USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 4th series, 1885-1902 > Part 9
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The following extracts, written about 1882, relate to books, sermonizing, pastoral work: "I have not a large, but a select and valuable collection of religious books, having purchased and read them as my exigencies re-
*He preached, after this, the introductory sermon in 1891, which was also published.
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quired. Of uninspired books, I owe most to Butler's 'Analogy,' Saurin's sermons, and Jay's works. If I ever learned the habit of logical, clear, succinct and pointed thinking, it was from the early, careful study of Butler. If I ever learned anything from other than my own re- sources the art of sermonizing, it has come from that prince of uninspired preachers, James Saurin.
"As to my style of speaking, I have very little idea. I know it has many defects, which I constantly try to correct. In my early preaching there were three defects which hindered its good effect. They were, loudness, rapidity, and indistinctness in the articulation of certain words. The latter by long and persistent endeavor I have greatly corrected, though it is not and never will be entirely corrected. The others generally are much modified. If I have attained any success in the great art of speaking the gospel, it has been by being a con- stant self-critic. For Christ's sake, I aim to make my sermon in its matter and manner an improvement on all that I have preached before. The system of homiletics by which I have tried to be governed has been to stand up before the people and plainly, naturally, affectionately and scripturally talk to them about Christ and the things of Christ."
In reference to pastoral visiting, he says: "In all my pastorates I have been more complained of in this regard than perhaps any other. I do believe that there is a wide- spread mistake as to the amount of visiting a pastor should do. The principle on which I have aimed to act has been to visit whenever and wherever such visits were religiously needed."
In reviewing his life, Dr. Tyree writes as follows : "My life has been a pleasant and favored one. As a minister, pastor, evangelist, and author, I have been mar- velously blessed."
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Referring to God's guiding hand, he records: "I have not been the type of preacher I wished to be when com- mencing the ministry, nor have I preached where I most desired. My ideal at first was to be a preacher of breadth and polish as well as power. Many of my early sermons aimed in this direction. But owing to circumstances, being compelled to preach to plain people, and being often thrown into meetings where the object was to bring men to Christ, I was led by degrees to prepare and deliver plain, simple sermons, addressed mostly to the conscience. For years nearly all of my sermons have been of this character. For many years I have been a dyspeptic, and all my life the victim of frequent and terrible nervous headaches. Several times I have been nigh unto death, and yet God has given me a sufficient amount of physi- cal and mental strength to be almost constantly engaged in preaching. Another instance of the Divine goodness that I desire to mention is the amount of work that I have been able to do not only in traveling, preaching, talking and visiting, but in writing. With all their de- fects, I have some 450 MS. sermons, most of them carefully written, two books published and a larger one in MS."
On the 2nd day of November, 1883, Dr. Tyree re- moved from Liberty to Salem, giving the church at this place half of his time and the churches at Fincastle, Fort Lewis and Dublin the rest. Here are a few brief extracts from a note-book in which he made occasional entries : APRIL 26, 1884. "Spent ten days in Brooklyn and New York. Preached at Marcy Avenue, Calvary and Madison Avenue churches."
JUNE 8. "Preached last Sunday the baccalaureate sermon at Blacksburg College to an immense crowd, from 2 Tim. 3:16."
MAY 28, 1889. "I wish to record the birth of my first- born, a dear little boy that God gave us on Sabbath morn-
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ing, April 7, 1889. So soon as he was born, our physi- cian, Dr. Sternes, and all in the natal room, named him Cornelius, Jr."
AUGUST 19, 1890. "Various things have hindered me from being as devotional of late as I might and ought to have been. I have been absorbed in preparing for and attending to the details of the recent meeting of the Valley Association and have allowed myself to lose the habit and spirit of devotion. In no sense can I afford this. Many personal and relative reasons urge me to resume the habits of devotion and, God helping me, I will attain unto and maintain a joyful and purifying intimacy with my divine Father .and Saviour."
NOVEMBER 22, 1890. "I went on the 11th to the Gen- eral Association, held with Leigh Street Church, Rich- mond. Was appointed to preach the next introductory sermon. May my Father permit me to live in vigor to perform this service, as it will certainly be the last I will ever preach before this body that has for so many years been near my heart."
Dr. Tyree's experiences in Salem (the last years of his life) were very happy. He often visited Hollins Insti- tute and preached there, and greatly enjoyed the fre- quent association with his life-long friend, Chas. L. Cocke. He took interest in the young men at Roanoke College and the Alleghany Institute. The church at Salem grew continuously in connection with conversions and additions from people moving to the town. He was actively engaged in evangelistic labors, holding meetings with neighboring churches as well as in remoter parts of the State. He was greatly gratified in the location of the Orphanage at Salem.
Dr. W. E. Hatcher said: "Dr. Tyree was a great preacher. He made new sermons all his life, and yet he probably repeated his old sermons more than any other man in the State. Dr. Tyree was a student, and many
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of his sermons were works of art, made in moments of his best inspiration and improved by preaching under the happiest spiritual excitement, recast from time to time so as to include all the best thought they called forth from year to year.
"As a revivalist he had widespread and honorable suc- cess. His sermons were short, clear as the sunlight, richly evangelical, tersely and compactly constructed and admirably adapted to produce immediate effect. His voice was solemn, impressive and authoritative; his man- ner was full of candor and dignity; his denunciations of sin were startling and eloquent, and his exhortations were well-nigh irresistible. Thousands were led to Christ by his preaching. He will not be forgotten. His lithe and erect form, his agile step, his bright, piercing eye, his sharp-cut and intelligent face, and his stately and de- vout bearing will be distinctly remembered for years to come."
At 4 P. M. on Wednesday, December 23, 1891, he passed away.
On Friday, the 25th, a great and tearful throng assem- bled at the church, where so long the man of God had preached the everlasting gospel. Instead of the shout and din of Christmas morning, silence reigned through- out the bereaved and stricken community. The people had no heart for merry-making, and only talked and thought of the common sorrow. The sermon was preached by Rev. R. R. Acree. Dr. C. F. James fol- lowed with interesting personal reminiscences. Rev. J. A. Davis, of Bedford City; Rev. J. R. Bridges, of the Presbyterian Church; Rev. J. S. Hutchinson and Dr. P. H. Whisner, of the Methodist Church, and Rev. C. A. Miller, of the Lutheran Church, occupied seats in the pulpit, and some of them took part in the services. A long procession followed the manly form of the noble Christian warrior to beautiful East Hill Cemetery, where the mortal remains were laid down to rest.
EDWARD J. WILLIS
While Edward J. Willis was the only son of his mother, he grew up in a family of twenty-one children. His mother, who was Miss Susan Fry, of Madison County, died about a year after her marriage, and her husband, Mr. Larkin Willis, of Orange County, married again. His second wife was Miss Mary Gordon and she bore him twenty children. Edward was born in 1820. He and his half-brother, John Churchill Willis, were baptized at the same time by Rev. John Churchill Gor- don into the fellowship of Zoar Church. Edward stud- ied in the schools of the neighborhood of his father's home and then went to Williams College (1843-4), and for the session of 1841-2 to the University of Virginia; at this latter institution he took the degree of B. L. At an early age he married Miss Virginia Snead, of Char- lottesville, Virginia, and then began the practice of law at Barboursville, Virginia. But the gold fever caught him in its sweep and he became a "Forty-niner," travel- ing overland to California, where for a season he handled the pick. Soon he resumed the practice of law and was elected Circuit Judge, which position he held for some years. Finally he resigned this office and, having become a Baptist minister, organized in his parlor the First Bap- tist Church of Oakland, California. Nor was it long be- fore his church was a flourishing body, with a good meet- ing-house. In connection with his work as pastor, he edited the Pacific Banner.
In 1857, upon the death of his father, Mr. Willis re- turned to Virginia, coming by way of Panama. At As- pinwall he and his family were thrown into prison, and only upon the intervention of the United States Gov- ernment were they released. He now accepted a call to
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the Leigh Street Baptist Church, Richmond. Upon the breaking out of the Civil War he became chaplain of the Fifteenth Virginia Infantry and was most popular with his regiment. When the Southern army was reorgan- ized in 1862 he received a commission as captain of ar- tillery. He promptly raised a full company, but having difficulty in securing guns, his company was mustered in as "Company A, Fifteenth Virginia Infantry." At the battle of Sharpsburg, the colonel of the regiment having been wounded, Willis had the honor of commanding the gallant Fifteenth, and in an assault on the enemy two color-bearers having been stricken down, he seized the flag, and though it was twice shot out of his hands, he carried it to the front. No less than seventeen balls pierced his hat and clothing, but as though he bore a charmed life, he came out with only a few scratches ; for his gallant leadership he received promotion. At the battle of Fredericksburg he had an important part, and, indeed, throughout the War was so true and brave that his fellow-soldiers loved to call him "the fighting parson."
A thrilling story of the War is now introduced, al- though it concerns only indirectly the subject of this sketch. His first cousin, who figures in this story, while not an ordained minister, was a "licentiate," so there is the more reason that the story be told. Albert G. Willis, commonly known among his friends as "Bertie," was re- turning on leave of absence to his home. He stopped at the blacksmith's at Flint Hill, Rappahannock County, to have his horse shod. The ringing of the anvil prevented his hearing the approach of a party of Union soldiers. They had orders to hang the first of Mosby's men that they caught and young Willis was the first. The officer in command was so impressed with his prisoner's cool- ness and nerve that he offered to release him if, he would deny that he was one of Mosby's men. He made this proposal several times, but it was refused. When the
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time drew near for him to die he asked that he be allowed to pray, and when his request was granted he made a most earnest petition to God for his "murderers." The rope was thrown over the stump of the limb of a poplar tree. Another version of the story is that two Confeder- ates were captured and that one of them was to be hung; the Union men said that they might draw straws to de- cide which one should die. The other man was not a Christian, so Willis refused to draw straws, saying that he was not afraid to die, for his peace was made with God through Jesus Christ. In June, 1865, when the General Association was in session at the First Baptist Church, Richmond, a reporter published in one of the Richmond daily papers an account of the hanging of Rev. E. J. Willis. About the time the sad news had been read and digested by the brethren, in walked E. J. Willis; he had been confused by the reporter with "Bertie."
At the close of the War Mr. Willis settled with his family at Rapidan, becoming pastor of the Gordonsville, Orange, and North Pamunkey churches. From this field he went to the pastorate at Alexandria. From Alex- andria he went to Frederick County as a missionary of the State Mission Board, being pastor of the Winchester Church, and later of the Hebron Church also. While he was in Winchester he founded the Broaddus Female College, which was later removed to Clarksburg, West Virginia. It is said that the founding of this institu- tion was a great blessing to West Virginia. His next work was at Shelby, N. C., where he was president of the Shelby Female College. He left Shelby to accept the charge of the Baptist Church at Cambridge, Mary- land, where he remained till his failing health compelled him to give up active work. He died in Essex County, Virginia, at the age of 72, and was buried in Lael Bap- tist Churchyard, Lignum, Culpeper County.
JAMES HENRY WRIGHT
James H. Wright was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, December 7, 1856, being descended from Presbyterian ancestors. He served his apprenticeship as a printer in Richmond, Virginia, and in 1872 was converted in Pine Street Baptist Church of that city. In deference to the wishes of his parents he joined their church, declaring, however, that he was going to the Baptist Church as soon as he was of age. In a few years he obtained their consent and was baptized by Dr. J. B. Hutson into the fellowship of the Pine Street Baptist Church; in a short while he welcomed his brother, sister, mother and step- father into his church. He was licensed to preach and, having attended Richmond College, was ordained Oc- tober 12, 1879. He was pastor first of New Bethesda Church, Hanover County ; then of Mountain Plain and Hardware and Sharon churches, Albemarle County, and Mount Shiloh, in Nelson County. While at the Louis- ville Seminary he became assistant pastor for Dr. T. T. Eaton at the Walnut Street Baptist Church. He served the church at Union Springs, Ala., for a year, and re- turned to the Walnut Street Church, where he remained for eight months. He was at Rockville, Md., for nearly two years and went from there to the West End Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia, where he labored zeal- ously and successfully until incapacitated by illness. He went to Florida in an endeavor to regain his strength, but gradually grew weaker and returned to Petersburg, where he was cared for all the rest of his days by Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Whitehorn. When they found that Brother Wright was without means, without hope of re-
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covery, they gladly took him into their home, for ten weeks ministered to him day and night, wept over his death as parents for a son, and carried his body to its last resting-place in Albemarle.
Brother Wright was frail of body, but courageous in spirit. Dr. J. B. Hutson said of him: "He was a man of unspotted character, of clear and strong convictions, and ready if need be to lay down his life for the truth as he understood it. He was an uncommonly good singer, and delighted to lead the congregation in lofty praise to God." He was a preacher of power, with evan- gelistic gifts, and many were brought into the kingdom under his earnest appeals.
On October 9, 1884, he had married Miss Mollie S. Rittenhouse, and of this union one son survives. Con- sumption caused his death Sunday, January 10, 1892. The funeral took place at West End Church, Petersburg, and the burial at the home of Rev. D. C. Rittenhouse, Albemarle County.
L. Peyton Little.
BASIL MANLY, JR.
Some family names have been household words among Southern Baptists for nearly a century. Manly is one of these names. Dr. Basil Manly, Sr., was a scholarly preacher and distinguished educator, regarded, by one well able to judge, as in many respects the equal of the famous Dr. Francis Wayland. While Dr. Basil Manly, Sr., was pastor in Edgefield District, South Carolina, on December 19, 1825, his son, Basil, was born. While his father was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Charleston, young Manly attended a preparatory school in that city and later became a student in the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, of which insti- tution his father was president. A classmate thus speaks of him as a student: "I entered the freshman class at the University of Alabama in December, 1839. Basil Manly was a member of it and here began a friend- ship that extended through life. At our first meeting he impressed me as being quite delicate. He bore strongly the marks of the student, and in this his appear- ance did not deceive me. His father had spared no pains in his training, and by close application he maintained his place at the head of a class that was at least respectable in point of ability. For four years he was constantly in my sight and no one had better oppor- tunities than I for studying his proportions. His char- acter came out by slow degrees, for he had no irregu- larities. Immersed in study, he was punctilious in the discharge of every duty, and, if tempted, was never led to swerve. Others were prone to indulge in mischief; he did not seem to know the meaning of the word.
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Others caught promotion by a shorter way; he knew no way except to work for it. Others dared to do wrong in the assertion of a false manhood; he was content to plod along in the old prosy path of right. The son of the president, it might be supposed that he would become an object of distrust and jealousy, but no one was found so unjust as to visit upon him that he bore the name of his revered father, or to connect him unfavorably with the head of the institution. In times of rebellion (and in those old fire-eating days insubordination was often rife), suspicion challenged every possible informer, and woe be to the 'suspect' that fell under its ban. Basil was so unobtrusive, so guileless, so little given to partisan- ship, that he was free to come and go at will without the shadow of a smirch upon his immaculate skirts. I should do Basil's memory deep injustice, however, if I should produce the impression that he was reserved or sour. No one had a keener appreciation of genuine humor than he, or knew how to make himself more companion- able. For myself, I learned to love and respect him as a brother." Gentleness, which became one of his distin- guishing characteristics, as is seen from this quotation, was conspicuous in him at this early period. Perhaps we are in danger of thinking that people who are gentle never have any struggle for this blessed boon. It is re- corded, however, of Basil Manly, Jr., that in his earlier life he had to struggle with a violent temper. He broke several umbrellas over the head of his horse that was hard to control, but finally realized that unless he curbed his own temper it would bring him to ruin.
Upon his graduation at the University of Alabama, having decided to give himself to the gospel ministry, the question arose as to where he should pursue his theo- logical studies. In this matter he had the advice not only of his father, but also of Rev. Dr. John L. Dagg, who
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was professor of theology in Mercer University and whose "Manual of Theology" is remarkable for its clear statements of religious doctrines. Manly, who was in- clined to choose Mercer, that he might sit at the feet of him who had already been a great help to him in his religious life, thus described years afterwards this stage in his life: "But he [Dr. Dagg] advised with characteris- tic earnestness and fidelity that I should not content my- self with that, but should seek at once the best advantages and the fullest course that could be procured. These, it was agreed, could be found then at Newton Theological Institution, near Boston, Mass. When the disruption of 1845 occurred between Northern and Southern Baptists in their voluntary missionary organizations, it . led to the withdrawal from Newton of the four South- ern students who were there-S. C. Clopton, E. T. Winkler, J. W. M. Williams, and myself. The other three went directly into ministerial work, while I deter- mined, as I was younger, to prosecute further prepara- tory study, and went, under the advice of my father, of Dr. Dagg, of Dr. Francis Wayland, and other friends, to Princeton Theological Seminary."
Upon leaving Princeton, having been ordained at Tus- caloosa, Ala., he became pastor of several country churches. His poor health, however, led him, after a short while, to resign this charge and for a year to take up the saw-mill business, hoping that such a life in the open air might restore his strength. In 1849 the South- ern Baptist Convention met in Nashville, Tenn. An alarm as to cholera kept many away, but among those who did attend, not a few were deeply interested in the proposition then being discussed, to establish a theologi- cal seminary for Southern Baptists. Mr. Manly was one of this number. At this meeting he met for the first time R. B. C. Howell and J. R. Graves. These brethren
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thought the time had come for the establishment of such an institution, but he did not. Graves challenged him to debate the question before the Convention. He tells why he declined this invitation: "I did not want to be put into the false position of antagonizing the progres- sive movement for theological education, which I ear- nestly favored; and I am not ashamed to say I dreaded to cope with so vigorous and able an opponent as Brother Graves in an extempore debate." The Convention at Nashville adjourned to meet a few weeks later, on May 23, at Charleston. At this time and place, when a spe- cial educational meeting was held, he spoke on the mat- ter of the proposed seminary. In his address he stated that there were seven theological professors in as many Southern Baptist institutions, having in all about thirty theological students. He advanced many reasons for the proposed seminary and suggested three possible ways for bringing it into being. While from year to year the question of establishing a seminary was discussed among the brethren, no definite action seems to have been taken until 1854, when in the Virginia Baptist General Asso- ciation a call was made for a special meeting to consider the proposition. This meeting, which was held in Mont- gomery, with Mr. Manly as its secretary, called another
meeting for the following year.
Of this gathering,
which was held in Augusta, Ga., 1856, Dr. Basil Manly, Sr., was president. This led to another special meet- ing in Louisville in May, 1857. Here it was finally agreed that the desired theological seminary be estab- lished at Greenville, S. C., provided that certain condi- tions could be met. In announcing the committee on Plan of Organization, the president, Dr. B. Manly, Sr., said apologetically that he had appointed comparatively young men "because it was proposed to form a new in- stitution suited to the wants of our own ministry, and
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young men were more likely to be successful in devis- ing new plans." Here was the committee: J. P. Boyce, J. A. Broadus, B. Manly, Jr., E. T. Winkler, and Wil- liam Williams. The last of this series of special educa- tional conventions was held at Greenville, S. C., May 1, 1858, and upon the report of a committee of leading men the following men were elected as professors for the new seminary: J. P. Boyce, J. A. Broadus, B. Manly, Jr., and E. T. Winkler. Of these four, at first only two, Boyce and Manly, accepted the positions to which they had been elected.
In order to bring into one paragraph the story of Manly's connection with the establishment of the South- ern Baptist Theological Seminary, other events in his life have been passed over. In November, 1850, he be- came pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia. At this time "his form and voice and manner were rather suggestive of womanly gentleness and grace than of robust and vigorous manhood. He always bore himself in the pulpit and out of it with becoming dignity and was able by quiet but effective means to in- fluence, guide and control others. His gentle, soft and engaging manners, growing out of his sincere and affec- tionate heart, full of true Christian love and -sympathy, made his pastoral visits most welcome and salutary to his flock." Rev. Dr. Robert Ryland, after Dr. Manly's death, wrote as follows concerning this Richmond pas- torate: "It soon became evident that his bodily strength was not equal to the mental and physical energy re- quired by the position. The large and scattered con- gregation worshiped in a spacious house. Three sermons a week and numerous visits were too much for a youth of delicate frame and no experience. Still he made a most favorable impression on his people. His thorough course of preparation and study, his diligent habits, his
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