USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky Baptists : From 1769 to 1885, including more than 800 biographical sketches, Vol. I > Part 37
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received his first religious impressions, and was afterwards, for many years, a valuable member of old Beaver Dam church." This little boy was the grandfather of the widely known J. S. Coleman, long the efficient pastor of Beaver Dam church.
Beaver Dam church was constituted on the 5th of March, 1798, of the following five persons : John Atherton, Sr., and his wife Sally, Aaron' Atherton and his wife Christina, and James Keel. The latter was a preacher, and for a short time served the young church as pastor. But, in 1803, moved back to Mercer county, from whence he had come to this region, and was succeeded in the pastoral office at Beaver Dam by the famous old pioneer Ben Talbot. Mr. Talbot served the church with great acceptance nearly thirty years. During the year 1804, the church enjoyed a precious revival, during which fifty- two were added to her membership by baptism. During this revival, Mrs. Coleman, who had baptized herself many years before, as related above, was baptized by Mr. Talbot and received into the church. Another incident occurred just at the beginning of this revival, which J. S. Coleman relates as follows :
" The preacher arrived at the water's edge a little in advance of the Dutchman, and began preparing for the baptismal service, when, hearing a splash in the water behind him, he looked just in time to see his candidate disappear under the wave, but mo- mentarily emerging from the water, and facing the preacher, ex- claimed, in the full use of his German brogue, ' Mr. Bracher, vill dot do ?' Talbot, rather abashed, hesitated to reply for a moment, when plunge went his Dutchman under again. When coming again to a perpendicular, he exclaimed, with increasing vehemence, 'Mr. Bracher, me shay vill dot do ?' This time Mr. Talbot made haste to reply, and was just in time to save John Inglebright from the third plunge. Coming up out of the water, he stood shivering until Talbot sang a hymn and offered prayer, and then submitting himself into the hands of the ad- ministrator, received the ordinance in due form."
The second revival which occurred in this church, was dur- ing the period of the alarming earthquakes which prevailed in the Mississippi Valley, in 1811-12. A large number was added to the church, 5 1 being approved for baptism, in a single day. . At the close of this revival, the church numbered 175 members.
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Beaver Dam Church.
She now began to establish "arms " at different points in her extensive territory. These " arms " were small bodies of brethren, belonging to the mother church, who met statedly for worship, and were watched over by the pastor, and a com- mittee of brethren appointed for the purpose. They exercised some of the functions of a church, but all their transactions were subject to revision by the mother church. When one of these arms was deemed competent "to keep house," or was " ripe for constitution," it was constituted in due form, and became an independent church. If an arm did not prosper, or failed to conduct itself properly, it was dissolved. The following record shows how the church dealt with an inefficient arm :
" Bro. R. Render and Henry Coleman met our arm at Vienna Falls, and found several of the members living scandal- ous lives. Whereupon they turned out the bad ones and brought the good ones home with them."
By this means of church extension, Beaver Dam dotted a large expanse of country with numerous churches, several of . which are now among the largest and most efficient country churches in the State. This old church probably first joined Mero District Association, then Cumberland, then Union, then Green River, then Gasper River, and, finally, Daviess County Association. It continued to be a very prosperous church, un- til the last few years, when it fell into the pernicious habit of fre- quently changing pastors. Since which it has been unhappy, and appears to be in a decline. Of James Keel and Benjamin Talbot, the first and second pastors of this old mother church, something has been said elsewhere.
ALFRED TAYLOR was a very distinguished minister of the gospel in his country, and generation. The Green river country had produced no such a man before him.
JOSEPH TAYLOR, his father, was a native of North Carolina. In early life he professed conversion and, with his wife, united with the Methodists, and, by them, was put into the ministry. After some years, he became convinced of the scripturalness of Baptist principles, and was baptized by Nathan Arnett of Ten- nessee. In September, 1804, he and his wife entered into the constitution of Providence church, in Warren county, Ken- tucky. He remained a minister in this church, till 1811, when he moved to Butler county, and united with Monticelo. Of this
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church, he became pastor, and served it in that capacity till 1837. He was a preacher of small gifts, but is believed to have served his generation faithfully, and doubtless accomplished some good.
Alfred Taylor was born in Warren county, Kentucky, July 19, 1808. At three years old, he was taken by his parents to 1 Butler county, where he was raised up. His opportunities for learning were so poor, that, at the age of twenty, he could barely read intelligently. After he entered the ministry, he was, for a time, under the tuition of David L. Mansfield, and, at a still later period, he studied under the renowned William Warder. He possessed a strong logical mind, and was an earnest student : so that in the end he was well educated, in the best sense of the term.
Notwithstanding young Taylor was raised by pious par- ents, he early fell in with evil associates, and by degrees, formed habits of dissipation, and finally became profanely wicked. But at length the Holy Spirit found way to his heart. In his journal, he says : " After laboring four years to recommend myself to . God's favor, I was enabled, in my 22d year, October, 1829, to trust in Him whose blood speaketh better things than that of Abel, in whom believing, I was enabled to rejoice with joy un- utterable and full of glory. In November following, I was bap- tized in Sandy creek, Butler county, Kentucky, by Benjamin Talbot." He soon began to exercise in public, and, on the 3d Saturday in May, 1831, was licensed to preach. He was ex- tremely awkward in his early efforts, and so slow was his progress, that it began to be said freely : " That man had better quit." But his heart was in the matter, and he persevered.
After three years' probation, he was ordained at Sandy Creek church, in May, 1834, by Joseph Taylor, David J. Kelly, and William Childress. He was called to Pond Run church the same year, and to Sandy Creek, the year following. In 1835, he was married, and the next year moved to Ohio county, and took charge of old Beaver Dam church. By this time he had gained sufficient confidence and mental discipline to be able to express his thoughts, and he grew rapidly in popu- larity and usefulness. From this time he had many more calls than he could accept. His success in bringing the unconverted to the Savior was wholly unprecedented, in the lower Green
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Alfred Taylor.
River country. But his pastoral labors, which were faithful and efficient, in an eminent degree, formed but a small part of his work.
Between the time of Mr. Taylor's ordination, in 1834, and the close of the year 1836, the following eminent ministers left the harvest field, in Kentucky, and went to their home above : Walter Warder, William Warder, William C. Warfield, John S. Wilson, Benjamin Talbot, D. J. Kelley, David Thur- man, and James H. L. Moorman. These were the leaders of God's hosts, in the State. All of them, except the first named, labored in the Green River country. Of all the preachers, of anything like prominence in the general work of the Denomina- tion, in the lower Green River Valley, D. L. Mansfield was left alone, and his labors were confined to. a comparatively narrow boundary. At the beginning of the great revival of 1837-40, Alfred Taylor became the leader, by common consent. And few men ever discharged the responsibility more worthily, or with greater success. The question of the propriety of " pro- tracted meetings" was the first one he was called on to de- cide. Against much opposition, he determined in their favor. His first experiment was made at Walton's Creek in Ohio county. The Lord decided in his favor. Over 180 people pro- fessed conversion. He now gave himself wholly to the work of the ministry, with great activity. From this period, till his delicate frame became too much enfeebled to endure constant labor, near the close of his pilgrimage, he was the leading preacher of the lower Green River Valley. In preaching talent, he had no equal, ex- cept his intimate and steadfast friend, J. M. Pendleton, and as a successful preacher, he was without a rival. Besides the churches already named, a number of others, including the first church at Owensboro' enjoyed his pastoral ministrations, for dif- ferent periods of time.
Towards the close of his life, he suffered from disease of the lungs to such a degree, that he was compelled to desist from preaching, for a time. But, after a brief rest, he again en- tered the field of labor. In the fall of 1865, he went to the neighborhood of Providence church in Warren county, to preach a funeral discourse, and then aid his son, J. S. Taylor, in a series of meetings, at that church. He reached Charles Asher's, in the neighborhood of the church, on Friday night, and was so
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feeble that he had to be assisted to bed. He continued to sink till the 9th of October, 1865, when he went to his everlasting rest.
Mr. Taylor was three times married, and raised a large and respectable family. Three of his sons, Judson S., William C. and James P., are Baptist preachers, and, it is hoped, are worthy of so noble a father. W. C. Taylor has published a brief biography of his father, in a neat little volume of 123 pages.
DAVID EWING BURNS, one of the most distinguished pul- pit orators of the Mississippi Valley, succeeded Alfred Taylor in the pastoral care of Beaver Dam church, in 1845. He was a native of Indiana, and was born of poor, illiterate parents, a few miles up the Ohio river from Evansville. He was raised up to hard, rough labor and the rude sports and frolics of an es- sentially backwoods life. At the age of manhood, he could read with some fluency and write a little, very crudely. At this period he crossed over the Ohio river, with the hope of getting employment as a stage driver. Falling in at a meeting, con- ducted by Alfred Taylor, in the region of Owensboro', he re- mained some days, professed conversion, and was baptized by Mr. Taylor. Returning to his mother's, he engaged in prayer and exhortation, and there was soon a considerable revival in the little church near his home. A few months after this, he went to Hardinsburg, Kentucky, to attend a meeting, con- ducted by Thomas J. Fisher. During this meeting, he preached
his first sermon. The people were astonished at his wonder- ful oratory. He was induced to go to Georgetown College. But remained there less than a month. He returned to the Green River country, and was ordained to the ministry, about 1845, by T. J. Fisher and Thomas L. Garrott. He was called to the care of Beaver Dam, and perhaps some other country churches, to which he preached but a few months, when he accepted a call to the church in the town of Henderson. The charms of his oratory drew admiring crowds wherever he preached. He read poetry and light literature, but had no taste, and perhaps very little capacity for study. After remaining a year at Hen- derson, he became pastor of the church in Russellville. He was wonderfully popular with the young, but he did not please the older members of the church. He remained there but six months, when he accepted a call to Paducah. Here he re-
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David Ewing Burns.
mained three years, preaching to large and admiring crowds to the last.
In 1850, Mr. Burns was called to the Beal Street church, in Memphis, Tennessee. He remained here a year, preaching to the largest congregation in the city. From Memphis he was called to Jackson, Mississippi. Here, at the age of thirty, he was married to Tallula Slaughter, an orphan, who possessed considerable property. By this means, he became proprietor of a valuable plantation near Canton, Mississippi. To this planta- tion he moved, and became pastor of the church at Canton. He succeeded well in business, and was popular as a preacher. But the calamities of the war fell heavily upon him, as upon thous- ands of others, and left him penniless. In 1866, he took charge of the Coliseum Place church in New Orleans. But the society did not suit him, and he was uncomfortable. After a short and unsuccessful pastorate, he accepted a call to the First Church in Memphis. Here he enjoyed great popularity, the brief re- mainder of his days on earth. After a short illness, he died at his home in Memphis, in November, 1870. His last audible words were : "I have trusted in Jesus for thirty years. I can trust him still."
Mr. Burns was an orator by nature, and, with proper training, might have exercised an immense pulpit power. But destitute of this, he fascinated the multitudes, as few men could, without either instructing them, or reaching their hearts. He had very meager fruits of his ministry, notwithstanding the great crowds that attended his preaching, from first to last. As a Christian man, his character, as far as known, was spotless. He was a man of public spirit, and gave valuable aid to the De- nominational enterprises of his time. He possessed a generous spirit, and a cheerful temper, and was much loved by those with whom he associated.
JAMES SMITH COLEMAN was long the pastor of Old Beaver Dam. His parents, grand parents, and great grand parents, were members of this church, and he united with it, when he was eleven years and ten days old. At nineteen years of age, he was chosen clerk of this church of his fathers, in which ca- pacity, he served nine years, and then, in 1854, became its pas- tor. At a very early period his great grand parents emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania, where they stopped only a few
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History of Kentucky Baptists.
months, and then descended the Ohio river in a flatboat, aiming to land at Beargrass, the present site of Louisville, Ky. But on ar- riving at that point, they discovered Indians on the shore. Pull- ing out, to avoid danger, they floated over the Falls, and con- tinued their journey to the Yellow Banks, the present site of Owensboro'. Here the young German couple buried all their possessions, which they could not carry with them, and walked 28 miles, to a little fort, near the present location of Hartford. In this little fort, their first child was born. This child was the grandfather of J. S. Coleman. They remained in the fort, till this child was about three years old, and then moved to the spot where the village of Beaver Dam is located, on the Elizabeth- town and Paducah Rail Road. An account of the self-baptism of Mrs. Coleman was. given in the history of Beaver Dam church. At this place, the little boy which was born in the fort, became the father of 23 children, all born of one mother. Of these, Elisha H. Coleman, born January 5, 1805, was the oldest.
J. S. Coleman, only child of Elisha H. and Susannah Cole- man, was born in Ohio county, Ky., February 5, 1827. His father was of German, and his mother of Irish and Welsh extrac- tion. His parents were in good circumstances, and gave him what was then regarded a good opportunity to get an educa- tion, viz. he labored on the farm during the summer, and went to school during the winter. When he grew up, he taught school, and attended school, alternately, till he acquired a fair English education, and probably some knowledge of some of the dead languages.
In the eleventh year of his age, he was suddenly awakened to a vivid sense of his sinful and ruined estate, before God, by reading the following stanza of a then popular old hymn:
"That awful day will surely come ; The appointed hour makes haste, When I must stand before my Judge And pass the solemn test."
Without any religious instruction, save that which he had previously received from his pious parents, he set about seek- ing the salvation of his soul. After seeking for sometime, he found peace in Jesus, and was afterwards baptized by Alfred Taylor. In his fifteenth year, he was strangely and power-
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James Smith Coleman.
fully impressed with a sense of duty to give his life to preach- ing the gospel. But thinking it impossible for one so ignorant as he deemed himself, ever to be able to engage in so holy and responsible a work, he strove to stifle his impressions, and suc- ceeded, for the time. At about the age of 20, he married Rachel Chapman, to whom, in after years, he acknowledges himself greatly indebted for what he has been enabled to ac- complish in the work of the ministry.
Soon after he arrived at his majority, he was elected Sher- iff of his county. After this he was elected Brigadier General of his Congressional district, which, under the then existing military laws of the state, gave him considerable prominence in the district. The way to a seat in Congress seemed opening before him. His ambition was greatly kindled. But now his religious duties, which had been much neglected, for several years, began to press upon his mind with force. Meanwhile, his early impression of duty to preach the gospel returned with great power. He again strove to thow off these impress- ions. To the proud, ambitious young man, with such bright worldly prospects before him, the thought of the poverty, self- denial, and reproach, attending the life of a preacher, was al- most intolerable. The struggle was long and terrible, but the Spirit of God prevailed. "The strife went on," says he, " un- til humbled and subdued by God's grace, I at last submitted to be anything, or do anything, or, at least, to attempt anything that the Lord might require of me. This condition, and sub- mission, was reached late one Sabbath evening-perhaps the last in April, 1854-while on my knees, far out in the deep forest, where I was wrestling with God, duty, and self."
Mr. Coleman had already acquired considerable practice in public speaking, and, the following Sunday night, he com- menced his ministry, at Old Beaver Dam church. This was in May, 1854. He took charge of Beaver Dam, and perhaps other churches, the same year. Within one year, he so dis- posed of his worldly affairs as to be able to give his whole time to the work of the ministry, which he has done to the present time (1885). He was ordained, in October, 1854, by Alfred Taylor and J. F. Austin. He was very soon pastor of four churches. From the beginning, his success was extraordinary, not only in the churches of which he was pastor, but in many
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ad ak- he red ver-
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History of Kentucky Baptists.
revival meetings, which he engaged in. He served Buck Creek church, McLean county, as pastor, 24 years, Beaver Dam, 18 years, Green Brier, 14 years, Sugar Grove, 12 years, West Point, 9 years, and several others, shorter periods of time. He has assisted in constituting II churches, and in or- daining 20 preachers. He was Moderator of the General As- sociation of Kentucky Baptists, from 1859, till 1872. He was editor and proprietor of the Green River Baptist, for a time during the war. He was also co-editor and part owner of the Western Recorder, one year. He was State Evangelist, under appointment of the Board of the General Association two or three years.
In 1877, he accepted a call to the First Baptist church in Owensboro'. During the first year of his pastorate there, 250 were added to the church. Walnut Street church was con- stituted in that city the same year, and Mr. Coleman subse- quently became pastor of that organization. He is at present, pastor of some country churches near his birthplace.
Between the time he was ordained, in October, 1854, and the first of January, 1879, he baptized 3,415* persons. About 700 of these were from other denominations-mostly from the Methodists which were, next to the Baptists, most numerous in his part of the State. Among those he has baptized from the Methodists may be named W. Pope Yeaman now of St. Louis.
Mr. Coleman has acquainted himself with the outlines of theology and religious literature, and is familiar with his text book; but he has studied men rather than books. He is much better acquainted with the human heart than with systematic theology. He has dilligently studied effectiveness, and few men ever studied it to more advantage. Whatever may be said of his want of elegance of style, few men in Kentucky have ever been able to draw and hold together, from year to year, larger congregations or more deeply interested audiences. He holds his religious convictions intensely, and is always ready to advo- cate and defend them. He has proved himself a skillful debater, but his best gift is that of a popular preacher. In this it would be difficult to point out his superior. But the best eulogium that can be passed on him as a preacher, is, that
-To the present (1885), he has baptized over 4,000.
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Johh M. Peay.
extraordinary success has attended his ministrations from first to last.
JOHN M. PEAY, one of the most useful preachers in the Green River country, was for a short time pastor of Beaver Dam church. His ancestors were Baptists, two or three generations back, at least. William Keele, his maternal grandfather, was a Baptist minister, and was pastor of old Garrison church in Cof- fee county, Tenn., 56 years.
Mr. Peay was born in Rutherford county, Tenn., May 19th. 1832. In early life he moved to Butler county, Ky. There he was baptized into the fellowship of Sandy Creek church, by Alfred Taylor, in October, 1853. By this church he was licensed to preach, in 1854. He then spent three years in the study of J. S. Coleman, where he completed a very fair English education. He was ordained to the ministry at Beaver Dam church in September, 1857. The next year he moved to South Carrollton, on the south side of Green river, and took charge of the church in that town, to which he continued to minister till 1882, when he took charge of Bethel church, in Christian county, where he now labors. He has usually sup- plied four pulpits with preaching. In addition to his ministerial labors, he conducted an educational journal, in connection with his brother, R. D. Peay, for some years. He has published several small works, some of which are written with decided ability. As a preacher, Mr. Peay would hardly be regarded an orator, yet his delivery is forceable and effective. He analyzes his subject with close discrimination, and few men more thor- oughly exhausts the matter in a text. He is a thorough Bap- tist, and, like Coleman, under whom he studied three years, and with whom he was intimately associated in the ministry twenty- four years, he is always ready to preach and defend his doctrines. He has proved himself a strong oral debater. In preaching tal- ent, and in point of success, both as a pastor and an evangelist, he ranks close to Alfred Taylor and J. S. Coleman.
Of the thirteen churches constituted in 1798, eight still exist, but not more than three of them are exercising any con- siderable influence for good, the other five having fallen into the ranks of the Antimissionaries, and dwindled to almost insig- nificance.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
BRACKEN ASSOCIATION AND TEN CHURCHES CONSTITUTED IN
I799.
At the beginning of the year 1799, the Kentuckians were still in a state of considerable excitement. The convention which was to meet at Frankfort, on the 22d of July, for the pur- pose of forming a new constitution for the State, was to decide the vexed question as to whether the property of the people was to be made secure to them, or jeopardized by constitutional enact- ment. The election was to be held in the spring, when the political status of the convention would be measurably deter- mined. Popular meetings, were held, in February, in various parts of the State, some in favor of, and some in opposition to, the perpetuation of slavery by constitutional enactment. Henry Clay was the leader, or at least, orator of the anti-slavery party. A meeting was appointed in which each religious denomina- tion in the State was to be represented by two members, for the purpose of ascertaining the religious convictions of the people on the subject of slavery. The election, however, indicated that a large majority of the people favored the continuance of slavery in the commonwealth. The convention finished the work of forming a constitution on the 17th of August, and enacted that it should be in force on and after the first day of June, 1800.
During the year, friendly intercourse was established be- tween the governments of the United States and France, by means of which a treaty, satisfactory to both countries was en- tered into the following year. All causes of popular agitation seems now to have been removed, and the commonwealth was in a condition to enjoy full peace. The spiritual dearth still con- tinued. The baptisms during the year may be fairly estimated at 175. The meetings of the associations evinced nothing of the spirit of enterprise or progress. Elkhorn had had under
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