USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky Baptists : From 1769 to 1885, including more than 800 biographical sketches, Vol. II > Part 55
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Mt. Olivet has from the first been a leading church in this fraternity. It was constituted in Durin Alcock's tobacco barn in Graves county, by James P. Edwards and Lewis Goad, Aug. 20, 1836. The following persons were in the constitution : Elder Durin Alcock, Henry Fulgam, Anthony Fulgam, John Cargil, Sauny Thomas (Col.), Lewis Sams (Col.), - Alcock, Anna Fulgam, Sarah Wester, Rebecca Fulgam, Nancy Cargil, Celia Garrison and Rachel Thomas. The church was called
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Concord, till 1848, when it assumed its present name. Durin Alcock was its first pastor, and, has been followed in turn, by Lewis Goad, Josiah King, M. S. Wiman and W. F. Lowe. The last named is the present pastor, and has been serving the church about twenty-three years. The church now numbers about 150 membes, and is the largest in the Association.
THOMAS LORTON GARRETT was the originator of Mt. Olivet Association, and continued to be its most prominent preacher until his death. He was born in Charlotte county, Va., Oct. 2, 1803, and was raised in Prince Edwards county, with few educational advantages. In 1822, he professed conversion and was baptized by John Watkins. He was licensed to preach, in 1824, and was soon afterwards ordained to the ministry, and became pastor of several churches. In 1831, he failed in busi- ness as a buggy manufacturer, after which, he moved to Ken- tucky. He first settled in Henderson county, where he rode as missionary in Little Bethel Association several years. In 1838, he moved to Hartford, in Ohio county, where he became pastor of Nelson Creek, and perhaps some other churches, in Gasper River Association. Two years later, he moved to Hardinsburg, where he labored a short time. In 1842, he was invited to aid A. W. Meacham, pastor of Paducah church in a protracted meeting at that place. His commanding talent unsettled the young pastor, and, the following year, Mr. Garrett succeed him in his pastoral office. This caused some unpleasant feeling between Mr. Meacham and Mr. Garrett. Meanwhile Mr. Garrett accepted an appointment as missionary to labor on both sides of the Ohio river, in the region around Paducah.
When Paducah church, of which Mr. Garrett was then a member and the pastor, prepared a letter to send to West Union Association,in 1843,heal one objected to it, alleging that the church had practiced open communion, and, therefore, was not in good order, as stated in the letter. On the same grounds, he opposed the reception of the letter by the Association. A committee, consisting of Elder J. P. Edwards and Wm. E. Bishop, was sent to investigate the matter. They reported to the Association, that Paducah church was as sound in the faith as any in the fra- ternity. Out of this originated a personal difficulty between Garrett and the venerable Edwards, which continued to widen untill 1847, when the matter was brought before the Association.
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During the progress of the ensuing discussion, Mr. Garrett was expelled from his seat in that body on a charge of contempt for the Associations. He immediately left the house, fol- lowed by the messengers from four churches. The next year, these churches formed Mt. Olivet Association. Within the bounds of this new fraternity, Mr. Garrett labored very earnestly, but with very small success, till the Lord called him away. He died at his home, in Paducah, about the fourth of December, 1842.
Mr. Garrett was a self-educated man, and possessed ex- cellent preaching gifts. But he was over ambitious and sensi- tive, and possesscd a bad, unyielding temper. The late Dr. Cad Lewis once said, in a speech before the General Associa- tion of Kentucky Baptists, that Brother Garrett was like a cat sitting under a chair, which, however it might turn its head, always puts out its tail for some one to tramp on. While there seems to be no occasion to doubt Mr. Garrett's sincerity, it can- not be denied that his unfortunate temper greatly impaired his usefulness, and caused much trouble among his brethren.
M. S. WIMAN was born in Henry county, Kentucky, Aug. 27, 1808. At the age of six years, he was left an orphan, and committed to the care of an aunt living in Washington county, who had him christened, and brought him up in the practice of strict morality. A few days after he was nineteen years old, he was married to Elizabeth Tharp, and, on going to house- keeping, set up family worship, supposing that his infant bap- tism and his morality constituted him a Christian. But, through the faithfulness of his Baptist wife, he soon became convinced of his error, and shortly afterwards obtained a good hope, and was baptized into the fellowship of New Hope church, in Washington county by Isaac Taylor.
In 1829, he settled near Brandenburg in Meade county, and gave his membership to Mt. Pleasant church, then under the pastoral care of Simeon Buchanan. Here he prospered in his worldly affairs, till the spring of 1832, when " the great rise" in the Ohio river swept away most of his earthly pos- sessions. He moved, the same year, to Graves county, where he united with Emmaus church in the adjacent border of Ballard, and was shortly afterwards licensed to preach. In February, 1835, he was ordained to the ministry by Stephen
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Ray, A. Danial, E. Curd and - Allison. From the time of his ordination, he devoted himself with great zeal and activity to his sacred calling. In 1838, he was appointed to ride as missionary within the bounds of West Union Association. In this position, he labored about three years, visiting most of the churches in the " Western District," and some in the adja- cent borders of Missouri and Tennessee, as well as laboring in many destitute neighborhoods. During this period, and sub- sequently, with the help of the beloved J. P. Edwards and others, he gathered a number of churches, among which may be named Union, Sugar Creek, Paducah, Mt. Olivet, Salem, Liberty and Providence.
When the unhappy difficulty, which caused a schism in West Union Association, occurred, in 1847, Mr. Wiman adhered to the Garrett party, and entered into the constitution of Mount Olivet Association. Of this body he' was elected moderator, at the time of its constitution, and continued to occupy the position until he was succeeded by his son, Isaac N. Wiman, in 1863, only a few months before his death. He was called to his reward, from his home in Graves county, Dec. 10, 1863.
Mr. Wiman received a very limited education in his youth. But with the aid and sympathy of a godly and intelligent wife, he continued to progress in knowledge during the whole of his married life, and, in the end, possessed no mean literary attain- ments. He was a plain, earnest. and very effective preacher, and, through the grace of God, accomplished a glorious work in the then semi-wilderness of Western Kentucky.
ISAAC N. WIMAN, one of the thirteen children of the above, was raised up to the ministry in Mt. Olivet Association. He succeeded his father as moderator of that body, in 1863, and occupied the position till he moved to the West, in 1866. In 1871, he returned to Kentucky, and was again elected moder- ator of Mt. Olivet Association. But the next year, he moved to Kansas, where he has taken a good position among the ministers of that State. It is much to be regretted that his usefulness in the new country has been much diminished, for the present at least, by the failure of his health.
ROBERT W. MAHAN has been a prominent and useful preacher in Mt. Olivet Association, for a number of years past. He entered the ministry, about the close of the Civil War, and
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has been quite successful, both as a missionary and a pastor. He has recently moved from his old home in Graves county to Clinton in Hickman, where his labors are being much blessed.
WM. FRANCIS LOWE is one of the leading ministers in Western Kentucky. He was born in Graves county, Kentucky, August 7, 1838, and was raised up on a farm, acquiring also the trade of a house carpenter. After attending the schools of his neighborhood, he studied Latin and some other branches under Rev. L. O. Winslow, a Cumberland Presbyterian. He was con- verted at a Cumberland Presbyterian meeting, in October, 1854, and, in November following, was baptized with 23 others, into the fellowship of Mt. Olivet church, by M. S. Wiman. In May, 1856, he was licensed to preach, and was ordained to the ministry, soon afterwards, by M. S. Wiman, Carroll Morris and John H. D. Carlin. On the resignation of Mr. Wiman, with whom he had been associated in the pastoral office at Mt. Oli- vet, he became pastor of that church, in March, 1862, and, on the 3d of April following, was married to Mary Logan Samuels, first cousin to the lamented P. B. Samuels of Nelson county. This marriage proved a most happy one, and Mr. Lowe at- tributed much of his success in the ministry to the aid and sym- pathy of this excellent woman.
Mr. Lowe was called to Pleasant Ridge church about the time of his marriage, and has since been pastor, for different periods, of Liberty, Zoar, Salem, New Concord, Emmaus, Mil- burn, Dublin, Pleasant Grove and Wingo churches. He was elected clerk of Mt. Olivet Association, in 1860. After serving in that capacity seven years, he succeeded to the moderatorship of that body, which position he has continued to fill to the pres- ent time.
REGULAR BAPTIST MATES CREEK ASSOCIATION,
This small fraternity of Antimissionary Baptists is located in the eastern extremity of the State. It was constituted at Mates Creek meeting house in Virginia, in 1849, at which time most of its churches were in that State. It extended its opera- tions into Kentucky, and subsequently dismissed most of its
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original churches to form a new Association. At present, most or all of its churches are in Pike county, Kentucky, except Sulphur Spring, which is in Buchanan county, West Virginia. It had considerable growth for a time, and, in 1878, numbered 16 churches with 729 members. Since that date, it appears to have declined. In 1880, it numbered 14 churches with 503 mem- bers.
In the list of the ministers appear the names of Gabriel 1 Riffe, W. W. Fields and Basil Hatfield. The first named acted as moderator of the body a number of years. He was called to his reward, about 1878. Basil Hatfield has acted as moderator since 1877.
NELSON ASSOCIATION.
At a regular meeting of the old Salem fraternity, at Otter Creek church in Mead county, August 15, 1849, the following churches were dismissed to form a new Association : Cox's Creek, Bloomfield, Bardstown, Rolling Fork, Mill Creek, Little Union, New Salem, Mt. Washington, Shepherdsville, Hardins Creek and New Hope. Messengers from all these churches, ex- cept Hardins Creek, metat Cox's Creek in Nelson county, on the 28th of September of the same year, and, after a sermon by Wm. Vaughan, from Ps. 133 : 1, proceeded to form Nelson As- sociation, with the usual formalities. The new organization took the name of the county in which most of its churches were, and still are located. After the organization was effected, by the election of Spence Minor, Moderator, and P. B. Samuels Clerk, Chaplins Fork church was received into membership. The II churches now composing the fraternity, aggregated 1,625 members. The only preachers belonging to the body were Wm. Vaughan, P. B. Samuels, and W. G. Hobbs, a li- centiate. The Association adjourned, after resolving to be- come auxiliary to the General Association, requesting each church to appoint a solicitor to collect funds for that body, and inviting A. D. Sears, agent of the General Association, to take a collection for his agency.
In 1850, Hardins Creek church was received by letter.
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Collections were taken for the General Association, and resolu- tions were adopted, recommending Georgetown College and the Western Baptist Theological Institute. The next year, contri- butions were made to the General Assoctation, the Indian Mis- sion Association, and the Kentucky and Foreign Bible Society, aggregating $91.30. These organizations continued to receive the contributions of the Association, several years. In 1854, the churches and pastors were requested to make four collec- tions annually : one for the General Association, one for Indian missions, one for Foreign missions, and one for the Bible cause.
Down to this period, the Association had depended on the General Association to supply its destitution, with the gospel. But as that body had not the means of accomplishing this work satisfactorily, it now resolved to perform the duty itself. Ac- cordingly, it called a meeting, to be composed of messengers from all the churches, to convene at Cox's Creek on Wednesday after the first Sabbath in November, 1854, to devise some plan for carrying out this purpose. Wm. Vaughan was requested to preach a sermon suited to the occasion. The meeting resulted in the formation of "Nelson Home Missionary Society," which was approved by the Association, at its next session. But the Society proved inefficient ; and, in 1857, the Association adopt- ed the following :
" Whereas, The ' Nelson Home Missionary Society,' which was organized, in 1854, and has been adopted by this Asso- ciation, has failed to accomplish the contemplated result, Therefore,
" Resolved, That said organization, in view of its ineffi- ciency, be hereby dissolved ; and that the funds in the treasury of said society be subject to the direction of an executive board, to be hereby appointed by this body , that an executive board, consisting of P. B. Samuels, A. King, S. Wills, J. H. Taylor, and D. H. Cox, be appointed, whose duty it shall be to select a missionary, fix his salary, and recommend him to the Board of the General Association for ratification of his appointment, with a request that the agent of the General Association visit our churches, collect money, and pay it over to the treasurer of our executive board, to be appropriated to the payment of said missionary's salary."
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Under this arrangement, J. T. Hedger was employed as missionary at a salary of $400 per annum, and was kept in the field two years. During this period, he traveled 5,662 miles, preached 272 sermons, delivered 163 exhortations, witnessed 14I conversions, baptized 45 persons, and sold 793 books. From that period, the Association has generally kept one or more missionaries employed, at least, a part of each year, and, per -. haps, no organization of the kind in the State, has cultivated the field of its operations more thoroughly.
The first allusion to Sabbath-schools, in the records of this body, is in the missionary's report, of 1861, and no direct ac- tion was taken on the subject, till 1865, when the following re- solution was adopted :
"Resolved, That we, the Nelson Association, sympathize with the objects of the Sunday-school enterprise, and will cor- dially co-operate with Elder W. S. Sedwick, the agent of the General Association, and Elder J. V. Riley, S. S. missionary in our bounds and recommend semi-annual Sunday-schools ; one of which shall be held with this body."
Under the labors of that remarkable Sunday-school worker, W. S. Sedwick, a fine enthusiasm was gendered among the churches, a Sunday-school convention was organized within the bounds of the Association, and the work spread so rapidly that, in 1874, the committee on Sunday-schools reported as follows: "The Sunday-school Convention of this Association, is still doing its work. All our churches have Sunday schools. We have now four mission schools in a very flourishing con- dition, and doing a noble work." The subject continues one of leading interest in the body.
Besides contributing liberally to the general missionary and educational enterprises of the denomination, this Associa- tion has built up two high schools within its bounds: one at Bloomfield, the other at Bardstown. The latter, in which the youth of both sexes are educated, is still in a very flourishing condition, under the principalship of H. J. Greenwell A. M.
It is a little remarkable that this fraternity, so vigorous in its prosecution of other benevolent enterprises, has been silent on the subject of temperance reform. In this respect, it stands almost alone among the Baptist associations of the State, if the Antimissionary Baptists be excepted, and it can hardly be
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regarded strange that immense quantities of whisky are manu- factured within its bounds, if not by its members.
The progress of this body, in numbers, has been rather steady In 1850, it numbered 12 churches with 1, 678 members; in 1860, 12 churches with 1, 766 members; in 1870, 13 churches with 1,761 members ; in 1880, 17 churches with 2, 145 mem- bers, and, in 1883, 18 churches with 2,266 members. It has reported in 33 years 3, 364 baptisms.
Old Churches. Cedar Creek, constituted July 4, 1781, is the oldest in the fraternity, and the oldest in the State but one. Cox's Creek and Bloomfield are among the oldest churches of the Mississippi Valley. Of these three ancient fraternities some account has already been given.
PRESTON BURR SAMUELS was not only by far the most in- fluential and efficient preacher in Nelson Association, in his generation, but was among the most valuable ministers in the State. He was born in Nelson county, Ky., Aug. 3, 1810, and was brought up on a farm, receiving only a moderate En- glish education. During his youth and early manhood, he was remarkably fond of popular amusements, engaged in hunting, horse-racing and other sports of the period, and was essentially a bold, daring, wicked young man. He had, however, the re- deeming trait of a high sense of honor, and did not swerve from the path of truth and integrity.
On the 15th of December, 1831, he was married to Mal- vina, daughter of Wm. Newbolt, a man of exalted Christian virtues. This excellent woman was eminently suited to the position she was called to occupy. She was a true wife, "a chaste keeper at home," and an exemplary Christian. But her husband continued his rounds of pleasure and daring wicked- ness, till he was near 30 years of age. About that period, he was smitten down under the ministry of Smith Thomas, by whom he was soon afterwards baptized into the fellowship of the church now called New Salem, in his native county. He now entered into the service of his new Master with as much zeal as he had formerly served the old. He commenced exer- cising in public prayer and exhortation soon after he was con- verted. But, at first, he met with very little encouragement. His pursuit of pleasure and neglect of business had involved him in debt, and this made the people distrustful of him. However,
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he was a good farmer and a discreet business man, and, now giving himself diligently to business, he soon cancelled his pecuniary obligations.
In 1845, having been ordained to the ministry, he was called to the care of New Salem church, then numbering 117 mem- bers. For a dozen years, the numerical growth of the church was slow. But the pastor cultivated its broad territory with great diligence. He did not confine his ministrations to the church, but preached at its outposts, worshipped with the people at their homes, visited them in sickness, sympathized and advised with them in their business perplexities, comforted them in trouble, preserved always among them the same earn- est, deep-toned piety, and was always the same cheerful, digni- fied christian minister. At length the field ripened, and the la- borer began to reap. About 1859, he and J. T. Hedger held a meeting within the bounds of the church, which resulted in about forty additions to its membership ; in 1860, he was aided by J. H. Spencer in a meeting which resulted in seventy seven additions ; in 1864, he was aided in a meeting by the same min- ister, when thirty-two were added to the church; in 1868, J. M. Harrington aided him in a meeting, when over one hundred united with the church, and, in August, 1871, J. H. Spencer again aided him in a meeting, during which sixty were added to the church. During this meeting, he frequently said he felt like this would be his last protracted meeting at this church ; and so it proved. The church now numbered 365 members, and was the largest in the Association.
In 1849, Mr. Samuels was called to the care of Cox's Creek church in the same county, to which he ministered one Sabbath in the month, till 1857, after which he preached to it two Sun- days in each month the remainder of his earthly life. Here, in one of the most intelligent churches in the State, he enjoyed a pastorate of almost uninterrupted prosperity, about twenty-one years. In his earlier ministry, he served the churches at Mt. Washington, Shepherdsville, Elizabethtown and Rolling Fork, for longer or shorter periods ; and during his entire ministry, he aided in many protracted meetings, in which he met with a large measure of success. In November, 1871, he engaged in a meeting at East Fork school house. Here he frequently ex- pressed his belief that this was the last meeting of the kind he
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would ever labor in, although he appeared to be in his usual health. On the first day of the following January, after a brief illness, he answered to the summons to come up higher.
Mr. Samuels was the most prominent actor in all the busi- ness affairs of the Association. He was clerk of that body from its constitution, in 1849, till he was called to succeed the vener- able Dr. Vaughan, as its moderator, in 1865. The latter posi- tion he continued to fill till his death. In early life, he was jus- tice of the peace for a number of years, and acquired the repu- tation of being an excellent magistrate.
The character of P. B. Samuels was one to be studied and admired. He was a Christian philosopher, in the full sense of the term. In person he was rather above medium height, very straight, finely proportioned, and dignified in all his movements. His complexion was dark, his hair nearly black, and his physi- ognomy indicated clear judgement, decision of purpose, and calm, rational benevolence. He was scrupulously neat in his dress, and his whole bearing commanded respect. In conversa- tion he was remarkably deliberate, and always easy and self-pos- sessed. He was an excellent practical business man, whether on his farm, presiding in a court of justice, or occupying the pulpit. As a preacher he was clear, plain, and eminently prac- tical. It was said that he never preached a big sermon, or a a little one. He studied the Bible closely, and his theological views were clear, orthodox and consistent. His manner of preaching was a plain, simple statement of truth, illustrated by familiar figures and incidents, and always brought within the comprehension of his hearers. Even in his exhortations, he used no meaningless words or phrases. As a pastor he greatly excelled. He knew all his flock, could call them by name, studied all their wants, temporal and spiritual, and labored dili- gently to have them supplied, as far as practicable.
ALLEN BURR MILLER, now the well-known Dr. Miller of Little Rock, Ark., was born in what is now LaRue Co., Ky., July 9, 1834. At the age of six years, he was taken by his parents to Ohio county, where he was raised on a farm with few educational advantages. After his arrival at manhood, he at- tended Bethel College for a time. He professed conversion at a Methodist meeting when he was about thirteen years of age, and was baptized several years later, for the fellowship of Green
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River church, by Alfred Taylor. He was licensed to preach before he went to college, and was ordained to the ministry, in 1856. In 1857, he took charge of the church at Hickman, Ky. Here he labored with good success two years, and then went to Trenton, Tenn., where he ministered one year, after which he returned to his native State, in answer to a call from the church at Bardstown. Here he remained two years, and accomplished a good work. He next moved to Owensboro, from whence he was called to the First church in Memphis, Tenn., where he labored with a good degree of success, several years. His next move was to Paducah, Ky., where he ministered two years, and then accepted a call to Quincy, Ill. After preaching there a year, he again returned to Kentucky, and was, for a time, pas- tor of the church at Versailles. From this place he went to Evansville, where he preached some five years, and then went to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he still ministers. On the 4th of January, 1866, he was married to Anna Clark, a handsome and accomplished lady of La Grange, Ky.
Besides his pastoral labors, Dr. Miller has devoted much time to the work of an evangelist, in which capacity he has been very successful, having baptized about 2,000 persons. He is a popular preacher, brilliant rather than profound, a man of un- tiring energy, and is full of zeal in his holy calling.
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