USA > Virginia > Sketches and portraits of the Virginia Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church > Part 4
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In the spring of 1875 he was transferred to the Virginia Conference, and in the fall of the same year was appointed to Liberty Station. Ours was the weak- est church in that town. During his term of three years the membership was more than doubled, and it is now a strong church. He then served the work at Ashland, Boydton, West Campbell, Culpeper Station, Danielstown, Lynchburg, with fidelity and vigor. At the Conference at Danville in 1893 he was granted a superannuated relation. His home is at Charlottesville.
REV. ROBERT NELSON CROOKS.
Soldier, chaplain, pioneer preacher in mountain lands, he has a noble record. He has preached a third of a century ; built nine churches and two parsonages, and repaired or rebuilt many old preaching edifices. In the hospitals in Rich- mond he saw great revivals. During his ministry he has received into the Church more than thirteen hundred persons.
He is loved by brethren, and is a good man endowed of the Holy Ghost. Though kept, by ills contracted in the line of duty, from active work, his godly walk and limited public exertions tell how earnestly at heart this man of God has the cause of the Lord Jesus.
REV. JAMES O. MOSS.
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SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
Hle is the son of Abraham and Catharine Conrad Crooks; was born in Greenup county, Kentucky, March 16, 1830; united with the Methodist Church. in his native county in August, 1852; licensed to preach by the Greenp Quar- terly Conference ( Rev. C. M. Sullivan, Presiding Elder, Rev. J. F. Medley, preacher in charge, ) in March, 1855; received into the West Virginia Confer- ence in September, 1855; ordained deaeon by Bishop G. F. Pierce in 1857; elder by Bishop J. O. Andrew, in 1859; appointed Chaplain in the Confederate army in June, 1862, and assigned to duty at Chimborazo Hospital, Richmond, Virginia, at which place he remained until after the close of the war.
In November, 1865, he was transferred to the Virginia Conference. While pastor of Hanover Cirenit -- 1879-'82-he was painfully injured by a fall from his buggy; but, though compelled to itinerate on crutches, he persevered in his "loved employ" until the Conference of 1883, when, with a constitution shat- tered by rheumatism and other painful maladies, he reluctantly accepted a su- perannuated relation.
Through the kindness of friends within the bounds of the Virginia Confer- ence, a home, beautiful for situation, at Yorktown, Virginia, has been secured for him, where, surrounded by his family, he is now pleasantly and comfortably located.
Though never free from pain. Brother Crooks is never so happy as when per- mitted to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation to his fellow-men, and fre- quently exerts himself far more than prudenee would dictate. Calmly, trust- ingly, he is "waiting by the river," with "lamp trimmed," striving to be ready when "the Bridegroom cometh." It can be truly said of him, he is a good man.
A friend of Mr. Crooks says: "For many years I have been personally ac- quainted with him, and believe I do not deviate from the truth when I say that there is no guile in him. Long ago his actions led me to conclude that his heart was full of love for all, and years of observation have strengthened this convie- tion. Ilis chief desire seems to be to do good, get good, and be ripe for heaven whenever the summons comes. He loves to preach and comfort the siek and sorrowing. His sermons are well-conceived, and have the marks of study ; but the infirmity of Moses, 'I am of slow speech,' is an impediment to a free and graceful delivery. And yet, with kindling eye and beaming countenance, he tells with tender words and persuasion 'the old, old story.' Many gratefully claim him as their spiritual father."
Brother Crooks is five feet eight inches in height; ereet, square-shouldered, and in his best days was a man of considerable force; complexion rather dark; eyes blue and well set under a broad, shapely forehead ; hair and whiskers dark, with a slight sprinkling of gray.
On August 6, 1863, he was married to Miss Susan A. Seully, of Richmond, Virginia. Eight children have been born to them-four died in infancy.
We give but a hint in these quoted words of the rude service that has smitten him with years of pain and made a crutch a companion : "In June, 1861, I vol- unteered as a soldier, and served for six months as first lieutenant of Company I, Thirty-first Virginia regiment, in the command of Generals Garnett, Henry Jackson and Ed. Johnson, and under General R. E. Lee in that remarkably systematic campaign in the Alleghanies, advancing and retreating, marching and countermarching, in, up and down the ereeks and rivers, (oh, how cold!) until we went into winter quarters on the top of the Alleghany mountains, almost in perpetual frost, as if we were hunting a healthy place in mid-winter to freeze ont the rest of the life that had not been marched ont."
REV. JOSIAH D. ILANK.
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SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
If an angel should care to call at the ancient, historic city on the York, there would be a welcome at the cottage of Crooks, for under that roof lives a saintly -. old man, maimed in his Master's work, yet uttering no word of impatience, waiting "till lle come." He is "suffering" the will of God. The men who endured the siege within Pekin were as heroic as the corps that came to their resene. The supreme test is to receive the enemy's fire without replying. Job was superior to JJoshua.
At the Conference in Norfolk in 1900, he made a brief and pathetic address, when his name was called. He bade the brethren farewell, for he did not count on their seeing his face again.
Here amid historie scenes, this veteran of the sacred cohort and of the "in- comparable" Army of the South awaits the summon to receive the "Well done." lle limps to "the cottage prayer-meetings," where the faithful rejoice together.
REV. ROBERT B. BEADLES.
Rev. Robert Blackwell Beadles, born January 5, 1832, is the eldest son of thirteen children born to John and Nancy Beadles, in King William county, Va. His rearing was in the lap of piety ; he was trained in the Sabbath-school from very childhood. Indeed, every effort was made by his now sainted par- ents to bring him up for God, and their labors were not fruitless.
In childhood the Holy Spirit strove with him, and he was frequently under conviction for sin. He was converted September 19, 1845, in his fourteenth year, in a revival held at Powell's chapel, on King William Circuit, by Rev. John W. Shackford, then a member of the Virginia Conference, a venerable and honored local preacher of King and Queen Circuit, recently entering into the rest that remaineth for the people of God.
lle recurs with pleasure to the fact of his conversion, and rejoices in an ex- perience that the Divine Spirit witnesses in his own personal consciousness that he is a child of God.
He is about five feet seven inches high ; weighs one hundred and fifty pounds ; dark complexion, with brown hair and blue eyes. He has rugged features, nervons temperament, brisk movements, and is always intensely in earnest.
As a preacher, he is unpretentious, yet replete with thought and full of grip. He shows at once his aim to be only to do good. He preaches the marrow of the Gospel, and wherever he has been appointed the Church has prospered.
Ile was called to preach almost simultaneously with his conversion, but passed through all grades of the "lay official" before being licensed to exhort by Rev. T. J. Bayton, in March, 1853. He received local preacher's license from the Londonn Quarterly Conference, presided over by the Rev. W. W. Bennett, D. D., while at school at Hillsboro Academy. He began the itin- erant life as colleague of Rev. J. B. Dey, under Rev. William B. Rowzie, Pre- siding Elder, in Lancaster county, Va., in Angust, 1855. He was received on trial into the Virginia Conference at Petersburg in November of that year and returned to Lancaster Cirenit. He traveled the Spotsylvania Circuit in 1957 and 1658. Mr. Beadles was ordained deacon in November, 1857, by Bishop G. F. Pierce, in Elizabeth City, N. C.
REV. JAMES M. ANDERSON.
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SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
In October, 1858, he married Miss Rebecca R. Ilolladay, of Spotsylvania county, a beautiful and accomplished help-mate. Ile has brought up four" interesting children, the issue of that marriage-one of whom, Robert Fletcher, a brilliant and gifted minister of our Conference, whose brother, Dr. Beadles, is equally endowed in another career.
In 1859 he was appointed to Fanquier Circuit ; in 1860-'61 he traveled New Kent Cirenit, and the two ensuing years he held a supernumerary relation. Recovering his health in 1864, he was appointed chaplain to the Fifty-fifth Virginia regiment-then in Hill's Corps, of the Army of Northern Virginia- and participated in most of the battles of that year, from the Wilderness to Petersburg. Again his health failed, and for 1865-'66 he was on the super- minerary list. In 1867 he was appointed to West Hanover, and to Middle- sex in 1968-69. He was on Buckingham Circuit in 1870-71-72, and served the Fluvana Cirenit for the year 1873. He found it necessary to take a super- numerary relation for the years 1874-'75. In 1876 he served the Nicholson Street Station, Richmond, Va., and in 1877 was an efficient agent of the Preachers' Relief Society. The next three years he "fed the flock of Christ" on Lancaster Cireuit, where, twenty-four years before, he began his ministry. From Iss1 to 1554, inclusive, he did successful work on Atlantic Cirenit, and in 1885-'86 he was on Boykin's Circuit. In 1887 he was stationed at Floyd Street, Danville, Va., where his health so failed that he was obliged to super- annate.
Regaining his health, he served in 1891, Hanover; 1892, Mt. Pleasant ; 1893-'96, Henrico; 1897-'99, Norfolk Cirenit; 1900, Capron. Now pastor of Hasker Memorial, Richmond, Va.
Mr. Beadles has been twice married. The mother of his children having died in 1874, he married Miss Sarah N. Slaughter, of Delaware, in 1878, who was a benediction to him and his household and a most efficient co- worker with him in the Church. Her death, January 31, 1900, was an irre- parable loss to him. He keenly felt the blow.
This is the short and simple annal and a modest memorandum, withal, of a brother beloved, whose single aim and earnest life adorn the Gospel of his Master. In quiet paths he serves his Lord with strictest fidelity. His breth- ren give him the homage of their confidence and affection. He is such a one as the dying desire to pray with them and the living desire for a neighbor.
Even in his interrupted ministry well on to a thousand have been converted.
Who among us is more prized for his godly walk and conversation than Robert B. Beadles? The spirit of the Master shines in his life. In and ont of the pulpit men take note of him, that he has been with Jesus. He leaves a blessing in every household that enjoys his presence. The congregations that hear him are fed on the marrow of the Gospel. He is quick, pushing, ener- getic, vet without brusqueness or ambition for a high seat. He has served the Church with success and fidelity for an extended period. During a portion of this time his ill health restricted his ministry. He was never drawn off from the highest aim-the calling of men to Christ.
REV. SAMUEL S. LAMBETHI, D. D.
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SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
REV. JAMES O. MOSS.
Mr. Moss, son of Bennett M. and Phoebe W. Moss, was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, December 29, 1833. He was educated at Randolph- Macon College at its original site near Boydton. Impressed by several succes- sive attacks of illness that it was his duty to enter immediately into the work of the ministry, he left college before completing his academic studies. These he has since prosecuted with persistent industry. He was received on probation in the Virginia Conference at its session of November, 1856. Since then his relation to the Conference has been constantly effective; and in the city, on circuits and in the Presiding Eldership he has not only been remarkably suc- cessful in winning souls to Christ, but proved himself competent in the manage- ment of all the details of official administration. A patient student and an earnest worker, the snows of sixty-seven winters and the heat of as many sum- mers have not availed to lessen his zeal in the canse of the Master. ILis vigorous constitution has withstood the hardships of the itinerancy and the attacks of disease. However frequently he preaches, he seems never to grow weary or lose his hold on the attention of his audience.
Ilis style is logical and didactic; sometimes poetic, when inspired by the grandeur of the theme and the sympathy of the audience. It is then that he appears at his best-his dietion beautiful, his thoughts clear, his face expressive.
It would be hard to name the preacher in the Virginia Conference that can sway an audience with the sovereignty of Mr. Moss when at his best. Ile has a keen, strong mind. Hle searches with piek in hand in all directions, not for glittering specimens, but for bulk of ore-bearing bullion. Ilis habit of study has helped him to the accumulation of great and valuable stores and trained his intellect to vigor and accuracy. And better than all, he is without the unseemly argings of ambition, and has the simplicity and guilelessness of a child, withal. A frank and noble Christian gentleman is JJames O. Moss. His labors have been singularly blessed with great results.
Naturally absent-minded, he often fails to impress strangers favorably on first acquaintance; yet it has been his fortune to be loved in all his charges as only a few have been. To know him well is to appreciate and love him. Ile is now completing his forty-fourth year of continuous active service in the itinerant ranks.
REV. JOSIAH DICKINSON HANK.
The Rev. J. D. Hank is a son of Rev. Jehu Hank, known as the sweet singer of the Baltimore Conference. He was born in Louisa county, Va., but while very young, his father removed to the old homestead in Monroe county, W. Va., where his carly boyhood was spent.
In 1862 he married Miss Annie Berger, daughter of Captain Samuel Berger, of Pittsylvania conty. In 1866 Mr. Hank was transferred to the Virginia Conference, where he has served with energy and ability. In 1867 his wife died, and in 1870 he married Miss Laura Wailes, daughter of Mr. William Wailes, of Salisbury, Md.
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REV. ROBERT W. WATTS.
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SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
In 1889 he was appointed Presiding Elder of the Eastern Shore District, where he served four years. After returning to the pastorate for seven years, he was made Presiding Elder of Charlottesville District, where he is now serv- ing his third year. He has many warm friends among the brethren. To a friend he "sticketh closer than a brother." Cultured, refined, and brimming over with quiet humor, united with a dignified bearing commanding respect, a favorite in the social circle, he is, as has been said, a true type of the "old Virginia gentleman."
Ile seldom speaks in deliberative bodies, on account of modesty, but when he does, all are impressed by the brave, fearless utterances of deep conviction. ILis consel is wise, deep and guarded. His personality is felt at all times, while there is nothing of the antoerat about him. He knows how to diseourse from the Scriptures with simplicity and fervor, and to apply the Word to the hearts of men. He does not proceed by a slow and painful process, but seems to be led on with quickened pace by the effectual operation of the Divine Spirit. His ser- mons are vertebrated. There is bone in them, but not wholly skeleton; there is grace and finish. The delivery is grave, measured and magnetic. It is not an unusual sight to see an audience brought to tears by his appeals, nor for his hearers to grasp his hand after a sermon in silent gratitude for the balm brought to their aching souls.
REV. JAMES M. ANDERSON.
This is the story of a minister who overcame early disadvantages of educa- tion and became, by dint of careful study and native endowment, one of the most polished and graceful preachers in Virginia. From untoward circum- stanees in youth he has risen, step by step, to the most important positions in his Church. In all this advance there has been nothing of rnde ambition or doubtful expedients. Ile still has the modesty of his boyhood. Honors have sought him. He is far removed from the arts that seek prominence or bid for popularity. Without ostentation, he acquits himself fully of every responsi- bility.
The discourses of Mr. Anderson are superior specimens of smooth, melodious, and elegant diction adorning best thought. They are the proof of familiar eom- panionship with choice authors, of laborious days in study, and a well-trained mind. There has been large fame in the pulpit with far less gifts and with inferior endowment. The andience has riches, not in rude ore, but in chased and carved beanty brought before them. And withal the spirit of an apostolic man is regnant in his life-"Your servant for Jesus' sake."
Ile was born in the county of Amelia, on June 28, 1837. In his early boy- hood he was sent to such schools as the community in which he lived afforded. In the year 1850 his parents moved to Lynchburg, Va. His parents, although of highly respectable families, were poor, and he spent several years in the service of one of the citizens of that city, making his own livelihood by honest toil. During this period, and in the fall of 1851, he made a profession of religion in the old church on Church street, of which the Rev. John C. Granbery was pas- tor, known now as Centenary. Mr. Anderson had been a regular Sunday-
REV. J. POWELL GARLAND, D. D.
SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE. 49
school scholar and had thought mneh on religion, praying often; in fact, he ean -... not recall the time when he was destitute of concern on the subject of his salva- tion. His circumstances had never before been so favorable for giving atten- tion to this important matter, and he resolved to make good use of his opportu- nities. Revival services were in progress, with conversions. Ile was anxious to become a Christian. He, however, was young and timid. Night after night he went to church, hoping that some one would give him some encouragement to go to the altar. No one came to him, perhaps because of his youth. At length God helped him to take his place among the penitents.
After several days of dark sorrow for sin and earnest prayer for pardon, he obtained the desired blessing. Ile at once became a zealous Christian. At the first opportunity he connected himself with the Church. He was punctual and regular in all his duties. He cannot remember that in all his early religions life he ever failed to be present at preaching, prayer meeting, class meeting, Sunday-school, or Bible class when attendance was practicable. His close atten- tion to his duties obtained for him the confidence of the entire church, and pro- duced the belief in the minds of his brethren that he was destined to be of much service to the cause of Christ. He was blessed with the special friendship of one of his pastors, Rev. D. P. Wills, who more fully directed his attention to the subject of preaching and in various ways gave him aid and encourage- ment. Preaching soon became the all-absorbing subject. By day and by night it pressed upon his mind. To proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ to his fellow-men seemed to him to be the noblest of all employments.
In 1854 he began preparations for the work of the ministry by improving his education. Ile attended schools, first in Lynchburg, then in Buckingham county. In 1856 he was licensed as local preacher in that county, at a Quar- terly Meeting held by Rev. II. H. Gary. In December, 1856, he went to Ran- dolph-Macon College, where he remained only for a few months, leaving in June, 1857. In November of that year he became a probationer in the Vir- ginia Conference. He served Laneaster Circuit as junior on his first appoint- ment ; then Westmoreland, Rock Creek and Howard ; in 1860, Patterson's Creek, Warrenton Cireuit, Loudoun. War was raging and Church work interrupted. In 1862 he became chaplain to the Fortieth Virginia Regiment. In 1863 he went to Elk Run, where war disturbed the work; so in Culpeper, his next ap- pointment. In 1865-'67 Fluvanna was his field; then two years on Madison ; then four years in Albemarle; then three years on Atlantic. In 1876 he was made Elder of Danville Distriet; 1879, Elder of Charlottesville Distriet. In these pastorates there was much enlargement in membership, spirituality, and progress in new buildings-general improvements. From Charlottesville Dis- triet he was sent to Cumberland Street, Norfolk. His voice failed from throat disease. After months he was healed. In 1885 he was assigned to Hertford. The signs and proof of apostleship followed him. His life seemed to take on a deeper consecration. His sermons grew more mellow, and rose often to the grandeur of inspired speech. In 1889 he was placed in charge of Pungoteagne, where he spent the full limit of four years. Many were converted. The church was edified, enlarged, blessed. In 1893 he was assigned to Nottoway. An extensive and pervasive revival enriched the church and refreshed the hearts of Christians. In 1895 Nottoway was divided. Blackstone charge was formed out of Crenshaw's and Nottoway Courthouse. He served this charge two years, with divine favor attending his labors. In 1897 he was named for
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REV. MAJOR S. COLONNA, SR.
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SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE.
Middlesex. Affairs were in disarray. It taxed his patience, experience, and faith to bring to pass best things. He succeeded. It seemed a hard task to lay upon oue who had conducted choice charges and large affairs so severe a problem of readjusting confused matters. The appointment was distinctly of the Lord, who at that juneture had need of "such an one" as James Madison Anderson. It was the right man in the right place. He compassed a noble achievement. He is filling ont the complete term of four years.
REV. ROBERT W. WATTS.
Ile is of the somewhat noted class of 1857, and, being the oldest member, has been held as the patriarch of the body. They are firmly and fondly at- tached to him, and he is worthy of all honor-an Israelite indeed, and in whom there is no guile.
His preaching shows that he has not let his college diploma lie neglected and dnsty. He is studious, but searching for the form of sound words, not for the material for poetic fancies. Hle is a theologian, well-grounded in Methodist doctrine. And much more, the sermon is steeped in a devont heart. His pub- lic prayers often move the congregation to tears. He is prudent, and has the gift of wise direction in Church affairs. The purest and noblest virtues meet in him. In Piedmont Virginia "Bob Watts" is without a rival in the affec- tions of the churches. Ouly pastoral limit takes him away from weeping flocks. Ilis life is a theme worthy of the pen of Goldsmith, and the story of the affection of parishioners and the unselfish service of our beloved comrade would charm the old and young as a page from apostolic history. Would the wheels of Time that bear him to old age had reversing levers upon their axle, and so keep him with the Church as its purest type of the primitive preachers in our Methodism. A great company bless God for the gift to the Church of this good man.
Ife is the son of James D. and Jane S. Watts ; was born in Amherst county, Va., October 16, 1825, The loss of a mother in his fourth year deprived him of an influence supplied by nothing else. The instructions, however, of a pious father made impressions that have never been effaced. Ardent and impressive, he was often led astray ; but the parental example and instruction under God brought him back again. The advantages of good schools in Charlottesville and vicinity were afforded him, and in his seventeenth year he went to Emory and Henry College, where he continued to graduation. During the first year he songht the Lord and connected himself with the Church, having felt a convic- tion from the earliest childhood that he was to preach. Hle resisted these feel- ings, and engaged in the business of teaching. After marriage, and the lapse of six years, whilst in charge of Higginbotham Academy, at Amherst Court- house, a pervasive revival. under the ministry of Rev. M. L. Bishop, assisted by Dr. J. E. Edwards and Rev. D. P. Wills, took place. The preaching was in- fhiential, and some fifty professions was the result. Mr. Watts and two others were indneed, under the influence of this meeting, to enter the ministry. He was licensed in the Quarterly Conference of Amherst Cirenit by Dr. Rosser on Saturday before the third Sabbath in January, 1857-a day memorable on account of a snow storm unsurpassed in the memory of the oldest inhabitants ..
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