USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 4th series, 1885-1902 > Part 8
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pastorate he was succeeded by A. E. Dickinson, and he by J. B. Hutson. Again Mr. Butler engaged in pioneer city work, preaching for some two years (1874-5 and 1877) at Sidney, which afterwards became the West Main and finally the Grove Avenue Church. From Sidney, Mr. Butler went to the eastern end of Richmond and became pastor of the Fulton Baptist Church, re- maining in this position some four (1878-81) years. Finally, he was pastor of the Clopton Street Church, Manchester. Towards the end of his life he was en- gaged for all his time in secular business, yet he con- tinued to preach to the close of his life. He died Oc- tober 13, 1891.
JOHN JESSIE
Russell County, one of the fairest and most fertile counties of the Old Dominion, was the birthplace of John Jessie. He was born in the year 1815. Lee County, however, was the scene of his life work. He was married about 1840 to Miss Dollie Candler, and this union, which was a most happy one, and of which eleven children were born, lasted forty-eight years. His second wife, who was Miss Mary Kyle, of Missouri, and to whom he was married in 1889, survived him. He was a man of more than ordinary ability and was an active minister of the gospel for about forty-five years. So far as the records at hand show, his work was within the bounds of the Clinch Valley Association, and in this section he exerted a great influence. He was modera- tor of this body for several years and the pastor of one of its churches, Royal Oak, for twenty years or more. He was a man of wonderful physical strength and was quite vigorous and active up to the time of his death. He died, after a brief illness, of grippe, Decem- ber 13, 1891. His funeral services were conducted by Rev. Dr. J. T. Kincannon, of Bristol, Tenn. The fol- lowing summer at the meeting of the Clinch Valley Association, Professor W. F. Ramey paid a touching tribute to his memory. At this same session of the Association this question came up from Royal Oak, the church where Mr. Jessie had been pastor up to 1889: "Inform the church whether it is a violation of the Four- teenth Article of the Constitution for a member of the church to sell apples or corn to a distiller, knowing the same is to be manufactured into intoxicating liquor and sold to be used as a beverage." The committee to whom the question had been referred decided that the offense was not a literal violation of the Constitution, but rec- ommended that the offender be reprimanded and, if he persist, be excluded.
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CORNELIUS TYREE*
Cornelius Tyree was born in Amherst County, Vir- ginia, September 14, 1814. His parents were Jacob and Martha Tyree. The mother was a consistent member of the Methodist Church, while the father did not be- come a Christian till late in life, when he united with the Baptists. He writes: "Among the earliest things I remember of myself was my mother having me sprinkled by an aged Methodist preacher, who prayed that I might be 'as Cornelius of old.'" Early in life he was the subject of religious impressions. As he grew older, and friends exhorted him to seek the Lord, these impressions were deepened. He writes: "For weeks I remained distressed. An old colored woman urged me to pray, but said nothing about Christ." After a time of conflict and suffering, he attended a meeting at Moriah Church in Amherst. There was great religious interest, and young Tyree, along with others, "went forward for prayer." Ere long the darkness and dis- tress of soul was scattered, and the anxious inquirer was filled with light and love. The young convert searched the New Testament for light as to duty. He records: "The third chapter of Matthew decided me to be a Baptist. I learned there that Christ was im- mersed, and that he was immersed as the pattern for his people. Without consultation, without reading any book for or against the Baptist views, my purpose was fixed. When I told my mother my intention she exhib- ited some disappointment, but was too good to object."
*This sketch is from the pen of Rev. J. B. Taylor, and with his consent it is somewhat abridged.
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He was received into Mount Moriah Church and bap- tized in Buffalo River, August, 1833, along with thirty other candidates, by the venerable John Davis.
During the year 1836, while engaged in teaching, Brother Tyree became exercised on the subject of preaching the gospel; subscribed for the Religious Her- ald, purchased Watson's "Institutes," Dwight's "Lec- tures," and Scott's "Commentary." These books were read with "delight and profit." A missionary of the General Association, Rev. J. N. Johnson, visited the young teacher, took him with him to his appointments, and encouraged him to follow the sermon with an ex- hortation. Soon he preached his first sermon at Ebenezer and Mount Moriah churches. While a teacher near Lynchburg, he had become a member of the church there, which licensed him to preach in 1837. In the fall of the same year he set out for William and Mary Col- lege, passing through Richmond. Here he met for the first time with J. B. Jeter. At Williamsburg, the seat of William and Mary College, he boarded along with Elias Dodson and James Clopton in the home of Rev. Scervant Jones and studied "Algebra, History, Logic, Chemistry, and Greek." The next session was spent at Columbian College, Washington, D. C., where he had as roommate H. H. Tucker. The following references to the life at this institution will be interesting :
"Frequently attending the debates in Congress, I heard Clay, Webster, and Calhoun make some of their finest speeches, and was thus much aided in the study and acquisition of the art of public speaking. I attended the ministry of a Presbyterian minister named Noble more than any other. His church was nearer college and he was superior to any Baptist preacher at that time in the city. I obtained from the college library the sermons. of Saurin and read them with great profit and delight.
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These sermons greatly aided me in forming my style and method of sermonizing. When I became a pastor I purchased them and they have been of great help in the preparation of sermons. In the summer of 1838 I returned to Amherst and, being straitened in finances and feeble in health, did not return to college, but ac- cepted an appointment from the General Association of Virginia to labor as a missionary in the counties of Greenbrier and Monroe, and with all the books I owned in my saddle-bags, rode on horseback to Lewisburg. My preaching places were Lewisburg, Alderson's, Union, Red Sulphur, and Sinking Creek."
In September, 1839, he was ordained to the full work of the ministry, in connection with the Greenbrier Asso- ciation held at Amwell Church, Fayette County, and soon after transferred to do missionary work in Rock- bridge County. Here he organized two new churches, one of them being at Lexington, where in 1840 he had the satisfaction of seeing a Baptist house of worship built. The following reference to his life at Lexington will be of interest: "In the second year of my pastorate, Professor Geo. E. Dabney, of Washington College, pro- fessed religion and joined our little struggling band. He was a most valuable addition. His noble and accom- plished wife, Mrs. Cornelia M. Dabney, had been from the start of my ministry in that town my most efficient Never have I known so valuable a Christian helper.
I woman. Till her death she was my fastest friend. was young, inexperienced and yet fearless in preaching on peculiar views. One Sabbath, while I was absent at another appointment, a pastor in the town received into his church a young man who had been excluded from our fellowship, whom he sprinkled, stating that he had been immersed by a Baptist minister, but that immersion was not baptism at all. Most of our members heard the
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remark. I determined in the strength of God to make a formal defense of our views, and gave notice in the town papers that on a certain Sabbath I would show that immersion was essential to Bible baptism and that be- lievers only were proper subjects. In the morning the attendance was large. Never did I speak with more vigor, confidence, and effect. When I closed at night the church immediately had a meeting and voted that the sermon be published in pamphlet form."
On the 11th of November, 1841, Brother Tyree was united in marriage to Miss Sophia H. Pulliam, of Alle- ghany County. For many years she was a great sufferer from disease and died March 16, 1884, at Salem, Vir- ginia. On April 15, 1885, he was married to Miss T. Nannie Abraham. She survived him.
In April, 1845, Elder Tyree, to the great regret of his churches in the Valley, removed to Powhatan County, and succeeded the gifted Jesse Witt as pastor of several important churches, with two of which, Peterville and Fine Creek, he remained twenty-seven years.
Concerning his summer vacations, he writes: "Dur- ing my stay in Powhatan I spent one summer month in each year at some of the mineral springs of the State, often at the White Sulphur, more frequently at the Rockbridge Alum." Mentioning the opportunities for preaching at these watering-places, he tells an interesting incident in connection with the conversion of Mrs. Gov- ernor Bell from Romanism: "In August, 1869, I was with my wife at the Healing Springs. Though feeble, I consented to preach on Sabbath. The congregation was large and the sermon on the 'Elements of Christian Character.' Governor Bell and his apparently gay wife were among my hearers. The next day I went to Rock- bridge Alum, and on the day following Governor Bell and wife came to the same place. Mrs. Bell sought my
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acquaintance and at once expressed a desire to have a conversation with me on personal religion. She gave me in substance the following history of herself: 'I re- side in North Carolina and was for years a high church Episcopalian. When Bishop Ives left the Episcopalian Church and joined the Roman Catholic, I also left and joined the Catholics. When he went to Rome I went with him. For months I remained in the great city, often visiting the Vatican, and once knelt at the feet of the Pope. I had not been in Rome long before I lost confidence in the religious integrity of Bishop Ives and was led to doubt the scripturalness of Romanism. This doubt increased till there, at its seat, I came to the con- clusion that the whole system is fraud. I returned to the United States under the care of the American min- ister to Italy. When I reached home I was greatly dis- tressed and strongly inclined to doubt all religions. In this state of mind I determined to do what I had never done-read the Bible to find out whether the Christian religion was true and whether I was a Christian. In searching the Scriptures I found out I was a miserable, unpardoned sinner, and was thus enabled to embrace Christ as my Saviour. For weeks I was utterly happy. I then determined to search the Scriptures to find out the true church. I knew but little of the Baptists and had a great prejudice against them. But in searching the Scriptures for the true church, I found myself im- bibing the sentiments I heard Baptists held. At this stage, my husband, fearing I was in danger of mental derangement, carried me to the White Sulphur. There I heard Dr. Fuller preach. The next Sabbath I heard you at the Healing Springs, and though your sermon did not discuss the peculiar views of your church, it has very much increased my proclivities towards your people. Yet there are difficulties in my way, and I have sought
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this interview with the hope of having them removed. My first trouble is, whether immersion is the only mode of baptism. That it is one mode, I have no doubt, but is it under all circumstances essential to the ordinance ?'
"This was in substance the point on which she wanted light. I went fully and at length into the discussion for and against the position that immersion is essential to Bible baptism. She was well informed as to the com- mon arguments against, but was not aware of those in favor of the Baptist view of this question. The mean- ing of the Greek word baptizo, the places chosen to administer the ordinance, the baptism of Christ, the allu- sions to it as a burial, together with the well-known fact that 1,300 years after the apostolic day immersion was in all countries the mode, were dwelt on. She at length with delight fully accepted the position that immersion is essential to Bible baptism. As for infant baptism we had less trouble, for, said she: 'I never did much believe in that, and I very readily see how restricted communion will follow if nothing is baptism but immersion; for I always believed that baptism in some form must come before sacramental communion.' She then wished to know as to whether Baptist ministers were scripturally qualified to administer the ordinance, and asked : 'Can your ministers trace their descent back to the Apostles?' On this point I found more trouble in satisfying her than on any other. The Romish idea of there being only one Church, and one unbroken succession of ministers, was deeply seated in her convictions. But turning her mind to what she seemed never to have known, that out- side of, and apart from, and opposed to, the Roman hier- archy through all the ages there had existed a people called by different names who had held our principles, and that through these persecuted peoples our principles and succession had come down from the Apostles. I
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said to her: 'I am more fully and divinely authorized to baptize you than is the Archbishop of London or the Pope of Rome.' She finally, with great apparent joy, said: 'I am a full Baptist, and now I wish you to go to North Carolina and baptize me.' I said to her : Madam, I am in feeble health and not physically able to comply with your request now, but this much I will say, I am going, after leaving this place, to Baltimore for treatment. If, after this, I am improved in health enough, I will with great pleasure go to your home and baptize you.' A few weeks after my return to Powhatan a letter was received from Governor Bell, urging me to come to his home in North Carolina and baptize his wife. Accordingly, Mrs. Tyree and I went to the place desig- nated. We there found a magnificent carriage, which bore us to the splendid mansion of the Governor. He and his lovely wife received us most gladly. We re- mained several days. I selected a place in which to bap- tize this excellent lady, when on the very day we fixed for the baptism both she and I were taken very sick. I had at once to hasten home; but not long after my friend was baptized by Dr. Solomon and became a most active and useful member of the Warrenton Baptist Church. I afterwards met Mrs. Bell at the Southern Baptist Con- vention in Raleigh, N. C., in 1872, when she gave me permission to make her conversion from Romanism to Christ and Baptist views the theme of a tract."
Brother Tyree's first attempt at authorship was made during his residence in Powhatan. Soon after his set- tlement in Powhatan he preached at all of his churches from Matt. 5:16, a sermon on "The Moral Power of a Religious Life." It produced a good impression. He also preached it as an introductory sermon before the Middle District Association. Rev. Henry Keeling, edi- tor of the Baptist Preacher, asked for the MS., which
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he published in the Preacher. It was much sought after in the winters of 1857-1858. Expanded into a book entitled "The Living Epistle," it was submitted to Dr. J. B. Jeter, with the request that he should give his can- did opinion of it. He wrote by all means to publish it. Sheldon & Blakeman published it, allowing the author 10 per cent. Three thousand copies were sold. It found a favor that was astonishing.
In this connection it will not be out of place to intro- duce the following communications, which appeared in the Religious Herald in 1886, and which explain them- selves :
"AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE SOMEWHAT CHANGED
"About the year 1859, the well-known Baptist pub- lishers, Sheldon, Blakeman & Co., brought out a book, the title page of which reads as follows: 'The Living Epistle; or the Moral Power of a Religious Life. By Rev. Cornelius Tyree, of Powhatan County, Va. With an introduction by Rev. R. Fuller, D. D.,' etc.
"For a number of years it has been difficult to obtain a copy of this admirable treatise. A few months ago, when the beloved brother who wrote it was visiting me, he inquired if there was an extra copy of it in my library, as he wished to give it to a friend and had only one of his own. This week, looking over some publications in a Richmond book store, I came across (in one of them) a passage, which in thought and language seemed fa- miliar. Reading on, I found whole pages of a similar character, and supposed at first that the passages were only extracts from 'The Living Epistle.' But seeing no quotation marks, I examined more closely, and found to my surprise that I had stumbled upon an old friend. But the 'environment' was new, for the title page read as fol- lows: 'Personal Piety: A Help to Christians to Walk Worthy of Their Calling. By C. T. Fifth American edi-
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tion. New York. Thomas Whittaker,' etc. The book is none other than 'The Living Epistle,' though it is not now 'known and read of all men' as such. The 'C. T.' is none other than our own Cornelius Tyree. But other strange liberties have been taken. The introduction was written by that 'mighty man of valor,' Dr. Richard Ful- ler, but his name is omitted altogether from the title page of 'Personal Piety.' Most of the introduction ap- pears, but the passage which speaks of 'ecclesiastical bodies' which arrogate the title of 'The True Church of Christ' is omitted, as is also the passage which refers to 'sacramental religion; forms, rites, creeds, "linen decen- cies," apocryphal successions,' etc. Similar liberties have been taken with the text of Brother Tyree's chapters. On page 57, of the 'Living Epistle,' a passage begins thus : 'Baptism is faith's first development,' etc .; this is left out entirely. Similar omissions are on pages 83 and 146. In chapter 3, Brother Tyree says: 'The divine plan is, that we first, by repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, become inwardly and essentially religious, and then appear so by being baptized and re- ceiving the Lord's supper.' The other book has changed the sentence so as to read: 'and appear so by becoming a member of the church and receiving the Lord's supper.' This will suffice. No one will be more surprised at this than Dr. Tyree himself. By the time this is in print Brother Tyree will have seen the copy which I pur- chased. Only think of it, he has been supposing that his book was out of print, and yet, in 1884, much of it, under a new name, was in its fifth edition.
"It is possible that the copyright of the original book may have been bought from the Sheldons, but, if so, why was its title so changed as to make its authorship obscure? And surely it was not right to tamper with its contents. Perhaps somebody was deficient in 'Personal Piety.'
"Lexington, Va.
J. B. TAYLOR."
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"THE STOLEN BOOK AGAIN
"Soon after Dr. Taylor noticed in the Herald the re- issue of 'The Living Epistle,' by T. Whittaker, of New York, under the title of 'Personal Piety,' with the omis- sion of the name of the author, I wrote to Mr. Whit- taker, telling him he had published my book under an- other title. He replied that he had purchased the plates of the book from the Evangelical Knowledge Society, of New York, and that this Society printed it from an Eng- lish edition, without any knowledge that it was written by an American author. Mr. Whittaker has just or- dered, and forwarded a copy, as published by the Eng- lish house, and it turns out that Mr. David Bogue, of London, has for years been printing it, with an exten- sive circulation. The English edition is in beautiful style, with not only the entire omission of the author's name, but the omission of every expression in Dr. Ful- ler's introduction and in the text that bore in the least against the Episcopalians. These dishonest suppressions and omissions were clearly done by the English pub- lisher.
"Thus these three houses have clandestinely circulated my book to an extent of which I had never hoped when I wrote it. The English house has issued 23,000, and the Evangelical Knowledge Society and Mr. Whittaker, up to 1884, issued five editions. This latter gentleman has written to me that he had no knowledge he was re- ยท issuing an American book, and is willing to make all equitable reparation. I have written to the London pub- lisher, telling him that in the absence of an international copyright law by which I might seek redress, I appealed to him as a Christian gentleman, governed by the Chris- tian laws and motives, to restore to the book its real title
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and also the name of the author, and to make amends for the wrong he has done. It remains to be seen whether he will heed my appeal.
"I hope the day is not distant when a new and im- proved edition of 'The Living Epistle' will be issued. Its circulation under the title of 'Personal Piety' has been among Episcopalians and not among Baptists. This I infer from the fact that the English and Ameri- can are Episcopal publishing houses. Is there not great need among our people for books after the order of the one that has had so singular a history ?
"Salem, Va.
C. TYREE."
In 1871, Columbian College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in May, 1872, he re- moved to Liberty, Bedford County, and became pastor of the church there, and also of Timber Ridge Church, a few miles out in the country. He says, referring to his ministry in this field: "In almost every year there have been revivals. While I have labored abroad since I have been in Liberty, I have done so much less than when in Powhatan." This was partly on account of his wife's protracted ill health. During his residence in Liberty, he prepared the book entitled "The Glorious Sufficiency of Christ." Referring to this, he writes : "Its production was Providential. In riding out one morning with my wife and Mrs. Sallie Hoffman, I was thrown out of a spring wagon; two of my ribs were broken, and I was otherwise very much hurt. For many days I was compelled to remain on my bed, and then for a week or more could only sit in an upright position. While thus afflicted, I saw in the American Messenger, the organ of the American Tract Society, that a Mr. Wood had left to this great Society a bequest of $1,500, the interest of which was to be annually awarded for
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the best original book or tract which the Society might publish on the glories of Christ's character. Having just preached a series of Thursday night lectures on the fulness of Christ (Col. 1 :19), and not being able to do anything else, I determined to rewrite and condense these lectures into a small book and offer it to the Society for publication. Accordingly, holding a little pasteboard with one hand and writing with the other, I wrote the work in some four or five days and forwarded it. For months nothing was heard from the MS. After six months, Dr. Rand, the secretary, wrote, informing me that the publishing committee (one from each of five denominations) had determined to publish and stereo- type my book, and also to award to it the Wood prize, a $40 medal and $50 in money." Dr. Tyree prepared and published a tract entitled "Close Communion, Scrip- tural and Essential to the Prosperity of Baptist Churches." This was originally a discourse preached to his churches in Powhatan and printed at their request. It was afterwards rewritten and published in tract form, in Salem. This is a most admirable publication.
The following extracts from Dr. Tyree's reminiscences were written about the time (1882) when his pastorate at Liberty closed : "For nearly forty years it has been my privilege, profit and duty to attend the annual meet- ings of the General Association of Virginia. My first attendance was in 1837. I went from Lynchburg with my pastor, Rev. A. B. Smith, and that admirable Chris- tian lady, Mrs. Ann Hollins. At this meeting I saw for the first and last time Rev. Luther Rice. In the absence of the principal, he preached the introductory sermon from Acts 2:23. At this meeting I saw for the first time J. B. Taylor, Sr., A. M. Poindexter, Thos. Hume, Sr., A. Hall, H. Keeling, and many others. The main theme of discussion was the formation of the American and
/
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Foreign Bible Society. The American Bible Society had refused to make appropriations to circulate the Burmese translation made by Dr. Judson, in which the Greek verb baptizo had been rendered in the Burmese language by a word that meant to immerse, on the ground that it was a sectarian version. At this meeting I saw for the third time that prince of Virginia Baptists, Rev. John Goodall. He was, in some respects, the most eloquent preacher I have ever heard. I first heard him in Wil- liamsburg, while I was a student there, from the text, 'Add to your faith virtue,' etc. This sermon stirred the fountains of my soul. The next time was at the Red Oak camp-meeting, Buckingham County, August, 1838. His text was, 'All things work together for good,' etc., Romans 8:28. Of all the sermons I ever heard, this to me was the most comforting and encouraging. In 1846 and 1847 I began to assume some little prominence in the body myself. Four times I preached annual sermons before this body (twice before the Foreign Mission Board, once before the General Association itself) .* This latter sermon was published in the Herald. I was for years one of the vice-presidents of the body, and once presided as its president." He was also at various times connected with the Western, Valley, Middle Dis- trict and Strawberry Associations. He was prominently connected with the formation of the Valley Association, was present at its first session, was its clerk for several years, preached several of its introductory sermons and gave to it its name.
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