USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 5th series, 1902-1914, with supplement > Part 15
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candidates three were dead and three in prison. While the conflict was raging around Petersburg, one day Mr. Jones, assisted by John R. Bagby, was distributing tracts in the trenches, at a time when the shells were bursting close at hand and the Minie balls whistled through the air. One man, who was so fortunate as to have a frying-pan and something to fry, was calmly pre- paring his meal, when a Minie struck in the center of the fire and threw the ashes in every direction. The man's comment was: "Plague take them fellows. I 'spect they'll spile my grease before they stop their foolishness." A little later the major suggested that the party go into the noonday prayer-meeting that was being held in the "boom proof"; the service that followed was a precious and tender one. One day Mr. Jones was riding along the lines at Petersburg with Carter, his little boy, on the pummel of the saddle. The little fellow amused himself giving the "military salute" to the "men in gray" as he passed along. Presently one of them called out : "How do you do, General?" The child proudly replied : "I am no General, Sir, I am a Baptist preacher." Some years later, when General Lee was President of Washington and Lee University and Mr. Jones pastor of the Lexington Baptist Church, the same boy was being caressed and petted by General Lee. General Lee said: "Ah, Carter, I hope to live long enough to give you a high diploma." The boy replied : "General, I am not going to your college; I am going to graduate at Richmond College and then I am going to be a Master of Arts of the University of Virginia, a full graduate of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Baptist preacher." "Well, my boy," answered General Lee, "you have marked off a noble course for yourself, and I hope you may be able to carry it out to the letter." Before the War was over, in the many
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religious meetings that had been held, it is estimated that no less than 15,000 men had made profession of their faith in Christ, and of this number Mr. Jones had bap- tized 410. In after years Mr. Jones had abundant evi- dence that very many, perhaps the larger proportion, of the men who made profession of religion during the War became faithful church members when they returned home.
In 1865 Mr. Jones became pastor of the Goshen Bridge and Lexington Churches, in Rockbridge County, Vir- ginia. After a year he gave his whole service to the work at Lexington. He reached the town about the same time that General Lee assumed the presidency of Wash- ington College (now Washington and Lee University ). It so happened that there was no other pastor in the town who could give himself to active association with the students at the college and the cadets at the Virginia Military Institute save Mr. Jones, who was thus brought into close touch with General Lee. Mr. Jones says of this work: "I held well-attended prayer-meetings at the Institute every night, attended, every morning, the prayers at the college, and the frequent Y. M. C. A. meetings of the students, and did a good deal of visiting in the rooms of the college students and the barracks of the Institute. The happiest results followed these labors; there were a number of conversions among the students, and soon we had a general and all-pervasive revival among the cadets of the Institute, in which 110 of them professed conversion. In the college and the Institute both there were 150 professions of conversion, and of these, 35 became ministers of the gospel, and others were useful church members. . A distinguished Episcopal bishop, whom I met some years ago, after talking about the revival and his conversion in it, said to me: 'The first theological instruction I ever received was in the New
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Testament Greek class you used to teach at the Institute.' General Lee, meeting me on the lawn one day, inquired after the revival at the Institute and said with a good deal of feeling: 'That is the best news I have heard since I have been in Lexington. Oh, that we might have such a revival in our college and in all the colleges of the country' !" His relationship to General Lee at this period, as well as his acquaintance with him during the War, led to his writing his "Personal Reminiscences, Anecdotes, and Letters of R. E. Lee," a book that had a sale of over 20,000 copies.
In 1871 he left Lexington to become agent for the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In September, 1873, he became General Superintendent of the Sunday School and Bible Board of the Baptist General Associa- tion of Virginia. Until he resigned this work, on June 1, 1874, he regarded himself as a Sunday-school missionary, visiting as many Sunday schools and churches as possible, attending many District Associa- tions and Sunday-School Conventions, coming into per- sonal contact with Sunday-school workers, and endeavor- ing, by pen and tongue, to rally the workers and to disci- pline the army for better work. In 1874 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Washington and Lee University, and the following year, living in Richmond, became pastor of the Ashland Church, and at the same time being Secretary of the Southern Historical Society. The main work of this last office was that of editing the Southern Historical Society Papers. Under Dr. Jones' direction fourteen volumes of this publication appeared. During the active years that remained of his life, Dr. Jones was, first, for some years the Assistant Secretary of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Atlanta, Ga., then for two years Chaplain to the University of Virginia, and finally Chaplain of the
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Miller Manual School, Albemarle County. In connection with these positions he was busy with his pen, before his death giving to the world, besides the books already men- tioned, the "Jefferson Davis Memorial Volume," the "Army of Northern Virginia Memorial Volume," a "School History of the United States," the "Life and Letters of R. E. Lee," and "The Soldier and Man." For his "School History" he had been reading and gathering material for twenty years. These books by no means represent all of his pen work. Probably there was never a year when he was not correspondent or reporter for one or more papers, either regularly or for special occa- sions or conventions. This newspaper work seems to have begun when a brother preacher turned over to him an engagement with the Richmond Dispatch. For this paper Dr. Jones wrote many years over the signature of "Viator." Dr. Jones had a large private and semi-public correspondence, and much of this work he did without the aid or before the day of stenographers. His hand- writing was bold, large, and almost as plain as print, and his "Yours to count on," with which he closed many a letter, gave pleasure, and almost passed into a proverb among his friends, seeming to be an index of the charac- ter of the man. He was warm-hearted and enthusiastic in his make-up, and loyal, in a very noble sense and to a high degree, to cause or principle or person when once he had committed himself. His devotion to the South, her generals and men and destiny, his strong adherence to Baptist doctrines and agencies for service, his willing- ness to help a friend at any cost, illustrate the remark as to the loyalty of his character. Not only with his pen and as a preacher did Dr. Jones serve his day and coming generations. He had a number of lectures touching the history of War, one on Lee, another on "Stonewall" Jackson, and yet another called the "Boys in Gray," that
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he delivered far and wide, not only in the South, but also in the North. Boston gave him an overflowing audience to hear one of these lectures, and the respect and courtesy the audience showed him on this occasion greatly delighted him. Towards the close of his life he was elected Chaplain-General of the United Confederate Veterans and to the office of Secretary and Superintend- ent of the Confederate Memorial Association. For years not a few before the end came, it was fine, at the Southern Baptist Convention and sometimes at other annual Baptist gatherings, to see "The Jones Boys," as Dr. Jones and his four preacher boys-Carter Helm, Pendleton, Ashby, and Howard-came to be called, in admiration and affection, by the brotherhood. The father, in a wonderful way, preserved his youthful spirit, and the fellowship and camaraderie among the five was inspiring to behold. Each of these sons has had a useful career, and as they still stand, in the vigor of service and power, they are a noble illustration of the sterling worth, real piety, and strong personality of their parents. The fifth son, Frank, is a lawyer.
Dr. Jones died, in Columbus, Ga., March 17, 1909, at the home of his son, Rev. M. Ashby Jones, and the body was taken to Richmond, Va., where he had lived so long and the capital of the Confederacy that he loved so well. The service in Richmond was conducted by these minis- ters : Ryland Knight, W. R. L. Smith, W. H. Whitsitt, E. L. Grace, and Wm. E. Hatcher. The body was laid to rest in Hollywood. Memorial services were held in Ashland, where he had been pastor, and in May, at the session of the Southern Baptist Convention, in Louisville, Ky., an address was delivered by Dr. W. H. Whitsitt upon the character and work of Dr. Jones.
JAMES HENRY BARNES 1833-1909
Among those who bore part in the organization of the Liberty Baptist Church, New Kent County, Virginia, were Mr. William H. Barnes and his wife, who was, before her marriage, Miss Lucy Saunders. They were both born in New Kent, but soon after their marriage they moved to James City County, and here, on Septem- ber 23, 1833, their son, James H., was born, and here he grew to manhood. Hickory Neck Academy, located in James City County, and one of the "best classical schools that the South was noted for before the Civil War," helped the young man towards an education, preparing him for William and Mary College, at which famous institution he was a student the sessions of 1854-55 and 1855-56. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted, serving first under General Joseph E. Johnston and then, as a courier and clerk, under General R. E. Lee. He con- tinued in the service until near the end of the War, when he was taken prisoner. After the close of the War, returning to his home, he sought, first as a school-teacher, to do all in his power, at this trying time, for the good of his country. From the desk of the pedagogue he passed to the pulpit, being ordained to the gospel ministry at Liberty Church and becoming pastor of this flock. To this people he ministered longer than to any other, and there are many living in that community who give testi- mony to the far-reaching blessings of his influence. In the course of his ministry the other country churches of which he was pastor were Samaria, James City, Har- mony Grove, Macedonia, Spring Hill, and Eastville,
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located in the counties of Northampton, Middlesex, Gloucester, and Mathews. The towns of Williamsburg, Richmond (Fulton Church), and Baltimore were also his fields of labor before his work ended. In this last-named city he founded the Hampden Baptist Church. His preaching was characterized by "simplicity, earnestness, directness, and spirituality," and was eloquent withal. For some years before his death he was afflicted with total blindness, which made it necessary for him to give up his regular pastoral work, but he still continued to preach, and many thought his messages after the days of his great affliction were with greater power and ten- derness than ever before. "Through a long life he loved God and loved his fellow-men, and, though independent of opinion and fearless in upholding the right, he was ever patient, tender, and generous, and was loved, honored, and esteemed by all who knew him." He died at the residence of his brother-in-law, Mr. Ben Joe Vaughan, in Ware Neck, April 7, 1909. The funeral and burial took place at Poroporone Church, King and Queen County. The services, which were attended by a large crowd (some of the people from the Harmony Grove Church coming across the country over winter roads), were conducted by Rev. W. W. Sisk, assisted by Rev. R. A. Folkes, Rev. H. J. Goodwin, and Rev. W. E. Wiatt. The sermon, from the text "I have fought a good fight," was preached by Mr. Sisk. Mr. Barnes was married twice. His first wife, to whom he was married, at Liberty Church, January 1, 1885, was Miss Mary Florence Binns. Of this union there were born two daughters, Macon E. and Mary F. Barnes. His second wife, who survives him, and to whom he was married, at Poroporone Church, November 13, 1894, was Miss Florence Celeste Mann.
JOHN MILTON WILLIS 1849-1909
It would be interesting to have the statistics as to men who had first been lawyers or physicians and then became ministers of the gospel, and of those who had given up the ministry for one of these professions. After a num- ber of years as a successful attorney-at-law, John Milton Willis entered the ministry and gave the remainder of his life to this calling. He was born in Orange County, at "Spring Hill," the home of his parents, on August 12, 1849. His father was James Willis and his mother Elizabeth Gordon, a daughter of Rev. John Churchill Gordon; of this minister a sketch will be found in "Lives of Virginia Baptist Ministers," Second Series. The sub- ject of the present sketch spent his early days on his father's farm, upon the Rapidan River, and attended the "old-field" school located on his father's lands. Locust Dale Academy, under the management of Mr. Andrew J. Gordon, next ministered to his educational life, and then he became a student of law at Richmond College. Upon leaving Richmond College, in 1871, he engaged in the practice of law for one year in Charlottesville, Va., and then moved to Missouri. He settled in Saline County, making first Miami and then Marshall, the county-seat, his home. Here, by his ability and by his "remarkably pure and upright life," he built up a large practice. On May 3, 1877, he was married to Miss Mary Young Hol- man, the oldest daughter of Rev. Dr. Russell Holman, who was the founder of the Colosseum Place Baptist Church, New Orleans, and for many years the secretary of the Domestic Mission Board of the Southern Baptist
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Convention. In October, 1884, Mr. Willis moved to Florida, being led to this step because his health had been seriously undermined by inflammatory rheumatism. Here he worked at his profession, and raised oranges, until the fall of 1895, when, responding to what he believed to be a call from God, he offered himself as a candidate for the gospel ministry, and was ordained, in January, 1896, at Green Cove Springs, Fla. Although he set out on the career of a preacher without regular theological training, he had had no mean preparation in this direction, since he had sat at the feet of Dr. Holman and Dr. Henry Talbird, both of them ministers of ability and learning. "In long talks and discussions with them he drank deep of theological truths, and from their libraries he garnered a store of knowledge." After two years, in which period he was pastor at Palatka, also supplying country churches, he returned to Virginia and became, in the summer of 1898, pastor of the Mount Madison Baptist Church, just across the river from Lynchburg, and in Amherst County. After five years of faithful service in this field he became State evangelist, under the State Mission Board, and gave himself unre- servedly to the hardships incident to a ministry in the waste places. This work proved too strenuous for him, his health broke down, and, in 1906, he resigned. In November, 1907, he began to preach again, taking charge of the Bridgewater and Mt. Crawford Churches, Rock- ingham County, Augusta Association. While on this field, on Sunday morning, May 22, 1909, after preaching from Galatians 5:1, a few moments after the close of the sermon he dropped dead on the street. He was buried in Buena Vista, Va., where he had lived for several years. As a lawyer he had never betrayed the confidence reposed in him by fellow-citizens who called him to represent them in positions of importance, and as
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a minister "he was noted for a singularly consistent Christian life, a keen insight into spiritual things, and a determination to know nothing but Christ and Him cruci- fied." He is survived by his wife and three children, namely : Hon. Russell Holman Willis, Roanoke; Mrs. L. M. Walker, Danville, and Miss Gladys Churchill Willis.
TIMOTHY FUNK 1824-1909
On Friday, January 29, 1907, a company of some five hundred people gathered at the Baptist Church, Singer's Glen, Rockingham County, Virginia, for an all-day service. Although Rev. G. C. Bundick and Rev. J. H. Brunk, and perhaps other preachers, were present, there were no sermons, for the business of the day was singing. After an opening prayer and a brief address the stream of song began to flow, nor was its flow broken, save for an hour given to an abundant dinner, until the evening shades fell. During the larger part of the day the book used was the old and historic "Harmonia Sacra" that had its birth at Singer's Glen. Among the tunes selected were these : "Greenfield," "Wesley," "Lingham,"
"Heavenly Vision," "Fatherland," "New Salem," "Eden of Love," "Thanksgiving," and "Glorious War." The most honored person in this gathering was the venerable Rev. Timothy Funk, in celebration of whose eighty-third birthday the meeting was held. The seat of honor was his, and once during the day he was the leader of the music, many of those who sang being his former pupils. Not only Baptists, but also Mennonites, United Brethren, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Lutherans were in the congregation. This function was a most appropriate one, since Mr. Funk, for more than half a century, was a teacher of music throughout the State. In many, many hamlets and rural neighborhoods, not only in the Valley, but in Piedmont and Eastern Virginia, his name was known. He "lisped in numbers, for the numbers came," his father being Joseph Funk, well called, by Dr. John W. Wayland, "The Father of Song in Northern Vir-
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ginia." In the little village of Singer's Glen, whose very atmosphere still seems to breathe of music, there is seen the small building where the old printing-press stood. Joseph Funk gave to the sweet, smiling valley its present name, and to the world the "Harmonia Sacra," which had a sale of 80,000 copies. He translated from German manuscripts "The Confession of Faith of the Mennon- ites"; this work, with a preface giving the history of this denomination written by him, he published in 1837. He and his sons, doing business under the style of Joseph Funk's Sons, introduced what was known as the "patent' or "shaped-note" system, which was patented, and which came to be known among music publishers as "Funk's system." For many years the types were manufactured and sold by MacKellar, Smith & Jordan, of Philadelphia.
Timothy Funk, the second son of Joseph Funk, and one of fourteen children, was born January 26, 1824. While it seems that he did not enjoy, as his brother, the advantages of a college course, nevertheless he was not an uneducated man. The training that he received from his parents was by no means to be despised. The work that he did for over half a century as a teacher of singing has been mentioned, but an interesting detail may well be added. It was his custom to close all of his singing schools with "There Is a Happy Land." So it was most fitting that this hymn was sung at his funeral. His work as a preacher was long, faithful, and effective. He was pastor of the Turleytown Church for many years, and a noble exponent of Baptist doctrines in all the lower end of Rockingham County, and doubtless in even a wider territory. His wife, who was Miss Susan Rheu- bush, preceded him by many years to the unseen world, having died May 26, 1895. His end came, after quite a season marked by the infirmities of age, June 11, 1909. His funeral and burial took place at Singer's Glen.
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Singer's Glen, surrounded with its apple orchards and fertile meadows, the mountains in the distance and the hurrying trains far away, is rich in suggestions of peace and comfort. One family, with wide ramifications, has made the place famous, and here the descendants of the first settler, who was a grandson of Bishop Funk, who came to this country in 1719, dwell contentedly together. Another branch of the family lives in Illinois, where some years ago they owned, in one body, no less than 25,000 acres of the best land in the State.
W. R. WEBB 1844-1909
Thomas L. Webb and Sarah Chambliss Webb, his wife, of good Virginia stock, lived on their farm in Din- widdie County, Virginia. There, on August 14, 1844, their son, W. R. Webb, first saw the light. The boy grew up with little opportunity for an education, since his father kept him close at work on the farm, believing in the plow rather than books as the best preparation for life. So it came to pass that not until he was a man and married did he have the chance for an education that he craved. After the death, in 1871, of his first wife, who was, before her marriage, Miss Sarah E. Smith, of Din- widdie County, he felt called to preach the gospel, and attended, for several sessions (1872-74), Richmond Col- lege. During this period Rev. Vernon I'Anson "coached" this student, who was no longer a youth, and he testifies that it was a "privilege to aid one who was so eager to learn, so willing to be taught, and so faithful and devoted to his studies." During these years he spent much time praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in his preparation for the Master's work. In making his arrangements to go to college he was greatly aided by Deacon J. C. Duane, for whom he ever had a most grate- ful affection. The Cut Banks Church, where he had been baptized by the Rev. Hosea Crowder, ordained him to the gospel ministry. Before his college days he had served as a brave Confederate soldier all through the War.
The churches to which he preached during the course of his ministry were Bethel, Grafton, Emmaus (York
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County ), Denbeigh, James City, and James River. Until the organization of the Peninsula Association his churches were all in the bounds of the Dover Associa- tion. Several of these churches he served for a long term of years. More than one meeting-house was built by him, and "the cause of the Lord prospered under his faithful ministry." It is scarcely necessary to remark that his salary was never large, but he was industrious, and withal a prudent man of business; and so it came to pass that before his death he had secured an excellent home, a farm, on James River, near Lee Hall, and thus he left his family in fairly good circumstances. There was only one child by his first marriage; this son, at the time of his father's death, was an earnest member of the Second Baptist Church of Newport News. Before her marriage his second wife was Miss Mary L. Williams, of Elizabeth City County. She and seven of her eight children survived her husband. The obituary, prepared for the Minutes of the General Association by Rev. Vernon I'Anson, is the basis of this sketch; it closes with these words : "For forty years the writer knew and loved this consecrated Christian-this humble but faithful pastor-this excellent and successful preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For some months before he died his health was poor, and finally, in the full hope of a glorious resurrection and a blessed immortality, he fell asleep in his own home, with prayers for his family and children, on the 15th of June, 1909."
BENJAMIN FUNK 1829-1909
Among the sons of Joseph Funk was Benjamin Funk, who was born December 29, 1829, at Singer's Glen. The name of "Funk," so far, at least, as Virginia is con- cerned, is inseparably associated with the little village of Singer's Glen, Rockingham County. This spot was first known as Mountain Valley, until Joseph Funk gave it its present name. He was the grandson of Bishop Henry Funk, of the Mennonite Church, who came to America in 1719. In 1847, at Singer's Glen, Joseph founded the first Mennonite printing-house in this country. Dr. John W. Wayland calls Joseph Funk "The Father of Song in Northern Virginia." His "Harmonia Sacra" had a sale of some 80,000 copies, passing through seventeen editions. He went far and wide over the State teaching singing.
Benjamin Funk was educated at Richmond College, where he studied Latin, Greek, German, Mathematics, and English (1854-55). For a time, after his leaving col- lege, he taught school, and then became a minister of the gospel. After a few years' labor in Eastern Virginia he gave the rest of his active ministry, which lasted till about ten years before his death, to the region roundabout Singer's Glen. During his career as a teacher he labored in West Virginia and at Harrisonburg and other points in Rockingham County. He and his brother, Timothy, were kindred spirits in life, and in death they were not divided, less than a month separating their departures from earth. Near together, on the hillside that overlooks the valley where so much of their lives was spent, rest the bodies of these two good men.
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