USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 5th series, 1902-1914, with supplement > Part 23
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On the fourth Sunday in August, 1858, he became pastor of the Manchester Baptist Church. The town
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was far from inviting, and with an unenviable reputation. Religion in the town seemed to languish, and several attempts to found a Baptist Church had failed. Finally the erection of a meeting-house was undertaken, and before it was completed the church had been blessed by the short but earnest ministry of Rev. Z. Jeter George. Upon his death, Mr. Hatcher was called. In much depression of spirit, and yet with a clear conviction as to the path of duty, he began his work. Before long the congregations began to grow, there were conversions, and the burdensome debt on the meeting-house was paid. The clouds of war gathered over the South, and Man- chester shared with her sister towns, Petersburg and Richmond, many of the horrors and sorrows of those awful days. Yet during these nine years in Manchester Mr. Hatcher was growing as a pastor and preacher. Already he was beginning to go out into the country for work in protracted meetings, a field in which he was to exert such a mighty influence for good, in an ever- widening area, until the end of his life. On March 17, 1867, he became pastor of the Franklin Square Baptist Church, Baltimore. While in Baltimore he felt the power and helpful sympathy of Richard Fuller, the greatest pulpit orator Southern Baptists, not to say the South, ever had. This unique man called on the new pastor and prayed with and for him so tenderly that the younger man never forgot the visit; he also urged his members in that part of the city to unite with the Franklin Square Church. After a brief sojourn in Baltimore, Mr. Hatcher returned to Virginia, becoming pastor of the First Baptist Church, Petersburg. During his seven years in Petersburg his church grew from a membership of some 213 to an enrollment of some 442. Besides meetings of power in his own field, Mr. Hatcher was inspirational along missionary, educational, and
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evangelistic lines in the State at large. While pastor in Petersburg he held a meeting at Shiloh, a church which had been reported at the District Association as "dead," and before the week was over a band of 56 converts were ready for the reviving of the old church, and later a fine new meeting-house was built. During his pastor- ate in Petersburg the famous Memorial Campaign for Richmond College took place, in which campaign Mr. Hatcher was a leader. He was a member of the com- mittee, appointed by the General Association at the session in Staunton, June, 1872, to have charge of this campaign, and at this same meeting he preached the introductory sermon, his text being: "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it" (Eph. 5:25) ; his theme being : "Christ's Love and Labor for the Church." Far and wide he went throughout the State telling the story of the struggles of Virginia Baptists, in the early days, for religious liberty.
On the fourth Sunday of May, 1875, Dr. Hatcher began his pastorate at Grace Street Baptist Church, Rich- mond, a pastorate that was to last exactly twenty-six years, and was to be the most successful and important period of his career. He succeeded, at Grace Street, Rev. Norvell Wilson, and had as predecessors in this field, James B. Taylor, Sr., Jas. B. Jeter, David Shaver, Henry Keeling, and Edward Kingsford. While the church was a strong body, with some 625 members when he became pastor, and a noble house of worship, still it grew in numbers and influence. At the end of the twenty-six years, although two colonies had gone out to establish new churches, the mother church had on her roll 989 members. Two new church edifices were built, the first one taking the place of the house that had stood and served for many years, and the other erected after a fire had destroyed, in a few hours, the new church. From year to year protracted meetings, with great
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ingatherings, came to be the normal order of things, and Dr. Hatcher declared that the church had wonderful "spiritual fecundity," and that it "was only necessary to watch the signs, mark the season, call them together, and sound the gospel trumpet, and the work began." One of the unique features of Dr. Hatcher's work at Grace Street was his "boys' meetings." Every Sunday after-
noon Dr. Hatcher's "boys" met. This was before the days of B. Y. P. U. and Junior B. Y. P. U. and Royal Ambassadors. Yet Dr. Hatcher, by his genial person- ality, great love for boys, wonderful tact and resourceful- ness, humor and power of organization, led the boys into glad devotion and service for Christ and the church. Once a year the main audience room was crowded to see and hear these boys render a programme largely prepared by their leader and pastor. Out of this band came many preachers and church workers, and, when the need arose, these boys raised large sums of money for the improve- ment of the old or the building of the new meeting-house. Great congregations were the order of the day at Grace Street, and the Sunday school, although it worked in a room that was utterly inadequate, was mighty in num- bers and spirit. Dr. Hatcher, in some respects, grew as a preacher until the end of his life, but doubtless he reached his zenith of pulpit power at Grace Street. He was a great preacher. He was not always at his best- who is ?- but Sunday after Sunday his sermons were interesting, helpful, fruitful, and on special occasions and at other times he often spoke with convincing and moving power. He had many demands on his time that invaded the hours for sermon preparation, and some accused him of neglecting his study and his Sunday messages, but this was not, I am persuaded, a just criti- cism. He told me once that if he was busy all the week out of his study, on legitimate work, the Lord helped him
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Sunday, but if he failed to prepare by reason of laziness or carelessness the help from above did not seem to come. In protracted meetings he was perhaps at his best. He enforced his arguments and carried home his exhortation by most telling illustrations. Very rarely were his illus- trations ever taken from history. They usually came from events in his life and from experiences in other lives which he had known. The Bible was the other chief treasury from which his illustrations were drawn. He was a master in the painting of word pictures, know- ing how to use details so that they never wearied, but were always interesting. He rarely quoted poetry in his sermons, and probably knew little. He was not, in the stricter sense of the terms, a great student or a great reader. He seemed to read rather for recreation and information as to events of the day than for use in preaching. Yet he was a careful and thorough thinker, and his mind was quick and well trained. He once said that he could not just get up and talk without having a subject and an objective point. Humor played a part in his sermons and had even larger room in his platform addresses and speeches on various occasions. Yet they are mistaken who suppose he was humorous merely to make people laugh. With him humor must serve a moral purpose or be counted out of place. He was not a teller of funny stories; indeed, it is remarkable how few anec- dotes leading to laughter he told. His humor was more natural, more spontaneous, and so more delightful. It was his art of saying things. He saw things from new and unexpected angles and differently combined. If in his earlier years his sense of humor needed curbing when he was preaching, in his later years he never offended the most exacting taste in this direction, and was in every way dignified, though not stern, in the pulpit. Some- times on special occasions, when much was expected of
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him, he disappointed hopes that had been raised. This was true when he preached the Commencement sermon at the University of Virginia. The night was warm, the students, with young ladies, were present in large num- bers, and several bats came in and refused to go out. Dr. Hatcher said the belles and the bats were his undoing. Certainly such disasters were rare with Dr. Hatcher. Some of his sermons reached the high-water mark of pulpit power. This was true of his sermon before the Southern Baptist Convention at Nashville in 1893. His text was "Experience worketh hope," and his theme "The Value of the Experimental Hope." The meeting hall was the Ryerson Auditorium, not, perhaps, as favorable a place for a sermon as a church, yet with good acoustic properties. The sermon was heard by all the great audience, produced a deep impression, and ranks as one of the best of our Convention sermons. Dr. Hatcher did not have a clear or musical voice, and at times his tones were not clear, yet he overcame this handicap, and he was usually heard by his congrega- tion however large it was. In speaking of this sermon he said that he worked on several texts before finally choosing the one on which he spoke. In his opinion, many Convention sermons failed because the preachers had no clear-cut idea of what the sermon was aiming to accomplish.
While he was at Grace Street, Dr. Hatcher's leadership in the work of Virginia Baptists grew. Here his sphere widened and his influence in the affairs of the Southern Baptist Convention was potent. Within the ranks of his own denomination in Virginia he held, for many years, the first place. What movement of importance came to success among Virginia Baptists during this Grace Street quarter of a century, and yet other years, which did not have his championship and leadership? It was hard, in
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all these years, to think of Ministerial Education, Rich- mond College, the Orphanage, and not remember Dr. Hatcher, nor did he fail to espouse the cause of State, Home, and Foreign Missions. If a church was to be dedicated, or a debt paid, or a great anniversary occasion celebrated, Dr. Hatcher's presence was, if possible, secured. He attended our District Associations, from the Seaboard to the Alleghanies, rather than take such a vacation as many city pastors do. Other States besides Virginia called on him for all kinds of occasions, and he was known, not only in the South, but also among the Northern Baptists. At one of the most trying times in the history of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary he was recognized as a leader in the Board of Trustees and on the floor of the Convention, and it was he who "discovered" and nominated Dr. E. Y. Mullins for the presidency of the Seminary. During Dr. Hatcher's years at Grace Street many of the students of Richmond Col- lege attended his church, and he was in close touch with the life of the college, and the students saw him often in his hours of relaxation. As a youth, while his brother, Harvey, had been devoted to hunting and the fox chase, such sports did not appeal to him. At one season of his life in Richmond he was much given to the game of croquet, and from afternoon to afternoon Dr. Harris, Dr. Jeter, Dr. Hatcher, some of the students, and others, might be seen on the college campus engaged in playing, with great earnestness, this game. One student says that a certain man, who was known to have cheated in playing in this circle, when afterwards a candidate for some position of trust, failed to get Dr. Hatcher's vote, since he regarded the game as a fine and fair test of character.
With the close of his twenty-sixth year at Grace Street he resigned his church to take up a special agency work
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for Richmond College. While at one time, during the Grace Street pastorate, there was a serious faction in the church and determined opposition to him, all this had passed away and the church was united and devotedly loyal to him for years before his work with them ended. About this time he became interested also in the Fork Union Academy, in Fluvanna County. After his five years of service with the college was completed he gave much of his time and thought to the school in Fluvanna. Under his fostering care and by reason of his enthusi- astic leadership the institution came rapidly to a position of real influence and service. This Academy, the boys, their games, their physical and religious welfare, their studies, had large place in his thoughts and affections. By this time he had sold his residence in Richmond, 608 West Grace Street, where he lived for many years, and had made "Careby Hall," at Fork Union, his home. Here the rest of his days were spent, and here he died. Since now he had no regular church and Sunday appoint- ments, he was more than ever free for special services and for protracted-meeting engagements. And how busy he was kept, and what long and, if necessary, what rapid trips he made across the State and even yet further afield to help pastors and churches! He was now no longer a young man, and yet he seemed to have the vigor and dauntless spirit of a young man. Once he was help- ing a pastor in the Valley when a call came to both of them, as trustees, to attend an important meeting of the Richmond College Board. Dr. Hatcher preached at the night service, and then he and the pastor traveled all night in a day coach, reaching Richmond for breakfast. After the Board's meeting was over they traveled again all night, and then, by driving eleven miles the next morning, were on hand for that morning's meeting at the church. Nor did the forced march leave Dr. Hatcher
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weary or jaded. The week before his death he attended three Associations and rode nine miles to see a boy who was thinking about attending the Fork Union Academy. His activity of heart and body continued to the very last day of his life. The night before his death there was a gathering of his fellow-citizens at his house and on his lawn to take steps for village improvement work, and he made them a speech. Early the next morning he was dressed, straightening up things in his room, and singing, when the messenger of death approached, and in a few hours he had fallen on sleep.
Dr. Hatcher was many sided, able to do many things well. He was called, by one, "the great Baptist com- moner," and indeed his gift for leadership was wonder- ful. While his power as a leader has already been men- tioned, a few words more on this side of his life and work will not be untimely. In emergencies, when others hesitated, or failed to see the way the path of duty and success led, or were held back by prudence or conserva- tism, Dr. Hatcher came to his conviction and determina- tion and moved forward, inviting his brethren to go with him to victory. As an illustration of this, see him at a crisis in the history of the Greater Richmond College. The Finance Committee hesitated to assume the larger financial obligations which the magnificent plans for Westhampton demanded. The Board of Trustees met in special session. Should they retrench, or, with faith in God and the brethren, assume the great responsibility and move forward for great things? There was silence. After a few moments Dr. Hatcher arose. He described with tenderness the courage and boldness of the fathers who founded the college. He caught the vision of glorious things. He declared his trust in God and the denomination. He moved that the larger plans be carried out. It was the speech of a born leader. It sug- gested the spirit and enthusiasm of a young man. It was
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a great speech; it carried the day; it marked an era. In the social circle, or in a more private tête-à-tête con- versation, he was delightful. He was willing to listen, as well as talk, but few cared to do anything but hear him so long as he was willing to describe men and events. His humor was as sparkling as wine and as the cool water, on a hot day, from a crystal spring. So far, nothing has been said about Dr. Hatcher's work with his pen. For years he wrote regularly for the Religious Herald, and later was a constant contributor to the Baptist World. During a number of years he wrote a part of the lesson notes in the Baptist Teacher, of the Nashville Board. In order to keep up all this work, as well as his large correspondence, he managed to make good use of fragments of time, even when he was wait- ing for a train, and in his latter years often called upon a friend or companion to become his scribe. He was also an author. There is his "Life of Dr. Jeter." He and his wife wrote together the "Life of Dr. A. B. Brown." Two books he gave the world in the last period of his life-"John Jasper" and "Along the Trail of the Friendly Years," have had a wide circulation and given great pleasure to thousands. To this latter book, which is largely autobiographical, the reader is referred for the fuller knowledge of Dr. Hatcher's life. Not a few facts in this sketch are taken from this book. It is understood that he had another book almost ready for publication when his end came; some chapters of this book have been published, since his death, in the New York Watchman-Examiner.
Dr. Hatcher was survived by his wife. Together they had walked the paths of married life since December, 1864. She was Miss Virginia Snead, of Fork Union, Fluvanna County, and not long before her marriage had graduated at the Albemarle Female Institute, Charlottes-
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ville, Va. Mrs. Hatcher helped to organize the W. M. U. of the Southern Baptist Convention, and in 1889 was the first president of the Virginia (State) Union. The children who survive their father are Rev. Dr. Eldridge B. Hatcher, Miss Ora Latham Hatcher, Mrs. C. L. DeMott, and Mrs. H. W. Sadler. The span of his life was from July 25, 1834, to Saturday, August 24, 1912. Services were held, first at Fork Union and then in Rich- mond. The plan that his body be laid to rest under the sod of Fluvanna was changed when a committee came from his old flock, Grace Street Church, asking that Hollywood be made his burial place. Here, near the graves of many whom he loved and with whom he labored, and hard by the city where so much of his life was spent, his ashes await the resurrection morn. The speakers at the funeral at Fork Union were Dr. F. W. Boatwright, Mr. Walton, Dr. W. W. Landrum, and Dr. T. J. Shipman, and those taking part in the services at Grace Street were Dr. R. J. Willingham, Dr. W. W. Landrum, Rev. Andrew Broaddus, Lieutenant-Governor J. Taylor Ellyson, Dr. R. H. Pitt, Dr. C. H. Ryland, and Mr. Haddon Watkins. Such a familiar figure was Dr. Hatcher to Virginia Baptists that a description of his personal appearance seems almost unnecessary, but some who read these pages may live beyond the arena and period of his service. In his latter years he was portly in figure, and yet he had, almost to the end, an alertness of movement that showed remarkable physical vigor. He was of distinguished bearing, and would have attracted attention in any crowd. His features were almost rugged, though not stern, and his eyes clear and imperative in their sweep. His head, which was large, finely shaped, and remarkably broad, was firmly set on his neck that gave token of strength and power. While he was not tall, his appearance before an audience was always impressive, for he was indeed a master of assemblies.
ALEXANDER FLEET
-- 1912
In the home of his father, Col. Alexander Fleet (who claimed, and apparently with justness, to be descended from Charlemagne, of France), near Fleetwood Acad- emy, King and Queen County, Virginia, Alexander Fleet was born. In the community of his birth he came up to manhood "amidst influences which admirably tended to nurture his mind and heart, to refine his manners, and confirm him in the faith of the gospel as held and prac- ticed among Baptists. The piety of his early life, his devotion to the interests of the church, and his natural aptitude and gifts, left no cause for surprise among his associates and friends when he gave himself to the ministry." At Bruington Church, King and Queen County, he was ordained, on June 24, 1883, to the gospel ministry. He began his ministerial career as pastor of Upper Essex and Centennial Churches, Rappahannock Association. This Association was to be, save for a brief season, the scene of his work as a pastor and preacher. For some eighteen years he ministered to the Exol and St. Stephen's Churches, and a year or so longer at the former charge. His interesting association with these churches began in 1890.
Rev. W. T. Hundley, speaking of Mr. Fleet, after his death, says: "He was known by friends and companions as Darner Fleet. Fifty years ago last September I saw him for the first time one Monday morning, standing by a desk in the old academy building at Stevensville, King and Queen County. He was a tall and comely youth, with the ruddy glow of
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budding manhood on his cheeks. Darner and
I entered Richmond College together. All the qualities that go to make up the character of a royal Christian gentleman were found in him; gentle as a woman, refined, cultured, intellectual, self-sacrific- ing, modest, courageous, faithful, loyal to his convictions, cheerful. So he was a gentle man. I can say no more."
"Along with his ministerial aims and glad willingness to preach as God gave him opportunity, he was strongly called to the schoolroom, and much of his life was devoted to that high and useful service. He conducted schools at Warrenton, six years in Kentucky, at Tappa- hannock, and at Bruington, and many pupils in these several localities hold his memory in grateful esteem." During his life at Warrenton he was pastor, for a short time, of Bealeton and Broad Run, churches of the Potomac Association.
For some years before his death his health was not good, and so his work was much interrupted. He bore his sufferings with Christian fortitude, and his end, that came September 20, 1912, was peaceful. His wife, who before her marriage was Miss Josie Jeffries, of Essex, and these children survive him : Ella Laurie (Mrs. Robert Grey Dillard), Robert Hill Fleet, Rawley Martin Fleet, Martha Pollard Fleet. The quotations in this sketch and some of the facts are from the obituary, in the Minutes of the General Association, by Rev. Dr. G. W. Beale.
ROBERT BABBOR GILBERT 1867-1913
While the list of ministers and the Associational tables of the General Association do not contain the name of Robert Gilbert, an obituary of him appeared in the Minutes of the General Association for 1913, written by Rev. O. L. Terry, one of the pastors of the New Lebanon Association. The facts given in the obituary, with others furnished by Mr. Terry, are summed up here. He was born in Russell County, Virginia, in 1867, and died February 8, 1913. In 1889 he was baptized into the fellowship of the Oak Grove Church, New Lebanon Association. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1899, and then the Copper Ridge Baptist Church called him to be their pastor. Until his death, February 8, 1913, his life was a consecrated one, and his friends say that in his last hours, when he was ill, he sang, preached, and prayed till he fell on sleep. He left behind him a mother and two brothers. His education, though limited, was remarkable, when it is remembered that his oppor- tunities for self-improvement were most restricted. His knowledge and comprehension of the Bible were wonder- ful. Mr. Terry gave him a "Teacher's Bible" and guided him in the effective use of this valuable volume. Mr. Gilbert was a most zealous and earnest preacher. It was his custom to get employment at "public works" and then preach to his fellow-workers at night. Many very hard- hearted sinners were converted under his ministry.
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In the "Lives of Virginia Baptist Ministers," Third Series, there is a sketch of Rev. Barnett Grimsley. Rev. Thomas F. Grimsley, who was his son, was born near Laurel Mills, Rappahannock County, Virginia, December 20, 1835. As a youth Mr. Grimsley, with the help of Rev. Mr. Worden, a Presbyterian minister, prepared himself to teach, and began his work in this important sphere in the home of Mr. William B. Harris, of Clarke County. While young Grimsley was giving instruction in other branches, perhaps he was receiving from Mr. Harris, who was a good classical scholar, special training in the Latin language and literature. His work at this time was evidently thorough, for in his latter years, after all the vicissitudes through which he had passed, he could translate, practically at sight, Cæsar, Virgil, Cicero, and the Vulgate. He was a great reader, and was always trying to fit himself, in these years, for the business of teaching. When the War broke out he left the school- room for the more trying experiences of the camp. As a member of the 6th Virginia Cavalry he followed the cause of the Confederacy from Manassas to Appo- mattox. He made a good record as a soldier, and his comrades, who knew him as Tom Grimsley, loved to tell how he had stood by them in their hours of emergency.
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