USA > Alabama > Memorial sketches of the lives and labors of the deceased ministers of the North Alabama conference, Methodist Episcopal church, South (1870-1912.) > Part 2
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Brother West was twice married, first to Miss Sallie B. Kittrell, January 4, 1866. To them were born four children, two sons and two daughters : Miriam, the eldest daughter, who died in Decatur in 1897 ; Marvin, a lawyer of Decatur; Olin, a physi- cian of Nashville, Tenn .; and Edith, who married Mr. Gus Harris, of Decatur, Ala. On April 17, 1883, he was again married to Mrs. Z. A. Swear- ingen, of Opelika, Ala. This was also a happy union, for they were congenial spirits and she was truly a good stepmother to his children. Her tender ministries to him in his last sickness were beautiful and untiring, notwithstanding that this last affliction was long and painful. To be in their home, either in times of affliction or health, was to feel the gentle atmosphere of love and cheerfulness.
Although not able to command the best facili- ties for an education in his early life, yet by dili-
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REV. ANSÓN WEST, D.D.
gent use of such as he had he laid a good founda- tion for acquiring knowledge in the future, and right well did he build upon this foundation through all the years that followed. He read and studied con- tinuously through all the years of his ministry and gathered knowledge from every available source un- til he stood among us an educated man (barring the classics), ready to perform any and all work and to fill all positions to which the Church might call him.
Dr. West was licensed to exhort on November 3, 1855, and licensed to preach by the Quarterly Con- ference of Abbeville Circuit, Alabama Conference, at Lawrenceville, June 14, 1856; S. F. Pilly, preacher in charge, and J. J. Edwards, Secretary. He was admitted on trial into the Alabama Conference at Tuskegee, Ala., in December, 1856. From that time on to the very end of his life his ministerial labors were never interrupted. He never turned aside to any of the world's tempting offers of pleasure or profit. He kept the promise he made when he was received into full connection, that of giving himself wholly to this one work. His appointments were as follows :
In 1857 he was appointed to the Crawford Circuit ; 1858-59, Black's Bend Circuit; 1860, Tallassee Circuit; 1861, Black's Bend Circuit; 1862, Pensa- cola ; 1863-64, Camden; 1865, Marianna ; 1866-69, Camden District ; 1870, Talladega Station; 1871-72, Huntsville Station; 1873-74, Gadsden Station; 1875-77, Birmingham District; 1878-81, Talladega
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MEMORIAL SKETCHES.
District ; 1882-85, Huntsville District ; 1886-89, Tal- ladega District; 1890-92, Birmingham District ; 1893-94, Florence Station; 1895-96, Decatur Sta- tion ; 1897-1900, Decatur District; 1901-02, New Decatur. Up to June, 1903, he served Dadeville and Camp Hill, when he was elected President of Bir- mingham College, which position he held till June, 1904. From June to December, 1904, he served the Gadsden District. He served Athens Station from 1905 to July, 1906, the date of his death.
At the session of the Alabama Conference held at Macon, Miss., November, 1858, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Paine, and at the session of the Conference held at Montgomery, Ala., December, 1860, he was ordained elder by Bishop Andrew. In 1878 the University of Alabama conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
This servant of God was richly endowed. Ex- traordinary were his intellectual capacities, mighty was his grasp, unrelaxing his grip. He was a great preacher. He spurned to think of catching the ear of his congregation by sensational utterances. He would scorn the thought of attempting to sway an audience by a burst of enthusiasm or a flight of ora- tory. But he expounded the Scriptures. He pro- claimed the doctrines of Methodism. He fed the people on the strong meat of the Word. Above all earthly things he loved the Church in which he was a minister. In contending for her purity he was un- sparing of her foes. In establishing her supremacy
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REV. ANSON WEST, D.D.
he was severe upon her rivals. In fighting the tend- encies that he considered dangerous to her doc- trines he was fearless, matchless, uncompromising, intolerant. His faith in the doctrines of his Church was sublime. He was a man under authority. The book of Discipline was law. Law was made to be enforced. In his life and official administration he was blameless. He knew the traditions. The influ- ence of his life will continue as an abiding check against unrestrained license in thought and faith. Rev. H. C. Howard once remarked that "John C. Keener and Anson West will go down in history as the great conservative factors of the Methodism of their day." Dr. West mastered the polity of his
Church. He understood the economy of Metho- dism. He was a master spirit in any Conference. He. was easy and graceful in every executive ca- pacity. Bishop McTyeire once remarked: "Were I pastor, I should covet Dr. West as my presiding elder." As a writer Dr. West has done the Church much service. Hundreds have read his carefully written books, "The State of the Dead," "The Old and New Man," and "History of Methodism in Alabama." Especially was the history prepared with much labor. It is thoroughly reliable, and will be our authority for the future days. As a debater Dr. West was peerless. No man among us could stand against him. Many a foeman worthy of his steel, expert in the use of the weapons of contro- versy, has gone down under the sledge-hammer
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blows of his powerful argument and resistless logic. Up to the time of his affliction he was always chosen to represent North Alabama in the General Confer- ence. His influence has been felt in the legislation of the Church.
Though conservative, Dr. West was progressive. He was constructive. For more than a quarter of a century he was a presiding elder, serving the chief districts in the Conference. Under his administra- tion as presiding elder of the Birmingham District that splendid edifice, First Church, was planned and built, in which the General Conference of 1896 was held, at which time Bishop Hendrix took occasion to commend that superb building to the Church at large. But perhaps the greatest service to the Church ever rendered by Dr. West was in the pro- vision of a college for the education of the boys and young men of North Alabama. His heart was in the work. He laid himself out in his full strength for the accomplishment of this one great purpose, and he lived to see the first buildings erect- ed and the work launched with great promise. He was called to preside over its work for one year. It stands to-day on Owenton Hill a monument to . the zeal and faithful service of one of its best and truest friends, and it has a hopeful outlook for the coming future.
For fifty years Dr. West labored for the Master, with never once a vacation. Just one week before his death, out of the goodness of their hearts, his
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REV. ANSON WEST, D.D.
people offered him the time and money to take a much-needed rest, which he at first declined; but there was so much of loving solicitude in their in- sistence that he finally consented, and was preparing to go to Cullman, on the mountain, and spend a few weeks with his old-time friend, Rev. F. T. J. Bran- don. But on the very day he was to have started the Lord called him up higher to spend his first vacation with the patriarchs and prophets, discoursing upon the fuller revelation of the eternal verities that he had preached so long and with such positive assur- ance.
REV. DANIEL DUNCAN.
R EV. DANIEL DUNCAN was born in Shippensburg, Pa., May II, 1803; and died in Birmingham, Ala., October 28, 1891. He professed religion and
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REV. DANIEL DUNCAN.
joined the Church at Taylor's Spring Camp Ground, Virginia, in 1820. He was licensed to preach by the Quarterly Conference of Lafayette Circuit, Ala-
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REV. DANIEL DUNCAN.
bama Conference, in 1845. In January, 1847, he was admitted on trial into the Alabama Conference. In 1850 he was ordained deacon, and in 1852 he was ordained elder.
The above dates point out eventful periods in the life of this good man. He served his generation by the will of God, and "fell on sleep" October 28, 1891, full of years and with the blessed assurance of a glorious immortality. His ministry extended over . a period of forty-four years, during which time he was called to fill many important and responsible positions in the Church. He experienced many phases of the itinerant life, cheerfully enduring its hardships and meeting its responsibilities. Being naturally of a sunny disposition, he could enjoy to the full all that was enjoyable. No man was ever more faithful to his ministerial work than was he. For many years he filled the various places in the itinerant system-circuits, missions, stations, and districts-with ability and great success. As pre- siding elder he was especially sympathetic with his preachers in their trials and hardships, for he had been in hard places himself and knew how to help them. He was an active itinerant preacher for about thirty years, retiring only when age and feebleness forced him to do so. He was about seventy-five years old when placed on the superannuate roll. He was naturally enthusiastic, and generally expressed himself with considerable earnestness when occasion required him to speak. In preaching, his religious
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enthusiasm would often take fire with his theme, and then he became sublimely eloquent. He was especially powerful in prayer. No one who ever heard "Uncle Daniel" pray could soon forget the mighty glow of holy fervor that poured forth in his every utterance. He was truly a man of God; he walked and talked with him, and seemed always to live in that higher realm of holy communion as a friend with his Friend. He often spoke of such sea- sons of sweet communion with God during his wakeful hours in the nighttime. This was espe- cially true of him during the last few years of his life, and more especially when he was passing through the trying ordeal of giving up his "Rachel" (his wife). Sister Duncan left him about eleven months before he was called to follow. During this interval he lived much with her in his thoughts, and longed for the time when he should be released and join her in the Father's home. Their bodies sleep side by side in the Talladega Cemetery, and their spirits are with God, whom they served so long to- gether. Several months before his death he gave up his home in Talladega and removed to Birmingham to spend the rest of his days with his daughter, Mrs. J. Morgan Smith. He said that as a sort of compen- sation for leaving his old home he would be where he could see his brethren of the ministry often-a happy thought to him, since he had been for so long in a large measure deprived of this association, a privation that all superannuate men feel most keenly.
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REV. DANIEL DUNCAN.
Brother Duncan had many friends. That sunny disposition of his made friends where others would fail. Many of these loved friends preceded him to heaven, perhaps the larger part of them; but he has overtaken them.
"Many are the friends who are waiting to-day, Happy on the golden strand ; Many are the voices calling us away, To that glorious band- Calling us away, calling us away, Calling to that better land."
A few weeks prior to his death he expressed him- self as being unusually hopeful of the complete ful- fillment of all of God's promises to him. "And if so," he said, "what a glorious inheritance is soon to be mine !" He said further : "If I can keep my mind clear in the hour of death, I want to bid adieu to my friends in the language of that grand old hymn by Alexander Pope." And he repeated it, as fol- lows :
"Vital spark of heavenly flame ! Quit, O quit this mortal frame! Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying, O the pain, the bliss of dying ! Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife, And let me languish into life.
Hark! they whisper; angels say, Sister spirit, come away! What is this absorbs me quite, Steals my senses, shuts my sight, Draws my spirit, drowns my breath- Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
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The world recedes; it disappears ! Heaven opens on my eyes! My ears With sounds seraphic ring ! Lend, lend your wings ! I mount ! I fly ! O grave! where is thy victory? O death ! where is thy sting?"
Brother Duncan's loyalty to the Church and to those in authority was something beautiful. He did not want to offend or oppose any one unless it was in defense of what he conscientiously believed to be right, and even then his opposition was more of a persuasive than a belligerent character. On one oc- casion his presiding elder had heard that he was about to engage in something that he (the elder) thought was wrong, and told him so. Brother Dun- can's reply was : "Well, my dear brother, if you, my presiding elder, think it will be wrong, I certainly will not do it ; for of all things, I want to be 'subject to the powers that be.'" This incident shows the real spirit of the man-gentle, kind, "easy to be en- treated," obedient.
He was a man of striking appearance-strong of frame, erect in carriage, firm of step, neat in per- son and apparel, all without the appearance of haughtiness. No man ever looked into a meeker, kindlier face than that of Daniel Duncan. A little child could read his spirit of kindliness in his very look. He was unsuspecting in his estimate of hu- man character. He believed in his fellow men and trusted them, sometimes to his own hurt. He was
REV. DANIEL DUNCAN. 33
always ready to make excuses for the misdeeds of . men. He gloried in the work of redeeming men from sin and error, and many, no doubt, will be the stars that will shine in his crown of rejoicing. In the centuries to come his name may be forgotten by men, but his work will live forever.
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REV. DAWSON PHELPS.
R EV. DAWSON PHELPS was born in Tyrrell County, N. C., March 14, 1806. Early in life he be- came a Christian and joined the Methodist Church, and before he was twenty years old received a li- cense as an exhorter and sometime after a license to preach. He did regular preaching one year on a circuit in North Carolina by direction of his pre- siding elder. We are not informed as to what year he removed to Alabama, but in 1834 he was admitted on trial into the Tennessee Conference, in which he did faithful work until 1850, when, at his own re- quest, he was granted a location. He continued in the local ranks for twenty-one years, and during that time he preached much and was very useful. In 1871 he was readmitted into the traveling connec- tion in the North Alabama Conference, and for five years did full and useful work. In 1876 he was ap- pointed in charge of the Pettusville Circuit, in the bounds of which his home had been for many years. He was able to preach only a few sermons after Con- ference till he went home for the last time; and though he lingered for several months, the grace of God sustained him to the last. At times he expressed a great desire to get well again that he might con- tinue longer to preach. His physician told him that he would probably get up again, but would. never
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REV. DAWSON PHELPS.
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be able to preach any more. Brother Phelps said that if he could not recover sufficiently to be able to preach, he had rather die and go to heaven. A few weeks before his death he said: "Fifty-two years ago to-day I was licensed to exhort; and if I could live that much longer, I would spend it all preaching the same doctrines I have preached." He often said that he had no fears of death-was fully prepared and waiting for the summons. For four days before his death he seemed to be entirely unconscious, and on September 4, 1877, he ceased to suffer and was not, for God took him. He was a very strong doc- trinal preacher and very pious and useful, so that many, no doubt, through his instrumentality were brought to Christ.
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REV. GEORGE M. G. DUNKIN.
R EV. G. M. G. DUNKIN was born in Marion Coun- ty, Ala., May 2, 1854; and died at Moulton, Ala., in September, 1888. He was born of the Holy Spirit on the Yorkville Circuit. When only twelve years of age he joined the Church. In his eighteenth year he was licensed to preach, and joined the North Alabama Conference in 1875. He served the fol- lowing charges: North River Mission, one year ; Pikeville Mission, three years; Waterloo Circuit, two years; then Moulton Circuit until death ended his labors.
Brother Dunkin was ordained deacon by Bishop Keener at Gadsden in 1877, and elder by Bishop Mc- Tyeire at Oxford in 1880. His education was lim- ited; but having a strong mind, by close application to books he constantly improved in knowledge. His last year's work was marked by a devotion and a faithfulness that led to happy results in advancing every interest of the Church under his pastoral care. In his last days, while sick, he was firm in faith, instant in prayer, and joyful in hope. Patient, re- signed, and confident, he passed off without fear, praying that his ministerial mantle might fall upon his only son. Thus ended the comparatively brief life of a man who had reasonably expected a longer period of service for his Lord in the earthly vine- yard. But the will of God is accomplished.
REV. JAMES A. NEELY.
R EV. JAMES ADAM NEELY was born January 21, 1822; licensed to preach in 1851; joined the Alabama Conference at Eutaw in December, 1855; was ordained deacon by Bishop Andrew at Mont- gomery in December, 1858, and elder by Bishop An- drew at Selma in December, 1861. He died in Cher- okee County, Ala., November 2, 1889. He was married in early manhood to Miss Tirzah Har- per, who died June 24, 1854. In 1862 he was again married, to Miss Nancy L. Weber, who died in April, 1876. In 1877 he was married to Miss Fannie Mathias. By his first wife he leaves two children, John Neely and Mrs. W. G. Daniel; and by his second wife he leaves two children, Misses Pluma and Alma Neely. He spent the first two years of his itinerant life in Mississippi, near Colum- bus. In December, 1857, he was sent to Cedar Bluff Circuit, in Cherokee County, Ala. The remaining thirty-two years of his ministry were spent in that part of East Alabama.
Brother Neely was a man of industry and econ- omy, and provided well for his family, to whom he was ardently and tenderly devoted. Much of the time supplying their temporal needs by the labor of his hands, he never allowed his temporal and minis- terial duties to conflict. He was a field hand in the
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MEMORIAL SKETCHES.
Conference all his life, never having been on a dis- trict, station, or even a good paying circuit. He per- haps did more hard work as a pastor, more preach- ing and better preaching on a smaller salary than any man who ever labored in the bounds of our Con- ference. He served many of the missions and poor circuits of that region in their formative state and during the Civil War almost entirely without pecuni- ary compensation, supporting his family and educat- ing his children by his manual labor, often even car- rying with him from his own home the food for his faithful horse. They scarcely furnished him food while away from home, yet he visited from house to house instructing the lambs of the fold, and endeared the people to him. His form and voice were as familiar through all that region as household words. He took an active interest in all that con- cerned the well-being of his people and country. He had strong convictions of right and duty, and the courage of his convictions. Of course this some- times produced friction, but it was that friction that any man will generate who dares to do the right and defend the right.
Brother Neely was not a man who, like a fluid, assumed the shape of his surroundings. He was a strong preacher of the truths of Christianity and a defender of the faith once delivered to the saints. But such were his life and the manifest integrity of his purpose that honest men who differed the most widely from him and with whom he had the most
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REV. JAMES A. NEELY.
friction gave him credit for sincerity and respected his boldness in standing upon his principles.
His funeral was attended by a vast concourse of people who seemed to feel a sense of personal be- reavement. He often expressed a desire to die at his post. The good Lord granted. this desire. The fatal attack came while on his way to an appoint- ment, and with such violence that he was neither able to go on nor return home. But loving hands cared for him. He was on his last round, anxious about winding up his work for Conference; but it was left for other hands to bear his reports to Con- ference. But he sent us back from the banks of the river the cheering message that all was well. He has entered upon his reward, and we who are left and those who follow after will enjoy the fruit of his labors.
REV. C. S. D. LASSITER.
R EV. CHARLES SAMUEL DICKINSON LASSITER Was born in Jasper County, Ga., April 17, 1818. He was converted at home when seven years old while kneeling at his mother's knee in prayer. When thirteen years old he was received into the Church by Rev. Lovick Pierce. He was twice mar- ried, first to Miss Mattie Smith in DeKalb County, Ga., in 1843, and again to Mrs. Mary L. Martin in 1884. He was licensed to preach in 1855 by L. B. McDonald, presiding elder. In 1858 he served as a supply on Arbacoochee Mission. He was admitted on trial into the Alabama Conference at Macon, Miss., in 1858, and appointed to Arbacoochee Mis- sion. In 1860 he served the Pinckneyville Circuit as junior preacher with L. R. Bell. In December, 1860, he was admitted into full connection at Montgomery, Ala., and ordained deacon by Bishop Andrew. In 1860-61 he served Daviston Mission; 1862, Dudley- ville Circuit; 1863, Dadeville Circuit; 1864, Camp Hill Circuit. At the close of this year he was or- dained elder by Bishop Andrew, at Tuskegee, Ala. In 1865-66 he was supernumerary ; in 1867 he served Blue Mountain Mission ; in 1868 he was superannu- ated; 1869-72 he was again on the Blue Mountain Mission. In 1873 he traveled the Millerville Mis- sion, and in 1874 the Chandler Springs Mission. In 1875-77 he was again superannuated. In 1878 he
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REV. C. S. D. LASSITER.
was made effective and appointed junior preacher on the Talladega Circuit. In 1879-80 North River Mis- sion was his field of labor, and in 1881-82 Coosa Valley Circuit. For the years 1883-89 he was su- perannuated. In 1890 he served the Abernathy Cir- cuit; 1891, Chulafinnee Mission. In December, 1891, he was again superannuated. On December 9, 1891, he died in great peace, and his weary and worn body was laid to rest at Chulafinnee, Ala., near where he had passed so many conflicts and had had so many triumphs.
It is seen from the foregoing list of appointments that his fields were always hard ones; yet he never complained. He was glad of a place, be it ever so humble, in which he could serve God and his cause. I have never known a man that excelled him in Christian humility. He was abundant in labor and usefulness, and filled a place in the Church in his day that could not have been so well filled by any other. His faith and power in prayer were some- thing wonderful. He was compelled to struggle with poverty often in order that he might have the privilege of preaching the gospel. I have never been associated with a man who communed more con- stantly with his Maker. In his sphere he was suc- cessful, he having baptized and received into the Church more than a thousand persons. He was a great peacemaker, and was never content if any of his flock were at variance. He has gone to the Church triumphant.
REV. WILLIAM CLARK M'COY, D.D.
R EV. WILLIAM C. M'COY, father of Bishop James H. McCoy, was born near Granville, Monroe County, Mo., October 8, 1843. His mother was a pious, good woman with lofty aspirations. It was from her, doubtless, that her son William inherited much that afterwards develped into true greatness. His early years were spent at home in a rural district. His educational advantages were not the best-in fact, very poor-so that when the Civil War came on young McCoy had attended school only three months, though he was eighteen years old. He grew up inured to toil, with an ardent, impulsive na- ture and a vigorous physical constitution. He was a man of courage and energy. He volunteered in the service of the Confederacy in Quantrell's com- pany of rangers. Later he was transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia, and was under that great man, "Stonewall" Jackson. He soon became one of Jackson's trusted couriers. Shot and shell were never too thick for him to go to any part of the field of battle for his beloved general. On May 12, 1864, he was captured and taken as a prisoner of war to Elmira, N. Y. Here under the ministry of Rev. Mr. Blount, of Alabama, he was converted. When the war ended, his native State was in such a state of unrest and confusion that he did not return
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REV. WILLIAM CLARK M'COY, D.D.
to his home, but started out aimlessly, not knowing what was best for him to do-poor, homeless, and, as he felt, friendless. Late one afternoon he sat down on the railroad track, weary and despondent, while tears flowed unbidden from his eyes. He real- ized that night was approaching and that he was without food and shelter. Looking away in the dis- tance, he saw smoke issuing from an unpretentious rural home. In sheer desperation he approached it and asked for some food and shelter for the night. That hut proved to be the home of a local preacher of the Methodist Church, Rev. James Cox. Then and there began an attachment between James Cox and W. C. McCoy that never knew any abatement.
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