USA > Arkansas > History of Methodism in Arkansas > Part 20
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John Hall was born in Williamson County, Tenn., in 1832, and moved to Arkansas in 1849. He professed conversion, and joined the Church in 1850, and was licensed to preach in 1868, and was admitted on trial, in the Arkansas Conference,
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in 1869, and was appointed to the Salem Mission. In 1871-2 he traveled the Fleetwood Circuit; in 1873, Salem Circuit; in 1874, Evening Shade Circuit; in 1875, Bennett's River Mission until his death, which occurred September 26, 1875. His end was in peace.
Andrew Conley was born in 1818, in Williamson County, Tenn. Was converted in early life, and joined the Methodist Church. He was admitted on trial in the Tennessee Con- ference in 1845, and appointed to Short Mountain Circuit. In 1847, he was ordained Deacon, and in 1849 he was or- dained Elder. He located 1850, and continued in that re- lation until 1872, when he was readmitted into the White River Conference, and appointed to the Marion Circuit. He continued in the traveling connection until the time of his death in 1875.
John W. Ross was born in North Carolina, and while very young his parents moved to Arkansas. When he was con- verted he joined the M. E. Church, South, although he had been reared in the seceder faith. He was licensed to preach and admitted into the White River Conference in 1873, and appointed to the Marion Circuit, where he was very success- ful. In 1875 he was appointed to the Walnut Bend Station, where he labored with great acceptability until his death in 1875. A life of devotion to Christ was followed by a tran- quil death.
The Arkansas Conference for 1876 met at Yellville. The Little Rock Conference met at Arkadelphia, and the White River Conference at Batesville. Bishop Keener presided at all these.
The admissions on trial for the Arkansas Conference were Peter H. Throne, James L. Keener and William H. Matheny. Received by transfer, John M. Haynes, Thomas R. Nichols and Carroll W. Myatt.
The admissions in the Little Rock Conference were Louis B. Hawley, Thomas N. Naike, James C. Biglow, W. W.
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Henderson, R. M. Hamilton, R. M. Traylor and L. M. Keith. Of these Louis B. Hawley is a member of the Little Rock Conference. He has proven himself to be a man of earnest purpose and true devotion, faithful and uniformly successful in his ministry. Thomas Naike discontinued at the end of his first year. James C. Biglow traveled for several years in the Little Rock Conference and transferred in 1881. R. Hamilton discontinued in 1877. Richard Traylor is a mem- ber of the Little Rock Conference, trusted and honored by his brethren. Louis M. Keith traveled until 1889,. when his valuable labors were terminated by death. The following notice of his life and labors is taken from the minutes of the Little Rock Conference :
" Louis Martin Keith was a native of Alabama. He was converted and admitted to membership in the M. E. Church, South, in 1870. He was licensed to preach and admitted on trial in the Little Rock Annual Conference in 1876. He filled the following pastoral charges in the order named : Mazerne Mission, Maumelle Circuit, Collegeville Circuit, two years; Washington Station, two years; Malvern Sta- tion, one year ; Hamburg Station, two years, and Carlisle Circuit, three years. Owing to the protracted illness of his wife, he was granted a supernumerary relation in 1888. Taking his wife to Missouri, her health so improved that he was placed in charge of Warrensburg Station, in the South- west Missouri Conference. The next year he was placed in charge of the Fordyce Station, Little Rock Conference. While here in the midst of the most active and successful year of his ministry, he was suddenly called from labor to rest. He was a diligent student, and possessed a fine memory, and selecting his books with care, his mind was well stored with useful information. His sermons were en- riched by his mental stores, and were delivered with the energy born of strong convictions. He was recognized as
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a preacher of marked ability with large promise of in- creased usefulness."
The Church in Arkansas lost three very effective and faithful preachers during this year by death, one from each of the Conferences. James Taylor Stockton was born in Kentucky, June 12, 1813 ; was converted and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, about the year 1846. Soon after he was licensed to preach the gospel and was received on trial in the itinerant work in the Florida Annual Conference about the year 1854. He was ordained Deacon by Bishop Andrew at Alligator, Fla., December 28, 1856, and Elder by the same in 1858. He was married to Miss Harriet P. Bake, May 17, 1859. He moved to Arkansas in 1874 and traveled the Marshall Circuit as a supply. He was readmitted into the Arkansas Annual Conference at Fort Smith, October 31, 1874, and was appointed to the Huntsville Circuit, and in 1875 was appointed to the Hinds- ville Circuit, which charge he reached December 25, 1875, and in two days was stricken down with flux and spinal af- fection, and died January 9, 1876. The grace of God sus- tained him in a wonderful degree during his whole sickness. He was patient and resigned, calm and happy with sweetest joy of hope and rest.
James B. McKamey was born in Lauderdale County, Alabama, February 10, 1823, was converted in 1843 and licensed to preach by William McFerrin in 1847. He was ordained Deacon by Bishop Andrew in Brownsville in 1852, and Elder by Bishop Paine, in Jackson, Tenn., in 1861. He removed to Arkansas and was admitted on trial in the White River Conference in 1872. He was a plain, useful man, and was known as a good and faithful preacher. As death approached he was strong in faith, and while his brother was repeating the Seventy-third Psalm he fell asleep to wake no more until the angel trump shall wake the sleeping dead.
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Richard Colburn, at the time of his death was a member of the Little Rock Conference, but he had been for many years a member of the Arkansas Conference. One who was so long identified with the Church in Arkansas should receive more than a passing notice at our hands. The fol- lowing sketch of his life is taken partly from the memoir given in the minutes and partly from other sources of infor- mation :
Richard F. Colburn was born in North Carolina in 1814. He first studied medicine, and was admitted to practice, but after his conversion, feeling that it was his duty to preach the gospel, he was licensed to preach and admitted into the traveling connection in the Missouri Conference in 1840. In consequence of an attack of rheumatism he had to seek a more southern climate, and was transferred to the Memphis Conference, where he filled the following appointments : Oxford, Hernando, Grenada and Trenton Stations, all of which he filled with great acceptability and usefulness. He transferred to the Arkansas Conference in 1855, and was stationed at Fort Smith. In 1856-57 he was at Van Buren. Here follows a brief period in his life to which he always alluded with regret. In order to support his family he felt compelled to locate, and being an excellent physician, he engaged in the practice of medicine for a number of years. In 1863 he was readmitted into the traveling connection in . the Little Rock Conference. In 1863-64-65 he was stationed in Little Rock. But few men have been required to endure as great affliction in the discharge of ministerial duties.
He came to the station during the war when the Church was greatly reduced in membership, and was suffering from the consequences of this loss. To add to his troubles, when the City of Little Rock fell into the hands of the Federal troops, the authorities of the M. E. Church availed them- selves of the power given them by the celebrated Ames- Stanton order, and compelled Dr. Colburn to vacate the
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church, which was seized and occupied by the preachers of the M. E. Church. That this procedure was directed against the M. E. Church, South, and not against Dr. Col- burn personally, was shown by the fact that Dr. Colburn was permitted to preach in the Christian Church without molestation from the authorities. The intention of the rep- resentatives of the M. E. Church was to secure the property that belonged to the M. E. Church, South. This property was not surrendered to its rightful owners until after the close of the war, when an order was obtained from President Johnson commanding them to surrender the property to its rightful owners. During the troubles of this period Dr. Colburn preserved the Church at Little Rock from dissolu- tion, and upon the return of peace it was ready to resume its great work of sustaining the cause of religion in the cap- ital city of the State. He continued in the active work of the ministry until 1868, when his health failed, and he was granted a superannuated relation, which he sustained until his death. For about ten years he was a great sufferer, but he endured his sufferings with a patience and resignation that nothing but the grace of God could have produced. He was made perfect through sufferings. His death was a glorious triumph of the power of God to sustain his servants. His dying message was: "Tell my brethren that I die in the faith." He died at his residence in Little Rock, Decem- ber, 1876. Dr. Colburn was a preacher of very marked ability. His fine personal appearance, polished manners, and chaste language made him a very attractive preacher. He was the father of Samuel G. Colburn, for a number of years one of the honored members of the Little Rock Con- ference. His widow still lives in Little Rock, and is greatly venerated as a woman of devoted attachment to the Church, of which her husband and son were honored ministers. One of his sons, Dr. John Colburn, is a practicing physician in California ; another, Jesse Colburn, is a prominent druggist
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in Little Rock. One of his daughters is the wife of Rev. Thomas H. Ware, of the Little Rock Conference, another daughter is the wife of Charles Butler, of California. These are all highly respected in the communities where they re- side.
There were several transfers from the Conferences this year. Orlando P. Thomas and James E. Walker, of the Arkansas Conference, transferred to the North Texas Con- ference. James Mackey, of the Little Rock Conference, transferred to the Northwest Texas Conference, and James A. Parker transferred to the Louisiana Conference, A. R. Bennicks, of the White River Conference, transferred to the Northwest Texas Conference, and C. I. Nugent transferred to the Memphis. Conference.
The Arkansas Conferences for the year 1877 were in the Episcopal District assigned to Bishop Kavanaugh.
The Arkansas Conference convened in Fayetteville, the Little Rock Conference in Monticello and the White River in Augusta.
The ministerial force of the Conferences was strengthened by the addition of a number of valuable accessions. In the Arkansas Conference Martin L. Williams, John E. Duna- way, Jesse L. Massey, Henry W. Brooks, John L. Wytche, H. W. Burns, William C. Brodie, Michael Martz. By transfer, Vincent V. Harlan, W. J. Wood, J. Handlin and John T. Mclaughlin.
The Little Rock Conference received the following addi- tions on trial : Bascom Monk, James R. Moore, William M. Crowson, Richard P. Wilson, Josephus A. Biggs and John R. Cason,
The White River Conference : H. B. Neil, N. E. Skinner, Z. T. Griffin, Isaac T. Morris, John L. Watson, M. M. Smith, Z. W. Lindsay, A. S. Blackwood, W. A. Lindsay, and Samuel Bayliss. ' The reader will recognize in this list of accessions an unusually large number who have remained
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in the traveling connection until the present time, and oc- cupy prominent positions in their respective Conferences. The entire class from the Little Rock Conference are in the traveling connection in some of the Conferences at the pres- ent time, and the greater part of those in the other two classes are in the traveling connection in some of the Con- ferences.
W. C. Brodie, of the Arkansas Conference, transferred to the Northwest Texas Conference. John A. Corbitt, of the White River Conference, transferred to the Memphis Conference, and Edward Orgain transferred to the Western Virginia Conference.
The Church in Arkansas lost by death one of the old, faithful veteran pioneer preachers, one whose memory is re- vered by many throughout the State.
Burrell Lee was born in Davidson County, Tenn., October 20, 1809, and died at his home in Batesville, Ark., May 28, 1877. He was converted in his sixteenth year, and though raised by Baptist parents, he cast his lot with "the people called Methodists." No sooner had he united with the Church than he felt called to preach, and forthwith he com- menced, receiving license, first to exhort, at the hands of Bishop Morris, on the Old Red River Circuit, in Kentucky, then in the bounds of the Tennessee Conference. He was licensed to preach by Bishop Paine July 28, 1828. The fol- lowing fall he was received on trial into the Tennessee Con- ference, and was discontinued at the end of one year. In the autumn of 1830 he came to Arkansas, and was immedi- ately employed by the Presiding Elder and put in charge of two circuits-the White River and the Spring River.
In 1831 he obtained a recommendation to the Annual Conference again, but being unable to get to Conference on account of sickness, he had the recommendation withheld. He renewed the application, and joining Conference in 1833, was ordained Deacon by Bishop Soule, and sent to Chero-
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kee Mission in company with John Harrell, and served the Indians three years. He was ordained Elder by Bishop Roberts in 1834. In 1836 he was appointed Presiding Elder of the Batesville District, and at the commencement of his term settled in the Town of Batesville, which place he called home until the close of his life. At the end of his third year as Presiding Elder of the Batesville District, he obtained a supernumerary relation, but circumstances finally forced him to locate, and he remained in the local ranks until the fall of 1856. His life from that day to the day of his death is well known to thousands in Arkansas, and it is only necessary to say that he filled all his appoint- ments with zeal and usefulness, and was faithful. Father Lee was for forty-nine years a preacher of the gospel- forty-seven of which were spent in Arkansas. He was among the first who planted the fruitful seed in this western world, and he lived to see his Church a large and influential body of men and women; and when no longer able to lead the host, his brethren placed him on the superannuated list, and in this relation he closed his life. As a preacher he was plain, practical, pointed, and but few were more successful- having received into the Church more than five thousand persons. As a Methodist he was devoted, yielding to no man in his attachment to the doctrines and usages of the Church. His last sickness was long. He lingered two months. His sufferings at times were excruciating, yet he never complained ; and if there was any impatience, it was to "depart and be with Christ." He frequently said " I suf- fer, but it must be all right." He died in the faith. A mul- titude followed him to the grave, loving hands committed his body to the earth in the hope of a glorious resurrection. The writer will never forget a remark of the sainted John Mann. In his plain, blunt way he said : "Burwell Lee ! God bless him ; he is worth his weight in gold, but he is
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worn out." And on May 28, 1877, "the weary wheels of life " stood still.
There were two deaths in the Little Rock Conference during this year-Robert B. Alston and James Sanford.
Rev. R. B. Alston was born in 1840 in Yorkville, S. C., professed conversion in his eighteenth year, and was licensed to preach in 1857, and was admitted into the South Carolina Conference in 1858, and was transferred to the Little Rock Conference in 1870, and was employed in school teaching for three years. He then traveled the Camden Circuit one year, and was then supernumerary for three years. He was then appointed to the Camden Station, which was the last appointment he ever filled. He was happily married to Mrs. Julia Brown, of Camden, who survived him only a few years, and passed away to meet him again in heaven. One who knew him well describes him as a fine preacher, closely logical and strictly accurate. His sermons were always plain, pointed and like finished and polished steel. He was an earnest Christian and perfect gentleman. For the last few years of his life he was a great sufferer, and the patience with which he bore his afflictions was a living comment upon the sustaining powers of divine grace. The exalted purity ยท of his character won for him a warm place in the affections of the people of the pastoral charges which he served so well.
While the Church was called to mourn the loss of one so gifted, and full of promise of usefulness, it was also called upon to lay away to rest in peace the oldest preacher in the Conference, who, full of years and usefulness, like a ripe shock of corn, was gathered into the garner of God.
Rev. James Sanford was born in April, 1790, in Glou- cester County, Virginia, converted in 1808, and licensed to preach in 1810 by that remarkable man and pioneer of Methodism, Jesse Lee. He was admitted on trial in the Virginia Conference in 181I at Raleigh, North Carolina, and
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appointed to Franklin Circuit, with Thomas Burr as his col- league and Samuel Garrett as his Presiding Elder. In 1812 he was appointed to Williamsburg Circuit ; in 1813 he was ordained Deacon, and appointed to Neuce Circuit; in 1814 to Tar River Circuit ; in 1815 to -- River Circuit ; in 1816 to Mecklenburg Circuit. He located in 1817, and settled in Chesham, N. C. In 1818 he removed to Ten- nessee and labored with great acceptability in the great re- vival that swept over Tennessee and Kentucky about that time. He was instrumental in the conversion and receiving the McFerrin family into the Church. He often alluded to this event in his life with great satisfaction, and was a great admirer of the Rev. John B. McFerrin, and in extreme old age regarded it as one of the greatest privileges to hear him preach. In 1859 he removed to Arkansas and settled in Hot Spring County, where he labored with great earnest- ness and zeal until 1869, when he was readmitted into the traveling connection in the Little Rock Conference, and ap- pointed to Polk Mission ; in 1870 to the Buena Vista Circuit. In 1871 he was granted a superannuated relation, which he retained until his death, which occurred September 29, 1877, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. Our information is that in early life he was a very fine preacher and abundantly useful. Although the greater part of his long and eventful life was spent in the local ranks, he was always the friend of the itinerant, and nothing but the demands of a large family prevented him from remaining in the itinerant ranks during his entire life. . The singular purity of his life endeared him to all who knew him. The end was as we would expect such a life to be. For many years he was in a constant joyous frame of mind. His sun set in a clear sky. His death was triumphant and full of the most blissful antici- pations of the future life.
The Arkansas Conference met at Russellville, October 23, 1878, Bishop McTyiere, President. The Little Rock Con-
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ference met at Hot Springs, November 27, and the White River Conference met at Searcy, December 4, of this year. Bishop Doggett presided at both of these Conferences. The admissions on trial at the Arkansas Conference were : Preston B. Hopkins, Thomas A. Setzer, Julius M. Woolam, David C. Ross, William M. Anderson, William F. England, James S. Best, Alfred P. Melton, Thomas E. Martin, Robert Storks, Robert W. Gonalock, William M. Baldwin, B. T. Crews and Francis A. Jeffett. At the Little Rock Confer- ence the admissions were : Robert F. Crow, William P. Laney, R. T. Nabors, A. S. Power. At the White River. Conference the admissions were: George W. McGlasson, Jason T. Wade, Ed. C. Castleberry, D. G. Smith, John F. Troy, John W. Wood, Ezra Warren.
The Little Rock Conference for this year lost two valuable preachers by transfer-Cadesman Pope, who transferred to the North Georgia Conference, and B. Malone, who trans- ferred to the North Alabama Conference. Cadesman Pope came to the Little Rock Conference from the Georgia Con- ference in 1858, and was consequently indentified with the Little Rock Conference for twenty years. During this time he did most faithful work on circuits, stations and districts, and everywhere greatly endeared himself to the people by his pleasant manners, upright life and earnest gospel minis- try. 'As a pastor he had but few equals in the Conference. At present he is the honored President of the Millersburg Female College, an institution justly popular throughout the States of Kentucky and Arkansas.
There was a decrease in the membership of the Church in Arkansas this year. While there was a small increase in the Arkansas Conference, it was not sufficient to overcome the large decrease in the Little Rock and White River Con- ferences.
We are unable to account for this decrease in the mem- bership. There were no serious difficulties in any part of
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the State to retard the progress of the Church. The Church was at peace, and there were no vexed questions to disturb the preachers and affect their usefulness. Such decrease has frequently occurred in the history of the Church without any apparent cause. In such instances there may have been a combination of causes, no one of which was sufficient to have produced such a result. There may have been a real gain, on account of an increased fidelity upon the part of the pastors in the exercise of discipline, and a consequent purg- ing of the rolls of Church membership.
The Arkansas Conference for 1879 met at Ozark, Novem- ber 12-17, Bishop Pierce, President. The admissions on trial were : James A. Anderson, Jasper N. Moore, William B. Austin, Marcus L. Butler, John W. Kaigler, Joseph S. Shangle, John R. Robertson, Bryce B. Hudgins, William R. Pugh, W. A. Derrick. Received by transfer, T. A. Graham, C. R. Taylor, F. S. H. Johnson, F. L. Hartin.
The Little Rock Conference for this year met at Camden, December 10-15. The admissions on trial were E. B. Kelly, O. C. Robertson, George W. Burnett, E. M. Evans, A. Tur- rentine, J. A. Stanley, James C. Greenwood, R. H. Poynter.
The White River Conference met at Jacksonport. The admissions on trial were : Frank R. Noe, Isaac A. Vernon, George W. Richardson, Henry C. Davis, Thomas H. Wheat, John T. Carvar, Robert L. Smith. There were two deaths in the White River Conference this year-Benjamin F. Hall and Arthur Davis.
"The Rev. Benjamin B. Hall, was born in Williamson County, Tennessee, November 28, 1835, and moved with his mother to Arkansas some where about the year 1849. In the year 1853 he professed religion and joined the M. E. Church, South. September, 1855, he was licensed to preach by the Rev. John Cowle, and was received on trial into the Arkan- sas Conference in the year 1855. Bro. Hall's first appoint- ment was on the Salem Circuit, where he was married to
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Miss Mary E. Goodall. She did not live long. Bro. Hall was again married on the 25th of July, 1858, to Miss Mar- garet Hutchinson, who survives him. His second appoint- ment was on Marion Circuit. Your committee herewith append a part of the publication of a Church committee, appointed in the Town of Evening Shade, on the 19th of October, 1879, in reference to Bro. Hall :
" He came from the most humble walks in life, and rose upward under a Divine Providence, without other aids than his own intellect and exertions. He was endowed with a strong mind and most excellent sense. His intellectual pow- ers were of an exalted character. His best efforts in the pulpit, when animated with zeal and devotion to his Master, afford unequivocal proofs not only of a vigorous intellect, but of high and original genius. There was nothing common- place in his thoughts, his images or his sentiments. Every- thing came fresh from his mind, like jewels, with the vivid- ness of a new creation. His chief characteristic, as a preacher , was a clear, logical analysis of his theme, clothed generally in apt and excellent language, and delivered with a force and eloquence which carried conviction to his audience. The effect of his preaching upon his hearers was always. marked and visible. Very often, under his ministration, the house of worship became 'a place of tears.' He com- manded attention from the very start, and as he passed on, with increasing power, 'flashing his ideas' upon the minds. of all within the scope of his voice, led the congregation to a full and solemn recognition of the great truths of the Christian religion, and the importance and necessity thereof in this life and the life to come. Being a man of warm and devoted affections and of high and generous spirit, he was popular with the masses, and these qualities, combined with the ornaments of eloquence and the graces of a regenerated heart, made him a pillar in the Church and enabled him to accomplish much good for mankind. It seemed that his.
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