USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 4th series, 1885-1902 > Part 19
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When Rev. G. Wheeler first began to preach he fre- quently accompanied his senior, T. C. Goggin. Mr. Gog- gin had been his pastor for ten years and had exerted a strong religious influence upon him in the days of his youth. The younger man shrank from preaching in the presence of this father in ministry, but Mr. Goggin would decline to take the young man's place, saying: "Brother Wheeler, I can not do it. If I do it to-day, you will want me to do it next time, and I want you to put the harness on and go to work and I will pray for you." On May 27, 1861, when a company set out for the War from an old mill about two miles from Liberty (Bedford City), his own son being one of the company, T. C. Goggin was present to see them start. He took one of the men by the hand and said: "Remember the one thing need- ful."
The last years of his life Brother Goggin spent in the home of his son, in Vinton. Through this period, when he was approaching and then going beyond the age of fourscore years, he went to preaching "when many younger stayed at home because of the weather." He died April 19, 1895, and was buried at Morgan's Church, Bedford County, the funeral sermon being preached by Rev. Gabriel Wheeler.
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TIBERIUS GRACCHUS JONES
Tiberius Gracchus Jones was born in Powhatan County, Virginia, July 12, 1821. His father, Wood Jones, of Nottoway County, and his mother, who was a Miss Archer, of Powhatan County, both died when he was some three years old. On his father's side he was related to John Winston Jones, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and through his mother to United States Senator William S. Archer and Branch T. Archer, who "was conspicuous in the early councils of Texas." When left an orphan he lived with one of his brothers, who afterwards became distinguished as a lawyer. When he was thirteen years old "he entered the office of William Sands, of the Religious Herald and remained five years." He was eighteen when, in 1839, he entered what is now Richmond College. After three years here he went to the University of Virginia for two sessions and finally graduated at William and Mary College in 1844. Both at the University and at William and Mary he was vale- dictorian, his ability as a public speaker being thus early recognized. Upon his graduation he went to Alabama, where he taught school for about two years, at the same time doing some study along theological lines and some preaching. Previous to this time he had been converted and been baptized into the fellowship of the Second Bap- tist Church by Rev. James B. Taylor. While he was at Richmond College he decided to become a preacher and was licensed by the Second Baptist Church.
Upon his return to Virginia from Alabama he began to preach at Clarksville, and from this place was invited to supply the Freemason Street Baptist Church, Norfolk,
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Virginia. This led to his being called and to his accept- ing the call of this church, he being their first pastor and this his first church. This step proved to be even more important than perhaps he realized. His connection with this church was to be long and distinguished. His work there began in December, 1849, and this pastorate con- tinued until March 7, 1864. He left Norfolk to become pastor of the Franklin Square Church, Baltimore, suc- ceeding Rev. T. H. Pritchard. His service here was brief, for he was called back to his first charge and heeded the call. Scarcely had he more than gotten well to work again in Norfolk when, on August 24, 1866, upon the reorganization of Richmond College after the War, he was called to its presidency. After some three years in this important position, for the third time he accepted a call, on April 21, 1869, to the Freemason Street Church. He remained in Norfolk two years until, on January 13, 1871, he resigned to become pastor of the First Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn. He was under-shepherd for this people some twelve years. His last pastorate was in the same city as his first. This time not Freemason Street Church, but the First Church became his flock. From January 1, 1884, until April, 1893, he continued his work with the First Church. His long career as a pastor came to an end with his years at the First Church. The re- mainder of his life was given to writing and study.
Dr. Jones (the degree was conferred upon him by Rich- mond College) will be remembered best as a preacher. He was a man of learning and scholarship; as has al- ready been seen, was the president of one of our best colleges, and had been sought by Mercer University and Wake Forest for this same high office, but he was first and foremost a preacher.
Evidence of his ability in the pulpit is not wanting; witness his three pastorates at one church, and that one
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of our best in a leading, growing city, and his long pas- torate in Nashville. Besides, he was in demand for spe- cial occasions. Three times, namely, at the First Church, Richmond, in 1851; again at the Second Church, Rich- mond, in 1854, and once more at Leigh Street Church, Richmond, in 1890, he was the preacher of the introduc- tory sermon before the General Association. In 1873, at Mobile, he preached the introductory sermon before the Southern Baptist Convention. Concerning this ser- mon, Dr. John A. Broadus wrote to his wife these words: "Dr. T. G. Jones' introductory sermon last night (one and a half hours) was one of the noblest I ever heard- intensely practical, saying the very things that needed to be said and saying them with wonderful freshness and impressiveness." In 1894 Dr. Jones was the preacher of the baccalaureate sermon at the University of Virginia. His subject was "The Everlasting Gospel," and he was asked to publish it. The chaplain of the University, de- scribing the sermon, said that it was "able in thought, clear in analysis, chaste and classic in style, containing the very marrow of the gospel and glittering with those rare gems of thought and illustration which this prince of preachers is accustomed to scatter with such lavish hand." At the funeral of Dr. Jones the chief address was made by Rev. Dr. J. C. Hiden. In speaking of Dr. Jones as a preacher, he said: "Tiberius Jones was, first of all, a preacher. To the work of preaching he gave his highest and best powers, and those powers were great. One of the most striking things about his preaching was that it was thoroughly evangelical. Brilliant and original as he was, he never found the old paths too narrow for him to walk in. Indeed, I never heard any one express a suspicion as to his soundness. Neither from the pulpit nor in conversation did I ever hear him utter a sentiment which was contrary to the spirit or to the letter of the teachings of the Scriptures. He was a thoroughly sound
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preacher and loved to preach the doctrines of grace. In the preparation of his discourses he was laborious and painstaking. His sermons were the fruit of careful study. Though his mind was filled with the best thinking of the world, ancient and modern, he knew that he could not trust to the spur of the moment to produce valuable ser- mons ; and when, after hard thinking and elaborate prep- aration, he had developed some great theme and stood in his pulpit to deliver the rich results of his study, he did not trouble himself about the clock ; he took his time and was in no hurry. The greatest preachers I have ever heard were, in my judgment, John A. Broadus, Tiberius Jones, and A. B. Brown. I do not know which of them I ought to place first. They differed widely, but each was a master in his line." Rev. Dr. A. B. Brown, in describing an ordination service in Charlottesville, spoke thus of the sermon of the occasion which was preached by Dr. Jones on the text: "Preach the word": "This was one of the best efforts of its admired author, whose subtlety and logical power few of the ministers of Vir- ginia can surpass, whose width of mental range scarcely one can equal, and whose richness of imagination and splendor and beauty of diction are absolutely unrivaled."
Dr. Jones seemed to some severe and stern, but those who knew him well doubtless had no such idea of him. Dr. Hiden says as a friend he was trustful and often playful, and that as a talker he was superb. Dr. Paul Whitehead, of the Methodist Church, who for a season lived in the same house with him, says that he was "a miserable dyspeptic, with pallid countenance and look of one feeling ever more the remorse of a guilty stomach. He was pleasant company and a hard student." In the address already alluded to Dr. Hiden said : "Brother Jones was a man of wide learning and had made himself familiar with the best literature of the world. Plato de- lighted him, and the ideal speculations of that great man
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had no little influence upon his thought and his style. Coleridge charmed him. His mind was saturated with Shakespeare. But with all his talents and learning, he was as simple as a child. I never knew a more perfectly natural human being. He spoke to the gathered thou- sands exactly as he talked to a single friend in the most intimate converse, only he might speak rather louder to the crowd; though even this was not always true. I never heard him strain his voice anywhere. It was deep, sonorous, and singularly penetrating, and in ordinary conversation he would, now and then, when roused by some suggestive point, or fired with an apt quotation, put his voice to its full power and utter his words with tremendous emphasis."
Dr. Jones was the author of several books. One of these was entitled: "The Great Misnomer." It under- took to show that "The Communion" was not as appro- priate a name for the memorial established by the Sav- iour as "The Lord's Supper." A prize essay from his pen, published by the Southern Baptist Publication So- ciety, was called : "The Duties of Pastors to Churches." Another work of which he was the author was published by the American Baptist Publication Society and bore the title: "Origin and Continuity of Baptist Churches." Dr. Jones was vice-president for several sessions of the Southern Baptist Convention, and at one time vice-presi- dent of the Board of Trustees of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Jones died at the home of his son-in-law, Mr. J. B. Jeffress, 914 Park Avenue, Richmond, Virginia, Thurs- day, June 27, 1895. At the funeral the next day the fol- lowing ministers took part in the services: Rev. Dr. W. W. Landrum, Rev. Dr. George Cooper, Rev. Dr. J. C. Hiden, and Rev. Dr. W. D. Thomas. Nearly all the Baptist ministers of Richmond were present. The burial took place in Hollywood.
JOHN LEMUEL CARROLL
About the middle of the eighteenth century John Car- roll migrated from Kings County, Ireland. He settled in North Carolina and fought in the Revolutionary War. His great-grandson, John Lemuel Carroll, the son of John Dodson and Zilpha Carroll, was born in Duplin County, North Carolina, December 21, 1836. At the age of nine he became a member of the Beaver Dam Baptist Church, and in 1858 was licensed by this body. In 1863 he graduated at the University of North Carolina, having already been a student at Wake Forest College. Years later the University conferred on him the degree of D. D. He was ordained in the Chapel of the University, May 12, 1862. In 1865 he married Sarah G. Mitchell, of New Berne, N. C.
After teaching in the Oxford Female College and act- ing as agent for St. John's College, he lived at Wake Forest, where he was a trustee of Wake Forest and sec- retary of its Board, and in March, 1871, accepted a call to the Baptist Church, Warrenton, Virginia. His other Virginia pastorates were Lexington and Gordonsville and Orange Court-House. In 1885 he accepted a call to the Baptist Church at Asheville, North Carolina, and in 1889 organized in that city the French Broad Avenue Baptist Church, becoming its first pastor. In 1893 he became pastor at Chapel Hill, the seat of the State Uni- versity, where he continued actively at work until his death, June 10, 1895.
Dr. Carroll had a magnificent body, being very tall. In Lexington he used a chair several inches higher than other chairs. He was vigorous in mind and had a re- markable memory for Scripture; his sermons were full of quotations from the Bible. He excelled in extempo- raneous speaking. "He was fearless and courageous in his ministry and greatly beloved and respected."
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SAMUEL POINDEXTER HUFF
Samuel Poindexter Huff was born in the vicinity of Zion's Hill Meeting House, Botetourt County, Virginia, June 4, 1828, and came from a family of German de- scent. His father was a well-known citizen of Bote- tourt, a large landholder, a leader in his community, with a family of eleven children. Young Huff had a hard struggle to fit himself for the Christian ministry, which he entered in his early youth. He was received into the fellowship of the church at the age of fifteen, his brother, William, three years his senior, being received the same day. Seven years later the church set its seal upon Sam- uel and William Huff, when they were both licensed to preach the gospel. Samuel P. Huff, now twenty-two, assumed immediately the charge of two small churches in an adjoining county. The five or six years that fol- lowed were marked by struggles necessarily strenuous because of the insufficient educational advantages of that period. He was educated, first, at Roanoke Academy, then at the Western Theological Seminary, in Covington County, and lastly at the University of Virginia.
In August, 1865, he was married to Miss Bettie A. Jurey, of Charlottesville, Virginia, who was of Huguenot extraction on the paternal side, and on the mother's side nearly related to the descendants of that Lewis who freed the Valley of Virginia from the terror of the Indians and drove the last representative of the old British offi- cialism from the soil of Virginia. She was also a grand- daughter of Colonel John Slaughter, of the Revolution.
Mr. Huff, refusing a flattering call to one of the West- ern cities, continued the work he had begun in the Val-
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ley of Virginia. His profound interest was in the strug- gling Baptist cause in his own section. During the per- iod which followed he was pastor at Healing Springs, Goshen Bridge, and Lexington, Virginia, but his best work was done in Albemarle and Nelson Counties, with the Mount Ed and Hebron Churches, where he was pastor for a quarter of a century. He served Adiel and Hillsboro Churches for awhile. At Mount Ed, Rev. John E. Massey, who had served the church for nine years, had just resigned in the fall of 1861 on account of the "impaired state of his health." On March 27, 1862, this congregation met "pursuant to appointment to observe the day as a day of humiliation, prayer, and fast- ing." It was at this meeting that Brother Huff was unanimously called to become the pastor of Mount Ed Church. The failure of the State Mission Board, owing to the stress of the War, had caused him to change his field. Here the Baptists were strong and influential, and his labors abundantly blessed of God. In a comparatively short time over two hundred persons were added to his several churches. "During the year 1862," he wrote, "I baptized into the fellowship of Hebron Church fourteen persons, in the year following into the fellowship of the same church eighty-six, at Hillsboro sixteen, and at
Mount Ed fourteen. During the years intervening I continued to preach at the same churches, with yearly additions. During the years 1869-70, I_preached once a month at Adiel Church, with twenty-five additions. I held a meeting at Mount Ed which continued six weeks, in which seventy made a profession of faith, of whom forty were received into the church."
Brother Huff lived, during all the time of this long pastorate, at Batesville, Virginia, a little village in the sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He was a fine speci- men of robust and well-proportioned manhood, and his
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mind resembled his body in its sturdy qualities. Nat- urally of an argumentative disposition, firm and unyield- ing in his convictions, he fastened powerfully upon the Scriptures as containing the only way of refuge and sal- vation for the soul. .
A small treatise of Brother Huff's, entitled "Infants Not the Proper Subject of Christian Baptism," was very widely circulated and highly commended by the Religious Herald, then edited by the Rev. David Shaver. His preaching was of earnest and evangelical character, be- coming more emotional towards the latter part of his life. Dr. G. W. Beale says that "He possessed much na- tive vigor of mind, which was disciplined to habits of devout and studious application. His gifts as a preacher were solid rather than showy. In the pulpit he was sound, scriptural, instructive, and useful, and his guile- less life was in beautiful harmony with his doctrine." He was a man not naturally demonstrative, mild in man- ner, but unbending in dignity, strong in conviction, up- right in character, and entertaining the utmost good will towards all men. Such is the man who, for twenty-five long years, went in and out among the people in the Batesville neighborhood and lived such a life as to leave a fragrant memory even to the present day. He was passionately fond of flowers, and devoted about half of the yard of the little parsonage to an extraordinary va- riety of "serials," as they were called. This interest he shared with his wife, who was at one time in the faculty of Hollins Institute, and a botanist who brought a real scientific skill to the support of their mutual interest. Mrs. Huff was an artist and linguist, but with a warm and emotional nature and a strong sense of duty-quali- ties which beautifully fitted her for a pastor's wife.
On May 15, 1887, he resigned Mount Ed and Hebron Churches to accept the chaplaincy of Miller School, lo- cated but a few miles away, thus remaining two years
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longer in the neighborhood he loved so well, and where he had labored so long and successfully.
In the summer of 1889 he was called to the pastorate of the Second Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia. For three years he labored with this band of believers, making many warm friends and raising a considerable amount of money towards a new church building. His next and last charge was in Westmoreland and Rich- mond Counties. This field was composed of Nomini, Machodoc, and Menokin Churches, and this pastorate began in 1892. He was now sixty-four years old, but by the great waters of the Potomac, in the full scent of the sea, surrounded by the wild rose and the magnificent poplars planted by the early settlers, he seemed to take a new hold on life. He was still a fine specimen of strong manhood, extremely active for his age, and singu- larly free from the physical disorders that had been so great a trial during his early ministry. But it was here that the old disorder returned, and other com- plications set in, which necessitated an examination in Baltimore by eminent specialists. In Baltimore, at the home of his son, Slaughter W. Huff, after a long life amid the freshness and serenity of the country, he lin- gered for several years, and died amid the noises of a strange city on January 13, 1896.
It was his lot to live for months in the shadow of the great and mysterious beyond, on the verge of eternity, in the valley and shadow of death. "I think constantly about it," he said to his other son, Lewis J. Huff, "but I submit to the will of Providence." When the end came he met it with complete fortitude and strength of the Christian and philosopher. He was laid to rest at Cul- peper, Virginia, in the soil of the State he loved so much. The cemetery lay out in full view of the mountains that were so indissolubly connected with the best work of his life, and from whose slope many precious souls would rise to join him on the Great Day.
L. Peyton Little.
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EDWARD GRANVILLE BAPTIST
Edward Granville Baptist was born in Powhatan, Vir- ginia, on March 27, 1828, his parents being Rev. Edward Baptist and Eliza J. C. Eggleston. When Edward was some eight years old his father, who was one of the leading Baptist ministers of Virginia, moved, with his family, to Marengo County, Alabama. Alabama became one of the States of the Union on December 14, 1819, and about the time the Baptists went thither was attract- ing newcomers. It was still to a large degree in a nat- ural state, and in certain sections wolves were not un- common. Such a trip must have made a deep impres- sion on the growing boy. At an early age he professed faith in Christ and was baptized by Rev. Lilburn L. Fox, who had been born in Louisa County, Virginia, and whose grandfather was a near relative of the English statesman, Charles James Fox. When he was about twenty-four years old, he was ordained to the ministry, his father, Rev. Mr. Fox and others forming the pres- bytery. "The first years of his ministry were spent in Alabama, where he served several important fields with acceptance." In 1856 he visited his native State, and, having accepted calls to Wallers and Mine Road Churches, settled in Spottsylvania County. From this time until his death, with the exception of a few years in Alabama, he lived among the people of Spottsylvania County. During these years he served, besides the churches named above, the following churches which were in reach of his home: County Line and Mount Carmel, in Caroline; Elon, in Hanover; Massaponax, Goshen, Mount Hermon, Good Hope, Wilderness, and Rhoadesville, in Spottsylvania; Elk Creek, Lower Gold Mine, and Berea, in Louisa; Beulah and Mount Gilead, in Fluvanna. In the year 1893 he was pastor of these churches: Goshen, with a membership of 76; Mine
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Road, with 142 ; Mount Hermon, with 126, and Rhoades- ville, with 129. On the Saturday before the first Sun- day and on the first Sunday he preached at Mount Her- mon. On the second Sunday, and the Saturday before, he was at Mine Road. On the third Sunday he preached at Goshen, and on the fourth Sunday he was due at Rhoadesville, and once every quarter he was here for a Saturday service on the Saturday before the fourth Sun- day. It appears that the membership of his four churches this year made an aggregate of 473. During the year he baptized into the fellowship of these four churches fifty-eight persons. There were 335 in the four Sunday schools and the contributions of the churches to missions amounted to $696:39. His salary this year was $410, but it is probable that besides, generous supplies found their way to his pantry.
Rev. Dr. L. J. Haley, who wrote Mr. Baptist's obitu- ary for the General Association Minutes for 1896, from which some of the facts of this sketch are taken, says: "Elder Baptist was a man of stern and upright religious and moral character. He was a true and unselfish friend ; kind and gentle in his family; a friendly and generous neighbor ; a loyal and patriotic citizen ; an able and elo- quent preacher of the gospel; a faithful and loving pas- tor, and a man and a Christian, who in all the relations and responsibilities of life earnestly and conscientiously strove to do his duty and to make himself useful and helpful to his fellow-man. He was a man of extraordi- nary power and ability in the pulpit. I think I can truth- fully say that some of the finest specimens of pulpit ora- tory I ever listened to came from the lips of E. G. Bap- tist."
In June, 1894, when apparently in vigorous health, while talking with a neighbor, he suffered a slight stroke of paralysis. Other troubles set in, and finally on the morning of Wednesday, January 29, 1896, in his own home and surrounded by his family, he quietly fell on sleep.
JOHN A. DOLL
John A. Doll was born in Maryland, October 7, 1821. At the age of fourteen he united with the Methodists, and in early manhood became an itinerant preacher of that denomination. As a Methodist preacher he traveled and preached in some forty counties. On October 24, 1853, he was married to Miss Sallie A. Hoge, of Scotts- ville, Virginia, the daughter of Rev. P. C. Hoge, a popu- lar Baptist preacher. This step naturally led him to the study of Baptist doctrines, and in 1856 he was baptized by Rev. J. H. Fox and was from this time forward a loyal Baptist and a zealous defender of the faith. For some time he had no regular charge, but assisted Mr. Hoge, filling many of his numerous appointments. Finally, however, he became a pastor, serving, and serv- ing well, Hardware, Bethany, and Slate Hill, and per- haps other churches, in the Albemarle Association. About six years before his death, he went with his wife to live in Florida, where he spent the two most pleasant years of his ministerial career, but failing health made it necessary for him to return to Virginia. In December, 1895, he and his wife went to Kentucky to visit her brother. On March 20, 1896, while in the post-office in Frankfort, Ky., he suddenly fell, and before any one could reach him, he had expired. Rev. Dr. H. W. Tribble wrote Mr. Doll's obituary for the General Association Minutes. From this notice most of the facts and some of the language of the foregoing part of this sketch are taken.
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