USA > Georgia > Bibb County > Macon > Georgia Baptists: historical and biographical > Part 42
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His end was not so much a death as a transition and trans- figuration-not so much an unclothing, as a being clothed upon with the shining vestments of immortality. In contemplating such a termination of life as this, such a perfect euthanasy, we may well exclaim :
Is there a deathbed, where a christian lies ? Yes, but not his : 't is death himself that dies.
This brief review of the life and labors of this great and good man would be incomplete and unsatisfactory to his friends, and unjust to his character and memory, if no notice were
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taken of the position he occupied in regard to the great strug- gle for Southern independence, which was going on during the last four years of his life, and was still undecided at the time of his death. "The lost. cause " was, of all earthly concerns, the nearest and dearest to his heart. Though he never took any part in politics-having rarely voted during a period of forty years-yet few men better understood the structure and history of the government, and no man was more devotedly attached to the Constitution and the Union. He watched with intense interest the great political movements which, from time to time, agitated the country, and mourned over the folly and fanaticism of the people and rulers. For some years pre- vious to the war, he indulged the hope that our sectional diffi- culties might be settled, and that a terrible struggle might be averted. But soon after the "John Brown Raid " in Virginia, he went on a visit to his friends and relatives in his native State, (Vermont,) and was convinced from what he saw and heard , that war was inevitable. In a letter to his oldest son he says : "I have no hope of the country. Nothing but the power of a merciful God can save us from war and ruin. I fear that in his wrath he will punish the wickedness of the people. The North seems blind to its own interests, and determined to destroy us. The Constitution is no longer respected, and the higher law doc- trine is embraced by all classes. Infidelity is on the increase, and religion in all the churches is sadly declining." His views of the condition of affairs remained unchanged, and after his return to his home he expressed the opinion that the union of the States would be severed, and separate governments estab- lished, or that a great military government would succeed, in which the South would be powerless.
When the secession of the Southern States took place and they declared their independence, he approved most heartily of their action and sanctioned it by his vote. Though doubtful of our success, he never doubted the justice of our cause. After the conflict of arms began, his heart and soul was in it. In addition to the morning and evening family devotions, he spent half an hour of every afternoon in prayer for the Confederacy. Not only did he pray for the cause, but he contributed liberally of his means towards its support, believing that the principles
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of both civil and religious liberty were involved in the issue. Of African slavery, as it existed in the South, he was a zealous advocate, firmly believing it was sanctioned by divine authority. He looked upon it as the means appointed by providence for the civilization and evangelization of the African race. The violation of the provisions of the Constitution he considered a great sin; but the violation of God's providence by the aboli- tion of slavery, he considered a greater sin. He expressed the opinion that abolition would result in the extermination of the negro race in America. In the last days of his life, his inter- est in the great cause seemed to increase. He heard that At- lanta had fallen: " Who knows, said he, but what I may be captured before I am called away ?" And when asked how he would feel about it, answered, " Well, I will say to them, I am a poor old rebel-do with me as you like."
JAMES F. SWANSON.
The subject of this sketch was born in Morgan county, Geor- gia, January 27th, 1825 ; was “ born again " in the town of Mad- ison, in the same county, in the fall of 1848; and still had an- other birth into the heavenly world, departing this life on the 28th of October, 1869, near Cedar Town, Polk county, Georgia.
A short review of his life and character may bring honor to the grace of God, which was so signally manifested in him. Let us view him
IN THE WORLD.
He was born as would be said of a good family. He would have said,
" But higher far my fond pretensions rise, The son of parents passed into the skies."
Nothing special is noted of his boyhood, beyond the fact that it displayed the manliness, modesty, generosity and thrift which characterized him when grown. When about twenty years of age, he left the parental roof, and out on the journey of life held his anxious way. Relying upon his own resources, he en- tered the town of Madison. In 1848, after several years of excessive toil, he raised himself to a partnership in a prosperous
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mercantile business, which was conducted for eight years under the firm name of Fears & Swanson. His failing health com- pelled its abandonment. By his request, that firm was never, by "public advertisement," legally dissolved. Death only dis- solved the unions which he decreed. Subsequently, he was en- gaged in teaching. In the later years of his life, when his physical infirmities demanded, his time was partly employed in the cultivation of land, in teaching, and as agent for an incor- porated society. In all these dealings with men, he impressed them with his scrupulous honesty, his unswerving fidelity, his high-toned candor, and his practical good sense. His partner says of him : " He never, in all his life, was known, in his busi- ness contracts, to give an undue coloring to his side." Accord- ingly, the deepest affection or respect of his pupils or patrons, his employers and employees, his associates and his neighbors, was constantly excited towards him.
IN THE CHURCH.
In the fall of 1848, during the first year of the pastorate at Madison of Rev. C. M. Irwin, a gracious revival of religion oc- curred, and brother Swanson was led into the faith and obedi -. ence of Christ. He was baptized in October of that year.
With the heartiness and promptitude of an earnest man, he entered upon his duties as a christian. His voice was consecra- ted in song, in prayer, in exhortation, in instruction, and in con- versation. Many remember the influence sent out from the choir, of which he was the leader, and from the Sabbath-school, of which he was successively teacher and superintendent. The true, pure fragrance, even of this germinal period of his life, was hallowed to the benefit of old and young, of white and black. He never lost sight of the necessities of his own soul, though immersed in the most anxious labors for others. Very well known and appreciated was the truth : to do good to others, we must first be good. He felt that wherever he was directed to set his foot, God gave him the land. Every movement re- realed his deep sense of personal responsibility to the truth as t is in Jesus, and to all with whom he came in contact; and f gence, he approached men with greater success through pri- s vate or personal, than through public or professional channels. u
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What a revenue of strength does character bring ! Bacon says, " Knowledge is power ;" but, in a truer sense, Character is power.
IN THE FAMILY.
In December, 1854, he was married to Miss A. C. Stone, a highly accomplished christian woman, who conferred on him the heritage of great happiness. This union was never marred by a misunderstanding, never chilled by neglect, never threat- ened by a collision. No union could be more pure, more con- genial or more productive of spirituality and usefulness. No children blessed it, but he was to her husband, brother, lover; she was to him wife, sister, comforter. Each was the comple- ment of the other. Called into the fellowship of protracted suffering, while death ever and anon flapped his dark wings over the couch-now of one, now of the other-they were al- ternately watching, nursing, strengthening each other. And yet there was a painful interim when others were appointed to do these things. How sore the trial of their faith, how deep the anguish of their hearts when, the wife having been carried to New York for her health, they were separated, through un- 'avoidable circumstances, from December, 1860, till the summer of 1865!
During most of this time, we find him in the family of brother Marcus H. Bunn, near Cedar Town. In the family is fur- nished the test and the quality of a man's religion. His true character is revealed at home. As the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom because of the ark of God ; as Potiphar and Pha- raoh were prospered because of Joseph, so brother Bunn's fam- ily was blessed because of brother Swanson. In the language of Laban to Jacob, brother Bunn could say to brother Swanson, " I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake." For months and years he moved before them, a sacred incarnation of the power of grace. Every one of brother Bunn's children was lead to Christ. Dear ones, how he loved you ! How you loved him! On the shining shore he is singing Jesus just as he did around your hearthstone-sing- ing, while he is waiting for you.
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James F. Swanson.
IN THE MINISTRY.
Many Southern men have been led into the ministry through their labors for the colored people. Many preachers, ordained by no ecclesiastical court, but anointed from on high, did for years, and do now, break to these the bread of life. Every agency which the genius of christianity anywhere recognizes or employs in the elevation of the menial class, was subsidized in the proclamation of the gospel to that race; and where the statistics of labor can be collected and calmly compared, there will be found as great-in some instances greater-success here as in other localities. Previous to the war, while preaching ex- clusively to this class, one of the most distinguished theologians received his doctorate, and a lawyer of the highest culture, in the midst of an onerous practice, found his chief delight. The writer's first impressions to preach were produced in this way.
Very early after his conversion, brother Swanson began work for the salvation of the negroes, and continued it with so great ardor that an unquenchable desire to preach the gospel to all men was developed. His brethren, confirming the conviction of his heart, suggested that he identify himself with the full work of the ministry. He was accordingly ordained on the 13th of March, 1859, at Madison. Brethren H. H. Tucker, A. T. Spalding, N. G. Foster and George Y. Browne constituted the presbytery. While teaching at this place, in the Georgia Fe- male College, he preached to country churches and in destitute neighborhoods. During a visit to the North in the spring of 1860, he received and declined a call to the pastorate of two churches near the city of New York. He next supplied the Second Baptist church in Augusta, Georgia, for twelve months, preaching frequently to the First church. A long and severe illness compelling him. to decline the charge of the Second church, he settled, with a view of securing health, in north- western Georgia, near Cedar Town. In March, 1862, he became pastor of the church in that place, and the one in Cave Spring, giving two Sabbaths a month to each. In January, 1863, he resigned the Cave Spring church, because the tax was too great upon his constitution. He remained pastor at Cedar Town till the close of 1865.
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I. AS A PREACHER.
If required to give, concisely, an accurate description of our brother, Cowper supplying the words,
"I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; In doctrine incorrupt ; in language plain, And plain in manner, decent, solemn, chaste, And natural in gesture ; much impressed Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too ; affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men."
The essential qualification of every minister of Jesus is PIETY. How can a man utter spiritual truths effectively unless he real- izes them in his own experience ? No one doubted the regen- eration of brother Swanson. None failed to discover in him a heart-whole consecration to Jesus. True character and sound theology are not only evoked by prayer, but are revealed in it. Who that listened frequently to his devotions was not con- vinced that his presence was a power, and was felt, and then his countenance was elevating, inspiring, consoling. The fea- tures displayed in his ministry were piety, benevolence, pru- dence, firmness, common sense, and crucifixion of self and the world. Few had so vigorous faith, few such wealth of practical holiness. His faith, not his works, brought this to him. He loved the doctrines of grace, the dear Pauline faith, unfolded more particularly in Romans and Galatians. He was unusually clear in the statement of his propositions, and they were forti- fied by sound, judicious argument. He had a great aversion to clap-trap, no relish for sensation, for novelty, for eccentricity, but a genuine regard for tender, earnest, true emotion. His style was plain, but strong; his delivery full of solemnity and unction ; his manner quiet and self-possessed-his great soul bounding through all.
He was eminently catholic and evangelical. In his inter- course with others, he never offensively thrust his opinions for- ward. He loved doctrine, but not because held by a sect. He was no dogmatist, no partisan. No social, denominational or geographical bands girded the affinities of his soul. So truly honest, he would not rashly assail the tenets of sincere chris-
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tians, nor offer to others what his own faith had not appropria- ted, nor urge to a course of conduct which his own life had not illustrated.
II. AS A PASTOR.
Though his labors as a pastor were brief and frequently in- termitted, they were very useful. He felt that his ministry had been especially blessed to Christians, notwithstanding there may not have been many conversions. But, in truth, we know very little about results at present. The love, and not the reward, of the work was his stimulus to action.
In the pastorate, his influence was wide-spread and abiding. He moved from house to house as a godly man, warmly wel- comed, greatly beloved, and gladly leaving his benediction upon all. Such benedictions were never drudgery to him, who looked upon them as a part of his service to Christ. It is im- possible to calculate their influence.
In matters of discipline, he was firm and faithful, candid and loving, rigid, yet not vapid. Nothing was allowed to barricade his path of duty. He loved a small but pure church with more fervor than a large worldly one.
Many tears will fall on the cheeks of dear saints of God as they recall his cheerful face, his practical talks, his unctious prayers and his timely advice, all combined in hours of mel- lowed communion. How gentle, how appropriate, how satis- fying was the warmth of his faith, the depth of his sympathy, the counsel of his heart. A successor in the pastoral office says : " He was a model christian and a model preacher." The worthy treasurer of the Georgia Baptist Convention says : "In the course of my religious life of thirty-six years, I have known but few christians more devoted and consistent than brother Swanson."
IN THE RIVER OF DEATH.
For years he suffered with a pulmonary affection, often brought to the very brink of the grave, yet ever calm, ever trusting. When weak and languid because of hemorrhage from his lungs, he lay on his bed, half on earth, half in heaven, while beloved christians gathered around, how eloquent, how direct, how real was his preaching! With what patience he
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yielded to his heavenly Father's treatment. How submission gilded the crown of faith ! Into his room the smallest child would glide with confidence, and, greeted by his smile, would , honor him with the gift of sweet flowers, as symbolic of his spirit. Into that room-during the war it was an " upper room "-it is remembered well, so well, how often have loved ones gathered and voiced in melting music the sustained har- monies of his own soul ! Oh, the pathos, the power of a scene like that !
In July, 1869, he had a severe illness, from which he never fully recovered, though by September he was able to take ex- ercise, to sit up most of the day, and to visit some. " But be- fore he had gained much strength, he was attacked with in- flammation of the glands of the throat, terminating in a series of abcesses, which drained his life away and made him a prey to many ills. He had a cough, too, which troubled his rest at night." During this time his usual cheerfulness blossomed in rich fullness.
" On Saturday morning, October 23d, he had a slight hem- orrhage, but felt it a great relief, and all day was very happy, saying afterwards that it was one of the happiest days of his life." There were slight attacks of the same on that and the next night, but he was comparatively comfortable until Wed- nesday, when, having lain all the morning weak and still, he felt his purse and said to his wife, "If this prostration is not the effect of an anodyne, I am very near to death." This was their first premonition.
"After a sinking spell in the afternoon, his physician and friends were sent for, only to find that a severe pneumonia was upon him." All that night his frail, patient, loving wife sat by him to help him, to refresh him, to comfort him, and to pray for him.
During Thursday, October 28th, he frequently said, " It is all right-right and wise. My Father knows what is best, and his will be done! Through Jesus I have the victory, even in his righteousness. Not in myself, but in him is all my hope." Again : "I leave it all with him. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." " I have not one pain too many." " If I have no ec- stacies, I have great peace." Late in the afternoon of that day
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some friends fulfilled the idea of Addison, as he said, " Come, see a christian die." He welcomed them, and said presently, " Open the door !" and that instant the angels opened the door of paradise, and calmly, trustfully, peacefully he went over the tide to dwell "IN THE CHRISTIAN'S" HOME IN GLORY ! * * By the banks of the Coosa, in the beautiful cemetery on the hill that overlooks the city of Rome, Georgia, his body sleeps. His soul, whose triumph is a legacy to believers, a witness to infidels, and a joy to angels, is' 'hid with Christ in God.'"
Thus much by brother Gwin. The author knew "Frank Swanson," as he was familiarly called, from his early childhood. His parents were excellent persons, his father (John Swanson,) having been for many years a deacon of Antioch church, Mor- gan county, when it was one of the most flourishing churches in Georgia. His mother was a most exemplary christian, and several of his brothers and sisters were devoted followers of the Lamb.
JOHN E. DAWSON, D. D.
As a deeply interesting memoir of this distinguished man, by his sister, Mrs. A. P. Hill, is now before the public, it is deemed necessary to give, in this work, only the following brief outline of his character and services, referring those who may not have read it, to that excellent memoir, and recom- mending them to obtain it without delay.
John Edmonds Dawson was born in Washington county, Georgia, March 7th, 1805, and was the second son of Major John E. Dawson, an intelligent and wealthy farmer, who moved from Virginia to Georgia early in the present century, and from Washington to Morgan county, where the subject of this sketch was brought up. For several years he attended school in Madison, under the instruction of Major Alden, who speaks of him as a youth of noble mien and fine intellect. He subse- quently attended school at Mt. Zion, Hancock county, under the celebrated Dr. Beman, where it is thought he did not re- main very long. His educational attainments seem to have been only such as could be acquired in the academies and high schools of the times. Even at this early age, he was distin-
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guished above his fellows for his powers of oratory, in which he so greatly excelled in maturer years. If ever man was born an orator, John E. Dawson was that man.
At the early age of nineteen he was married to the only daughter of Mr. John Walker, a wealthy planter of Morgan county, and settled on a farm adjoining that of his father-in- law, between whose family and Mr. Dawson there ever existed the kindliest relations.
Though not strictly moral in early life, he was ever the soul of honor; the very impersonation of integrity. In less than two years subsequent to his marriage, and early in the great revival of 1827, he became a hopeful subject of divine grace. At an Association at Antioch church, Morgan county, (men- tioned elsewhere in this work) under a sermon by Rev. A. Sher- wood, he gave the first public manifestation of interest on the subject of religion, and, before the meeting closed, he obtained hope in Christ. He and his wife were baptized at Indian creek church, Morgan county, by Rev. Edmund Shackleford, Septem- ber 22d, 1827. He at once became an active and efficient church-member, a leader in conference and prayer-meetings ; but did not commence preaching till the summer of 1834. His first sermon was delivered at Monroe, Walton county, during a memorable revival, in which about eighty were baptized. He was ordained to the ministry at Indian creek church, January 14th, 1835, by a presbytery consisting of Malcolm Johnson, V. R. Thornton and A. Sherwood.
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There was one fact connected with his earlier efforts at preaching, which should be mentioned. Sometimes, after hav- ing taken his text, and proceeded fifteen or twenty minutes, he would lose all confidence, and fail or break down. He would generally have a presentiment of such a result, and, on differ- ent occasions, he pressed the writer into the pulpit with him, that he might finish out the work in which he apprehended failure. On such occasions, he would seem to his hearers to be progressing with ease and pleasure, when he would pause, as if bewildered, and would suddenly take his seat. Ordinary men do not have such experiences. But John E. Dawson was far from being an ordinary man.
He entered upon his first pastorate at Eatonton, which com-
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menced in the early part of 1835, in which church a great re- vival was experienced in the course of the year. During the same year revivals were also experienced at Milledgeville, Mc- Donough, Sharon and other places, and Dawson participated in them all.
He continued in Eatonton only one year, and was called thence to Columbus, where he commenced his labors in Jan- uary, 1836, which were soon interrupted, and finally broken up by the war with the Creek Indians (in the territory in Ala- bama adjoining Columbus) which broke out that year. Hav- ing returned to Middle Georgia, his labors, for several years, were given to Madison, Monticello, Forsyth, etc., till in 1842, he removed to LaGrange, Troup county, where he became pas- . tor of the church and principal of a female academy. This double service was rendered necessary on account of his having a large family to support and the heavy pecuniary losses he had of late years sustained. His whole heart, however, was in the ministry ; so that the school-room was irksome to him. In 1843, through the agency of the writer, his school property was sold to Mr. Milton E. Bacon, and he was once more fully devoted to the work of the ministry.
From this time forward till laid aside by disease, induced by excessive labor, all his great powers were devoted to preaching "Christ and Him crucified." It is safe to affirm that, in those days, as a popular pulpit orator, he had no peer in the denomi- nation in the State, nor perhaps in any other denomination. On all occasions, where thousands assembled to hear the Word, the most prominent positions were assigned him, and he almost invariably met the expectations of the public. Sometimes he failed; and when he did so, it was an utter failure. He was no half-way man in anything. He was John E. Dawson, and no one else. God had given him such a commanding person as few men possessed; a voice soft and musical, yet of great com- pass and power; and a manner and magnetism that captivated and attracted all. who came within their influence. His grasp of mind was that of a giant ; his flow of language like the rush of a cataract. There was eloquence in the flash of his eye, in the movements of his body, in the nervous motions of his arms. Who that ever heard him will forget the power there was in
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