USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 4th series, 1885-1902 > Part 25
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"Physically," says Dr. Dunaway, "Andrew Broaddus was a fine specimen of his race. Until bowed and bent with age and suffering, he was erect, of graceful pro- portions, with broad, square shoulders and a well- developed chest. A sculptor could hardly have desired a better head for his model." While he was especially learned in what was his especial line "yet he knew much about anatomy, medicine, law, science, art, philosophy, and politics." He was most deeply interested in the affairs of his county, his state and country. "When any important question was agitating the people of his county and he found it was necessary, he would address his fellow-citizens from the hustings." Dr. Dunaway says that "as a pastor Dr. Broaddus had few equals. In the pastoral office he was judicious, wise, sympathetic, firm, yet affectionate. He was a good disciplinarian, mingling firmness with gentleness in the oversight of his flocks." In speaking of Dr. Broaddus as a preacher, Dr. Dunaway says: "He expressed his fresh and strik- ing thoughts in an earnest, clear and colloquial way. He addressed himself to the reason, rather than to the feel- ings and fears of his hearers. He was skilled in the use of apt and striking illustrations. His preaching was eminently practical, sound and able."
In portraying the character of Dr. Broaddus, Dr. Hatcher says, in part: "To me, Dr. Broaddus was one
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of the most strikingly unique and uncommon men I have ever known. Dr. Broaddus was sui generis. His head was unlike other heads, his walk was peculiarly his own, and his voice resembled no other. He was built on no common pattern, carried the traits of no recognized cult, lit his lamp at no neighborhood fire, and was an alien in his own home. He was the son of an eminent, indeed, an illustrious father; but, if those who have written of his father have faithfully characterized him, there was little in the son to suggest the father. He had sons, three in number, all ministers of the gospel and all worthy of so noble a father and yet · ·
not one who resembled him. On the rugged road of life he walked a solitary figure.
Whether a proposition was popular or offensive weighed little with him. If there was any issue he deliberately took his place in the contention and he knew not the meaning of fear, in asserting his convictions. Not belch- ing cannon nor raging mobs, nor martyr fires could terrify him. A nature so transparent as this was sure, at times, to give offence. Evil men might fear and respect Dr. Broaddus, but they were not likely to love him, and even good people who were sensitive or suspicious were often startled by his rugged can- dor. . He softened under the hand of his Master, and in his last days he was a knight worthy of his King-modest, courtly, and ever ready to serve. His self-assertion gradually shaped itself into a cheerful out- put of himself for the honor of his Redeemer. . Dr. Broaddus was an intense Baptist in his convictions. He sounded the depths of Baptist teachings and was well posted on every point. It was of his very nature to teach what he believed and yet his courtesy was almost peer- less. He rarely ever gave others any just cause for complaint as to his temper and tone in presenting his
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views. His commission to preach was sub- stantially a summons to leadership. For this he was fitted by the strength of his convictions, his courage in the face of opposition and his spirit of progress. He
had an inborn love of battle and a keen relish
for victory. He was a Democrat by nature and a Baptist by grace and this served him in good turn when the vote went the other way. While he was heard on larger platforms many times, the Rappa- hannock Association was his native heath, his own realm, and there he was by no means easy to handle.
Dr. Broaddus had a faculty for friendship.
He was too self-respecting to be envious, too high- minded to be jealous and too affectionate to be sus- picious."
W. A. STREET
W. A. Street, the son of Elder Z. Street and Ursula Lee, was born at La Grange, Middlesex County, May 4, 1835. His father was at the time of his death the pastor of the Glebe Landing Baptist Church, and his mother was a woman of "strong intellect." A sketch of Elder Z. Street may be found in the "Second Series." The son's education was interrupted by his father's death and he took charge of the farm and slaves and the family. In January 1861 he was married to Miss F. Augusta Hundley (sister of Rev. J. W. Hundley), but he soon left his bride to answer his country's call to arms. In the army he rose to the rank of captain; but, alas, forsook the profession of religion made when he was only eleven years old and became worldly and intemper- ate. Eventually he left his evil ways and reconsecrated his life to God. His decision to study law was abandoned and in 1872 he was licensed to preach. At his ordination W. H. Kirk, John W. Ryland and W. W. Wood were the presbytery. Before this event he had attended Crozer Seminary. By far the larger part of his ministry was spent in the Rappahannock Association, where he served these churches: Glebe Landing, Lower King and Queen, Corotoman, Lebanon, Providence (Northumberland), Norwood. While his ministry began and ended in the Rappahannock, he gave a few years to the Accomac Association, serving there Bethel, Lee Mont, and Zion churches. So great was the affection of his churches for him that not long before his death they called him for life. "He had the faculty of making and retaining warm friendships." His second wife was Miss Mary A. Sadler, who, with three children, survived him. He died April 19, 1900.
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A. F. DAVIDSON
For almost half a century Rev. A. F. Davidson labored in the Concord Association, being for about forty years of this period an active pastor. For thirty-seven con- secutive years he was pastor of the Liberty Church, Mecklenburg County. The other churches that he served were: Buffalo, Ephesus, Mt. Horeb, Olivet, Boydton, New Hope, Ebenezer and Clarksville. He was a leader in the Concord Association. "In him were beautifully blended clearness of judgment, firmness of purpose and gentleness of spirit." He was married twice and left one daughter. He died Saturday, July 21, 1900, in the seventy-third year of his age.
W. R. D. MONCURE
When he had just passed his sixty-fourth birthday Rev. W. R. D. Moncure, on Friday, November 2, 1900, passed away. His death took place at the Virginia Hospital, Richmond, where he had undergone an opera- tion that it had been hoped would save his life. His wife and eight children survived him. His longest pas- torate, which lasted thirteen years, was at Bruington Church, Rappahannock Association. His other churches in this Association were Mt. Zion and Upper Essex. He held one pastorate in the Appomattox Association, namely, Sharon and Pisgah, and the last work of his life was at Leetown, West Virginia, where he remained five years. "He was an able and instructive preacher and his personal influence, while gentle, was mighty." He did his work "with such conscientious and careful devo- tion that to some thoughtless persons he seemed eccen- tric."
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RICHARD EDWARD BOOKER
Richard Edward Booker, the fourth child of Richard Booker and Sallie Carter Love, was born at "Grampion Hills," Prince Edward County, Virginia, October 15, 1825. He studied one session at Hampden-Sidney College, but even to his last days with pride and pleasure he spoke of Richmond College, where he was a student for three years, as his alma mater. After his ordination, which took place at Red House, Charlotte County, November 13, 1852, Samuel Davidson, Elijah W. Roach, John C. Hamner and William Tyree constituting the presbytery, Mr. Booker labored for three years as a missionary and then became a pastor, which office he filled for various churches until a short time before his death. His ministry began in Buckingham County and was closed on Staunton River, the southern boundary of Campbell County. In this territory he was pastor of Red Oak, Hebron, Mt. Vernon, Ebenezer, Brookneal, and Midway. Several of these churches he served more than .once, and one of them, Ebenezer, for about thirty-six years.
Mr. Booker was married twice: on June 21, 1853, to Miss Gilliam; on June 4, 1873, to Miss L. O. Patterson. His first wife died February 24, 1870, leaving five children. His second wife, three children born of this marriage and four of the first survived him.
In his cottage home (near Naruna, Campbell County, Virginia ), which was embowered in flowers and hard by the church, this father in Israel, his hoary head a crown of honor, passed his last years, breaking the bread of life to his flock, extending to his brethren in the ministry and to others a genial hospitality, loving to talk to all of the things of God. He fell on sleep July 5, 1900, and was buried, according to his request, just in the rear of the Ebenezer Meeting-House (which had been erected under his leadership) whose pulpit he had so faithfully filled so many years. The funeral services were con- ducted by Rev. C. A. Woodson and Rev. John B. Wil- liams. The minutes of the Appomattox Association for 1900 contains an excellent picture of Brother Booker.
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T. N. SANDERSON
Upon the organization of the Blue Ridge Association at Mayo Church, Henry County, in 1858, the opening sermon was preached by Rev. T. N. Sanderson, on the text: "My kingdom is not of this world," Jno. 18:36. At that time his home was at Hale's Ford, Franklin County. He was born May 4, 1819, and was a fellow- worker in the ministry with Elder D. G. Taylor. He was ordained August 17, 1855. Sanderson was two years older than Taylor, but Taylor entered the ministry two years ahead of Sanderson. They were often at each other's home. Elder Sanderson's visits to his friend left a distinct impression on at least one of Elder Taylor's sons. This son, Rev. J. J. Taylor, says of "Brother Sanderson": "His piety was not of the lugubrious type, and he was not a terror to youth ; on the contrary, he had a bountiful fund of humor, a large stock of funny yarns, a talent for mimicry, and could easily set the most stolid and solemn company asmile. But he knew the times and seasons and never forgot that he was a messenger of the King. . 'Brother Sanderson,' as the children affectionately called him, understood vocal music and sang pretty well. He had evangelistic gifts and held several meetings at Mayo. The one best remembered was in 1869. On that occa- sion he had with him his eldest daughter, who was also a good singer, and the two singing together created something of a sensation, and started the community on a new era of song. The meeting was well attended, and among the converts was my older brother, S. F. Taylor, now President of Stephens College, Columbia, Mo. One of the sermons preached in this meeting, which received special commendation, was based on the words :
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'Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.' Incidentally, he paid a tribute to his own mother." He was pastor of the Beaver Dam, Shady Grove, New Hope, Morgan's Bend, Liberty (now Bedford City), Glade Hill, Rocky Mount, Flint Hill, and Fairmont churches. Upon leaving Virginia he settled first in Clarksville, Mo., and later at La Grange, Mo. In this latter place his fourteen children enjoyed superior educational advantages. He was married twice; his first wife was Miss Martha Jane Crews, and his second Miss Mary Jane Drummond. In Missouri he was pastor of a number of churches. He died at Edgewood, Mo., where his last days were spent, on December 18, 1900, at which time he had fifty-two grandchildren. One of his sons is a minister, Rev. E. J. Sanderson.
HENRY GRADY FERGUSON
Henry Grady Ferguson, who was a Virginia pastor for ten years, was born in Greenville, S. C., and died in Midway, Ky., on Christmas day, 1900. He was a graduate of Furman University and of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Upon the completion of his studies at the Seminary he became pastor of the Bap- tist church in Waynesboro, Virginia. During his ten years here, "a beautiful, commodious, modern church building in an attractive part of the town" took the place of "a small, dingy house on an obscure back street." In 1898 the Waynesboro church, during the Spanish- American War, granted him a leave of absence that he might serve as Chaplain of the Third Regiment of Vir- ginia Volunteers. His death came suddenly, after an ill- ness of only a few days. Rev. M. L. Wood says of him : "As a man, he was pure and chaste in thought and life.
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As a friend, he was sincere, open-hearted and true. As a preacher, he was biblical, thoughtful, logical, earnest." In a notice of his death in the Religious Herald were these words: "He was one of the most modest men, and just as good and true as he was modest."
RICHARD ANDREW FOX
Elders W. E. Wiatt and Richard Andrew Fox had a compact that the funeral of the one dying first should be preached by the other. This duty Mr. Wiatt ful- filled, his text being: Eph. 2:8, "By grace are ye saved, etc.," this being a favorite verse with the deceased. Mr. Wiatt, in an obituary in the General Association Minutes, gives the facts that follow: "Richard Andrew Fox was born June 1, 1824. His three brothers were all preachers. He was licensed to preach by Beulah Church, King William County, August 5, 1854. The same church called for his ordination, December 30, 1855. The presbytery consisted of Elders John O. Tur- pin and J. R. Garlick. Prior to the War he was pastor of Beulah, Mt. Horeb, and Concord. After the War he moved to Gloucester and Mathews, and was pastor of Beulah, Ebenezer, and Spring Hill. At Richmond Col- lege among his fellow-students were John E. Massey, A. F. Scott, and J. G. Councill. For more than thirty years his health was poor, but he continued to labor. He died at his home in Mathews County, October 22, 1901. His married life lasted over fifty years, his wife having been Miss Margaret A. Smith of Rappahannock County. As a preacher, he was sound and clear. He was careful in the preparation of his sermons. He was of lovely and lovable character."
HENRY HARTSTEIN WYER
Henry Hartstein Wyer was born in South Carolina July 26, 1829. He was the son of Rev. Henry Otis Wyer, a Bostonian by birth, but who, in his day, stood among the most efficient and eloquent ministers of our Southland. Hundreds were converted under his minis- try. Some were led by him to Christ who became princes in the American pulpit, such as Dr. Richard Fuller, of Baltimore, and Dr. DeVotee, of Georgia.
"He was the nephew of Captain Hartstein of the United States Navy, the celebrated Arctic explorer, who went in search of Dr. Kane, found the deserted vessel, from which "life and thought had gone away," brought it back to America, and was commissioned by the United States government to carry it to England, which he did, receiving marked favor and distinction from Queen Victoria."
He was graduated at Columbian College, D. C., and received his theological education at Princeton. He was one of that noble company of students who near the same time entered the ministry. Some fell at the threshold, others later on. Among his early friends were Rev. Mr. Jennette, a most eloquent minister, who died early in life as the pastor of the First Baptist Church, Augusta, Ga .; Rev. F. M. Barker, a consecrated Christian and noble preacher; Dr. J. W. M. Williams, who was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Baltimore for forty-odd years, and who died in that pastorate, and Rev. S. C. Boston, who ended his ministry in Pocomoke City.
He was married to Ann Eliza Powell at Leavenworth, Loudoun County, Va., September 26, 1855, by Rev. Henry Dodge. Dr. Wyer was a great sufferer for years
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from facial neuralgia that so undermined his constitu- tion that he fell an easy prey to grippe that finally caused his death. He died at his home in Warrenton on Febru- ary 10, 1901. His wife survived him five years and died January 29, 1905. There were five children by this union.
In 1854 Dr. Wyer began his active ministry as pastor of the Upperville and Ebenezer churches, Fauquier County. In 1856 he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Lynchburg, which continued over two years. While in Lynchburg he baptized Colonel J. T. Merfee, late president of Howard College, Alabama ; also Rev. P. H. Murry, who became a very useful minister in the West.
During the War Brother Wyer served as pastor of Liberty, Perkins, and Lickinghole churches in Goochland County, Oakland and Hopeful churches in Louisa County. In a meeting at Hopeful in 1865, Rev. W. E. Lindsay, D. D., for years pastor of the Baptist Church in Columbia, S. C., was converted and baptized by him.
In 1866 he became the principal of the Fauquier Fe- male Institute and the pastor of the Warrenton Baptist Church. The close of the War left this church in a most feeble condition. Some of its membership had fallen in battle, some had died, others had removed, and those remaining had been impoverished. In 1865, the little band organized for church work. The church building, which the War caught unfinished, was untenantable except in the basement. For nearly two years the con- gregation depended for preaching on visitors and such local ministers as had unemployed Sabbaths.
Dr. Wyer at once took firm hold of the work, gathered the scattered hosts, and so taught, like Nehemiah, from the Divine Law, that they went at once to work rebuild- ing the broken walls of Zion. During Dr. Wyer's pastor-
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ate the church building was finished and the main audi- ence room occupied. The field was mission ground and was receiving help from the Home Mission Board to the extent of half the pastor's salary.
In September of 1867, Dr. Wyer secured the aid of Rev. W. E. Hatcher, then pastor of the Franklin Square Baptist Church in Baltimore, for special services. This meeting, which was carried on for three weeks in the Baptist Church, and subsequently taken up by the other churches of the town, was one of the most remarkable religious movements known to this section. There were few thoughtful people of the community unmoved by its influence. There were thirty-three accessions to the Baptist Church as the result of this meeting, and more than that number joined other churches.
In October, 1868, in another series of meetings, the preaching was done by Dr. Cornelius Tyree. At this meeting eighteen members were added, and there was also a general spiritual refreshment for the community. During all of Dr. Wyer's pastorate there were gradual accessions to the church. At the end of four years of service, Dr. Wyer announced, on account of delicate health, his inability to serve them longer. His resigna- tion was reluctantly accepted. His last pastorates were Carter's Run and New Baltimore Baptist churches.
"Dr. Wyer was in every sense of the word a gentle- man. Every instinct, every feeling, was characteristic of the refined Christian gentleman. In him were united the best elements of Northern and Southern blood, and his whole appearance and deportment betokened from whence he had sprung."
F. R. Boston.
JOEL W. MEADORS
On September 1, 1813, Joel W. Meadors was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. He was ordained to the gospel ministry at Providence Church, Franklin County, September 13, 1856, the presbytery consisting of Elders T. C. Goggin, Wm. Hawkins, Pleasant Brown, and David Staley. He spent the larger part of his long ministry in Franklin, Floyd, and Patrick counties. At the residence of his son, Joseph Meadors, West Virginia, his death took place, March 21, 1901.
JOHN E. MASSEY
John E. Massey was born in Spottsylvania County, Virginia, April 2, 1819. The earliest thing he re- membered was the funeral of Reuben Massey, his grand- father, to which function he was carried in the arms of his nurse. His paternal grandmother was a Miss Mary Carter, an Episcopalian of the strictest sort. When his brother, Joseph T. Massey, became a Baptist preacher, she modified her views enough to hear him preach. Benjamin Massey and his wife (née Elizabeth Chewn- ing), the parents of John and six other children, were members, for many years, of the Mine Road Baptist Church, he being, for a long period, its clerk. They were neither rich nor poor, and they both lived to a good old age, he to four score and eight years.
From a very tender age John wished to be a Christian. When quite a small child, his father, upon coming to bed, found him weeping. He could not tell his father what the trouble was, but asked him to pray for him. The child wanted "to be a Christian," though he did not
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understand fully what this expression meant. The servants had alarmed him with their descriptions of the lost, and had directed him to be good and keep on pray- ing. They led him to think that when he saw Jesus in the sky he would be converted. So the boy often ex- claimed : "Oh, when shall I see Jesus !" His brother, also, was a "seeker." John became quite satisfied with his own progress, but was much concerned about his brother's spiritual welfare. This' spirit of self-complacency con- tinued until his brother said to him one night: "I believe I. could be a Christian if it were not for you." This remark made John realize, as never before, his sinfulness, and led to his conversion. Three brothers, Samuel, Benjamin, and John, were baptized September 15, 1832, by Elder Jacob W. Herndon, and united with the Good Hope Baptist Church, Spottsylvania County.
Though so young, John now felt that he ought to sit in the "amen" corner of the church with the brethren, even though a leading sister did tell him the gallery was the place for boys. Soon he began to speak. During a four days' meeting in a grove at Mount Hermon, he made an exhortation, standing, since he was so small, on a bench. Soon afterwards, at Antioch Church in Orange County, after the sermon and exhortation, in response to the pastor's appeal: "My little brother, can't you talk to the people?" he spoke; the whole congregation was moved ; men and women crowded around the pulpit, and, falling upon their knees, cried: "Pray for me! Pray for me!"
He went regularly to Sunday-school and the "old- field" school until he was fifteen years old. At the former many verses of Scripture were stored away in the mind. At the latter the chief text-books were the New York Speller, Pike's Arithmetic, and Murray's Grammar, while the "rod" held an important place.
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During these school days, on November 7, 1833, the greatest meteoric display of the 19th century took place. From before midnight until after daybreak the magnifi- cent spectacle of the "falling stars" continued. The terror among the masses of the people was great. The negroes ran for protection to their masters.
In 1836 young Massey entered the Virginia Baptist Seminary, now Richmond College. Most of the distance of sixty miles to Richmond he walked, carrying his belongings in a pillow-case swung over his shoulder. At the Christmas holiday he started the homeward trip in a wagon that was to go within 10 miles of his father's home. High water soon made a bridge unsafe for the wagon, so he crossed it and continued his journey on foot. Overtaken by night, hungry and tired, he asked for lodging at an humble home. The woman said she had neither food nor bed to offer him. However, she allowed him to sleep on a pallet before the fire. During the night he used the wood freely, keeping up a good fire, until the woman raised up in bed and told him not to burn any more of the wood as she wanted it in the morning. He promised to get her some more, and the next morning kept his promise, though it necessitated going a long way to the woods and cutting a young sapling with a very dull axe.
When eighteen years old he joined a large volunteer military company, and was soon made captain. A furniture dealer in Richmond addressed him as "Colonel," only to be told: "General, if you please, and no little brigadier at that, but full general." When the man apologized, he said: "I am neither general nor colonel, and if you are going to give me a title that does not belong to me, give me one worth having." After his college days he studied law under Starke W. Morris, Esq., at Louisa Court House. At the same time he
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worked in his father's shop making spinning wheels and chairs. By hauling these articles in a horse cart to Louisa and Spottsylvania Court Houses on court days and selling them, he paid for his law books and instruc- tion. In 1843 he was licensed to practice law by Judges Richard H. Fields, John B. Clopton, and Peter N. Nichols.
Upon going to Loudoun County to practice law, he united with the Ketocton Church, of which his brother, Joseph T. Massey, was pastor. More than once he was called on, at Ketocton, Mount Zion, and North Fork, in the absence of the regular pastor, to speak. While teach- ing school at Kabletown, Jefferson County (now in West Virginia), he decided to enter the ministry. After being licensed to preach by the Ketocton Church, November 22, 1844, and after declining several calls to Pennsyl- vania, having been ordained January 15, 1845 (the presbytery consisting of Elders T. D. Herndon, Joseph T. Massey, Thaddeus Herndon, and John S. Reynold- son), he undertook work in the Valley of Virginia. In this section there were very few Baptists. From
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