Biographic etchings of ministers and laymen of the Georgia conferences, Part 15

Author: Scott, William J
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Atlanta, The Foote & Davies co.
Number of Pages: 650


USA > Georgia > Biographic etchings of ministers and laymen of the Georgia conferences > Part 15


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Col. Barnett was a man of courtly address, of liberal culture and strongly wedded to old-time Methodism. He kept his Christian reputation untarnished until his closing days, and it may be truthfully said that both politically and ecclesias- tically he died in the harness.


No little of his success in life was due to his wife, a daughter of Dr. David Cooper, a veteran of the second British war and a former superintendent of the State lunatic asylum. Mrs. Barnett still survives, greatly beloved by a large number of her old friends of earlier days.


RICHARD LANE.


Hon. Richard Lane, the venerable uncle of Broth- ers Richard and Sterling Harwell, was a good man and true in the best sense of that often misap- plied phrase. Brother Lane started in life as a vil-


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lage merchant, but nearly sixty years ago he was chosen clerk of the superior court of Troup coun- ty, in which position he remained until his re- moval to Walker county, in Northwestern Geor- gia. He purchased a large and most valuable tract of land in McLemore's Cove, and in a few years he erected a strikingly handsome residence, where he enjoyed every comfort that wealth and ample means could procure. .


Here he remained until he was forced to refugee by the incoming of the Yankee armies to the balm- ier regions of Southern Georgia. On. one or more occasions Judge Lane, as he was . usually called, represented his fellow-citizens in the State legislature, for which position he was admirably fitted because of his rare stock of "horse sense."


In his political views he was conservative, and yet no man was more thoroughly committed to the Southern movement by word and deed.


As a churchman he was modest, but his purse was always open to the legitimate demands of the church. He contributed at various times thousands of dollars to church enterprises, and his hospitality was unstinted. On two occasions when I was serving a district he carried me thirty and forty miles to quarterly conferences. These special occasions he greatly enjoyed, chiefly the love-feast and the Lord's supper. In these jour- neyings his favorite horse, "John," furnished the motive power. He seemed to be as careful of


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John's comfort as of his own. I think that in his last will he provided for the rest and provender of this faithful steed. This may seem a small affair, but it had a significance worthy of note, according to the plain meaning of the Scriptures.


This dear old brother was not a critical, but a sympathetic hearer of the gospel. Very often he would give expression to his approval of a state- ment.or sentiment of the pulpit, not in an audi- ble way, but by a significant nod of his gray head. To me this characteristic plaudit was a stimulant and an inspiration. I felt quite sure that I was not far wrong in my theology when Uncle Dick endorsed it after that manner. His afflicted wife, who was the joy and comfort of his old age, survived him but a few years, and then re- joined him in the home of many mansions.


JOSEPH A. EVE, M. D.


Joseph A. Eve, M. D., was a distinguished and eminently pious official member of St. John's church, of Augusta, Ga. Like St. Luke, he was a "beloved physician," and the homes of the poor, as well as of the rich, were gladdened by his pro- fessional visits.


For very many years he was an honored profes- sor in the Georgia Medical College, and was quite a favorite with the faculty and the large classes


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of students that flocked to that widely-known in- stitution.


In social life he was affable and polite beyond almost any man of my past acquaintance. He was generous in his support of the church, and charitable in his gifts to all in distress. It was, however, in the domestic circle that his character shone brightest. His devotion to the comfort and happiness of his household, including the serv- ants, was boundless.


Not more blessed, in a religious sense, was the house of Obededom, which for months was the dwelling-place of the ark of the covenant before its final removal to the tabernacle which David had erected on Mount Zion.


Dr. Eve was not demonstrative in his piety. On the contrary, he was reticent on the subject of his personal experience, and was seldom heard in the assemblies of the church. But his pastors and his brethren, and indeed, the whole citizenship of Augusta, knew the excellence of his character and the blessedness of his life.


As far as the heavy demands of a very large practice would allow, he was a faithful attendant on the services of the sanctuary. Especially did he prize the sacrament of the Lord's supper, and it seldom occurred in the course of a long lifetime that he was absent from its monthly administra- tion. St. John's church, from the earliest times, never had a more worthy communicant.


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ASBURY HULL.


Hon. Asbury Hull, of Athens, was the eldest son of Rev. Hope Hull, one of the greatlights of Geor- gia Methodism in the earlier years of the present century.


Brother Hull and his younger brother were edu- cated at Franklin College, and were both for many years closely identified with the fortunes of their alma mater.


Dr. Hull, who filled the chair of mathematics, was a gentleman of rare ability, but modest al- most to a fault.


Asbury was better fitted for public life, and his political career was an honor to himself and a blessing to the State. When I first knew him he was approximating the prescribed limits of hu- man life, and in a measure had withdrawn from business activities, except as they related to the management of the Southern Mutual Insurance . . Company and his own private estate. He was still, however, in church affairs, full of zeal and energy. In some important departments of church work he was an acknowledged leader. He was wise in counsel in quarterly conference matters, and his opinions were sought after and nearly always deferred to by his brethren, and yet


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he was in nowise a Diotrephes who aspired to pre- eminence.


He had in large measure the gifts of prayer and exhortation. He was often invited to lead the devotions of the congregation, and in this service he never failed to be fervent and edifying. In the class-meeting his hortatory gift was remarkable for its quickening and impressive qualities. In all these respects he was perhaps the equal of Carvosso and kindred celebrities.


His domestic life was singularly fortunate. His children were amongst Georgia's best citizens, and his bachelor son, William Hope Hull, was almost without a peer at the Georgia bar.


He was twice married. His first wife, the mother of his children, was a woman of piety and culture. His second wife, whom I knew quite well, was worthy to share his heart and hand and to be the mistress of his delightful home.


Brother Hull, from my earliest acquaintance with him, was robust in figure and seemed to be in vigorous health to his dying day.


Indeed, his departure was sudden and unlooked for. He had just finished the family devotions, and was seated in his study reading his morning lesson out of the Holy Scriptures, when suddenly God touched him, and he fell asleep in Jesus. He had often expressed a desire to die the death of the righteous, and his wish was graciously granted him.


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He seemed to have passed away without a pang or a struggle, with possibly the utterance of a single unconscious groan.


I was indebted to him for many kindnesses, and I shall always cherish and revere his precious memory.


WILLIAM EZZARD.


Hon. William Ezzard was one of the purest of men. As was said of Nathanael, he was "an Israel- ite, indeed, in whom there was no guile." My per- sonal knowledge of him went back to my boy- hood, and when far advanced in years, I was one of several of his former pastors who officiated at his funeral.


In the legal profession he won a conspicuous position, serving for at least one full term as a judge of the superior court. In this high office he so demeaned himself as to enjoy the confidence of the bar and the warmest respect of witnesses and suitors. As steward and class-leader in the First Methodist church, he was surpassed by none of his contemporaries in fidelity and practical ability.


In his latter years he was elected to important municipal and county offices, and through them all retained the cordialesteem of his fellow-citizens


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of all classes and creeds. Indeed, the man who would have impugned the integrity or worthiness of Judge Ezzard would have been scouted from decent society.


We but voice the sentiment of every former pas- tor of the First Methodist church, when we say that this model Christian gentleman was in his moral make-up one of the grandest men whose name adorns the annals of Atlanta Methodism.


FIELDING DILLARD.


"Uncle" Fielding Dillard, as he was best known in his latter years, was a man whom I honored and loved at first sight. When an invalid agent for the Orphans' Home, I was cordially received one Saturday afternoon at the country residence of Dr. Hutchinson, another most excellent Methodist of the old school. On the next day I had a pleas- ant jaunt with the doctor to Cherokee Corner, where I met a fine congregation, composed of many of the best people of that vicinage. They had but slightly rallied from the disasters of the war and the reconstruction period, but they re- sponded liberally to my appeal in behalf of our Con- ference orphanage. None were more in sympathy with this splendid charity than "Uncle" Fielding.


His contribution, I think,. was twenty dollars; a large sum for that day of small things, when the


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institution was struggling for existence against very heavy odds.


God be praised that through the labors of Brothers Jones and Crumley it has reached a large and wealthy place compared with its straitened condition when, for three years, Brother Lupo and myself, he as superintendent and I as agent, were rowing against wind and tide. I never at any time, however, lost faith in its ultimate success, and rejoice exceedingly in its present prosperity.


But to resume our account of Brother Dillard. He was, perhaps, the worthiest patriarch of a tribe, who have a good record in the annals of Georgia Methodism. May the tribe increase un- til they shall become more widely diffused amongst the ministry and membership of the two Georgia Conferences.


If they all should share largely in the gifts and graces of this noble ancestor they "shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge and love of God."


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EMANUEL HEIDT.


Rev. Emanuel Heidt sprung from the Salzburgers who colonized parts of Effingham and Emanuel counties early in the last century. They were a pious generation and partook in a degree of the


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German mysticism, of which Count Zinzendorf and Herman Franke were conspicuous representa- tives.


Brother Heidt for many years was a prominent business man of Savannah, and a ruling spirit in Methodist circles, first at Old Wesley chapel and afterwards at Trinity church. He was an ardent admirer of the old Savannah pastors, especially George Pierce, Alfred Mann and W. H. Potter.


As a local preacher he was both active and efficient in his ministry.


He likewise did much to consolidate and enlarge Methodism in that beautiful "city . by the sea," which struggled hard for many years against the preponderant influence of Episcopalianism and Independentism, before it secured a permanent foothold.


Rev. T. T. Christian, who knew him well in his latter years speaks of him as a preacher every- where acceptable, alike for his gifts and graces. He was a contemporary and intimate personal friend of Rev. James E. Godfrey, who was a lay preacher of considerable distinction.


Rev. Dr. John W. Heidt, one of the foremost preachers of the North Georgia Conference, in- herited not a few of his best qualities from this noble ancestor, who years ago went away to the home of the angels and the abode of glorified spirits, made perfect through the discipline of suf- fering, and clean through the blood of sprinkling.


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FRANK M. RICHARDSON.


Isaac Taylor once wrote a life of John Wesley, as also did Robert Southey, both of them some- what lacking in reverence for that great reli- gious reformer of the 18th century. Taylor likewise wrote "A History of Natural Enthusiasm," in some respects a better publication.


Frank Richardson belonged to this class of en- thusiasts, especially in Sunday-school work on the outskirts of the city. He had a warm heart for the poor, and as far as he had means and op- portunities, he relieved their wants. As a business man he was industrious, but never achieved marked success.


We are almost tempted to say that humanly speaking he gave too much of his time to charit- able enterprises. He was in his local sphere a church extension board before David Morton had projected his great scheme for building churches and furnishing parsonages.


St. Paul's, Evans chapel, Pierce chapel, the bar- racks mission, and kindred organizations through- out the city felt the impress of his fostering hand.


But we prefer to quote from a recent article of Bishop Haygood in the columns of the Wesleyan. Before doing this, however, I will indulge in a rem- niscence of the early ministry of "Atticus" as his


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venerable father delighted to call him. I was residing in North Atlanta and having heard many favorable accounts of his preaching, I determined to hear him for myself. The place was "Old Trinity," the time was the summer of 1865.


I arrived just in time to hear his text indicating a discussion of "Endless Punishment." It was . forceful from the beginning to the close.


After service he voluntered to walk with me by the way. Just before we separated hesaid, "Broth- er Scott, you are an older preacher than myself and I would be pleased if you would tell me if you observed any serious defects in my matter or man- ner." I replied that it was rather an ungracious task to criticize the preaching of a brother minis- ter.


He rejoined that he was not a bit sensitive and that he had yet a great deal to learn. I answered that I enjoyed the sermon no little from its be- ginning to its close, that his argument was all right, but would suggest that if he was more careful in placing his emphasis on the right word his preaching would be more effective. After two or more illustrations of my exact meaning, he thanked me for my suggestions and said he hoped to profit by them. Two or three years after- wards I heard him again at the First church, Dr. Harrison and myself sitting together in the front pew. The misplacement of the emphasis had ceased to be noticeeble. Both of us then realized


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that he was already far on the way to the great , distinction which he has since fairly won.


As germane to our theme we cull the following notice of Brother Richardson from a late contri- bution of Bishop Haygood to the Wesleyan :


"When Bishop Pierce-from the Athens Confer- ence-January, 1865, sent "Sandy" Thigpen (one of the best and truest of men) to Wesley chapel (now First church), and me to Trinity, I found Frank Richardson ready to help me.


Old Trinity was packed full of furniture, left by the people who were sent away. He helped me move and provide for that till the owners came again. There were fifteen people at the first Sunday morning service. He started the Sunday- school with half a dozen children. How he worked to build up the dismembered, scattered church- full of faith and zeal and all-conquering hope- only a few survive to tell.


"What work he did for the Trinity Sunday-school in later years many know. But that did not satisfy him. Under some trees on Fair street- hard by a confederate hospital shed, one sum- mer evening, my old friend helped start St. Paul's in a Sunday-school. My China sister was of the little company. Miss Sterchi-a godly Moravian -was another. Mrs. Miller, nee Miss Sallie Thomas, another. And his energy was in the movement that regathered and built up again "Evans chapel" (named for Wm. H. Evans, who


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went to heaven in a minute in Oxford, July 20, 1870-apoplexy opening the golden gate for him), now "Walker Street" church. And in "Trinity Home Mission" he labored after the same style. And in other localities and in all ways possible to him to the end. He earned a great deal of money, but made no fortune. He gave to men-so giving to God-with the heart and hand of a prince, when he had anything to give. When he could not, his heart was sore and sick. It cannot be questioned that God used him to save the souls and better the lives of thousands of people. They will not build monuments of marble or bronze to perpetuate his memory. It is not necessary ; his place is secure."


BARNARD HILL.


When I was yet a youth, but a member of the legal profession by a special enactment of the State legislature, I made the personal acquaint- ance of this learned jurist.


As I remember, he was a New Englander by birth, classically educated, and of unblemished moral character.


He was not reckoned a brilliant advocate, but was highly esteemed as a jurisconsult, and when


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subsequently promoted to the bench, he was re- garded as one of our wisest circuit judges. He was in excellent repute as a temperance leader, and, I believe, at one time was at the head of the order of the Sons of Temperance, that noble brotherhood which did a vast deal to inaugurate a healthful public sentiment on the liquor issue throughout the State. For many years, however, we resided in different parts of the State, so that in his latter days I had but little personal knowledge of him. He died, however, as he had lived, a consistent churchman.


His brilliant son, Hon. W. B. Hill, inherited not a few of his best qualities. The late Chief Justice Bleckley said to me not long ago that this son was one of the best equipped lawyers of the Georgia bar.


SAMUEL JONES.


This Methodist patriarch, whose recent death is still fresh in the memory of hundreds of friends, deserves a niche in this memorial volume. As is well-known, he was the father of Col. R. H. Jones, a good Confederate fighter, and for a number of years, an efficient pastor of the conference, but now disqualified by a chronic disease of the throat.


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Father Jones will be long remembered as the grand- father of Rev. S. P. Jones, the far-famed evan- gelist. The subject of this sketch was for many years an excellent lay preacher. His preaching was uniformly good to the use of edifying. Both in his domestic and social relations, he was a great fa- vorite. Throughout his long and useful life, he ac- complished great good, especially in the rural districts, as a champion of "old-time religion." Like Daniel, he will "stand in his lot at the end of the days."


SOME PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS.


From the earliest settlement of the three counties of Troup, Harris and Muscogee, they have been noted for their excellent citizenry. A majority of these settlers were from Greene, Morgan, Put- nam and Warren counties. In the main they were Methodists of the Wesleyan type in their re- ligious characteristics, and whigs in their political affinities.


Most of them had enjoyed fair scholastic ad- vantages, but not many of them were classically trained.


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Amongst them were the Hurts, Joneses and Flewellens, of Muscogee-the Osborns, Doziers, Bedells, Pollards and Mobleys, of Harris-the Har- rises, Coxes, Turners, Ferrells, Maddoxes and Ster _- lings, of Troup. Of these sturdy farmers we desire to make special mention of


EDWARD MADDOX.


This venerable gentleman, the father of Col. Robert F. Maddox, a distinguished capitalist of Atlanta, and one of the most public-spirited of its many leading citizens, was a thorough Methodist, although free from sectarianism in an offensive degree.


He was an indefatigable Bible student-a class- leader of much local celebrity-a model steward, who devised liberal things for pastor and family -a church attendant, not only on the Sabbath, but when duty required, on week days as well, when he stopped the plows in the furrow, and the servants scrubbed up and went to preaching.


In the household he was both priest and king, officiating at the home altar in the morning and evening devotions, in which he had the earnest co- operation of his pious wife. He ruled his house- hold, but not with a rod of chastisement, for "the law of kindness was on his tongue;" and yet he was reverenced by every inmate of the family.


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His hospitality was proverbial, and many a wayfaring man, especially the itinerant preacher, found a gracious welcome at his threshold. This trait of his character was transmitted to hissons and daughters. His oldest son, Col. R. F. Mad- dox, is one of the few Methodist lavmen of the Georgia Conferences who has made a single dona- tion of one thousand dollars to the beneficiaries of his church, the principal of which is to be kept intact, and only the interest annually expended for the relief of the poor.


'Well may it be said, "I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread."


"UNCLE REUBEN MOBLEY,"


As he was affectionately styled by the younger generation, was a solid planter of the same class whom we knew in our boyhood.


He, too, was a Methodist of the best stamp, who practiced household religion, and could sing "Amazing Grace" from a camp-meeting altar with as much zest as the best of his tribe.


He was the father of a large family, of whom Hon. James M. Mobley is most widely known. For fifty years this able jurist has been conspic- uous alike as a Methodist and Mason. .


During several terms of service he was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Georgia, and like


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Dawson, Rockwell, and Lawrence, was well-skilled in the lore of ancient craft masonry. Although now advanced in years, his natural force is not abated so as to disqualify him for his professional duties.


We must needs have a warm side for this fel- low law student in the law office of Col. Wm. B. Pryor more than a half century ago. Our fervent desire and praver is that he may still long abide as a blessing to the church and the county that he has served so faithfully from his youth.


"UNCLE DICK DOZIER."


"Uncle Dick 'Dozier" was another representative Methodist of the old school who had a pleasant farmhouse in the southeastern part of Harris county. His wife, who was as devout as Hannah, the mother of Samuel, was wonderfully endowed with the gift of prayer. At the camp-meeting it was no unusual thing for her to lead the devotions of the vast congregation at the eleven o'clock service. Her voice was musical, with a ringing resonance that could be heard to the outskirts of the large encampment.


She was a veritable helpmeet to her husband, and the two reared several intelligent sons who have been a blessing to church and State. Their descendants, all of whom, as far as I am advised, are good citizens, are either Methodists or Pres- byterians.


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FRANK COOK.


Another good layman and local preacher of that period was Rev. Frank Cook, who was born in Camden, South Carolina, in 1798. He resided likewise for some years in Harris county, but af- terwards removed to Culloden, Monroe county. This venerable man was honored in his generation for his good preaching ability and his thorough piety.


His children and grandchildren are in high re- pute in the ranks of Southern Methodism. It was my privilege to visit him in his last illness at Marietta, and talk and pray with him almost in his dying hours.


These four godly men, Maddox, Mobley, Dozier and Cook, and others besides, were of a class of men who deserve to be remembered through all generations. May their tribe increase in our spiritual Israel.


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GUSTAVUS J. ORR, LL. D.


THE GREAT SCHOOL COMMISSIONER.


I gravely question whether during the experi- ences of a lifetime neither short in its duration nor uneventful in its opportunities of wide observa- tion, I have ever known a truer man than he whose name heads this sketch. In his personality Dr. Orr was a compound of brawn and brain. Both in his physical and mental make-up he was characterized by strength and symmetry.


Our personal intimacy was close and largely confidential, especially in his latter years, when he held the position of state school commissioner.


I more than once said to him that we rarely dif- fered on any moral or political issue, except when we touched on the Blair bill, which he cordially approved, and which I as heartily condemned. In our private conversations he sometimes had much to say of his college life at Maryville, Tennessee, and at the University of Georgia, where he was the classmate of a number of distinguished Geor- gians. Afterwards he graduated at Emory Col- lege, where he secured the second honor, although first in his class-standing.




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