Life and Works of Alonzo Nunnery

Below is a collection of some items related to the life and ministry of Alonzo Nunnery. The “Gleanings of Pastorates” of Nunnery is neither inclusive nor exhaustive, but just notations of places I have found where his pastorates are mentioned. The debates are (generally) debates referenced in periodicals, which references I found while researching Nunnery. Some may find the appellation “Campbellite” offensive. Nevertheless, I have chosen to keep it, if this is how these debaters were designated where I found he references. At this time I have neither the time nor inclination to research to which branch of the Restoration Movement they belonged. The bibliography goes with “A. Nunnery”: his hand against every man – which I will post later today. I am not including details on newspapers & periodicals. You can find those in the footnotes of “A. Nunnery”: his hand against every man.

Gleanings of Pastorates of Alonzo Nunnery

• 1894 Mt. Gilead, New Hope, Judson (Baptist and Reflector, November 15, 1894, p. 2)
• 1895 Judson Church (perhaps same as Parker’s X Road) (Baptist and Reflector, July 11, 1895, p. 5)
• 1895 Parker’s X Road, Lexington, Tennessee (Baptist and Reflector, October 10, 1895, p. 13)
• 1897 First Baptist Church, Darden, Tennessee, circa 1897-1900 (Baptist and Reflector, February 1, 1900, p. 7)
• 1897 Baptist Church at Lavinia, Carroll County, Tennessee (Baptist and Reflector, September 30, 1897, p. 16)
• 1901 Antioch Church, Medina, Tennessee, 1901 (Baptist and Reflector, August 8, 1901, p. 13)
• 1901 Mt. Pleasant Church, Bradford, Tennessee, 1901 (Baptist and Reflector, August 8, 1901, p. 13)
• 1902 Antioch, Chapel Hill, Jackson Royal Street, Maple Springs, Medina, and Mt. Pleasant (Minutes of the Central Baptist Association, September 17-19, 1902)
• 1903 Chapel Hill Church, Medina, Tennessee, 1903 (Baptist and Reflector, September 17. 1903, p. 4)
• 1903 Maple Springs Church, Mercer, Tennessee, 1903, 1907 (Baptist and Reflector, March 7, 1907, p. 12; August 22, 1907, p. 12; et al. For five years, so 1902-1907)
• 1904 Baptist Church at Caruth, Missouri, (Baptist and Reflector, February 18, 1904, p. 9; 1902-1904, Dunklin Democrat, December 9, 1904, p. 3)
• 1907 Kennett, Caruth, and Malden, Missouri, before going to Royal Street Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee in 1907 (Baptist and Reflector, February 28, 1907, p. 4)
• 1907 Ridgely, Tennessee (Baptist and Reflector, February 7, 1907, p. 12)
• 1907 Baptist Church, Granite, Oklahoma (The Mangum Star, June 6, 1907, p. 5; Mangum Sun-Monitor, October 10, 1907, p.5)
• 1914 Lake Creek Baptist Church for about 12-15 years, so circa 1914-1928 (William T. Swanson in The Baptist Worker, September 1939, as cited in The Kingdom of God, p. 5; The Granite Enterprise, April 11, 1957, p. 1)
• 1914 Duke Baptist Church, Duke, Oklahoma (The Tribune-Progress, December 11, 1914, p. 1)
• 1920 Baptist Church at Roosevelt Oklahoma (Baptist and Reflector, October 21, 1920, p. 15)
• 1921-1939 Bridge Creek Baptist Church, Blanchard, Oklahoma (Swanson in The Baptist Worker, as cited in The Kingdom of God, p. 6)
• Circa 1921 Organized Ninth Street Baptist Church, Chickasha, Oklahoma (Chickasha Daily Express, May 5, 1921, p. 3)
• 1930’s Ninth Street Baptist Church, Chickasha, Oklahoma; probably some in the 1920’s also, but not continuous (Chickasha Daily Express, October 9, 1936, et al.)

Identified Debates of Alonzo Nunnery

• E. C. L. Denton (Church of Christ) July 17, 1899, Darden, Tennessee; the church’s origin, doctrine, and practice (Baptist and Reflector, June 29, 1899, p. 13; Aug. 3, 1899, p. 7) This was Nunnery’s first debate.
• Name unknown (Campbellite) Fall 1902, near Marmaduke, Arkansas (Baptist and Reflector, December 04, 1902, p. 13)
• W. T. Boaz (Campbellite) November 10ff., 1903, Chapel Hill Church, Medina, Tennessee (Baptist and Reflector, Sept. 12, 1903, p. 4; the Baptist and Reflector announces this for Nov. 10, but History of the Restoration Movement: William Thomas Boaz gives Feb. 1903; perhaps they debated twice?)
• I. M. Ussery (Christian Church) September 5-10, 1902, Europa, Missouri; the origin, doctrine, and practice of the Christian and Missionary Baptist churches (Dunklin Democrat, July 29, 1904, p. 2; Sept. 23, 1904, p. 3)
• S. K. Powers (Martinite Baptist) August 15ff., 1907 Cottonwood, north of Eldorado, Oklahoma; the use of conventions and boards, doubting one’s salvation, and praying for sinners (Baptist and Reflector, June 13, 1907, p. 12; Mangum Star, Aug. 15, 1907, p. 6)
• W. C. Witcher (Church of Christ) August 24ff., 1908, Lake Creek Baptist Church, near Granite, Oklahoma (The Granite Enterprise, August 20, 1908, p. 5)
• U. G. Wilkinson (Church of Christ) November 30ff., 1908, Duke, Oklahoma; general church question (Primitive Christian, Nov. 5, 1908, p. 6; Dec. 16, 1908, p. 6)
• J. H. Lawson (Church of Christ) November 22ff., 1909 (5 days), Metcalf, Oklahoma (Baptist and Reflector, Nov. 18, 1909, p. 12; Hollis Post-Herald, Nov. 18, 1909, p. 3; Christian Companion, Jan. 13, 1910, p. 11. 2nd debate between Lawson & Nunnery)
• J. C. Weaver (Methodist) April 19-27, 1910, Russel, Oklahoma; the church, infant baptism, mode of baptism, apostasy, church government, and communion (Mangum Sun-Monitor, April 7, 1910, p. 1; The Western Methodist, May 26, 1910, p. 3)
• Joe S. Warlick (Church of Christ) circa November 28, 1910, Pleasant Ridge, north of Hobart, Oklahoma (The Granite Enterprise, December 2, 1910, p. 8)
• H. M. Cagle (Landmark Baptist) May 1911, Dodsonville, Texas (Hollis Post-Herald, May 18, 1911, p. 7)
• J. C. Glover (Christian Church) October 23, 1911 (8 days), Sophia, Bever County, Oklahoma; general propositions (Christian Companion, Nov. 2, 1911, p. 4; Nov. 23, 1911, p. 8)
• Rev. Armstrong (Unknown, from Cordell, Oklahoma) May 5, 1912, Mountain Home, Oklahoma (The Granite Enterprise, May 10, 1912, p. 1
• J. H. Lawson (Church of Christ) August 12-16, 1912, Navajoe, Jackson County, Oklahoma (The Altus Times, August 15, 1912, p. 6)
• W. C. Witcher (Church of Christ) July 10, 1913, Cooperton, Oklahoma; general church question (Christian Companion, June 19, 1913, p. 4)
• J. B. Lashley (Christian Church) Circa August 29, 1913, “fundamental differences between these two denominations” (Rush Springs Herald, August 28, 1913, p. 1)
• Joe S. Warlick (Church of Christ) April 1914 (8 days), Minco, Oklahoma (Comanche Reflex, April 17, 1914, p. 1; Minco Minstrel, April 24, 1914, p. 1)
• B. W. Dodson (Methodist), September 1914, Roaring Springs, Texas; infant baptism, sprinkling, immersion, apostasy (Baptist and Reflector, September 24, 1914, p. 16)
• I. P. Whitaker (Russellite) March 17, 1915, Baptist Church, Ivanhoe, Oklahoma (The Ivanhoe News, February 18, 1915, p. 3; The Beaver Herald, April 1, 1915, p. 5)
• C. H. Kennedy (Christian Church) May 4, 1915, Baptist Church, Devol, Oklahoma, (Devol Dispatch, April 30, 1915, p. 4)
• C. A. Smith (Landmark Baptist) June 25-28, 1916, Spring Creek Church north of Gracemont, Oklahoma; “each affirming that the Baptists with whom we stood are the Regular Baptists” (The Baptist Worker, July 12, 1916, p. 2)
• G. W. Crawford (Landmark Baptist) July 2, 1916, School house, Granite, Oklahoma; “The Scriptures teach that the people known as Landmark Baptists are the regular Baptists (Crawford). The Scriptures teach that the people who do their mission work through Conventions, by means of Boards, are the regular Baptists (Nunnery).” (The Baptist Worker, July 12, 1916, p. 2)
• H. H. Stallard (Socialist) July or 4, 1916, Granite Oklahoma; Socialism and Christianity (The Baptist Worker, July 5, 1916, p. 8; The Socialist Antidote July 15, 1916, p. 1)
• B. H. Burnett (Socialist) written debate in The Socialist Antidote paper of Mangum, Oklahoma, circa July-November 1916 (The Socialist Antidote, Nov. 15, 1916, p. 3)
• Lee Roy Elkins (Campbellite) August 8-12, 1916, Harmony Church, 5 miles west of Snyder, Oklahoma; general church question  (The Baptist Worker, Sept. 6, 1916, p. 2)
• Rev. Beauregard [(sic) Ben M. Bogard, rlv] (Landmark Baptist) January 16, 1917, Landmark Baptist Church at Alex, Oklahoma; boards and associations (The Alex Tribune, Dec. 22, 1916, p. 4; The Baptist Worker, Jan. 10, 1917, p. 2)
• Joe S. Warlick (Church of Christ) February 1917, Brady near Wynnewood, Oklahoma; setting up the church or kingdom (The Baptist Worker, Feb. 14, 1917, p. 8; March 14, 1917, p. 1. Nunnery says this is his 4th debate with Warlick)
• J. H. Lawson (Church of Christ) circa October 1917 (The Baptist Worker, October 19, 1917, p. 8)
• Mr. Scearcy, or Searcy (Campbellite; possibly George T. Searcy) December 2-5, 1917, Belzoni schoolhouse, Antlers, Oklahoma; church origin, doctrine, and practice (The Baptist Worker, January 9, 1918, p. 14)
• J. F. Curtis (Mormon/Latter Day Saints) Circa September-October 1918 (10 days), Crescent Church near Durham, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma; general church question (The Baptist Worker, October 9, 1918, p. 2)
• W. G. Roberts (Church of Christ) circa September 1919, Holcomb, Missouri; church and salvation (Baptist and Reflector, Sept. 11, 1919, p. 30; The Baptist Worker, Sept. 17, 1919, p. 1)
• W. T. Beasley (Church of Christ) November 15-22, 1923, Lake Creek Church, near Granite, Oklahoma (The Baptist Worker, November 14, 1923, p. 4; note: date may be wrong; when Nunnery commented on it in the Worker, it was in the past.)
• Mr. Reese (Campbellite, of Byers, Texas) November 1923, Cottonwood schoolhouse, northeast of Carnegie, Oklahoma (The Baptist Worker, November 28, 1923, p. 4)
• Bynum F. Black (Church of Christ) First week of July 1924, Snow Hill Baptist Church, near Tuttle, Oklahoma (The Baptist Worker, Aug. 6, 1924, p. 1; The Living Message, Sept. 25, 1924, p. 15)
• E. M. Borden (Church of Christ) July 1925, Addington schoolhouse, near Marietta, Oklahoma; General church question (The Baptist Worker, June 24, 1925, p. 1)
• A. D. Dies (Church of Christ) March 15-22, 1926, Carryville, Arkansas; the doctrines of their churches (Dunklin Democrat, March 9, 1926, p. 4; The Baptist Worker, Apr. 7, 1925, p. 2)
• Mr. Cowan (Campbellite; perhaps J. N. Cowan?) July 10, 1927 (6 days), Levelland, Texas; general church question (The Baptist Worker, August 10, 1927, p. 2)
• Bynum F. Black (Campbellite) October 15, 1927, Dewar, Oklahoma; salvation, church (The Baptist Worker, Sept. 14, 1927, p. 6; Oct. 19, 1927, p. 2)
• G. W. Whitfield, T. M. Huffhines, G. F. Slape, G. C. Hill, J. J. Risinger (Landmark Baptist) February 21, 1928 (8 hours), Blair, Oklahoma; Orphans’ Home controversy in the Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma (The Baptist Worker, February 8, 1928, p. 4. Debate stenographically recorded and printed book form).
• Jack L. Nevel (Non-denominational) September 2-3, 1929, Hallett, Oklahoma; baptism of the Holy Ghost and healing (The Baptist Worker, Sept. 18, 1929, p. 4)
• Mr. Farrow (Unknown), April 9, 1932, City Hall, Chickasha, Oklahoma (The Chickasha Daily Express, Apr. 8, 1932, p. 4)
• J. W. Diggs (Unknown), April 16, 1932, City Hall, Chickasha, Oklahoma; Rich man and Lazarus, parable or literal (The Chickasha Daily Express, April 13, 1932, p. 5)
• Allie Cocheran (Unknown; possibly Allie Cochran, Freeman, Oklahoma) April 23, 1932, City Hall, Chickasha, Oklahoma; “That the Scripture Teaches that the Church of Jesus Christ was Set Up, Formed, or Established During the Personal Ministry of Jesus Christ” (Nunnery affirmed) (The Chickasha Daily Express, April 19, 1932, p. 4)
• Allie Cocheran (Unknown) April 30, 1932, City Hall, Chickasha, Oklahoma; “That the Scriptures Teach That the Church of Kingdom of Jesus Christ Began on the First Pentecost After His Resurrection” (Cochran affirmed) (The Chickasha Daily Express, April 26, 1932, p. 4)
• J. W. Diggs (Unknown), May 21, 1932, City Hall, Chickasha, Oklahoma; Annihilation of the wicked (Diggs affirms, Nunnery denies) (The Chickasha Daily Express, May 20, 1932, p. 4)
• Norman Cooper, (Church of Christ) date and place unknown (The Encyclopedia Of Religious Debates, Volume 1, A-D, Thomas N. Thrasher, p. 146)

Publications related to Alonzo Nunnery

• The Baptist Banner 1900-1907 (periodical), Jackson, Tennessee
  
• The Baptist Worker 1909-1939 (periodical) Granite and Chickasha, Oklahoma
  
• The Socialist Antidote 1915-1917 (periodical) Mangum, Oklahoma, Nunnery served as an associate editor
  
• The Kingdom or Churches of Jesus Christ (book)
  
• A History of the Hawkins Matter (book)
  
• Blair, Oklahoma Orphans’ Home Debate (book; exact title unknown)
• Sunday School Literature, Baptist Worker Publishing Company

Bibliography

• “Alonzo Nunnery (1861-1939),” a 2016 Hall of fame Monograph; article by Luke Holmes from The Oklahoma Baptist Chronicle (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Eli H. Sheldon, Editor), Autumn 2016, Volume LIX, Number 2
• History of the American Baptist Association: Commemorating the Seventy-Fifth Meeting June 20- 22, 2000, Robert Ashcraft, editor, Texarkana, TX: American Baptist Association, 2000
  
• History of the Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma and Other Beginnings from 1903 to 1982, T. L. Duren, editor, Baptist General Assembly Historical Committee, n.d. (circa 1982)
  
• History of the Lexington Baptist Male and Female College, by J. A. Deere (written circa 1956)
  
• Minutes of the 14th Annual Session of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, November 11-12, 1919
  
• “Nunnery Movement,” Roger D. Hebard, Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists, Vol. II, Norman Wade Cox, editor, Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1958
• Proceedings of the Sixty-Sixth Session of the Central Baptist Association, September 17-19, 1902
  
• Prophets With Pens: a History of the Baptist Standard, Presnall H. Wood, Floyd W. Thatcher, Dallas, TX: Baptist Standard Publishing Co., 1969
  
• The Baptist and Reflector, Nashville, Tennessee
  
• The Baptist Worker, Granite, Oklahoma
  
• The Chickasha Daily Express, Chickasha, Oklahoma
  
• The Chickasha Star, Chickasha, Oklahoma
  
• The Greer County Democrat, Mangum, Oklahoma
  
• The Kingdom of God: a Study Course, Mike Brawner, Dodd City, TX: by the author, 2021
  
• The Life and Works of Benjamin Marcus Bogard, L. D. Foreman, Alta Payne, Little Rock, AR: Seminary Press, 1966
  
• The Oklahoma Baptist, Chickasha, Oklahoma
  
• The Oklahoma Baptist Voice, Rocky, Oklahoma
  
• The Mangum Star, Mangum, Oklahoma
  
• The Tribune-Progress, Mountain View, Oklahoma

Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma, 1926

The Baptist Convention of Oklahoma (often called the New Baptist Convention) was organized October 5-6, 1920 at Chickasha Oklahoma. Some historians believe the State Association of Oklahoma Baptist Churches was organized November 27-28, 1903 at Tulsa, then Indian Territory, now the state of Oklahoma. In 1925 these bodies agreed to unite as one. They held their first meeting as the Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma at the Ninth Street Baptist Church in Chickasha, Oklahoma, October 26-27, 1926.

The Chickasha Daily Express, October 25, 1926, page 1

Baptist Convention of Oklahoma, 1925

The Baptist Convention of Oklahoma (often called the New Baptist Convention) was organized October 5-6, 1920 at Chickasha, Oklahoma. This is an account from the convention in 1925, including discussion of a plan to unify the Baptist Convention and the the State Association of Oklahoma Baptist Churches.

The Chickasha Daily Express, November 4, 1925, pages 1 & 2

Baptist Convention of Oklahoma, 1924

The Baptist Convention of Oklahoma (often called the New Baptist Convention) was organized October 5-6, 1920 at Chickasha, Oklahoma. This is an account from the convention in 1924.

The Chickasha Daily Express, November 7, 1924, page 1

Baptist Convention of Oklahoma, 1923

The Baptist Convention of Oklahoma (often called the New Baptist Convention) was organized October 5-6, 1920 at Chickasha, Oklahoma. This is an account from the convention in 1923.

The Chickasha Daily Express, November 6, 1923, page 1

Baptist Convention of Oklahoma, 1922

The Baptist Convention of Oklahoma (often called the New Baptist Convention) was organized October 5-6, 1920 at Chickasha, Oklahoma. This is an account from the convention in 1922.

The Chickasha Daily Express, November 13, 1922, page 1

Baptist Convention of Oklahoma, 1921

The Baptist Convention of Oklahoma (often called the New Baptist Convention) was organized October 5-6, 1920 at Chickasha, Oklahoma. This is an account of the opening of the convention in 1921.

The Chickasha Daily Express, October 4, 1921, page 1

Baptist Convention of Oklahoma, 1920

The Baptist Convention of Oklahoma (often called the New Baptist Convention) was organized October 5-6, 1920 at Chickasha, Oklahoma. Circa 1925, this convention united with the State Association of Oklahoma Baptist Churches (org. 1903) to create the Baptist General Assembly of Oklahoma.

The Chickasha Daily Express, October 6, 1920, page 1

3 Things We Must Believe, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• 3 Things We Must Believe about God’s Word -- “God’s word is firmly fixed in the heavens ; it doesn’t change. There is no limit to its perfection; it contains nothing corrupt.”
• Baptist Church History (Part 1) - God’s Promise to Preserve His Church -- “The genuine spirit of religion has been and will be preserved by those only, who dissent from all establishments devised by human policy.”
• Colin Powell, former secretary of state, dies from COVID-19 complications, family says -- “He rose through the ranks of the armed forces in a decades-long career that culminated in his service first as national security adviser to then President Ronald Reagan and as the 12th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the highest-ranking military appointment in the Defense Department.”
• Does the Book of Acts Teach Spontaneous Baptisms? -- “This argument is powerful, and if true, would seem to tilt the table. He’s not alone in this. Many contemporary Baptist scholars agree with his assessment.”
• Gab Launches Brand-New Job Board To Help Unvaccinated Americans -- “While vaccine mandates continue to sweep the nation in connection the fight against COVID-19, the free-speech social-media site Gab.com on Tuesday launched a “No Vax Mandate Job Board” to help American employers and workers who want nothing to do with the shots.”
• Honoring the Historic Women’s Schools of Tennessee -- “In Nashville alone, several ladies institutions sprang up, from Boscobel College to Buford College to the Nashville College for Young Ladies.” (Oddly enough, or not, this historical article acknowledges no connection to their often religious and denominational roots.)
• New Ford Baptist - Org 1795, Wilkes County -- “Both blacks and whites attended the church above, which was built in 1832. After the war, the white members decided to build a new church and ownership transferred to the African American members.”
• Skin Problems, Neuropathy, Paralysis All Part of Over 500,000 Adverse Events Reported After COVID Vaccine -- “...there’s a reason we refer to doctors as “practicing” medicine. Because it’s not just about science.”
• The False and Exaggerated Claims Still Being Spread About the Capitol Riot. -- “Insisting on factual accuracy does not make one an apologist for the protesters. False reporting is never justified, especially to inflate threat and fear levels.”
• The January 6 Insurrection Hoax -- “The indisputable fact about January 6 is that although five people died at or near the Capitol on that day or soon thereafter, none of these deaths was brought about by the protesters.”
• There Is A Gnawing Worm Under The Bark Of Our Tree Of Liberty: Anti-Mission Baptists, Religious Liberty, And Local Church Autonomy -- “Far from being an obscure offshoot of the past, anti-mission Baptists represented—and represent—an alternative to the active involvement of conservative evangelicals in politics.”
• U.S. FDA advisers weigh case for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots -- “If the FDA signs off on Moderna’s boosters, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make specific recommendations on who should get the shots.”
• U.S. pastors, advocacy groups mobilize against COVID-19 vaccine mandates -- “From the modest building however, Shane Vaughn, the Pentecostal church’s pastor, has helped spearhead an online movement promoting personal faith as a way around workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates.”

What Gives You the Right to Preach?

What gives you as a preacher the right to stand up at least once a week for, say, half an hour and claim to speak on behalf of God? Not even the president of the United States boasts such authority. No one thinks a math teacher or literature professor deserves this privilege.

As preachers, we draw our authority not from superior knowledge, political power, or rhetorical flourish. We draw it from God’s Word alone. “Preach the word,” Paul told his young disciple Timothy, the pastor in Ephesus; “be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2).

As we rediscover church amid this pandemic, we’re looking for divine authority and not merely human wisdom. We have more than enough human wisdom today. Self-help books dominate bestseller lists. Podcasts promise a better you. So a church that offers human wisdom meets stiff competition. Why listen to a local pastor instead of subscribing to a YouTube channel? Why get up on Sunday morning instead of watching the news programs featuring powerful politicians?

We get up and gather with the church weekly because that is where we go to hear from the divine King—his good news and his counsel for our lives. The best preachers don’t make you marvel at their own skill. They show you God’s glory as seen in his Word. And when you see God that way, you want as much of him as you can get.

Collin Hansen, The Gospel Coalition

Whate’er my God ordains is right

I posted this Hymn by Samuel Rodigast back in 2016, but did not give any information about it. “Whate’er my God ordains is right” is an excellent hymn about submission to the will of God. What God does, he does well (Mark 7:37), and he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
 
Samuel Rodigast (1649-1708) is the author of “Whate’er my God ordains is right,” which was written circa 1675-76. He was a German teacher and hymn writer, the son of Johann Rodigast. According to Julian, his father was the Lutheran pastor at Groben near Jena, and Samuel attended the Gymnasium in Weimar, then studied at the University of Jena.
 
Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878) translated this hymn into English. She was a skillful English translator of German hymns, creating pleasing verse that was faithful to the originals. Many of her translations remain in use today. John Julian calls her “the foremost in rank and popularity” of modern translators from the German into English.
 
This hymn seems consistently to appear with Was Got Tutt (from the first line “Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan,” i.e., “What God does is well done”), a tune attributed to Severus Gastorius (1647-1682 ). It is said that Rodigast wrote the hymn to cheer up Gastorius when he was sick. The meter of the hymn – 8.7.8.7.4.4.8.8. – is somewhat unusual or uncommon in English hymn meter, limiting the tune choices. Gastorius probably wrote the tune to match the hymn.
 
1. Whate’er my God ordains is right: 
His holy will abideth; 
I will be still whate’er he doth; 
And follow where he guideth. 
He is my God:
though dark my road. 
He holds me that I shall not fall. 
And so to him I leave it all.

 
2. Whate’er my God ordains is right: 
He never will deceive me. 
He leads me by the proper path; 
I know he will not leave me. 
I take, content,
what he hath sent. 
His hand can turn my griefs away, 
And patiently I wait his day.

3. Whate’er my God ordains is right, 
Though now this cup, in drinking, 
May bitter seem to my faint heart, 
I take it all, unshrinking. 
My God is true;
each morn anew. 
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart, 
And pain and sorrow shall depart. 

4. Whate’er my God ordains is right. 
Here shall my stand be taken. 
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, 
Yet am I not forsaken. 
My Father’s care 
is round me there. 
He holds me that I shall not fall, 
And so to him I leave it all.

“In” words and other words

• anaphora, noun. (Grammar) The use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a sentence, to avoid repetition. (Rhetoric) The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
• catacomb, noun. (usually catacombs) An underground cemetery, especially one consisting of tunnels and rooms with recesses dug out for coffins and tombs.
• faux, adjective. Made in imitation; artificial; not genuine; fake or false.
• homegoing, noun. A person’s death understood as a return to home; also, a service marking a person’s death.
• immurement, noun. The act of entombing in a wall (sometimes as a method of execution).
• inhumation, noun. The act or ceremony of putting a dead body in its final resting place (also, sepulture).
• interment, noun. The burial of a corpse in a grave or tomb, typically with funeral rites.
• inurnment, noun. The placement or burial in an urn, especially ashes after cremation.
• investiture, noun. The action of formally investing a person with honors or rank; a ceremony at which honors or rank are formally conferred on a particular person.
• in-coming, adjective. Coming in, arriving; commencement; succeeding (as an officeholder).
• in-ground, adjective. Located in the ground;: not built above the ground (e.g. of an outdoor swimming-pool: built into the ground, as distinct from one placed above ground).
• lambent, adjective. Dealing lightly and gracefully with a subject; brilliantly playful
• niveous, adjective. Snowy, resembling snow; white and lustrous like snow.
• ossuary, noun. A place or receptacle for the bones of the dead.
• outgoing, adjective. Going out or away; departing; retiring from or relinquishing a place, position, or office.
• panoplied, adjective. Clad completely in armor.
• queue, noun. (mainly British) A line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed.
• queuemanship, noun. The exercise of ploys and tactics in order to minimize time spent waiting in a queue.
• redivivus, adjective. Brought back to life; come back to life, revived. Chiefly in figurative or literary use.
• sepulcher (or sepulchre), noun. A small room or monument, cut in rock or built of stone, in which a dead person is laid or buried.
• vault, noun. A concrete or metal enclosure in the ground, into which the casket is lowered at burial.

Skeptical U.S. hospital workers, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• A few skeptical U.S. hospital workers choose dismissal over vaccine -- “Jennifer Bridges loved her job as a nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital, where she worked for eight years, but she chose to get fired rather than inoculated against COVID-19...”
• A Gospel Moment on YouTube: Alistair Begg on the Thief on the Cross -- “On what basis are you here? The man on the middle cross said I could come.”
• Carved In Stone: The Art of East Texas Headstones -- “Legend has it Bessie Moore was shot in the head by Abraham Rothschild, a wealthy man who had picked her up in a brothel in Hot Springs, Arkansas.”
• Ceres-Musella Baptist Church, Crawford County, Org. 1884 -- “In rural Crawford County, a small community called Ceres emerged, named after the Roman Goddess of agriculture. While there isn’t much left of Ceres today, parts of its history have survived in the nearby community of Musella.”
• Focus on Texas: Fillin’ Stations -- “Some are tourist attractions. Others are a bit more off the beaten path. Fillin’ stations can transport us to another time...”
• Haunt Hunting in Jefferson -- “Jefferson, Texas, was built by a log jam. The colossal log jam, or the ‘Great Raft,’ as the people of Jefferson called it, was more than 100 miles long and disrupted the flow of the Red River...”
• How to delete cookies from your computer — and why it matters -- “You visit a website and get a notification that encourages you to read the company's cookie policy. Then, the site asks if they can have your permission to give you cookies.”
• It’s So Hot... -- “Here are the many ways readers finished this sentence.”
• Joint open letter – Transport heads call on world leaders to secure global supply chains -- “Our collective industries account for more than $20 trillion of world trade annually, and represent 65 million global transport workers, and over 3.5 million road freight and airline companies, as well as more than 80% of the world merchant shipping fleet.”
• Learning Rocks -- “On a breezy April morning, five Comstock high school seniors clamber around boulders and hop across a stream in Seminole Canyon on their way to inspect some of the finest examples of rock art in the world.”
• Murvaul Missionary Baptist Church History -- “Murvaul Missionary Baptist Church was organized in 1902 by W. H. Williams and M. C. McChristian in the Murvaul School House.”
• Restoring the Old Saltsburg Cemetery -- “The city of Saltsburg lies amidst the rolling green hills of Western Pennsylvania’s Indiana County.”
• Smyrna Primitive Baptist, Brantley County, Org. 1824 -- “Nothing could be more representative of this all pervasive, conservative approach to life and religion than the architecture and design of these “Crawfordite” Wiregrass Primitive meeting houses of Southeast Georgia.”
• The Canonicity of the Received Bible (Textus Receptus) Established from Reformation and Post-Reformation Baptist Confessions -- “The Lord having promised His church the perpetual availability of the inspired oracles, and the Holy Spirit having secured their perpetual acceptance by the saints, the church cannot have neglected the true text of the Bible for hundreds of years.”
• WM 211: Childers, Gurry, Text, & Apologetics -- “In Word Magazine # 211, Jeff Riddle reviews an interview of Peter Gurry by Alisa Childers on how to know we have an accurate copy of the New Testament.”
• 32 Principles for Public Prayer -- “Public prayer should abound in the language of Scripture. ”

The older lesser-known brother: Zuinglius Calvin Graves

Zuinglius Calvin Graves (April 5, 1816 – May 18, 1902) was an American Baptist preacher and educator. He is most noted as the President of the Mary Sharp College (1851–1896), located at Winchester, Tennessee. It was the first women’s college in the United States to offer degrees equivalent to the degrees offered at men’s colleges – preceding Vassar College in New York by ten years.

Z. C. Graves, Jr. was born in Chester, Windsor County, Vermont, the son of Zuinglius Calvin Graves and Lois Snell. He was the older brother of influential 19th-century Baptist preacher James Robinson Graves. The children of Z. C. Graves, Sr. were left fatherless in 1820. About 1838, Z. C. Jr. removed to Ashtabula County, Ohio, where he taught at the Kingsville Academy for twelve years. While in Ashtabula, he met and married Adelia Cleopatra Spencer in 1841.[i] She was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Daniel Spencer, and a niece of the noted calligrapher and penman Platt Rogers Spencer.[ii] Z. C. and Adelia Graves had four known children: James R., Florence M., Zuinglius Dickinson, and Hubert A.

After Mary Sharp College was chartered in 1848 (as the Tennessee Female Institute), trustees hired Z. C. Graves to lead the new effort. The school opened January 1, 1851, with Graves as the President and his wife Adelia as the Matron.[iii] Z. C. Graves’s sister and brother-in-law, Louisa M. and Warren P. Marks, also joined the faculty at Winchester. “The Mary Sharp College under Dr. Graves’ presidency acquired a national reputation, and he avers that its success was owing quite as much to her wise counsels and management as to his own efforts.”[iv]

 According to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture “Graves...patterned the classical curriculum at Mary Sharp College after those offered at Amherst College, Brown University, and the University of Virginia. He emphasized religious and moral training and required every student to attend chapel. Students at Mary Sharp, unlike those at other female colleges and academies, studied algebra, geometry, and trigonometry; Latin and Greek; English literature, grammar, and composition; ancient, English, and American history; philosophy and rhetoric; geography and geology; and botany, chemistry, astronomy, and physiology.”

In addition to leading Mary Sharp College, Z. C. Graves also served at Soule College in Murfreesboro, Tennessee – going there in 1889 when the Baptists bought it. When Nashville Baptists opened Nashville Baptist Female College (aka Boscobel), the interest in Soule was sold, and several faculty members, including Graves, joined the school at Nashville.[v]

With thirty-nine other messengers, Z. C. Graves participated in the organization of the Tennessee Baptist State Convention at Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1874.[vi]

Zuinglius Calvin Graves died in May 18, 1902.[vii] His remains are interred at the Winchester City Cemetery in Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee.

Messengers to the meeting at Murfreesboro

---

[i] Wilson, James Grant and John Fiske, editors. Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume II. New York: D. Appleton & Co, 1888, p. 727
[ii] Livermore, Mary Ashton, Frances Elizabeth Willard, editors. A Woman of the Century, Buffalo, NY: Charles Wells Moulton, 1893, p. 333
[iii] Wardin, Albert W., Jr. Tennessee Baptists: a Comprehensive History, 1779-1999, Brentwood, TN: Tennessee Baptist Convention, 1999, p. 171
[iv] Livermore, Willard, editors. p. 334
[v] Wardin. 1999, p. 241
[vi] Ibid., p. 230
[vii] His tombstone is incorrectly engraved 1901. Period newspaper obituaries confirm 1902 is the correct year of death.

Southern Harmony in Western Tennessee

While searching for information on the Baptist preacher Alonzo Nunnery, I found the following obituary posted on the Find-A-Grave memorial for William Robert Vaughan (no known relation) of Weakley County, Tennessee.

DEATH OF WELL KNOW CITIZEN

Mr. W. R. Vaughan died Tuesday night at his home, one mile east of Ralston, after an illness of several months of cancer of the stomach, followed by paralysis. Mr. Vaughan was one of the oldest and best known men of that vicinity. He had lived there practically all his life and was one of the original members of the Old Southern Harmony singing class, which held regular annual reunions up until a few years ago. He was a splendid citizen upright and honorable in all his dealings with his fellow man. On Sunday night he suffered a stroke of paralysis, remaining speechless all the following day and died Tuesday night. Mr. Vaughan was the father of Mrs. Desdy Bragg of Dresden, Tom Vaughan of Martin and Cleveland Vaughan of Memphis. The remains were laid to rest Wednesday at the Martin cemetery. Many friends extend sympathy to the bereaved wife and children.

Dresden Enterprise and Sharon Tribune, September 09, 1921, page 5.

One thing that caught my eye was that he “was one of the original members of the Old Southern Harmony singing class, which held regular annual reunions up until a few years ago.” I’ve not known a lot of how the general demise of singings from the Southern Harmony book played out – but here we see it continuing in Western Tennessee into the first quarter of the 20th century.

All-day singing in Flatwoods (probably the one in Perry County, Tennessee)

The Camden Chronicle, April 26, 1901, page 2

The Family of J. R. Graves

James Robinson Graves (1820-1893) – preacher, author, publisher, debater – was probably one of the best-known Baptist preachers in the United States in the 19th century. He remains well known today in certain circles, and, of course, by religious historians and Baptist history buffs.

As an avid genealogist as well as a Baptist history buff, I noticed something that is a frequent problem among historians of the religious (or even the popular) – a tendency to ignore the families of the people they study. Even Graves’s son-in-law, Orren Luico Hailey in J. R. Graves: Life, Times and Teachings, spends precious little time writing about the family of Graves. Further, genealogists at Ancestry.com seem not to have connected that he had a family by his first marriage. I have spent a fair amount of time and effort in censuses, periodicals (both religious & secular), and other records trying to “reconstruct” the family of J. R. Graves so that we might know a little more about them. This includes (1) creating a “James Robinson Graves Family Tree” at Ancestry.com, (2) trying to add and link up the family members on Find-A-Grave, and (3) adding a section on the family of J. R. Graves at Wikipedia. (Note: the Ancestry family tree is set as public, so if you have an Ancestry.com account, you should be able to see it.)

The number of children of J. R. Graves should be substantially correct. The 1900 census cites Georgianna Graves as the mother of three children, and all three were living. Concerning the death of Louisa Jane Graves, a report in The Baptist mentions five children, all of whom are known. The deaths of the children of Lua Spencer Graves are reported in The Baptist. It hardly seems there could have been more than these four children in their brief marriage of about 5-1/2 years.

Parents
Zuinglius Calvin Graves (13 October 1790-4 April 1820) (son of Luther and Phebe Graves of Leominster, Massachusetts; also spelled Greaves)

Lois M. Snell Graves (ca. 1791-1867)

1st wife
Lucinda Ellen “Lua” Spencer Graves (1826-1851) married 1845 in Ashtabula County, Ohio

• Zuinglius Graves (1846–1846)
• Lua Ellen Graves (1847-1847)
• James Rollin Graves (1849-1849)
• Luella Kells Graves (1850-1860)

2nd wife
Louisa Jane Snider Graves (1838-1867) married in 1856 in Madison County, Tennessee, at Jackson

• Nora Snider Graves Hailey (1857–1933)
• James Robinson Graves (1860–1929)
• George S. Graves (1862–1886)
• Lois M. Graves Crutcher (1865–1897)
• Lou Ellen Turley Graves Wood (1867-1948)

3rd wife
Georgianna Snider Graves (1843-1932) married in 1869, probably at Memphis

• William Caruthers Graves (1870–1960)
• Lillian M. Graves (ca. 1876–1899)
• Infant Graves (1879–1979)
• Zuinglius Calvin Graves (1881–1926)

I close with this story about the mother of J. R. Graves, related in The Baptist.

[Lois M. Graves] had been reared under Congregational influences, but that when contemplating a profession of religion she demanded baptism on a profession of her faith, at the hands of Dr. Burnap, then pastor of the Congregational Church at Chester [Vermont], but subsequently of Lowell, Mass. Her views in regard to this ordinance were derived entirely from the reading of the Bible. She had never been thrown among Baptists, nor had read their works; and the reasonings by which the Congregational minister sought to removed her scruples as to the practice of his own communion, only confirmed her judgement in the correctness of her interpretation of the sacred oracles on this subject.  Upon the avowal of her determination to abide by her conviction of the divine teaching, the Doctor, though with evident reluctance, acceded to her demand to be buried with Christ in baptism, and himself administered the rite. Mrs. Graves was then about 34 years of age. Subsequently she came to entertain doubts as to the validity of the baptism thus administered, about 12 years ago was re-baptized by the Rev. Dr. J. M. Pendleton, at the First Baptist Church, Nashville.

From The Baptist (Memphis, Tennessee, Saturday 02 November 2, 1867, page 4)

[Note: The first wife of J. R. Graves was a sister of the wife of his brother, Zuinglius Calvin Graves, Jr. (1816-1901).]

Tidbits for Ancestry.com users

If you use Ancestry.com for genealogy, here are three links that might be useful to you.

• Ancestry Hints® for the Wrong Person -- “When Ancestry Hints® are the wrong person in your tree, you can attach the record associated with the hint to the correct person.”
• Potential Mother and Father Hints -- “A potential mother or potential father on your family tree is a hint or collection of hints that point to a certain person. You can accept, ignore, or reject a potential parent suggestion.”
• How Ancestry Hints® are Updated -- “When we update your hints, we want to put the best hints we find at the top of your hints lists. You can find these lists on the Person Page, Hints tab, and the All Hints Page.”

God bless you, my brother

God bless you, my brother, and crown your remaining days with great usefulness. May the “everlasting arms” be underneath you, and when called from labor to the rest that remaineth, may you know by blessed experience how much better it is to depart and be with Christ.

Excerpt of a letter from J. M. Pendleton to J. R. Graves, dated April 2, 1880 on the occasion of Graves’s upcoming 60th birthday, April 10, 1880. The Baptist, Memphis, Tenn., April 17, 1880, Vol. XXXVI, No. 44, p. 697.

Before the Throne of God Above

Back in 2013, I posted the hymn “Before the Throne of God Above” by Charitie Lees Bancroft, but did not give any information about it.

The author, Charitie Lees Smith Bancroft (1841-1923), was the daughter of Charlotte Lees and George Sidney Smith, an Anglican rector in Ireland, as well as professor at Trinity College in Dublin. She was born June 21,1841 in the county of Dublin, Ireland. She married Arthur E. Bancroft in 1869. Sometime afterward they came to the United. States. In 1880, they were living in Clarke County, Virginia. They returned to the UK, where her husband died in 1881. Charitie returned to the US around 1884, settling in California near her brother George. She married Frank DeCheney in 1891. Charitie Smith Bancroft DeCheney died in Oakland, California January 20, 1923, at age 81, and is buried in Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery.

 

According to John Julian (Dictionary of Hymnology), Charitie Lees Smith’s hymns were collected and published as Within the Vail and Other Sacred Poems in 1867. This appears as the first hymn, titled “Within the Vail” and referencing Hebrews 6:19-20 … which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…

 

“Before the Throne of God Above” is dated 1863 in Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle Our Own Hymn-Book. It speaks of the security and assurance of salvation found in the work of Christ and the accompanying joy of salvation – “Because the sinless Saviour died, my sinful soul is counted free! We are secured by his divine provision on the cross and the fact that he ever lives to make intercession for us.

 

1. Before the throne of God above

I have a strong, a perfect plea;

A great High Priest, whose name is Love,

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

 

2. My name is graven on his hands,

My name is written on His heart;

I know that, while in heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

 

3. When Satan tempts me to despair,

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look, and see Him there

Who made an end of all my sin.

 

4. Because the sinless Saviour died,

My sinful soul is counted free;

For God, the Just, is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.

 

5. Behold Him there! the bleeding Lamb!

My perfect, spotless Righteousness,

The great unchangeable ‘I am,’

The King of glory and of grace.

 

6. One with himself, I cannot die;

My soul is purchased by His blood;

My life is hid with Christ on high,

With Christ my Saviour and my God.

See also:
Hymnary.org
Hymnology Archive

Oakland Tribune, Sunday, January 21, 1923, p. 7-X

Two Old Bethels

Marker at Bethel in Clayton, Panola County, Texas

On September 23, 1843, Isaac Reed founded the Bethel Baptist Church in the Reed Settlement near Clayton in Panola County (still Harrison County at the time). It was possibly the third Baptist Church he organized in East Texas. Below are pictures of the old meeting locations of two descendant churches, Bethel Baptist at Clayton and Old Bethel Baptist at Reed’s Settlement. Neither are 1843 old, and neither building exists today.

Around 1870 the white church members of Bethel began to move from Reed’s Settlement to what is now the town of Clayton. The black members of Bethel continued to meet at Reed’s Settlement, perhaps at the original meeting location. In recent years (after I took these pictures in 2006) Bethel at Clayton built a new building at the same location, and Old Bethel at Reed’s Settlement has also moved to Clayton.

Bethel at Clayton, 2006

Old Bethel at Reed’s Settlement, 2006