USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 5th series, 1902-1914, with supplement > Part 19
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C. E. WRENN 1858-1914
While Virginia was his birthplace, C. E. Wrenn died in San Antonio, Texas, May 22, 1914, whither he had gone, accompanied by his wife, in search of health. He was born in Hanover County in 1858, and in this section of the State his last work was done. After studying in Richmond he was baptized into the fellowship of the Grace Street Baptist Church by Rev. Dr. Wm. E. Hatcher. On August 4, 1898, he was married, in Cali- fornia, to Miss Alda Gaines. His ordination took place in Danville, Va., November 5, 1906. For a season he was pastor at Jessup, Ga. His ministry in Virginia was first at the Schoolfield Church, Danville, and at the Elon
(Goshen Association) and Hopewell (Dover Associa- tion) Churches. In 1909, while at the former field, he baptized twenty-nine persons into the fellowship of the church, and the following year sixty-three. The last months of his service were marked by his failing health, yet his faithfulness won large place for him among the people whom he strove to serve when death was so near at hand.
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WILLIAM HETH WHITSITT 1841-1911
While not a native of Virginia, in a very real sense Dr. Whitsitt may be called an adopted son of the Old Dominion. At a very trying hour in his life his election to the Chair of Philosophy in Richmond College brought him to Richmond, where the remainder of his days were spent, and in Hollywood, Virginia's most beautiful "city of the dead," his body sleeps. He was always most loyal to his native State, never allowing to go by an oppor- tunity to praise Tennessee. He was born near Nashville at the home of his father, Reuben Whitsitt, a prosperous farmer, November 25, 1841. At the age of seventeen he decided to give his life to the gospel ministry, and in 1861, after three years as a student, he graduated at the Union University, then located at Murfreesboro. He at once enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army, but was soon made a chaplain, in which office he continued until the end of the War. He was under General Nathan B. Forrest, who, in his official reports, more than once made mention of the young chaplain's courage and gallantry. In 1866 he entered the University of Vir- ginia, and the next year the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Greenville, S. C. After two years there he went abroad to continue his studies in Leipsic and Berlin. It was not common in those days for young Baptist stu- dents from the South to study in Germany, and upon his return home doubt was entertained in some quarters as to his orthodoxy. Rev. Dr. J. J. Taylor is the authority for the story that soon after his arrival in this country he dispelled all uneasiness as to his devotion to the faith
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of his fathers when, upon his first appearance to preach, he gave out with great impressiveness the hymn :
"Before Jehovah's awful throne Ye nations bow with sacred joy ; Know that the Lord is God alone, He can create and He destroy."
After a short pastorate at Hill Creek Church, Tenn., he accepted a call to the Baptist Church of Albany, Ga., but he remained there only from February to September, since he was elected to the Chair of Biblical Introduction and Church History in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This was in 1872, and his connection with the Seminary continued till 1899. For no small part of this time he was Professor of Polemics and Church History.
In the Seminary and in the esteem and affections of the students Dr. Whitsitt held an important place and a place all his own. The men who studied under him thoroughly believed in his piety, his sincerity, and his scholarship. His quaint and pithy way of putting things attracted and impressed in the classroom, causing many of his sayings to be quoted in and beyond the Seminary. The way in which he examined details and showed how little things are closely related to great issues and events was a lesson of untold value as teaching his students right historical methods. A stranger might have said at first blush that his lectures would be dry, but no student at all inclined to listen and study would have confirmed such an opinion. While his manner was deliberate, his words seemed carefully chosen, and each one in its right place. His lectures were rich in epigrammatic expres- sions, incisive criticism, tender pathos, genuine humor, and rich common sense. As a preacher he never charmed the popular ear as did Dr. Broadus, but he had many admirers and many students who loved to hear him in the
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pulpit as well as in the classroom. Certainly in the Louisville days his sermons were always written and closely read, and the penmanship of the sermons, as well as of other writings, was characteristic and unusual. The writing was small, yet bold and clear, the sermons being on small sheets of paper. Dr. Broadus was fond of telling a joke on Dr. Whitsitt, of how he ruined the effect of a strong sermon, preached in New England, by beginning, soon after he came from the pulpit, to smoke a cigar.
The heavy burden of classroom work that rested on the Seminary professors did not altogether hinder Dr. Whitsitt from literary work, for which he had so many qualifications. His inaugural address as professor had been on the theme: "The Relation of Baptists to Cul- ture," and, as the years passed, he published first a pamphlet entitled "History of the Rise of Infant Bap- tism," and another called "History of Communion Among Baptists." Later he wrote "Origin of the Disciples of Christ," "Life and Times of Judge Caleb Wallace," "A Question of Baptist History," "Genealogy of Jefferson Davis," "The Genealogy of Jefferson Davis and Samuel Davies, President of Princeton College." In 1873 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Mercer University, and later the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by William Jewell, Georgetown, and the Southwestern Baptist Union Uni- versity. In 1881 he was married to Miss Florence Walker, and of this marriage two children were born, a daughter, who is now Mrs. H. G. Whitehead, and a son, William Baker Whitsitt. All who had the privilege to come into the circle of Dr. Whitsitt's home were impressed with the glow of love and happiness that dwelt there. Dr. Whitsitt did not impress one as being physic- ally a strong man, and there may have been years when
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his health was not robust, but certainly towards the end of his life he was by no means the victim of dyspepsia, that foe of men given to sedentary habits. The year of the Baptist Congress in London one of Dr. Whitsitt's former students, who was a passenger with him on the Princess Alice, was surprised at his thorough enjoyment of the decidedly German fare, fare which the student, a very much younger man, found too rich and gross.
Upon the death of Dr. John A. Broadus, in 1895, Dr. Whitsitt was elected to succeed him as president of the Seminary. Soon after this, certain statements that Dr. Whitsitt made, in articles and other publications, as to Baptist history, started a controversy that lasted several years, that was most bitter and unfortunate, and that finally led to Dr. Whitsitt's resignation. Whatever may have been the historical facts which aroused the dis- cussion, it seemed to many that free speech and full investigation were not things which need cause Baptists, of all people, any alarm. Many, if not all, of the Baptist newspapers of the South took part in the discussion, and in some sections District Associations became arenas of debate. Other denominations were attracted by what was going on in Baptist ranks, and many in these other communions seemed to think that the Baptists were threatened with disaster and perhaps dissolution. When finally the matter was ended, one paper said that Dr. Whitsitt went "into retirement with the distinction of having been more abused, more persistently misquoted, more cruelly dealt with by a large number of his brethren than any other man who has lived among us for a cen- tury past." Although Dr. Whitsitt was not fitted by taste or temperament for the acrimonies of such a bitter fight, nevertheless he calmly and with determination stood in his place. The Board of Trustees of the Seminary supported him, at two annual sessions, failing
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to take any steps looking towards his withdrawal from the presidency and from the Seminary. At the meeting of the Board of Trustees, at Louisville, in 1899, at the same time as the meeting of the Southern Baptist Con- vention, Dr. Whitsitt offered his resignation. It is understood that the Virginia trustees all voted against accepting the resignation, but many who were warm sup- porters of Dr. Whitsitt voted for the' resignation in the interests of peace. At the commencement of the Semi- nary, a few weeks later, his connection with the institu- tion as professor and president closed. Upon this occasion friends presented the Seminary with a portrait of Dr. Whitsitt ; he made his final address, and words on behalf of the trustees were spoken. Dr. Whitsitt closed his address with these words: "In conclusion, I entreat the favor of God upon our school. It has done a good work hitherto. The past, at least, is secure. May the future also be glorious. May good learning, enlightened piety, and real Baptist orthodoxy always prevail in our Theo- logical Seminary. And now, with malice towards none, but with charity for all, I bid you an affectionate fare- well." Dr. Hatcher, speaking on behalf of the trustees, addressed Dr. Whitsitt with affectionate words, closing his remarks thus: "Doctor, in the name of the Board of Trustees and of the students, and of the people, I give you the hand of true fellowship and affection, and I bid you good-bye, and a thousand blessings upon you and your faithful wife and your noble children, through Jesus Christ our Lord." When the portrait had been presented by Rev. Dr. Carter Helm Jones and accepted by Dr. Hatcher on behalf of the trustees, after the applause had died away, as Dr. Whitsitt arose to call for the benediction he received an ovation. "Tears of affec- tion and gratitude dimmed his eyes," says the report of
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the occasion in the Courier-Journal, "and choked his voice, and he could only indicate what his voice could not express."
After leaving Louisville, and after a year abroad, Dr. ยท Whitsitt accepted the professorship in Richmond and took up his new line of work, which he kept up until a few months before his death. Upon his retirement from his work at Richmond College the students presented him with a loving-cup, and that year dedicated to him the college annual. While he had been feeble for some time, his death was not expected, but on Friday, January 20, 1911, he quietly fell on sleep. On Sunday afternoon friends gathered at 311 Park Street and held a simple service. The Herald, in an editorial upon his death, said : "With the spirit of self-effacement, which was character- istic of him, he quietly gave up his position of president of our Seminary in the interest of peace, and later on we brought him to Virginia. We are glad that Virginians invited him, and glad that he came. We rejoice that in his later years he found here useful and congenial occu- pation for his mind and heart, and surrounded himself with friends whose love and honor he prized above all earthly possessions."
JAMES IRA TAYLOR 1831-1911
About 1772 George Taylor and his wife, who, before her marriage, was Miss Elizabeth Anyon, set out from Wales for the new world across the Atlantic. They finally settled in Henry County, Virginia. In this county, in 1779, the husband made entry of a tract where he lived, died, and was buried. One of his ten children was Reuben Taylor. Reuben Taylor and his wife, Nancy Gray, reared a large family. One of their sons, James Ira Taylor, was born, April 13, 1831, in the Mayo neighborhood, in the southern part of Henry County. His education, which was limited, was secured mainly in the common schools, though he studied for a season at the Patrick Henry Academy at Penn's Store. His conversion, which took place on his father's farm, was deep and sound. "He believed with all his heart that only a profound conviction of sin can lead to true repent- ance and to faith in the Lord Jesus." Soon after his conversion he was ordained to the gospel ministry, and he found great satisfaction in warning people "against the perils of the movement of Alexander Campbell" and in preaching salvation by grace. The two preacher brothers, James Ira and Daniel Gray, sought to be in some pulpit every Sunday, unless detained by other calls of Providence. While Sycamore Church, Patrick County, Blue Ridge Association, was the only pastorate James Ira Taylor ever held in Virginia, he was highly successful as the teacher of a Bible Class at Mayo Church. He had much to do in shaping the theology of the fourteen preachers whom Mayo Church sent out into
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the world. Some of these men hold high places to-day, and they can testify that the Theological Seminary did not have to revise the theology they had learned in the Mayo Bible Class under Mr. Taylor.
After many years at Sycamore, in 1874, Mr. Taylor migrated to Oregon. While for a season pastor of a country church in Benson County, in the State of his adoption, the larger part of his time was given to young pioneer churches that were unable to offer him financial support. He spent much time in the study of the Bible, and was in the habit of reading the good book in the family; "evening prayer was part of the daily pro- gramme, and was always a season of religious uplift and refreshing." In Oregon, thirty years ago, preaching was in many places infrequent and infidelity rampant. Men who came into Mr. Taylor's home for a formal visit of an hour were often led by him, in a tactful way, into religious conversation and kept for the larger part of the day.
Miss Ruth Pratt, of the Mayo neighborhood, who, in January, 1857, became Mr. Taylor's wife, and who was "all the world to him," survived him. They were the parents of a large family ; four sons and four daughters are still living: they are Rev. Dr. William Carson Tay- lor, Reuben Taylor, Mrs. E. H. Hawkins, Mrs. J. T. Vincent, Frank Taylor, Jesse G. Taylor, Mrs. J. L. Tait, and Mrs. Caleb Davis. Mr. Taylor lived to see all his children happily married and all in the kingdom of God. He died on Monday, March 27, 1911, at 4:30 P. M., at Corvallis, Oregon.
JOHN W. MARTIN 1848-1911
A native of Appomattox County, John W. Martin spent his life in this and the adjoining counties of Nelson, Campbell, and Amherst. One of five sons of Valentine and Elizabeth Plunkett Martin, he was born June 28, 1848. When quite a young man he went, with his brother, to Lynchburg, and engaged in the hardware business. He was baptized into the fellowship of the First Baptist Church by Rev. Dr. C. C. Bitting. He became active and interested in Sunday-school work; out of this effort, in which young Martin bore a part, the Sunday school was organized that later grew into the College Hill Baptist Church. When he felt clearly that he was called to the gospel ministry he at once decided to go to Richmond College to prepare himself for what he had determined to make his life work. At the college he was older than many of the students, and his portly form helped to give him the air of a man rather than a stripling, but his energy and jovial spirit made him com- panionable and popular with his fellow-students. On December 18, 1879, he was married, at Gidsville, Va., by the Rev. Samuel Massie, to Miss Jennie Gannaway, the daughter of James M. and Sarah Gannaway, and on July 31, 1882, was ordained at Ebenezer Church, Amherst County. His first pastorate was with this church. Before his ministry, of thirty-odd years, came to a close, he had been pastor, for longer or shorter periods, of these churches: Ebenezer, Jonesboro, St. Stephen's, Walnut Grove, Adiel, Kingswood, Mineral Spring, Central, Ariel, Piney River, Oak Hill, Clifford.
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His work was in the bounds of the Albemarle Associa- tion until 1903, when the Piedmont Association was organized, after which time his labors were in the latter Association. Of this body he was clerk from its organi- zation until his death. He was a man of tireless energy, and for a part of his life managed to carry on a store and teach school, all in addition to his work for his churches. At times he was the pastor of five churches. Of Mr. Martin, Rev. W. F. Fisher said, in the Herald, soon after his death: "He was a fine organizer; he possessed the remarkable ability to get other people inter- ested in the work. . Genial, cordial, sympathetic, companionable, he won the people, young and old. He was untiring in his efforts. His people all loved him." To the end, even after his strength began to fail, he kept at his work. His last sermon was preached the second Sunday in June at Clifford, where he was seeking to complete a house of worship. The Sunday before his death he made an earnest address before the Woman's Missionary Society at Central Church. He died Thursday, June 22, 1911, on the birth- day of his wife. The funeral, which took place at his home, was conducted by Rev. W. R. McMillan and Rev. S. P. Massie. The Mt. Pleasant and Lowesville Lodges of Masons were represented at the funeral. He was sur- vived by his wife and these five children : Carroll Martin, Sampson Martin, Maitland Martin, Mrs. R. C. Taylor, Mrs. Frank Scott.
JAMES BARNETT TAYLOR, JR. 1837-1911
In Hollywood, Richmond's "city of the dead," in the same lot, are the graves of James Barnett Taylor, Sr., and his son, James Barnett Taylor, Jr. In the city where the father was pastor of the Second and Grace Street Baptist Churches and Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, this son was born, October 22, 1837. The home in which he grew up was remarkable for its piety, its "plain living, and high thinking." The children were as familiar with books as a stableboy is with horses. The mother in the home, of New England ancestry, had in her make-up energy, thrift, shrewd common sense, and a decided religious turn of mind. The father was a remarkable pastor, an excellent preacher, and had great gifts of leadership and capacity for administration. It is no wonder that this boy in this home should be a clerk for a season in a bookstore if he was to be clerk at all, or that at the age of fifteen he became a member of the church, being bap- tized December 19, 1852, by Dr. Jeter, and that his after- life gave full evidence of the genuineness of his early conversion.
His education, which had already been started in the home, was continued, first at Richmond College (1852- 53, 1853-54, 1855-56), then at the University of Vir- ginia, and then at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Greenville, S. C. While a student at Rich- mond College he carried on, with Rev. Wm. E. Hatcher, his fellow-student, a protracted meeting at Grace Street Baptist Church which was marked by deep spiritual
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power and which resulted in a large number of conver- sions. This episode was prophetical of his future career ; in after years he was quite successful in evangelical work ; indeed, all of his preaching had the evangelistic note. At the University of Virginia he was one of that little group of students who organized the first college Y. M. C. A. in the world, and he was one of the "managers" of the new organization.
On June 10, 1860, an interesting service was held at Charlottesville, Va. Several young men were set aside at this time for the gospel ministry. The presbytery was composed of the following ministers: James B. Taylor, Sr., James Fife, A. M. Poindexter, Tiberius Gracchus Jones, A. B. Cabaniss, John A. Broadus, A. B. Brown, Charles Quarles, and W. P. Farish. The young men who had been examined the day before, and who were ordained, were Crawford H. Toy, John L. Johnson, and James B. Taylor, Jr., of the Charlottesville, and John Wm. Jones, of the Mechanicsville Church. The sermon was preached by Dr. T. G. Jones, on the text "Preach the word." The ordaining prayer was made by Dr. Taylor, and then the charge was delivered by Dr. Broadus. By this time the crowd, already large, was so increased by people from other congregations in the town, whose services were over, that the standing throng around the doors pressed far down the aisles, "preserving, however, a breathless silence." The purpose of these young men to go to China and Japan was interfered with by the coming on of the War. The same awful event inter- rupted Mr. Taylor's course at the Seminary at Greenville. He at once enlisted, and, as a member of Brook's Troop. Hampton's Legion, was present at the first battle of Manassas. Later he was transferred to Gen. W. H. F. Lee's command in the 10th Virginia Cavalry. As a chaplain, and as an agent seeking funds with which to
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secure Bibles for the Confederate soldiers, he was very useful. He also compiled a hymn-book, which was extensively used in camp and other religious services.
After the War he became pastor at Culpeper Court House, Va. During a pastorate of ten years at this place he built up a strong church, beginning with a mem- bership of only 28. Before he left there were 320 additions to the church, and, besides, he had 500 con- versions in the protracted meetings he held in the sur- rounding country. Once at the Louisville Seminary, Dr. Broadus, addressing his class, used James B. Taylor, Jr., and his work at Culpeper, as an illustration of the blessing a wise and consecrated and tactful preacher could be in a town and in a whole Association. From Culpeper he went, in October, 1875, to Wilmington, N. C., to become pastor of the First Baptist Church of that city. Here he remained some years, wiping out a debt on the meeting-house and greatly strengthening the church. After a serious illness he resigned and spent some months in European travel.
Upon his return from Europe he accepted a call to the Baptist Church at Lexington, Va. While the Baptists are not strong in Lexington, the fact that the Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University are located in this town adds importance to this pastorate. Besides a faithful ministry to his own flock, Dr. Taylor won the esteem and confidence of the faculties of the two institutions of learning and of the community, and did good work among the students. The location of the Baptist meeting-house is not a commanding one, but dur- ing his pastorate the building was enlarged and so improved as to be much more attractive. During his pastorate here Dr. Taylor was called, upon the death of Rev. Dr. John P. Strider, Professor of Moral Philoso- phy and Belles-Lettres, to fill, for a season, the Chair of
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Moral Philosophy in the University; this work he did in a highly acceptable manner to the students and faculty. During a part of his residence in Lexington he lived in what is known as the "Jackson House," it having been, for a time, the home of "Stonewall" Jackson. In June, 1895, he became pastor of the Baptist Church, Salem, Va. This was at the time when the land boom, which had swept over Virginia, was leaving financial depression and disaster in its wake. Salem did not escape the "fever" and then the reaction. During the five years of Dr. Taylor's work in this beautiful and peaceful town, he was closely associated with the beginning of the Bap- tist Orphanage, which, declining many other offers, came to this town. For some time he was the field representa- tive of the Orphanage, in which capacity he brought the institution and its important work to the hearts and sympathy of hundreds of homes and churches, raising a goodly sum of money. When he left Salem it was to become the representative, in the field, of the Georgia Baptist Orphanage, with his residence in Atlanta. In this position, the last regular work of his life, he was eminently successful, receiving, with his family, a warm place in the affections of Georgia and Atlanta Baptists.
While he was for a time supply pastor at Freemason Street, Norfolk, and also at Suffolk, during the years that remained, Richmond, the home of his boyhood days, was his residence. As long as he was able he preached as an occasional supply for churches in and near Rich- mond. After several years of increasing feebleness, during which time his cheerfulness and courage kept at high tide, on Thursday morning, June 29, 1911, in Bar- ton Heights, a suburb of Richmond, the end came. The funeral, which took place in Grove Avenue Church, was conducted by Rev. Dr. W. C. James, the pastor, assisted by Rev. Dr. Charles H. Ryland, Rev. Dr. R. J. Willing-
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ham, and Rev. Dr. R. H. Pitt. The burial was in Hollywood, and Rev. Dr. W. E. Hatcher, coming from his summer home at Fork Union, reached the grave in time to offer the prayer. His wife and five children sur- vive him. He was twice married; his first wife, who died in Culpeper, was Miss Fannie R. Poindexter (the daughter of Rev. Dr. A. M. Poindexter), a woman remarkably lovely in person and character. His second wife was Miss Fannie E. Callendine, of Morgantown, W. Va., a most gracious and charming Christian woman.
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