 
his father became pastor, and built the Salem Baptist church. 

Here at Salem he attended school and graduated from Roanoke 
College when he was seventeen years old. He then went to Rich- 
mond College for two years, and later to the Southern Baptist 
Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he graduated 
in 1889, taking also a post graduate course. The theme of his 
graduating: essay at the Seminary was, "Wanted: A Man." 

He was convortod before reaching his tenth birthday, and his 
sister says, ''Tlie most ])eautiful mental picture I have now, is that 
of the radiant, grateful faces of our precious mother and father 
as they j)r('S('nte(l their first-born to the Lord, and heard the Mas- 
ter's ^Woll done' '\ 

In 1885, having heard and answered God's insistent call to the 
ministry, he was ordained at the request of the Baptist church at 
Greenville, Virginia, which he was serving at the time. Those who 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 313 

constituted the presbytery called together for this purpose^ were, 
Eev. James B. Taylor^ D. D., Bev. William E. Hatcher^ D. D., 
Rev. W. J. Shipman, D. D., Rev. W. Y. Abraham and Rev. John 
H. Taylor. 

His work at the Baptist dbinrch of Greenville^ which pastorate 
preceded his Seminary course, included the years 1884 and 1886. 
During his Seminary course, he was pastor at CarroUton and 
Sanders^ Kentucky. Following his graduation in Louisville, he was 
called to the church at Midway, Kentucky, where his ministry ex- 
tended from 1889 to 1892. He was called in 1892 to the Duffy 
Street church. Savannah, Georgia, and served there until 1896, 
when he yielded to the urgent appeal of the First Baptist church in 
Roanoke, Virginia, to become their pastor. 

It was at Roanoke that the author of this sketch came first to 
know intimately the man, the preacher, the pastor, the brother and 
friend, who was to enter so largely into his ovm personal and minis- 
terial life. In a number of special evangelistic meetings, in district 
and in State associations, in trustee meetings and gatherings at 
conventions, in a journey through Europe and in the closest of 
friendships, there grew and deepened an affection and confidence 
such as was felt for no other man. 

These close associations continued through the pastorate of 
eleven years at Roanoke, from 1896 to 1907, and through the ten 
years of his ministry at the First Baptist church at Meridian from 
1907 to 1917. He in all these years lived so near to Christ that 
he seemed incapable of an impure thought, or of a selfish and un- 
brotherly deed, and yet he was so genuine, natural and unassuming, 
that you were sure he would be the last man to discover the great 
character which he possessed. 

The church at Roanoke enjoyed great prosperity during all of 
his ministry. Under Dr. Shipman's leadership it came from under 
a heavy and crushing debt, with which the "boom" days had left it, 
and the church grew in numbers, in gifts, in confidence, and in 
prestige and power. When the new Sunday school room was 
erected, "Shipman Hall" was named in his honor, and he was in- 
vited to be present at its dedication. To his untiring work as pastor 



314 BAPTIST BIOGHAPHY 

of this great church, he added the task of planting and fostering 
mission stations in the 'Ifagic City'*, and these, now strong 
churches, show the wisdom of his planning. 

In Meridian, his more than ten years were equally blessed, and 
there as elsewhere, he bound the people to him by the strongest 
and tenderest ties. The church grew in numbers and gifts, and 
again and again was blessed in great revivals. Perhaps the moat 
remarkable of these was the one in which he enlisted the seven 
Baptist churches in a series of simultaneous meetings, with union 
day service and all night prayer-meetings. Here he added a new 
Simday school building to take care of an attendance which had 
grown from about 140 to that of from 600 to 1,000. 

While pastor at Midway, Kentucky, he attended the commence- 
ment exercises at Georgetown College, and was so pleased with one 
of the graduates, Miss Ella Viley Witherspoon, of Lawrenceburg, 
Kentucky, that he sought an introduction, and thus began a friend- 
ship which resulted in their marriage, on November 8, 1893. This 
was during the Savannah pastorate, and never did a Baptist pastor 
have a more devoted, loyal and sympathetic wife than she proved 
herself to be during the nearly twenty-four years which followed. 
God honored this marriage with three daughters. Prances, Louise 
and Dorothy, all of whom he baptized into the membership of the 
church. 

Dr. Shipman was given his honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity 
by his Alma Mater, Eichmond College, and while in Virginia, was 
called upon often to serve this great school. On one occasion a 
speaker at the College said, "Surely with a Boatwright (the presi- 
dent) and a Shipman here, the College need fear no danger from 
reefs or storms." 

He was a trustee of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 
and of Hollins College. The association of which his church was 
a member through its executive committee said : "Dr. Shipman was 
one of the most beloved members ; a leader of this association, hav- 
ing served the association on numerous committees and offices, and 
having fostered and labored imceasingly for the furtherance, wel- 
fare, influence and work of the Baptist denomination, at all times 



^ BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 316 

striving to do the Master's will. In his deaths this association 
has lost one of its most faithful Christian workers, the denomina- 
tion has lost one of its strongest leaders, and the South has lost one 
of her most faithful citizens. A man who possessed the gentle spirit 
of the most gentle, he adorned all things that he touched, and with 
the determined spirit of the most courageous, he could not com- 
promise with wrong.'* 

Looking back over this consecrated and helpful life, a loved one 
says: ''I remember one day a lady was talking to Mother about a 
sermon she heard Brother preach, and she said, ^rs. Shipman 
aren't you proud of him ?' She said in her characteristic way, TIo, 
not proud of him, just so grateful and humble because the dear 
Lord gave me such a boy." 

Through a number of years he had toiled on, though often in 
great pain of body. Once in special meetings he called a small 
number of the workers aside, and asked them to pray that he might 
be given strength to continue the work through that meeting, only 
they were not to speak of his physical condition to others. Finally, 
having sought relief through skilled physicians, and his noble church 
insisting that he take such vacation as might be needed for full 
restoration, he went to a noted Virginia surgeon for an operation. 
After four weeks he was convalescent, and seemed to be on the 
road to recovery, and was planning for the return to loved ones and 
to his beloved church. There was a sudden turn for the worse, 
and in a few moments he passed to his great reward. This was on 
Saturday, June 30, 1917. 

On the Monday following, the body was taken to Rice, Virginia, 
where the family burying ground is located, for whom he had 
always had such manly affection, and concerning whose comfort 
he had always been so tenderly solicitous. Dr. T. Clagget 
Skinner, of the Second Baptist church, Richmond, who had 
succeeded Dr. Shipman as pastor in Roanoke, presided and spoke 
words of appreciation of his character and life. Others who were 
present and who took part in the services, were Dr. J. P. Vines, 
W. R. Terrell, W. L. Shields, of Roanoke ; Dr. John J. Wicker and 
Dr. A. B. Rudd, of Richmond; Hon. W. W. Venable, of Meridian, 
and Dr. W. W. Hamilton, of Lynchburg. 



816 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY * 

Under a wealth of floral designa, sent by the dmrdiea of which 
he had been pastor, and by many friends and loved ones, the body 
of Thomas Judson Shipman was laid to rest with Masonic honorn 
in the cemetery adjoining the Pisgah church, at Rice, in Prince 
Edward county, Virginia. 

His life-long friend. Dr. E. E. Bomar, has written of him aa 
follows : 

When you went home, loving friend, 

A gleam of light went from the earth — 
Embodied light resplendent, which did send 

Its radiance whereso'er was dearth. 

We never met but that I felt that light 

Within my soul. You did not try 
To shine, but lived with easy might 

The life that was not bom to die. 

God early touched your hair with gray, 
Which, with the years, grew white as snow. 

As if to crown youth's face and say 
"This is Grod's man; let men know 

That here a soul its true communion keeps 

With God in faith and hope and love. 
Yet walks with men, and ever steeps 

EarthV thoughts in thoughts of God above.'* 

comrade heart; buoyant friend and sure; 

man that always loved his fellow men! 
We miss vou Tom, but to the end 

We, too, will smile in pain we must endure. 



JOHN DICKINSON SIMMS. 




In 1788 Robert and Sarah Dickinson 
JimmB emigrated from North Carolini 
o Hancock county, Georgia. The 
name of John was given to one of their 
sons, who in young manhood was united 
in marriage to Comfort Grace, a daugh- 
ter of Joshua Grace. John Dickinson 
Simme, son of the elder John Simint, 
was bom in Coweta county, Georgia, 
December 19, 1830. His parents had 
moved to Coweta county from Hancock 
county, Georgia, two years prior to hii 
birth, 1888. They settled in a virgin forest of the coun^, in which 
they cleared a place for their home and converted a large area of 
the forest into a fertile farm. They among other pioneer lettleiB 
endured hardehips and suffered many inconveniences, but with it 
all developed strong appetites, active minds and untarnished char- 
acters. They reared a family of thirteen children, five girls and 
eipht boys. All the children were members of a Baptist church. 
John Dickinson Simms, the subject of this sketch, the only 
surviving child, obtained his education under many disadvantages 
in the old log school house of the early days. It might be said that 
be learned more in the Bchool of honest toil than he did from the 
old blue back speller and Davies' arithmetic. The high ideals of 
his father and mother were inherited by the sterling son, and from 
early youth he bore the marks of the making of a man. 

From young manhood Mr. Simme was recognized as a leader 
among hie fellows and as being a man of honesty and integrity. 
Accordingly, his fellow citizens elected him justice of the peace of 
bis district, and his conimiseion had just been received at the out- 
break of the War between the States. The oicccllent qualities of 
Mr. Sinmis were recognized beyond the limits of the rural district 
in which he lived. At the beginning of the war Governor Joseph 
E, Brown commissioned him as Captain of Militia, which would 



318 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

have kept him out of active service. The position offered did not 
suit the ardent temperament of Mr. Simms, and so, in 1862, he en- 
listed in Company F, Sixteenth Georgia Battalion of Cavalry. 
This company he organized and went out as its captain, serving in 
this position through the war. His first service was with General 
John A. Morgan, in Kentucky. Later he was with General Early 
through Virginia to Washington City. Under General Early he 
performed a great deal of detached duty. No company ever had 
a braver or more considerate captain, and no general a more ef- 
ficient officer. 

After the war. Captain Simms returned to Coweta county and 
engaged in farming, which he has successfully carried on ever since. 

In 1877 he was elected to the legislature, it being the first legis- 
lature convening after the Constitutional Convention, and served 
for a term of three years. Captain Simms has also served his 
county in many other capacities and has held many positions of 
trust by the suffrage of his people. And now, in the eighty-eighth 
year of his age, his form is erect, his spirit is buoyant, and he is 
greeted everywhere by his acquaintances as "Uncle John.'* 

In 1848, Captain Simms married Miss Louisa Posey Hanson, 
of Heard county, Georgia, the daughter of Thomas K. and Gracie 
Moseley Hanson. Three children have blessed their home: Ella 
A., wife of Asbury H. Arnold; Fannie L., wife of H. M. Arnold 
and John H. Simms. Captain Simms was bereft of his beloved 
wife, January 8, 1913, in the eighty-second year of her age. The for- 
titude with which he bore his sorrow is an evidence of his strength 

of character. 

Captain Simms united with the Bethel Baptist church. Heard 
county, Georgia, on August 14, 1844. The same church elected 
him a deacon in August, 1882, and the ordination sermon was 
preached by the lamented Dr. J. H. Hall, so long pastor in New- 
nan. After removing to Newnan, Captain Simms united with the 
First Baptist church, of which he is a substantial and influential 
member. Though considerate of the feelings and opinions of others, 
Captain Simms is every whit a Baptist. In matter of religion, the 
church of which he is a member has first consideration. Beyond 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 319 

that he is interested in his association and in all the enterprises 
which it represents. During his whole church life he has been loyal 
both to his church and to his pastor. They have found in him a 
never-failing friend. 

Captain Simms has always been an ardent friend of education. 
He educated his daughters at Cox College, LaGrange, Georgia, and 
his son at Mercer Universit}% Macon, Georgia. In the rural district 
in which he lived he made liberal gifts of land and money for the 
establishment and maintenance of the best possible schools for 
his neighborhood. His interest in primary education has not 
ceased, though his own children have long since enjoyed the finish- 
ing touches of a collegiate education. 

Captain John Simms is a man of striking personal appearance. 
He stands a little better than six feet tall, and though the weight of 
eighty-eight years rests upon him, he is as straight as an arrow, 
and though his face bears the marks of age it is often wreathed 
in smiles, indicative of a happy heart and a contented life. Captain 
Simms is a rare type of Christian gentleman, and though by his 
frugality he has amassed a competency to sustain him in his declin- 
ing years, his greatest fortune consists of his accumulated influence 
for good, which will live for generations after his transition to the 
other world. 

The country home of Captain Simms, in Coweta county, was a 
favorite resort for his friends and brethren, and especially Baptist 
ministers. While his dislikes are very pronounced, his love for 
his friends and brethren is exceptionally strong and abiding. To 
be host to his friends is one of his greatest pleasures. He knows 
how to entertain with old fashioned Southern hospitality. It is 
impossible to be his guest without going away with higher ideals 
of friendship and of Christian manhood. He impresses his asso- 
ciates as being the soul of honor as a gentleman, and no one dares 
to put a question mark after his honesty and integrity. He belongs 
to a distinct school of Christian manhood that stands four-square 
for civic righteousness and for the best in Christianity. As an 
evidence of the high esteem in which Captain Simms is held by the 
Pirst Baptist church, of Newnan, Georgia, upon the decease of 



320 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



Judge Alvin D. Freeman, he was made chftirman of the board of 
deacons, which is composed of twenty-four men. In this capacit;, 
as in all others, he is serving with distinction. 



ALDIXE KIEFFER SNEAD. 



HAldine Kiefler Snead was bom in 
Fayette county, Ga., August 28, 1876. 
His father was John Snead and his 
mother Patience Wall Snead, repre- 
senting two of tiie most eubstantial 
families in their section. 
Like many men who have risen to 
places of much usefulness, this youth 
spent a number of years on a farm. In 
his early surroundings there was noth- 
ing spectacular or even extraordinary 
to impress his plastic mind, but his was 
the priceless boon of growing up amid the scenes and circumstances 
of a typical country community. Indeed it has been said on good 
authority that tin' boy gave no special promise, but the sterling 
traits of his woitlty [)-<v:enitorB were in hie nature awaiting their 
hour under the ni.igic touch of time. Mathematics will never deter- 
mine the power ami meaning of holy environment. Near the birth- 
place of the lad stood old Antioch church, a mainstay of orthodoxy 
and a stronghold of moral forces for a considerable portion of 
middle Georgia. The pulpit was usually filled by men of ability 
and commanding influence. The power of all these agencies of the 
kingdom still grips the heart of the prominent business man who 
has issued into life's work from such simple beginnings. 

Doubtless he recognize^i in those first thirteen years the most 

useful discipline of his life in the laying of foundations physical 

and moral upon which the sturdy structure of his manhood stands. 

But passing by the rudiments of his education, he did high school 

work from 1889-1893 first at Fayetteville, then at Hampton, and 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 321 

finally at Camesville, finding opportunity in the meantime to 
complete a course at Sullivan and Crighton's Business College in 
Atlanta, from which he graduated in 1891. In the Fall of 1893 he 
entered Peabody College for Teachers at Nashville, Tenn., and 
received his diploma from that famous institution in 1896. In 
this same year, at the age of twenty, his public service, all of which 
has been in the State of his nativity, began with the principalship 
of the Lavonia Institute and continued for two sessions; during 
1898-1900 he occupied the same position with the Donaldsonville 
High School; 1900-1901 (Fall term) with the Whigham Public 
School, being during the Spring term at the head of the Brooks 
High School, near his birthplace. His last distinctly educational 
work was done as principal of the Hampton Graded School 1901- 
1903. He has never ceased, however, to be the teacher, for when 
he speaks either in church or elsewhere there is until this day some- 
thing of the authoritative in his voice. 

But when in 1903 Mr. Snead organized the Temple Banking 
Company he entered his life calling. He was cashier here until 
1906, when he saw a larger opportunity in the substantial little 
city of CarroUton, and here just at the hour when this staid old 
town was beginning to awaken to the advantages of modem build- 
ings and public utilities, he organized the Citizens Bank, an insti- 
tution which has made steady advances under his judicious manage- 
ment until today it enjoys the unique distinction of a record sur- 
passing all others in this immediate section of Greorgia. The success 
of this enterprise has been built as largely upon confidence as upon 
the business sagacity of its founder. For four years he was cashier, 
for two vice-president, and since January, 1913, he has been the 
president of this bank. For two years he has been chairman, and 
for one, vice-chairman of Group Three, Georgia Bankers Association. 

This young man of affairs has not made the too common mistake 
of allowing business to crowd out religion, but for a decade has 
been the Bible school superintendent of the First Baptist church, 
in which for almost as long a period he has been the vice-chairman 
of the board of deacons. His Sunday school was the first in Geor- 
gia to reach the A-1 grade, chiefiy because of the intelligent and 



322 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

diligent attention he gave to it. In all the activities of the church 
he takes the liveliest interest, never missing a prayer meeting 
service without a providential cause. In the broader work of his 
association and of the conventions he feels the keenest delight and 
always stands unflinchingly loyal. Likewise, he has identified him- 
self with all the phases of his community's upbuilding, particularly 
in matters of education. A man of unusual intelligence, doing his 
own thinking, and reading with careful discrimination, he has been 
able to bring many valuable suggestions to his people. He is one of 
Woodrow Wilson's "forward-looking men*', whose ideas have some- 
times been too advanced for his fellow-builders. 

If the life under review shines for anv class of virtues more than 
another, we shall have to come to the man's home to find them. 
It is safe to say that a man cannot be stronger elsewhere than he is 
at home. The Scriptures make such an exaction of the bishop. 
It is well known that those wholesome Puritan qualities which have 
entered into the very warp and woof of an American life are found 
in no mean measure in the home of A. K. Snead. In deed and in 
thought he is as pure as a woman and as white as a lily. The Bible, 
the Sabbath, the church, the ministry and all things holy are re- 
garded with due reverence. He is loyal to his home, his friends and 
his church almost to the point of bias. He was happily married 
some twenty years ago to Miss Elizabeth Wooten, of Bainbridge, 
Georgia, and the union has been blessed with four children, three 
sons and a daughter, all of whom bear the mark of divine favor. 
Mrs. Snead is a woman of intelligence and initiative, of the hi«rhest 
Christian character, and like her husband is unswervingly loyal to 
home, church, friend and all the community's highest interests. 
The children have all, except the baby boy, like their parents, come 
early into the church, the father having been converted at ten, and 
the mother at eight. 

This useful family stands for the best in life, and as one of the 
forward forces of community building its place is secure. 



OEORQE COLON STEED. 




One of the most useful and efficient 
Baptist ministers in the State is the 
present popular pastor of the church 
at Crawfordville, Georgia. 

George Colon Steed was born at High 
Shoals, Georgia, on December 4, 1876. 
His father was Nathaniel Green Steed, 
and his mother's maiden name was 
Cornelia Blair, When George was 
eight years of age his father moved to 
a farm in Oconee county, where he 
farmed four years; then a year waa 
spent on another farm near Farmington, where the future miniBter 
helped his father in a grist mill and was hired out to work patches 
nearby. Their next move was back to High Shoals, where the boy 
cultivated gardens for the people for a year, when he wait to work 
in the cotton mill there and remained until he was twent?-one years 
old. 

His educational advantages were decidedly limited in early life. 
Prom six to seven he went to school, after which time he received 
no more education except what he "picked up" until he was twenty- 
one. He attended the common school at High Shoals for three 
years, paying his tuition with money earned by cutting wood at 
nights and on Saturdays. During this period he felt called to 
preach. In the Fall of 1908 he entered Hiawaseee High School, in 
Towns county, Georgia, and after remaining there three years, he 
entered the Sophomore class of Mercer University, graduating with 
the A. B. degree in 1908. During his Senior year he was president 
of the Young Men's Christian Association. 

Mr. Steed was baptized in 1893 by Dr. H. R. Bernard, who 
preached at the Shoals for nine years. During a meeting in which 
the pastor was assisted by Bev. Charlie Edwards, of Athens, George 
was converted while engaged in the routine work of the mill. 
When the burden of sin rolled away, he sang the praises of God, 



324 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

in which the buzz of the machinery seemed to take part. Soon 
after this his work called him to pass in the dark through the base- 
ment to oil a line shaft under the machine shop; and every day, 
as he went through, he knelt beside a rock pillar and prayed. Like 
Spurgeon and a host of others who had a similar practice, he was 
helped spiritually. 

Deacon James Frazer taught him the great truths of the Bible 
and Baptist doctrine in his Sunday school class, and put George on 
his feet as an efficient leader of the prayer meetings. The pres- 
bytery conducting his ordination in the church at High Shoals was 
composed of Revs. T. E. McCutchen and J. W. McWhorter, and 
deacons R. J. Martin, Z. N. Cross and E. H. Anthony. During 
his course at Mercer he served Harmony church, in Putnam county. 
Mars Hill, in Oconee county, Phillips Mills, in Wilkes county, one 
of the churches served by Jesse Mercer. After graduating he located 
in Madison and served Bethany, in Morgan county, for three years, 
and Rutledge, for a short time. He then accepted the pastorate at 
Crawfordville, in September, 1911, where his work has been ever 
since, in connection with Phillips Mills, Sandy Cross, in Taliaferro 
county, and Jennings. 

On the 29th of December, 1907, he was married to Miss Jennie 
Williams, of High Shoals, to whom two daughters were bom, one 
of them dying in infancy. To the faithful assistance of his devoted 
and consecrated wife our brother owes much of his success. Special 
mention might be made of many others, among whom were his 
godly father, the man of God who baptized him, also Col. Clifford 
M. Walker and Rev. W. S. Walker, of Monroe, John W. Rodwell, of 
High Shoals, Rev. T. E. McCutchen, Dr. E. J. Forrester, of Mercer, 
and Prof. A. B. Green, at Hiawassee. While in school in the 
mountains he walked four miles to a school house and back for a 
year, preaching once a month, and received not a copper for his 
work, but was greatly blessed otherwise. 

George Steed, at the age of forty, though not yet in his prime, 
stands among the best of his time. Nature has been liberal with 
him as to his physical and intellectual endowment, and God has 
blessed him spiritually. In bodily appearance he would attract 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 325 

attention anywhere. His hardships in early life gave him a well 
developed body, a disciplined mind and a sympathetic nature, which 
have been matured by Christian culture and hard work in his 
calling. His ideals are high, his sympathies are broad, his piety is 
genuine and deep, his knowledge of Ood and of divine things, as 
well as of human nature, is pronounced. His favorite theme is 
"Christ crucified and risen again.'^ In talking about his Savior he 
seems perfectly at home, and no man can surpass him in his zeal 
for the salvation of others. No man is more beloved than he among 
those who know him well. In a revival meeting he is an earnest, 
tender, faithful, forceful and effective preacher of the gospel of 
Christ, with a past that is clean and with a future that is bright 
with promise and hope. 

In pastoral work he is as successful as in his pulpit efforts. In 
him the shepherd heart is well developed, all classes having in him 
a true friend, ever the same, simple in faith, unaffected in manner, 
easily approached, fervent in spirit. He is always a welcome guest 
' in the home. His kindly face is never ruffled by the changing 
passions that often sway the hearts of others. His preaching is 
fervid and thorough, and all who hear him, like those beholding 
Peter and John coming from prison, can see that he has been with 
Jesus. His words, both in the pulpit and outside of it, are always 
well chosen, his reasoning is sound, and his enunciation is uni- 
formly musical and clear. 

His coming from the humbler walks of life places him in a class 
with Moody, Martin Luther, Grant, Lincoln, Alex Stephens, Ben 
Hill, David Livingstone, Thomas A. Edison, James A. Garfield 
and others, who used the obstacles of early life as stepping stones 
to higher things. And none will merit more than he the words 
of Goldsmith about the pastor of his boyhood : 
"And as a bird each fond endearment tries 
To tempt its new fledged offspring to the skies. 
He tried each art, reproved each dull delay. 
Allured to brighter worlds and led the way.*^ 




THOMAS JOSEPH TALLET. 

Texas, the Lone Star State, is great 
in the production of men as well as in 
the size and yield of her broad aod 
fertile fields. The names of great men 
who first saw the light in that great 
State are legion. Somehow the expanse 
of her prairies and the square miles of 
her territory give breadth of vision to 
her sons, and from early youth they 
learn to think in the large. During the 
past generation Texas has sent forth 
many of the foremost business men, 
statesmen, educators and preachers in all the land. Not least among 
her preachers is Thomas Joseph Talley, the subject of this sketch. 
Like a large per cent of the men who have become prominent in 
church and State. Br. Talley was born on a farm, in the rich black 
land belt near Temple, Texas, on March 10, 1874. The first twen^- 
one years of his life wtro spent under the parental roof. These 
early years wore spent near to nature and to nature's God, being 
free from the tem|)tntions so common to city life. Thus the en- 
vironment of the formative period of his life was of the healthy and 
wholesome kind so eomhicive to a strong and rugged character. 
He was converted at the age of sixteen and united with the Heiden- 
heinier Baptist church in the liome community. He was baptized 
by Rev. A. Wilder, the pastor. 

Prior to Dr. ThUcv's entering Baylor University at the age of 
twenty-one, his educational advantages had been limited. He 
spent five and ii half years in the university, compteting the highest 
courses offered by that institution. It was while he was a student 
in Baylor that he heard tlic call of God to preach. During 
his last years in Baylor he was pastor of the old home church where 
he was born and reared and where he was converted and joinecl 
the church. His work in his home community was signally blessed 
of God. He led to Christ and baptized many of the neighbors that 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 327 

had known him from his infancy. He had the unusual experience 
and joy of leading to Christ and baptizing his own father and two 
brothers and two sisters. 

Realizing the need of more thorough preparation for his life work, 
he entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, from which he graduated in 1905. He was 
honored by Howard Payne College, in 1919, with the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity. During his course at the Seminary he was 
ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry by the McPerrin 
Memorial church, at Louisville, on February 20, 1901. The ordain- 
ing presbytery was composed of Drs. E. Y. Mullins, William H. 
Whitsitt, W. W. Hamilton, W. 0. Carver, B. H. DeMent and W. J. 
McGlothlin. 

Prom the beginning of Dr. Talley^s ministry he has been in 
demand as pastor, and has served some excellent churches. Prom 
the Seminary he went to the pastorate of the First Baptist church 
of Mangum, Oklahoma. His next pastorate was at Quanah, Texas. 
The First Baptist church at Gainesville, Texas, in seeking an able 
preacher and tactful pastor, secured the services of Dr. Talley in 
1912. This union was happy and fruitful from the beginning, 
and for more than six years increased in strength, and the church 
under his leadership did a monumental work. But just in the 
midst of his successful labors in that rapidly growing field, there 
came a call from the First Baptist church, of Brownwood, Texas. 
This is one of the great churches of the State and the responsibility 
and opportunity is greatly increased because of the fact that 
Howard Payne College is located by the church. It seemed, not 
only to the church but to the Baptists of this great section that 
Dr. Talley was the man for this important situation. He accepted 
the call and from the beginning the Lord's blessing has been upon 
the work. In addition to the manifold duties of a large pastorate, 
he is rendering a conspicuous and constructive service as pastor- 
evangelist, and is in constant demand for revivals throughout the 
country. The leaders of his denomination recognize him as one 
of the safe and far-sighted counselors in denominational work. He 
is a member of several of the important boards, of his association, 



328 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

of schools and colleges and of the General Baptist Convention of 
Texas. 

One among the many notable achievements of Dr. Talley was in 
winning the hand of Miss Eula Vesey, of Waco, Texas, to whom he 
was united in marriage on October 8, 1903. Mrs. Talley is a cul- 
tured and consecrated Christian woman and is a fitting helpmeet 
to her husband in his great work. 

A distinguished preacher in the State of Texas, who has known 
Dr. Talley for a long period of years, sums up his excellent gifts 
in the following language: "A commanding physique, a cultured 
mind, an affable nature, a warm heart, an eloquent tongue, a 
brotherly spirit — that epitomizes the life and character of Dr. 
Thomas Joseph Talley, pastor of the First Baptist church in the 
city of Brownwood, Texas, and one of the very influential and best 
beloved ministers of Christ in the Lone Star State. To know him 
intimately, as many of his friends do, is to have a heightened appre- 
ciation of the worth and weight of a real man. In his magnetic 
personality Dr. Talley combines, in happiest manner, the sturdy 
elements of unyielding conviction and courage with the winsome 
gracCvS of refinement. As a Christian he humbly wears the inefface- 
able marks of the Lord Jesus, and bears the gracious fruits of a 
regenerated heart. His consecration is complete, and all his splen- 
did gifts and powers are dedicated to the work of lifting up the 
crucified Christ before men. He is a passionate preacher of the 
gospel of redeeming love, and the fires of evangelism burn on the 
altar of his soul in perennial glow. The conversion of sinners and 
the salvation of the lost is the burden of his message, and he is 
turning many unto righteousness." 

With his educational equipment and his experience as preacher 
and pastor and denominational worker, the future of Dr. Talley is 
as bright as a May morning. Hosts of his warm and admiring 
friends are bound to him as by cords of steel. His brethren love 
and trust him and his great church stands by him with unfailing 
loyalty. He has been president of the Pastor^s and Laymen's Con- 
ference of Texas Baptists, and is a presiding oflBcer of poise and 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



329 



ability. The auccesBes which have attended his efforts during hia 
minieterial career are only an earnest of greater things in his ever- 
increasing uBefuInesB. 



JOSIAH BLAKE TTDWELL. 




Professor Tidwell, like many other 
distJnguished preachers, is a prodact 
of the open country. He has had also 
that severe discipline imposed by strug- 
gles with poverty, which has been sndi 
a marked experience in the lives of 
many of our moat eminent Americans. 
The fact that his father had no ac- 
quaintance with the schools may have 
I accentuated the growing boy's quench- 
less thirst for knowledge, for Qie father 
was a preacher, and no doubt felt keen- 
ly his need of training and thereby stimolated his son in the effort 
to obtain a college education. The memory of his father's limita- 
tions in educational equipment was always a spur to young Tidwell. 
Josiah Blake Tidwell was born October 8, 1870, in Blount county, 
Alabama. His boyhood was spent on the farm, engaged in such 
duties as clearing up timbered lands, driving ox teams which pulled 
saw logs, making trips to market which required a week or ten days 
each time. The country schools claimed little of his time, for the 
terms lasted usually from two to three months, and during this 
early period he never saw a college. 

Before he was seventeen years of age he was married to Miss 
Kansas Beid, a wife whose sympathetic co-operation meant very 
much to his career. The next four years he lived on a rented farm, 
but great visions of a life of service were breaking upon him, and he 
improved the evenings of his days of toil and rainy days of leisure 
in the study of books. By such preparation he was enabled to stand 
an examination for a teacher's certificate, and there, in the home 



330 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

community, he mixed teaching and farming with excellent effect 
The crisis in his life that was to transform it was his conversion, 
which took place shortly before he was twenty-one. He united 
with a Baptist church. Old Liberty then, now called Oneonta, 
being the first of his immediate family to come out from the **Hard- 
shells/' His father soon followed him into the fold of the "Mis- 
sionaries/' and preached the new faith until his death. Almost 
synchronously with his conversion he felt called to preach. This 
was also a call to college, and forthwith he set out, with wife and 
two children, and slender purse. He entered a little so-called col- 
lege at Walnut Grove, Alabama, and remained there two years, 
supporting himself by teaching and manual labor between terms. 
He even carried out a contract to clear off the timber from several 
acres of land, doing the work with his own ax during the Summer 
vacation. 

He then went to Howard College, Birmingham, Alabama. By 
working Saturdays in a shoe store, teaching in the Summer, and 
preaching to little churches on Sundays, he managed to sustain 
himself, but not without wearing patched clothing, mending his 
own shoes and enduring many privations. But during all this time 
he had a covenant with God that he would never quit school until 
the last meal was gone. If at breakfast he had enough for noon 
he would go to school that morning. Once he was so near out that 
he could not study for two nights. While praying before the day 
dawned he was seized with a thought which he wrote out in an 
equation: "What I am and can do plus Grod equal enough." That 
formula has remained his inspiration through the years. The ill- 
ness of his wife, whose death later was a sore bereavement, plunged 
him heavily in debt, but never losing heart he went on. 

The Twenty-first Avenue church, Birmingham, called him for 
pastor, and during the last three years of his course in Howard 
College he preached there twice each Sunday. His college grades 
were high, for four years averaging one hundred every day except 
two in Mathematics, and for the five years spent in Howard the 
average grade for everything studied being 97-9/10%. He took an 
active interest also in the college societies, and won a number of 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 331 

debates and oratorical contests. Once he represented the college in 
an interstate collegiate contest at the Alabama State Chautauqua. 

Another epoch in Dr. TidwelPs life was his election to teaoh 
Greek and Latin in Decatur College, Decatur, Texas. This oc- 
curred upon his graduation from Howard College, and henceforth 
he determined that his labors would be in the Lone Star State. 
He stayed at Decatur College eleven years, serving the last two as 
president, with conspicuous ability. Meanwhile he had been 
granted the M. A. degree from Baylor University, for special work 
done by correspondence. He has also done much special study 
by way of correspondence courses in the great universities, and has 
undertaken and completed much constructive study along lines of 
independent research. While at Decatur he did a significant work 
with some voluntary Bible classes, which attracted the attention of 
Dr. B. H. Carroll, who upon removing to Fort Worth as head of the 
New Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, recommended 
Professor Tidwell as Teacher of Bible in Baylor University, a posi- 
tion he has held with increasing power for nine years. 

Dr. Tidwell's denominational services have been large. In 1909, 
as endowment secretary of Baylor University, he raised in cash and 
notes nearly ninety thousand dollars. He has served as a member 
of many denominational boards. State boards outside of Texas 
have sought him for secretary. He has been elected as president 
of several academies and colleges, but felt he could not accept. 

As an author Professor Tidwell has made an honorable begin- 
ning. He has printed a number of tracts, writes frequently for the 
papers, and has published three books : "The Bible Book By Book,'^ 
"The Bible Period By Period," and "The Sunday School Teacher 
Magnified." The first two books have had large sale. They are 
used by many of our colleges and academies, and by many women's 
societies and Young People's Unions, and the latter in Sunday 
school teachers training classes. 

Dr. Tidwell is accounted one of the great preachers of his State. 
While teaching all these years he has been active in pastoral labors, 
and has been frequent supply pastor in the most important churches 
of the State — Houston, Temple, Tyler, Waco, Austin, and Dallas — 



332 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

often for months at a time when these great churches were without 
pastors. During vacation months and on occasions during the ses- 
sions of college he has engaged himself in evangelistic meetings. He 
has seen more than 3,500 baptized in these meetings during tiie 
twenty>one years since his graduation. He is quite popular as a Con- 
vention speaker. Three notable addresses before the Texas Baptjst 
Convention have been: "Christian Education^" 1909; **The Oraoe 
of Liberality/' 1914; and "The Convention Sermon,'' 1917. These 
were characterized by scholarly care in preparation, saneness of 
thought, clearness of style, and great power in delivery. He is a 
frequent speaker in institutes and on commencement oocassions. 
He takes an active part in all movements for social and civic im- 
provement. His Alma Mater, in recognition of his attainments as 
a preacher, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. 

On September 7, 1910, after living several years as a widower, 
Dr. Tidwell married Miss Minnie Lee Hays, of San. Marcos, Texas. 
His wife is a woman of rare charm and beautiful consecration, and 
shares the honors and opportunities for service which come to her 
gifted husband. 

Dr. Tidwell is modest and retiring. He does not thrust himself 
forward in presumption. But no task assigned him by his church 
or denomination ever fails to get the best thought of which he is 
capable. He does his best at every task. He never seeks honors or 
to be served, but is happiest when serving others. 




ALHRRT BELL VAUGHAN. 

Some preachers are distinguiehed for 
their oratory, some for spiritual force, 
some for other qualities. N'one pre- 
Hents a more distinct individuality than 
Dr. Albert Bell Vaughan. In none, 
poeaibly, is the secret of his power more 
elusive, more the product of the vari- 
ous elements of personality. He is an 
effective preacher of the gospel, and be 
lives close to his Lord. Many others, 
however, have resembled him here 
without attaining the heights of influ- 
ence which he has held for many years over his brother ministers 
and laymen alike. 

Dr. Vaughan is in many respects a preacher's preacher. An ex- 
ceptional number of gifted gospel messengers were converted under 
his preaching and the silent stimulus of his life, and many others 
are largely indebted for inspiration and enlightenment to his kindly 
interest and his profound knowledge of the Scriptures. Here, 
probably, is to be found the chief source of his power. His faith in 
the Bible as the inspired Word of God is complete and immovable; 
and while few are so thoroughly conversant with the commentators 
and theologians, both past and present, the most vigorous and 
fruitful eftorts of his mind have been placed upon the accurate dis- 
cernment of the full meaning of God's own Word. He has nat- 
urally become, therefore, pre-eminently a teacher of the Bible. His 
sermons are convincing expositions of its deep truths. In his hand 
it becomes a unified, consistent revelation of man's Creator, Pre- 
server and Bedeemer. He sways the mind by that irresistible logic 
of the Word's free passage, rather than by fervent exhortation. Yet 
his messages are ever warm with the divine love, and vibrant with 
the compassionate yearning of the Savior who wept over the un- 
repentant city. 

Dr. Vaughan was born on a farm, four and one-half miles east 
of Zebulon, in Pike county, Georgia, on Uarch 3, 1851. His father. 



334 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

who also bore the name of Albert Bell, had been bom and reared in 
Virginia, near Lynchburg, moving to (Jeorgia when a young man, 
and settling in Jasper county. Here he was married to Miss Char- 
lotte A. Slade, of Jones county. 

The War between the States swept from the elder Vaughan a 
comfortable fortune in money, negroes and land, he having sold 
his farm during the second year of the war. The educational ad- 
vantages of the young Albert were, therefore, of the poorest kind. 
He worked on the farm until eighteen years of age, when he se- 
cured permission from his parents to go forth and seek his fortune, 
settling for a time in Jackson, Tennessee. Here he served as ap- 
prentice to a noted painter and decorator. After three years, hav- 
ing served his apprenticeship, he began work for himself. Some 
money was saved, and the fires of ambition, already kindled, began 
to burn more insistently. 

He realized the need of an education, and, dropping the paint 
brush, turned his eyes to the school that had been denied him in 
his early youth. Through the influence of his pastor. Dr. J. F. B. 
Mays, then serving the First Baptist church of Jackson, he en- 
tered a select institution. After four brief months of study, how- 
ever, he was stricken down with typhoid-pneumonia. Upon his 
recovery, he was informed by his physician that it would be impos- 
sible for him to live in the Mississippi valley. So back he came 
to Cobb county, Georgia. Here he taught school for five months. 
Then, compensating in courage and determination for what he 
lacked in scholarship, he entered Mercer University, having made 
no further preparation than the scanty measure indicated above. 

The faculty of Mercer quite naturally decided that the aspiring 
young man was insufficiently prepared to enter the freshman class. 
There was then no preparatory school attached to the institution, 
and his heart sank. However, that noble spirit, Epenetus A. Steed, 
then professor of Latin at Mercer, came to the rescue. He pleaded 
the young man's case before the faculty, agreeing to coach him if 
he were allowed to matriculate; and guaranteeing further that he 
would make the required percentages in all his studies. Thereupon 
he was admitted, completed the full course, and was graduated 
with the A.B. degree in the class of 1878. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 335 

Dr. Yaughan had already heard and answered the call to preach 
the gospel. He had been converted, after an unusually rich ex- 
perience of grace, in August, 1868, and had been ordained by a 
presbytery composed of J. M. Peek, A. B. Mitchell and A. B. 
Vaughan, Sr., at Milf ord church, in Cobb county, exactly four years 
later. His great desire now on graduating from college was to 
enter the Seminary at Louisville. That he did not do so is a strik- 
ing commentary upon the prejudices of some of the leading Baptist 
ministers in the State at that time. Acting upon their advice, he 
gave up his ambition for further scholastic preparation, and re- 
paired to the country, where he taught school and preached during 
the following eight years. Many times since has he regretted the 
opportunity cast aside at that time; and often has his influence in 
similar cases been exerted in favor of the most advanced prelimi- 
nary training possible. As a matter of fact, his own life has been 
ever that of the most zealous and painstaking student, but he has 
never varied from the opinion that much precious time and eflPort 
would have been saved had he been better advised at this critical 
moment of his career. During the years 1881-1883 he was pastor 
at Longview, Texas; and from 1883 to 1885 pastor at Powder 
Springs and Douglasville, Georgia. At the same time he acted 
successively as principal of the Talmage Institute, at Irwinton, 
in Wilkinson county, and as principal of the high school at Powder 
Springs. 

In 1886, Dr. Vaughan became pastor of the Canton, Woodstock 
and noonday churches, which were near one another on the Louis- 
ville and Nashville Railroad, in Cherokee county. Here he gave 
sixteen years from the full vigor of his maturing powers. Canton 
in those days was hardly more than a village. The fame of the 
Baptist preacher went, however, far beyond the bounds of his active 
field. His services as preacher, lecturer and teacher were con- 
stantly in demand. He contributed largely to the denominational 
periodicals and to the general religious discussions of the day. 

During his pastorate at Canton, the Mission Board of the Geor- 
gia Baptist Convention, of which Dr. J. G. Gibson was secretary, 
sought and secured his services for Bible Institute work in Chero- 



336 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

kee and other North Georgia counties. For six or eight years Dr. 
Vaughan devoted two weeks out of each month to this work. The 
preachers and leading laymen of that section were greatly strength- 
ened by his clear and forceful expositions of the Scriptures, and 
both were encouraged to a painstaking study of the Bible. The 
work he did as director of Bible institutes still lives in all that part 
of the State and bevond, and his name is a household word in almost 
every Baptist family. 

In 11)02 he was calk'd to LaGrange as pastor of the First Baptist 
church. Here he has accomplished a truly remarkable work, the 
crowning effort of liis life. The church at LaGrange had been ac- 
customed to men of the highest calibre, to the best preaching ob- 
tainable, to administration of an unusual order. It was a grand 
old church, strong in the traditions of the fathers, majestic in its 
consciousness of noble achievements and potential capacity. It had 
experienced some of the inevitable gusts of dissension, and a dear 
eye and a strong and steady hand were required to compose its 
various elements and to guide its abundant energies to a consistent 
and effective service. To ascertain how well these tasks have been 
accomplished, one has but to consult the history of the church for 
the past fifteen years, or talk with those who have been most inti- 
mately associated with its work and progress. His touch has been 
gentle, as is his nature, hut the spirit of the Christ he serves has 
made itself visible thiough his modest demeanor, and his people 
have loved and followed him. As concrete token of its affection and 
appreciation, the church recently secured an assistant pastor to 
relieve Dr. Vaughan of a portion of his labors. At sixty-seven, 
however, he is hale and hearty, ^Tiis eye not dim, nor his natural 
force abated." 

Dr. Vaughan has never directly or indirectly sought the pastor- 
ate of any church. Nor has he coveted the other honors that have 
come to him from those who esteemed and revered him for his 
work's sake. His Alma Mater conferred upon him successively the 
degrees of A.M. and D.D. The trustees of the Southern Female 
College, at LaGrange, which institution he has unselfishly served 
both as trustee and teacher of the Bible, honored him with the 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



337 



presidency of the college during the year 1913. Hie chief dignity, 
however, is the love and veneration of the people among whom he 
has lived and labored ; and the dearest legacy of the nine children 
who have blessed his home is the spotless integrity of character and 
purpose upon which has been reared his life's rich achievement. 




BILLINGTON SANDERS WALKER. 

Scotland has contributed some of her 
best people to America. Georgia hat 
received a good share of her sons, 
among them being a pioneer preacher 
of Lincoln county. Rev. John H. 
Walker, one of the ancestors of Dicker- 
son H. Walker, of Monroe, Walton 
county. Dickerson H. Walker was a 
land owner and farmer, a lawyer by 
profession, being judge of the county 
court of Walton and solicitor ^leneral 
of the Western Circuit. He also ren- 
dered valuable services to his State during the War between the 
States, and was a lieutenant colonel. He was a senator in the State 
legislature at one time from his district. He bequeathed to his 
•on, Billington Sanders, much of his strength of character and 
public spirit. 

In 1858, April 6, Billington Sanders Walker was bom in Monroe, 
Georgia. On bis maternal side his ancestry runs back through Got. 
William Rabun, of Georgia, and also Thomas Ward Teazey, Qot- 
emor of Maryland in 1836. 

Mr. Walker spent his early years on the farm and enjoyed the 
advantages of the community schools. He also attended Mt. Zion 
Select School, of which W. J. Northen, afterward Governor of the 
State, was headmaster, and was graduated from the University of 
Georgia in 1872. He has been a loyal alumnus and often attends 
the University commencements and renews the friendships of his 



338 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

college days. After his graduation he settled down at Monroe as 
a lawyer. In 1874 he married Miss Alice Mitchell and they have 
sent forth into the world seven children — Mrs. Frank Harrold, 
Americus, Georgia; Attorney General Clifford M. Walker, Monroe; 
Mrs. J. B. McCreary, Atlanta; Mrs. Paul Vose, Atlanta; Mrs. 
Hampton Field, Cartersville ; and Miss Louise, at home with her 
parents. Billington Sanders Walker, Jr., died a few years ago in 
Macon and his passing away in the prime of his fine manhood at- 
tracted wide attention and sympathy. 

Mr. Walker has been connected with the Bank of Monroe since 
its organization, first as vice-president, and now for some years as 
its president. He organized the Monroe Cotton Mill and was its 
first president for twenty years, having recently resigned to give 
his undivided attention to other growing business duties, tinder 
his aggressive leadership seven miles of cement side-walk were laid 
down in Monroe, making it rank in this respect among the most 
progressive towns of the State with a population of less than five 
thousand. Ho was one of the leading spirits in raising the funds 
for the erection of the Confederate monument that stands in the 
courthouse square fronting the main street of the town. When the 
Fifth District Agricultural and Mechanical School was located 
just outside the limits of his native town, it was universally ac- 
credited in large measure to his contagious enthusiasm and his 
whirlwind campaign for funds during two or three days, resulting 
in a joyful surprise to Monroe and the entire district. Of several 
competitive bids the one from Monroe was accepted as the best. 
In recognition of his splendid service in this campaign the railway 
station of the Gainesville Midland at the Fifth District School was 
named "Walker Park." When the drainage of wet lands was shown 
to be highly desirable and State legislation made it possible for 
counties to take such steps as would enable them to add rich acres 
to their arable lands, he took an active interest in advocating the 
drainage law for Walton county, backed up his word with financial 
support and helped to place his county at the very front for its 
reclamation of swamp lands. He is now advocating with his ac- 
customed earnestness diversity of farm crops and food production. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 339 

Early in life, under the preaching of Dr. G. A. Nunnally, he 
professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and united with the 
Monroe Baptist church, where he has been an active member ever 
since. On the same night, he and his brother, W. S. Walker, J. 
Prank Jackson, W. H. Nunnally, Miss Lula Selman and others 
were received for church membership. He acted as clerk of the 
church twenty-seven years in succession. While president of the 
Monroe Cotton Mill, he inspired the erection of a church house in 
the mill village. In appreciation of his gifts and services, the house 
was named the "'B. S. Walker chapel.^' When the present new 
house of worship of the First Baptist church of Monroe was com- 
pleted and dedicated free of debt on April 9, 1916, it was chiefly 
due to his influence that the building committee reported on that 
day that all bills had been paid and that there was a small balance 
in the treasury. He supports his church and his pastor with a loyal 
liberality, and when he is absent from the regular services of his 
church it is known that he is out of town or sick. Every minister 
that comes to Monroe finds in him a friend and helper and he is 
among the first to extend a warm welcome. He is a sympathetic 
visitor among the sick, both white and colored, in the town and the 
surrounding country. Wherever there is distress, right often he is 
the first to extend aid and to enlist the help of others. He belongs 
to that class to whom applies the phrase, "Generous to a fault.** 
He has helped not a few young boys and girls in getting their educa- 
tion and also in getting employment. He takes special pride in the 
fact that he has enabled a large number of young farmers to buy 
lands and establish good country homes. His urgent counsel to 
young married men is: "Buy a piece of land.** He is a man of 
constant public spirit and takes part in all enterprises and move- 
ments that make for community welfare. 

The hospitality of his elegant home is known extensively. While 
deeply interested in public affairs, he is intensely familistic. He 
and his wife make a round of visits semi-annually to their married 
children in their homes in different parts of the State, and in turn 
have their children to come back on frequent occasions to the 
family roof-tree. The years have dealt kindly with this happy 



340 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

couple and they are never happier than when surrounded at home 
by their children and grandchildren in a family rermiou. Mrs. 
Walker has tiie maternal spirit to an unnsual degree. The reSne- 
meut and charm of her personality and character pervade the home 
like the aroma of fragrant flowers. The tender colors of the even- 
ing time of life are enriching their home and sending out influences 
to make others happy and useful. Such homes are the springs of 
national greatness. It vrill be easy for their children and grand- 
children to think of "Mother, Home and Heaven." 



CLIFFORD MITCHELL WALKER. 

In the eastern section of middle 
Georgia are situated four progressive 
towns — Washington, Jefferson, Uadi- 
Bon. Monroe — having about the same 
number of inhabitants each, and each 
paying honor to a president of the 
United States by taking his name. 
These towns are noted for the high 
character and intelligence of their 
citizens and for the distinguished ser- 
vices thev have rendered the State and 
the nation. The purposes of this ar- 
ticle forbid that even a brief sketch of each of these interesting and 
historic towns be here given. Suffice it to say that Monroe has fur- 
nished three chiof executives of the State, and has sent forth 
preachers and teacliers and other leaders of note, among them being 
the present ineunibeut of the Attorney General's office of Georgia, 
Hon. Clifford Mitchell Walker. 

Born in Monroe. Georgia, July 4, 1877, a day whose memories 
stir and thrill jiatriotie .Americans, with an ancestry that ties him 
back to three governors, it ig in keeping with his heredity and 
environment (liat Hon. Clifford M. Walker should devote himself 
to political life. His father, Mr. Billington Sanders Walker, whose 




BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 341 

sketch appears in another part of this volume, is an inveterate 
servant of the public without holding public office. His mother 
shares the intense public spirit of her husband and in her way 
renders services not less valuable, though less conspicuous. 

Mr. Walker received his primary education at the Monroe public 
school, and afterwards attended the Georgia Military Institute, 
Kirkwood, under the tutelage of Headmaster Charles M. Neel, an 
experienced educator. He made a good record in the secondary 
school and entered the University of Georgia as a Sophomore and 
won the declamation medal. He was an officer in the University 
Cadets. Graduating in the class of 1897, he entered upon the 
study and practice of law in his native town, teaching a short time 
in the public schools of the county. Before his law practice grew 
to such an extent as to make exacting demands on his time, he waa 
put forward by his friends and elected mayor of Monroe, and about 
the same time he was also chosen captain of the Walton Guards, 
allied with the National Guardsmen. He served ten years as one 
of the referees under the bankruptcy law. In each of these posi- 
tions he showed himself a capable servant and leader, and attracted 
many friends, whose counsels prompted him a little later to stand 
for the solicitor's office of the western circuit, a position that his 
grandfather. Judge Dickerson H. Walker, had held before hinu 
After a most exciting and notable campaign, he was enthusiastically 
elected, succeeding the late Hon. S. J. Tribble, who became a 
member of Congress later. In 1914 he was elected Attorney (Jen- 
eral of Georgia as a result of one of the most thorough, the most 
honorable and the most systematic canvasses ever prosecuted by 
any candidate for a State office. He is now serving with distin- 
guished ability and growing popularity his third term as Attorney 
General. 

On April 29, 1902, Mr. Walker and Miss Rosa Carter Matthowson 
were united in marriage in Atlanta, and made their home in 
Monroe. Three children have been given to them, the first-born 
making an early return to the company of the immortals. The 
other two, Harold and Sanders, are happy in their childhood and 
growing towards promising lives of usefulness and honor. Mrs. 



342 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Walker is a half-sister of Dr. S. Y. Jameson, widely known over 
Georgia as State Secretar}' of the Board of Minions for the Bap- 
tists, and also for some years president of Mercer University. She 
is well educated and directs the home life with great intelligence 
and efficiency and with a genial hospitality attested by many. She 
is helpful in welfare work in the community, in connection with the 
city schools and in every form of social service. 

While a growing youth, under the happy ministry of the late 
beloved Rev. W. S. McCarty, pastor of the Monroe Baptist church, 
Mr. Walker was received into the fellowship of the Monroe Baptist 
church, and became an active Christian from the first. For several 
years he was the faithful superintendent of the Sunday school in 
the cotton mill village in South Monroe, and proved himself a 
wise and s}7npathetic collaborator with the mill operatives. He 
directed and inspired athletic sports among them, as well as nought 
to relieve their distress. He was treasurer of the Monroe Baptist 
church during several years, and ever took an active part in its work. 
His services, however, early extended beyond the activities of his im- 
mediate neighborhood and he has become a useful man in the vari- 
ous associations and conventions of his denomination. He was con- 
nected with the Laymen's Committee of the Baptist State Con- 
vention of Georgia as an associate worker with Governor Joseph 
Terrell, and took part in the Young People's Movement in their 
annual gatherings in the days when the movement was trying to 
find itself. He has served Shorter College as a trustee with a fidel- 
ity that was helpful and worthy of unstinted praise, and has been a 
trustee of Mercer University during a critical period in the his- 
tory of that institution, his counsels both as a lawyer and a friend 
proving invaluable to all concerned. 

In his present position as the chairman of the board of trustees 
of the Georgia Baptist Hospital he lends himself freely and judici- 
ously to the advancement of the interests of this important insti- 
tution. In the larger field under the oversight of the State Con- 
vention his activity has been very helpful, and he has served as 
vice-president of that body. He is a loyal supporter of every object 
fostered by his denomination and is not a slacker when difficulties 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 343 

increase and progress is slow and discouraging. As a devont 
Christian he maintains regular habits of church going and Sunday 
school attendance, not dividing the Sunday morning services into 
two parts, by the selection of the Sunday school hour to the neglect 
of preaching service. He is a pillar in the spiritual temple. He 
supports his pastor and inspires him as an appreciative listener. 
His hand is open to those in need, and more than one young 
preacher owes a large debt of gratitude to him for timely help. 
It may be justly said that he has been a Baptist for nearly two 
hundred years — nearly two hundred years since he numbers among 
his paternal ancestors a Baptist minister of great piety, by whose 
labors churches were established that went into the organization 
of the oldest association, the Georgia, in the State. No 
man approves more heartily that separation of church and 
State, that freedom of thought and of speech, and that religious 
liberty ever ardently advocated by his denomination. If in affairs 
of State he is making himself a public servant widely honored, he 
is no less a public servant in the affairs of the kingdom of heaven 
where fields are lost and crowns are won without observation, car- 
rying into religious work the same intelligence and faithfulness to 
duty that he takes into the business of this world. 

Mr. Walker is an ardent prohibitionist and stands for the elimi- 
nation of the saloon in the interest of the elevation of homelife 
and the working classes. He has a wise sympathy for children and 
youth, and is constantly careful of their legal protection against 
social vices and crimes and diseases. Thoroughly democratic in his 
life and ideals, he counts public office a public trust, a place for 
public service rather than a place for private gain. His private life 
is not at war with his public life, and he is building his life on the 
sure foundations of correct morals and pure xeligion. He belongs 
to that growing aristocracy of character that is needed to leaven 
public life and that makes for the uplift of the commonwealth. 
Useful years seem to beckon him onward to higher services in the 
State and natioiL 




WILLIAM STOKES WALKER. 

The Bubject of this sketch began life 
I November 19, 1858, in the home he now 
occupies at Monroe, Georgia. His 
father, Dickeraon Holliday Walker, was 
reared in Monroe and was a lawyer of 
prominence, serving well as judge of 
county court of Walton, as solicitor 
I general of tie western circuit, and as 
I colonel of State troops in the latter 
part of the CivQ War. The great- 
grandfather of onr brother was Eev. 
^John H. Walker, a Baptist minister, 
whose life was spent in Lincoln county. His mother was Mary 
Neel, of lit. ZioD, Hancock county, whose home was a meeting 
place of the leading Baptist ministers of that time. Piety, Chris- 
tian culture and denominational loyalty characterized the family 
in both branphes of its ancestry for several generations. He is a 
cousin to p]x-Gov, McDanicI, nephew to Mrs. W. J. Northen, and 
uncle of Attorney General Clifford M. Walker. His three living 
brothers. Billinpton Sanders, J. Henry and Charles M. Walker, 
are prominent citizens of Monroe and active in the industrial and 
educational development of that section of the State. 

The future minister received excellent schooling at Monroe, and 
afterwards graduated at the University of Georgia in 1877, receiv- 
ing a Senior speaker's place on class standing, ranking third in his 
class in Latin and Greek, and was first Lieutenant in Company B., 
University Cadets. 

Mr. Walker made a profession of faith in Christ in 1873, and 
was baptized by Dr. G, A. Nunnally into the fellowship of the 
Monroe Baptist church. He at once became an active Christian 
worker and was soon impressed with the duty of giving himself 
to the ministry of the gospel as his life work. At the University 
the influence of Tucker, Moll and Rutherford, of the faculty, and 
also some of his fellow-students of decided force of character, 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 346 

helped to deepen the impressions that he should preach the gospel. 
Entering the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, 
Kentucky, in 1878, he spent three years there under the instruction 
of Boyce, Broadus, Manly, Whitsitt and Toy; and in the compan- 
ionship of a fine company of young men from all over the South, 
studying for the ministry and forming at the same time helpful 
and lasting friendships. 

Dr. H. A. Tupper appeared before the Seminary students and 
made an urgent call for volunteers for the foreign field. As Cor- 
responding Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, his appeal 
made a profound impression on the student body. Young Walker 
and others offered themselves for service in foreign lands. Others 
felt called to tlirow themselves with intense earnestness into the 
work of soul winning in the home land. Groups of students talked 
and prayed over the matter, they fell on each other^s necks and wept, 
and those who left the Seminary to take up work beyond the seas 
went out with the prayers and love of faculty and students. On 
his twenty-third birthday, W. S. Walker went before the Foreign 
Mission Board, Richmond, Virginia, and was accepted as a mis- 
sionary to China, as assistant to Dr. M. T. Yates, whose health was 
fast failing. He returned home for ordination to the ministry at 
Monroe, the presbytery consisting of pastors H. D. D. Straton, J. 
M. Brittain and Jas. F. Edens. In company with his roommate 
at the Seminary, Rev. Cicero Pruitt, still a missionary of great 
influence in China, he set sail December 22nd and reached Shanghai 
February 24th, spending a week in Japan on the way. He set 
himself to studying tlie puzzling Chinese language under Dr. Yates, 
soon becoming able to speak it; at the same time going 
on missionary journeys with the veteran missionary and selling 
copies of the Gospels. 

In his third year, while making good prou^ress in his missionary 
labors and deeply in love with his work, his health failed and he 
was forced to return home. After two years of rest and recupera- 
tion on his father^s farm, he became pastor of the Monroe church 
in 1886, laboring acceptably and successfully for five years. He 
was first married in 1883, in Tungchow, China, to Miss Lilian 



34*) BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Mateer. an American missionary. Three children iasned from ihia 
marriage — Horace M. Walker, of Fort Worth, Texas; Clarence IL 
Walker, of Athens, both osteopathic physicians and deacons in 
their respective churches, and Miss Ennice Walker, a teadier of 
music. His second marriage was to Miss Ellen Pitts, of Summer- 
ville. Georgia, in 1899, and his third marriage to Miss Maggie 
Carswell, of Louisville, Georgia, in 1911. Fortunate in each one of 
his marriages, his last wife is using her varied gifts to strengthen 
him as a pastor and to prove herself a consecrated and eflScient 
C*hri8tian worker. 

During the summer of 1881, just before going to China, he 
supplied the pulpit of the First church of Savannah for three 
months and in 1886 the Second church of Richmond during 
August. 

He was pastor of the Second church of Rome, also at Sarksyille, 
Missouri, and Lampasas, Texas. Having inherited a good home 
at Monroe, he has preferred now for a number of years to remain 
there and to serve churches within reach. He was a very aggres- 
sive superintendent of the public schools of Walton county during 
six years, and at the same time was pastor of nearby country 
churches. His ministry has been a busy one, and has been enriched 
by varied experiences, especially while a missionary in China. He 
works intensively and it would require more space than is at the 
command of this writer to recount his labors in brief. 

Tt is worthy of mention that Bold Springs church, Walton 
county, was organized by him with eight members, and within four 
years under his leadership it grew to a membership of one himdred, 
with more than that number on the Sunday school roD ; and erected 
a new house of worship costing $1,300.00. A similar work was done 
at Hoschton, at Eatonton, where the Marshall Memorial church 
house was built ; at Union Point, at Brownwood, Morgan county ; at 
Ebenezer, in Walton, and at Bostwick. He has labored in his home 
association, the Appalachee, the Central, the Stone Mountain, the 
Georgia, the Sarepta and in the Mulberry. In all of this territory 
he is well known and loved. Many of his pastorates have been 
made up of churches served by him repeatedly, at intervals. He 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 347 

inherited from his mother a good voice and a love of music, and 
often in the church service he leads the singing, playing his own 
accompaniment on the organ. He is sought far and wide for 
funerals and marriage ceremonies. He forms strong attachments 
to his friends among the rich and poor alike, and especially does 
he delight in preaching the gospel to the poor. He has the evan- 
gelistic spirit to an unusual degree and baptizes large numbers 
every year. 

Mr. Walker is not only a strong preacher, but he is an indus- 
trious pastor as well. He takes time to visit the people in their 
homes in the country, and so systematically is his monthly visiting 
done that he remains over Sunday and makes from ten to fifteen 
visits when conditions permit. He is thoroughly interested in the 
work of the denomination and equally in every department of it. 
He is a ready speaker at conventions/ associations and general 
meetings, and informs his people as to the needs and the appeals 
of the co-operative work. He is a surpassingly good worker for the 
religious papers and journals. His spirit has no taint of envy, and 
the pastor of the Monroe church always finds a loyal supporter in 
him. His articles for the religious and secular papers are inform- 
ing and are eagerly read by his hosts of friends. It is fortunate 
for his church that his health has been steadily improving now for 
some time, and he never preached with greater acceptance to his 
congregations than in the last few years. He does not remember 
an instance when he missed an appointment or failed to attend any 
service of his churches. Unless providentially hindered. There 
seem to be many years of increasing usefulness lying out before 
him, and the denomination has no more loyal supporter, or the 
churches a more devoted pastor, than William Stokes Walker. 



JAMES BRITTON WAEB. 




Mr. James Britton Ware was bom in 
Coweta, now Heard county, Q«oTgia, 
June 16, 1830. He was a son of John 
NfimmB Ware and Mrs, Lucy Stardivant 
Ware. His father was a planter, and 
lived to be fifty years old. His mother 
lived to be seventy-nine years old and 
did not remarry. His parental ances- 
try was English. Mr, Ware married 
Miss Sarah Ann Simms, October 11, 
1849. She was a daughter of John 
Simms and of Mrs. Comfort Grace 
Simms, both of English descent. Mrs. Ware died September 3, 
1916. Born unto this union were ten children, seven sons and three 
daughters. The names of the sons in the order of their age are: 
John Fletcher, Alonzo Crawford, Albert Zolicoffer, Britton . 
(deceased), Henry Hall, Bobert Housan, Rigdon Mimms. The 
names of the daughters are: Alberta Virginia, Almira Elizabeth, 
Addie Glenn (deceased). 

Mr. Ware lived on the same farm eigh^-seven years. The house 
in which he was born is on the same plantation, and is in a good 
state of preservation. He was a planter all his life, but operated 
a tannery in connection with his farm for thirty-six years. In 
1851, in his twenty-first year, he was elected justice of the peace 
and served eiplit yoars. In 18S8 he was elected a member of the 
Inferior (Vmrt, and served ten years, to 1868, when that court was 
dissolved. In October. 1859. he was elected to the Georgia Legisla- 
ture and ser\ed two years. He was elected Captain of Company 
G, Georgia Troops, Wilcoxon Regiment, General Iverson's Brigade, 
in 1863. Thouffh he was exempt from militarj' service because of 
his office as a iiii'mbcr of the Inferior Court, he entered the service 
for six monthii, but was never in a battle. In 1872 he was incor- 
porated ill the Jury Commissioners' Bill, and was re-appointed to 
that position successively until 1904. In 1874 he was elected to the 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY :34i> 

Legislature, his opponent being Bob Smith, a Negro, whom he 
defeated by 600 votes, there being 700 votes cast in the county. He 
served two years and then retired from politics until 1901, when he 
was elected justice of the peace, to fill the vacancy made by the 
resignation of his son, Henry Hall Ware. He held this oflSce until 
January 1, 1917. In 1904 he was elected Senator of the 37th 
District of Georgia, and served two years. While in the Senate he 
introduced and secured the passage of a bill making drunkenness 
on the public highway a misdemeanor. Mr. Ware served as foreman 
of the grand jury for twenty-one times in Heard county. During 
his term as State Senator he refused to accept free passes over the 
railroad, and strongly favored anti-pass legislation. 

Mr. Ware was converted in 1849, and joined Bethel Baptist 
church. Heard county, in 1851. He was baptized by Rev. Young 
Wood. He confessed that he made a mistake by not joining the 
church at the time of his conversion. Mr. Ware was elected a 
deacon of Bethel church June 9, 1860, and was ordained on Friday, 
September 7th, of the same year. The following composed the 
presbytery : John G. Fry, L. Phillips, H. S. Reese and T. W. Wilkes, 
who was the pastor. Bro. B. Simms was church clerk. Mr. Ware 
served Bethel church as an active deacon from September, 1860, 
until 1917. He never missed a communion service or a protracted 
meeting when not providentially hindered, and he was the custodian 
of the communion service for forty-three years. He missed only 
about six conferences of his church from 1851 to 1917, and only a 
few sessions of the Western Association since 1856. For many 
years he was chairman of the preaching committee of that body, 
and served as treasurer of the association forty veais. In 1909 he 
served as moderator of the Western Association at Elim church, 
where he was elected for the first time as treasurer. He was arbiter 
in the settlement of many noted church difficulties. Mr. Ware for 
more than sixty years was noted for his hospitality. Perhaps no 
man in Heard county, or even in the State of (Jeorgia, entertained 
more friends and strangers than he. 

In his personal appearance he was striking, being six feet four 
inches tall, and at eighty-seven years of age he was straight as an 



350 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

arrow, and weighed 175 pounds. His average weight for many 
years was 200 pounds. He had the distinction of having fifty-one 
grandchildren, and forty-three great-grandchildren. 

Soon after the death of his wife, Mr. Ware moved from his plan- 
tation in Heard county, where he had lived all his life, and made 
his home with his son, H. H. Ware, in Hogansville, Georgia. It 
had long been his custom to insist that Baptists should have their 
membership in the church of the community in which they lived. 
It had been the motto of his long life to practice the things he 
taught, and to practice them before teaching them when he had 
opportunity. Notwithstanding he had never had his church mem- 
bership an}'where else except at Bethel, into whose fellowship he 
was baptized when a young man, and notwithstanding the ties of 
friendship in that church, he moved hife membership to the First 
Baptist church of Hogansville a few months before his death. It 
was his habit, in spite of the fact that he was in his eighty-eighth 
year, never to miss a regular service of his church. No citizen in 
Hogansville had more influence over men of maturity than did Mr. 
Ware. It was largely through his personal efforts that one of the 
substantial citizens of the community, who had not been accustomed 
to attend churcli in many years, was led to faith in Christ in the 
year 1917 and to make a profession of that faith by uniting with 
the church and submitting to the ordinance of baptism. 

Early in January. 1918, Mr. Ware made his home with his 

ft ft' 

dau«rhter, Mrs. A. V. Orr. at Corinth. On January 25th, 1918, his 
daii^liter-in-law. Mrs. H. H. Ware, passed away and her funeral 
was coiuUictod on Sunday, the 2?th. Mr. Ware attended the funeral 
and was in his usual health. On Wednesday afternoon following, 
while seated in his private chamber, he complained of feeling un- 
well, and in a few moments he threw up his hand and said : "I am 
gone." He passed away without long and painful illness, in ac- 
cordance with his expressed wishes, and his funeral was conducted 
on Friday by his pastor. Dr. B. J. W. Graham, assisted by his 
former pastor. Rev. F. J. Amis. 

A volume might be written on the incidents of Mr. Ware's life. 
It may be said, in short, that he was every whit a Christian gentle- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 3fil 

man of the old school, whose sense of honor was keen from be^n- 
niog to end of his remarkable career. The posterity which he haa 
left has received from him a rich heritage in the examples of a use- 
ful life. And though he be dead, the influence of his life will 
oontinue to live. 



WALLACE WEAR. 




The subject of this sketch was bom 
in Lawrence County, Alabama, in the 
town of Mount Hope, July 16, 1876. 
He is the son of Elder E. T. Wear and 
Sallie H. Wear. Wallace Wear was 
more than fortunate in the father and 
mother God gave him. His mother, a 
woman of great faith, deep consecra- 
tion, and strong Christian character, 
and though she was called to her 
heavenly reward while Wallace was yet 
a small boy she had lived long enough to mould the life of the 
preacher-son, whoRc ministry was to bless thousands. The father,' 
one of the true and tried preachers of Alabama, still lives as an 
inspiration in example and prayer to give wise counsel to the son 
of whom he is justly proud. The life of Elder R. T. Wear is fall of 
thrilling events. He was reared a Presbyterian, and firat united 
with the Presbyterian Church, but a dose study of the Scriptures 
led him to become a Baptist, though he knew nothing of the Bap- 
tists or their doctrines when he began to study the Bible for light 
The early education of Wallace Wear was very limited. He 
attended the summer schools of the county, and in his teens he 
spent one winter in the High School at Moulton, Alabama, acting 
as janitor of the school to pay his tuition, and feeding his grand- 
father's stock to pay his board. A little later on he had one year 
in the North Alabama Collegiate Institute. The opportunities, 
however meager, in his early life, were not without fruit We see 



352 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

in the boy that pluck and determination which has diaiacterized 
the man. 

From his twenty-first year to his twenty-seventh he taught school 
in his native county throu^ the fall and winter months and 
fanned through the vacation periods. He grew in favor with the 
people as an efficient teacher which was evidenced in the continual 
promotions he received. 

Wallace Wear was converted when he was nineteen years of 
age, and united with the Town Creek Baptist church where his 
honored father was the loved and trusted pastor for almost a half 
century. 

In 1897 one of the greatest events in the life of this young man 
took place. He was married to Hiss Annie J. Morrison, of Mount 
Hope, Alabama. This good woman has been a true helpmate 
through the years sharing in all her husband's joys and sorrows. 
She has been a vital factor in his success, and is still his helper 
and sympathetic advisor. 

In 1903 Wallace yielded to what he believed to be a definite 
call to preach and was "Separated unto the Gospel of GJod.'* 

During the first months of his ministry God's favor rested 
on his work and his preaching was blessed even in a remarkable 
degree. Scores and scores found Christ as their Savior, Lord 
and Master through his preaching. It was now evident that the 
young preacher possessed rare evangelistic gifts. These gifts have 
been strengthened so that Mr. Wear is considered not only one of 
the great pastors of tlie South, but one of the strongest evangelists 
among us. In the fall of 1904 he was ordained to the full work 
of the gospel ministry. He now entered Howard College, Alabama, 
where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Literature in 
1906. 

During his Colle^ro course he organized what is now Hunter 
Street Baptist church, Birmingham, Alabama, serving as pastor 
for two years. The young church prospered under his ministry. 
For a period of four months, during vacation, he served as supply 
pastor for the Baptist church at luka Mississippi. In the fall 
he returned to Howard College to complete his college course, ac- 
cepting the pastorate of the Twenty-seventh Street Baptist church. 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 353 

Just before graduating the following year he was called to the 
pastorate of the West End Baptist church, where he did a remark- 
able work. Believers were edified and strengthened and many were 
brought out of darkness into light. 

While pastor of the West End church the denomination began 
to recognize his ability as a preacher and leader. When the evan- 
gelistic department of the Home Mission Board put on a city 
wide campaign in Birmingham Wallace Wear was selected by the 
Baptist Pastor's conference to be the chairman of the Evangelistic 
Committee. His work as chairman of this committee made it 
evident that he was a master of details and a wise leader among 
his brethem. His work was eminently satisfactory to his brethern 
in Birmingham and also to the secretary of the Home Board Evan- 
gelists. 

The West End church grew under brother Wear's ministry, 
doubling its membership in three years. Here he led his church in 
the erection of a beautiful and commodious house of worship. He 
left this church well organized, eflficient and aggressive in its work 
and with a flourishing Sunday school. During the year of 1909 
Mr. Wear gave himself to evangelistic work for a period, holding 
meetings in Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Kentucky. 
God blessed his work as an evangelist by giving him scores of 
converts. It was while he was in the evangelistic work that a 
call came to him to re-enter the pastorate. So in 1910 he accepted 
a call from the church at Kevil, Kentucky, with three country 
churches. Here he labored for two and one-half years with splen- 
did success. While in his pastorate his brethern recognizing his 
ability as a leader elected him as moderator of the West Union 
district Association. He served most acceptably in this capacity 
for two years. 

Greater things were opening for him and in 1912 he was called 
to the care of the Tabernacle church, Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. 
Wear's work in Louisville was conspicuously blessed. He paid 
off a debt and led this church to a point of service and efficiency 
before unknown. Here he built up a Sunday school that led the 
Sunday schools of the Baptist churches in Louisville. 



354 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

His minutry in Louisville was greatly blessed in the conversion 
of people and in the rapid growth of the church. During his 
Louisville pastorate two young men were led to give themselves to 
the work of the gospel ministry. 

While in Louisville his influence and work among the Seminary 
and Training School students was inspring and helpful in many 
ways. 

In the fall of 1914 Mr. Wear accepted a hearty and enthusiastic 
call to the pastorate of the First Baptist church of Lakeland, 
Florida. Here he accomplished a mighty work. He paid oflf 
an old church debt. The congregations grew and it soon became 
evident that the church building must be enlarged to take care 
of the growing congregation and Sunday school. He led in the 
erection of a new addition to the church which doubled the seating 
capacity of the auditorium. The congregations continued to grow 
and the membership was almost doubled during the four years of 
his service in Lakeland. He preached to the largest audiences of 
any pastor in the city. In Lakeland he. was populer as a preacher 
and man. 

"While in Florida his brethem honored him by appointing him to 
preach the annual sermon before the Florida Baptist State Con- 
vention. This he did to the delight of all who heard him. In 
Lakeland he rendered valuable service for the government in push- 
ing the Liberty Loan drives and in raising money for the work of 
the Red Cross. Through his efforts the citizens of Lakeland gave 
more than twice its assessment to the Red Cross. 

After four years of telling kingdom service he resigned his pas- 
torate in Lakeland under the strong protest of his church and of 
the leading citizens of the city. 

In January, 1918 he was called to the First church, Cordele, 
Georgia, but he declined. The Cordele church was impressed that 
he was the man for the field and would not take "no** for an an- 
swer. Accordingly three distinct calls were made. So in Sep- 
tember, 1918 he yielded to these pressing and continued calls and 
entered upon the work at Cordele. The wonderful and most mar- 
velous success he has had in Cordele during the first few months 
of his pastorate indicates that the church made no mistake in its 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 366 

continued and persistent calls to him to become its pastor. Already 
three hundred and twenty-five new members have been added to 
the membership, many of them being among the leading business 
men of the city. New interest has developed along every line 
of church activity. Mr. Wear is growing in favor with his church 
and in popularity with the people of the city. The church at 
Cordele is now recognized as one of the very strongest churches in 
the State. Already a committee has been appointed looking toward 
enlarging the beautiful church building to care for the growing 
Sunday school. 

And now a few things concerning the man himself. First of 
all, Wallace Wear is a manly man with a friendly heart. He 
draws men to him and they gladly follow his leadership. He is 
what the Kentuckians would call a good mixer. Men love him 
and therefore are glad to have him around. 

It follows from what has been said that he is a good pastor. 
He goes into the homes of his people and carries joy and sun- 
shine with him. He is not a pessimist, but rather a man with 
a bright outlook. His optimism is wholesome and contagious. As 
a pastor he is unsurpassed in wisdom, good cheer, and love. His 
people appreciate him and give him the largest place in their aflEec- 
tions. He has the shepherd heart. He is a man of smiles and 
he does not live far away from tears. He is a striking embodiment 
of the apostolic injunction: "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, 
and weep with them that weep.'* 

Wallace Wear is one of God's choicest gifts to the pastorate 
during the past twenty years. He is eminent in zeal, labors, and 
usefulness. He is just at the zenith of his power as a pastor and 
preacher. Nature has endowed him with a rich voice for public 
speaking. There is a musical ring in his voice and a charm in 
his delivery. He preaches with directness of appeal and genuine 
earnestness of manner. To know Wallace Wear you would be con- 
vinced that he cannot live without preaching. He believes the Bible 
and preaches it without faltering or apology. He has no new 
gospel to preach and therefore he is not itching for novelties. 
He is unflinching and unswerving in his convictions as a Baptist; 



356 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



7«t be preaches the truth in love willi a Idnd Bpnpathetic heart 
torard all. 

Wallace Wear is pre-eminent as a soul-winner. To appreciate 
the man you must get a glimpae of him as an ardent soul-vinaer. 
He is at his best in a revival meeting. He is aggressive, wise and 
untiring in zeal as a personal worker. The writer of thia sketch 
has bad the coveted privilege of assisting him in three revival 
meetings, — in Louisville, Lakeland, and Cordele. He is a man 
of prayer, poise and passion. I have knelt with him in definite 
prayer for the conversion of the individual when there was the 
lifting of the whole heart to God in the fullest confidence of being 
answered. 

Mr. Wear is now accomplishing (Ue greatest work of his life aa 
pastor of the First Baptist church, Cordele, Georgia. The Church 
at cordele is one of the great churches of the South, and under the 
splendid leadership of this choice pastor it is destined to grow in 
efficiency and wield a great power in kingdom affairs. 



3IANLY ENOS WEAVER. 

Eev. Manly Enos Weaver, A, B,, 
Th. M., D. D., of Weatherford, Texas, 
1 of David S. and Theodosia Ernest 
Pratt Weaver, was bom in Hamburg, 
Perry county, Alabama, February 19, 
)G. On the paternal side he comes 
of the old time Holland stock. The 
name Weaver, which means "house- 
vife," perhaps originally was "Web- 
ber," but it is not found so in this 
country, and may never have been 
other than as it now appears. His 
father, David S. Weaver, a pious deacon and a brave Confederate 
soldier, was one of six brothers and three sisters; all except one, 
Sam Weaver, lived and died in Alabama, where they lived honora- 
ble lives and accumulated respectable estates. The family history 




BAPTIST BIOGRA.PHY 357 

shows they were first in Virginia and later in Pennsylvania, and 
from there came to Alabama. 

On the maternal side Mr. Weaver comes of Scotch-Irish stock. 
His mother, Theodosia Ernest Pratt, was the daughter of Col. 
Absalom Pratt and Mary Dickerson. Colonel Pratt was of strong 
Scotch fiber, and his wife was Irish with a vim. 

On both sides the subject of this sketch inherited very decided 
religious inclinations and predilections, and for more than three 
hundred years before his birth his ancestry was serving (Jod accord- 
ing to the simplicity of the Word and in keeping with the conviction 
of their consciences. In other words, they were Baptists. He 
has often said he was a Baptist three hundred years before he was 
born, and so it was not difficult for him to be a Baptist. It is 
aj)parent that this is true when it is recalled that his mother was 
named '^Theodosia Ernest,^' after the Baptist book that has caused 
more people to become Baptists than any other book published, 
barring the Bible; and in turn, when the subject of this sketch 
was born, his mother, with her natural Baptist predilections and 
in honor of the great educator and preacher, Dr. Basil Manly, Sr., 
who for eighteen years had been President of the State University, 
named him "Manly.** 

Mr. Weaver^s early life was spent on the farm, and in youth he 
became inured to hard labor, which has been a marked charac- 
teristic of his ministry. He received his early training in the 
public schools of Alabama, and in Six Mile Academy, same State. 
He graduated from Howard College, Alabama, in 1890, with the 
degree of A. B., and from the Southern Baptist Theological Semi- 
nary, in 1894, with the Th. M. degree. 

He remembers distinctly the date of his conversion, July 12, 
1886. He was ordained to the gospel ministry by the old Shultz 
Creek Baptist church, in Bibb county, Alabama, in October, 1890. 
The presbytery was composed of Rev. Nathan Williams, Eev. J. T. 
Yerby and the deacons of the ordaining church. 

Dr. Weaver's first pastorate was at Russellville, Alabama. He 
was called to the care of this church in 1890, and served one year. 
Prom this church he went to his Seminary course at Louisville 



368 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

for three years, during which time he preached as student-pastor 
in and around that city. 

In 1894 he was callnd to the care of the church at Natchitoches, 
Louisiana, remaining there four years, and from there he went 
to the First Baptist church, Lake Charles, Louisiana, one of the 
strongest churches in that State. As a young man, he became 
distinguished in Louisiana as a preacher and a leader in denomi- 
national affairs. 

On the 5th of April 1900 — soon after becoming pastor at Lake 
Charles, Louisiana, he was happily married to Miss Dora Sims, of 
Natchitoches, Louisiana, who had been received into the church 
and baptized by him while he was pastor of the church at 
Natchitoches, Louisiana. 

To them have been born four children, viz: — one daughter and 
three sons. 

In 1904, the First Baptist church, Marshall, Texas, extended 
him a call which he accepted, and has since that time been in 
Texas. After a successful pastorate of four years in Marshall, he 
accepted a call to the pastorate of the church at Bryan, Texas, 
where durins: his ten years' stav he added one thousand members 
and raised a church building debt of nearly $20,000.00. He led 
also ill raising a large indebtedness against the Bryan Baptist 
Academy, located there, and in connection with his pastorate was 
president of the institution for three years, greatly improving its 
financial condition and increasing the enrollment. 

Dr. Weaver is notably a man of affairs, is a fine executive, and 
has demonstrated unusual business ability. His advice is sought 
in business circles, and in the councils of his denomination. He 
wins and holds the hearts of his people as a pastor, and has marked 
pulpit abilit}'. He is scrupulously methodical, both in his pastoral 
work and in his sermonizing. Tn 1915 he was honored witii the 
appointment to preach the annual sermon before the Baptist Gen- 
eral Convention of Texas, which met in the city of Austin. He 
tnkos his place easily among the strong leaders in the Texas 
Convention, and is a member of its Executive Board. 

Tn 1900, the Louisiana Baptist College, now located at Alex- 
andria, Louisiana, conferred on him the honorary degrree of Doctor 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 



369 



of Divinity, at which time he was the youngest man in the State 
holding that degree. In a similar manner Howard College, his 
Alma Mater, conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity upon him 
in 1915. 

Ill April. 1918, he was heartily called to the care of the Firat 
Baptist churcli nt Weatlierford, Texas, and entered upon his labors 
there in June following. He is in the prime of life, and is doing 
the best work of liis pi-osperoiiB ministry. His labors are sought 
in the evangelistic Held, as welt as in money raising campaigns, 
and in the councils of his brethren. 



MARION FHANCIS WHEELER. 



Marion Francis Wheeler of Waxa- 
hatehic, Texas, was bom in Cherokee 
county, Georgia, April 11, 1867. He 
is the son of N. J. and Emcline Cham- 
blee Wheeler. His mother, a saintly 
Chrisfian, many years since heard a 
call from heaven and went away to be 
forever with the Lord. His father, a 
noUe Christian, in Cherokee county, 
Georgia, once owned a mill and a ferry- 
boat, as well as his farm. Marion 
Francis came to years of manurity on 
this farm in a community, where edn- 
cational facilities were very meager. 
The schools were few and far between. He attended school at 
Canton, Georgia, while a boy, obtaining a literary education. 
However be had a bright and acquisitive mind and he learned 
many things in his home training school that have been 
of great service to him in fighting the battles of life. He helped 
his father at the mill and at the ferry ae well as on the farm, and 
became a practical farmer, machinist, and mechanic. This 
elementary education is manual training, agricnlture and mechanics 




360 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

has helped him as a home builder, and has not hindered his work 
in the Christian ministry. 

Brother Wheeler was converted at the age of fifteen and united 
with the Baptist church at Canton, Georgia. There were warm 
hearted and devout members who encouraged him, as did his pastor. 
Besides the Sunday school was to him a source of education and 
inspiration. A county Sunday school convention was held in a 
neighboring church. He attended and was delighted with what he 
saw and heard. To him it was a school of instruction and a spirit- 
ual uplift. After this happy experience he became more intel- 
ligently and efficiently active in his Sunday school work at home. 
He carried a number with him to the next county convention. His 
heart was aglow with love and zeal for the Lord and when he had 
an opportunity he stood up in the convention, and out of the ful- 
ness of that heart spoke of the blessings of the Sunday school 
work. Since that day, when he was still in his teens, he has on every 
opportune occasion been speaking a good word for the Master. He 
soon became an active factor in the Sunday school work of the 
county, and was invited to speak in many churches, as well as at 
Sunday school picnics and at the county conventions. The Lord 
was calling him into the gospel ministry through the Bible school. 
After a time his church recognized his zeal, his ability to lead and 
aptness to teach and in a Saturday church conference, he was 
"granted liberty to exercise his gifts in public" — a license to preach. 
His education was quite limited. He had only read and studied 
one book, the preacher's text book, the Bible. He made this the 
man of his counsel and it became the light unto his pathway. As 
he could find opportunity, in school houses, in mission churches 
or elsewhere he opened up the Scriptures according to his best light 
and knowledge. His simple, unadorned gospel message was hon- 
ored of the Lord, who made it the power of God unto the salvation 
of many who believed. The Sweetwater Baptist church of Georgia 
called for his ordination, and in May, 1891, he was duly set apart, 
by prayer and the imposition of hands of a presbytery of elders and 
deacons to the full work of the gospel ministry. The following 
ministers took part in the solemnly impressive ordination service: 



BAPTIST BIOGEAPHY 361 

brethren Brazwell Harris, H. G. B. Turner, H. P. Sheffield and 
Nathaniel Brooks. 

Brother Wheeler married Miss Nannie Putman, of Canton, Geor- 
gia, a consecrated Christian who at once entered into sympathy with 
his purposes and plans to devote his life to the work of preaching 
the gospel. Soon after his ordination his services were sought by 
neighboring churches, many hearing him gladly, as the Lord led 
the lost to the Savior ; but all the while he was painfully conscious 
of his lack of preparation for the great work into which the Lord 
had called him and to which his brethren had now set him apart. 
Conferring with his wife and praying the guidance of the divine 
Spirit he decided to move to Texas and under new environments 
to enter school and better prepare himself for the work to which 
he was now fully committed. He sold his small possessions and left 
Georgia to enter Decatur, Texas, Baptist College. When he arrived 
at Decatur, he was twenty-seven years old, had a wife and four 
children and only a few dollars. He saw the president of the Col- 
lege and made known his desire to enter school and sought and 
obtained the position of janitor of the College, which helped to 
keep the wolf from the door while he studied to show himself ap- 
proved unto God. In a short time his native ability and his knowl- 
edge of the Scriptures were discovered and his services were sought 
by country churches which he served as supply pastor while he 
took a good course in the college and a short course in the Bible 
under Dr. B. H. Carroll, at Waco, Texas. He resigned his country 
churches in Wise county, near Decatur, to accept village and town 
churches in Denton county, giving to these churches two Sundays 
in each month, half time. He continued in this kind of pastoral 
work eight years, ministering unto the following churches : Sanger^ 
Boliver, Roanoak, Rock-Hill, Parvin, Garza and Mustang. The 
Lord gave him gracious revivals in these churches and large num- 
bers were gathered into the fold. He preached to a number of mis- 
sion points in connection with his pastoral work, and developed the 
spirit of missions among his people. He demonstrated such ability 
in mission work, that his neighbors in the ('ollin County Baptist 
Association elected him their county missionary. This work he 



362 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

gladly accepted, and most efficiently served the association in this 
capacity for thirteen years. The Lord gave him health and 
strength, grace and wisdom, and he prosecuted the work with untir- 
ing energy. On his mission he travelled by private conveyance, 
horse and buggy, more than fifty thousand miles, visited in hundreds 
of homes and sold several thousand Bibles and Baptist books, held 
revival meetings in every destitute community in the county, and 
preached in nearly every school house that was not near by a Bap- 
tist church, and some three thousand souls professed faith in our 
Lord under his ministry, most of whom united with Baptist 
churches. He organized twelve churches, built eleven houses of 
worship, and stimulated a number of other churches to rebuild or 
repair their old houses. Dr. J. B. Gambrell, said of him: "It is 
quite likely that M. F. Wheeler has built more meeting houses than 
any man in Texas." His ministry strengthened many of the weak 
churches of the county, and whenever there was a vacant pastorate 
he at once encouraged and assisted the church in securing a suitable 
pastor. He assisted in the ordination of a number of ministers and 
of many deacons, and organized a large number of Sunday schools. 
When he retired from the missionarv work of the Collin County 
Association there were fifty-five Baptist churches and eight thou- 
sand members in the county. 

Like Zaccheus brother Wheeler is small of stature, but is prepared 
physically to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, 
and his love and devotion for the Lord is such that he would at any 
time climb to the top of a tree or go to "The end of his cable tow^% 
to see bv faith him whom he loves and serves. One element of his 
efficiency in the service of the Lord is his love of men and his ability 
to reach and interest them in the things that promote righteous- 
ness. Business men respect his judgment and often confer with 
his as to large enterprises, and he often induces them to do large 
things for the Master. WTien he needed a new tent for his mis- 
sionary work in Collin county he suggested it to the cashier of 
a bank, not a Baptist, at the county capital, who said to him: 
"Order the tent and send the bill to me." When this tent 
was about worn out, a Baptist banker in another town in the county 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 363 

said: "Brother Wheeler here is a check for a new tent, may a 
thousand souls be saved under it." An organ dealer presented him 
with a suitable organ for each house of worship he built, and a 
lumber dealer gave him a large discount and unlimited credit for all 
the lumber he desired for building church houses. He had little 
trouble in getting money from rich men to carry on his mission 
work in Collin county. He does not hesitate to ask men or con- 
gregations for what he thinks they should give for missions, and 
usually obtains the amount for which he asks. He is quite loyal to 
his denomination and is well posted as to its policy and purposes. 
He heartily co-operates with his brethren in all their plans and 
efforts to advance the Master^s kingdom. He is now the missionary 
of the Ellis county association, which is affiliated with the General 
Baptist State Convention of Texas. About half the churches of the 
county are connected with the Baptist Missionary Association of 
the State. This division of Baptist forces somewhat handicaps 
him in his work, but with his usual tact he is leading many of the 
lost to the Savior, and is showing some of the "B. M. A." brethren 
a better way in which to do the work of the Lord. He is still in the 
full vigor of his manhood, and there is hope that his bow will 
abide in strength yet many years while he continues to sow and 
reap in the vineyard of the Lord. 

Brother Wlieeler has had a large family of nine children, two 
of whom are now deceased and three are grown. He has never 
had a large salary but he is educating his children. By thrift and 
economy he has always managed to save something from his small 
income, and has so wisely invested it that he now has a good prop- 
erty. His faithful wife has always been the wise, economic and safe 
keeper at home and has most heartily co-operated with him in every 
good word and work. For a large share of what he has accom- 
plished in the Savior^s service, the meed of praise should be placed 
in her helping hands. 



HENRY WILEY WILLIAMS. 




Southweatern Virginia, with its 

I bright rivers and high mountains, ie a 

beautiful part of the State. It is a 

source place, and is a foraging ground 

I for cities and colleges in quest of as- 

I piring youth, capable of efficient ser- 

. Sugar Grove is a Email towa 

I nestled among the hills of this part of 

j Virginia, where is the home of Andrew 

■^■R^w J Jackson Williams. He is a farmer of 

I I ^n^HHjufl So<)d repute, both for intelligence and 

^character, and has served his county 

well in several of the county offices. He was a soldier in the Con- 
federate army three years, during which time he was a prisoner 
almost a year at Camp Chase, Ohio. He is still alive (1917) 
though in feeble health at the advanced age of eighty-seven. His 
wife was a Miss Neff, of Qerman parentage, who learned to speak 
English at SL'hool at the age of thirteen, and so became American- 
ized. She died in 1893. These parents welcomed into their home 
in Sugar Grove, July 18, 1860. the son, Henry Wiley Williams, 
whose life is here briefly sketched. 

Dr. Williams grew up on a Virginia farm and had the fine train- 
ing that comes from weU-dirccted farm life. Being of a mechanical 
turn of mind, he also learned the carpenter's trade and blacksmith- 
ing. All through his useful ministry his mechanical experience 
and skill, gained while a farm lad, have enabled him to render very 
valuable services in connection with erecting or improving church 
buildings and pastoriums. While working on the farm be attended 
the public school of his community and made such progress that be 
was given a teacher's license and was employed to teach two terms 
of school before he became twenty years of age. 

At this time he became deeply concerned about hia duty to God, 
made a profession of faith in Christ and united with the Methodist 
Episcopal church at the age of nineteen. At once be was deeply 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 366 

impressed that it was the will of God that he give himself to the 
ministry of the Word. He applied himself faithfully to the course 
of study marked out by the Methodist discipline for a year, when 
he became dissatisfied with some of the teachings and widened his 
range of studies in quest of the truth. He spent a year of grow- 
ing interest and at the same time unrest while investigating the 
moot points between the Methodists and the Baptists, eagerly read- 
ing the few books within his reach that offered him any help. Hav- 
ing reached a firm foundation for his faith, in the Spring of 1881 
he became a member of the Sugar Grove Baptist church. He was 
baptized by Rev. R. B. Boatwright, the father of Dr. F. W. Boat- 
wright, president of Richmond College. 

Soon afterwards he was given a license to preach the gospel, 
preaching his first sermon August 31, 1881. Feeling the need of 
a college education, he entered Carson and Newman College at the 
age of twent}'-three, where he continued his studies for two years. 
Afterwards he went to Richmond College, Virginia, where he was 
graduated with the degree of A.B. in 1887. He became assistant 
pastor of the First Baptist church, Richmond, during the year 
following his graduation, faithfully discharging every duty assigned 
him and gaining much valuable experience. 

Desiring special theological training, he went to the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, where he 
pursued his studies with diligence till the close of the session of 
1889. On leaving the Seminary, he was ordained to the full work 
of the ministry May 19, 1889, at the Broadway Baptist church, 
Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. J. Lansing Burrows, father of Dr. 
Lansing Burrows, preached the ordination sermon. 

After his ordination, he entered upon his first pastorate at Law- 
renceburg, Kentucky, three Sundays, and Evergreen church, sev 
eral miles distant, one Sunday. He next went to Alabama, where 
he served as pastor first at Jacksonville, and afterwards at Gadsden, 
from which place he was called to Elberton, Greorgia. Here he 
labored with great acceptance for about nine years, during which 
time he led the congregation in the erection of a new church edifice 
which was one of the most beautiful and commodious church build- 



366 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

ings at that time in all that section of the State. Withdrawing 
from the pastorate at Elberton after the new church had been com- 
pleted, he spent three years as pastor at Opelika, Alabama. Prom 
Opelika he went to Commerce, Greorgia, where he proved himself a 
useful and constructive pastor. He spent two years at Woodville 
and Sardis churches in the old Greorgia Association, and labored so 
faithfully that his churches were wisely built up. 

He had become known as one of the most scholarly and success- 
ful preachers in the State. While in this field, in recognition of 
his line services and ability, Mercer University conferred upon him 
the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He next became pastor of the 
Baptist church at Covington, Georgia, where he labored for a little 
more than four years, during which time he saw the congregation 
pay off all indebtedness which followed their new building enter- 
prise. He resigned at Covington, in May, 1917, to accept a call 
to Vidalia, Georgia, where he is just entering upon a most promis- 
ing field of labor. Knowing his success as a church builder, al- 
ready plans are being formulated for a much needed new building, 
and the success of the enterprise is assured under his leadership. 

Dr. Williams married Miss Sarah Brvant Kittrell in 1893 at 
Gadsden, Alabama. They have two sons, Charles Haddon, who 
was graduated at Kmory College as B.S., 1917, and Henry W. Jr., 
who is nearing the completion of the high school course. Dr. Wil- 
liams has had the joy of baptizing his wife, who was a Presbyterian, 
and both of his sons. He is very happy in his home life, and his 
wife has proved a valuable helpmate through the years in his sev- 
eral pastorates. 

He is a clear and forcible preacher and lecturer. His knowledge 
of bees and his practical experience as an apiarian have made his 
frequent lectures on bees and bee culture of rare interest and in- 
formation to all who have heard him. He installed soon after the 
breaking out of the world war, an amateur wireless plant in the 
pastorium at Covington, and with his son, Charles, held communi- 
cation with different cities of the United States until the declara- 
tion of a state of war with Germany made it necessary for his 
plant to be dismantled. At the time that he was ordered to dis- 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 



367 



mantle hie plant he was preparing to enlarge it, with a view to 
having direct eorreapoudence with Germany and other oversea 
countries. 

He is a man of thought and of strong coDvirtiona. He is a man 
of sound judgment and seeks rather to be right than to be popular. 
He has the strength of character that attracts his friends to him 
strongly and holds them steadily. He is not a sensational preacher 
in any sense of the word, and yet he preaches on public issues at 
proper times and is alviaye found on the right side of questions 
affecting public morals. His preaching is practical and evangel- 
istic, and he is often called upon to help pastors in their annual 
protracted meetings. He is thoroughly in accord with all co- 
operative work of the denomination, being a thorough Missionary 
Baptist. He is in demand as a preacher of commencement ser- 
mons. He has shown himself a useful member of out mission 
hoards and a trustee of our various institutions as appointed from 
time to time. He is in the prime of his powers and gives promise 
of long years of usefulness. His work will abide the test of time. 



8IUNEV JOHNSTON WILLIAMS. 



In enumerating the gifts to the 
I churches Paul puts evangelists before 
I pastors. The work of the evangelist 
I precedes the necessity for a pastor, and 
I tlie evangelist is as evidently called to 
his special work as are some other 
I preachers to the work of the pastorate. 
Among the Bai)tist8 of the South a 
lumber of men have answered the call 
I to "do the work of an evangelist." They 
I differ as much in type, method and 
ability as do pastors. Among the ef- 
ficient evangelists of the South is Sidney J. Williams of San Antonio, 
Texas. He is a native of Mobile, Alabama, — a son of John B, and 




368 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

Irene Elderkin Williams. He was bom May 2, 1862^ his father 
being at that time a captain in the Confederate army, — ^later a 
merchant of Mobile. His mother was the daughter of a sea captain 
of New Orleans. His great grand-father was William Dorsey of 
Alabama, the author of the hymn book, "Dorsey's Choice.** 

Sidney was brought up in the city of Mobile, where he attended 
private schools and Barton's Academy. For a time during hia 
boyhood he clerked in the city and later worked on a farm near 
Epp's Station, Alabama. In 1882 he entered the Agricultural and 
Mechanical College at Starkville, Mississippi, where he remained 
three years and then spent two years in Mississippi College, at 
Clinton; but he was alwavs more interested in men and affairs 
than he was in books. 

One evening in April, 1885, at Starkville, during a revival meet- 
ing in which pastor E. E. King was assisted by Dr. P. T. Hale, Sid. 
Williams, as he is still familiarly called, came forward for prayers, 
was converted, joined the church, and as the converted jailor was 
baptized the "same hour of the night.** He had been reared an 
Episcopalian, both of his parents being members of that communion. 
His father having a good voice took an active part in the church 
music. His mother was a devout and sweet-spirited Christian. 
She united with the Starkville Baptist church soon after Sidney*s 
conversion. He was ordained by the Starkville church in 1887, 
the following brethren composing the presbytery; T. G. Sellers, 
J. T. Freeman, Judge W. H. Bond, an ordained minister, and 
pastor W. C. Lattimore. 

From the day of his conversion he was impressed that he should 
become an evangelist. However at the close of his college course 
he accepted a call to the South-side church, Meridian, Mississippi, 
but in a short while he began a revival in the church, which con- 
tinued most of the six months of which he was its pastor. He re- 
signed to become an evangelist and for more than thirty years 
with singleness of purpose, with marked consecration, with un- 
wavering faith and burning zeal, he has devoted his time, his talent, 
and untiring energy to this work. He has given a good account of 
himself, made full proof of his ministry, and on his work the Lord 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 369 

has set the seal of divine approbation. Under his ministry more 
than twenty-seven thousand have been received into the fellowship 
of Baptist churches, and about eighteen thousand others have 
professed faith in Christ during his meetings. His evangelistic 
work has been so large and varied that only a small part of it may 
be referred to by name of location in this brief sketch. He has held 
revival meetings in fifteen States and in Mexico. His meetings 
have been with missions on the border, with country, town and city 
churches. He has held twenty meetings in his home city, San 
Antonio, i\\Q of them with Dr. E. E. King and the First church, 
and one or more with other pastors of this great church. He has 
held five meetings in Xow Orleans, four in Louisville, with Drs. 
T. T. Eaton, J. M. Hunt and others. He had a good meeting and 
a large ingathering with Dr. Len. G. Broughton in Atlanta, and 
successful revivals with Drs. 11. B. Garrett and J. B. Phillips in 
Chattanooga. Indeed the Lord has blessed him in leading in 
gracious revival meetings in Knoxville, Owensboro, Lexington, 
Cairo, St. Louis and in manv other cities in other States, besides 
in every citv in Texas. Manv of the churches with whom he holds 
meetings invite him to return and hold other meetings, and with 
one pastor he has hold nine revivals. In his meetings the Lord has 
not only saved Americans, but Germans, Russians, Jews, Bohemi- 
ans, Swedes, French, Xegroes and Mexicans have been converted 
in his meetings and united with Baptist churches. 

Evangelist Williams never plans to hold union meetings, but 
frequently other denominations heartily co-operate with him in 
his meetings in Baptist churches. He is the soul of courtesy to 
every Christian of whatever denominational name. However he 
is quite loyal to Baptist churches and most heartily and generously 
supports their enterprises. He believes it is best to hold revival 
meetings in Baptist temples of worship and to emphasize their faith 
and practice. His happy experience seems to vindicate the wisdom 
of his policy. He has collected the money to pay the debts on many 
churches, and collects large amounts for missions and for education. 
He took the first collection for the Cottage Home at Belton, now 
Ely-Pepper Hall, which is educating hundreds of poor girls, and has 



370 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

educated a number of young ladies in Baylor College. He is never 
unmindful of the pastor, but he looks after his interest in every 
meeting, and has secured for him and his wife many handsome 
presents, thus strengthening the bond of union between pastor and 
people. A volume might be written of the kind things his brethren 
have said of him and his good work, but only a few lines may be 
quoted here. Dr. J. B. Gambrell says, "Sid Williams is no ordinary 
man.'' Dr. T. T. Eaton wrote, "Sid Williams is a master of as- 
semblies.'* Dr. J. Frank Xorris savs: "No braver man ever lived 
than Sid Williams." Dr. J. W. Porter, of the Western Recorder, 
wrote : "Sid Williams is a cyclone against sin.*' Dr. Forrest Smith 
writes: "Sid Williams gave me less anxiety than any man I ever 
had to help nie in a meeting.'* 

Sidney J. Williams is a genial gentleman. He makes friends 
readily and is at home with all classes of people. He meets and 
greets the poor and uneducated man as a Christian brother, well 
beloved, and is the personal friend of capitalists, bankers, managers 
of large corporations, rich ranchmen, presidents and professors of 
colleges, and prominent politicians. A number of firms have oflfered 
him large inducements to represent their enterprises, and" distin- 
guished politicians have solicited him to become campaign manager 
for them. He knows and loves men, they admire him, and he leads 
manv of them to the Savior. 

If we may enter the sacred precincts of his private life, then we 
shall find Sid Williams in a good country home, surrounded by 
an interesting and happy family. He is very fond of his home, 
and does many things with his own hands to make it comfortable 
and attractive. In the Spring of 1887 he married Alma Trot, of 
Livingston, Alabama, Dr. B. F. Riley officiating. This union has 
been blessed with six children. Stone, Alma, Purser, Sidney, David, 
Irene and Thomas. Stone is married and living in San Antonio, 
Purser only lived a few years, Sidney was the first man of his county 
to answer the call of President Wilson for volunteers, and is in the 
United States Navy; the other three are at home. Mrs. Williams 
has largely brought up the children in the absence of their father, 
and is in every way most helpful to her husband. As Solomon's 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 371 

model mother, she looks well to the ways of her household, and her 
husband aiul children join their ncighborG in singing her praises. 




EDWARD GEORGE WILLINGHAM. 

The word for "home" in old English 
is '"ham,'" Hud the proper name Wil- 
lingham is a combination of the family 
name "Willing' and the word "ham." 
The Willinjr family in the early days 
of England settled at what is now 
known as Market Rasin. The family 
residence was known as the "Willing 
Ham," or "Willing Home," and the 
highway leading to it was called the 
"Willing Ham, or Willing Home, 
Road." The old Willing residence is 
now called Willingbnni Hall, and the villages are known as South 
and Xorth Willingham. Willingham Hall is a fine old manor 
house, beautifully situated amid giant oaks on an estate of thirty- 
two hundre<l acres, with jiretty lakes here and there. 

In li90. Thomas Henry M'iHingham, whose wife was Miss Sarah 
Choven. ii French Ini.ly, emigrated from the old home at Ahiman 
Rasin to America, and settled in South Carolina. These were the 
grandparents nf Kdwnrd George Willingham, the subject of this 
sketch. TlioniHs IlenrV. the new comer to America, was a man of 
affairs, as were his anci'sfors. Ho bought a large tract of land on 
Sullivan's Island. lu'ar Charleston, South Carolina, for which he 
paid $80,000. He died three months after the birth of his eon 
Thwnias, the father of Edward George Willingham. Thomas the 
second, at the age of twenty-live, married Miss Phcbe Sarah I^w- 
ton, of Benuf.irt district. South Carolina. Miss Lawton was the 
daughter of <'a|it. Benjamin Teleniacus Dehon Lawton. Her 
mother was a daughter of Dr. George Mosse, the founder and presi- 
dent of a medical college in Savannah, Georgia. He was also the 



372 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY' 

first deacon of the First Baptist church of that city. The Lawton 
and Mosse families were among the most distinguished in South 
Carolina, Lawton villo having been named for the Lawton family. 
Thomas Willingham the second was born on Sullivan^s Island^ 
DecemlxT 2.*i, 1708. In the earlv vears of his life he moved to 
Savannah, (Georgia, where he l)ecame a cotton merchant. In the 
midst of his great success as a cotton dealer his health failed, and 
upon the advice of his physician he moved to the country and 
bought four thousand acres of pine land and a sufficient number 
of Negroes to cultivate it. It was he that introduced the growing 
of long cotton on the islands and coasts of South Carolina. He 
became one of the largest planters in the South. In fact, the Wil- 
li nghams have gM)wn cotton and rice extensively in South Carolina 
and as far down in Georgia as Albany. The health of Thomas 
Willingham improved upon his residence in the country, and he 
lived to the ripe old age of seventy-five, having reared seven sons, 
five of whom were gallant soldiers in the Confederacy. The fall 
of the Confederacy freed eighteen himdred slaves who were owned 
bv him and his six sons. 

Edward George Willingham, was born in Lawton ville, Beaufort 
district, South Carolina, September 22, 1839. The home in which 
he was reared was presided over by cultured and godly parents. 
The luxuries thev were able to afford neither turned their heads 
nor made them forgetful of God the giver of every good and perfect 
gift. They were as ambitious to live consecrated Christian lives as 
they were to be model planters. At the age of ?i\e young Willing- 
ham entered Bryan's school, and was prepared for college at Law- 
tonville Academy. After finishing his course at Lawtonville he 
entered Wake Forest College, North Carolina. Later he took a 
course in Furman Universitv, South Carolina, and finished his col- 
lege training in Madison University, Hamilton, New York. The 
educational advantages he enjoyed were the best that the South 
and the North afforded. 

At the age of twenty-two Mr. Willingham enlisted in the Beau- 
fort District Troop, Henry Smart Captain and himself Second 
Lieutenant. This company as a body refused to offer its services 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 373 

to the Confederacy, and twelve of them resigned, Mr. Willingham 
being among the number. With two of his brothers he went to 
Columbia, South Carolina, on June 21, 1861, and enlisted in 
Hampton's Legion as a private. Later he was promoted to be 
Quartermaster of General M. C. Butler's Brigade. The general 
commanding the coast of South Carolina made a request of General 
Butler that Mr. Willingham be transferred to the coast as a drill 
master for recruits. General Butler, however, refused to give 
him up. 

At the close of the war the Willinghams, finding themselves 
bankrupt, scattered to the different cities of Georgia and entered 
business, mainly in manufacturing lines, such as lumber, furniture, 
coflnis, et(». Mr. Willingham engaged in the lumber and manufac- 
turing business, in Macon and then in Atlanta. In Atlanta he 
became one of the largest dealers in lumber and manufacturers' 
building materials in the city. In connection with his lumber 
business, he bought, improved and sold real estate on an extensive 
scale. Among the historic properties acquired by him was the 
home and one hundred acres of land of the John B. Gordon estate. 

Feeling the necessity of spending his winters in Florida and his 
sunmiers in the mountains, Mr. Willingham turned his large lum- 
ber business over to his sons, E. M., Joseph A. and Eugene D. Wil- 
lingham. After visiting every section of Florida and traveling over 
the island of Cuba, Mr. Willingham finally visited Aripeka, on the 
western coast. The only way by which he could reach the place 
was by boat. The impression it made upon him was so unfavorable 
he decided to leave the next day. But Aripeka soon won his affec- 
tion, and for a number of years he has made it his winter home. In 
the settlement of Aripeka, building lots were sold from a large 
tract of land while the land as a whole was under a mortgage. 
This mortgage was foreclosed, and the entire town was sold and 
was bought by Mr. Willingham. Generously he gave a deed to 
each party who had bought lots. On this pro[x?rty is a beautiful 
island, on which Mr. Willingham has erected a modern residence, 
with every convenience, including a complete system of sewerage 
and waterworks. Largely through his influence a magnificent 



374 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

highway has been constructed from Brooksville, through Aripeka, 
to Tarpon Springs, and Tampa. The island on which Mr. Wil- 
lingham now spends his winters is befittingly called Eden, be- 
cause it is a beautiful garden of tropical flowers and fruits. 

The active life which Mr. Willingham has lived has made it 
impossible for him to be idle. In Aripeka he has cleared and 
develo|)ed quite a large area of land on which he grows various 
kinds of farm products, fruits, nuts, etc. At other points in Flor- 
ida he is interested in citrous fruit growing. 

Mr. Willingham has been twice married. His first wife was 
Miss Anna Kirk, daughter of William and Sarah Kirk. Of this 
marriage twelve children were born, of whom the following now 
survive : Mrs. Julia W. Johnson, Mrs. Annie L. Arnold, Mrs. Mary 
Belle Smith, Mrs. Edwina Johnson, Joseph A. and Edward McT. 
Willingham. Five years after the death of his first wife he mar- 
ried Miss Mary Peeples, daughter of Captain William B. and 
Cattie Peeples, of Barnwell district. South Carolina. From this 
marriage one son, Eugene D. Willingham, is living. The mother of 
Mrs. Willingham is still living, and though past eighty years of 
age is well preserved in both mind and body. Two of ^Ir. Wil- 
lingham's sons are engaged in the manufacture of motor trucks, 
and one is in the lumber business. 

Mr. Willingham has accumulated a good library of standard 
books, and he is fond of a wide range of reading, including the 
daily papers, magazines and books by the best authors. Though he 
is a Mason, he finds his highest pleasure around the family fire- 
side. 

Mr. Willingham was converted and united with the Baptist 
church in July, 1852. In July, 1867, he was ordained to the office 
of deacon by the Concord Baptist church, Barnwell, South Caro- 
lina. The presbytery was composed of Eev. Joseph A. Lawton, 
pastor, and deacons Walker I. Brooks and B. L. Willingham. He 
was a teacher of the Bible Class in Concord church, of which he 
was a deacon, from 1866 to 1871 ; chairman of the building com- 
mittee of the First Baptist church in Macon, from 1871 to 1877; 
deacon in the First Baptist church of Atlanta, from 1888 to 1894; 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 375 

chairman of the Board of Deacons in the Jackson Hill Baptist 
church, Atlanta, from 1898 to 1912. As a deacon he puts the 
same business sagacity into his church that he does in his own 
personal affairs. Uv believes pastors should have adequate sup- 
port, and that their salaries should be paid promptly. In the 
monthly meetings of the deacons of the Jackson Hill Baptist 
church, Atlanta, it was his habit to entertain them and his pastor 
in his home. Moreover, he believed that his church should live 
up to its name and i)e missionary in fact. He, therefore, is a warm 
advocate of and a liberal contributor to missions. In Aripeka, 
where he now lives, he has erected a beautiful house of worship 
and secured the services of a good preacher and a tactful pastor, 
who devotes his entire time to the church. 

Mr. Willingham was one of the promoters of the Index Print- 
ing Company, of Atlanta, Georgia, and was for some time its 
president. He retired as an officer of the company after his re- 
moval to Florida. He was also one of the promoters of the Geor- 
gia Baptist Assembly, at Blue Ridge, Georgia. The school lo- 
cated on the AsstMubly Grounds that bears the name of his wife, 
Mary P. Willingham, originated in his own brain, and to it he 
has given much of his valuable time and large sums of money. 
The plan of the present building was originated by himself, and 
he secured and had laid the marble in the foundation of the in- 
stitution. The interest he has manifested in this school is an 
index to his deep concern for the education of young men and 
young women, and es|>ecially ministers. Through a long period 
of years he has contributed liberally of his money for the mainte- 
nance of educational institutions and has assisted many boys and 
girls in securing an education. Orphan children have always had 
a warm place in his heart, and he has been a generous contributor 
for the support of institutions which furnish them shelter and 
training. Perhaps no man who ever lived in Georgia has con- 
tributed to a larger number of churches in assisting them to erect 
for themselves suitable houses of worship. 

Mr. Willingham came from good Baptist stock. His grand- 
mother was the first president of the first Baptist Woman's Mis- 



37G BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

sionarv Union in Beaufort district. South Carolina. His mother 
succfodnl hiT, and his sister was the third. He has, therefore, 
inh«Tit('(l the missionary spirit. Mrs. Mary P. Willingham, his 
present wile, was a leader in the local society of her church when 
she lived in Atlanta, and for many years was president of the 
Woman's Iiaptist Missionary Union of Georgia, having served as 
treasurer of that body five years prior to being elected president. 
Mr. Willin<rham's father was a Baptist deacon for fifty years, and 
all of his seven sons were Baptist deacons. Among his near kins- 
men was tlie late Dr. K. J. Willingham, so long Corresponding 
Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist 
Convention, and whose son, C. T. Willingham, is a missionary 
in Japan. The Willingham family has played an important part 
in the Baptist affairs of the States in which they have lived, mainly 
in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. 

Mr. Willingham is a man of indomitable energy. Though 
nearly four score years old, he is as active as most men at fifty, 
and reads with ease without his glasses. He believes in every 
man living squarely u|) to his word. In truth, he is a Christian 
gentleman of the old school, and a man with high ideals in busi- 
ness, eivie and religious life. Though he has accumulated a com- 
petency for himself and his family, and though he enjoys a breadth 
of culture and of refinement from reading and travel, his greatest 
possession is his character, and that character will be the richest 
legacy \v) will leave to his posterity. 



ELIJAH FLOYD WEIGHT. 




The Wright and Teague families, 
both of Scotch -Irish descent, were 
among the largest and most influential 
in Talladega county, Alabama. They 
were neighbors and planters. In early 
manhood William D. Wright married 
Miss Rebecca Teague, and they settled 
near the town of Silver Run, in Tal- 
ladega county, Alabama, where they 
reared a large family. 

Among their children was Elijah 
Floyd Wright, the subject of this 
Bketch, who was born June 11, 1868. The early life of Mr, Wright 
waa spent on the farm, where he was schooled in the art of tilling 
the soil. The iiecessiticB of a large family required him to serve 
in the capacity of a laborer and not- as a su[Jerintendent. Hard 
work until he was seventeen years of age gave him a strong body 
and developed his determination to a high degree. Both of these 
qualities have served him well in business and in his calling as a 
minister of the gospel. 

The early educational advantages of Mr. Wright were limited 
to the home and the village school. Between the busy seasons on 
the farm he attended the community school. Though the course 
of study was limited and the terms short, be became possessed with 
an insatiable desire to learn. In 1885, when he was in his 
seventeenth year, he entered the Tallapoosa Seminary, at Talla- 
poosa, Georgia, where he spent one year. Being limited in means 
he accepted a position in a general store and in the post office in 
Tallapoosa. As thetown grew he became assistant and then act- 
ing postmaster. These two positions were held for six years. Their 
exactions did not stifle his thirst for knowledge, and during theee 
years he eontiimed his studies under the tutorship of local teachers. 
When the Douglasville Banking Company of Douglasville, Georgia, 
was organized, he was chosen as its first cashier. In 1893 he 



378 BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 

returned to Tallapoosa, where he become managing cashier of the 
Tallapoosa Bank, a position he held until the fall of 1894. Hav- 
ing yielded to a call to preach the gospel, he gave up his position 
and entered the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, at Louis- 
ville, Kentucky, where he took the fidl course, except two 
graduate studies, senior Hebrew and senior Greek, later doing 
four months' post-graduate work, ^\^lile at the Seminary his 
business ability was recognized by the faculty and student body, 
and aceordinjrly ho was made manager of New York Hall during 
his senior year. 

Mr. Wright was happily converted in August, 1879, and united 
with the Antioch Baptist church, being baptized by Rev. S. G. 
Jenkins. His church membership was later placed with the Mun- 
ford Baptist church where the family attended and held fellow- 
ship. In August, 1896, he was ordained to the full work of 
the gospel ministry by the First Baptist church of Mexia, Texas. 
The presbytery was composed of L. W. Duke and Thomas Boykin. 

Mr. Wright has been in constant demand as a pastor. During 
the year 1898-1905, he was pastor of Providence church, Woodlake, 
Kentucky; during the years 1906-11 he served the churches at 
Nevada, Missouri, New Liberty and Long Ridge, Kentucky. From 
1912-1913 he was pastor of the First church, Moberly, Missouri. 
This pastorate was made short by the exceptional opportunities 
offered in a unanimous call to the First Baptist church of Williams- 
burg, Kentucky, where Mr. Wright has been pastor from 1913 to 
1919. In addition to his pastoral work, he was president of the 
Anti-Saloon League, of Vernon county, Missouri, Professor of 
Bible in Cumberland College, Kentucky, and chairman of the ex- 
ecutive board of Mt. Zion Association, in Kentucky. State mem- 
ber of Home Board for Missouri, member State Board of Missouri, 
Vice-President of Education Society of Kentucky. In June. 1913 
Mr. Wright received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Cumber- 
land College, Kentucky. 

Mr. Wright received a training while in business which has been 
invaluable to him as a pastor, especially since he has the good sense 
to hold his personal business ability in reserve. A pastor is not 



BAPTIST BIOGRAPHY 379 

supposed to possess business qualifications and is in danger of 
obtruding himself into affairs both in the church and out of it, to 
the detriment of his spiritual influence. Business ability and busi- 
ness qualifications are not the same. Qualifications are the develop- 
ment of ability and possess one with the good sense to discover those 
in the church who can best do things. This Mr. AVright has in a 

marked degree. The preacher whose ministry is discounted by a 
lack of good sense is to be pitied and not blamed, and the preacher 
whose ministry is augmented by good sense is doubly blessed. Tact 
ifl a wonderful factor in the effectiveness of a pastor. Mr. Wright 
is tactful without offense. For example, he can easily bring the 
entire community into sympathy and co-operation with him in a 
protracted meeting and have the schools, business houses, shops and 
residence inviting special services and coming to the services at the 
church in a body. Doctor Wright is a preacher of marked ability 
and |)0WL'r. His ministry is waited on by large and attentive con- 
gregations. His services arc sought as a Pastor-Evangelist. His 
ministry rings true to the Gospel and bears fruit in conversions, in 
the growth likewise of the membership in all good works. At the 
close of three weeks meeting at Shelby ville, Kentucky, the late Dr. 
Henry McDonald said, '^The series of sermons in this meeting 
preached by Brother Wright stand first among all I have ever heard 
in similar meetings.** 

Happy is the minister whose life does not become one-sided. 
The tendency is to develop out of proportion the gifts which lie 
along the lines of taste. The wise man who finds himself inclined 
to give overdue attention to preaching and underdue study to pas- 
toral service, will take heed and correct the error. This Mr. Wright 
has wonderfully done, bringing himself to proficiency alike in the 
pulpit and in the home. Of this good minister of Jesus Christ it 
is gratifying to say that he is a man as well as a preacher. His 
piety is robust and vigorous in the fresh air. Too many confound 
piety with babyishness. Not that Mr. Wright is a promoter, nor 
loud, nor often prominent, but that he is an asset in community 
life. Piety is medicine, and not disease. It is strength and not 



380 BAPTIST BIOGBAPHY 

ooniplai-aiice and helpless^ness. It takes care of situations and is not 
a drooping: d«*|HMHlrnce to l>e coddled and nursed. 

Mr. Wright is a gentleman of well-rounded culture and vigorous 
lift*, wlioin it is a iK'nedietion to know and whose friendship it is 
a ]»h'asiin.- to cherish, whose residence in anv community' will be 
felt for }HH)d and whose niinistrv wiJl be a blessing to any church. 
BIcsmmI as he is with a noble wife and surrounded by a happy 
family of promising children^ he fulfills the Scriptural requisites 
of a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up unto every good 
word and work. Still young in years and endowed with strong body 
and good health, this faithful pastor has promise of many years of 
fruitful service in the ministry of ihc gospel which he loves and 
preaches with power. ' . 



i 



I 



^-0 



1 ' 



4 



'1 

.1 

li 



!\ 



Ti 



i I 

•■.I 



1 

J 

i 



-i- 



I 






.'' 



\ 



] 



1 . 

1 ■ 

H, 

4