Chapter VI: Preface (5)

Kennedy, Rev. F. R., of Columbiana, was born December 20, 1864, in this State. He was baptized at Calera by the Rev. Henry Clay in 1881, and in 1886 he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry by Revs. P. Fancher and John Tranholm. Mr. Kennedy at the age of 18 did not know his letters, but perceiving at an early age the value of book learning he resolved at the time named to attain to some knowledge on this line. He has availed himself of such facilities and opportunities as have fallen in his way, and in consequence he now reads and writes fairly well. No doubt much of his advancement and general success are due to the knowledge, aspiration and persistence of Mrs. Kennedy, whose educational advantages have been superior to her husband’s. Brother Kennedy has been pastor in his own town, in Birmingham, at Calera, and now he preaches in Anniston.

Kennedy, Rev. Samuel, once pastor Union Church, Mobile, is one of those unassuming, modest, friendly men whose heart pours forth in kindness upon everybody. Like many others his chief misfortune is that he bears the marks which declare his want of early school advantages. However, he deserves praise for many good qualities and commendable labors.

King, Rev. Boling, of Leighton, Ala., was born in Orange county, Va., August, 1836. He was converted to faith in Christ under the ministry of Rev. Henry Bynum, by whom, aided by Dr. Shackleford, he was baptized into the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church near Leighton. In 1868, in same church and by the same brethren, he was solemnly set apart to the work of the gospel ministry. Though he never attended school he can read and write, and is a natural leader. He is pastor of some of the largest churches in the Muscle Shoals Association. He is an industrious, honorable man and has accumulated about $1,700 worth of real estate. He is one of the pioneers of the work in this section of Alabama. He is still of youthful vigor and leads in the Sunday School the same as in the church.

Koyton, Prof. Abner C., of Tuscaloosa, son of Henry and Susan Koyton, was born in Marietta, Ga., but was reared in Summerfield, Ala. Mr. Koyton graduated from the State Normal School, Marion, Ala., in 1880, and delivered the first annual address to the alumni of this institution.

Under his principalship, and on his plans, so the writer is informed, the city schools (colored) of Tuscaloosa began to operate under their present graded system. He is now just inaugurating the Tuscaloosa Baptist Academy. He is young, but studious and progressive. His youth is dignified by his gravity and piety.

Lawson, Rev. A. J., of Camden, son of Mr. A. and Mrs. Julia Lawson, is doing a good work at Camden. His chief educational advantages have come of the Camden schools, and what he has accomplished in the way of letters, is evidence of his vigilance and application with reference to the opportunities which came to his hand. He was baptized by Rev. David Small, of Clark county, in 1886, two years after which time he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry at Camden by order of the Camden Church, which was then under the pastoral care of Rev. J. W. White. His labors are well spoken of by his brethren.

Lawson, Rev. A., of Union Springs, the pastor of Mount Pleasant Church, now about 45 years of age, is one of the leading men of the “Old Pine Grove Association.” Like most of the men of his time, his education has been hindered. However, he is a very clear-headed man and, having a large following, has done much good in Bullock county.

Leavens, Rev. Charles, the man who led to the erection of the brick structure in which the St. Louis Street Church now worships, was of Virginia nativity, and was born about 1805. The writer is of the opinion that no man in Alabama did so much in pioneer days to organize the Negro Baptists in the State as Mr. Leavens. At the close of the war he was not ordained, but was the most enterprising, pushing, sanguine and influential man in his church. Naturally, therefore, the work of guiding the flock fell upon his shoulders. As he could not get ordination of his white brethren, he sought it in New Orleans. Finding himself now possessed with the commission of a gospel minister, he sought to touch and commission men for the other cities and towns of the State. The Rev. Philip Gambrell was ordained about the same time. Calling in this man’s services and assistance, Mr. Leavens ordained Messrs. P. Murrell, of Tuscaloosa; J. Bleavens, of Selma; James Caldwell, of Demopolis; the writer, and a great company of others, who went out into the various sections of the State to organize the people into churches. Of course, as might have been expected, he sometimes put out the wrong man, but it was a time to do and dare. His excuse for hasty action was: “This is a peculiar time whose peculiar circumstances call for bold methods.” His chief questions to applicants were: “Can you and do you read the Bible? Do you believe it, pray about it, and practice its teachings? Are you a good, whole Baptist? Are you a republican?”

Leach, Rev. James, of Birmingham, son of Alfred and Elizabeth Leach, was born July 16, 1832, in Marengo county, Ala. In 1846 he was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Fox, of Uniontown, and on November 26, 1867, in the African Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa, he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry by Revs. P. Murrell, P. Bowler and James Caldwell.

In 1855 he was married to Miss Mary Martin. He was once pastor of the African Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, and one time presided over the Bethlehem Association (organized in 1877) as moderator. Mr. Leach has held various pastorates, is a hospitable man, and has a very pleasant family.

The writer has often found--when weary and sick--a pleasing and invigorating refuge within the quiet home of these good people.

Leftwich, John C., of Montgomery, once editor and now manager of the _Baptist Leader_, is noted especially for energy and independence. He is, at the time of this writing, temperance lecturer for the State of Alabama under the “National Temperance Society.” Doubtless he inherits his push and ambition from his father, who was at one time a member of the Alabama legislature. He is quite a young man, and if wisdom shall rule over his purposes and plans in years to come, he will write himself upon the men and the occasions of future years.

Lewis, Rev. C., is pastor of Macedonia Church, Birmingham. He appears ready for any good word and work.

Looney, Rev. J. T., of Fayetteville, Talladega county, was born in Coosa county, Alabama, May 2, 1847. He was baptized into the Fayetteville Church by Rev. Berry Ware in 1867, and in 1885 he was set apart to the work of the ministry by Rev. H. Morris and others. At the time of this writing Mr. Looney is pastor at Alpine. He is a quiet and unassuming man, ever friendly to education and missions, and hospitable toward his brethren.

Lofton, Rev. J. B., is pastor at Smithfield, near Birmingham.

Lovelady, Rev. C. L., of Hollywood, Jackson county, is noted among his brethren for his interest in missions and education. He followed Rev. Lewis Roach in the moderatorship of the Mud Creek Association. He helps in the building of churches, and is a liberal supporter of schools.

Low, Rev. Green, of Livingston, is one of the most matter-of-fact sort of men with whom the writer has ever had any business. No man can beat him wearing his whole heart right on his face. He is uncovered, outspoken and fearless, and yet all seems so natural, so honest and so kind, until what would otherwise appear hard and ungenial, is really enjoyable. Mr. Low is among the leaders of the Bethlehem Association.

McAlpine, Rev. W. H., at present teacher of Ministers’ and Deacons’ Institute, under the appointment of the Southern Baptist Mission Board, was born in Buckingham county, Virginia, June, 1847. At the age of three years, he, his mother and a younger brother were brought to this state by a “Negro speculator,” who sold them to a Rev. Robert McAlpine, of Coosa county. At the age of 8 years and on the occasion of the death of this Presbyterian minister, he became the property (?) of Dr. McAlpine, with whom he remained till the close of the war. In this family he was the nurse of the white children for about ten years. As Mrs. Dr. McAlpine was very anxious and cautious as to the quality of the first moulding influences touching the childhood of her children, and as the schools around were hardly up to her ideal, she had her children instructed at home. As the nurse’s position placed him and kept him in constant association with the children, and as he was possessed of a literary turn of mind, he soon began to imbibe a knowledge of letters, advancing into reading, writing, grammar, geography and arithmetic. From 1855 to 1874 he saw nothing of his mother, and for sixteen years of this time did not know where she was. Naturally this incident started a train of serious reflections touching the facts and hopes of human life. About the year 1864 or 1865 he was converted to Christianity and some time after was baptized into the Talladega Church (white) by his friend, Dr. Renfroe. At the close of the war Mr. McAlpine first worked at the carpenters’ trade, which he left for school teaching. In the winter of 1866 he entered the Talladega College, supporting himself by laboring during the morning and evening hours--before the opening and after the close of the school. In 1873 he severed his connection with this institution, having been aroused to undertake the establishment of a similar institution for his own denomination. In 1871 he was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry, and accepted a call to the pastorate of the Mt. Canaan Baptist Church, Talladega, which he resigned in 1875 in order to give his whole time to his school project.

To no man in Alabama has been committed trusts more varied and more weighty. While connected with the Talladega College he occupied the position of State canvasser under the appointment of Mr. Cravath. He has been pastor at Talladega, Jacksonville, Marion and Anniston, and president of Selma University. His special excellence is not of that mental style which gives birth to fine psychological and metaphysical discernments and distinctiveness: it is that sort of mental something which strikes with broad side and ponderous weight. The breadth of his rear head would seem to indicate that all his faculties are driven forward by a force that starts from a broad base. The writer first met Dr. McAlpine in Mobile, in November, 1874, the year following that in which he brought forward, at the Tuscaloosa session of the Convention, his school idea. My first impression of him was that he was a man of special mission, and I immediately sympathized with him and with the school project, throwing myself fully into line with his plans.

In referring to his childhood life, and while talking with reference to the power of secret prayer, he once remarked to the writer: “Upon one occasion, though without my knowledge, Dr. McAlpine had resolved to punish me for a trivial matter on my part which had caused him some displeasure. I had gone to feed the horses, and in the crib I was on my knees at prayer. The doctor had followed me with his whip. I was not aware of his presence or purpose, and hence as he did not speak I got through with my prayer and fed my horse and returned to the house. I learned afterward that my prayer had subdued him, and that he had expressed himself as being ashamed of his purpose.”

Alluding once to some mistakes he had made, he observed: “We grow wiser as we grow older.” He has been happily married twice. By his last wife he has a large family of beautiful and promising children. The Rivers family, into which he married, are a people of very sterling qualities, and no doubt these happy associations have conduced to his success in all regards.

The act of the University in conferring upon him the honorary title of D. D. is evidence of the high esteem in which he is held by the trustees and faculty of the school. He is now theological instructor in the school and is supported by the Southern Board.

McAlpine, F. Percy, son of J. D. and Jane McAlpine, was born August 1, 1865, in Forkland, Ala. He entered the world amid that good heritage which can come only of the exemplary life of parents. Though his early life was spent on the farm, his youthful days were blessed with some educational facilities, which his discerning, appreciative mind turned to good advantage. After completing primary grades in his home schools, he, against the wish of his mother and protest of brothers, entered the State Normal School at Marion, Ala., with only $15 to begin the course of study prescribed. The next year he entered Selma University, studying during the school session and teaching in summer till 1888, when his mother, his only support since the death of his father, fell asleep. He says of this time of struggle:

“I owe a lasting debt of gratitude to President Purce, who never left me without an encouragement which it was possible for him to bestow.”

In 1890 while in his junior college year, financial straits forced him to give up study and go out to work. Applying for the principalship of the Bessemer City School, he made an almost perfect mark in his examination and obtained the position. While in this capacity, aided by Mr. J. C. Barker, he edited a paper known as “_The Marvel Age_.” In 1893, he and Mr. Barker operated a bookstore.

The writer knows but few young men who equal Mr. McAlpine in modesty, industry, courage, push and beauty of moral character. An honorable future awaits him, and of friends he shall have many. Talented and studious, he must still advance in scholarship. He became a member of the Missionary Baptist Church in 1885, and lives according to his profession. He expects to complete his university course in 1896.

McEwen, Rev. A. N., pastor of Franklin Street Church, Mobile, lately editor of the _Baptist Leader_, is a native of the State of Mississippi, where he was born April, 1849. When he was about 18 years of age he went to Nashville, Tenn., in search of better things than those to which slavery had introduced him. Here he entered the Roger Williams University, remaining only a very short while. Here also he found and wedded a wife. Being controlled by industry and economy he soon saved enough from his small wages to purchase a horse and wagon. This was the first of a series of financial successes by means of which he soon rose above poverty and want into comfortable circumstances for himself and family. While attending the services of Mt. Zion Church in Nashville in 1870 he was led to faith in Christ which he professed by receiving baptism.

Shortly after he began religious work, and in 1876 he was ordained to take charge of the pastorate at Tullahoma, Tenn. Five or six years after this he came to Alabama to take charge of the Dexter Avenue Church. Mr. McEwen, since his entrance into Alabama, has been intimately connected with all our state operations, educational and missionary, and no man among us has been more successful as a church financier. He has bestowed special care upon the education of his children, all of whom he has reared for the most part without their mother’s aid, as she died when they were young. The Dexter Avenue Church building was constructed under his leadership.

McCall, Rev. E. A., at present pastor in Columbus, Ga., the son of Rev. H. A. McCall, was born May 15, 1855, in Russell county, Alabama. In 1872 he was baptized into the Hawkinsville Baptist Church by the hands of his father. In September, in the twentieth year of his age, he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry by Revs. A. Gachet, S. Fantroy, J. Daniel, J. H. Davis and H. A. McCall. It will be seen that he entered the sacred office at a very early age--at an age rather soon in most cases--rather early for the good of the minister as well as for the good of the people and the cause. But though in youth he was possessed of very poor educational advantages, by talent, push, courage, ambition, observation and application to books, he has made surprising advances. He is strictly a self-made man. He speaks with ease and performs well on the organ.

He has had a wide range of operation, having been pastor at different times of eleven different churches, some of them equaling the best pastorates in the country. Among them the church at Union Springs may be mentioned. No man in Alabama is more companionable than he.

McCord, Rev. C., of Selma, was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry by the St. Phillip Street Church while the writer was pastor in 1884. He started the study of books late in life, but by associating with men of advanced ideas and close application to books he is now considerably ahead of the masses of the ministry. He is a sober, judicious man, peaceable and ever ready for work.

Maddox, Rev. J. D., the son of Daniel and Tabitha Maddox, was born in Barbour county, Ala., near Midway, in 1854. His father was sold away from him when he was only three days old, and his mother when he was three years old, and hence he came up without knowing anything either of father or mother.

This friendless condition early impressed him with the desire to obtain the friendship of God, which in his eleventh year, he sought and found. He was baptized into the Rama Church by the Rev. Mr. VanHoose (white) during the same year.

In his seventeenth year, a desire to read books came into his mind. By good fortune, he came into possession of 25 cents which he invested in a “blue back speller.” In order that his book and purpose might not come to the notice of the white people he decided that he would tear out and learn one leaf at the time. Thus he began to spell, aided by a more fortunate fellow slave. The widow of a Baptist minister encouraged him with the statement that if he could read she would give him a hymn book and a Bible. On _one_ Sabbath he learned the Ten Commandments. Doubtless he owes much of his success to his excellent wife, who is no less enterprising than she is devout and faithful. He said to the writer: “My wife _makes_ me study.”

In 1879 at the call of the Friendship Baptist Church of Barbour county, he was set apart to the ministry by Revs. J. Shorter, A. Gachet and E. Alexander. Brother Maddox is a good man, a faithful preacher, and a successful builder--a leading man in the Eufaula Association, and is as gentle as a woman, and simple hearted as a child.

Maderson, Rev. William, of Greensboro, was born in Virginia in 1849, and came to Alabama in 1866. In the fall of 1872 he was baptized into the Second Baptist Church at Marion, Ala., and in the following year began to enter upon the work of the ministry, speaking in public as he had opportunity. While the Convention was in session in Marion in 1880, the hands of ordination were laid upon his head by order of the Marion Church, and by the same presbytery that ordained Dr. Pettiford. He spent some time in study in the Selma University, under the presidency of the late Rev. Harry Woodsmall. Mr. Maderson is a man of fine natural gifts which, considering his early, meagre advantages, have been well developed. He is remarkably capacitated for imbibing what is pure and elevating in good men and good books. He is dearly beloved no less for his stainless character than for his refinement and wisdom. After serving various other important pastorates, he was called to the pulpit of the Salem Church at Greensboro, where he now serves with success, greatly increasing the membership and purchasing a neat parsonage. For the past seven or eight years he has been the moderator of the Uniontown Association--the largest Association in the State. Should he continue as he has begun, coming years must increase his power with God and man.

Merrell, Rev. Mason C., of Fort Deposit, son of M. C. and Harriet Merrell, was born in Dallas county, Ala., June 26, 1849. As his parents were poor, he was apprenticed to the Rev. H. Talbird, D. D., of said county, who sent him to the schools of the neighborhood. By such means he was early placed in conditions where he was able to lay the foundation of a liberal English education. Much of Mr. Merrell’s time for many years has been spent in teaching in the State schools. The money thus earned has been a supplement to the meagre support given him by the small churches of which he is the efficient pastor. He was baptized into the fellowship of the Carlowville Church October, 1867, by the hands of his benefactor. In 1879 he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry in the city of Montgomery, Revs. J. A. Foster, W. J. Stevens, Wm. Jinkins and R. Aarons officiating as presbytery. Brother Merrell is a sociable, genial companion, a careful speaker, an earnest Christian, and a firm believer in missions and education. On all the moral questions of the times he is as straight as a shingle. He, by his various pastorates, is associated with the Alabama District and the Union Associations, and in both bodies he is held in high esteem by all the thoughtful and pious persons.

Indeed, he is respected by all who know him, white and black. Because of his quietness and sunshine, as well as for his musical talent and skill, he is in special demand at our annual and extra meetings.

Murrell, Rev. Prince.--Rev. Prince Murrell was born in Savannah, Ga., January 1, 1817. His mother, who descended of a Congo prince, was born in Providence, R. I. His father was the son of an Englishman, of the name of Murrell. Some of his youthful years were spent with his parents in South Carolina. In the year 1838, his mother with seven children, he being the youngest, moved to Tuscaloosa, Ala. At this time no member of the family knew anything of the Christian life. In 1839 his mother was baptized, which incident excited such serious impressions in her son as resulted in his baptism in August, 1842. About this time he began to speak and exhort as he had opportunity. At the close of the war he had been a member of the Tuscaloosa Church (white) about ten years, and was the only colored Baptist preacher in Tuscaloosa. This brother has had a rather remarkable career. In the year 1855 he bought his freedom, and in 1856 started to Liberia, Africa, going as far as Savannah, Ga. His aspiration for liberty, his unaided toiling for the mastery of letters and books, his tact and perseverance in organizing the colored Baptists of his section into churches and associations, and his success in accumulating property with many other things, mark him as no ordinary man. His marriage to Miss Mary Drisdell in the year 1842, was no doubt largely conducive to his energy and success, for she--even up into old age--was a woman of strength and industry. The first colored school ever taught in Tuscaloosa was taught by him, and taught at a time when to teach a colored school was to put one’s life at the muzzle of the shot gun. Touching this phase of work, he related to the writer the following stories: “When we were just set at liberty I went to a white Baptist who had in times of slavery shown himself friendly toward black people, and said, ‘Mr. S----, we need a school teacher, can’t we secure you?’ He replied, ‘Do you think I would disgrace myself by teaching a negro school? Besides this, it would be only throwing into the waste my time, my talent and my strength. I might as well drive into a room a drove of sheep or a herd of swine, and put books before them as to put books before kinky-headed nigger children.’

“On one occasion, two white men who had come into town to bring a prisoner, walked into my school room with their ropes and chains in hand, and teacher and school, feeling sure that the ropes and chains were for their necks, were so dismayed as to excite the pity of the dreaded visitors, and they sought to remove our fears and to encourage us to continue on in our good way.”

Speaking of the organization of colored churches in the South, he remarked to the writer: “I was in Savannah when the white people were discussing the propriety of organizing colored churches.” He opened the first Sunday School for colored people in the city of Tuscaloosa the first Sunday in December, 1866. He claimed to owe most of his success in the study of divine truth to the Rev. Chas. Manly. On July 1 he organized the African Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa with 25 members. As he did not begin reading till he was 22 years old he was not faultless in his mastery of the English language, but was a good speaker, self-possessed and ready in words. Mr. Murrell was one of the leading fathers of the Alabama work. His children were a pride to him in his old age.

In the last years of his life he spoke tenderly of his old mistress who encouraged him to learn to read, and of his maiden mistress, who in many ways saved him from oppression and aided him in securing his liberty.

Since the above sketch was commenced Mr. Murrell and his good wife have exchanged the cross for the crown.

Nichols, Rev. James, of Greenville, moderator and missionary of the Union Association, was born in Virginia May 10, 1842, and was brought to Alabama September, 1856, locating at Selma, where he joined the church and was baptized by the Rev. Mr. McCraw, who was then pastor both of the colored and of the white churches of that city. At this time, as the dates will show, he was a young man. It was in this same church and city that he began the work of the ministry during the days of slavery.

His first marriage was to Miss Emma Allison, of Dallas county. The fruit of this marriage was two sons and one daughter, neither of whom is now living. His present wife has two living children. He has an humble home of his own.

Mr. Nichols is a man of energy, industry and decision of character; he has opinions and has the courage to express them. No man has any trouble in times of controversy to locate him, and yet in his rulings as presiding officer of the above named association, the writer has seen evidences of prudence and commendable flexibility.

His early life was robbed of literary environments, and hence he is not an extensive reader of books; but his knowledge of things is superior to many whose advantages have been far better than his have been. He says that he knew absolutely nothing of letters till since the close of the war, when he had a little opportunity to attend night school at Uniontown.

He was ordained in 1873 at Georgiana, Butler county, by Revs. Dan Shepard, Nelson Briggs, Jesse Holens and others, and he has done a good work in his section.

Northcross, Rev. W. E., of Tuscumbia, Colbert county, was born in Colbert county, Ala., in 1840, and ordained to the gospel ministry in 1867 by Rev. Mr. Slater (white) and Rev. Henry Bynum.

Mr. Northcross is strictly a pioneer. He, Rev. Stephen Coleman and Rev. Henry Bynum, aided by Dr. Joseph Shackleford (white) laid down the foundation stones in Morgan, Franklin, Colbert, Lauderdale and Lawrence counties.

He is a peculiar man. He is a man of very positive nature--with him it is yea and amen.

To those who do not know him as well as to those who vacillate and pretend, his sternness is repelling. But behind and below external appearances there is a heart that is as tender as it is brave, and as kind as it is firm. Except a little time spent in the Roger Williams University, he has had no school advantages, but he reads and writes fairly well.

The Tuscumbia, Barton and Sheffield churches were built up under his labors. In the formation of the Muscle Shoals Association at Tuscumbia in 1869, he was one of the leading spirits. He relates the following incidents:

“Before the close of the war I was captured by the Federal troops and carried to Decatur, where I joined their army. As I had a crippled foot I was allowed to remain with the commissary department. While we were camped at Athens, General Forest came upon us and defeated, captured and killed until we were almost literally wiped out of existence. I had been kind to some little white children by which I had won their love and, of course, the love of their parents. Therefore, in the time of danger, I rushed to this house, and the good people hid me and changed my clothes. Hence when I was found, I was taken for one of the gentleman’s slaves. When I was permitted by the man to try to return to Tuscumbia and had gone some distance, I was caught by deserters from the Southern army, who voted to shoot me. They bound me and kept me over night, intending to do away with me the next day. It was in a lonely desert on the Tennessee river. I could not sleep, and so all night I prayed to God, and all night the wives of the men prayed for “the poor nigger”--prayed to their cruel husbands. Their cries and tears prevailed, and I was robbed and let go after I had vowed not to reveal their whereabouts. I left loving God and believing in his faithfulness to his people as I had never done before.”

For years Mr. Northcross has been the trusted treasurer of the Muscle Shoals Association. He is the pastor of the largest church, and has the best edifice, in northern Alabama.

Oden, Rev. M. C. B., of Sylacauga, was born in Charleston, S. C., December 24, 1839. He was baptized by Rev. J. J. D. Renfroe, D. D., in September, 1865, and in 1873 he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry, Rev. W. Wilks, and others, officiating as presbytery. He, in speaking of the rise of the work in this section, says: “I came from South Carolina in 1858, a Methodist. There were nineteen or twenty other slaves on our place beside myself. I, and one other, professed to be Christians. The master of the place permitted us to hold prayer services, and allowed the slaves of his kin people to attend. The Lord blessed these meetings and at the close of the war this humble beginning was ready to unfold into the Harpersville Church. At the close of the war, I began to teach night and Sunday Schools, and thus introduced the study of letters, though in the Sunday School as well as in the night school, we had nothing but the ‘blue back speller.’” Brother Oden is an honorable, outspoken, industrious, prosperous man, whose hospitality is known far and wide. His home has often been an asylum of rest to the writer, as well as to other missionaries of Alabama of all denominations.

O’Bryant, Rev. L. F., of Eufaula, the son of Frederick and Rose O’Bryant, was born on the Dent plantation in Barbour county, Ala., in the year 1860. In 1879 he was converted to the faith of the gospel under the preaching of Rev. Jerry Shorter, and was baptized into the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. At the call of the above named church, he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry in 1885 by Revs. J. Q. A. Wilhite, A. Gachet, J. D. Maddox, E. May and J. A. Alston, of Arkansas. Notwithstanding his educational advantages have been very meagre, he has, by constant study and observation, advanced to a fair knowledge of books. He is a loving husband, a successful pastor, a strong preacher, a genial associate, and carries sunshine everywhere. The writer was associated with him for some weeks in the institute work at Eufaula, and was truly delighted with his urbanity and innocent wit. He is a young man of hopeful prospects--if his present wise course should continue to the end. His father before him is a Baptist minister, whose life is held in high esteem, and hence the subject of this sketch comes into his public career having his own excellent personal graces savored by the good name of his revered ancestor.

Owens, Rev. A. J., of Moulton, is an ex-student of Selma University; he is an agreeable companion, a kind father, an orderly thinker and a forcible preacher. The writer has greatly enjoyed the hospitalities of his home and the abundance of his good humor.

Owens, Rev. Albert Franklyn, editor of the _Baptist Leader_ and pastor at Mobile, was born in Wilcox county, Ala., January 1, 1854. Early in life he left Alabama for Louisiana, in which state he was led to exercise faith in the Son of God and was baptized into Little Mt. Zion Church by the Rev. G. Stemley, of Avoyelles Parish. In April, 1873, he was licensed to enter upon the work of the gospel ministry. At the call of the Third Baptist Church, Mobile, Ala., he was ordained to the functions of the ministerial office by the Common Street Baptist Church, New Orleans, La., May 28, 1877, by a council of which Rev. Marsena Stone, D. D., of Ohio, was chairman, and Rev. A. M. Newman was secretary. His longest and hitherto most prosperous pastorate has been with the church who called for his ordination, and whom he led to the purchase of their neat brick edifice on St. Anthony street.

Beginning with them in the spring of 1887, he left them for Uniontown, September, 1890, in excellent quarters and free from debt. This he did at such patient self-sacrifice as may be found in only a very few men of his age.

In 1873 he entered Leland University, New Orleans, where he remained four years pursuing the classical and theological courses under Drs. Gregory and Stone.

While in Louisiana he was engaged in teaching school and was intimately associated with the general Baptist work, being at one time editor of their state organ, the _Baptist Messenger_. In 1884-85 he was editor of the _Baptist Pioneer_, located at Selma, Ala., and has served as general superintendent of missions for the State of Alabama. For many years he has been on the Board of Trustees of Selma University, and in recognition of his solid worth and general information he is now the bearer of our denominational standard.

Mr. Owens is a typical, Christian gentleman. No other man among us has a library so select, so varied and so valuable as he has, nor has any man in Alabama a clearer evidence of literary talent and literary relish. He is a many-sided man, and the beauty of his solid personal qualities is greatly enhanced by his indigenous vivacity, unstinted hospitality, and perennial benevolence. In the hovels of the poor and in the times of the sources of disease, no man among us is more welcome than he, neither is there one of his brethren whose duty renders more heedless of danger or blind to personal privations and material losses. Whether he builds houses of worship, preaches, lectures, teaches, writes--whatever may be the engagement of the hour, that engagement focuses the whole man. The following incidents will show something of the style of his mind: On one occasion when severely tried in administering discipline, and when he had allowed his feelings of indignation to run too high, he was so distressed that for many nights sleep almost entirely forsook him. The writer overheard him on this occasion, saying, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.”

Upon another occasion in the midst of a session of the Convention, and as one of the policemen of the town walked in and was seated, he arose and remarked: “Brother president, I see in our assembly a policeman of the city in which we are convened. I think this a fit time to give notice to any who may feel inclined to be unruly that they must observe good order or I’ll have them arrested.” This came in just at a condition of the meeting when a bit of humor was just the thing most needed.

The St. Anthony Street Church, Mobile, is a tangible memorial of his energy, self-sacrifice and patient industry. Beside the pastorate of the St. Anthony Street Church (the Third Baptist), he has served in the pastorate of the Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, and in the pastorate of the church at Uniontown.

His speeches are characterized by originality, clearness, force and dignity. He is still a growing man--growing in worth of manhood and in the confidence and love of the denomination; and should his health and life continue, the historian who will write of a brighter day than this--a day not far in the future--will point with pride to this man of rare gifts, giving more space than is here accorded him. With special pleasure the writer records the name of Albert F. Owens, D. D., high upon the roll of his personal friends.

And this short notice of a worthy man can hardly close at a point of greater beauty than in an humble tribute to his other self, Mrs. Mary Mims Owens (once Mrs. Taylor), whom he wedded in 1882, and who is held in high esteem as a leader in church and educational circles.

Pettiford, Rev. W. R., D. D., son of William and Matilda Pettiford, was born in Granville county, N. C., January 20, 1847. He was, when a boy, of an industrious turn of mind, working faithfully at whatever his hands found to do. At one time he was with the tanner, and at another time he was running his father’s farm.

At the age of 21 years he united with the Baptist Church of Rocksboro, Person county, N. C., and was immersed by the Rev. Ezekiel Horton, of Salisbury. While he was serving this church as clerk, he told his mother, as a secret which he greatly desired she would not reveal, that he felt called to the gospel ministry. As Brother Horton often put up at their home he soon got possession of the secret. Dr. Pettiford now says: “When I was called into an examining council and learned that my secret was out, I was very much frightened; but the advice given upon this day has ever been helpful to me.” The writer met the subject of this sketch for the first time at the session of the State Convention held in Talladega in November, 1876. He and the late Senator A. H. Curtis were messengers from the church at Marion. At this time the only traits that were especially noticeable were the frankness of his countenance and the geniality of his manners. At the commencement of Selma University in the winter of 1877-78, he joined Brother Woodsmall, becoming a member of the pioneer faculty of the school. It was here that he was seen as the studious, patient, industrious man--loved no less by tender youth than he was trusted by riper years. He was called to ordination by the Marion Church, Marion, Ala., and dedicating hands were laid upon his head in Marion, Ala., in the midst of the conventional session held there in November, 1880. After this he severed his connection with the school as teacher and as financial agent, to enter the pastorate in Union Springs. His open, earnest face, tact, and urbanity of speech, made him one of the most successful financial agents the University has ever sent upon the field. He relates the following incident in connection with his field work for the school: “I was about thirty miles southeast of Greenville, Ala. A colored man by the name of Turner had just been mobbed in Clark county. The colored people along the road were exceedingly frightened at the threatening attitude of the whites, and hence refused to entertain any stranger. I knew not where I was and it was now dark. My horse was broken down. Family after family turned me off. At last one man agreed to entertain my tired horse. Thankful for this little drop of kindness, I stopped and fed my animal. Then I started off--I knew not whither. After awhile I saw through the boughs of the pines a dim light, which seemed far away. Turning towards this light I wended my way through sage field and bush, until I stood beside an old log hut, a rickety relic of an old time Negro quarter. With ease this tiny spark peeped through the great opening in the dirty cabin full into my weary face. Herein, with husband and wife and babies, and a lot of dirt, I was allowed to rest my tired limbs and heavy heart till morning.

“Upon one occasion while Bro. D. T. Gulley and I were on mission work together, we were delayed in Marengo county. Waters were up, Brother Gulley was sick, and the people had no money to give for educational purposes. I went to begging milk cows and succeeded in getting the people to donate six.”

Mr. Pettiford married his present wife, Miss Della Boyd, of Selma, Ala., November 22, 1880. She is an excellent woman and comes of a fine family. As might have been expected the marriage has been a happy one for both parties.

Dr. Pettiford is a clear thinker, a concise speaker, a firm friend, a lover of his race, and a fine presiding officer. Every feature in his bearing is indicative of the true gentleman and earnest Christian. He is a firm friend of Selma University, and by this school he has been honored with the degree of D. D. He is at this time (1892) president of the “Alabama Penny Savings Bank” and of the Baptist State Convention of Alabama. He is further noticed in connection with the chapter on “State Convention” and “Selma University” as well as in other chapters.

Closing this sketch, it seems fitting that I should remark that though he excels in many virtues, he is especially peculiar in these:

1. He is abundant in plans and measures, so that the variety of his operations almost wholly exclude the monotony so often felt in church work.

2. He is in a peculiar degree a patient man. In all conditions he seems to possess his soul in patience.

Since the above was written, he has been elected financial secretary of the State work.

He is now organizing the Alabama Publishing Company. He is full of enterprise.

Phillips, Rev. D., of Tuskegee, was a “Father in Israel.” Those who are old enough to remember him as a slave, say that he sat in council with the white ministers and was permitted to speak in their associational gatherings. Nothing seemed to disturb his peace; no amount of heated discussion ever caused him to break from his strong hiding place of pious humility. He was a large man with strong will, but every “jot and tittle” of his ponderous being was under submission to his consecrated will, which ruled all like the helmsman steers the great ship. He was about the age of Mr. John Dosier, eighty years. He refused to accept freedom till all were free.

Peels, Rev. J. A., pastor of the First Colored Baptist Church in North Birmingham, is a rising young man in the Mount Pilgrim Association. His church, though a new enterprise, is a success, and all plans for gospel aggression find in him a ready and substantial friend. His brethren love him because he is peaceable and benevolent in his dealings with them.

Pollard, Rev. Robert T., son of Rev. R. T., Sr., and Mrs. Mary F. Pollard, was born in Gainesville, Ala., October 4, 1860. A few years after the close of the late civil war, Rev. R. T. Pollard, Sr., moved with his family to Enterprise, Miss. There the subject of this sketch received his first impressions--impressions which were to serve as the foundation of his future character. At the age of 12 his mother left him for the better country. The boy, reflecting over his sad loss in the death of his mother, turned unto the Lord, and was baptized into the fellowship of the Mt. Pleasant Church, in which he immediately became clerk and Sunday School teacher. Thus, starting right, we are not surprised at the righteousness of the course he now pursues.

By studying at night under his father’s instruction, he, at the age of 12, could read and write. At 16 he was known as “the boy preacher.” At the age of 20 he entered a school taught by Prof. Paul D. Jones in Meridian, Miss., in which school he studied arithmetic, algebra, English grammar and Latin. He remained here two years. In 1882 he entered Selma University, under Prof. Woodsmall. Of this good man he says: “His consecrated life did much toward fixing my character in the spirit and doctrines of Christ.” From this institution he graduated with the class of 1884 as valedictorian. In the same school and in the same year he entered upon the college course and completed the freshman and sophomore years. During this time he was assistant teacher in the University. By all, and throughout all, he has been and is now accepted as a student, a thinker, a rigid moralist and faithful Christian. In March, 1885, he was ordained to the gospel ministry in Selma, Revs. E. M. Brawley, D. D., W. H. McAlpine, H. N. Bouey, A. N. McEwen, C. L. Price, and C. R. Rodgers, officiating as presbytery. After this he entered upon and served acceptably different important pastorates in Perry county. With credit to himself and with profit to the denomination, he has, as teacher, as moderator, as recording clerk of the State Convention, and as district Sunday School missionary, served the Baptists of Alabama. At this time he is the successful pastor of the Dexter Avenue Church, Montgomery. Thus this quiet, hard working young man has risen up till there are but few that go before him. Mr. Pollard is a philosopher, clothed with the spirit of a child. In him a full heart balances a well stored head.

Pollard, Rev. I. M., of Loachapoka, is one of the few men of whom we sometimes feel that they are Nature’s _favored_ children. So evenly balanced are all his tempers and passions, hopes and fears, that we are almost compelled to think that so much self-government must have come largely as the gift of nature. The writer has reasons to know him as an honest man--as a man who can handle the money of his neighbor without fault to himself or loss to his friend. Mr. Pollard is held in high esteem by all who know him--white and black. He was born about the year 1840. He possesses a fine personal appearance, a gentlemanly bearing, and is a good preacher of the plain old gospel.

Posey, Prof. Thomas H., of Bessemer, the son of Wesley and Patience Posey, was born September 15, 1854, at Bessemer, Ala. He was baptized into the Canaan Baptist Church about the year 1872 by Rev. William Ware. Brother Posey deserves honorable mention for his faithful services as an educator. He graduated from the normal course in Selma University in the spring of 1884, and has proven himself to be not only a power in the affairs of secular education, but a very efficient, faithful worker in the church and Bible school.

Prentice, Rev. D. L., of Selma, Ala., son of James and Caroline Prentice, was born in Shelby county, Ala., December 25, 1852. The home of his youthful days, like that of the writer, must have been in a wild country infested by wolves; for he, in speaking of how he had to go after wood and water into the thick swamps before the break of day, says: “On one morning as I found myself surrounded by wolves, I cried to God for help and was delivered. In my prayer for deliverance I made a vow of consecration, which was the beginning of a new life.” In 1875 he was baptized by Rev. Berry Ware. About the year 1865-66 he began studying Webster’s speller, and sought information, he says, of every person that he thought had any information to give. He learned to read and write and began figuring under the instruction of a Mr. J. W. Strong, a man, so it is said, who used to be mayor of Selma, Ala. The writer first met the subject of this sketch while he was student in the Talladega College, and since his graduation from the Selma University, his course and success as pastor, teacher, missionary and lecturer, has been watched with pleasing interest. He was ordained to the ministry May, 1882, by Revs. Joe Smith and Henry Scott. He is a genuine friend of religion and education and being young and strong he has a large opening for future usefulness and fame.

Prince, Rev. J. T., of Gallion, Ala., son of John and Mary A. Prince, was born March, 1853, in Marengo county, Ala. He was baptized into the fellowship of the Bethlehem Church by Rev. D. R. Willis the third Sunday in April, 1871. In 1884 in the St. Philip’s Church, Selma, he was set apart to the work of the gospel ministry by Revs. E. M. Brawley, H. N. Bouey, C. R. Rodgers, L. P. Foster and the writer. He attended Selma University under the different presidents--H. Woodsmall, W. H. McAlpine, and E. M. Brawley. He began his education by studying under a white man, whom he paid $1.00 a week. Attended a public school after he was 23 years of age. He taught in the State school. Is now district missionary. He is an industrious man and owns good property.

Pullum, Rev. H. P., of Anniston, son of Lawrence and Caroline Pullum, was born in Pickensville, Ala., March 23, 1862; baptized at Carrolton August, 1882, and entered immediately upon the work of the ministry, but was not ordained until March, 1889. At the request of the First Colored Baptist Church at Bessemer, which he had organized and built up, Mr. Pullum received the hands of ordination from Revs. P. Murrell, W. A. Shirley, S. Page, A. J. Austin, D. M. Sewell, and J. C. Crawford. He has a large following wherever he goes.

Purce, Rev. C. L., ex-president of Selma University, is noticed in this work only so far as other authors have not been able to see him in his peculiar relations to the work in Alabama.

It was in 1886, I think, in the most trying period of our history, that Dr. Purce was unexpectedly called (upon the resignation of Dr. E. M. Brawley) to assume the presidential office in the Selma University. The school was burdened with $7,000 of debt, its credit was about gone, its debtors were impatient, its supporters divided, and denominational strife was at white heat. The former president was not only a peculiarly brilliant and cultured man, but had enjoyed special advantages looking toward fitness for the presidential chair. Many feared for Mr. Purce.

However, it was thought by some that caution and economy were the special characteristics called for by existing conditions. We needed a man who could shun the strife of factions, keep cool under severe pressure, and cause the school’s expenses to drop below its income. Some who had watched Mr. Purce, were willing to trust him with the difficult duties of this trying hour, and the writer records with much pleasure, that he kept clear of the quarrels, and meanwhile did much to remove the debt by putting the school on plain and well regulated fare.

Dr. Purce has done the Baptists of Alabama very praiseworthy service, not only as an educator, but as an example in the matter of school management; and those who follow him will profit by heeding his caution and economy. And, to his honor it may be said, we have had no president who has been more generally loved by the school.