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History Of The Christian Churches In Mississippi
Title
History
Of
The Christian Churches
(Disciples of Christ)
IN MISSISSIPPI
Compiled and Written By
M. F. HARMON
ABERDEEN, MISSISSIPPI
1929
Dedication This
Book Is
Affectionately Dedicated to my wife Hatty
Wooten Harmon Who
for nearly forty years has been a Loving and Helpful
Companion to me in all my ministerial Labors, ready
always to go with me wherever Duty called,
sharing with me the joys and Hard ships
of a preacher's life.
MARION FRANKLIN HARMON, AUTHOR
FOR several years the author has had in mind the compilation
of this volume, and from time to time has gathered all the
information possible so as to make a History that would be worthy of
our Brotherhood, and thus preserve for the coming generations of the
Church, much material that was in my possession, that possibly no
one else had. It is more a desire to preserve this History than it
is to write a book that has urged me on. I have endeavored to get
the "beginnings" of the various congregations, so as to make the
work both historic and interesting, but have had to work against
odds in this respect. The pioneers who were in possession of the
facts of the "beginnings" and who naturally would have been the most
interested, in many instances have gone to their eternal reward,
while the younger generation lacked both incentive and the
information. Hence this part of the book has necessarily been slow
of accomplishment. And even now I am sure that many things have been
overlooked because of this indifference, that will be regretted by
many when they see the write up of their individual congregation. I
am indebted to Brother Frank K. Dunn, our worthy State Evangelist,
who has used freely the columns of the Southern Christian Courier to
promote this work. Bro. J. W. Bolton, of Ruleville, but recently of
Utica, Mississippi, has rendered valuable service in procuring the
history of many of the smaller congregations that have been in his
fields of labor during the past 20 to 25 years. Then, too, I have
printed in full a small booklet which I printed for the "Sainted
Manire," in 1892, entitled: "Reminiscences of Preachers and
Churches, in Mississippi, " which besides being an autobiography of
the author, gives material that can be found nowhere else. For this
booklet, I am under obligations to Mrs. Ella V. Hipple, of Jackson,
the daughter of George A. Smythe, one of the pioneer preachers of
the church in Jackson. For nearly forty years I have known this good
woman, and have always referred to her as the "angel of the Church
in Jackson." I am sure that no preacher who has served that church
during this nearly half century will think that I am extravagant in
my reference to her.
Because of the high cost of printing, and the limited patronage
that can be expected, this edition is small, and when it is
exhausted, it will be out of print. It has been a labor of love on
the part of the author, without any hope of financial gain, and I
trust that this volume will be received by the brotherhood of the
state as joyously as it has been a pleasure to the author to produce
it. ‑ Fraternally, Marion F. Harmon
Aberdeen, Mississippi, February 1929.
The Beginnings of the Restoration in Mississippi CHAPTER 1 OUTSIDE of Reminiscences of
Preachers and Churches in Mississippi, by B. F. Manire, found elsewhere
in this book, and a chapter on the same subject by the editor of this
volume, written in 1891, we have sought from every source at our command
to find everything of interest bearing upon the subject of our earliest
work in this state. The most prolific source of in, formation available
is the Millennial Harbinger, the most noted paper ever published in the
interest of primitive Christianity. This book, or rather monthly paper,
and afterwards put into book form, was begun in the year 1830, published
in Bethany, W. Virginia, and edited by Alexander Campbell, who for
nearly half a century was the outstanding writer, debater, educator and
preacher among the Churches of Christ. Bethany was the center of what
was known as "The Restoration, or Reform Movement," and the Harbinger
was the clearing house, so to speak for all the workers throughout the
whole country. We have in our possession the following bound volumes of
the Millennial Harbinger, from which we have quoted, practically every,
thing written from Mississippi during these years: These volumes are for
1832, 1835, 1839, 1842, 1850, 1852, 1854, 1856, 1868, 1870. We have also
the following volumes, in which no report from the state was made: 1837,
1838, 1845, 1869. We have also scanned the "Memoirs" of A. Campbell, by
Richardson, to see if we could find anything concerning Bro. Campbell's
activities in this state, for we have heard of his making visits to
Columbus and Jackson. In these "Memoirs", we find a letter dated from
Jackson, Louisiana, February 8, 1839, from which we take the following:
"I expect to be in Natchez in about a week, and in Vicksburg in some two
or three weeks. I have spoken here to very large and attentive audiences
several times, and expect to leave tomorrow, if it does not rain, for
Woodville, Mississippi. I think much good has resulted from my labors
here, as well as in other 1833, to take the Word of God for our only
rule of faith and conduct. Our number was nine when we commenced; but
since that time it has increased to nineteen; most of them have been
immersed; eight of them had been Methodists, one of them a lady of 70
years of age, who had been a member of that society for 26 years.
Opposition runs high here as in other places. The world and the sects
all oppose us; bestowing on us many harsh names, such as Campbellites,
Infidels, &c.; but we are still looking and praying for better times,
believing that the Word of God is mighty and will prevail. W. P.
CHAMBERS. An
appeal had evidently been sent to Bro. Campbell for help in Mississippi
some time during the year 1839, for we find the following letter from
him addressed to "The Brethren of Mississippi" in the September, 1839
issue of the Harbinger: TO THE BRETHREN IN MISSISSIPPI Dear Brethren: I
have succeeded, according to my promise to you, in obtaining a brother
of good standing and of ability to do the work of an evangelist among
you. I am not, indeed, personally acquainted with brother Carey Smith,
now of Ohio, who has consented to remove with his family among you; but
I have ascertained from various respectable sources his credible,
intellectual, moral, and religious character; and I have no hesitation
in recommending him to the brotherhood in Grand Gulf, Port Gibson,
Natchez, Consolation, Woodville, and their vicinities, as worthy of
their patronage. Brother Smith did, while a Baptist minister, itinerate
in South Carolina and other southern regions, and is well acquainted
with southern manners, customs, &c. I think he ought to locate not far
from Consolation or Woodville, and cultivate that region well, and make
excursions to other points. He will devote, he has indeed devoted
himself to the Lord and the brethren, and will give himself wholly to
the work. The brethren will, no doubt, discharge their duty faithfully
to him. I
stand pledged for them. If on a fair trial you think, brethren, you
ought to have another evangelist, and can sustain him, please inform me.
I will endeavor to obtain another. I will not recommend to you one that
will not, in my judgment, deserve your cordial support. You need
help‑we sympathize with you. May the Lord bless you all, and the labors
of our beloved brother Smith among you! You may expect him about the
middle of November. A. C. As
will be seen from the date attached, the next news from Mississippi was
in 1842. Utica, Mississippi, October 9, 1842. I lately attended a
meeting some twelve miles north of Jackson, during which twenty‑three
united‑eighteen by immersion, and five who had been united before. The
occasion was one of peculiar interest. All the brethren and sisters were
active. At recess and at night each one was found doing his part. Under
circumstances of this kind truth has always been found to prevail. In
other places prospects are quite promising. Please give notice, that on the second Lord's
day in April next, a state meeting is designed to be held in Brandon,
Rankin County, 12 miles east of Jackson, to commence on Friday before.
All the churches throughout the state are requested to send delegates,
with concise statements of their date of organization, numbers,
increase, &c. We wish to organize and prepare for more efficient
operations. J. H. JOHNSON On
November 5th, 1849, Bro. W. S. Speer writes from Oakland, Mississippi as
follows:
Oakland, Miss., Nov. 5, 1849
Brother Campbell: By request of Brother Wilcox, I hasten to inform you
that, during the month of October, we have gained 17 additions to our
members, in the bounds of our labors. Brother Wilcox has planted a new
and interesting church (Berea) seven miles south from Oxford, Lafayette
County, of about 30 members. The brethren have done themselves much
credit in erecting a neat house of worship, and the Elders there
requested me to notice them in a periodical, so that preachers might
call on them. The house is at Browning's Springs, on the Sheen Pike Road
from Oxford to Coffeeville. Bro. Wilcox is still in the field, and doing
effective service. Truly yours, W. S. SPEER And
in the same issue, on Nov. 26th, William Baxter writes as follows: Port
Gibson, Mississippi, Nov. 26, 1849.
Brother Campbell: My health has improved so much that I have recently
been able to deliver eleven discourses in twelve days, and, during their
delivery, had the pleasure of seeing several persons yield to the
Savior. I trust, if life and health are spared, still to be more useful
than ever in the good cause. WM. BAXTER For
many years there was a flourishing church in Port Gibson, but for more
than 25 years now the work there has gone down. After coming into this
state in 1891, during the lifetime of Bro. John Andrews, the editor of
this book preached a time or so for the brethren there. But even at that
date, the membership was small. After the death of Bro. Andrews in the
early nineties, as he was the moneyed member and most faithful
attendant, it was an easy matter for the work to lag. On
July 25th, 1850, we find a brief letter from that stalwart soldier of
the cross, J. A. Butler, dated at Athens, Mississippi. It follows:
Athens, Mississippi, July 25, 1850 Brother Campbell: I am now at Athens.
Yesterday I immersed 3, and 4 more have just confessed. Among them, Dr.
Robinson and his most intelligent and dignified consort, and her
brother‑in‑law and consort. One of the individuals immersed on
yesterday, Sister Hardy, was a bright luminary in the Methodist society.
Your tracts on baptism are wielding a most salutary influence upon this
whole floral south. The good cause is onward. Truth is mighty and will
prevail. Its ultimate triumph is in the hands of the brotherhood. If we
do our duty, the cause is safe. In hope, J. A. BUTLER. In
1852 we find the following news items from Mississippi:
Mississippi.‑Bro. D. C. Gordon, of Aberdeen, under date of February 4th,
writes as follows: "Bro. W. M. Brown, of Illinois, is now with us—has
been here twelve days, lecturing in a schoolhouse, for want of a church.
I think we will have one of the right sort soon, as it is now under
contract. Bro. B. has added only 1 to the church. Says he will remain in
this section a few weeks, and then pursue his journey to North Carolina.
He is a pious, able, and persevering Christian."
Mississippi.‑Bro. W. V. W. M'Lendon, under date of August 9th, (whose
favor has been so long mislaid,) gives us cheering news from the region
of his late location, in Chickasaw County. Our brother, with a few other
*Disciples, in the year 1847, emigrated from East Alabama to where they
now reside. Latterly they have been visited by Bro. T. W. Caskey, an
evangelist, whom they had invited to visit them occasionally. The
results of his labors have added much to the spiritual comfort of the
brethren in that hitherto desolate region. Some 7 or 8 additions have
been made to their number, in which is included the entire family of
Bro. M'Lendon. These brethren now number 13 in all. They have formed
themselves into a Bible Class, and meet every Lord's day.
Mississippi. ‑Bro. D. L. Phares, under date of February 12, reports 21
additions during a meeting held at Whitesville‑1 from the Baptist, 2
reclaimed, and 18 by baptism. Bro. Wm. Baxter, who expects to labor for
the brethren in that place during the current year, was the speaker on
that occasion. Prospects were, it is said, never more favorable than at
present for the advancement of the good cause in that portion of the
State. ‑Under date of April 7th, Bro. T. M'Caskey, of Columbus, writes,
"Bro. Brown, of Illinois, has been with us for some weeks. We held a
meeting at Mount Olivet Church, now Palo Alto, Chickasaw County, which
resulted in 28 additions to the church, some of the Baptists united.
From thence Bro. Brown proceeded to Houston County‑12 were added to the
church there, 7 from the Baptists and 2 from the Methodists. From thence
to this place, (Columbus)‑7 have been added, 3 from the Baptists.
Meeting still in progress.
"‑Bro. D. L. Phares, of Whitesville, writes March 31st, "Since my last,
we have added to our church here 4 members at the Christian Chapel;
also, in this county, 6 or 7 additions recently."
Mississippi.‑Bro. D. L. Phares, of Whitesville, under date of June 25th,
reports 39 additions to the church of that place since the early part of
February. In
1854, we find four letters written to the Harbinger during the year from
the state, and are as follows:
Mississippi‑Bro. W. V. W. M'Lendon, of Chickasaw County, under date of
September 24th, reports 9 additions‑7 of whom confessed the Lord, and 2
united from the Baptists. This church, a little over two years ago,
numbered only 18 members, and now numbers 34. After closing his labors
in the aforesaid county, Bro. Ben. Cooper visited Choctaw, some thirty
miles distant, where he preached about ten days, and immersed 12
persons. Thence he goes to Oakland, whence we hope to hear from him next
month.
Mississippi‑Bro. W. Clark, of Jackson, under date of September 14th,
reports 10 additions‑7 of whom were added by the labors of Bros. Casky
and Mays, during a meeting held at Liberty Grove, Madison County; and
the remaining three, judge Mays, wife and daughter, Mrs. Potter, by Bro.
Clark himself, who, though not professedly a preacher, is indeed a most
zealous disciple, and exerts a most excellent influence wherever he goes
in favor of the Truth. Bro. C. informs us that the judge has become a
public advocate of the good cause. We trust that his ability in the
advocacy of the cause of his Redeemer, may be equal to that which, in
the legal department, has placed him in the foremost rank of the
profession. "A better meeting," says Bro. C., " I have not seen for a
long time. My heart's desire and prayer to God is, that my
fellow‑citizens may be saved."
Mississippi.‑Bro. J. M. Baird, of Crawfordsville, under date of January
9th, says: "We have an interesting little church here, some most
excellent and worthy members, mostly females; but, unfortunately for us,
we are at this time without a preacher, and without anyone having the
qualifications requisite for an overseer or instructor of the little
flock. We need some one who could present with force, and defend with
ability, the great truths which we as a people are striving to promulge.
We are, unfortunately, surrounded by as much talented opposition, and
that, too, from those of whom we might have expected better things as
falls to the lot of any who are striving to restore the primitive
gospel. Sanballat‑like, they are doing all they can to obstruct us in
building again the walls of Zion, because we will not mingle with them
and speak half the language of Ashdod and half the language of Canaan."
"Could you send us an able preacher, who could live on $700 or $800 per
annum? This we could pay, or perhaps more, if necessary."
(Who, brethren, will respond effectively to the Macedonian cry? ‑A. C.)
Mississippi.‑Bro. W. H. Hooker, of Palo Alto, April 9th, writes: I held
a meeting in Columbus a few days since, at which we had 5 accessions to
the good cause."
There has been through all the years a brotherly feeling existing
between the Southern states, and often has this spirit been manifested
by the closest cooperation between the brethren. Especially has this
been true of the states of Alabama and Mississippi. The same climate,
same needs, same character of people are to be found in both states. As
will be, seen from the following letter of Bro. P. B. Lawson, who writes
from Mississippi, but is trying to get Bro. Campbell to visit Selma,
Alabama, where it is evident that Bro. Lawson then lived.
CONTEMPLATED SOUTHERN TOUR
Crawfordsville, Miss., June 18, 1856. Brother Campbell‑Dear Sir: As
corresponding Secretary of the South Alabama Co‑operation, I write you
to solicit a visit from you the coming fall. Our Co‑operation will hold
its Annual Meeting in the city of Selma, commencing Friday before the
1st Lord's Day in November. Our brethren will be represented there, and
are exceedingly anxious you should be with them, to comfort and
strengthen them. We have a new and handsome house of worship in this
pleasant and growing city, and the route from Wheeling there is all
railroad, except from Montgomery to Selma, which is by river. The
brethren of North Mississippi wish you to meet them in Columbus or
Aberdeen, or both places; from either of which you can take railroad to
Mobile. Great anxiety is manifested in all the South for you to pay us
one visit, and a willingness expressed to do all in their power towards
the endowment of Bethany College. If you can possibly do so, do come,
for no point of the compass is struggling against more fearful odds than
the South, nor is there any people more in need of encouragement, or who
would appreciate it more. If you can visit us, please announce it
through the Harbinger, and let your stopping places be at Augusta,
Atlanta, Griffin, Georgia; Montgomery, Selma, and Marion, Alabama, and
at Columbus and Aberdeen, Mississippi. You will find this a pleasant and
accessible route. The brethren of North Mississippi and Alabama sent a
special messenger last year to meet you at Nashville; but he failed, I
believe, to get there in time; yet they still urge you to come; they
wish to see you face to face in the flesh, and feel satisfied a visit
from you will strengthen us very much. In
hope that your life may long be spared to the church, to the world, and
your family, I remain most affectionately, yours in hope of immortality. P. B. LAWSON (In
response to the request of many brethren in the South and South‑West,
and to those especially represented by Bro. P. B. Lawson, in the
preceding kind invitation, I intend, the Lord willing, to make them a
visit during the coming winter, and that with special reference to the
claims of Christianity and of Bethany College, in raising up an
efficient ministry, for which they have been long praying. We will, at
as early a day as possible announce our appointments‑A. C.)
Mississippi. ‑Bro.W. V. W. McLendon, writing from Chickasaw Co., Aug.
23rd, says: "Brother Robert Usrey has been laboring in our midst, (at
Union Valley,) for about a week. Our meeting closed last night; 14
accessions was the result; 5 from the Baptists, 1 from the Methodists,
and 8 from the world, most of them valuable additions.
Besides the above, Bro. Usrey immersed 3 last Spring, and 2 from the
Baptists united with us‑making in all 19 accessions the present year. We now number 52 at
Union Valley. From
the last clippings from the Harbinger, 1856, to the letter following,
1868, is a long jump, 12 years. Alexander Campbell had died in the
meantime, 1866, the year after the close of the civil war. The great and
bloody war lasting four years had been fought and peace declared. The
South was left in a deplorable condition, and our churches had been
wrecked, and congregations died out. But there is one bright spot in the
midst of the gross darkness of that period, and that was that the
Christian Church had not divided over the war. There was no Christian
Church South and Christian Church North. After the death of Mr.
Campbell, Bro. Pendleton, who was connected with Bethany College, became
the editor of the Harbinger. To him this letter is addressed. Notice its
spirit, the spirit that permeated the entire South after the war was
over. GOOD
WORDS FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS
Columbus, Miss., June 26, 1868 Dear Bro. Pendleton:‑ *Recently the
brethren at this place "sent" me out evangelizing. We have some twenty
congregations, more or less, in North West Alabama and North, East
Mississippi, and no general evangelist (except perhaps Bro. Manire) and
but few preachers, many of the smaller churches "gone down" for want of
preaching and discipline, having never enjoyed the necessary
instructions in the "all things whatsoever Christ commanded." Some of
these, like the church in Pergamos, "dwell where Satan's seat is."
Others again, like the church in Sardis, "have a name that they live,
while they are dead," their "works" not being "perfect before God." Many
unfortunately, from a variety of causes, are in this situation, and
hence the great need and necessity of good men in the field, to "set in
order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders." I opine that you
brethren in Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, where you have so
many good meetings and good preachers, have never fully realized our
situation. Since the death of our excellent old brother Usery, I know of
not over half a dozen preachers in this great state, now contending for
the faith once delivered to the saints; perhaps not more than a dozen in
the State of Alabama. Therefore, my dear brother, when it goes well with
you, think of us. Owing
to the great preponderance of sectarianism through, out all this region,
we have long since learned how to be thankful for even a little success.
Some weeks since, I held a meeting at Caledonia in this county,
preaching every nig ht and on Lord's Day. A single sister was, at the
commencement, the only one in the neighborhood found contending for "the
more sure word of prophecy." You can only imagine how our hearts
rejoiced together and were glad, when, at the close of the meeting I had
the pleasure of immersing 6 intelligent persons in a creek hard by, for
the remission of their sins,‑one of whom was the husband of the sister
aforesaid. These seven gave themselves to each other and to God, and
promised to keep the ordinances as delivered to them in his word. The
first Lord's day in July we commence a protracted meeting at that place,
at which we hope and expect to gain several more. But,
"thanks to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ," the best is yet to be told. Since the meeting at Caledonia, I
have visited the brethren at two of their places of worship in Fayette
Co., Ala. And (as I cannot communicate all the good results with pen and
ink) will say, I commenced preaching at night to the brethren of Berea,
on New river, near Doublin, in Fayette Co., as before; continued over
Lord's day,‑audiences increased in size from the beginning. On Saturday
evening a Baptist brother came in and was introduced, who arose and
stated (he was a preacher, and said to be a most excellent man) that the
Baptists from his congregation, some four miles south of where we then
were, had sent him up to invite me down on Lord's day to preach for
them. The invitation was accepted, and after morning service at Berea,
1, with the congregation at Berea, went down to preach for the Baptists
at 4 o'clock P. M. A very large audience' assembled, for a country
meeting, I arose and sung, "Let Christians all agree and peace among
them spread," knelt and prayed, arose and read the 17th chapter of John,
and spoke an hour and a half, urging the union of Christians upon the
foundation laid in Zion‑the first article of the Baptist "Confession of
Faith", ‑‑at the close of which a proposition to this effect was
submitted, viz.: to throw away to the moles and bats all partyism and
human creeds as bonds of union and communion among Christians, and unite
in fact on the foundation of prophets and apostles. Descending to the
floor from the pulpit, an aged Baptist arose with tears running thick
and fast down his furrowed cheeks,‑"I give you my hand and my heart to
this work," said he; "I have long prayed for it, and believed Christians
ought to be united, but could not see how it could be done, until you
explained the difference between faith and opinion." So saying, he
extended his hand. Next came the preacher; then a perfect rush of all
the Baptists, numbering, I judge, some 60 or 75 persons, including males
and females. All came forward and extended the hand. Then our brethren,
all shaking hands and actually hugging each other. Never but once have I
witnessed such a scene. Some shouted, some laughed, others cried. And "I
too wept, though not to weeping given." To prove their sincerity in this
glorious union movement, the Lord's Table was spread (at Berea) at
night, and there around one common table they met and ate and worshipped
together. Oh! surely, no one present will ever forget this meeting! And
if there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, what a
commotion was then created among those heavenly messengers. The Lord
grant that this may be the commencement of one grand and yet more
glorious movement for union between our brethren and the Baptists in
Alabama! I left them Monday morning trying to agree upon another union
meeting, to come off some time between this and the coming Fall. Some of
the other brethren there propose to give you other particulars, which,
will obviate the necessity of my extending further this already too
lengthy epistle. The
churches mentioned in the first part of this letter, are all earnestly
soliciting to meet through their delegates or messengers at Columbus on
Friday before the 2nd Lord's Day in Oct. next, in a general consultation
meeting; the prime object of which is, to put two general evangelists in
this field. Many other things will also come up for consideration and
consultation. Meantime, "a call" for such a meeting is now being
circulated among the churches, which, when completed, with names, &c.,
will be forwarded to the Harbinger for publication. The attention of the
brethren is now merely called to the time and place, of the proposed
meeting, and, as the phrase is, it is greatly desired to make this
meeting a success.‑In hope of eternal life, your brother in Christ, C. S. REEVES In
1868, soon after the Civil War had ended, Bro. R. V. Wall wrote from
Utica, Irinds County as follows:
Utica, Hinds Co., Miss., Oct. 31st, 1868 Bro. Pendleton: I have been
waiting a long time hoping to get some cheering words to write you; as
yet I have but few. I have been laboring in word and doctrine, as best I
could, to gather up some of the fragments of the ruined Temple of the
Lord in this waste place of Zion.
Recently we have had some little encouragement. Several of the old
members of the church have rallied around the banner of the Lord, five
have been added by immersion, two from the Baptists, and one from the
Methodists. There is a great want of ministerial labor throughout all
this portion of the vineyard of the Lord. The churches have been broken
up. The members have gone from their labors‑some to sectarian churches,
some to the kingdom of the wicked one. And so the cause of truth is
bleeding for want of suitable men to bear the Banner of Truth. Could we
get some ministerial aid to conduct a protracted meeting at this place,
much good might be done with the blessing of God. The field appears
white for the harvest. But
from whence shall such aid come? We have but three or four preaching
brethren in this state. I am of opinion that an evangelist might be well
sustained in this section. Yours in hope, R. V. WALL. It
will be observed that Bro. Wall writes to Bro. Pendleton who was then
the editor of the Harbinger. Bro Campbell had passed to his reward in
1866, Bro. Pendleton, who had been associated with Campbell as a teacher
in Bethany College assumed editorial management of the Harbinger. The
outlook for the cause in the state as presented by Bro. Wall, was very
gloomy, to say the least of it. Two
years following the foregoing from the pen of Bro. Wall, of Utica, we
have a letter written by Bro. B. F. Manire, of Winona, Mississippi,
which gives a little more roseate condition of affairs of the Kingdom.
This was in 1870, the last year the Harbinger was published, and this
letter was in the last monthly installment of the paper. Bro Manire's
letter follows: THE
CAUSE IN MISSISSIPPI Bro.
Pendleton:‑The Annual Meeting of the brethren in this State was held in
the city of Jackson, on the 24th, 25th and 26th of November. Thirteen
preachers were present,, twelve white and one black, being about half
the entire number of preachers we have in the State. I give their names
and address Dr. S. R. Jones, Hon. Geo. L. Potter, Geo. A. Smythe, Esq.,
and J. W. Harris, Jackson, Miss.; Eld. W. H. Stewart, Utica; W. C.
Scholl, Woodville; Eld. W. T. McKay and Dr. J. H. McKay, Madison
Station; J. P. McKinley, Waterford; N. B. Gibbons, Ellistown; Alex
Ellett, Starkville; B. F. Manire, Winona.... and Win. Ramy (colored),
Carrollton. Bro. J. C. Oliver, Baldwyn, reported his labors and success
since the middle of July last by letter. These and other brethren
present represented at least three‑fourths of the entire brotherhood of
the State. Eight
business sessions were held, in addition to which there was preaching
every night and on Lord's Day. The utmost harmony prevailed throughout
the entire meeting. Not a discordant note was heard. There was no
discussion of "plans." "Plans" were not mentioned; and I doubt if
"plans" were thought of during the meeting. The
time was spent in hearing reports from Evangelists and others; in
learning the condition, wants and prospects of the churches; and in
active efforts to ascertain what could be done to meet these wants for
the coming year. Special attention was given to the subject of Sunday
Schools, and the religious wants of the Freedmen. The Evangelists were
requested to bring these subjects before the churches. To the latter of
these, it is my purpose soon to call the attention of the entire
brotherhood throughout the United States. The
reports were all very encouraging. They showed that about 450 persons
had been added to the churches; that four new congregations had been
planted, and several old ones revived and reorganized; that a nucleus
had been formed at several points around which it is hoped
self‑sustaining congregations will soon be collected; that the brethren
generally had been much strengthened and encouraged, and in many places
a deep interest had been excited in the whole community by our labors,
and the labors of other Evangelists. It was also shown that almost two
thousand dollars had been paid during the year for State work, and
something over this amount for home work. Full reports from all the
preachers in the State, would doubtless have largely increased the
number of additions, and to a considerable extent the amount contributed
to the support of the Gospel. About
eleven hundred dollars, partly in cash and partly in pledges, were
raised by the meeting, mostly from the members of the church in Jackson,
for the purpose of canceling the indebtedness for labor already
performed, and starting the work again. A contribution of seventy‑eight
dollars in cash was raised for our colored brother, to enable him to
extend his labors among the colored people He represented a congregation
of 140 members, ',0 of whom have been added this year, and are included
in the number given above. On
reviewing our labors, we feel that we have great cause to thank God,
renew our courage, and redouble our efforts.
Three years ago when the writer of this, without the promise of a
dollar, entered the field, relying on the providence of his Heavenly
Father, and the justice and liberality of his brethren, there was not
another preacher in the State devoting his whole time to the work. Now
there are six; and we trust there will soon be four more, as the fields
in which they can be sustained are looking out for the laborers. In
these three years more than a thousand persons have been added to the
churches, and the truth more widely disseminated than at any previous
time. Bro. Ellett and myself are again in the general field, relying
wholly on the voluntary contributions of the brethren; and we expect to
be joined soon by our able, eloquent, and beloved brother Caskey. In
God is our trust. Pray for us, Bro. Pendleton, that the word of the Lord
may have free course in this our afflicted country. ‑Your Bro. in
Christ, B. F. MANIRE Winona, Miss., Dec. 21, 1870 Thus
ends the scattering history of the Church as gleaned from the columns of
the Harbinger. From 1870 to 1884, the year when the State Work was
organized in a more permanent way than had been done previously, there
is but little to learn concerning the dooings of the church. About all
we can learn is from Bro. Manire's "Reminiscences of Preachers and
Churches," which forms a part of this book, and from whatever may be
said by the older members of some of the congregations of the State. But
as there are few now living who remember back that far, it will be next
to impossible to get much information covering this period. In
this connection, and as the last letter was written to the Harbinger by
Manire from Winona, Mississippi, recalls a statement which we have heard
Bro. Manire make many times concerning the work in Winona. For a number
of years the church in that city was one of our very best churches in
the state. When I came to this state in 1891, 1 visited the church there
and preached one night to a very good audience, but the church was
without ministerial oversight, and the work gradually went down till
sometime early in the present century the church house was sold and the
money loaned to the church in Gulfport, (I believe it was) and there has
been no work there for years. But
the story of Bro. Manire. He said that there was a debate there, just
what year we do not remember, between Bro. Caskey and a Methodist
preacher. Caskey was in his prime, and there were but few better
debaters ever among us. Bro. Manire said that Caskey so outmatched his
opponent, and was so bitter in his attack on the Methodist that it
reacted against Bro. Caskey. Whether or not this had anything to do with
the decline of the work there we do not know, as the work has declined
in towns where there never was a debate held.
EARLY
HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN MISSISSIPPI CHAPTER 2
IN 1891 there was published from Jackson, Mississippi, a large book the
title of which was "Memoirs of Mississippi", in two immense volumes. The
Goodspeed Publishing Co., of Chicago, were the publishers. This book
contained the history of Mississippi in all of its varied make up,
together with many Biographical sketches of prominent men in the State.
One of the features of this book of "Memoirs" was the Religious feature
of the State, and among the various religious organizations was a write
up of the Christian Church, prepared by the editor of this book. While
he was a new man in the State, there were living in Jackson at that time
some women who remembered personally many men and events connected with
the Church from its earliest days. We mention especially Mrs. Goodyear
and Mrs. Smythe, who furnished the information. These good women have
long since gone to their eternal reward, and it is doubtful if there is
a living soul in the state who could reproduce the facts contained in
this Church sketch. And as the volume in which it is contained is so
large and cumbersome, and possibly very few of them in the hands of
members of the Christian Church we reproduce here that sketch. Mrs.
Goodyear was the daughter of General Clark, who founded the church in
Jackson. "The
history of the Christian Church in Mississippi is less important than in
most of the Southern States, as their membership is smaller, the
progress of the church being greatly impeded by the late war. Since that
time the great mass of emigration has gone West, made up mostly from the
central states, where the Christian church is very strong, and it
furnished a great many emigrants, and consequently is very strong in the
West as in the central states. The
first organization of this church in the state was at Battle Springs,
about the year 1836. This congregation was organized by Gen. William
Clark, (the father of Mrs. Goodyear spoken of above) who preached for
them once a month for many years after. This church was about eight
miles from Jackson, but no organization has existed there for many
years. An organization was effected at Utica, about 33 miles from
Jackson, on the Jackson and Natchez road, about the same time as the one
at Battle Springs. Jefferson H. Johnson was the organizer of this
church. About the year 1838 President Tolbert Fanning of Tennessee and
James A. Butler, two prominent ministers of the church, organized a
congregation at Columbus, in the North, eastern part of the state, while
William E. Mathes, an able minister, organized several small
congregations in Wilkinson County. General William Clark, who was state
treasurer, and Joseph E. Mathews, state auditor, organized a
congregation in Jackson in 1841. The first regular pastor laboring for
the Jackson congregation was T. W. Caskey, a talented man, who served
from 1854 to 1860, when he went into the army as chaplain, where he
served in that capacity very acceptably till the close of the war.
Since then the church has been ministered to by Elisha Pinkerton Elder
Snow, of Virginia, George A. Smythe, for several years and lately by
James Sharp, Robert Mayes, T. A. White, and by the present pastor, M. F.
Harmon. The
congregation in Jackson previous to the civil war was one of the
wealthiest and most influential churches in the state. The church house,
which was a brick, and a good one for its day, was greatly damaged by
soldiers during the war and was in 1884 condemned and torn down. A small
neat chapel stands in the rear of where the old church stood, and a fine
modern style building is soon to be erected on the old site.
There are in the state now thirty-two church houses reported, and valued
at $34,000. There are about sixty organizations in the state, thirty of
them having no meetinghouse, and there are about forty unorganized
bands. The total white membership is between five and six thousand.
There are thirty-two preachers who give part or all their time to the
ministry, and about fifteen who give but little or no time. There are
twenty-seven colored congregations in the state, with about two thousand
membership; twenty-one church houses valued at $8,630, and thirty-two
preachers. This
church teaches strict adherence to the New Testament as the "all
sufficient rule of faith and practice," are opposed to all human creeds,
believe in the co‑operation of all their congregations in sending the
gospel to all parts of the earth. They believe in every Christian
reading, studying, and interpreting the Bible for himself. They have an
educated ministry and believe in a consistent Christian life. They hold,
in common with all the so‑called evangelical churches, the fundamental
principles of Christianity, rejecting from their faith and practice only
those things, which are not commanded in the New Testament, or are not
of divine precedent. They believe in the union of all Christians upon
the Bible, and the Bible alone. They call themselves Christians or
Disciples of Christ, as the followers of Christ were called in the
beginning of the church. This people believe in Missions both home and
foreign. Besides collections taken from the congregations at regular
times for foreign missions they have a regular state board of missions
that keeps an evangelist in the state all the time. This state work was
begun with labors of T. W. Caskey from 1841 to 1854, and William E.
Hooker and Robert Usrey labored in the same capacity from 1854 to 1860.
B. F. Manire, a talented Christian minister, evangelized throughout the
state for several years independent of any board. The Mississippi
Christian Missionary Convention which is operating now in doing state
missionary work, was organized in 1884, with Dr. D. B. Hill, of Palo
Alto, president, who served till 1887. From that time to the present,
(June 1891) Dr. D. L. Phares, of Madison Station, has been president.
This board holds annual conventions, the last week in August, for the
purpose of reviewing the work of the past, and planning for the future.
Their work is altogether advisory. James Sharp was the first evangelist
under the new board, serving from 1885 to 1890, A. C. Smither, serving
from January 1890 to August of the same year. January 1st 1891, John A.
Stevens accepted the position of evangelist, and is filling it
acceptably yet. (He filled the position for about ten years‑Editor)
Newton College, located near Woodville, was opened March 7th, 1843, to
both sexes. It closed in 1860. A great many young men were educated
here, several for the ministry, who have made useful men. A number made
distinguished doctors, lawyers and educators. A great many grand women
were educated here.
Southern Christian Institute is a mission school with plantation,
organized in 1877, for the colored people, with an organized stock basis
of $10,000. The present site of the Institute was selected in 1882, near
Edwards, in Hinds County, twenty six miles west of Jackson, on the
Virginia and Mississippi railroad. The plantation consists of 800 acres
of number one cotton land. The school at present is under the control of
J. B. Lehman and wife, thorough educators. In
1875 S. R. Jones edited a paper known as the Unitist, in the interest of
the church. It continued for a year or more and suspended. An attempt or
two has been made to publish a church paper, but owing to the weak
condition of the churches, and perhaps more properly to bad, inefficient
management on the part of the projectors, none of these attempts have
amounted to much, except the last, which promises to prove a valuable
church organ,‑The Messenger, an eight page, three column paper,
published monthly in Jackson, by M. F. Harmon. It
would be unjust to the man, as well as to the church in Mississippi, to
fail to make special mention of B. F. Manire, a consecrated minister,
who has spent a great portion of his life in evangelizing throughout the
state, and adding more souls to the church than any other man of his
church. The Christian Church stands in the front ranks in every reform
movement that is calculated to benefit humanity."
Reminiscences
of Preachers and
Churches in
Mississippi By B. F.
Manire N0 ONE in the State of Mississippi has
added as much OX to the early history of the Christian Church as B. F.
Manire. Late in the year 1892, in the month of October, to be exact, he
began a series of articles in the Messenger, the State paper, under the
heading above, which were later put into pamphlet form, and published by
the Messenger. As there is possibly only one copy of that pamphlet in
existence now (1927), and likely not a single copy of the Messenger to
be found any, where except the copy preserved by the editor, we are
reproducing this pamphlet here in this permanent form for the coming
generations of the church. A brief history of the Messenger will be
found in another part of this book, together with the work of its editor
in helping to establish the work of the church in the early nineties.‑
(Editor's Note.)
CHAPTER
1.
Introductory and Auto‑Biographical ACCORDING to the family record, I was born
in Bedford County, Tennessee, on the 11th day of February, 1829. I was
the only child that my good little mother ever gave to the world; and to
my rearing and training she sacredly devoted the remaining eighteen
years of her toilsome and self‑sacrificing life. To her gentle loving
nurture and my father's rigid discipline, I am indebted, next to the
blessing and guidance of my Heavenly Father, for whatever of success I
may have achieved in this life. Upon every remembrance of them, I thank
God for such a mother and such a father. The
first event that I distinctly remember was the baptism of my father and
mother which occurred in the summer of 1834, when I was only a little
over five years of age. This event made a deep and lasting impression on
my juvenile mind; and if I were an artist I could paint the scene‑the
clear, winding, little stream, the grass‑covered banks, the over‑hanging
trees, the hushed and solemn crowd that came to witness the act, and the
candidates themselves as they were led into the water and buried with
their Savior by a faithful servant of God, while I trembling and
awestruck clung to the hand of a loving and beloved aunt. The memory of
that scene has ever dwelt within my heart, and often cheered me along
life's dark and rugged way. My
father and mother were both religiously of Baptist descent. My great
grandfather Manire lived and died a Baptist preacher before the great
Baptist family became so unhappily divided. My grandfather and
grandmother Manire, my grandmother Smith, and my great grandmother Dixon
were Baptists; but in the year 1828, in response to the call of their
preacher, Joshua K. Speer, they laid aside the Philadelphia Confession
of Faith, and, with almost the entire church took their stand on the
Bible alone, accepting the New Testament as the all sufficient Rule of
faith and worship. It was by the hands of this saintly man who thus led
the way of return to New Testament Christianity in Middle Tennessee,
that my father and mother were baptised on a simple confession of their
faith in Jesus as their only Lord and Savior. In this faith I was
brought up, to this faith I still cling, and in this faith I expect to
die. My
father and several others who came into the church about the same time
he did, soon began to read and talk and pray in the Lord's day service;
and in order to their own improvement they would often meet at private
houses, especially at my father's as he was a leading spirit among them,
and spend hours at night in such exercises. If there were a dozen of
these embryo preachers present at one time, every one of them had to try
his hand, or mouth rather, before the meeting adjourned; and often the
exercises were protracted far beyond the hour of midnight. Sometimes a
poor fellow's mouth would fool him by failing to go off, and then he
would sit down, bow his head between his hands, and look the very
picture of despair; but the others would tenderly console and
affectionately encourage him, and the next time he would try again
usually with a better result. Such efforts as these were a part, and a
large part too, of a preacher's training in those days. When any one had
advanced far enough to talk to the edification of a household audience,
and could conduct Lord's day services satisfactorily, then one of the
old and successful preachers would take him around through a series of
protracted meetings for a year or two and graduate him. Some of our most
devoted and most successful preachers were made in this way fifty and
sixty years ago. It was in such meetings as these that the idea got into
my little heart that I must be a preacher, and that idea is there yet,
and will remain there till I die. In my
boyhood days it was my privilege to hear Joshua K. Speer, Ephraim A.
Smith, C. F. R. Shehane, Elijah Craig, Willis Hopwood, James C.
Anderson, John M. Barnes, J. J. Trott, and others who succeeded them.
But of all whom it was my good fortune to hear in that formative period
of my life, no one made so deep an impression on my heart as Joshua K.
Speer. He was not learned, nor logical, nor eloquent, but he was by far
the most emotional preacher I have ever heard. He not only felt himself,
he made others feel. He not only wept himself, but he made others weep.
I can see him now, as the tears would flow in one continuous stream down
his cheeks, while he talked of Jesus and his love. Old as I am now, and
short as is the time that is left for me to serve my Master in, I would
gladly give the wealth of a Gould or a Vanderbilt, if I had it, for the
power, the gift of exhortation which he possessed. Most
of our pioneer preachers were good exhorters, and to this fact their
great success was to a great extent due. Since their day our preachers
have developed a logical ability that is truly wonderful, but have lost,
it seems to me, almost immeasurably in the power to stir and move the
hearts of men. One of our greatest needs to prosecute the great work
which in the providence of God has been committed to our hands, is heart
power‑such heart power as was possessed by our pioneer preachers. This
is the direction in which our young preachers should cultivate and
develop themselves. We have debaters enough, and more than enough. We
already have enough published debates to last for a generation at least.
We now need preachers who can stir men's hearts to their very depths,
convict them of sin, and turn them to righteousness. Our clear
convictions of truth and duty are all right as far as they go; but we
need more heart power to drive these convictions home to the heart of
others. In
the summer of 1846, when in my eighteenth year, I made the good
confession under the preaching of J. J. Trott and W. S. Speer, and was
baptized by the hands of my revered teacher, John M. Barnes, to whose
pains‑taking and skillful instructions I am mainly indebted for whatever
literary attainments I may have made, and to whose memory I now gladly
pay this tribute of undying affection. In the autumn of the same year, I
began to teach school, and continued in the same business for more than
thirty years. Although I never attained any great distinction as a
teacher, I think I can safely say that my influence on my pupils was
always for good, and never for evil; and that through my instruction and
example they became better and more useful men and women. In
November, 1851, 1 came to Mississippi as a teacher, and entered at once
upon that work in the vicinity of Van Buren, a little village on the
Tombigbee River in Itawamba County. I soon visited Smithville and Cotton
Gin in Monroe County and afterwards taught school at both places. It was
at old Cotton Gin Port, as it was then called, that I formed those
associations and fell under those happy influences that led me in
February, 1853, to begin that work to which my heart had been turned in
boyhood days. Robert
Usrey and James A. Butter. The
first of our preaching brethren whom I met in Mississippi was the
faithful old soldier of the Cross, Robert Usrey. This was in February,
1852. He stopped one night in the village of Smithville, and preached in
the house of a prominent Baptist brother, as church doors were generally
closed against us at that time. Though nearly forty years have passed
away since that night, I remember the subject of his discourse and the
manner of its treatment. It was a plain, practical, scriptural, and
earnest presentation of "The Word of Truth as the Medium of God's Saving
Power." He showed that from the creation of the heavens and the earth
down through all the ages, God has always used agencies and means in the
accomplishment of his own purposes. He then presented the Holy Spirit as
the agent, and the Word of Truth as the instrument of conversion. I can
look back through the mists of the many years that have since passed
away, and see him now as he stood before that little audience, and
pleaded with men so earnestly to receive and obey the truth. Bro.
Usrey was then evangelizing with great success in the North Eastern part
of the State. He told me some years afterward that in the first seven
years of his evangelistic work, he baptised over a thousand persons on a
confession of their faith in Jesus; and in addition to these, many
baptised believers united with us from the various denominations under
his plain and earnest presentation of the great plea for Christian unity
and brotherly love‑a plea that was then urged in almost every sermon,
and thus kept constantly before the religious world. In view of the
deep-seated prejudice that then existed in the minds of both the
religious and irreligious, and the unrelenting warfare that was waged
against us from almost every pulpit, this success was truly remarkable.
Indeed, Robert Usrey himself, all things considered, was truly a
remarkable man. He was a poor, hard workingman till he passed the
meridian of life, and had become somewhat addicted to the use of
intoxicating drinks through the social customs that were prevalent at
that day. He was running a sawmill near Columbus, Mississippi, when
Tolbert Fanning, President of Franklin College, Tenn., came there to
conduct a protracted meeting. On hearing a few sermons from that able
expounder of the truth, Robert Usrey confessed his faith in Jesus and
obeyed the gospel. From that time onward, he was emphatically a new man.
He soon began to pray and talk, first in the prayer meeting and then in
the Lord's Day service, the result of which was that he soon developed
into an efficient and useful preacher. His education being somewhat
limited, he studied hard; and under the instruction of W. H. D.
Carrington, then a lawyer but afterwards an able preacher, he learned to
read the New Testament in Greek. Having a good mind he made, rapid
progress, and finally became an able expounder of the Scriptures,
especially of the New Testament from which he usually preached. He
had a large endowment of strong common sense, and rarely, if ever,
attempted to do that which was beyond his ability. He was careful not to
venture into water beyond his depth. He had good natural speaking
ability, and could present a subject that he understood with great
plainness and power. Having put his hands to the gospel plow, he never
turned back, or intermitted his labors. In the fall of 1867, if I am not
mistaken, he died of Typhoid fever in Itawamba County, away from home,
but tenderly nursed by loving brethren, and also by his faithful and
devoted wife who went to his assistance when the case became dangerous.
He was buried at or near Smithville; and I was told a few years ago that
his grave was unmarked. If this is still the case, the brethren of North
Mississippi owe it to themselves and to the cause for which he labored
so faithfully for some twenty years, to erect a neat plain monument to
his memory over the spot where his dust reposes. The
second of our preachers whom I met one month later was the genial,
versatile, eloquent, eccentric, effervescent, brilliant, belligerent,
uncompromising, indefatigable, irrepressible, and inexhaustible James A.
Butler, the like of whom I had never seen before, have never seen since,
and will never see again. From boyhood I had seen in our periodicals his
short, rich, racy, epigrammatic letters, and long desired to see and to
hear him. One Sunday morning, unannounced and unexpected, he put in his
appearance at the Sunday school in the Baptist church, the only house of
worship then in the town of Smithville. His physique was peculiar and
striking. He was about six feet high, perfectly erect, with broad
shoulders and full chest. He weighed, I think, about one hundred and
sixty pounds, and was well formed. He had a piercing eye and an
intelligent expression. His hair was coarse, and when cut short as he
usually wore it, every hair seemed to stand out by itself, which gave
his head the appearance of an enormous cockle burr, and added to the
sternness and fierceness of his looks. One _____glance at him. ed me to
anticipate a rich treat, and I was not disappointed. At
the close of the Sunday school exercises, Dr. James Elliott arose and
announced that Mr. Butler was present, and at the hour of eleven A. M.
would preach in a house which he designated. This was an unoccupied
business house which the young men had temporarily seated for the
purpose of airing their oratory in a debating society. "What's the
matter with this house?" said brother Butler, when the announcement was
made; "I would just as soon preach here." The Dr. smiled and pleasantly
said, "This house is not for your sort to preach in." "All right sir!
All right sir," said Bro. Butler, "we will go to the other house;‑ and
to the other house we went. I afterwards had the pleasure of preaching
in that same church with the hearty consent of all concerned; and Bro.
Butler held a debate in it of six days with W. P. Harrison, a young
Methodist preacher of fine ability. The
discourse which he delivered that day I shall never forget, although I
do not remember the passage which he read, nor the subject which he
announced. Indeed it mattered but little whether he announced a subject
or not, or from what passage he took his start. He could cover more
ground in one discourse, and come nearer going everywhere and touching
upon every theme than any other man I have ever heard. In that
discourse, as in most others that I heard him deliver, eloquence and
logic and rhetoric, wit and sarcasm, poetry and philosophy, patriotism
and religion, education and the study of the Bible, conversion and the
Christian life, earth and heaven, were all mingled together with the
hand of a master. He was emphatically a product of the strong period
through which he was brought up, and in which the greater part of his
life was passed. He preached all over the country‑in churches, in
schoolhouses, private houses, under brush arbors and shady trees,
wherever there was an opening; and where there seemed to be no opening
he rarely, if ever, failed to make one. He took more interest in
bringing out young preachers and putting them forward than any other man
I have ever known. His zeal in this respect sometimes got the young
preacher into a very tight place, as I well know from my own experience.
His oratory was of the Ciceronian type; and I have heard him deliver
off‑hand speeches, which, in my judgment, surpassed Cicero's famous
invective against Cataline. He was not successful to any great extent in
adding members to the churches, but he broke up the ground, set men to
thinking, and opened the way for the preachers who followed him to reap
the harvest. If ever I have seen the man who could have gloried in
martyrdom, that man was James A. Butler. He
never abandoned the pulpit, yet during the ten years preceding the war
he took an active part in the political contests of that stormy period.
In this, I think he made the mistake of his life. It is not because of
his attitude during and after the war, that I say this; but because his
participation in political affairs injured his influence as a preacher,
and hindered his efforts to promote the cause of Christ. He made many
political friends on the one hand it is true; but he made just as many
political enemies on the other hand. There was this difference however.
The friends he made were friends only so far as the party was concerned,
caring nothing whatever about his religious convictions, while the
enemies he made carried their political hostility into the religious
camp, and did all they could to destroy his religious influence. Thus he
lost more than he gained, as does every preacher of ability and of good
repute who goes into the political arena. I write these things not for
the purpose of casting any reproach on his memory; for I thought then,
and think yet, that he verily believed that he was doing more for the
good of his State and his country than he could do in any other way. In
this, I think he was mistaken, and I thought so then, although on the
great issue then before the people, I thought and voted as he did. I say
these things, and emphasize these things, for the benefit of those now
living who are wasting on barren political issues those splendid
talents, which ought to be devoted wholly to the service of the Lord who
gave them. How a man whose heart is in the work can turn away from the
high and holy calling of preaching the gospel, to the dry and barren
husks of political contention, is something I cannot understand As a
rule, whenever a preacher of ability and reputation enters the political
arena, his usefulness as a preacher is greatly impaired, if not totally
destroyed. There are many sad wrecks along this line. The
day on which I first met Bro. Butler, he gave me a cordial invitation to
visit him at his home near Cotton Gin. This I did in April of the same
year, and from that hour he took me under his wing to use an expression
of his own, carried me around, and almost forced me on the attention of
the people. It seemed to me he was second only to Alexander Campbell.
His good wife also took me to her heart, and was truly a mother to me as
long as she remained in the state. There never was a purer, better,
woman than Sister Butler. Peace to her sacred memory. There is one other
mother in Israel to whom in passing I must pay the tribute of undying
affection, Mrs. E. E. Bates, still living, and now residing at Houston,
Miss. Into her hospitable home, I was most cordially received forty
years ago, and under her hospitable roof I rested my weary body, and
eased my lonely and aching heart the first night I spent in a private
house in Miss. The affection then formed grows only stronger as the
years pass away. She is growing old, but gracefully, beautifully, and
sweetly, as becomes a true disciple of Jesus. May the Lord spare her yet
many years to exemplify the purity and sweetness of that religion which
is the only hope of the world.
CHAPTER 2 The Early
Years of My Ministry, And Those Who Helped Me. On
the second Lord's Day in February 1853, in a little log schoolhouse some
two miles from Cotton Gin, I delivered my first discourse to a small but
very intelligent audience. Some two years before, it is true, in another
log schoolhouse near, New Lasea, Maury County, Tenn., I had made some
sort of an effort, but as it was not followed up, I have never counted
it. I have always been willing to throw that effort in for good,
measure; and many of the efforts that I have made since, I would be
willing to dispose of in the same way. The actual beginning of work as a
preacher was in that school house in the pine woods of Miss.; for from
that day to this, although I have spent much time in the school room,
and some between the plow‑handles, yet few Lord's days have passed on
which I have not spoken for Jesus. And even while teaching and
cultivating my patches with my own hands, I have usually preached as
many times during the year as most men who do nothing but preach. I do
not, however, recommend this course to young preachers, or old ones
either, if they can possibly avoid it. If I have any serious regret with
reference to my life‑work, it is that I did not, from the very
beginning, throw myself upon the churches, and devote all my time,
labor, study, and prayer, to the preaching of the gospel. My
next effort was in Itawamba County, at the house of Bro. Nathan King,
and I mention it only to mention him and his good Christian wife, both
of whom from that night gave me their full confidence and Christian
affection. Though unlearned and learning under many disadvantages, Bro.
King afterward became a very devoted and efficient preacher of the
gospel. The,
New Testament Scriptures were his daily study, and he preached the
gospel I have been told, not only with plainness, but also with power. I
never met him after he began to preach; but from brethren who often
heard him I have learned that he did much good in Itawamba and adjacent
counties. He it was who baptised Dr. M. M. Davis, and thus planted the
church at Eureka, Lee Co. He long since went to his reward, but still
lives in the hearts of those who knew him, and in the good that resulted
from his labors. His life was a living sermon of great power.
Pushed forward by Bro. Butler on every occasion, I soon had all the work
I could do in addition to my labor as a teacher. During the remainder of
that year, and through the two succeeding years, I preached regularly at
Cotton Gin and Richmond and occasionally, at Aberdeen and Prairie Mount,
at all of which there were well organized, working churches. I also
frequently preached in schoolhouses and sometimes in private houses in
the intervening neighborhoods. The churches at these places were all
young churches at that time, and had been planted, I think, between '45
and '50. I can not say who was the first preacher at each place, nor can
I name all who had labored in that field; but I think that Bros. Butler,
Caskey, and Usrey had done the greater part of the work at these places
up to this time, although they frequently had the help of visiting
preachers. President Fanning, of Tenn., Dr. B. F. Hall, of Ky., and W.
M. Brown, of Ill., had each visited Aberdeen, and perhaps also Alexander
Graham, of Ala. In 1852, I heard Bro. Brown in a series of discourses at
Cotton Gin. He was a brilliant speaker, and was quite successful in
holding protracted meetings. He preached for a year or two in the State,
mostly at Columbus and Palo Alto, and then returned to Illinois. He held
some fruitful meetings at other points in North Miss., and among them
was one at Holly Springs with over forty accessions. We then had a
flourishing church at the last named place; but alas! Where is it now? I
also met T. W. Caskey twice the same year and heard him speak twice; but
I was with him so short a time that I did not learn to know and love him
as I afterward did; hence I will write of him further on.
During these years from 1852 to 1856, I made the acquaintance of, spent
much time with, and received much encouragement from, Bros. Ben Cooper,
Dr. J. M. Hackworth, Dr. Wm. H. Hooker, and Dr. J. P. Deanes. Of Dr.
Deanes, I will write when I come to Palo Alto. To the others, I will pay
my tribute of affectionate memory now. Ben
Cooper, as he was familiarly called, was a man of only moderate ability
and moderate attainments; but his fervent zeal, diligent labor, and pure
life, enabled him to accomplish much for the master's cause. As he
traveled around, he sold books, and thus scattered the works of Bro.
Campbell and others all over the country. Wherever there was an opening,
he would stop and hold a protracted meeting, usually with some success,
and sometimes with marked success. I remember one meeting, which he held
in the northern part of Choctaw County, which resulted in over sixty
accessions to the church. He had one discourse on Christian Unity based
on the metaphor of the Vine and Branches, which for a plain, practical,
forcible presentation of the truth on the subject, I have never heard
surpassed by any one. After laboring for several years in Mississippi he
went to Arkansas, where he remained till the Lord called him away from
the toils and trials of earth to the rest that remaineth for the people
of God. Dr.
J. M. Hackworth was a dentist, a physician and a preacher. He sometimes
traveled and practiced dentistry, and then for a time he would locate
and practice medicine; but whether traveling as a dentist, or located as
a physician, he always availed himself of every opportunity to preach on
the Lord's day, and frequently held protracted meetings. By such labors
many were persuaded to turn to the Lord. He was a hard reasoner, and
could preach two hours and five minutes every time without looking at
his watch. He was very fond of debate, and in all his discourse always
had a man of straw before him, whom he never failed to demolish. He
would often lay down a proposition that was startling even to the
brethren; but in the end he would come out all right. As an old brother
expressed it, he would set his own house on fire at the beginning of his
discourse in order to show how easily and how effectually he could put
it out in the conclusion. He had Indian blood in his veins, and was upon
the whole a peculiar man. He was devoted to his friendships, but
somewhat extreme in his dislikes. He was painfully aware of his own
weaknesses and faults, and frank to acknowledge them. He often told me
that it was a hard struggle with him to live the Christian life. I have
heard him say in the pulpit that his life was so imperfect that he did
not presume to preach to Christians, that all his discourses were to
sinners, which he felt that he had done what they had not done, and was
earnestly trying to do what they were not trying to do. He knew that he
had confessed Jesus as his Savior, had humbly bowed to his authority,
and was earnestly striving to live as a Christian, none of which had
they done, hence he felt that it was his duty and his privilege to
preach to sinners, and exhort them to come to Jesus and be saved.
Suffice it to say that he fought to the end, and died in the triumphs of
a living faith. Dr. Wm. H. Hooker was a man of large natural endowments, good
scholarship, and superior speaking ability. He began to preach, if I am
not mistaken, in Middle Tennessee, under the tutelage of Pres. Fanning,
thence went to Alabama, and from Alabama came into Mississippi. For many
years he devoted himself mainly to the practice of medicine, but
continued to preach whenever his practice did not interfere. During the
three or four years in which I was occasionally associated with him, he
was resting from the practice of medicine, and engaged in preaching as
opportunities for so doing presented themselves. He was not then
employed for any stated time by any church, or any number of churches;
but as he was extensively known both in Alabama and Mississippi, he
usually had all the work that he wished to do. He was better adapted to
the work of evangelizing than to that of teaching and training the
churches, as most of our early preachers were. When he threw his whole
soul into a meeting, and all the energy that he was capable of exerting,
he was a power indeed. Had he devoted his whole time to evangelistic
work, he would doubtless have achieved signal success. And if to his
superior mental ability, he had added that close and diligent
application by which many have become distinguished whose natural
endowments were far inferior to his, he might have become distinguished
as a scholar and as a Biblical exegete. Dividing his time and labor as
he did between the practice of medicine and preaching, he nevertheless
added many to the churches for which he labored both in Alabama and
Mississippi. In 1856, or '57, he returned to his former home in Alabama,
and resumed the practice of medicine. During the war, as I was informed,
he removed to Georgia; and not a great while after the war, I saw in the
Gospel Advocate a notice of his death. The brother who wrote the notice
paid a suitable tribute to his ability, and spoke of the good he had
done in that, his last field of labor in the Master's vineyard. Some
time in the year 1854, in the early summer, as I remember, at a meeting
held at Prairie Mount, by Bros. Butler and Deanes, George Plattenburg
made the good confession, and was baptised the same afternoon by Bro.
Deanes. A year or more previous to this time, he had come into the State
from Alabama, and he had engaged in teaching. While on his way to the
state, Bro. Butler made his acquaintance in the stage in which they were
traveling, took a deep interest in him, and on their arrival at Aberdeen
introduced and commended him to some prominent planters out in the
prairies who gave him a school. I soon made his acquaintance, and we
often met at Bro. Butler's various appointments and also at his house
which was quite a center of attraction to young preachers and young men
of literary tastes. From the time I first met him, I loved him as a
brother; and I have reason to think that the affection was fully
reciprocated. One
month from the day on which he was baptised, he preached his first
sermon which for a beginner, was a masterly effort, and gave full
promise of that distinction which he has since attained. Having received
a thorough training at Bethany when Bro. Campbell was in the very prime
of his power, being gifted in intellect, and possessing rare speaking
ability, he took his stand at once in the very front rank of pulpit
orators. On the third Lord's day in July 1855, if I remember aright,
George and myself were ordained, or set apart to the work of the
ministry, at Prairie Mount, by Bros. Butler, Deanes and Hooker with the
approbation of that church and also the churches at Cotton Gin and Palo
Alto. Bro. Butler was the prime mover in the matter, as he regarded
George and myself as his own sons in the ministry; but Dr. Hooker
preached the sermon, and Dr. Deanes delivered the charge. It was a
solemn service, and one that deeply impressed the entire audience. I
did not think then, nor do I think now that it conferred on us any
grace, knowledge, ability or even authority, that we did not possess
before; yet it was a public, solemn covenant between us and the churches
participating, in which we gave ourselves to the work and they pledged
to us their hearty support, sympathy and prayers. It made a deep and
lasting impression on our hearts and lives, had a good effect on the
brethren, and exerted a favorable influence on those without. I have
always looked back to that day with joy and gratitude, and the very
memory of it has been a strength and comfort to me in many a dark and
trying hour. I doubt not that Bro. Plattenburg feels as I do with
reference to this matter. Although I had been preaching about a year
when he began, and although I preached the sermon at the close of which
he confessed the Savior, yet I have always regarded him as my twin
brother in the work of the Lord. After
our ordination, Bro. Plattenburg preached for some time in the northern
part of the State, at and around Thyatira. Thence he went to Little
Rock, Arkansas, and remained there several years. From that place he
went to Henderson, Ky., and thence to Dover, Missouri, where he now
resides. Missouri has many great preachers, but none greater, in my
judgment than George Plattenburg. Missouri is also indebted to
Mississippi for Alexander Ellett, and the Terrell brothers; and we can
also claim an interest in W. H. Cooke. George and I parted in the latter
part of 1855, to meet again at Fayette, Missouri, in 1889, 34 years, or
a full generation afterward. The preachers and elders who so fervently
besought the Lord on that day to bless us in the work to which we were
then set apart, have all passed away; but the memory of them and of
their prayers will ever be green in our hearts. When these lines are
published, I will probably be in Florida, and you, dear George, in
Missouri; but across the States intervening, I extend to you a brother's
hand with the same loving heart that beat so hopeful on that hallowed
day, now more than 36 years ago. Though our fields of labor have lain
far apart, yet our work in the Lord has been one, our hearts have been
one, and our reward will be one. We have not grown weary in the Master's
service, and we never will. We have not become soured against the
brethren because of any supposed neglect, nor jealous of younger
preachers; and may the Lord forbid that we ever should. Our faith and
hope have grown stronger and brighter with our increasing years; and
though we realize that the outward man is failing, we feel and rejoice
that the inward man is renewed day by day. I fervently pray the Lord to
spare your life and mine yet many years and give us health and strength,
grace and courage, to contend more earnestly than ever before for the
faith once for all delivered unto the saints. I
cannot close this chapter without paying a tribute of deep and undying
affection to the entire membership of these four churches that so gladly
received and so warmly encouraged my earliest efforts at preaching.
Cotton Gin, Aberdeen, Prairie Mount, and Richmond. There were aged men
in these churches who were well informed in the Scriptures; yet they
listened to my feeble efforts with rapt attention, and bade me a hearty
God‑speed in the good work. A more devoted sisterhood I have never seen
and never expect to see. A change of business centres broke up the towns
of Prairie Mount and Richmond; and the church at each place became
extinct. Many of the members, however, carried the light of truth
whither they went, and planted churches in other localities. Cotton Gin
as a town has ceased to be; but the church still lives in the church at
Armory with prospects of increasing usefulness. The church at Aberdeen
had a hard struggle for many years for existence, but still survives,
and is, we are persuaded, on rising ground. May her light and that of
the church at Amory shine brighter and brighter till the Lord comes.
Chapter 3 From 1856
to 1860 In
the autumn of 1855, 1 was called to the church at Columbus, but did not
begin my work there till February, 1856. 1 remained there only eight
months; but they were fruitful months to me, though almost barren to the
church in the way of additions. Up to this time, my appointments had all
been monthly, and I could make one sermon do service at all points, I
visited. I do not think that I had more than ten or a dozen different
sermons when I went to Columbus; and now I had to preach twice every
Sunday to the same audience, and made a brief talk at the prayer meeting
Wednesday night. Then there were funerals and other occasions on which
my services were required. I soon exhausted my little stock of sermons;
and then I had to go to work in good earnest. I do not think I ever
studied harder or to better purpose than during those eight months. In
sermon‑making, it was truly a seed time with me. I would advise all
young preachers to labor for a time at least for one church. It will
give them an opportunity for study which otherwise they could not have,
and force them to study as they otherwise would not do. I have always
felt, and still feel, under deep and lasting obligations to the members
of the church at Columbus, especially the older ones, for the
encouragement they gave me, and the interest they always manifested in
my feeble, halting efforts. The
church at Columbus has been truly a mother of churches; and nothing
short of a volume could do full justice to its history. From its
organization in 1842 to the present time, although often and for long
periods of time without a regular preacher, few Lord's days have passed
on with the death and resurrection of the Savior were not commemorated.
It has been visited by many able preachers, Alexander Campbell included,
and has been served at different times by men of superior ability. It
became at once, like Thessalonica, a radiating center from which the
Word of the Lord was sounded out through a large portion of North East
Mississippi and North West Alabama. I will let its first regular
preacher tell of its planting and its prospects at that early day. In
the "Christian Loyalist" for February (1843‑a paper published at
Whitestown, Mississippi by Dr. Wm. E. Matthews, I find the following
letter.)
"Columbus, Mississippi, February 4, 1843. Bro. Matthews, Dear Sir. Some
three months ago, I came to this place, where I found some 69 Disciples,
"continuing steadfast in the Apostles' doctrine, breaking of bread,
fellowship and prayer." This congregation is the fruit of the labors of
the beloved T. Fanning of Nashville, Tennessee. I have been preaching
for the brethren about three months, during which time our Bro. Butler
of Alabama has been with us two or three weeks; and, as the rest of our
joint labors, 27 have been added to the ranks of King Emanuel. The
prospects for successful proclamation of the truth in Mississippi, are
gloriously encouraging to the friends of Reform. There is a noble
independence of soul, characteristic of the people of Mississippi which
is always favorable to the claims of free investigation; and which,
consequently, has proved to be highly conducive to the interests of
primitive Christianity. The people are anxious to hear; and this is all
the Gospel claims at the hands of an enlightened and liberal community.
Vincitveritas. JAMES H. CURTIS. Dr.
Curtis had himself come from Alabama, and was at that time quite a young
man, but from all accounts of superior ability for one of his age. He
possessed a vigorous intellect, had received a liberal culture, was of a
studious disposition, and was highly gifted with a fluent and eloquent
delivery. For some years he preached with success at and around
Columbus, both in Mississippi and Alabama. How long he continued these
labors I know not. When I went to Columbus in 1856, he was engaged in
planting in the Yazoo valley near Greenwood. He had quit preaching, much
to the regret of all the brethren who knew him; and for some years he
stood aloof from the church, yet his convictions remained unchanged. His
course during this period of his life, he afterward deeply regretted,
and always frankly acknowledged. When
I made his personal acquaintance in 1870, he had returned to the church,
and returned to the pulpit. While he had now passed the meridian of
life, he was still a man of great power in the pulpit and on the
rostrum, and he could have given his whole time and study to the work,
either as a pastor or an evangelist, he could doubtless have
accomplished much for the cause which he loved so well. But he was now
of necessity tied up in business; and the brethren, impoverished as they
had been by the war, were unable to untie his hands, and say to him, "Go
and preach the gospel." Yet he was always ready to speak a word for
Jesus, and preached at Columbus and at many other points as he had
opportunity. He was a warm friend and sup, porter of all our
co‑operative efforts, and often made it convenient to go out and lend a
helping hand to the evangelists who were laboring under many
disadvantages. On such occasions, he always preached with great power.
In my own work from 1870 to 1876, 1 had no warmer friend, no more ardent
supporter than Dr. Jas. H. Curtis. He was one of the most diligent
students of the Scriptures, amidst all his cares, that I have ever
known, and has a large amount of varied matter in manuscript‑sermons,
essays, addresses, criticisms, and notes from which a large and valuable
book might be published. Had he continued from the beginning to devote
his whole time to the ministry of the Word, instead of side‑tracking for
so long a time, he would have stood in the front rank of our ministry,
by the side of such men as T. M. Allen, D. S. Burnett, Benj. Franklin,
and Isaac Errett‑the full peer of any of them. A few years ago, in
connection with a heavy financial loss, a severe physical affliction
fell upon him, by which his vocal organs were partially paralyzed, and
his eloquent tongue silenced from preaching. He still lives, however;
still loves the service of the Lord's house, and as far as able still
gives his presence and encouragement to the services and work of the
church. May his remaining years be serene and hopeful, and when the
Master calls him hence may he be ready to depart in the full assurance
of a blissful immortality. I can here only mention the names of some others who preached at
Columbus before the war, either regularly, or occasionally‑James A.
Butler, Dr. J. P. Deanes, G. W. Elley, of Kentucky, T. W. Caskey, Dr. W.
H. Hooker, W. M. Brown, of Illinois, T. N. Arnold, of Kentucky, P. B.
Lawson, and doubt, less many others of whom I never knew. Bro. Panning
paid it a number of visits. Bro. Campbell was there twice in the
interest of Bethany College, first in 1857, and again in 1859. On the
latter visit, he was accompanied by W. K. Pendleton. Since the war the
church has had the labors for a time of Knowles Shaw, J. M. Pickens, W.
E. Hall, J. J. Haley, and others; and has been visited by Dr. Win. J.
Barbee, Alex. Ellett, Moses E. Lard, B. B. Tyler, J. B. Briney and many
others of varied ability. May the church at Columbus put on new life,
and by the blessing of God be enabled to achieve greater conquests in
the future than she has done in the past. In the fall of 1856, I removed to Palo
Alto, and took charge of a school which I conducted for four years. The
church at this place was planted a few years after the church at
Columbus by brethren who had removed from Columbus, including Dr. J. P.
Deanes and family, Dr. D. B. Hill and family, and perhaps some others.
Having the best of material to begin with, and the best of material to
work on, the church grew rapidly, and soon became the largest and most
flourishing church in all that part of the State. When I went there and
when I left I think it was the largest church among us in the whole
State, and the wealthiest too except perhaps the church at Jackson which
at that time was very strong‑ in men and means, though it may not have
had so many members as the church at Palo Alto. Bro. Caskey had lived
and labored at Palo Alto for a number of years, and had added largely to
the membership of the church. Dr. Hooker had practiced medicine there in
partnership with Dr. Deanes, and had preached there often. "Billy"
Brown, as he was familiarly called, had held some very successful
meetings there. Butler, Curtis, Lawson, and many others had been heard
there on occasional visits; and I can truly say that a better instructed
church or a more intelligent community, it has never been my fortune to
find anywhere. Dr.
Deanes, though engaged in the practice of medicine from youth to extreme
old age, was nevertheless a preacher of much more than ordinary ability.
He was a ready speaker, possessed a fine flow of words, and was a man of
deep and tender feeling. He could rarely talk about Jesus without
shedding tears. As an exhorter, of all the men I have ever heard, he was
second only to Joshua K. Speer of Middle, Tennessee. As an evangelist,
he would have been grandly successful. He often went with me to my
school‑house appointments, and always closed with an appropriate and
touching exhortation. It was my great desire for years that the churches
would send him and myself out together to evangelize‑me to teach and him
to exhort. The church at Palo Alto itself could easily have done this.
They would thus have laid up treasures in heaven; and with the mammon of
unrighteousness, so much of which had been entrusted to them, they would
have made friends both on earth and in heaven. But they did not see
their duty in this light. They let the opportunity pass. In a very few
years the war came, and away went the wealth. Bro. Deanes was truly a
father in Israel to me; and I often think of his faithful, loving
counsel, and paternal blessing. The last time I saw him, he was full of
faith and hope and love. He died as he had lived, trusting in Jesus. Dr.
Hill was associated with Dr. Deanes in the eldership of the church from
its beginning. He still lives to guide the flock that remains, by his
pure example, faithful teaching, and wise counsel. As a teaching elder,
he has had no superior, and but few, if any, equals in the entire State,
so far as my acquaintance extends. Although he has reached his four
score years, he is still hale and hearty, able to practice his
profession, and meet his Bible class every Lord's day. But few men who
are not preachers are so well informed in the Scriptures as he is; and
many preachers, both old and young, could sit at his feet for months
with great profit to themselves. May he live to see the dawn of the
twentieth century, if not the dawn of the millennial age. It
was at Palo Alto that I became fully acquainted with Bro. Caskey and
learned to appreciate his unique talents and sterling work. He made two
visits to this, one to his old home churches, while I was preaching for
it, at each of which he delivered a series of sermons which, for
original thought, severe logic, keen wit, cutting sarcasm, eloquent
delivery, and deep pathos, all combined, I have never heard equaled,
much less surpassed. As a preacher, he had faults, it is true‑and who
has not; but he had great merits that largely overbalanced the faults.
The absolutely faultless man is very apt to be a cipher so good that he
is simply good for nothing. He could say the hardest things in the
hardest way, the sharpest things in the sharpest way and sometimes the
ugliest things in the ugliest way; but then he could say the prettiest
things in the prettiest way, the tenderest things in the tenderest way;
and the good and grand always largely predominated. The
substance of all the sermons alluded to above, and the substance only,
is found in "Caskey's Book." The grand declamation, or thrilling
exhortation, with which he closed each sermon, lifting the soul to the
very gates of heaven, or melting the heart into penitence and love, is
wanting in the written and published discourses. The line of original
thought is there, the logic is there, and many descriptive passages of
great beauty are there; but those impassioned outbursts of poetic
eloquence that were called forth by the occasion and the audience, and
that seemed to well up spontaneously from the very depths of his soul,
are not there. Hence to me, and doubtless to many others also, his
published sermons, able and interesting, grand and original as they are,
all seem to have been chopped off at the end. In subsequent years, I
heard him preach the same sermons many times, and always with increasing
interest. He was then in the very prime of manhood physically and
intellectually; but for the next twenty years or more, he seemed to grow
in power of thought, logical acumen, and beauty of diction, but some,
what at the expense of power to stir and move the heart. Or, to put it
in another way, he expended his time and strength on the argument and
its illustration, and then had neither time nor strength for an appeal
to the emotions. Hence he was more successful as an evangelist in his
earlier, than in his later ministry. Bro.
Caskey is a born debater, and has always been ready and anxious to
defend with all his power what he believes is right, and to oppose with
all his might what he thinks is wrong. Having strong convictions, he
always put things in a strong light. What he believes, it is with all
his heart and avows most positively with full confidence of its truth,
and has but little respect for the man who has not the courage of his
own convictions. Hence, by many he has been regarded as not only
dogmatic in his manner, but also as hard and uncharitable in his feeling
towards all who may differ from him. This. is a great mistake, and does
him much injustice. His heart is as tender as that of a woman. He deeply
sympathizes with the erring and the afflicted. He is liberal and
magnanimous in sentiment toward all candid and honorable opposers. He
asks nothing for himself that he is not willing to grant to any and
every opponent. If his bitterest foe was in want, he would divide with
him the last crust that he ever expected to have on earth. While he has
no mercy on a man's dogmas, which he thinks are false, he will take the
man himself to his heart and treat him as a brother. While his physical
man has been broken and almost crushed, having had both a hip and a
shoulder dislocated, yet his mind is still vigorous; and in his heart he
cherishes a growing love for his savior, for his brethren, and for his
fellow man. There is but one T. W. Caskey, and he is ours. May he long
live to think and talk for Jesus. The
beloved P. B. Lawson, of Marion, Alabama, visited Palo Alto several
times while I was there, and held two successful protracted meetings, at
the latter of which he baptized my wife. Bro. Lawson was not a profound
scholar, nor a great logician, nor a grand orator; and yet he was
decidedly a great preacher. He had a natural gift by which he was
enabled to ingratiate himself into the good will and affections of all
parties, both religious and irreligious, regardless of denominational
affiliations or predilections. He was a plain, faithful, earnest and.
devoted gospel preacher. He had a smooth and flowing delivery and a very
persuasive manner in addressing the unconverted. He was one of the few
men who could succeed about equally well as an evangelist and a pastor.
He labored a great deal both in Alabama and Mississippi, and lived first
in the one and then the other for a number of years at a time, and was
to both about what Geo. E. Flower was to Illinois and Kentucky. Indeed
they resembled each other very much, not in person, but in manner and
method, in loveliness of character and usefulness of labor. Bro Lawson
finally returned to Alabama, where he died universally regretted by
those who knew him. Would that we had a score of such men now in every
southern state. It
was at Palo Alto that I made the acquaintance of J. W. Harris, in the
summer or fall of 1858, as I remember. He was then quite a young man,
engaged in teaching, and just beginning to preach. A brotherly love at
once sprang up between us that will never end. Death may separate us for
a time; but the survivor will cherish the memory of the one gone before;
and when we meet on the other side, the golden chain will be reunited to
be severed no more forever. The next year he entered Bethany College
Virginia, and remained there till some time in the spring of 1861. Since
the war he has devoted his time mainly to teaching and partly to farming
for a livelihood; yet during all this time he has faithfully preached on
Lord's days and during his vacations. His time has been so pre‑occupied
during the week by his teaching and farming, one or both, that he never
had the opportunity to develop himself fully either as an evangelist or
as a pastor; yet, laboring under so many disadvantages for so many
years, he is nevertheless an excellent teacher for a church. His
consistent Christian life is a daily sermon, known and read by all,
wherever he goes; and some of the best meetings that I have ever held
have been where he had lived, taught, and preached for a time. He has
spent his life so far in planting and cultivating while others have
almost invariably reaped the harvest; yet no pang of envy or jealousy of
his brother preachers has ever clouded the serenity of his mind or
blighted the joy of his heart. He has doubtless received less pecuniary
compensation for his preaching than any other man in the State who has
labored so long. When he had been preaching twenty years, he had
received, all told, up to that time just One Hundred and Fifty dollars,
or an average of seven and a half dollars a year. Yet not one goes to
the work more cheerfully and willingly than he, whenever the brethren
call, if within his power. There will certainly be a bright crown laid
up for him in heaven. He is at this time able both physically and
intellectually, as well as morally and spiritually, to do better work in
the Lord's vineyard than ever before; and his whole time and service
ought to be called into this field.
During my stay at Palo Alto, I preached for the church there two Sundays
in each month. The other two Sundays I put in elsewhere. For two years I
visited Aberdeen, 22 miles distant, and Prairie Mount, 30 miles distant,
each once a month. I would preach Saturday night and Sunday morning, and
return home Sunday afternoon to be ready for school Monday morning. As
these visits were made on horseback there was much physical as well as
mental labor connected with them. In vacation I would remain over and
preach Sunday night, and sometimes would continue to preach of nights
through the week. At Prairie Mount I held my first protracted meeting
without help of another preacher. It was only a week long, and resulted
in only five additions; yet it was to me a great meeting, and I still
look back to it with the greatest pleasure. Among the converts were two
lovely girls who grew up to be noble women, but have long since gone
home. For two days I sat at the bedside of the younger in her last
illness, and read and talked and sang to her of God and Christ and
Heaven, and prayed with her for the loved ones she was leaving behind.
When I bade her farewell, she took a ring from her hand, put it upon
mine, and asked me to remember the little girl of thirteen whom I
baptized at my first protracted meeting. Oh! there are hallowed memories
of souls saved and other good done connected with the preacher's work
that are worth infinitely more than all the wealth of this world.
During the year 1859, I preached monthly at Union Valley, a church 22
miles west of Palo Alto. This church had been planted in 1849, according
to my memory of what the brethren told me, by Bro. Caskey and had been
ministered to by Bro. Usrey, Bro. Cooper, and others. I had a good
hearing at all my appointments, and in the summer quite a successful
protracted meeting, in which I was assisted by Dr. J. M. Hackworth. The
brethren promised me one hundred dollars on subscription for my year's
service. Of that subscription, every dollar was paid; and at my last
visit, a young man who was not a member of the church chipped in an
extra half dollar in silver. If I had known as much about church
subscriptions then as I have since learned, I would have kept that half
dollar as a curiosity. At any rate, I have thought of it oftener in the
many years that have since rolled away, than any other half dollar that
has ever passed through my fingers. That church has changed its local
habitation twice since that time, and now meets at Mount Hope some three
miles from Cumberland. It has been my happy privilege to participate in
many joyful meetings with that church since; and there are few dwelling
houses belonging to the older brethren in which I have not preached. At
my last visit, 32 years from the time of the first, there were 24
additions, 22 of them by confession and baptism. In
the summer of 1858, I visited Carroll County for the first time, and
assisted Bro. Usrey in holding two meetings, the first with the church
at old Middleton, the second with the church at New Bethel in the
vicinity of what is now called Hemingway. Both of these meetings were
successful, but the number of additions I do not remember. At the first
of these W. Frank Parker, a young Baptist preacher of good education and
fine speaking ability, united with the church. He was then teaching at
Middleton. When that school closed, he taught for a term in the vicinity
of New Bethel. Then for a year or more he evangelized mostly in North
East Mississippi. In the fall of 1860, he went to Georgia. Thence during
the war he went to Kentucky, and from Kentucky to Indiana. For several
years he was the pastor of one of the churches of Indianapolis. For the
past few years, he has been evangelizing, I think, mostly in the West,
where I suppose he now is. May the Lord greatly bless his labors
wherever he may go. The next year, I visited these two churches again,
and held a short meeting at each. These two visits led to my removal to
Carroll County in the latter part of 1860; but of my sojourn there, and
those whom I knew, I will write in another chapter.
CHAPTER 4 1860‑1866 My
removal to Carroll County in the fall of 1860 was due mainly to the
influence of J. W. S. Merrill who had established a school on his own
place, of which he wished me to take charge. He was then, as he is yet,
the senior elder of the church in that vicinity. In the winter of
1842‑3, he had removed from Tennessee to Carrollton, where he lived for
several years. While residing at that place, he and a few others kept up
the Lord's day service in memory of the Savior's death and resurrection.
Preachers in passing would stop occasionally and deliver a series of
discourses, but did not succeed in establishing a church there. The same
may be said of Paul at Athens. In 1849, he removed to the place on which
he still resides, about 13 miles southwest of Carrollton. The church in
that vicinity had been planted a few years previous to this time. It was
first called Bethel; afterward when a new house was built, it was called
New Bethel; and now in its fourth house on a different site, it is
called New Hope. Long may it live, and may its hope never grow dim. It
was at New Bethel that my work was done. In
1842, or '43, Ananias Pate had removed from the vicinity of Whitestown
in Wilkinson County to Carroll County, and had settled on Coila creek
where he opened a large plantation. Through his influence Dr. Wm. E.
Matthews was induced to remove from Wilkinson County in 1845, and to
settle in the same neighborhood. It was through his labors and the
support of Father Pate that the church at Bethel was established. When
Bro. Merrill settled in that vicinity he entered at once most heartily
into the work, and in consequence of his zeal, energy, and ability to
teach, was soon put into the eldership. When the health of Dr. Matthews
failed, as it had done before I made my first visit, the burden of
church management fell mainly on Bro. Merrill's shoulders where it has
since remained. That the church has had a continuous existence through
all these years, and that it still exists with a reasonable prospect of
continued existence and prosperity, is due mainly to his wise
management, untiring energy, and unwavering fidelity. Although he has
passed his three score years and ten by some years, and is now on
"borrowe |
