USA > Georgia > Bibb County > Macon > Georgia Baptists: historical and biographical > Part 33
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Mr. Mosely removed from Putnam to Henry county, where rotede resided many years, and during a portion of which time he sidevas engaged in merchandise, associating a distillery and the veralale of ardent spirits with his store, which was a country stand. h orfe seems very soon to have become convinced of the wrong of man listilling and selling ardent spirits, for he promptly abandoned Heboth, and would never afterwards even so much as drink spirits bichos a beverage. His merchandising proved to be an unfortunate min-business for him, for he lost nearly all the property he had ever be, nade, which was not much. His circumstances were quite bout limited all his life. When Griffin became a thriving town he "as emoved thither, where he remained until near the close of his had ife.
The truth of history requires that we record one or two other the acts which we would fain omit. He and his first wife, by an Ind whom he had nine children, separated and lived apart a num- per of years. He sued for and obtained a divorce, and immedi- tely married again. This act was tolerated, if not approved, und . by a few of his friends. But the public condemned it, and none nore emphatically than his brethren of the Towaliga Associa- ion and kindred bodies. He "lost caste " among them, de- lined re-election as moderator, (which office he had held from ts organization,) and removed to Pike county, Alabama, where he soon dicd, March 6th, 1865. It is a source of satisfaction to add that he retained the exercise of his faculties to the last,
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and met death with the composure and joy of a true christian We trust his soul is at rest.
Since the foregoing was written, the author has obtained ad ditional particulars concerning Mr. Mosely's residence in Ala bama and his death. Rev. A. N. Worthy, an eminent ministe in that State, says : "From the day he landed in Troy to tha of his death, I was his constant companion, and stood by hin in the hour of his death, and heard the last rumbling clod tha fell upon his coffin. It affords me singular pleasure to bear tes timony to his calm, christian resignation, and his entire resig nation to the will of the Lord in all things. Among his last words were, 'All is well. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly ! His anti-mission brethren treated him with marked coldness or account (as he believed,) of his changed views on the subject of missions." He did not think his mortal remains would be welcome in their church burying-ground, for which reason he expressed the wish that he might be interred in the private cemetery of Mrs. Murphree, a member of the Missionary Bap- tist church at Troy ; and he was interred, according to his wish, within fifty feet of said church. A beautiful grave mound and monument were erected over his remains by the ladies of the Troy church, and an appropriate notice of his death appeared in the Minutes of the Salem (Missionary) Baptist Association for the year 1867.
It is somewhat remarkable that Mosely and Trice, who la- bored so long together in Georgia, should have died near cach other in Alabama.
The following also appeared in the Minutes of the Salem As- sociation for 1867 :
THOMAS C. TRICE.
Departed this life at his residence in Pike county, Alabama, on the 3d day of July, A. D., 1866, Elder Thomas Calvin Trice, aged fifty-eight years, three months and one day. 4
He was born in Orange county, North Carolina, and was mar- ried, on his arrival at manhood, to Miss S. H. White, daughter of William H. White, of Wade county, in said last mentioned State. He was hopefully converted to the religion of Jesus Christ and joined the Baptist church in 1828, and exemplified
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the beauties of our holy religion during the balance of his eventful life. Soon after his conversion, he commenced preach- ing the gospel, and continued warning his fellow-man, " shun- ning not to proclaim the whole counsel of God." In the year 1832, he moved to the State of Georgia, Jasper county, and from thence to Pike county, Georgia, in the year 1839, where he resided until he moved to Pike county, Alabama, in the year . 1864, where he died.
For many years he represented his county in the Georgia State Legislature, where he distinguished himself as one of the working men of the body, and commanded the respect of his co-laborers for his sterling good sense and faithful discharge of duty. So, in every relation of life, he was never known to oc- cupy an equivocal position. In politics, he was an old line Whig and States Rights man, and in the recent struggle for independ- ence, he was uncompromisingly Southern.
As a citizen, he was written down by all as an eminently use- ful man ; as a neighbor, kind and obliging ; as a friend, steadfast and trusty ; and in the endearing relation of husband and father, none can so well appreciate his superior excellency of character as his heart-broken widow and sorrow-stricken children.
While he thus stood in the various relations of life, in noth- ing did the cardinal virtues shine forth so much as in his church actions, and here we must be permitted to refer to his course during the unfortunate division which took place amongst the Southern Baptist churches in the years 1836, 1837 and 1838. When the division occurred, he took sides with what is known as the "Hardshell" or "Primitive " Baptists, and for many . years-indeed, up to a short time of his death, he held com- munion with this portion of the church. It were needless to recount the causes operating on his mind and influencing his course. But, in his last days, it is certain that this great and good man could not sanction what he considered flagrant errors of the anti-Mission Baptists, such as re-baptism, and the mani- fest departure of many of his brethren from the true principles of the gospel, both in faith and practice, as held by the church from the days of the Apostles until now. Hence, he sought communion with the regular Baptist church, and was cordially
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received into Spring Hill (missionary) Baptist church some time before his death.
It is due to his memory to state that he did not love his anti- Mission Baptist brethren less, but the cause of Christ more, which influenced him to join those who believe it to be their duty to "preach the gospel to every creature," so far as they can. Let no one say he changed his religion in his latter days. This would be a gross misrepresentation of a good man. He only came back to the original church of his first choice, who rigidly adhere to the ancient landmarks, and with whom he could exercise liberty of conscience, and it is needless to tell the present generation how dear this privilege is to the regular Baptists.
As a consistent and well beloved member of the regular Bap- tist church, and faithful preacher of the cross of Christ, he closed his mortal career. Much bodily pain and suffering (the consequence of protracted labor as a minister of Jesus,) he was. called upon to endure by the Master in his last days. These he bore with christian resignation and fortitude, and spoke of his dissolution as an event to be devoutly wished rather than dread- ed. Not believing in funeral sermons, as held by Roman Cath- olics and their descendants, still he desired that one of his faith- ful brother preachers-his pastor-should preach a sermon on the occasion of his death, selecting the text a few days before his death.
Truly, this good man has fought a good fight-has finished his course-and no one who intimately knew him in life will doubt that he has entered upon that life of happiness and oy which is promised to all those who die in the Lord. " Hence- forth," from the day of his death, he is ever happy.
It might not be amiss to say that, in consequence of his be- loved Baptistic views, and his freedom from prejudice and super- stition, that many of his anti-Mission Baptist brethren suspected him of being a Mason. In this they were very much mistaken. He never was a Mason until a few short months before his death ; and in the full vigor of his intellect, greatly above medi- ocrity, he united himself to this Order, and their tenets met his entire approval. The only regrets he ever expressed, after be- coming acquainted with Masonry, was that he did not attach himself to the Lodge at an earlier day.
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James Carter.
JAMES CARTER.
This devoted christian and eminently useful minister of the gospel was born near the town of Powelton, in this State, about the year 1797. His parents, Josiah Carter, and Mary, his wife, were Virginians, and had settled on the Ogeechee river soon after their marriage. Being the youngest child, and his parents growing old, his opportunities for education were even inferior to his older brothers and sisters, as he was needed at home to work. After he was grown, being elected a magistrate in his county, he had to learn the art of calculating interest from the sheriff. At a very early age he became hopefully pious, and was baptized into the Powelton church by Rev. Jesse Mercer, between whom and himself there ever existed the utmost cor- diality of friendship and christian confidence. Mr. Mercer, ad- vanced in years and in failing health, called on Mr. Carter to rest a few days from the fatigue of traveling, which he was doing with the faint hope of recuperating his strength. It turned out, however, that God had led him to the house of his friend to die, which event took place September 6th, 1841. Mr. Carter ever cherished, with mournful satisfaction, the fact that he had the privilege of waiting on the great and good man, and he pastor of his early years, in his dying moments, and then of closing his eyes.
He married young, his first wife being Ruth Asbury, daughter f Richard Asbury, of Greene county, by whom he had several hildren, only one of whom is living-Mr. William Carter, of Stewart county, a most estimable gentleman. His second wife, vas Mary Bond, of Wilkes county. One of her children is Colonel Thomas M. Carter, a gentleman of intelligence and bility, and at one time a member of the State Senate.
Mr. Carter removed with his family to Butts county, about he year 1823, and settled as a farmer on Tussahaw creek, where he resided many years, and until he removed to Indian prings, where he died.
About 1827 he was licensed to preach the gospel by Sardis hurch, Henry county. Through his labors a few disciples rere gathered together, who were organized into a church in is immediate neighborhood, himself being one of the constitu-
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ents. This occurred soon after his licensure. With little or no intermission he continued pastor of this church (Macedonia,) for about thirty years, during which time he baptized into it upwards of one thousand members. He was, also, pastor of other churches-Holly Grove, in Monroe, Indian Springs and others, where he was also eminently successful. His robust constitution and vigorous health enabled him to perform an im- mense amount of labor, to which he was impelled by his burn- ing zeal for the cause of Christ. It is doubtful whether any of our ministers ever preached more, or did more good by preach- ing, than James Carter. According to the custom of the times he occasionally made extensive tours into remote parts of the State, preaching to the destitute or attending the sessions of Associations. His labors, however, were mostly devoted to his . own and contiguous counties.
While his doctrinal sentiments were strongly Calvinistic, which were faithfully declared on all suitable occasions, his preaching was eminently practical. His appeals to sinners were frequently powerfully impressive and convincing. He had a commanding person, a strong but pleasant voice, good com- mand of language, and an impassioned manner of address.
His constitution failed suddenly ; it is wonderful that it had borne up so long under the tremendous tax imposed upon it. He gradually declined for six months "from general debility," as the doctors said. His death (which occurred August 25th, 1858,) was a triumph as well as his life, and he was buried at Macedonia church, at a spot long before selected by himself, and immediately in front of the pulpit which he had so long occupied. At the ensuing session of the Flint River Associa- tion, at McDonough, of which he had been moderator for years, the writer delivered a discourse in memory of Mr. Carter, which the Lord was pleased to sanctify as the beginning of a great and gracious revival.
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WILLIAM A. CALLAWAY.
The subject of this brief notice was born in Wilkes county, mor Georgia, about the year 1804. His parents were pious mem- hors bers of the Baptist church. The author heard him relate his bis
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christian experience in substance as follows : " From his earli- est recollection, his father kept up family worship. When taken down with his death sickness, these exercises were sus- pended for several days. One morning, however, all the family, white and black, were summoned into his room. (William was then perhaps fifteen years old.) The sick man was propped up in bed-was much emaciated, and breathed and spoke with difficulty. He informed his family that 'the time for his de- parture was at hand,' and that he confidently expected that day to 'depart and be with Christ.' He then read a chapter as usual, and offered such a prayer as none but a dying chris- tian can make. To each of the servants he then addressed a few parting words, and then to his children in their turn, end- ing with William, who was the oldest. That scene, and those words of his dying father, were never forgotten. Before sun- set that father's soul was with his God. He grew up to man- hood, and became a married man, before his conversion; was what the world calls moral, as he never indulged in profane swearing, drunkenness, nor any of the grosser vices. Yet he was fond of gay company, and delighted in the ballroom and the dance. Often, amid scenes of frivolity and mirth, would that death-bed scene and the faithful warning of his dying father recur to his mind, and drive him to retirement and prayer. He had been married two or three years to his first wife, a Miss Pope, and had removed to Henry county, Georgia, where he was engaged in farming, when he was fully aroused to a sense of his lost condition as a sinner, in the sight of God. By what means he was awakened is not remembered by the writer. But one night he had become so troubled that he could not sleep, and retired from his house for prayer. While thus en- gaged, Christ was revealed in him as the hope of glory, and his heart was made to rejoice in God, his Saviour. He prompt- y returned to the house, and told his wife of the gracious change he had experienced. But he could not stop there. He had a brother, living about sixty miles distant, to whom he must communicate the joyful intelligence without delay. Next morning he took his breakfast before daybreak, and set off on horseback to see his brother. Before he slept, he had related is his christian experience to his brother, and they had joined in
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prayer together. It was not long ere that brother was also rejoicing in hope."
More than thirty years have elapsed since the writer heard the foregoing relation, which was given on the occasion of his ordination to the ministry. He believes it to be substantially correct, though his memory may be at fault in some particu- lars. His visit to his brother, as above related, strikingly illus- trates his character. He was eminently a man of decision and promptness. Whatsoever his hand found to do-whether rela- ting to things temporal or spiritual-he did with his might.
In 1833, he was ordained at MeDonough-B. H. Willson and J. H. Campbell, the presbytery. As a licentiate, he had been active and useful, and now his influence was felt in all the re- gions around. He was one of the four ministers, who were delegates in the Constitution, and were connected with the early history of the Central Association, and performed his full share of the labor which devolved upon them, in consequence of the great revivals which were experienced in that body in those times. Day and night, for weeks and months together, was he engaged in protracted meetings. And yet he seemed to know no weariness. His person was tall and rather slender; his countenance exceedingly benign ; his voice musical, and his elocution easy and natural. As a public speaker he was always pleasant and sometimes powerful. His sermons were short and his exhortations animated. And then he could sing so sweetly ! All these things combined rendered him popular as a preacher, and especially qualified him as a revival preacher.
In secular affairs, his attention was given mostly to farming and merchandise, in both of which callings he was quite suc- cessful. Indeed, his native good sense, his sound judgment, his probity and his energy qualified him for almost any under- taking, and would have been a guarantee of success in any business to which he might have turned his attention.
The writer having been intimately associated with Callaway for several years as a member of the same church and Associa- ha tion, most heartily adopts and indorses the following notice of him, written by Rev. E. B. Teague for the " Christian Index :"
" Brought to a knowledge of the truth in carly manhood, he fr soon consecrated himself to the service of the Master in the an
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work of the ministry. Endowed with good abilities and unu- sual solicitude for souls, he overcame in a great measure the deficiencies of early training by making full proof of his minis- try in unwearied and incessant labors. He will long be remem- bered in Middle Georgia as the modest and amiable coadjutor of such men as Sherwood and Dawson, in the many labors by which they sought to build up the cause of Christ in the Cen- tral and neighboring Associations. Not the least of the ser- vices of this good man was the nerve manifested in the advo- cacy of the scriptural independence of the churches, assailed at one time in that region by the influence of eminent brethren. Though but a licentiate, he exhibited the calm courage of a veteran. It is interesting to read in this connection the spe- cial blessing of God on his ministry in the midst of obloquy and reproach. At a later period he labored with much earn- estness and success in Western Georgia. Few men have been the instrument in winning a larger number of souls to Christ.
"His theory always was that a man must take care of his family, and that the necessary secularization is not incompati- ble with or opposed to the successful prosecution of the great work. of preaching the gospel. Accordingly, he provided well for a very large family, and preached more than most men do. The estimable character of that large family is testimony to his uprightness, sincerity and wisdom. Perhaps most ministers, towards the close of life, if they do not indorse, yet look with leniency on this theory. Unfortunate with all the rest of us of late years, his life and labors had so conciliated his acquaint- ance, that we trust those of his children who are yet young, and his beloved wife, will never want friends or a helping hand.
" Brother Callaway was a man of marked traits of character. So sensitively pure and conscientious was he, that any appre- hension that his fellow-laborers were actuated by questionable motives, so damped and fettered him that he was unmanned. He read men's motives with unerring accuracy. On the other hand, unbounded confidence in those about him developed un- wonted energies and kindled him into unwonted fervors.
" He was in theology a moderate Calvinist, and singularly free from all extravagance of views on all subjects-eminently a safe and prudent man. No man was more instinctively discreet in
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all things. He rarely or never did anything imprudent or ill- timed. Constitutional modesty often induced him, in our larger gatherings, to withhold the assistance for which his eminent wisdom fitted him. He was, therefore, less widely known than he deserved to be. In protracted meetings and associations he preferred a subordinate place, delighted if he might occupy himself in hortatory discourse after his brethren had preached, or when occasion offered in the conference and prayer meet- ings. On these occasions he often became the soul of the meet- ing, enchaining the riveted attention of his brethren and going right home to the conscience of the impenitent by the simpli- - city, fervency and affectionateness of his address, backed by a confidence on their part that knew no limits.
"No temptation could ever induce him to offer any strange fire before the Lord. He always spoke and acted just as he felt, in the pulpit and out of it. If cold, you could scarcely wring a word of exhortation or a sermon from him; if in sea- son, he manifested the utmost alacrity. Heartlessness and form froze up his spirit and sealed his lips. He felt powerfully that God is a spirit, and seeks such to worship him as worship in spirit and in truth.
"His pulpit abilities were good, his address grave, decorous and tender. We often heard the remark that 'he was in preacher shape.' With early training, exclusive occupation in the ministry and extensive reading, he might have been great.
"But he is gone !- gone up to join 'the general assembly and church of the first born.' Distrustful of himself, and feeling the effects of late years, as he often said, of relaxation from the ministerial work in consequence of the partial failure of his voice and nervous derangement, he was much comforted during the last six months of his life, especially during his long and painful illness by clear and precious views of the adaptation of the Saviour to all our wants. Retired upon his farm, in a neighborhood somewhat out of the way, he interested him- self very actively in the spiritual wants of his neighbors. They had become greatly attached to him. He was indeed beloved wherever he lived, confided in to the last degree, 'a living epistle, known and read of all men.' He passed away in quiet and holy triumph, lingering in memory with the
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brethren with whom he had labored and to whom he was fondly attached. The writer records with inexpressible feelings the prayerful and tender interest in him and his. May the spirit of the father imbue his two sons in the ministry, Revs. S. P. and J. M. Callaway. Alas! my brother, very pleasant hast thou been to me !"
He was called to his reward in heaven in June, 1865.
JOHN JAMES.
The subject of this brief notice was endowed with natural gifts of a high order, and was during his short career one of the most successful country preachers in the State. He was born in Rockingham county, North Carolina, September 9th, 1809, and died October 9th, 1847, being thirty-eight years old. His father, Martin James, was a soldier. in the war of 1812, was taken prisoner, and died at Fort Johnson. His mother's maiden name was Martha Woodall. She died in 1869, in the ninetieth year of her age.
John James professed conversion at the age of twenty-four, and was baptized by Rev. Cyrus White at Teman church, Henry county, Georgia. He was subsequently ordained to the gospel ministry at said church in 1835, by what presbytery the author is not informed. Though his ministry was thus com- menced under those who were known as Whiteites, (and who were deemed as rather Arminian in sentiment,) he subsequently connected himself with the Central Association, in which body he was highly esteemed and eminently useful.
He was engaged in the ministry only about twelve years, yet he baptized about sixteen hundred persons. His labors were confined mostly to the counties of Jasper, Butts, Henry, Newton and Campbell. His burning zeal impelled him forward day and night, summer and winter. His first sermon was preached under a bush-arbor in Gwinnett county, and from that day until he ceased from his labors was his voice heard in the highways and hedges, inviting and urging the poor and needy to come to the gospel feast. It was by no means an un- common thing with him to work hard on his farm all day, and, leaving his horse to rest, to walk from three to four miles and
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preach to his neighbors at night, after which he would return home, and resume his work in the morning. Of course no con- stitution could bear this tax very long, and so he fell, in the midst of his days, the victim of his consuming zeal and of the neglect (if not the cupidity,) of the people to whom he preached. The author is informed by one who had a right to know, that, " as a general thing, seventy-five dollars per annum was about the amount of salary he received." His last sermon was preached at Enon church, Jasper county, from Acts xx. 32 : "And now, brethren, I commend you to God," etc.
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