USA > Virginia > Virginia Baptist ministers. 5th series, 1902-1914, with supplement > Part 7
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saw of a young husband and wife, who, in the face of bitter opposition, became Baptists. In his day books were scarce, so Mr. Skinner went to London and bought a library for the use of the pastor of the future Grove Church.
Mr. Newman was "a most successful soul winner, and he probably held more protracted meetings than any other pastor" in his association. "He was faithful and untiring in his efforts to build up the churches under his care. His salary was, for a man of his ability, always small, but he toiled on without complaining, content if God was pleased and souls saved." His death occurred at the home of his son-in-law, Mr. Theron Newman, in Washington, on Sunday, December 6, 1903. He had filled his appointment at the Herndon Church, Fairfax County, on the fifth Sunday in November, and was on his way home when he was smitten down at the home of his son-in-law. His wife and his son, Eddie, and his daughter, Lizzie, were with him at his death. This sketch is based, in the main, on the obituary, in the Minutes of the General Association, by Rev. C. W. Brooks, and on the sermon, also by Mr. Brooks, preached at the centennial of Grove Church.
HENRY McDONALD 1832-1904
County Antrim lies in the north of Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster, and is "one of the most decidedly Protestant counties in Ireland," yet in 1871 over one- third of the population was Roman Catholic. This county is famous for its Giant's Causeway, and for Lough Neagh, which is the fourth largest lake in Europe. In this county, on January 3, 1832, Henry McDonald was born, his parents and ancestors all belonging to the Catholic Church. "He was educated in the national schools of Ireland, and afterwards passed through the regular course of the Normal School, Dublin." In 1848 Europe was moved by the revolutionary spirit and Ire- land felt this throb. In this year young McDonald "left his native country in consequence of the failure of the patriots to throw from them the yoke of British oppres- sion." He took passage on a vessel sailing for New Orleans. He reached this city without money and with- out friends, and for some days worked at the wharves helping to load ships. The young man attracted the attention of a Kentucky planter, and upon his invitation accompanied him to his home. It is interesting to notice that the next time McDonald saw New Orleans was in 1877 when he came to the Southern Baptist Convention to preach the introductory sermon before that body.
Upon reaching Kentucky he taught school for some time in Green County and then studied law and was admitted to the bar. "During his residence in Green County he made a thorough examination of the doctrines of Roman Catholicism, the result of which, after a severe
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mental struggle, was the rejection of the whole system as unscriptural." He united with the Baptists and was baptized by the Rev. George Peck. He soon felt called to preach, and was ordained in May, 1854. He became pastor of the Greensburg Church and served it with marked success for nearly ten years. During this period he was pastor also of Friendship and Campbellsville Churches, in Taylor County, and of Mt. Gilead, in Greene County. He was pastor for one year of Waco Church, in Madison County, and for six years of the church in Danville. After this he was pastor, from 1870 to 1877, of the Georgetown Church, and professor of Theology in the Western Baptist Theological Institute. His next work was as Professor of Moral Philosophy in George- town College. Georgetown and Bethel Colleges gave him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and the former college the degree of A. M. While in Kentucky he was married to Miss Harding, the daughter of Aaron Harding, who for several years represented Kentucky in Congress. From Georgetown he came to Virginia, becoming pastor of the Second Baptist Church, Richmond. Here he remained five years, taking a leading part in the work of Virginia Baptists and being greatly beloved and respected by them. While in Richmond he impressed for good many of the students at Richmond College. One testifies to the help Dr. McDonald gave him when he stood at a spiritual crisis in his life, and another declares that "Dr. McDonald's capacity for loving and being loved was wonderful." Dr. W. E. Hatcher, who was a fellow- pastor with him in Richmond, and a lifelong friend, says : "McDonald was made of the finest material, com- mon in nothing, noble in all. He had a genius for friend- ship, and was a friend never doubted, whose varying moods woke no suspicions, and whose soul clung with a love never changing." The blended humor and pathos
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of his Irish nature helped to make him an interesting and magnetic figure, whether he was seen in the pulpit or in the social circle. Rev. J. E. Hutson, who helped him in a meeting at the Second Church, declared that it was dur- ing this meeting that he discovered the nobility of the man, and then said: "In him were blended the modera- tion of Melanchthon and the intensity of Luther.
No doubt his modesty sometimes barred him from that public recognition to which his qualities of head and heart alike entitled him. Not infrequently his humility deprived him of the honor which his private suggestion, in conference or convention, brought to him who articu- lated the hint and to whom, in consequence, the wisdom of the measure was attributed. He could weep over the grievances of a child without detracting from his man- hood, as he could rebuke the sins of a dignitary of the church or State without that assumption which oftener offends than leads to amendment. But it was as a preacher of the everlasting, old-fashioned gospel that he made his highest and most enduring record." In 1879 Dr. McDonald delivered before the Virginia Baptist Historical Society an address on "The Relation of the Anabaptists to the German Peasant War in the Sixteenth Century"; at the same meeting he was made an honorary member of the Society.
From 1882 to 1900 he was pastor of the Second Bap- tist Church, Atlanta, Ga. During this period he was President of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. And among other offices of impor- tance that he held in the denomination was that of Trustee of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was greatly beloved far and wide, and was often referred to as the "beloved John" of the Southern Bap- tist ministry.
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In the early part of 1904 he suffered a stroke of paralysis, and on Tuesday, March 22d, at 11 :15 A. M., he passed away. The funeral service in Atlanta was con- ducted by Dr. John E. White, Dr. W. W. Landrum, and Dr. Carter Helm Jones, while the exercises at George- town, Ky., where the body was laid to rest, were in charge of Dr. E. B. Pollard and Rev. T. J. Stevenson. His children are Aaron and Robert and Mrs. M. M. Welch, Mrs. M. L. Brittain, and Mrs. B. T. Crump.
ERNEST THOMAS GREGORY 1869-1904
Ernest Thomas Gregory was born, and did his life work, in Southside Virginia. He was born in Mecklen- burg County, March 20, 1869. He accepted Christ in early life, and, having decided to preach, prepared for this work, first at the Southside Academy, Chase City, then, during the sessions of 1890-91, 1891-92 and 1895- 96, at Richmond College, and finally at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. He was called to the pastorate of the New Hope Church, where he was a member, and his ordination took place Novem- ber 7, 1900. After New Hope (Concord Association) and Mt. Tirzah ( Appomattox Association), his churches were Halifax, Dan River, and Hunting Creek, all in the Dan River Association. In February, 1904, he was stricken with la grippe, brought on, probably, by his being exposed to the weather in going to his appointments. He came home on the fourth Sabbath in February quite ill. He made a brave fight for life, but died at Houston, April 9, 1904. He had never been strong physically, but his mind was vigorous, and his heart ever beat in sym- pathy with men. "As a preacher he was earnest, prac- tical, scriptural, and evangelistic. His minis- try, though brief, was owned of God in the conversion of many and the upbuilding of active and spiritually influ- ential churches." His wife, who was Miss Mary Young, of Louisville, Ky., and to whom he was married July 3, 1901, survived him. The facts given here are from the obituary, written by Rev. F. W. Moore, in the Minutes of the General Association.
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SAMUEL CORNELIUS CLOPTON 1847-1904
For four generations the name of Clopton has adorned the roll of the Baptist ministry of Virginia. There was, first, Elder William Clopton, described as "a faithful preacher of the gospel." Next there was Elder James Clopton, who was born in New Kent County, January 5, 1782, and "who principally labored in New Kent and Charles City Counties, but frequently made tours in the lower counties between York and James Rivers," and of whom we are told that "in all the region between Rich- mond and Williamsburg he left an enduring monument in the hearts of many, to the praise of God's grace." The third son of Elder James Clopton was Rev. Samuel Cornelius Clopton, who was also born in New Kent County, and who went out as the first missionary of the Southern Baptist Convention to China. He sailed, with his wife, who was Miss Keziah Turpin, a daughter of Rev. Miles Turpin, with Rev. George Pearcy and wife, on the Cahota, June 22, 1846. On July 7, 1847, he passed away, and his widow and only son returned to their native land. This son, born in China, was Samuel Cornelius Clopton, the subject of this sketch. He grew up, under the watchful care of his noble mother, "an earnest, self-reliant youth," whom "everybody knew could be trusted." In the ministry he is the son of Leigh Street Baptist Church, being licensed by this body to preach. By a hard struggle, "toiling at his books in the morning and at night, and working for the means to send himself to school in the afternoons and on Satur- days (when other boys less earnest were at play), he
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made his way through college and to the seminary, and in due time came forth a graduate of whom they had just cause to be proud."
On February 16, 1874, a few members of the Grace Street Baptist Church, Richmond, started a mission Sun- day school in a little storeroom on Clay Street west of Graham. The work prospered; in 1876 a chapel was erected, and on April 20, 1877, a church, known as the Clay Street Baptist Church, was organized with fifty-one members. To the pastorate of the young church Mr. Clopton was called. For some fifteen years, until July 31, 1892, he continued the shepherd of this flock. "Under his matchless leadership the little church grew apace, and soon became conspicuous for her zeal and liberality, for wisely and well had he laid the founda- tions, and to him more than to any other is the credit due for the beautiful superstructure, the Calvary Baptist Church of to-day." When the new meeting-house of the Calvary Church was dedicated, on December 17, 1893, Mr. Clopton preached the sermon. Before his Richmond pastorate closed he had taken rank among the Baptist pastors of the city and State by reason of his zeal, his sincerity, his piety, and his genial Christian spirit. Many incidents might be given to show how earnest, godly, and kind he was. Mrs. John Pollard, who was a member of his congregation, and deaf, described in the Herald, after his death, how it was his custom to hand her, every Sun- day morning, the notes of his sermon, that she might have her share in the service. "His influence with young men was remarkable, and from his church there went forth, inspired by his example and counsel, some of our brightest and best pastors of to-day." Nor did he forget, in his work in Richmond, the far-away land of his nativity, for "there was hardly a Chinaman in Richmond who did not know him well," and a year or so after
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Mr. Clopton's pastorate closed the Chinese class of the Sunday school presented the church with a beautiful pul- pit chair, their presentation speech being made in English. He was a faithful helper in the work of the denomina- tion. For fifteen years he was a member of the Foreign Mission Board. One summer, at the suggestion of the Mission Board, he went to Bell Spring, in Pulaski County, and helped the pastor in a meeting that resulted in the addition, by baptism, of thirty-two persons to the church. He often wrote for the Herald, and certainly one of his articles, namely, that on the question whether women should speak in the churches, called forth many writers, some taking sides against and some for his views.
While he will be best remembered for his labors at Clay Street (Calvary) Church, the three other pastor- ates that he held, after leaving Richmond, were not with- out fruit. From Richmond he went to the Parker Memorial Church, Anniston, Ala., and from there to the Fuller Memorial Church, Baltimore. From Baltimore he came back to Virginia, taking charge of the church at Smithfield. As one of the results of his labors in this town a handsome meeting-house was erected and dedi- cated. The esteem in which he was held by all the denominations in Smithfield was proved by the memorial service that took place, after his death, in the Methodist Church (besides the one held in his own church), when the Methodist pastor, Rev. W. C. Green, presided, and when appropriate resolutions were passed.
On Wednesday, May 10, 1904, he came to Richmond on his way to Rappahannock County, where he expected to seek rest and renewed health. His physicians, how- ever, found his condition more serious than he had sup- posed, and he went to the Retreat for the Sick, where, on May 19th, after a painful illness, he died. His body was buried in beautiful Hollywood, Richmond's city of
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the dead. About the time of his going to Alabama to live he received from Richmond College the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and was married to Miss Annie Jones, of Rappahannock County; she and two children survived him. The quotations in this sketch are from the obituary prepared for the Minutes of the General Association by Mr. R. R. Gwathmey; Mr. Gwathmey was a leader in the establishment of the Sunday school from which Clay Street and Calvary grew and one of the church's deacons.
HENRY PETTY 1828-1904
To preach the gospel for forty-four years is no mean record. This, Rev. Henry Petty did. Besides, he added to the literature of his denomination, being the author of three stories which aimed to enforce the principles and doctrines of Baptists. The first of these stories, "Lena Landon," appeared in book form. while the others, "Helen Gray" and "The Lightfoots," came out as serials. The Accomac and Roanoke Associations claimed the larger part of his ministry, but immediately after his ordination, in 1859, he became pastor of the Greenville Church in North Carolina, and later he was pastor three other times in the Old North State, twice at Warrenton, and at Greensboro. Three different times he was pastor on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Here he served Lower Northampton and Red Bank, organized the church at Drummondtown in 1871, and built the meeting-house at Cheriton. During the War he was pastor of the Second Church of Petersburg, and, in 1878, a State missionary at North Danville. For twelve years he served the church at Chatham, and among the other churches of the Roanoke Association to which he was pastor are these: Greenfield, Sharon, Chestnut Level, Shockoe.
He was born in Princess Anne County, Virginia, November 14, 1828. When he was an infant his father died, and, at eight years of age, he lost his mother. She had made an impression on him that he never outgrew. On her deathbed she told him that she wanted him to be a Christian and a preacher. Then she prayed that her
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wish might be granted. In after years he was moved to follow her precepts. Thus left, at a tender age, an orphan, he developed independence of spirit, decision of character and economy. The kind home of his uncle, the Rev. H. H. Banks, now became his home, and here the influences that surrounded him were of the best. Early in life he came into touch with the Rev. Thomas Hume, Sr., who took great interest in him and later baptized him. His education cost him a struggle, but that he was more than victor in this struggle, a struggle that involved teaching school and perhaps other ways of turning an honest penny, is shown by the fact that he was an author as well as a preacher. Besides writing books, as already noted, he strayed, not infrequently, with his pen into the field of poetry. It would be interesting if we could know all that took place at two meetings at two country churches when Mr. Petty was the chief figure. Picture first the scene at St. John's Church at Princess Anne Court House when a presbytery composed of Elders H. J. Chandler, J. D. Elwell, and H. H. Banks, on February 27, 1859, examined and set apart the young man to the gospel ministry. And next go, in imagination, to Ebenezer Meeting-House, in the same county, and hear this young man preaching his first sermon from the words: "The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye and believe in the gospel." From this day forward it is said that he never preached an indifferent sermon.
On February 1, 1882, he was married to Mrs. Mary Carter Penick; she, with one daughter, survived him. Some two years before his departure he lost his hearing, and this affliction was followed by other bodily ailments, but he bore it all with exemplary patience. He passed away at Chatham, Va., July, 16, 1904, and in the ceme- tery of this town he sleeps his last sleep.
JOHN MAJOR PERRY 1835-1904
While not a native of Virginia, Rev. John Major Perry spent some forty-one years of his life and of his ministry in this State. Frail health led him to Virginia, and the climate of his adopted State meant a long extension of his service in the Kingdom of God. His appearance sug- gested that he was not a strong man in body; his face was thin and his figure rather gaunt; he resembled Abraham Lincoln, and was mistaken for this famous man more than once. He was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, January 5, 1835. His student days were spent at Lewisburg University (now Bucknell University), and his diploma bears the date of July 27, 1858. The churches that he served in Pennsylvania were Parkersford, Conshohocken, Philipsburg, and Greenville. He was married March 1, 1862, to Miss Lida Bush, a daughter of Dr. Andrew Bush, of Chester County, Pennsylvania, and of this union six children were born. It was in 1873 that he came to Virginia, for the reason named above, and settled on a small farm near Wylliesburg, Charlotte County. Since there was no Baptist Church in the neighborhood, he organized one in 1883 that took the name of Wylliesburg, having in 1878 organized Friendship Church in the same county. These two churches he served for over twenty-five years, and before his ministry closed he had been pastor of Antioch and Tabernacle Churches, both in the Concord Associa- tion, as was also Wylliesburg; Friendship is in the Appomattox. Rev. H. T. Williams says: "Brother Perry was an unusually able preacher. His mind was
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thoroughly trained, he was well versed in the Scriptures, and he preached the great truths of the gospel in sim- plicity and with loving sympathy for all his hearers. He was so modest and retiring that he never became known to the brotherhood, of the State and never received on earth the recognition and honor that his character and work merited, but he was tenderly loved and highly honored by those who knew him and his service, and when the final records are unrolled he will be exalted in the presence of the King and the saints. He readily adapted himself to the thought and customs of the South. He was one of us, loving us tenderly and was devotedly loved by us." Mrs. Perry died in 1899, and in 1901 he was married to Miss Lizzie Gregory, a daughter of Mr. J. B. Gregory, of Mecklenburg County. Of this union one child, a girl, was born. After being ill for three weeks with pneumonia, Brother Perry passed away July 22, 1904, and the funeral took place in the Wylliesburg Church and the burial in the cemetery of this church. Besides his wife and the daughter of the second marriage, the following children survived him : Mr. E. L. Perry, Rev. W. M. Perry, Mrs. A. C. Davis, and Mrs. A. H. Moss.
M. A. WILSON 1839-1904
Many years ago there came to the home of a Virginia pastor a visiting preacher. On Sunday night the visitor filled the pulpit. When the time for retiring came, the pastor's little boy followed his father and the guest to the bedroom. Before the hosts left the room their guest had begun to undress. It then appeared that he had preached with his whole back a mass of sores. The boy never understood exactly what was the matter with the visitor, but that he could have preached when in such a physical condition deeply impressed the child. The preacher with the sore back was Rev. M. A. Wilson, for thirty-eight years a pioneer Baptist missionary and church builder in the Valley and southwest sections of Virginia. Mr. Wilson was not a man of strong physical make-up-his face suggested this-and once the State Mission report says that he was absent from his work on account of ill health. Yet doubtless he had what might be called a wiry constitution, and in his "journeyings oft". over mountain and valley his hard work brought the compensation of much life in the open air.
He was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, Febru- ary 6, 1839, being of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His early life on the farm offered few educational opportunities, nor did his later life give him much chance for study. He was baptized into the fellowship of the Neriah Bap- tist Church, Rockbridge County, by Elder J. C. Richard- son, in 1865. The next year, at Arnold's Valley Church, in the James River Valley, he was ordained and preached his first sermon. He married Miss Elizabeth J. Taylor, who, with five children (Dr. Frank L. Wilson, Joseph A. Wilson, Mrs. Emmons, Mrs. Ritz, and Mrs. Jones), sur- vived him.
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Except for one brief period, Mr. Wilson, in all his career, never served a church that was fully self- supporting. As a missionary pastor and preacher he spent his life. During the many years of his ministry, besides eighteen months as pastor in Arkansas, he served the following churches in Virginia and West Virginia, though this list may not be complete: Kerr's Creek, Salem (Rockbridge County), Sharon, Cave Spring, Laurel Ridge, Berean, Sinking Creek, Pearisburg, New- port, Green Valley, Walker's Creek, Pocahontas, Prince- ton, Bluefield, East Roanoke, Big Stone Gap, Norton. On his mission fields he built sixteen meeting-houses, raising most of the money for these edifices at points in the State where the Baptists were stronger. More than once a notice like the following, from the issue of Octo- ber 1, 1903, appeared in the Religious Herald: "The veteran missionary and church builder, Rev. M. A. Wil- son, is among us once more and on his wonted mission. This time the house is at Norton, a growing town in Wise County. It is a worthy enterprise, and we trust Brother Wilson may meet with a generous response from our people." Yet his work was not simply that of begging and building. He had great evangelistic gifts, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, were led to Christ and baptized by him. It is easy to see how his ready mother- wit and his tactfulness would prove most valuable to him in his work among many kinds of folks.
He passed away at Coeburn, Va., August 21, 1904, his last sermon having been preached at Graham, Va. The New Lebanon Association was in session in Bluefield at the time of his death, and so it came to pass that the funeral of this zealous man was attended by the delegates and ministers present at the meeting; this was highly fitting. The service, held in the First Baptist Church, was conducted by Rev. S. H. Thompson, and the burial took place in the cemetery of the city, Maple Grove.
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CHASTAIN CLARK MEADOR 1825-1904
The Baptist interests of Washington City have always been somewhat identified with those of Virginia Baptists, and so there is the more reason why a sketch of one whose whole ministry was given to the capital city should appear in this volume, since he was born in Virginia. Bedford County, the birthplace of so many Baptist preachers, was where, on July 11, 1825, Chastain Clark Meador first saw the light. In 1844 he was baptized into the fellowship of New Hope Baptist Church, which was then under the care of the Rev. James Leftwich, but it seems that the ordinance was administered in this case by Rev. William Harris, familiarly known as "Father Harris." The young man, with business as his expected career, worked for a time on the farm and then as a miller, but it was about this time that he was a teacher in the Sunday school of Mt. Hermon Church. At the age of twenty-five he decided to become a preacher, and in order to fit himself for this career turned his face towards the Valley Union Seminary (now Hollins Col- lege) at Botetourt Springs, a school for boys and girls, presided over by Dr. Charles L. Cocke. Here he remained about two years. Before going off to school he had been licensed to preach by Mt. Hermon Church, and upon his return home he taught school for about a year, preaching frequently during the same period in destitute neighborhoods. In 1857 he entered Columbian College, Washington, where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1857. In 1860 Columbian gave him the degree of Master of Arts, and many years later the
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