USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 4th series, 1885-1902 > Part 3
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ALEXANDER HAMILTON SANDS
On May 23, 1842, he came to Richmond and entered the law office of his brother, Wm. G. Sands, who was then the clerk of the Superior Court of Law and Chan- cery. "Here under the loving influence of this brother and of such persons as Judge John Robertson [who then presided over this Superior Court], and other eminent lawyers, his thirst for knowledge was stimulated, caus- ing him afterwards to become one of the foremost lawyers in the State in all the intricacies of chancery practice, a knowledge never misused to the injury of his fellow-man." In speaking in after years of his arrival in Richmond, he pictured with glowing language his first view of the city and the impression it made on his youthful mind. Then Richmond was "seated princi- pally on what is now Church Hill, and was then, as now, surrounded by a landscape unsurpassed in loveliness." The rush of the swift and turbid James over the Falls filled him with thoughts of the power of the Almighty. Night after night the roar of the river rendered sleep impossible for him. On April 13, 1849, in his twenty- first year, he procured his license, and henceforth to the time of his death was an honored member of the legal profession; a profession which he described in his book, "Recreations of a Southern Barrister," as one of the noblest. "As an advocate he was laborious, fluent, and convincing, always ready as an extempore speaker, yet excelling most when his thoughts had been first written or printed. He delivered his arguments in the highest court of the State, and it was there that his best forensic powers were displayed and his powerful appeals made. In many cases of the greatest importance in this tribunal his voice was frequently heard battling for the right. As a pleader he was unsurpassed and his book of forms in common law procedure, and his 'Suit in Equity' in chancery practice, have been and are still
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standard authorities on these branches of the law. Whilst pursuing the profession of the law with an ardour seldom seen, he yet had time to devote to other pursuits, and we find him lecturing, making addresses on public questions, and writing constantly for the secular, legal, and religious periodicals. For a short time he edited the Evening Bulletin, a paper published in the City of Richmond, and, during the absence of Jno. R. Thompson in Europe, he edited the Southern Literary Messenger. He was also editor of the Quarterly Law Review, published in Richmond, and contributed articles to the Methodist Quarterly Review, the Christian Review, the Religious Herald, and many other religious papers. In addition to the published work from his pen already mentioned, the following books, of which he was author, should be set down to give some accurate idea of his ability as a writer: 'History of a Suit in Equity' (1854 and 1882), 'Recreations of a Southern Barrister' (1860), 'Alexander Tate's American Form Book' (1857), 'Practical Law Forms' (1872), 'Hub- bell's Legal Directory of Virginia Laws,' 'Sermons by a Village Pastor,' 'A Constitutional History of Virginia' (not printed )."
In early life Mr. Sands became a Christian, uniting with the First Baptist Church, of Richmond. He soon became the teacher of a large Bible class, and continued in this sphere of service until he gave himself to the larger work of the gospel ministry. Just prior to the Civil War he began his ministerial life by preaching to the colored people. The Baptist churches at Ashland and Glen Allen were where most of his preaching was done, the latter church having been established largely through his instrumentality. "While his strength and health permitted he preached every Lord's Day at his own charges to some feeble church. Like his Master,
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ALEXANDER HAMILTON SANDS
he went where he was most needed, and in the most quiet, unobtrusive way he sought to make the most of himself for the cause of Christ. Around Richmond for many miles are men and women converted under his ministry, and many more whom he greatly helped in their Christian life. He had his own ways of doing good. He had profound convictions and he was ready enough on all appropriate occasions to state and defend them, but he freely accorded to others what he claimed for himself, and quietly pursued the even tenor of his life doing his own work, and leaving others to do theirs." He did much work in protracted meet- ings, going at the call of pastors of country churches in the region near Richmond, to preach for weeks at a time. Although weak in body and almost all his life an invalid "he believed it to be his duty to give all the time he could spare in laboring for the upbuilding of his fellow-man, and in season and out of season he devoted himself to this noble calling."
The Rev. Dr. T. G. Jones, in an article in the Balti- more Baptist, after his death, spoke thus in regard to Mr. Sands: "Religious and conscientious as he was, he was not at all deterred by the common conception of incongruity between the practice of law and the pro- fession of religion. If Matthew Hale could be a lawyer and yet a Christian then he did not doubt that Alexander Sands could be. He believed that whilst the weaklings and pettifoggers of the law, its sharp and shrewd, small, smart practitioners might be unmindful of truth and right, justice and honor, and all of the principles of morality and religion, the truly honorable and able men of the bar, regarding law, in whatever department, as something sacred, looking upon it in the light in which the great Hooker received it, when he said, in his beautiful and sublime personification: 'Her seat is the
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bosom of God, and her voice the harmony of the worlds,' and magnifying their own high office as its interpreters and expounders, could never knowingly and willingly misconstrue and pervert the one, or degrade and dis- grace the other. . Much as Mr. Sands loved the law, he loved the gospel more. So he added to his already engrossing labors, those of the Christian ministry, to which he was ordained a few years before the commencement of the late Civil War. While his talents and acquirements qualified him to fill any of the most conspicuous and important pulpits of the land, with beautiful humility and self-abnegation, like his divine Lord, he preached the gospel to the poor-becoming pastor of a church of colored people, then slaves, whom he faithfully served in all the offices of his sacred call- ing. Subsequently he preached to other churches and closed his ministry at Glen Allen, with a church which he had been chiefly instrumental in forming, and of which he was the first pastor. For his ministerial services he drew but small pay, all of which he gave in furtherance of one or other church interest or enterprise.
"For many years it was the privilege of the writer, who had been a student in the same college with Mr. Sands, to know him intimately, and to enjoy his friend- ship. And never did he know a truer, purer, nobler man. Of fine intellect, highly cultivated, and richly fur- nished, his chief strength, his noblest distinction was of the heart. He was candid, frank, sincere, and intensely conscientious. His soul was full of sympathy with every generous and noble cause. He helped the needy with unstinted hand. He did much professional work for indigent and embarrassed persons, without remunera- tion; and when charging for his services graduated his fees most liberally, according to the condition of his clients."
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Towards the end of his life Mr. Sands was afflicted with deafness. This in a measure cut him off from social intercourse, and emphasized for others, if it did not increase in him, his scholarly spirit. To see him in his study with his books and to mark his placid content- ment, and then to hear his quiet, well-chosen words, and to catch the spirit of the man with his clear judgment and perfect poise, was full of inspiration for young people; certainly it was to at least one college student in those days.
On May 8, 1851, Mr. Sands was united in marriage with Miss Ella Virginia Goddin, a daughter of Mr. Wellington and Eliza P. Goddin. Rev. Edward Kings- ford performed the ceremony. Of this union thirteen children were born, and of these seven are still living. "After a long and lingering sickness, during which he worked almost to the last hour, he calmly passed away without a struggle," on December 22, 1887. At the funeral, which took place at Grace Street Baptist Church, in the providential absence of the pastor, Rev. Dr. Wm. E. Hatcher, addresses were made by Drs. W. W. Landrum and T. G. Jones, Rev. J. T. Betts and Rev. S. C. Clopton also taking part in the services. The burial was in Hollywood. Mrs. Sands survived her husband, but now side by side they sleep their last sleep, where is still heard the roar of the James, which so fascinated the boy, afterward the preacher and the lawyer, when he first came to Richmond.
ALMARINE WOODYARD
Rev. Almarine Woodyard, son of Joseph and Frances S. Woodyard, was born August 27, 1855, near New- port, Giles County, Virginia. In early life he made a profession of religion, and was baptized by Rev. A. D. Bolton into the fellowship of Walker's Creek Church. At the age of eighteen he was licensed to preach. He was educated at White Gate Academy and in his private library. The following brethren constituted the pres- bytery which ordained him: W. R. L. Smith, G. Gray, Thomas Gatewood, and A. H. Ogden.
Brother Woodyard was in the regular work of the ministry six years and six months. He was in Amherst, one year ; at Floyd Court-House, one year; in Accomac, two years and three months; in Petersburg, serving Mount Calvary, Old Shop, Sappony, and Woodlawn churches, two years and two months; and in Appo- mattox, serving Liberty and Hebron churches, one month.
In 1880, Brother Woodyard married Miss Mary L. Moore, of Giles, a cultivated Christian woman, who proved a true helpmeet.
Brother Woodyard was signally blessed in his work. God blessed the consecrated workman. His friends and physician saw that he was growing weaker, and thought a change of climate would benefit him. He was called to Appomattox. He moved to the field, but soon found that he must give up. He went to his mother's home in Giles County, where he died August 11, 1888. His funeral was preached by Rev. W. E. Wiatt.
Brother Woodyard was a thoroughly consecrated man, and God sealed his ministry. He was a sound man,
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ALMARINE WOODYARD
pious, and discreet. He truly understood the obligations of a Christian minister, and was faithful in the per- formance of duty. The precepts of Christ found a beautiful illustration in his life, and he glorified God by keeping His commandments. He was amiable and kind, and ever interested in the welfare of his brethren. He was modest and unassuming; moderately estimating his own abilities, and justly appreciating the merits of others. By nature his piety was more of an action than a feeling; more of a principle than a passion-quiet, fervent, steady.
"His chosen work he did, aspired no higher; To learning wedded, to his flock a fire; A faithful pastor over a loving charge, He gently sailed through life in a safe barge; And leaving us his absence to bemoan, Without a struggle sought his heavenly home."
Hugh C. Smith.
F. C. CLARKE
By far the larger part of every life remains unrecorded in public annals. It must be so. Time would fail to write or to read all that men have done, and the world itself would not contain the books that would result. It all the more behooves the reader of the most uneventful life to gather from between the lines many scenes and suggestions that can not be set down in words. The life now recorded suggests and illustrates these remarks. F. C. Clarke was born in King George County, Virginia, September 24, 1844. He was born of the Spirit in 1865, and united with the Round Hill Baptist Church in his. native county. At this same church, in August, 1886, he was ordained to the gospel ministry, the pres- bytery consisting of Rev. W. E. Wiatt, Rev. H. H. Jones, and Dr. Rice. Before his ordination he had spent almost two sessions at Crozer Theological Seminary, Pennsylvania. His career as a minister was a short one. His field was in the Portsmouth Association, where he was pastor of these churches: Knott's Island, London Bridge, Oak Grove, and St. John's, the last being located at Princess Anne Court-House. He was married to Miss Martha E. Pullen, who, with two sons, survives him. Death came to his home and to him suddenly, by a fire at night. His death and that of three loved children and a niece, "swept away as they were suddenly and unexpectedly," sent a gloom over the entire com- munity. At the funeral the testimony of the Methodist and Episcopal ministers as to his worth were peculiarly touching. Resolutions adopted by the St. John's (Union) Sunday School, where he had been a worker, set forth in strong language the esteem and affection in which he was held by all. His death occurred on May 23, 1889.
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DAVID B. WINFREE
Chesterfield County, Virginia, was not only the birth- place of David B. Winfree, and the place of his death, but here also the larger part by far of his life was spent. He was born October 30, 1819. In June, 1840, he made a profession of religion, and, on July 21st, he was baptized into the fellowship of the Mount Pleasant Church, Dinwiddie County, by William Hyde. Upon his baptism he was greatly troubled with the question as to whether he ought to preach. Night and day this matter gave him no rest until the question was decided in the affirmative. The following September saw him making his way to Richmond, where he entered the Virginia Baptist Seminary [whose name was changed that year to Richmond College], to prepare himself for the gospel ministry. Here he remained four years. Upon leaving the college he became pastor of the Mango- hick Church, King and Queen County, remaining in this field for six years. In 1850, he returned to his native county. Now for over a score of years he was a country pastor in the bounds of the Middle District Association. In this period the churches he served were, Bethel, Toma- hawk, Jerusalem, and Skinquarter, his union with the first of these flocks lasting exactly two decades. He came an educated and an able minister into a section where anti-missionary ideas had been widespread, nor were these doctrines extinct at his coming. He did much to awaken a demand on the part of the churches for ministers educated and prepared for their work. Of course his influence went for organized effort for mis- sion work at home and abroad. In the Middle District Association, between 1850 and 1876, he was the preacher of the introductory sermon no less than six times, while
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nine times he was one of the preachers, who, during the sessions of the body, preached to the gathered crowds. In 1873, he was called on to supply for six months the pulpit of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, while the pastor was engaged in the "Memorial Movement." The fact that this invitation came to Mr. Winfree was an evidence that his ability as a preacher was recognized beyond the bounds of Chesterfield. His people in his churches loved and admired their pastor, but it seems never to have occurred to them that some other folks might like him and want him, and that their support of him ought to be more liberal. It was doubtless his work in Richmond, where some seventy-five persons were con- verted and added to the church during his term as a supply, as well as the failure of his field to support him adequately, that led to his being called, and to his accept- ing the call to the Bainbridge Street Church, Manchester. On June 1, 1873, he began his work in Manchester, Richmond College having conferred on him about the same time the honorary degree of D. D. In some four years after this pastorate began, the membership of the church had grown from 275 to 406. In 1878, since many of the members were living in conformity to the world, the church called upon all of their members who desired to remain in good standing and fellowship to sign a covenant renewing their vows. Many refused to do this, and, their names being dropped, the next year the church reported to the Association only 260 on their roll; yet the church was doubtless strengthened. After severing his connection with Bainbridge Street, Dr. Win- free spent some months in protracted-meeting work, and then became once more a country pastor, accepting Berea, in Hanover, and North River, in Henrico, and a little later Mount Hermon, in the Middle District. Be- fore long the churches outside of the Middle District were given up, and he came to the end of his life serving
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DAVID B. WINFREE
four churches, namely, Red Lane, Bethel, Powhatan, and Mount Hermon, in the Middle District.
Dr. Winfree was a preacher of unusual ability and power. His excessive modesty and undue timidity kept him from taking a prominent part in the deliberations of the General Association, and once, when he had been appointed to preach the introductory sermon, caused him to refuse this task. It had taken the importunity of those who knew his ability to secure his appointment, since the committee had scarcely heard of him. Rev. Dr. C. Tyree, who knew Dr. Winfree long and inti- mately, wrote concerning his character and his power as a preacher to the Herald. Among other things he said : "His piety was not clerical but personal, not an impulse but a habit, warm but not heated, earnest but tranquil. His religion was a deep, pervasive sentiment, striking through and entwining itself with all the powers of his soul. He was grave but not gloomy, facetious but not frivolous, and tenderly affectionate but not demonstrative. His love for Christ was his controlling passion. He was to a singular degree what he appeared to be. He seemed to have attained to the habitual assurance of his divine acceptance, and hence carried into all companies the cheerfulness and the sun- shine of a soul at peace with God. Hence he won the hearts of all who knew him. Never was a man more universally beloved. . To those who best knew him, his religious character was such that it is soothing to remember. It comes over them like the tranquilizing breath of spring. It was as a preacher that he was chiefly eminent. He was not an author nor distinguished as a platform speaker or denominational leader, but as a preacher he had not many equals, and but few superiors. In many essential respects Dr. Winfree was one of the ablest and most impressive preachers I ever heard. I have known many who surpassed him in some
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regards, but I have known but few who combined so many of the elements of a powerful, effective gospel preacher. His voice was natural, clear, flexible, and pleasant. His enunciation was distinct, and while he was intensely emotional he was always self-possessed. . His sermons abounded with apposite, correctly repeated Scriptures, and were always brimful of the pith of the gospel. I never heard him preach that the whole structure of the sermon and its impression did not remain with me for years. One of the most instructive and impressive sermons I ever heard from him was from the great text, 'God is love.' His arrange- ment was as new as it was striking, which was that the love of God was seen in the Father in his originating the plan of salvation, in the Son in his procuring that plan, and in the Spirit in His applying the plan. Dr. Winfree was a fine protracted-meeting preacher. Per- haps thousands in his own and surrounding fields were brought to Christ under his preaching in the meetings of this kind conducted by him. Never was a minister more abidingly popular among his people than was Dr. Winfree. And yet the influence of this gifted minister was comparatively circumscribed. Owing to his self-depreciation and shrinking timidity he rarely attended our General Association, and when he did he took no part in its deliberations. In fact he was com- paratively unknown to his great denomination outside of his own immediate field."
He died at his home near Midlothian, Chesterfield County, Tuesday, December 11, 1888, at midnight. On Thursday at one o'clock the funeral took place at Mount Hermon Church, the sermon of the occasion, by Dr. W. E. Hatcher, being on the text: "Well done, good and faithful servant." The audience was a large one, and they listened with tearful interest to the tribute to one whom they loved. The burial took place in the Mount Hermon cemetery hard by the church.
W. V. MACFEE
W. V. Macfee, the son of E. D. Macfee, Sr., was born July 21, 1856, at Louisburg, N. C. He was educated at Richmond College and at the S. B. T. Seminary, Louis- ville, Ky. He was pastor first of churches in Mecklenburg County and then of a field below Richmond. His feeble health gave way under his earnest work and by reason of exposure. He died at the "Retreat," Richmond, Va., April 4, 1889. He was buried on his father's farm, some nine miles from Pamplin, Va. In one.of the churches of which he was pastor a difficulty of long standing, a men- ace to the very life of the church, was healed by his tact.
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JAMES M. KENT, SR.
Fluvanna and Goochland Counties were the arena where at least the larger part of the life of James M. Kent, Sr., was spent. At the early age of six he became concerned about his soul's salvation, and continued in this frame of mind until he was thirteen years old, when he was converted. He at once became a member of Lyle's Church, Fluvanna, and for many years was one of its leading members. He, with a few others, or- ganized, 1860, Beulah Church, of which body he was a member until his death. From the very first his interest in the growth of Beulah took a very practical form. He would go great distances on summer afternoons and winter nights to hold prayer-meetings in destitute sec- tions, nor was this the only way in which he made sacrifices for the cause he loved so well. For years he resisted the appeals of his brethren that he ask for ordi- nation into the full work of the gospel ministry. As a licentiate he saw much good that he could do, and he had passed the meridian of life before the hands of the presbytery had been laid on his head. His brethren were right; he was even more useful from this time forward. As pastor and supply he served Mount Pros- pect and Mount Gilead churches in Goochland, and sev- eral others in the Goshen Association. His kindness to the poor was great, he and his own household often depriving themselves to minister to those more needy. In his sermons he was always impressive and often eloquent, while his life was an epistle for good known and read by all classes. So highly was he regarded, for his probity and piety, by saints and sinners, that he was known in the community as "good Jimmy Kent." Just before his death, which took place in his eighty-fourth year, on Sunday, June 16, 1889, he said to Rev. J. J. White, whose obituary notices of him furnish the material for this sketch: "Oh, that this might be my last day on earth. I am anxious to go into the presence of the great I Am." He left two daughters of the nine children who were born to him and his wife, who was Matilda Mallory.
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R. H. BAYLOR
Little beyond the brief notice in the minutes of the General Association is here given in regard to W. H. Baylor. He was born in King and Queen County, Vir- ginia. He was converted at the age of twenty-two and attended Richmond College, the Richmond Medical Col- lege, and finally the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1853. Dr. Baylor practiced medicine for the greater part of his life in Princess Anne County. He began to preach during the War, was ordained and became pastor of several churches. He served as under- shepherd Oak Grove, London Bridge and St. John's Churches in the Portsmouth Association, doing excellent work on this field. Many persons, at different times and places, made profession of religion under his preaching and were baptized by him. For a brief term of years he made his home in Amelia County. He died, surrounded by his family, in Norfolk, Virginia, July 22, 1889, being some sixty years of age. "Not long before his death he spoke of the sweet and precious presence of Jesus with him."
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WM. H. TAYLOR
Wm. H. Taylor was born and spent his life in Buck- ingham County, Virginia. In early life he was a ring- leader in wickedness, but later was no less active on the side of right. He was converted at the age of thirty and baptized by Rev. Wm. Moore into the fellowship of the Enon (Buckingham) Baptist Church. In 1842 he was ordained to the gospel ministry. During his career of nearly half a century as a preacher he was pastor of Mount Zion, Buckingham, Cedar, Cumberland, and Chestnut Grove, all in the James River Association. He was the moderator of his Association in 1852, while in 1856 he preached its introductory sermon. For forty- three continuous years he was pastor of Buckingham Church, a church that in 150 years had but four pastors. His service to this flock was from 1846 until his death, October 24, 1889. At the church he served so long he was buried.
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