USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 4th series, 1885-1902 > Part 18
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costly and perplexing than it is now. The rate on a single letter was fifteen cents. I once paid fifteen cents for a letter, the contents of which ran about like this: 'I take up my pen to let you know we are all well and I hope you are the same. No more at present.' "
In a long article, giving an account of his life and headed with a greeting to his brethren in the Southern, Western, and Northern States, he wrote: "During a temporary residence in Richmond, Virginia, I was bap- tized by Rev. James B. Taylor, in 1831. That was a remarkable year for scenic peculiarities. The atmosphere was hazy, dim, and depressing. The face of the sun was veiled in a green hue, with large dark spots in places that could be seen with the naked eyes. . I returned to my home in Norfolk with a letter from the Second Church, Richmond, and united with the Cumberland Street Church, under the care of Dr. Howell. I was soon elected a deacon and began with other brethren to exhort the colored people in the galleries of the house. In the course of about a year I was licensed to preach, my cre- dentials bearing the signatures of John Goodall, pastor, and Thomas D. Toy, clerk. Subsequently, I was called to Petersburg on secular business, where I supplied the Baptist Church for three months during the absence of the pastor, Dr. Southwood. Besides supplying the pulpit of the white, I preached frequently for two colored churches in the vicinity of Petersburg. At one of the services in the white church I was listened to by my first pastor, Brother Taylor, who induced me to spend some time at the Seminary, in charge of Dr. Ryland. The difficulty of being a married man was overcome; but at the end of the second year my wife died and I had not the heart to remain longer. While there I preached frequently in Manchester and for churches in the surrounding country. In June, 1838, during the session of the General Asso-
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ciation, I was ordained in the Second Baptist Church- James B. Taylor, Thomas Hume, Sr., Cumberland George, John Goodall, and Alfred Bennet, of New York, constituting the presbytery. I at once accepted the pas- torate of the Pungoteague Baptist Church, in Accomac County, where I found a delightful home in the house of Joseph Gunter, father of the present Judge Gunter, of the same place." After two years on the Eastern Shore, and four years as pastor of the Hampton Church, there being in this latter period "remarkable temperance refor- mations among the colored people" and "glorious revi- vals," he acted as pastor of the Second Baptist Church, Richmond, for a year, while the pastor, Dr. Magoon, was in Europe. During this year a debt of some $7,000 on the church was paid. Mr. Walker's "next move" was to the "classic village of Charlottesville." This was in 1846. His trip by rail from Richmond was without incident, save a delay of several hours, and when he reached his destination, at the station "was a group of the represen- tatives of the Baptist Church awaiting my arrival. Far- ish, Alexander, Abell, Massie, Mosby, and several others, gave me a welcome greeting. . I went home with Deacon Abell." So his pastorate began. The presence of the University of Virginia made him nervous as to the future, while the pronounced Pædobaptist senti- ment of the town made him feel that he wanted to be "useful on strictly Baptist lines." The boarding-school of the town was under Presbyterian control, and a rule of the school requiring all girls to attend the Presbyterian church Sunday morning subjected Mr. Walker to the mortification each Lord's Day of having a dozen Baptist pupils absent from his service. His failure to have this rule changed resulted, through his leadership, in the establishment of a school under Baptist control, with Rev. S. H. Myrick as President. In this undertaking
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Rev. W. P. Farish rendered valuable assistance. Dur- ing his Charlottesville pastorate Mr. Walker "avoided all union meetings and never cooperated with other de- nominations, if by so doing Baptist principles might be compromised." Mr. Walker tells the following incident in regard to A. Pope Abell, a noble worker in the Sunday school, the church, and the Association: "That is the only place I ever knew where a Baptist deacon went to church in a wheelbarrow. Pope Abell had injured his foot. Snow was on the ground. His Sunday school class needed him. So he had a colored man to wheel him there and home again.
"I now crossed into Western Pennsylvania and took charge of the Sandusky Street Baptist Church, Allegheny City. The place, the people, everything was strange, but the Baptist heart was there. From Allegheny I went to Fairmont, in Western Virginia, to take charge of the Baptist Recorder. I found an excellent home in the family of Dr. Eyster, whose wife was a good Baptist. I soon saw that the paper could not live where there was no Baptist church and few Baptists; and after conduct- ing it a year, I left it in the hands of the publishers. Yet during the time, I had preached in Pruntytown, Clarks- burg, Morgantown, and in the courthouse in Fairmont. The paper, too, had stirred up a first-class hornet's nest, which made it necessary for its editor to preach a three hours' sermon on baptism at Lumberport and to debate for four hours with the celebrated Moses Tichinell, of Palatine, on the same subject. After the storm had sub- sided, I made sail, under a full spread of canvas, with the old Jordanic flag fluttering at the masthead, for the East, and anchored in the Baptist harbor of Baltimore, to labor as state missionary agent for the Maryland Union Baptist Association. The year's work was noth- ing to speak of, except that Adams, Fuller, the Wilsons,
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the Cranes, and J. W. M. Williams, who came awhile before I left, were very kind to me. . . . A call came from St. Louis for a man of my dimensions and caliber to originate and take charge of a new mission interest. This was in 1850. I went. Found the cholera in the city. Reported to Dr. Jeter, at whose instance I had been called. A room was to be furnished which required money, and the missionary was to collect it. So it was tramp, tramp; beg, beg; talk, talk, just as it had been in Richmond. A hall was found, furnished and paid for and a church of twenty-two members was organized. For three years, or nearly so, I continued as pastor of this church, baptized numbers, sent two colonies to the Northwest, then resigned, and was succeeded by Rev. John Teasdale."
While pastor at Allegheny City, Mr. Walker's church was almost decimated by the departure of young men for the West, wild with the gold fever of 1849. One young man from whom the preacher expected a marriage fee in a few months "suddenly left his affianced one for the gold fields beyond the plains, promising to return shortly with his pockets full of gold dust, when she was to be made happy and I was to have a fee out of the glit- tering treasure from the mines. But alas! she has never seen him since and I-well, I have about given up the fee."
Mr. Walker, upon visiting Philadelphia, was the more anxious to see Girard College because of the rule that prohibited the entrance of ministers. A white cravat he had on, however, called forth from the porter the ques- tion : "Are you a clergyman?" and his reply prevented his admission. On another occasion the gateman asked : "Are you a stranger in these parts?" Mr. Walker re- plied : "I am a visitor to the city from the State of Missouri and would like to form an estimate of the prin-
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cipal objects of interest in your large and attractive me- tropolis." The answer came: "Very good, sir, walk in."
Mr. Walker, upon leaving St. Louis, accepted the office of Corresponding Secretary of the Domestic Mission Board at Marion, Ala. To this work he gave four years, visiting Associations and churches in the South and mak- ing two trips to the Indians 'in Kansas. From Alabama he moved to Macon to take charge of the Georgia Baptist paper, The Christian Index. He says: ". . . The year 1860 found me back in Richmond. When the War came on I served as post chaplain during the whole time. Staked all on the Confederacy and lost all. In place of twelve thousand dollars in good securities, I have eighteen thousand in Confederate bonds drawing 8 per cent. inter- est, and just as good as they ever were. And yet I could not have paid for washing a collar when the Confederacy collapsed unless some one had given me a nickel if my life had depended on it. I need not tell how I lived bachelor's life in the basement of a church ; how I carried roasting ears to market before day, or how I wrote re- ligious novels for bread and butter. All of which, how- ever, is literally true."
As post chaplain at Richmond, Mr. Walker had many interesting experiences. He describes the inauguration of Jefferson Davis, at which he was present, saying: "As if to add to the general depression of spirits, the weather on the 22d of February, 1862, was dark and stormy. The clouds were emptying themselves of torrents of water as the tall form of President Davis appeared under the equestrian statue of Washington, surrounded by a monumental group of revolutionary statesmen. There he stood under shelter of an improvised canvas, as if an- chored to the rock under his feet. His voice was steady, clear and full, and it rang out through the pelting storm like a clarion trumpet, without the slightest sign of fear
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or discouragement. An immense concourse of anxious citizens, from under an apparently solid roof of um- brellas, heard him through; and though there was no enthusiastic cheering, they retired reassured by the elec- tric oratory of their confident chief. I myself returned to my quarters with the pleasing persuasion that all was not lost. The battle of Seven Pines, called 'Fair Oaks' by the Union general, came next in order of time. This sanguinary conflict I both heard and saw from the roof of the State Capitol. On the afternoon be- fore the battle, I passed through six or seven large to- bacco warehouses that had been fitted up as hospitals. Every ward was fresh and clean, and every cot white and tidy. In less than twenty-four hours from that time there were 6,000 prostrate Confederates in those cots, mangled and wounded in almost every conceivable man- ner. A few of the Union wounded were also brought there and cared for. For six long days these bat- tles had raged more or less furiously and the thousands of dead and wounded left on the field presented a heart -. sickening sight even to veterans. My duty was to assist in burying the dead with religous services, and this we did as far as practicable. It was not unusual to have sev- eral hundreds of coffins awaiting burial at the same time, and this in the hot months of June and July. On one oc- casion there were 270 coffins corded in a rick at Holly- wood Cemetery and we had to put them in their graves by tens, making one service answer for ten at a time. In this way only could we work them off our hands, but this was not difficult when the dead were buried side by side in trenches, as they were towards the close of the War, at Oakwood. This brings me to the time
when the office of post chaplain was not very desirable. An enemy now began to close upon us that was much more formidable than Grant's well-fed and well-drilled
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legions. This consuming foe was a want of food, forage and clothing. . · Gold was at a premium of $40 for $1, and the cost for subsistence ranged upwards ac- cordingly. Sugar was $10 per pound, coffee $30, champagne, probably New York cider, $40 per bottle. I myself paid $100 for a second-hand stovepipe hat, $30 for a hair brush and a small-toothed comb, the latter a very necessary article in the last days of camp life. Or- ders frequently came from headquarters that the soldiers must be provided for, no matter what became of others; but in the winter of 1864 we were on less than half ra- tions, and these not of the choicest kind. Our bill of fare was unique and simple: Cornbread from unsifted meal, without salt ; coffee made out of rye, roasted beans or peanuts ; baked sweet potato slices, or, in fact, any- thing that would make a beverage that resembled coffee. No sugar, but sweetened with sorghum when occasionally we could get it. Twice a week each man was made happy by half a pound of some kind of meat, but even this boon did not last long, and as hunger pinched, many sighed for home and threatened to go. The officials feared this, and on a set day, after several bombastic speeches on the duty of patriotism, they promised us a dinner of turkey and 'fixings' for the Christmas near at hand. But Grant was pegging away within seven miles of us, and when Christmas came the constant rattle of musketry drove all thoughts of a dinner out of the minds of our superiors and we dined on the usual Confederate fare. I had the good fortune to purchase from a friend in Richmond a barrel of superior flour for $625. I had it conveyed to my quarters as quietly and secretly as I could, but the other chaplains got wind of it and I had one or more of them to dine with me every day. About the same time I got hold of two gallons of sorghum, and my visitors were unanimous in the opinion that I could
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make the best sweet cakes of any chaplain in service, which was true, for no other chaplain had the means of making any."
After the War Mr. Walker was pastor for three years of a field in Charlotte County, composed of the Ash Camp, Mossingford, and Charlotte Court-House Churches. Then he went West again and organized a Baptist church at St. James, Missouri. Let his own pen go on with the story: "In 1873 I went twelve miles farther south to Rolla, where I remained seven years as pastor, and we succeeded in building the handsomest meeting-house in the town. I came East three times to solicit funds for that house, and Washington, Baltimore, Richmond, Man- chester, and the General Association at Lynchburg, aided us. In company with other churches we organized the Dixon Association. In 1880 I came East again and, at their earnest request, visited Professor John H. Gill and wife in Rockville, Maryland. I concluded to make my home with them. In 1881 my friends moved to Georgetown, and, of course, I went with them. The Gay Street Church of that city, being without a pas- tor, called me and I accepted and served them for two years. On the death of Professor Gill I found a pleasant home in the family of W. H. Haycock and his wife, ster- ling Virginians."
During the last years of his life, Mr. Walker preached and lectured now and then. On a trip to Newport News and Hampton, the Hampton newspaper announced that he would lecture on the "Evangelization of Richmond," when his subject was "The Evacuation of Richmond." Upon this occasion his suggestion that in the collection contributions range from a penny to five dollars was ex- actly complied with. His death took place April 7, 1895, in the home of his dear friend, Rev. J. H. Fox, Scotts- ville, Virginia, and the funeral was conducted by Rev. Dr. William E. Hatcher.
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Mr. Walker was a man of strong native intellect, with an excellent memory and disposed to think through to his own conclusions on important questions. He had decided religious convictions and opinions on religious matters, and was, in his denominational views, what is known in Baptist ranks as a "Landmarker." He believed that for valid baptism the proper administrator was nec- essary. His mind was alert, he loved to write for the denominational press, and was always ready to break a lance with any comer whose views he could not accept. The General Association, in 1893, by formal vote, sent to him their cordial greeting. The year before, not be- ing able to be present at the General Association, he wrote to the Herald urging against long speeches and new booms. In January, 1891, he had written to the same paper warning the Baptists not to drift away from their principles and doctrines.
18
BURR P. DULIN
Fauquier, one of the Piedmont counties of Virginia, was the birthplace of Burr P. Dulin. On September 8, 1814, near Orlean, he first saw the light. "He grew up to manhood in that section, working as a farm hand. He commenced the battle of life without any adventitious aid as wealth, high social influence or culture, but had to rely upon his own strong arm, stout heart, and reso- lute will. His educational advantages were very meager, but he had a naturally strong mind and was sustained by an ambitious spirit. Reading, study, and associations made him an intelligent and well-informed man. He made a profession of religion about 1833 and was bap- tized into the fellowship of the Jeffersonton Baptist Church, Culpeper County, by Rev. Cumberland George. In the year 1837 he entered upon the work of the gospel ministry, preaching his first sermon at Carter's Run Bap- tist Church and continuing in the good work till his death." The Potomac Association was the sphere of his ministerial labors. For some years at some of his churches his salary came, at least in part, from the State Mission Board, and year by year his reports to the Board show how active and successful he was. In 1868 he baptized twenty-four; in 1872, eighty-five; in 1873, sixty-four; in 1874, twenty-two, and in 1875, fifty-five. For years he preached regularly to four churches, and the record of many a year shows that he was often pastor of more than four churches; one year the number ran up to seven! The following is a list of the churches in the Potomac Association that he served as pastor for longer or shorter periods, and the list may
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not be complete : Brentsville, Oak Dale, Mount Hope, Union Grove, Centerville, Gainesville, Jerusalem, Beulah, Brentown (afterwards New Hope), Woodbine, Clifton, Mount Carmel, Stafford's Store. Of at least one of these churches, Oak Dale, his pastorate continued for many years. In 1880, when he had been pastor there for twen- ty-one years, he wrote to the Herald, giving some reasons why he had been able to stay so long. He had been prompt in meeting his appointments ; he had always sought to settle personal difficulties outside of the church meet- ings ; in visiting, he had always treated all persons alike, and had made it his rule not to tell to one person the ill another had said about him; he had always tried to give his people the plain, simple truth of the gospel. He "had many gifts that make the popular preacher. He had an attractive and a commanding appearance, a benevolent face, and a voice, winning, musical and of great com- pass. He had a fluent speech, a ready command of lan- guage and a sympathetic nature. He was a man of faith and hope. Others might sit in the shadows, but he stood on the mountain top and saw the crowning day. His thoughts had little of logical arrangement and did not court the drapery of rhetorical fancy, but they fell upon the hearts of the people as fire in the stubble. His mind and heart were intent on saving souls, and often he would rise to heights of genuine eloquence and of great persuasive power. He was more preacher than pastor. The pastoral work was not exactly to his mind. He did not have, as some, that enviable gift that can train and develop all the talents of the church so that it may be- come an active and efficient body. Brother Dulin was an evangelist, and he magnified his office.
As missionary, evangelist and pastor, he traveled with eager feet the counties of Fauquier, Loudoun, Stafford, Culpeper, Rappahannock, Greene, Madison, Spottsyl-
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vania, and Prince William, proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation. He was twice married. He delighted in his home. Blessings followed him. The shadows also came and rested upon his home and path. Death invaded his happy retreat and called wives and children, so that of a large family only three children survive him." He preached his last sermon to his Oak Dale Church the Sunday before his death. A Presbyterian preacher who heard this sermon said that he preached with unusual power. "The last act in the drama came some time Fri- day night, April 26, 1895. It was a fitting and beautiful close. He had made his preparations to meet his con- gregations near Alexandria on the following Saturday and Sunday and then retired to his chamber for the night's rest. When the morning came his son entered the chamber to arouse his father to meet the early train. He saw him lying on his side; his eyes were closed; his cheek was resting on his open hand. He thought the father was asleep. It was deep, sweet sleep, blessed sleep,
"'From which none ever wakes to weep.'
"The children called their father, but he was not, for God had taken him." The quotations and some of the other facts in this sketch are from the obituary in the Minutes of the General Association, prepared by Rev. Dr. I. B. Lake.
THOMAS CLARKE GOGGIN
Thomas Clarke Goggin was born January 2, 1815, being the oldest son of Stephen and Jeanette Goggin. When he was sixteen years old he made a profession of religion, and on August 6, 1831, was baptized into the fellowship of Morgan's Church (then known as Goose Creek Church), a church which was organized in 1787. In 1832 he was granted "the privilege of exercising his gifts in prayer and exhortation within the bounds of his church." In 1838, he was ordained. On December 4 of the same year he was married to Miss Elizabeth Jane, youngest daughter of Thomas and Sarah Johnson. Dur- ing his long ministry he married 582 couples. While he was, during a period of some sixty years, pastor of vari- ous churches and a preacher far and near, his member- ship continued to the day of his death with Morgan's Church. During the pastorate of Rev. James Leftwich there was much opposition to missions and giving to the Boards in Morgan's Church. Finally, Mr. Goggin made a motion one day that all who were not in favor of con- tributing to these objects be allowed to withdraw. Seven got up, put on their hats and walked out, Brother Left- wich remarking as they departed that there were seven and that their number would not increase, which predic- tion was verified.
He was, for a longer or shorter period, pastor of the following churches: Morgan's (Goose Creek), Pales- tine, Staunton, Old Fork, Hales Ford, Fairmont, Boone Mill, Blue Ridge, Enon (Hollins), New Hope (Beaver Dam), Mount Zion, Suck Spring, Timber Ridge, Mount Olivet, Quaker, Bethlehem, Shady Grove, and Stony Road. Of "Morgan's" he was pastor three times and
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for some twenty years. He was what might be called now the old-style Virginia country preacher. From about Tuesday to Friday of each week he worked on his farm and attended to his material affairs. On Friday he set out for his Saturday appointment. On Saturday he met this engagement, preaching and holding the business meeting of the church. On Sunday he preached once or twice or even three times at as many places, and on Mon- day returned home. In the case of Mr. Goggin, at least one of his appointments was thirty-seven miles away. Besides his preaching in churches and at regular appoint- ments, many a sermon was delivered at schoolhouses, private residences, in the woods and other places. His labors touched Botetourt, Montgomery, Giles, Craig, Roanoke, and perhaps other counties. A large part of his work was without financial compensation. He was a fearless defender of the doctrines of the Baptists. Once he was preaching on the subject of baptism at Floyd Court-House. There were few Baptists at this place and no Baptist church. After he had spoken an hour and a half, he was about to close, but his audience cried out to him to go on, as they wanted to hear him. So he con- tinued, and his sermon reached out over two hours and three-quarters. This was the longest sermon he ever preached.
He was moderator of the Strawberry Association for twenty-one successive sessions, from 1849 to 1868, a period of nineteen years. During part of this time the body held two meetings each year. He would probably have been continued in this office for yet many more years by his brethren, but his modest, retiring disposition suggested that this honor be given to others. For years his presence and his words of exhortation were a bene- diction to the Association. One year, when the Associa- tion met at Bethlehem Church, some younger brethren, in their ardor and zeal, undertook to reprove and rebuke
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the older brethren in the ministry. After hearing their words, Brother Goggin arose and spoke about as follows : "I do not know what I ought to say ; perhaps I ought not to say anything, but I feel like putting a little salve upon the bleeding backs of these dear old brethren who have been lashed so here to-day." During the session of the "Strawberry" at Liberty (now Bedford City), in 1889, there was a beautiful expression of the affection in which Brother Goggin was held. A buggy and harness, which some of his friends had purchased for him, was pre- sented to him by Rev. Dr. W. R. L. Smith, at that time pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lynchburg.
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