USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 5th series, 1902-1914, with supplement > Part 27
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Bible to his plow handles, and so prepared his sermons while he worked his farm. He often walked as much as twenty miles on Sunday to preach, and on horseback he made his way from place to place through the Connecti- cut Valley. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and at the time of the evacuation of New York was with Washing- ton. Captain Thomas Weeks, another ancestor of Mr. Williams, was a minuteman at the battle of Lexington, and continued in service till the surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga.
Mr. Williams was born at Ashfield, Mass., April 17, 1833, his parents being John Williams and Obedience Todd. Although he was not baptized until February 6, 1853, when he received the ordinance at the hands of Rev. E. H. Gray at Shelburne Falls, he believed that he was converted long before this, probably in his ninth year. From Shelburne Falls Academy he passed to Rochester University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in June, 1860. A fondness for mathe- matics, which began in his school days and lasted to the day of his death, led him, while a student at Rochester, to try for a prize in mathematics. He missed the prize by one point; in the examination he indignantly refused the offer of a fellow-student to pass him the key to the problem. He always regarded this experience as one of the severest temptations of his younger days. Even in advanced life he took keen delight in solving problems of higher mathematics, and was never weary of working at the most difficult examples. Through the influence of Mr. Thomas P. Miller, a native of Massachusetts, who was a wealthy banker of Mobile, Ala., and a loyal Bap- tist, Mr. Williams' feet were turned to the South and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mr. Miller was greatly interested in the success of this institution, and gave substantial financial aid to young Williams,
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whose sister he had married, and to other students at Greenville. When he arrived at Greenville, S. C., to become a student of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the spirit of war was running high. Since he was from Massachusetts, his trunk, which was very heavy, aroused the suspicions of the proprietor of the hotel where he put up. Not until it was made plain that the trunk contained theological books, and not firearms, were the suspicions of the host allayed. At a later date, because he was a "Yankee," he was surrounded by a local company of Confederates and threatened with arrest. Nor was he liberated until his landlady, Mrs. Mauldin, a typical Southern woman of gentle blood, vouched for him to the captain, her friend.
He was ordained on May 17, 1863, and his active work as a minister began in the Confederate Army, where he worked, as a missionary of the Home Mission Board, from 1863 to 1865. One day in his work among the soldiers Mr. Williams found a poor wounded fellow lying on the railroad station in the blazing sun. After he began to minister to him, what was his surprise to find that he was his old friend Horne, of the Seminary days, now become a captain. He cared for him for weeks, and then Horne went back to the army. Years afterwards, when Mr. Williams went to be pastor of Ridge Spring, S. C., what was his surprise and delight to find his friend Horne living in the village and pastor of several country churches not far away. At the close of the War he took charge of the Marine Street Mission, Mobile, Ala., which he organized into the Palmetto Street Baptist Church, his ministry there continuing until 1873. He now came to Richmond, Va., and took charge of a mission on Venable Street. Of his work here Dr. J. M. Pilcher says: "His pastorate of seven years was distinguished by zeal and evangelistic power, which was an inspiration to his
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fellow-pastors. Any other man would have been dis- couraged in the early years of the work, but his success encouraged other mission work in the city and made it easy for his successor to lead the church to build a fine house in a better location." From what had become the Venable Street Baptist Church he went, in 1880, to the pastorate of the church at Ridge Spring, S. C., but in 1887 he returned to Virginia to take charge of the River- ton and Bethel Churches, Clarke County. His home was in the village of Millwood, and in due time the Sunday school, which he began in a storeroom, grew into a church. In 1888 he returned to Richmond to engage in city mission work. This organized effort, sustained by all the churches, was inspired by him, and when interest in it among the churches died away he carried on the work at his own charges, supporting his family by means of a book agency that he established. He now found opportunity to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation on the streets, in the factories, in the jail, and in the State penitentiary. At this last place he preached three times a month to a congregation of 1,200 persons. One year he had in this congregation no less than 66 professions of faith. He was the self-appointed guardian, for years, of the boys of the Laurel Industrial Home, and in the Cedar Works and the Locomotive Works he won for himself hundreds of friends, among the working men, by his daily noon prayer-meetings. In 1908 he became Superintendent of the Ex-Prisoners Aid Association of Virginia. In this position he remained till the end of his life. One year, according to his annual report to the Society, he had in hand 71 ex-convicts. He learned the plans of each one before the discharge came, seeing those who were in Richmond and writing to those in the con- vict road camps. He met each one, on the morning of his discharge, at the penitentiary at eight o'clock, and
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then gave them their breakfast, introduced them to friends, and saw them on the train if they were going away. The value of this work can be judged when it is known that Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, upon hearing of it, sent for its support his check for $100, and when the letters are read that came from friends of those whom he had befriended. A few sentences from some of these letters are quoted. One from Brooklyn said: "You have a father's and mother's blessing for interesting yourself in our boy." A mother wrote: "I thank you for your interest in my son. I did not think any one on earth cared for him but myself." A father wrote: "I have hunted everywhere for my son, but got no tidings of him until your letter came." Equally interesting and touch- ing are the letters that he received from the ex-convicts after they passed from beyond his care. One fellow, who had made good, wrote back: "I have put in a solid month's work here. I have paid up my board bill in full. Tell the boys up yonder at the prison, and tell them to pray." Who can read this part of Mr. Williams' history and not remember the words : "I was in prison and ye came unto me. Inas- much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me"?
The story of Mr. Williams' service for the kingdom of God in Richmond would not be complete without some mention of the Gospel Wagon which he conducted for many years. It was large enough to hold some twelve persons and a "baby" organ, and was drawn by two white horses. Every Sunday afternoon, when the weather was mild, Mr. Williams and his wife set out in the wagon at two o'clock and were gone till six. They went down into the "slums." Many conversions occurred, and some substantial families were led to unite
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with neighboring churches. Barkeepers came to listen to the gospel message, and others of low repute heard the glad tidings of salvation.
He died in Richmond, Va., February 19, 1914, and the funeral took place at the Calvary Baptist Church, being conducted by his dear friend and Seminary fellow- student, Rev. Dr. Charles H. Ryland, who was assisted in the service by Rev. Dr. Alfred Bagby and Rev. C. A. Jenkins. The body was laid to rest in Oakwood Cemetery. On his death bed, when asked by his daughter if she must read, with other passages, the twenty-third Psalm, his reply was to read it as he had read it to a dying soldier, and thus the blessed words were read to him, emphasis being put on all the pronouns of the first person. His wife, whose maiden name was Miss Emma Virginia Woodfin, preceded him to the grave September 5, 1910. She was genial in nature, with a sweet, lovely face, a vigorous mind, and a great capacity for work. In the home her influence was strong, and her children rise up and bear witness to her wise and loving training. She found time for missionary work, and was for many years the leader of the Virginia Sunbeams. As a memorial of this work with the Sun- beams there has been established a school in Chefoo, China, that bears her name. As a young woman she taught a class in the Leigh Street Church, exerting a strong influence over many youths. There are three ministers, who are useful to-day for God, who remember how she made lasting impressions on them for good when they were boys in her class. Three of his children, little boys, died before they were four years old. A son, George Beverly Williams, and two daughters, Miss Bertha Belle Williams and Emma Wirt Williams, now the wife of Rev. Benjamin D. Gaw, and two of his sisters (one over ninety-five years of age and the other eighty-six) survive him.
HUGH DAVIS RAGLAND 1840-1914
Goochland County, that narrow and long county which hugs James River for something like fifty miles, was the birthplace of Hugh Davis Ragland, his home and field of labor for a large part of his life, and where he died. He was born November 5, 1840. When he was fourteen years old he was converted under the preaching of Rev. L. W. Allen, and was baptized into the fellowship of the Williams Baptist Church. This church, organized in 1785 and located in Louisa County, the nearest post- office being Cuckooville, had as her pastor, in 1855, Rev. Samuel Harris. He became a colporteur under the Publication Board of the General Association in 1858, and continued in this work until he entered Richmond College. As a boy he had attended Goochland Academy. His work at the college was interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil War, and he became a soldier, serving in the ranks until he was captured and carried as a prisoner, first to Point Lookout and then to Elmyra, N. Y. He preached to his fellow-prisoners and had the joy of seeing many of them brought to Christ. Upon the close of the War he returned to his native county to take up work among the churches there, and the March following Lee's Surrender at Appomattox he was married, March 12, 1866, to Miss Amarintha Perkins, daughter of Benjamin Perkins, of Fluvanna County, and Martha Bullock, of Albemarle.
In the report of the State Mission Board to the Gen- eral Association, in 1871, these words are found: "The Goshen Association is now cooperating in the State
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Mission work of the General Association, and we have made appropriations to aid five brethren in preaching to feeble churches of that body which, without such help, are in danger of extinction. Brother H. D. Ragland has four stations in Goochland and Louisa. We propose to aid liberally in restoring the waste places of Zion in the Goshen Association, not only for the sake of the hallowed memories which linger around the old meeting places of the early Baptist fathers of Virginia, but to hasten the bright future which we feel assured lies before the Lord's people there." In 1873, when Mr. Ragland worked for half a year in this same connection, he had five preaching points and baptized sixteen persons. During his long service in the Goshen Association he was pastor of these churches: Mt. Prospect, Fork, Perkins, and Lickinghole (now known as Smyrna). The churches in the Dover Association to which he ministered were Dover and Goochland. In this territory, in these two Associations, for fifty years he went in and out among the people, God setting the seal of his approval on his "devoted and popular ministry." Of two of these churches, Fork and Perkins, he was pastor twice, his first union with the former body extending over twenty- one years; but his longest pastorate was at the Dover Church, where he remained a quarter of a century. Something like a decade before the end of his life he went to live in Botetourt County, becoming pastor of Springwood, Mt. Beulah, Longdale, and Forest Grove Churches ; but after a few years he returned to the section where he was to the "manner born." His last work was given to Hopeful, Louisa County, and Mt. Olivet, Han- over County. He became interested in the establishment of a church near his home, and, even on what proved to be his death bed, planned for the accomplishment of this undertaking. Three months before his own death came
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that of his wife. This was a severe blow, but his faith did not falter, and their graves are near the meeting- house they labored to build.
Mr. Ragland was a man of genial bearing and with a sweet-toned voice. One of his fellow-ministers said of him: "He was a plain and unassuming man. His humility was beautiful. He was greatly beloved by his flock, because he always showed a deep concern for them." His genial and cordial spirit was not out of harmony with a vigorous mind, and this blend of qualities doubtless gave him special fitness for the office of Public School Superintendent, which he held for Goochland County sixteen years. He owned and drove for seventeen years a sorrel mare named "Catherine Swinford." He died March 5, 1914, being survived by a son and two daughters, Mr. E. Herbert Ragland, Mrs. H. A. Wiltshire, and Mrs. E. S. Lacy.
EDWARD LANGSTON BAPTIST 1837-1914
Richard Harwood Baptist, whose sister, Frances Russell Baptist, was the mother of the famous Confeder- ate general, Ambrose Powell Hill, represented his county, Mecklenburg, for twelve years in the Virginia State Senate. His wife, who was Miss Sallie Goode, a daughter of Samuel and Ann Spottswood Goode, of Mecklenburg County, was a great-granddaughter of Alexander Spottswood, one of the colonial governors of Virginia. Of these parents Edward Langston Baptist was born, March 13, 1837, at "Sycamore Grove," on Bluestone Creek, Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Not many miles away from "Sycamore Grove" is Hampden- Sidney College, with its peaceful quiet of the country ; here young Baptist attended school for a season and then, for some reason, went to William and Mary at Williams- burg, where he graduated in the class of 1857, Dr. Samuel G. Harris being one of his fellow-graduates. While at William and Mary, Mr. Baptist was a member of the Epsilon Chapter of the Theta Delta Chi Fra- ternity. The records of the fraternity bear witness to his noble qualities and to the fact that he was a true friend. From Williamsburg he went to Columbian Uni- versity and studied law, and then settled in Charles Town (now in West Virginia) to practice his chosen profes- sion, but the questions of slavery and States' rights that were being discussed so generally, suggested to the young lawyer that war might not be far off and that it would be better for him to be among his own people, so he turned his steps towards his native county and opened
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an office at Boydton. When the war cloud did break he went to the front with the Boydton Cavalry, 3d Virginia Regiment, commanded by Thomas F. Goode. He was a courier for Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, and was with that distinguished commander when he was wounded. Later, Mr. Baptist was taken as prisoner to Point Lookout, where he was held for more than a year. In the awful "reconstruction period," with his property all gone, he set out to provide as best he could for his growing family. He established himself as a school-teacher in an old log schoolhouse four miles from his home, often walking this distance to his daily work. One of his pupils testifies that he had the happy faculty of making the student love his work. He was the friend of boys, and they loved and respected him. When, in the early seventies, the Public Free School System was established in Virginia, Mr. Baptist was appointed the first Superintendent of Public Instruction for Mecklenburg County. He held this position until he was elected by his fellow-citizens to represent them in the State Legislature for the session of 1895-6.
In 1869 at "The City," or what is now known as Chase City, Mr. Baptist was converted, the light of the gospel coming to him with something of the suddenness and deep conviction that marked the great change in the life of the Apostle Paul. He at once began to prepare him- self for the gospel ministry to which he felt called. He attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and in 1874 his name appears for the first time in the list of Virginia Baptist ministers in the Minutes of the General Association. Within the bounds of the Concord Asso- ciation his work as a minister was done. At times he was both teacher and preacher. The churches to which he ministered for longer or shorter periods were Boydton, New Hope, Olive Branch, Mt. Zion, Cut Banks, Ephesus,
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Tabernacle, Mt. Horeb, and Concord. His was a successful ministry, and many of his spiritual children rise up to call him blessed. He was a man of handsome appearance, of dignified bearing, yet easily approached; a true friend, fond of horses and of books, high-minded, and very conscientious. He loved to work among the troubled and distressed, and gave more thought to others than to himself.
His marriage, in 1860, to Miss Emma Rolfe, of Meck- lenburg County, was the beginning of a long and very happy married life that was not broken until the death of the wife on March 11, 1911. Five of the children of this home are still living, namely: Edward Langston Baptist, John Harwood Baptist, William Glanville Bap- tist, Mrs. W. G. Moss, and Mrs. J. K. Lockett.
Mr. Baptist died, on March 11, 1914, in Lynchburg in the home of his daughter. The body was taken to Boyd- ton and laid away in the snow-clad earth of the old Presbyterian Church cemetery, the funeral service being conducted by Rev. R. E. Peale.
JUDSON CAREY DAVIDSON 1846-1914
Not far from one of the small streams which make the headwaters of the Appomattox River, and some eight or ten miles west of old Appomattox Court House, is "Oak Grove," a comfortable home which has belonged to the Davidson family since 1701, at which time the original grant was made to Alexander Davidson by William III, "King of Great Britain and Ireland." The house, with its wide doors, large rooms, and big fireplaces, is unlike most of the farmhouses built to-day. Some splendid trees stand near the house, and at the foot of the hill is a generous spring. In this home Judson Carey Davidson, whose very name suggests that he came of pious stock, was born, February 2, 1846, his parents being Jesse Thornhill Davidson and Martha Osborne Davidson. He was converted early in life and baptized by Rev. John Hamner. Two miles from "Oak Grove" is Hebron Bap- tist Church, in which there is a memorial window to Jesse Thornhill Davidson, who for thirty-seven years was the Superintendent of the Hebron Sunday School. His son, T. O. Davidson, who now has this office, has filled it for twenty-five years. Appomattox County, that was to have a world-wide fame as the place where the Civil War came to an end, was not behind in the matter of sending out soldiers when the cruel struggle began. Young Jud- son Carey Davidson, having studied under tutors and at Union Academy, was one of the men, or rather youths, for he was only seventeen years old, who answered their country's call and went forth to the tented field. The remaining years of the War he served in Company A,
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11th Virginia Regiment, Pickett's Division. On the retreat from Petersburg "he was wounded at the Battle of Five Forks, in Dinwiddie County, April 1, 1865. When he was shot down a companion stopped long enough to prop him against an embankment at the inter- section of two roads. As a detachment of Union cavalry came up one man shouted : 'Only a wounded Rebel; ride over him, boys.' But the captain commanded a halt and detailed men to move the 'wounded Rebel' out of the road, put him in a more comfortable position, and fill his canteen with water. The grateful soldier inquired the name of his humane enemy, but his only reply was: 'Just a Yank trying to help a wounded Johnnie.' For many hours he was left unattended, and was finally put into a rough army wagon and hauled over an almost impassable road, sometimes conscious, sometimes fainting from loss of blood or excessive pain. He at last reached a field hospital, where, on the fourth day after he was wounded, he was fed and his wound was examined. The doctors decided to amputate his leg, but he protested so vigor- ously that they concluded to let him alone. The wounded men were moved to a prison, and for three months Mr. Davidson remained a prisoner, suffering horribly from his wounded leg and from want of proper attention. About the last of June he and many other sick and wounded men were put on a boat and sent to Richmond, from which point he made his way home" in the face of incredible hardships.
Upon the reestablishment of his health he went into business in Lynchburg. It was not long, however, before he decided that it was his duty to be a preacher. This decision led to his entering the Southern Baptist Theo- logical Seminary, then at Greenville, S. C., where he had among his classmates such men as Breaker, Rogers, and Sproles. Upon leaving Greenville he was ordained,
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October 30, 1872, at the First Baptist Church, Lynch- burg, the following ministers composing the presbytery : Rev. Dr. C. C. Bitting, Rev. Dr. J. C. Kincannon, and Rev. Dr. W. A. Montgomery. A few months after this he became pastor of the First Baptist Church, of Sedalia, Mo. Here he built up a large congregation, being especially popular with the young men of the city. In 1878 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Diuguid, the daughter of George A. Diuguid, of Lynchburg, and the next year became pastor of the Fifth Street Church, Hannibal, Mo. From Hannibal he came to Winchester, Va., "where perhaps the greatest work of his life was done. The Baptist Church in Winchester had never been strong. Members were few and scattered; there was no church edifice, and prospects for Baptist growth were very dark. The Baptist Church now standing in Win- chester is Mr. Davidson's best monument, representing, as it does, the overcoming of almost insuperable obstacles. It was dedicated entirely free from debt and supported by a well-organized membership." After six years in Winchester he became pastor of the Grace Church, Balti- more. During his pastorate a debt on the meeting-house was paid, a handsome stone parsonage and a reading- room were built, and the church, giving up help from the State Mission Board, became independent and self- supporting. During his years in Baltimore he was for two sessions President of Maryland Baptist Union Asso- ciation. After some three years in Johnson City, Tenn., as pastor of the Baptist Church there, he returned to the church and community of his early years. Hebron was now his charge, and for a part of his time at Hebron he was also the undershepherd at Mt. Vernon and Red Oak. This pastorate, which lasted nine years, was the close of his active ministry. His health began to fail, so he resigned in October, 1911, and, two months later, moved
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to Lynchburg to live. In this city, on the night of April 21, 1914, he passed away. His wife and three children, namely, Dr. George D. Davidson and Misses Mabel and Grace Davidson, survive him.
Mr. Davidson's sermons invited attention by striking, epigrammatic, or alliterative phrases. Of Mr. Davidson, after his death, Rev. W. S. Royall, in a tribute in the Herald, said: "Brother Davidson was constructive. In nearly all his pastorates he had church building to do, debt paying and organizing to accomplish, such as require resourcefulness, patience, and perseverance. . . Genial and companionable, I found it very helpful and joyful to be associated with him in our Lord's work."
A poem written by Rev. T. D. D. Clark to the memory of Mr. Davidson begins with these lines :
"Dear friend of my youth, when I needed a friend, The door that swings outward now hides from my sight The face and the form of as gracious a soul
As ever was brought from darkness to light."
CALVIN ROAH NORRIS 1870-1914
Almost three-quarters of a century ago a man set up, on a roadside in Watauga County, North Carolina, a country store. It seemed so small an affair that an old gentleman said that it would have nothing but soda to sell. So the place came to be called Soda Hill. At this place, August 22, 1870, Calvin Roah Norris was born. Watauga County, under the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is in a section of the State that has sent forth many preachers. Young Norris grew up on the farm, living a quiet, peaceful life, and was educated, as his parents before him had been, in the common schools. He joined the church January 20, 1889, being baptized by Rev. David Greene. In the midst of his own people, at Meat Camp Church, an old-fashioned meeting-house among the mountains, he was ordained in 1906, these ministers composing the presbytery : David Greene, L. A. Wilson, and John Orisp. At this church he labored for some three years with marked success. Stuart's Draft, Augusta County, Virginia, was his next field, and after a year or more there he became pastor at Pamplin, Appomattox County, Elon (Pamplin), Evergreen, and Matthews Churches forming his field. On the morning of June 13, 1914, he passed away, in the very prime of his manhood. The body was taken back to his old home among the blue hills. The funeral was conducted by Rev. Willis F. Wayts, of Farmville, assisted by Rev. A. J. Ponton, the pastor of the Pamplin Presbyterian Church. Of Mr. Norris, Rev. Mr. Ponton said : "Truly he did a great work in our midst in the little while that he
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