Life of Rev. James Needham, the oldest Methodist preacher

LIFE

I^eu. Ja/T\e5 fi(^<^d\)zrc\.

The Oldest Methodist Preacher

REV. J. P. RODGERS

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THE ETHEL CARR PEACOCK

MEMORIAL COLLECTION

Matris amori monumentum

TRINITY COLLEGE LIBRARY

DURHAM, N. C.
1903

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Dred Peacock

THE ETHEL CARFT PEACOCK

Matris amori monumentum.

? READINO ROOlVr I

jVo.5..a3..8.

REV. JAMES NEEDHAM

LIFE

^^\}.)afr\e^fi<^<^d\)ztT\,

The Oldest Methodist Preacher

KEY. J. P. EODGERS,

Of the Western North Carolina Conference

^(oOif3

pilot mountain, n. c. :

The Surry Printing House

1899

f^ 2 ^ . 7

To Lottie Lorena Burrage,

My^!^ Faithful and Efficient Helpmeet;

To Annie Burrage Rodgers,

Our Precious Babe in Heaven ;

To James Barr Rodgers,

Our Present Joy and Future Hope.

^ G 6 H-3

PREFACE

If Father Needham had died fort>r
years ago, his life would have deserved
a permanent record as a valuable con-
tribution to the early history of Meth-
odism in North Carolina. The value
of a biography is largely determined
by the usefulness of the life and by the
faithfulness of the biographer in repro-
ducing that life on the printed page.
If justice were done to this life, instead
of this booklet, a large and valuable
volume would now be issued from the
press.

I have gathered suggestions from
biography and facts from children and
friends, but much I remember as he
told it to me while we labored together.
If I had expected to write this sketch,
I could have known much more.

With limited information and time,
I give to the public this little book, and
it is hoped that it will serve to keep
fresh in the minds of many friends a few
remarkable facts of this remarkable man
of God.

J. P. RODGERS.

Pilot Mountain, N. C.

THE LIFE OF

REV. JAMES NEEDHAM,

The Oldest Methodist Preache^r.
May 26, 1799— April ist, 1S99.

Bishop Pierce says of his father, Rev.
Lovick Pierce, D. D., that he **in-
augurated the longest term of effec-
tive service in the annals of Method-
ism," when he preached his first sermon
on his first charge. If the words "effec-
tive service" may be applied to the.
work of a faithful local preacher who
began at conversion in September,
1820, and continued without interrup-
tion until he delivered his last power-
ful message March 12, 1899, a few days
before his death, then this is true of
Rev. James Needham whose labors as
a preacher of righteousness have sur-
passed Dr. Pierce's in length. A life
of seventy-eight and a half years as an
effective preacher and soul winner!
What a career as an ambassador of
Jesus Christ! What a herald! John
the Baptist for only a few months, but
this man of God for nearly eighty years!
What multitudes will rise at the judg-
ment to call him blessed!

8

Methodism in the Piedmont section
of North Carolina has had in him a ver-
itable pioneer with all the essential
qualifications for success in his unique
work. Many churches were organized
by him that are now^ large and prosper-
ous. Take out of the history of North
Carolina Methodism the life of Father
Needham (for that is the name he was
called) and who can estimate the loss?
The value of a life so busy and so
abounding in the work of the Lord can
not be measured by the standards of
earth. He planted the cross and his
labors abide.

Rev. James Needham v/as born in
Randolph County, N. C, about seven
miles from Trinity, May 26, 1799. His
parents, Jesse and Sarah Needham, had
moved there from Pasquotank County.
He began life where books were scarce
and schools were few and inferior.
There was little in his early life to in-
spire him to ^seek ^literary improvement
and the highest attainments. The
poorest boy of to-day has greater ad-
vantages and opportunities for mental
training. It was^only by the exercise
of an iron will and by persistence in
self-culture that success was possible
to the boy who had in him the material
of which men are made.

In all the country districts of Pied-
mont North Carolina, society was in its
primitive and undeveloped state, more
or less ''ignorant, rude and vicious."
There was little to stir the mind and
encourage ambition. Life had in it
much of the treadmill process and usu-
ally desired as its goal to *'eat, drink
and be merry." It was a day when men
were skilled with the plow, the gig and
the gun. He v/ho could tell the most
thrilling stories of adventures and ex-
ploits was sure of the most attentive
hearers and the highest esteem.

Professor Drummond has much to
say about environment as one of the
master-influences affecting man, but
Father Needham gathered up a good
store of information despite his unfav-
orable surroundings. He read history
and standard works on theology, but
most of all the Word of God, the first
book he ever purchased.

Religious matters were very much in
keeping with the intellectual status of
the country. There was then much
preaching against what was called
"will-worship." Father Needham de-
layed seeking the salvation of his soul
because of the pressure brought to
bear upon him by the strong opposition
to seeking religion at "the mourn-

ers' bench" and to all revival work.

In the fall of 1820, desiring deliver-
ance from his sins, he attended a camp
meeting at Pleasant Garden, Guilford
County. At first, failing to keep his
promise to the Lord to go to the altar,
the Spirit seemed to leave him in a con-
dition of despair. But finally the Spirit
returned in his convicting power, he
went to the altar and was most ''pow-
erfully" converted. Powerful conver-
sions at that time were not uncommon.
The gospel with New Testament faith
and power was preached by men who
felt that power in their own lives, and
the multitudes stood amazed at the
signs and wonders that accompanied
their labors. His was not a conversion
of dry eyes after the quick and im-
proved process. H'e returned home
and in reply to the question, "What's
the news.^" said, "Good news! Good
news! I've got religion!" His friends
began to cry and leave the house. He
called them back and told them he
wanted to pray for them.

At once he joined the Methodist
Church, the Church of his pious parents,
who had dedicated him to the Lord by
baptism in infancy. He began to call
his companions to Christ as they met
together in class meeting. A great

II

revival began in which hundreds of
souls were converted. He began his
spiritual life in a revival and revival
fires burned wherever he labored
throughout his long and eventful life.

Though he began calling sinners to
repentance as soon as he was converted,
he was not licensed to exhort until
sometime in the year 1821. He was
licensed to preach three or four years
later, Rev. Lewis Skidmore being Pre-
siding Elder, at a conference held at
Leaksville, Va. He was ordained Dea-
con by Bishop Andrew in Raleigh, N.
C, at the last Virginia Conference held
in that city, and was ordained Elder in
Greensboro, N. C, four years later by
Bishop Morris. The records containing
dates were distroyed byFederal soldiers.

He always had an unshaken faith in
his conversion. To be sure, he had
his periods of peculiar trial, but he
never lost his first love, nor did his title
to the heavenly mansion ever cease to be
clear. Possibly no one ever had clearer
and more unmistakable evidences of
his sonship than Father James Need-
ham, and no one ever had a more thor-
oughgoing conversion, nor a conver-
sion that marked the beginning of a
more abundant peace and a more even
overflow of real joy.

12

Father Needham belonged to the
original stock of Methodists. He was
pre-eminently a Christian, but a Chris-
tian formed in a Methodist mold. John
Wesley never had a follower that was
more loyal and consistent. The rules
and usages of the Methodist Church
were conformed to by him, not in any
servile sense, but in the spirit of love
for and faith in the Church of his choice.

Though he was a genuine and an
enthusiastic Methodist, he always man-
ifested the sweetest and most catholic
spirit toward the brethren of other com-
munions. He shunned controversies
and engaged in them only a few times,
and then only when it became neces-
sary to defend the doctrines of the
Church he had promised to serve. He
loved "the brethren," and with him
that included all Christians.

He loved the Methodist Church. Its
theology appealed to his common sense
and sound judgment. He adapted
himself to the methods of his Church,
and had great faith in its mission in the
world. He deplored its corruptions,
but never became disheartened or de-
spondent. To the last he prayed daily
for the evangelization of the world and
expected his own Church to be one of
the great forces under God in bringing

13

about that happy day when the gospel
of Jesus Christ will be declared among
all the nations of the earth. How earn-
estly he prayed for the heathen!

Equipment for Service.

As before said, Father Needham's
early life was very much cramped and
his opportunities for mental improve-
ment very much limited. No high school
course or college curriculum w^as with-
in his reach. Yet he, in his zeal for
the greatest usefulness in his Master's
service, came to have a well-disciplined
and well-balanced mind despite his
lack of academic and collegiate train-
ing. He gathered largely from history
and from some of the Church's standard
authors; but far above all other books
did he prize the Book of books. He
was pre-eminently a man of one Book,
and in him that great Book had the
heartiest response to its teachings. His
supreme delight was '*in the law of the
Lord," and in His Word did he literally
*' meditate day and night." His leaf
and fruit did not fail even in old age.

He did not have the learning of the
schools nor any of their acquired or
conferred degrees; but he had a very
accurate and minute knowledge of

14

God's Word, and when he preach-
ed he obeyed the apostolic injunc-
tion, ''Preach the word." His mind
was stored with the words of divine
truth, and he could repeat large por-
tions of it with remarkable accuracy
years after his eyes became too dim to
read the printed page; and his soul was
saturated with the spirit of the Word
and continued to absorb it daily. For
him it never lost its freshness, nor did
the passing years cool the ardor of his
love for its commands and promises.
He beheld "wondrous things" out of
God's law.

But better than all else he had the
unction from above, the annointing of
the Holy Ghost, the first and greatest
requisite of every successful preacher;
and the anointing was upon him from
the very beginning of his ministry and
followed him all along his remarkable
life of sacrifice for his Lord. Thou-
sands who preceded him to the grave
and to the glory world, and many who-
still remain, have given their testimony
to the manifestation of this power in
that they yielded to the Spirit that
operated through the word declared by
him. God spoke through him.

He was not eloquent in the sense
that the word is usually understood^

15

At times some of his words were not
even heard distinctly. But he had that
oratory that surpasses that of the plat-
form speaker. He had the power that
moved the people toward a better life
and toward God. If the results can be
considered the test, he was eloquent.

The elements of his power and effi-
ciency as a preacher of righteousness
were : Remarkable familiarity with the
Word of God and implicit faith in its all-
sufficiency as the revelation of God to
man, common sense and sound judg-
ment, earnestness and faithfulness to
the truth, and lastly, the baptism of the
Holy Ghost. Such effects followed his
preaching that the people came to be-
lieve that his work was of God. Hun-
dreds and thousands who heard his call
to sinners came crying for mercy, and
they sought and found.

He preached expecting results. In
the summer of 1897, he assisted his pas-
tor, the writer, in a meeting at Beulah
Church, Surry County. The meeting
had taken deep hold on the people and
penitents were earnestly seeking salva-
tion. As he preached on the Prodigal
son and described his homeward jour-
ney, he saw in his mind the return of
the seekers to their Father's house,
and a number of them returned that

i6

hour and were embraced in their
Father's arms. It was a day of God's
power seen in the return of his prodigal
children and felt in the hearts of his
sons and daughters.

But just a day or two before this ser-
vice he wept because of the seeming
barrenness of results and the hardness
of the hearts of the impenitent. He
literally wept over sinners as Christ did
over Jerusalem. So Christlike were
his sympathies for the unsaved and his
yearnings for their salvation.

His preaching was thoroughly ortho-
dox. His intepretations of the Word
were sound and Scriptural. He bad
well grounded opinions even on con-
troverted points and passages of Scrip-
ture, and was able to give the reasons
for the views he held and defend him-
self against theologians of the highest
rank in the Church.

On one occasion the case of Jeph-
thah's daughter came up for discussion
by a number of preachers at a District
Conference. Father Needham said
that Jephthah did not sacrifice his
daughter. The other preachers af-
firmed that he did. Dr. W., the
scholarly Presiding Elder, was called
in and he demanded the reasons for
his belief. Father Needham asked,

17

''Why did God drive out and destroys
the Canaanites ?" The Doctor replied
that it was because of human sacrifices.
He then asked him, "What was the.
law of a vow ?" He did not answer,,
and Father Needham replied that the-
law of a vow required that an unlawful,
object brought for sacrifice must ber
taken before the priest and valuedV
whether good or bad, and a lawful
sacrifice was offered instead. The
Doctor replied, "I give it up. I give
it up."

He was regarded as a powerful and
effective dispenser of God's Word, but
he stands highest in the estimation of
the people, and his memory will be
longest cherished by the multitudes^
as a man of prayer. To say that he
was mighty in prayer and gifted in
prayer is to use well worn expressions,,
but they can be applied to him with
all their force and import. He prayed
— and such prayers he uttered ! His
whole soul, voice and body were
brought into service. His prayers not
only were praised and believed in by
men, but were approved and answered
by God. Surely God never bowed his
ear lower to hear the prayer of any of
earth's saints than he did to hear Fa-
ther Needham's. He prayed for mourn-

i8

ers and they ceased to mourn, were
comforted and praised God. He pray-
ed for the sick and suffering and their
diseases were stayed and their health
was speedily restored. He prayed for
rain, with a sky as clear and rain-
less as that above Elijah on Carmel,
and in an hour the thirsty earth was
drinking the descending rain. He
prayed with and for his family evening
and morning and they all became
Christians in answer to his prayers.

In 1897, at Laurel Bluff Church,
Surry County, he was helping his pas-
tor in a protracted meeting. On the
2 1st of September at the night service,
the altar was filled with penitents.
Deep feeling and widespread interest
were manifested in the congregation.
Prayer was called for and Father
Needham led. How he prayed! Who
that heard that prayer can ever forget
that hour.? Heaven and earth seemed
to be closer together. How he plead
with God for those mourning souls !
About fourteen of them professed sav-
ing faith in Christ and went to their
homes rejoicing in the Lord.

Also for the sick as well as for the
sinner were his prayers sought and did
they avail. Though he had skill as a
physician and practiced for years, he

19

had greater faith in the skill of the
Great Physician.

His son Jesse was very sick with
fever. The doctor had given up the
case. He became very much disturb-
ed about his call to preach. He
thought he was going to die and was
alarmed about the condition of his
soul. He asked his father to pray for
him. After a most earnest and power-
ful prayer, hope revived and he began
at once to recover and rapidly improv-
ed from that hour.

A granddaughter's husband, Rev.
Jesse Ashburn of the Primitive Baptist
Church, was very sick and his skilled
physician said that patients in his
condition always died. He sent for
Father Needham and three other min-
isters. Prayer was offered at night.
Before day the suffering man called up
the preachers to pray for him. While
they were on their knees the pains all
left him. He got up that morning, ate
his breakfast and walked about to the
surprise of his physician and others.

In time of drought his prayers were
heard and answered.

In 1 88 1, a meeting to pray for rain
was appointed at New Hope Church.
After the opening services, Father
Needham made some remarks. At

20

this time in the service some of the
doubters looked about for signs of rain,
but saw none. Recalled the congrega-
tion to prayer and asked all to kneeL
No prayer in a long life of prayer was
offered in greater earnestness. Before
the congregation arose from its knees,,
it thundered. He arose and told the
people to hurry to their homes, or they
would be caught in the rain. A good
rain came and some were not yet at
their homes when it began to fall. On
that day some who had been skeptical
as to the efficacy of prayer learned to
believe that God hears and answers
prayer.

HIS WORK AS A PASTOR.
Father Needham never became a
member of the Annual Conference, but
after moving to Surry County, N. C,
April, 1842, he labored as a supply for
as many as seventeen years. If he
had spent his life in the itinerancy he
would have served more charges and
more people would have learned to
know him, but great would have been
the loss to the local ranks of the min-
istry. If some local preachers have
brought injury to their own rank by
laboring sparingly and ineffectively, he
has done exceptional honor to that
large class of ministers who usually

21

labor "without money and without
price. "

Rev. Dr. P. L. Groome, of the Balti-
more Conference, says that FatherNeed-
ham organized Blue Ridge Mission and
served it three years. He labored two
years on Fisher's River Mission which
was joined to the Blue Ridge Mission.
Later he spent two years on this work.
He served Patrick and Sauratown Mis-
sion when it extended to the Chowan
District. He traveled one year on
each of the following charges: Stokes,
Forsyth, Surry, Yadkin. Surry Circuit
had twenty-eight appointments. He
traveled the Sauratown and Pilot
Mountain Mission during the war.

REVIVAL AND CAMP MEETING
PREACHER.

After Father Needham's conversion
he attended class meeting the first op-
portunity. In his turn he arose and
said that he had something to say.
He told the congregation that he had
religion, that he was happy, and if
there were any who wanted religion, if
they would come forward and kneel,
he would pray for them. They came
and there a gracious revival began that
was thorough and far-reaching in its
influence.

22

Dr. Groome says that Father Need-
ham was instrumental in forming the
societyatJamestown,where he preached
his first sermon and where he labored in
a great revival. At the close of his first
sermon he called for penitents and many
came. Among these were a son and
daughter of a minister of another
Church. He called on the preacher to
pray for the mourners, but he abruptly
replied, " Pray for them yourself. "

Also at Muir's Chapel he had a gra-
cious revival and organized a church.
This might be said of many churches
in Surry, Stokes, Forsyth, Yadkin and
other counties, where his labors pre-
ceded revivals and where revivals pre-
ceded the organization of churches.

He has been known all along during
his long term of effective service as a
revivalist. He was not acquainted
with many of the plans and schemes
operated by some of the latter day
revivalists, but powerful religious awak-
enings occurred in- the charges he
served and wherever he labored with
others. He never fell in with the
modern method of relating anecdotes
and persisted in saying that this is not
preaching the gospel. His language
was pure and he made no strange per-
formances in the pulpit. In his revival

1

23

work he resorted to no questionable
methods to gain attention and draw
large crowds. He honored the Spirit
and the Word of God, and the results
of his work were not superficial, but
deep and permanent.

Even during his last two years his
labors in revival work were remark-
ably blessed. He assisted his pastor
in eighteen protracted meetings and
gracious results followed. He usually
preached at the day services but al^
ways attended and took an active part
in the night services. Over rough
roads, through heat and cold, day and
night, he traveled, suffering for sinners
and the Church. At times he would
preach until his physical strength al-
most failed him. His life and labors
were a standing rebuke to those who
without the best excuses stay away
from the house of God. Nearl}' a hun-
dred years old and attending and
laboring in the night services of meet-
ings week after week! Surely no pas-
tor ever had more faithful and self-
sacrificing help in revival work.

During the month of February, 1898,
he and his pastor assisted Rev. H. K.
Boyer, the pastor of Mt. Airy Station, in
revival services. The Mt. Airy corre-
spondent to the Wihniyigton Star writes:

24

**Rev. James Needham, of Surry
County, a local minister of the Metho-
dist Church, preached a great sermon
from Acts 17:30 to a large congrega-
.tioii in the Central Methodist Church
/here to-day. Brother Needham will
be 99 years old on May 26th, and has
been a minister of the gospel for more
than seventy-five years, having preach-
ed to five generations. He is one of
the most remarkable men in this coun-
^y. Physically he is quite active for
one of his age, and his mental faculties
are clear and vigorous. He is here
attending a revival meeting, and is
loved and honored by every one who
knows him. He is indeed a father in
Israel, and in listening to him one al-
most imagines that he is hearing a
voice from the great beyond."

In the day of camp meetings he was
in the front rank as an effective camp
meeting preacher. In these great
gatherings his labors were eminently
blessed. He assisted in eighty-two
camp meetings, and in each meeting
there were from twenty-five to two
hundred and fifty professions. Some
of the leading camp grounds of years
ago were established by him. On dif-
ferent occasions in these meetings
where he labored, the interest became

25

so great that half of the night would
pass away before the multitudes would
retire to their tents.

If we are to take the Bible standard
of measurement, "They that turn many
to righteousness shall shine as the stars
forever," who can have any adequate
conception of the blessedness of such
a life ? With such real and remark-
able conceptions of heaven as he had,
who can wonder that his labors were
so faithful and abundant, despite the
sad lack of almost all remuneration for
his services?

If the Church could come to have a
clearer conception of the vast amount
of service rendered by Father Need-
ham during his incessant labors for
nearly a century, it could understand
better how he came to stand above so
many of his fellows in character and
influence. He might be called a prod-
igy, but he is not so much a prodigy
as a product. When his life is multi-
plied by the tens of thousands of acts
of service rendered to his Lord, there
is no cause to wonder why all his ac-
quaintances reverenced him, and those
who knew him best almost paid him
homage. Behind him was such a rec-
ord, scores of years of holy living and
faithful service, that produced in all

26

classes a sense of reverence and re-
spect accorded to very few of God's
saints.

After all that might be said about
his abundant labors for his Master, it
seems that the best contribution that
he has given to his Church and to his
Country is his character based on a
spotless life. It is believed that there
is not a man among his acquaintances
sufficiently abandoned to evil to say
aught against the life and character of
Father Needham. No man could
point to him and show a single blem-
ish in his long Christian life. To those
who never knew him, some of these
statements may seem extravagant and
exaggerated; but to those who knew
him best, they will not be too strong,
nor will they fully express to the world
the esteem in which he was held by his
friends. How highly favored were his
thousands of friends to have before
them in this perverse and sinful gener-
ation a life so pure and spotless!
North Carolina Methodism is to be
congratulated in being permitted to
lay claim to such a life, long, holy,
-devotional, faithful and effective. He
may never have a tall marble shaft at
his grave; but as long as the Church
cherishes the memory of its pioneers

27

and retains the records of their labors,
the name of Father James Needham
will not be forgotten. Who can esti-
mate the value of what he said, what
he did and what he was ?

Mr. Beecher said, "The business of
life is to know how to get along with
our fellow-men." Dr. Hillis says,
"Skill in getting on with men is the
test of perfect manhood." Few men
have done so much good in the world
as Father Needham while producing
so little friction, while arousing so
little antagonism. He has taken
advanced steps in the art of right
living.

REMARKABLE FACTS AND VISIONS.

While a young man Father Need-
ham was instrumental in organizing a
Library Association at Ebenezer Church
about seven miles from the place where
Trinity College was afterwards located.
He framed the constitution and by-laws
of this society. With the assessments
levied upon and collected from the
members, he was able to secure a good
library. This good collection of books
had the effect of creating much inter-
est in reading and in the subject of
education. The influence of this li-

28

brary was wide-spread throughout the
surrounding section and made it pos-
sible for success in the school work,
and for the school to begin out of
which Trinity College grew. He laid
the foundation for Trinity College. He
builded greater than he knew and
greater than the Church has yet given
him due honor for.

Father Needham knew Dr. Braxton
Craven when the Doctor was but a boy.
Soon after Dr. Craven was licensed
to preach, he attended one of Father
Needham's services, and there the
young preacher preached for him his
first sermon from the text: "And
Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be
no strife, I pray thee, between me and
thee, and between my herdmen and
thy herdmen; for we be brethren.'*
Father Needham said that he preached
well.

Father Needham was a native of the
county of Naomi Wise. He made the
coffin in which her sixteen-year-old
daughter was buried. He knew the
facts upon which Dr. Craven based
his thrilling story, "Naomi Wise; or,
the Wrongs of a Beautiful Girl."

In his early life, Father Needham
went to his church early one Sabbath.
He took a seat on a root under a large

29

tree. No one else had come, and it
was entirely still about him. Suddenly
a voice said to him, ''Get up from
there." Startled, he quickly arose. He
looked all around for the speaker, but
saw no one. Then he cast his eyes up
the tree. At that moment a large limb
broke off and fell upon the very spot
where he had sat.

After his conversion Father Needham
had some doubts as to his call to preach.
One night he dreamed that he was at
Ebenezer Church in Randolph County.
He was standing near the pulpit, and
at the eastern end of the church a great
wall stood. He saw come from behind
this wall a large serpent about seventy
feet long. It crawled in at the door
and down toward him. As it came
near it raised its head as if to strike him
in the face. Then he said, "I com-
mand thee in the name of Jesus of Naz-
areth, depart from here." It dropped
its head and turned toward the door
and returned to the wall.

Then he looked up in the church and
saw a silver trumpet. A voice told
him to take that trumpet to the door
and sound it toward the west as long
as he had strength. He did so. He
looked out and saw the people coming
in such a thick mass that they looked

30

like a dark cloud. In a few moments
the house was filled with people who
came from the west, the north and the
south. He never again doubted his
call to preach, nor did he ever preach
a sermon east of that church.

Many years ago he had a remarkable
vision of heaven. In this great mansion
there were several stories. In one cor-
ner of this great structure there were
fearful signs of decay, and he was told
that this represented the Catholic
Church. As he moved along from
place to place, he found that there was
no law of gravitation to overcome and
that he could move along at will with-
out effort. As he ascended from story
to story, more and more did he see
things that were not lawful for man to
utter. At last he came to the upper
story and looked out over the battle-
ments of heaven down upon the moving
masses of toiling, suffering, sinful men,
and in an outburst of pity for the inhab-
itants of earth his eyes were suffused
with tears and he awoke.

Not many years ago he was taken
violently ill. It was thought that he
could not live. While asleep he dreamed
that he approached the gate of heaven
and knocked for admittance. The
keeper of the gate told him that on the

31

inside was a harp for him, but that one
string was wanting on it and that he
could not yet be admitted. He then
prayed that he might return to earth
and finish his work that the missing:
string might be supplied. He awoke
and told his friends that he would re-
cover and that they might retire to-
their beds for rest and sleep. At once
he began to improve and soon recov-
ered to spend a few more years of great
usefulness in perfecting the golden harp-
of heaven.

HOME LIFE.

In 1820, in March before his conver-
sion in September, Father Needham
was married to Hannah Frazier. To-
them were born ten children, — Mary^
Chrisenberry, John, Asbury, Jesse^
James, William, Sarah, Margaret and
one that died in infancy. The nine all
professed religion before they became
grown. Jesse and William became
faithful ministers of the gospel. Asbury,.
James, William and Sarah still survive.
William has two sons, Revs. Zachariah
J. Needham and J. Bibb Needham, who
are members of the Pacific Conference,
and a daughter, Addie, the wife of Rev.
Jesse A. Ashburn of the Primitive Bap-
tist Church. Sarah, the wife of John

32

H. Boyles, Pilot Mountain, N. C, has
a son, Rev. I. Sebert Boyles, who is
pastor of the Baptist church at Wil-
liamsburg, Va. Another granddaugh-
ter is the wife of Rev. Mr. West, an
itinerant minister in Kentucky. Still
others are filling places of honor and
trust and are not unmindful of the great
value of a godly ancestry. The num-
ber of children, grandchildren and
great grandchildren is very large.

His wife was a consecrated Christian
worker, and very familiar with the
Word of God. Her pastor. Rev. N. E.
Coltrane of the North Carolina Confer-
ence, wrote of her:

"Died, in Surry county, N. C, July 6,
1880, Hannah Needham, wife of Rev.
James Needham. Sister Needham was
born in Randolph County, N. C, Nov. 7,
1801, was married to James Needham
in 1820, professed religion at a class
meeting at Old Ebenezer, April 13,
1822. She was the mother often chil-
dren. One of these died while an in-
fant, three died in Christian faith, and
six are still living. These with about
sixty grandchildren and great grand-
children are left to mourn their loss.

"Sister Needham suffered very great
affliction for a little over forty years,
but for the last ninety days she com-

33

plained of but little or no pain, but
gradually declined till her death. She
was a devoted Christian, and her end
was one of great peace. Previous to
her death, her mind was clear and she
expressed herself freely, said she was
ready to die.

"Assisted by Bro. Foy, I preached
her funeral at New Hope, July 7, to a
large congregation. The text was
from Rev. 14:13, a text she had chosen.
She has gone home to rest from her
labors. Sweet will be the rest after
her protracted affliction.

"Bro. Needham has been a local
preacher for more than half a century,
has traveled as a supply for many
years, is nov/ in his eighty-second
year, and preaches about twice a week.
May he have the sympathy and pray-
ers of the Church in this sore bereav-
ment. God bless him and all his fam-
ily and bring them at last to the h^ven
of eternal rest."

The home life of Father Needham. is
Avorthy of careful study. He ruled his
own household well, and without re-
sorting to the more violent modes of
correction. The rod of correction was
displaced by that correction that came
from his exemplary life and from the
power of his love toward his children

34

and of his love toward his God. The
spirit of the man pervaded the inner
circle of his family, and they never
grossly violated his law of love. Pos-
sibly he was honored and reverenced
by no one more than by his own chil-
dren. They "almost worshipped"
him.

If the commitment of children to pa-
rents is their greatest trust, and if the
training of them is their highest duty,
then Father Needham's name deserves
honorable mention, even if he had not
directly blessed the world by his own
labors; since he has produced good
fruit by the proper training of his chil-
dren that have been and are a blessing
to the world. Like Abraham he be-
lieved God and his promises and he
trained his children and showed them
the better way by precept and by ex-
ample. His life is not lost to his off-
spring, and through his offspring it is
not lost to the world.

He was very influential for good in
the homes of his children. A grand-
son. Rev. Z. J. Needham, writes: "At
times he had more power in prayer than
any man I ever knew. The last even-
ing he was at father's before we, my
wife, child, brother and I, left home for
California, he prayed with unusual ef-

\

35

feet. Such words of mighty pleading
for each of us cannot fail to bear fruit
in the lives of those for whom they were
uttered. I am certain I never knew
any one that seemed to have so much
faith in God and such direct fellowship
with the Spirit."

"FELL ON SLEEP."

The same peace that filled his soul
through life did not fail him when his
spirit took its flight to heaven. Wit-
nesses testify that a short time before
he died he seemed to arouse, looked
upward and a heavenly light, brighter
than the light of the lamp, lighted up
his face. His son William said that
just before he died he bowed his head
as if thinking of Christ when he bowed
his head on the cross and yielded up
the ghost. He died without a struggle.
La grippe had seized him a few days
after preaching his last sermon at Pilot
Mountain, N. C, March 12, but he suf-
fered little pain. He was anxious with
his thousands of friends to see his hun-
dred years completed, but his anniver-
sary was celebrated in heaven with his
many friends and beneficiaries that had
gone on before.

On Easter Sabbath evening his body

36

was carried to New Hope Church. To
a very large congregation, Dr. W. S.
Creasy, of the Western North Carolina
Conference, preached a pathetic and
powerful sermon from the text: "For
David after he had served his own gen-
eration by the will of God, fell on
sleep, and was laid unto his fathers."
By the side of his wife he was laid to
rest at New Hope Church near Ararat
station, Surry County, to await a glori-
ous resurrection.

<

Tributes By The Press and
Others.

From Mr. T. J. Lowry, Editor News,
Mt. Airy, N. C:

"Father Needham is dead!

" His work is finished; his last exhor-
tation has been heard; his last prayer
on earth for dying sinners has been ut-
tered; his lips are cold and still!

"He has gone to be with God — to
await your coming — our coming — to
meet with his loved ones on the other
shore!

"Will we forget him? Will we dis-
appoint him?

"The announcement on our streets
Saturday that Father Needham had
passed away that morning at his home,
at I o'clock, brought sadness to many
hearts.

" He would have been one hundred
years old on the 26th of next month.

" He was ill only a few days and said
to those about him soon after he took
sick that he thought he would get up
again.

" 'Father Needham,' as he was famil-
iarly known, was actively engaged in

38

ministerial work for more than seventy,
perhaps seventy-five, years. While he
was never a member of the Methodist
Conference he served as supply pastor
many years. His last sermon was
preached in Pilot Mountain, Sunday,
March I2, 1899, from the text, if we
mistake not: 'And whosoever will let
him take the water of life freely.* Mr.
Rodgers informs us that he had accepted
an invitation to preach the annual ser-
mon at Trinity Academy,in Pilot Moun-
tain, the day he reached the century
mark. Last year he assisted Rev. J.
P. Rodgers and Rev. H. K. Boyer in
revival meetings and preached many
powerful sermons.

"No man in Western North Carolina
was more universally esteemed — none
more faithful to God.

** Father Needham leaves several
children, a number of grand and great
grandchildren.

" The funeral services were held Sun-
day, April 2nd, at New Hope, near
Ararat station. A large number of sor-
rowing relatives and neighbors and
friends attended the services, which were
conducted by Dr. Creasy, of Winston.

"The News extends its sympathy to
the family of the deceased."

39

Rev. W. S. Creasy, D. D., writes:
** There is no name in Piedmont
North Caroh'na that is more of a
household one than that of Rev. James
Needham, a local elder, familiarly
"known as Father Needham. The very
name has been synonymous with piety,
consecration, and fidelity to the Church
of his choice and the cause of Christ.
He doubtless wielded a greater influ-
ence for Christ in the section where he
lived than any man who has ever been
among the people. He was a forcible,
instructive and deeply spiritual preach-
er. This is proved by the hundreds
who now live, who were brought to the
Savior through him, and will be by thous-
ands who have entered into rest, because
of this holy man's teaching and life.

"His labors have been truly remark-
able as to the long time the Master
permitted him to engage in his loved
employ. If he had lived to see the
26th of next month or just 55 days
longer he would have celebrated his
one hundredth birthday, which he ex-
pected to do by preaching at Pilot
Mountain. It was a great disappoint-
ment to thousands of his friends and
admirers that he was taken before that
day. But the Lord knows and does
that which is best.

40

"He had been a preacher for nearly
eighty years. He was never in the
itinerant ministry, but served as a
supply on different charges from time
to time as much as seventeen years.
He v/as abundant in labors at all times,
was a great helper to all the preachers
with whom he came in contact. He
almost ceased to labor and live at the
same time.

"He attended the quarterly meeting
of his circuit on the 2nd Sunday in
March, preached a strong and helpful
sermon at night, from the text: 'Who-
soever will, let him take the water of
life freely.' This was his last sermon.
He contracted some cold which de-
veloped into la grippe and he gradu-
ally grew weaker, until the morning of
April 1st, at i o'clock he sweetly fell
asleep and went into the presence of
that Savior whom he loved so well and
served so long. One of his last say-
ings was: 'I have been all my life try-
ing to show and tell people how to
live; I will now show them how to
die.' He gave every expression of
peace and joy while he could talk, and
then by sign and look, indicated all
was well.

"The funeral was preached by the
writer at New Hope Church, near

41 ■

where he lived, to a congregation of
1500 persons, and then we laid him to
rest beside his wife, with the sure and
certain hope of a glorious resurrection.
It was a scene never to be forgotten as
the great throng, young and old, pass-
ed by looking upon the face of one
they loved so well, which was attested
by flowing tears. He has left us but
his works follow him, and will doubt-
less show wonders in the better land.

"The writer has known Father
Needham for a number of years, and
owes him much for advice, sympathy
and prayer. I recall one instance
specially, when we were engaged in a
meeting and the power and glory of
God were being manifested in an un-
usual degree, he caught me in his arms,
and exclaimed: 'Bro. Creasy and my-
self have made a new covenant to meet
each other in heaven.' May God help
me to keep my part of it. When I was
recommended by the Church for license
to preach, he laid his hand on my head
and gave me his benediction, which
has followed me in power and sweet-
ness all these years.

'*He was fond of relating the inci-
dents connected with his work in the
early days of his ministry. Many of
them humorous, others sad, and some

42

startling to us at this day. He had a
rich experience, he thought, and talked
about the glories of heaven by day,
and frequently dreamed of them at
night. He has given us some vivid
pictures of heaven, as he has seen it in
his dreams. He has gone to look up-
on his King in his beauty, and the
glory which surrounds him, with a
clear and loving sight.

*'He enjoyed his visit to our confer-
ence at Winston very much indeed,
and it was a source of joy to him, the
few days of life he had left, that he had
met the brethren and joined in their
worship. Peace to his ashes. God
help us to meet him in heaven."

From Rev. H. M. Blair, Presiding
Elder of the Mt. Airy District, in Church
and Home:

** The announcement that Rev. James
Needham, the oldest Methodist preach-
er in North Carolina, and perhaps in
the whole Methodist Church, had died
at his home in Surry County on Satur-
day morning, April ist, was a great
sorrow to his thousands of friends.

"'Father Needham' was born in
Randolph County, this State, May 26th,
1799. His parents were both members

43

of the Methodist Church, and dedicated
him to God by baptism when in in-
fancy. They started with him to the
State of Ohio when he was only four or
five years old, but his mother was
taken ill on the way, and they stopped
at a place near where the Laurel Bluff
cotton mills now stand, near Mt. Airy,
and were detained so long that the re-
moval west was abandoned, and they
remained in that vicinity for some
years, and then returned to their for-
mer neighborhood in Randolph County.
Many years later, however, his father
did remove with a portion of his family
to Ohio.

•'His last sermon was preached at
Pilot Mountain, March I2th, this being
the occasion of the 2nd quarterly meet-
ing for his charge. He occupied the
evening hour, and preached a sermon
of great spiritual power and unction
from the text, 'And whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely.^
No text could have been more appro-
priate, and it was apparent through the
fifty minutes of its delivery that his
soul was on fire with solicitude for the
salvation of sinners. His appeals were
heart-searching and tender.

''In many respects this was a remark-
able man. Unlike most old men, he

44

never dropped behind in the march of
progress, nor did he lose sympathy
with the younger generations. As he
was never by disease or infirmity com-
pelled to desist from his loved employ
of preaching the gospel, so he never
grew sour or discontented with the
changed conditions and methods of
the more modern days. Religion,
spiritual and fervent, founded upon the
experience of a vital change by the
regeneration of the heart through faith
in the blood of Christ, was what he
contended for all through his long life,
and a better example of the truth of
this teaching was never given in any
life. He literally lived what he taught.
** There is one point in his experience
which it may be well to give special
attention, since it bears specially upon
a question which, at the present time,
is agitating the Church, and in some
places causing division and strife. We
have reference to the fact that he
claimed to have obtained at once, in
the moment of his justification, iiot
only a sense of pardon, but likewise
that deep and abiding evidence of the
renewal of his nature w^hich forever
settled him, and made it entirely un-
necessary for him to seek, in this sense,
a second blessing. While he testified

45

that he sought and obtained many a
blessing, yet there was no time when
he had any reason to feel that the first
work was not complete and full. So,
speaking out of his experience, while
he believed with all his heart in the
great doctrine of the sanctification of
believers, he did not believe in the ab-
solute necessity of a specific second
work in order to attain to this. Xo
one who was well acquainted with
'Father Needham' could ever doubt
that he experienced and exemplified
in the most emphatic sense a sanctified
life. His life was 'hid with Christ in
God.'

" Perhaps, after all, such an experience
and life may help in the solution of
this vexed and much-vexing question.
May it not be true that some enter in-
to the full-orbed life of a perfect faith
and love from the beginning; while
others, with a poorer conception of the
possibilities of divine grace, must come
into the fullness of the blessing after a
revision of the former notions of the
Divine purpose in grace ? One is not
likely to be saved any further than
he believes it possible to be saved.
'Father Needham' believed it possible
in the beginning to be saved from all
sin, and thus he was saved, his whole

46

long life testifying to the truth of this
salvation, although he never made any
public boast of it, so far as the writer
knows.

"His ministry was one of power, but
never one of contention, and he al-
ways preached as one sent to proclaim
glad tidings and to publish peace. He
constantly proclaimed liberty to the
captive, and endeavored to bind up the
broken-hearted, and to comfort those
that mourned. He rests from his la-
bors, and his works follow him !"

Rev. S. H. Helsabeck writes:

''^ My Dear Brother Rodger s: — I am
glad you have undertaken to write a
biography of Father James Needham.
I wish to say that I have known him
more than fifty years and he certainly
was one of the best and most useful
local preachers I have ever known.
He read and studied the Bible closely
and his sermons were always full of
God's Word, and as a result he always
had a hearing on the part of the people.
He had faith in the gospel and looked
for immediate fruits and was not disap-
pointed. And the day of eternity alone
can reveal the number of souls converted
under his ministry. I was with him in

47

many meetings and know the things
whereof I testify are true.

"He was also a good thinker and
when he reached his conclusions he
had the courage of his convictions, and
on all proper occasions was ready to
defend them.

" He was a great lover of his Church
and her doctrines, while at the same
time his large heart took in all of
God's people, so that he truly believed
in the 'holy catholic Church' and in
the 'fellowship of the saints.'

"He was one of the humblest men I
ever knew. His piety was deep, uni-
form and constant. Whoever knew
him to speak an unkind word? Who-
ever saw him out of good temper?

"He was an all-round man — remark-
able in many wa,ys and retained a
sound and bright mind to the last.
And having for near a hundred years
showed the people 'how a Christian
lives.' in meeting his latest foe he
showed 'how a Christian dies.'

"Take him all in all, his long term of
ministerial service and the usefulness of
his ministry, I never expect to see his
like again.

"Though dead the stream of his in-
fluence will flow on forever.

" 'Servant of God, well done!
Rest from thy loved employ.' "

48

Rev. A. M. Long writes:

''Rev. James Needham, 'Father
Needham,' as he was usually called,
was no ordinary man. He was indeed
a father in our Methodist Israel in the
Northwestern counties of North Caro-
lina. He lived almost a hundred years,
born in 1799, died in 1899. He gave a
large number of the years he lived to
the service of the Church to which he
belonged and to the preaching of the
everlasting gospel of the Son of God;
and sinners by the hundreds were
brought to Christ by his ministry.

"As a local preacher in the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, he came as
near making full proof of his ministry
as any preacher in his day. He sup-
plied several missions and circuits and
was a faithful and efficient pastor.

"I first met him in 1874, and first
heard him preach the same year. Upon
my first acquaintance with him, I formed
a mental picture which I often com-
pared with that of my future acquain-
tance with him and found that I was
correct in my first mental view.

"Father Needham's religion was
broad, deep and wide enough to take
in all mankind. He surely believed
and by his life said:

49

'There's a wideness in God's mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea,'

He was devoted to his religious du-
ties and to his beloved work, the preach-
ing of the unsearchable riches of Christ.
He was 'mighty in the Scriptures'; his
sermons were strong and well deliv-
ered, and in a style all his own; he was
large and well rounded as a preacher
and as a man; and his

' Life was so gentle and the elements

So mixed in him that nature might stand up

And say to all the world, " This was a man.

> if

"Father Needham is gone to a great
reward. Near Easter Sabbath in 1899
he died, but as sure as God's sun shines
he still lives. His life's work is done;
his mission on earth was a noble one;
our heritage is his blessed memory; all
should emulate his virtues. Surely

' The actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.'

*'By the removal of Rev. James
Needham, this aged Christian father,
to glory and heaven, God teaches us
all how to estimate great and good
men and reproves us for our deprecia-
tion of their talents and virtues.

"This aged servant of God has gone
to that blessed home of which he fre-

50

quently talked as if he had already-
been there. 'Sphered in light and
throned in love, companion of saint
and seraphs, he enjoys a sinless and
sorrowless eternity.'

'Where age has no power o'er the fadeless

frame,
Where the eye is fire and the heart is flame.' "

Rev. W. W. Bays, D. D., Presiding
Elder of the Statesville District, writes:

"I first met dear old Father Need-
ham at Mount Airy last winter was a
year ago.

'' I was to go to Mount Airy to preach
and lecture; and just before going I
learned of him through the Charlotte
Observer iox the first time I think — that
he was assisting in a protracted meet-
ing in Mount Airy — a man in his 99th
year actually assisting in a revival! It
struck me as something wonderful, and
I had a great curiosity to meet him.

"When I arrived at Mount Airy I
met him sure enough, in a revival, and
preaching, for he preached the night I
arrived there, Saturday night, though
I arrived too late to hear him.

"I preached on Sunday morning and
Sunday night, and Father Needham
was present at both services; and at
night he was called on to pray; and I

51

was astonished at the strength and com-
pass of his voice. I am sure he could
have been heard a hundred yards!

*'I lectured on 'Woman' on Monday
night, and Father Needham was there;
and I think no one in the audience en-
joyed the lecture more than he. He
laughed and shook all over at the
amusing parts, took in the main points,
and mentioned some of them to me at
Winston, last Conference.

"At Mt. Airy I was with him a good
deal, and was surprised at the acute-
ness of his mind, his views regarding
certain texts — some of them quite
original — though, of course, views he
had entertained in the past — for he
lived largely in the past, as all people
do. He told me the story of his con-
version— his going to camp meeting,
the agony of his repentance, the bless-
edness of his believing, and the joy of
his conversion. It seemed so Method-
istic — aye, almost so Pentecostal, to
hear him tell what happened about
eighty years before !

"I heard him preach at Winston, at
Conference — the first, last and only
time I ever heard him. It seemed
like a voice from the dead in some re-
spects, but I was astonished at the
volume of his voice. I think most peo-

52

pie in that vast audience of 1,500 or
2,000 people must have heard him —
heard most of all he said. The
image of the dear old centenarian
standing in that pulpit, perhaps the
oldest Methodist p '^acher on earthy
will never fade from my eyes, and es-
pecially from my mind. In part it was
pantomime, but such as came from a
man walking with God and ready to
be trans) -'.ted to the skies.

'* 'Servant of God, well done !
Rest from thy loved employ. '"

Date Due

^ A^ Mp

mL^» *

-

CALL NUMBER f Vol

J

&22.7 H374RP

922.7

N374R

P

Date (for periodical)

26043

7!J.-'^