l!|ti| i iitllllil 
 
 
 !l ii 
 
Cfje Hibrarp 
 
 gf tfie 
 
 iberjiitp of iOtortf) Carolina 
 
 Bllcttion of i^ortt) Caroliniana 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF N C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032690721 
 
 This book must not 
 be token from the 
 Library building. 
 
 itil§ IITLE 
 
 HAS BEEN M\C^O¥\lMa) 
 
A NEW BOOK! 
 
 Beautifully Bound. Very Attractive and Interesting. 
 
 Scenes, Incidents and Labors in the 
 Till Lives of two Home Missionaries, 
 j" L. W. Pigott and wife, for many 
 years. 
 
 fN the mountains— on the seashore— in the far west— 
 HI other places— and in the city liilL We are both 
 now over 71 years ol age, and publish this book^.or two 
 reasons; first,'' trusting and praying that, by God's grace, 
 it niav prove a blessing to those who may read it; second 
 that in our age and infirmities, having no earthly friend 
 to fall back on for support, it may bring m a dime now 
 and then which will keep hunger from our door! W itn 
 many amusing incidents and exciting scenes and experi- 
 ences in our life work, it contains some history, poetiy, 
 and excellent clippings from first-class periodicals which 
 are highly entertaining. It also contains a short History 
 of the life and death of Fenner S. Pigott (our son), it 
 would be well for every vouth to read it, that it mighi 
 ■=induce-thenT to emuUite his beautiful life m order to encl 
 their earthly career as he did'his, in peace, happiness and 
 triumph ! for his death was one of the most gloriously 
 triumphant the world has ever witnessed ! As to the 
 truthfulness. and power of the Religion of Christ Jesus to 
 Sustain in the last days and hours of our dissolution . 
 For a very intelligent gentleman who witnessed his last 
 davs and hours said, "It was the most convincing proof 
 he'' ever had of the immortality of the soul, and the 
 
 GR4.NDEST TRIUMPH OF MIND OVER MATTER he CVCr be- 
 held." A.nd his pastor, Rev. H. R. Naylor, I^- I>-.^i 
 "Foundry" M. E. Church, Washington, D. C, called Jto- 
 gether hfs congregation and held for him a splendid 
 morial service, and gave him a most beautiful 
 
 GLOWING tribute of AFFECTION, LOVE and BRILLIANCY 
 
 me- 
 
 AND 
 
SCEiNES AND INCIDENTS 
 
 IN THE LIFE OF 
 A HOME MISSIONARY 
 
 With a 
 
 Biographical Sketch of 
 
 Fenner S. Pigott 
 
 ^1%^ 
 
 ...BY... 
 LEVI WOODBURY PIGOTT 
 
 
 NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 
 1901 
 
Scenes and Incidents 
 
 SI 
 
 H 
 
 NO 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Woman's Home Missionary Society 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, South 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In this volume I have tried to present in a plain, 
 simple way a few of the incidents which have 
 marked my life as a home missionary in North 
 Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas and Virginia. In 
 writing about my life my thoughts have naturally 
 turned to him who was so large a part of my 
 very existence, and I have been led to pay a 
 feeble tribute to his memory. 1 feel confident 
 that the story of the life, and especially the tri- 
 umphant death of my son will add much to the 
 value of the volume and will be welcomed by the 
 
 reader. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 \. Autobiography, 
 
 II. A Colporteur in Kentucky 
 
 III. An Arkansas Mission, 
 
 IV. Again in Kentucky, . 
 V. On Hatteras Mission, 
 
 VI. We Found a Jewel, . 
 
 VII. In the Carolina Mountains 
 VIII. Butting the Dumplings, 
 
 IX. Making Coffee in the Baby 
 
 s Bath Tub. 
 
 PAGE 
 17 
 
 23 
 27 
 37 
 41 
 43 
 47 
 5t 
 53 
 
CONTENTS— Continued 
 
 X. Scattered Reminiscences, 
 
 XI. The Smart Fool, . 
 
 XII. A "Miss.Take," . 
 
 XIII. Trying to Strike a Bargain, . 
 
 XIV. Brother Smith, 
 
 XV. Gathering Up the Scraps, 
 
 XVI. One Poor Soul Made Happy, 
 
 XVII. "Good Isaac," 
 
 XVIII. Crowning the Queen, . 
 
 PACE 
 
 57 
 59 
 63 
 67 
 73 
 77 
 81 
 85 
 91 
 
CONTENTS— Continued 
 
 PAGE 
 
 99 
 103 
 
 XIX. Beginning Work in Norfolk, . 
 
 XX. Building a Church in Huntcrsvillc, 
 
 XXI. Fenner S. Pigott— The Story of a Beauti 
 
 ful Life, Ill 
 
 XXII. The Story of a Beautiful Life (Continued), 115 
 
 XXIII. The Story of a Beautiful Life (Concluded), 129 
 
 XXIV. Leaves From My Scrap-Book, . . I49 
 
Now, Lord! fulfil thy pleasure, 
 Breathe upon thy chosen band. 
 
 And, with pentecostal measure. 
 
 Send forth reapers o'er the land, — 
 
 Faithful reapers. 
 Gathering sheaves for thy ri^ht hand. 
 
Broad the shadow of our station, 
 Ea^er millions hither roam, 
 
 Lo! they wait for thy salvation; 
 Come, Lord Jesus! quickly come! 
 
 By thy Spirit 
 Brin^ thy ransomed people home. 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 
 I was born in the historic town of Beau- 
 fort, K C, April 21, 1831. 
 
 My father was a shipbuilder by trade,. 
 and also a sailor. He was very prominent 
 in that section, both in church and in poli- 
 tics; and by industry, sobriety, and econ- 
 omy, acquired quite a fortime of about 
 $30,000, which was a large amount in those 
 days. He was a true type of the Southern 
 gentleman, and a fond husband and affec- 
 tionate father ; and he believed in progress. 
 
 Being a zealous Democrat, he named me 
 for Levi Woodbury, who was Secretary of 
 2 (17) 
 
18 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 the Treasury under Andrew Jackson at the 
 time of my birth. 
 
 When five summei-s had rolled over my 
 head, he sent me, along with the other chil- 
 dren — there were six of us — to school, and 
 kept us there as long as we gave promise 
 of development. In my twentieth year I 
 embraced reKgion and united with the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Soon 
 afterwards I was licensed to preach; but, 
 on account of previous bad health from 
 ague and fever, I made little progress for 
 some years. At the age of twenty-five I 
 was married to one of the best women that 
 the Lord ever made. She still abides with 
 me. We had two children, both of whom 
 are now in Heaven. 
 
 I am now seventy years of age. If I am 
 a very poor man, it is not, I trust, because 
 I have lacked intellect, nor is it because I 
 was devoid of ambition or thrift. I have 
 not been a profligate, or thriftless, or an 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 19 
 
 idler. I am poor because I cliose to devote 
 my time to Him who had done so much for 
 me. Thirty-five of the 'best years of my 
 young manhood were spent in the cause of 
 God and humanity. I have given to this 
 cause all the talent, influence, and much of 
 the little money I have made. I have en- 
 deavored to soothe the suffering, to com- 
 fort the broken-hearted, and to do what- 
 ever I could for the good of others where- 
 ever, in God's providence, I might happen 
 to be. And I have the consolation of know- 
 ing that I have comforted many an aching 
 heart, relieved much suffering, and en- 
 couraged and persuaded many a poor sinner 
 to forsake the error of his ways and to lead 
 the life that ends in bliss at God's right 
 hand in Heaven. These reflections are a 
 solace to my beart in my old age, and a 
 greater satisfaction than millions of this 
 world's goods could afford, for I feel that 
 it is just so much treasure laid up in 
 
20 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 Heaven — funds in the bank above in the 
 Celestial City, where moth and rust can- 
 not corrupt, and where thieves cannot 
 break through and steal. Hence, I feel 
 that while I have not attained to fame and 
 have not amassed wealth, nor gained honor, 
 such as is common amongst men, that my 
 life has not been a failure. For if a man 
 could gain the whole world and lose his 
 own soul, what doth it profit him? 
 
 'No; I do not regTct my condition, nor 
 do I mention my poverty in a complaining 
 spirit; I do not murmur at God's dealings 
 with me in my journey through this life; 
 but rather rejoice to know that I was 
 counted worthy to work in his vineyard 
 and to suffer for his cause. 
 
 In writing this book, I have been 
 prompted by the desire to leave on record 
 some word that may prove a blessing to 
 others and in some way help the Master's 
 cause. I especially desire the church and 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 21 
 
 the world to have an insiglit into the life, 
 labors, and hardships of the home mission- 
 ary's life. I feel that such an insight will 
 lead men to ask if the home mission work 
 is so hard and rough, and requires so much 
 faith and grace, work, prayers, and tears, 
 what must the foreign work be? 
 
II. 
 
 A COLPOKTEUR IN KENTUCKY. 
 
 While I was in Kentucky in the latter 
 part of the sixties, I went to see Dr. Savage, 
 the General Agent of the American Bible 
 Society, and asked him to give me work in 
 the city of Lexington. ''I would be very 
 glad to give you employment, Brother 
 Pigott," he said, "but as you are a local 
 preacher, I am afraid the Board would ob- 
 ject to it." I looked at him in surprise, 
 and he hastened to explain. ''Some time 
 ago," he said, ''the Society employed a local 
 preacher in this section, w^ho one day met 
 a very beautiful woman, in an elegant 'home 
 in Payette county. Seeing that she wa.- 
 (23) 
 
2Jf EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 dressed in deep mourning, lie supposed she 
 was a widow, and the old fool made love to 
 her. When he had finished she answered 
 coolly, ^Sir, my husband will be at home 
 very soon, and I would advise you to leave/ 
 The incident got abroad, and the result was 
 the agent was summarily discharged." 
 
 However, the Doctor presented my ap- 
 plication, and the Board agreed to taJ^e me 
 on condition that I would report at the end 
 of each week. I accepted the offer to work, 
 not only to do good, but to redeem the rep- 
 utation of the local preacher, and at the 
 end of three weeks, having worked so earn- 
 estly and having been so careful to walk 
 with circumspection, and with regard for 
 my name as a Christian, the Board decided 
 to give me permanent work, and the weekly 
 reports were discontinued. I canvassed the 
 entire city, and subsequently the entire 
 county. After finisliing my work in this 
 section I went to the county'" of Owen, 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 25 
 
 where, in addition to my Bible work, I 
 organized and revived many Sunday 
 schools. This has been my loved employ- 
 ment through life, and I was very happy 
 in it there, as I have always been. 
 
III. 
 
 AX ARKAXSAS MISSIOX 
 
 111 1870, while visiting the General Con- 
 ference of the Southem Methodist Church 
 in Memphis, I noticed in a paper an adver- 
 tisement stating that a missionary was 
 needed in Chicot county, Arkansas. I ap- 
 plied for the position and was soon on the 
 field; hnt in a little while the presiding 
 elder sent me to a circuit seventy miles 
 farther up the country. On reaching my 
 new work, I was met by one of the stewards 
 of the circuit — a little red-headed brother 
 named McCauley — and a better man never 
 trod the earth — who greeted me with: 
 
 ^'Brother Pigott, I am very glad to see 
 (27) 
 
2S EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 you, but I am sorry to tell you that the 
 memibers say they will not pay you." 
 
 "That's all right, brother," I replied, ''I 
 am here by proper authority of the church 
 and I am going to stay. If you don't pay 
 me, I will get a school and teach and sup- 
 port myself and preach for nothing." I 
 applied to the School Board and was ap- 
 pointed to teach a school four or five miles 
 beyond tiie limits of my circuit. While 
 there I organized a Sunday school in my 
 sohool-^house. In those days a Simday 
 school was regarded as rather premature 
 in that section, and when I suggested that 
 good old Brother Hill be elected superin- 
 tendent, he replied: 
 
 " 'No, no ; you ran it yourself. There is 
 no need of a. Sunday school down in these 
 piney woods nohow J^ 
 
 I compromised matters by making Mrs. 
 Pigott superintendent, so t?hat the work 
 could go on while I was out on the circuit. 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 29 
 
 My work on this circuit was most graciously 
 blessed, and we had gracious revivals at all 
 my points. AVithin four months after I 
 had reached the field seventy-five or eighty 
 persons had been converted. My school 
 brought me in ninety dollars, and my peo- 
 ple, contrary to their promise, paid me the 
 same amount. 
 
 One day I started out on a trip around 
 tihe circuit to make friends with the official 
 brethren who had declared that they would 
 not pay me. After stopping at Brother 
 Maxwell's I started to go over to see old 
 Uncle Robert Gaddey. 
 
 ^'I w^ould not go over there if I were 
 you/' said Maxwell. '^I don't think you 
 vrill like Uncle Bob; he is a very strange 
 man and ihas some very peculiar ways." 
 
 ''Well," I replied, ''I will go and see for 
 myself." 
 
 So off I went to find Uncle Bob. It was 
 a rough country, sparsely settled, with few 
 
30 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 large roads, and sometimes there was noth- 
 ing more than an Indian trail to follow, 
 and often this led me to where five or six 
 trails diverged, and I was left to guess the 
 way. It took me nearly all dav to go a 
 few miles. Late in the afternoon I reached 
 the neighborhood, and learned to my grati- 
 fication that Uncle Bob was a native of my 
 own State. I rode up to his bars — tlhere 
 were no gates in that section — and called 
 to him. He was sitting in a covered place 
 between his two log huts and engaged in 
 mending his harness. 
 
 I said, "Come out here, Uncle Bob." 
 The old man immediately arose, with his 
 awl and harness still in his hands, and came 
 to the bars. 
 
 "Uncle Bob," I said, "can you take care 
 of a Xorth Carolinian to-night?" 
 
 "Yes," he replied, cordially, "get down," 
 and he began to draw out the bars to let me 
 in. As we walked along together to the 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 31 
 
 house I said, ^T^ncle Bob, I am jour new 
 preacher.'' He turned around, and raising' 
 his spectacles, scanned me from head to 
 foot, and then said, ^'Well, I am glad to see 
 you; come in, come in." 
 
 As we sat and talked under the shed he 
 said to me, ''Brother Pigott, what kind of 
 work were you doing before you went to 
 preaching?" I replied that I had not been 
 engaged in any sort of manual work. 
 ''Then, sir/' said the old man, "that is a bad 
 re-com-modationy I explained that my 
 father had kept me at school, and being in 
 good circumstances, would not allow me to 
 work. I could see that the old man. was not 
 quite satisfied; but I persevered in my in- 
 tentions to make a friend of him, and I 
 succeeded. Moreover, my work through- 
 out this circuit prospered, and I had a 
 happy year. After w^e had had great re- 
 vivals, some one m^eeting "Uncle Bob" one 
 day asked, "How do you like the new 
 
32 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 preaclier now, Uncle Bob?" And he re- 
 plied, ''Oil, liiisli! Let me alone. I am 
 never going to talk about another preacher 
 that way.'' 
 
 When I went on circuit we had to live 
 in a large farmhouse that had been for- 
 saken by its owner. This house stood in 
 the midst of a magnificent farm of twelve 
 hundred acres of cotton land, but the eman- 
 cipation of the slaves had reduced the 
 owner to such straits that he was unable to 
 run the farm, and he left it. We bad little 
 or no furniture, and we were compelled to 
 sleep on the floor and to eat off a box. Many 
 of the windows were broken, and as there 
 were no shutters, we were at the mercy of 
 all sorts of ^^inged prowlers, and every 
 night we would be visited by owls, which 
 made the place hideous with their 
 screeches. The place was so far from 
 everywhere that nobody would come to see 
 us, and we were glad when we were finally 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 33 
 
 afble to leave it for a more bearable, if an 
 lium'bler place, on the lower end of the cir- 
 cuit. It was a mere cabin, Avith an enor- 
 mous fireplace and without windows. Wihen 
 it was cold and it was necessary to shut the 
 door, my wife was compelled to sit in one 
 side of the fireplace to see how to sew, as 
 tjhe only light came through the chimney. 
 Tte cabin was owned by a member of my 
 church — a convert under my ministry 
 named Xeiman, an illiterate, but a most 
 excellent man. We paid nothing for rent 
 or fuel, and even the smokehoiise was open 
 throug*h his kindness to supply our w^ants. 
 We remained in this bumible home about 
 three mionths, and when we went away we 
 left the whole family crying at the gate 
 like little children. Probably we were 
 never happier, my wife and I, than during 
 the short days we spent in that humble 
 cabin. 
 
 From this circuit I went to i^evada 
 3 
 
34 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 county, about fifty miles south of Little 
 Eock, where I taught another school and 
 organized and managed a flourishing Sun- 
 day school. Although it was one of the 
 best neighborhoods I 'had ever seen, there 
 Avas no Sunday school, though there were 
 many ohurchi members in the neighbor- 
 hood. The beginning of the Sunday school 
 was exceedingly modest and hemmed about 
 mth many discouragements. The brethren 
 were fond of telling us that it would not 
 last through the summer, but I replied that 
 my school was not made of that sort of 
 stuff. There was no fireplace in the school- 
 house, but Avhen cold weather came we 
 would build a fire outdoors and allow the 
 children to go out and warm theonselves 
 when tOiey became cold. It was thirty years 
 ago that this work was started, and it is 
 going on to this day. I remember putting 
 over the pulpit a banner which I painted, 
 on which was inscribed, "God is love," and 
 
A HOME MISi^IONART. So 
 
 I am told that the banner is still there, and 
 that the people are not willing that it 
 should be taken down on any accoiuit; they 
 wamt it to remember Brother Pigott by. 
 And so thongth through these years so lar 
 away, it is a comfort to know that I am 
 still preaching there to these people from 
 that same text, ''God is love." 
 
 After the school was well under the way 
 we liad a great revival, in which God won- 
 derfully blessed the whole neighborhood, 
 forty or more of the teachers and scholars 
 being happily converted. 
 
IV. 
 AGAIN m KENTUCKY. 
 
 Back in the sixties, ^^^lien tlie war be- 
 tween the States was at its fiercest, eighteen 
 members of the Kentucky Conference, who 
 were in sympathy with the North, seceded 
 and organized a conference of their own, 
 uniting with the Northern branch of the 
 Church. Some of the members of this 
 conference made themselves ver^^ disagTce- 
 able, and did no little harm by proclaiming 
 to the people everywhere they went that 
 the Southern Methodist Church was dead, 
 and that if they wanted to continue to be 
 Methodists they must join the Northern 
 Church. In the section of which I am 
 (37) 
 
38 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 Speaking they Avere so successful that every 
 Methodist vc^s carried away except one old 
 maid. 
 
 " I told them no," she said, in explaining 
 her position, ^^ for I ahvays did sorter like 
 that word South anyhow." 
 
 This old lady continued steadfast in the 
 faith, though entirely alone, throughout 
 the war, and a year or two after it was over, 
 when a Southern Methodist preacher again 
 appeared on the gTound she had her reward. 
 
 " Glory to God! " shouted the old lady; 
 " I knew it, I knew it ; the old Church is 
 not dead yet! " 
 
 It was my pleasure to aid this preacher, 
 Brother Boswell — a magnificent specimen 
 of a man, by-the-way — to reorganize the 
 old Church in this territory. The work was 
 not without its difiiculties, and often we 
 went with our lives in our hands. Some- 
 times our enemies threatened to tar and 
 feather us, but our disciple brethren, who 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 39 
 
 were all of our political creed, came to our 
 help and told them plainly that it would 
 not be safe to try that game. 
 
 One day I started for my appointment at 
 Barboursville. It \\^s a twenty-five-mile 
 ride, and the day was the coldest, it seems 
 to me, I ever experienced. The people dis- 
 cussed the probabilities of my coming, and 
 the general verdict was that I would not 
 have the courage to come through such 
 weather. But Kichard Herndon, a lawyer 
 in the neighborhood, and a native of Xorth 
 Carolina, insisted that I would be there, 
 because, as U said, '' he is a Southern 
 Methodist and a Democrat." 
 
 We got the Church thoroughly reorgan- 
 ized that year, and things were moving 
 along admirably. On this circuit I met an 
 old Dutchman, of the name of Phoff, who 
 was one of the most interesting talkers I 
 have met. Talking to me one day about 
 Shei-man's raid, he said, '^A company of 
 
JfO EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 Dutchmen came along the road and several 
 said, speaking in Dutch, ' Let's go in here 
 and see what we can find.' The old man 
 heard them and called out to them in their 
 own language. They stopped a moment in 
 great surprise, and thev were so overjoyed 
 at coming thus suddenly upon one of their 
 own blood that they ran up to him, and 
 one after the other hugged him vigorously, 
 exclaiming, 'Mien Gott! Mien Gott! 
 Dutchman! Dutchman!' It is needless to 
 add that they made no raid on the old man's 
 home that day." 
 
y. 
 
 OlSr HATTEEAS MISSIOIST. 
 
 Another place where we had a great deal 
 of difficulty with our friends of the ^^Torth 
 was down on Hatteras Mission, off the 
 Eastern coast of Xorth Carolina. A dis- 
 agreeable old brother of the Northern de- 
 nomination succeeded so well in persuading 
 the people that families were divided, 
 brothers against brothers and fathers 
 against sons, and in some parts of the island 
 they were at daggers' points, each ready to 
 spill his blood for his own denomination. 
 It was a terrible state of things that I found 
 when I was sent there shortly after the war. 
 Wherever I went people stopped to ask me 
 (41) 
 
Ji2 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 Avliich side I was on. They were always 
 ready for a fight of some sort. My only 
 reply was that, " I am on nobody's side 
 except the Lord's. I am here to fight the 
 devil, and I don't propose to fight any one 
 else." Happily, this answer satisfied them 
 so well that the way was open for me, and 
 I was enabled to do my work without hin- 
 drance and with a large degree of success. 
 Although I was on the isle only seven 
 months, Ave had one hundred conversions, 
 and the entire Church was greatly revived, 
 and many old woimds were healed forever. 
 
VI. 
 
 WE FOUND A JEWEL. 
 
 While in Arkansas, I learned of the criti- 
 cal illness of my mother in Beaufort, X. C, 
 and I at once started for home. There were 
 no public conYeyances of any kind, and 
 wagons and mules were scarce; but we 
 obtained one to take our beds and baggage, 
 and, there being no room for us to ride, we 
 went in company with others who were car- 
 rying their cotton to market, to the town 
 of Camden, Arkansas, twenty miles distant, 
 from Avhich town we were to take a steamer 
 down the Onchita. On the road to Camden 
 it began to rain. My son and I had to walk 
 about ten miles o^er this road, which was 
 (43) 
 
U EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 undulating and of red claj, making it bad 
 for pedestrians like us; and mj wife had 
 to ride lying flat on the top of a cotton bale, 
 which was under cover, the old-time way 
 of traveling, and it was an extremely rough 
 ride. My son and I were soaking wet; but 
 on reaching Camden we found a ''Jewel" — 
 the presiding elder of the district, and a 
 Jewel by both name and nature^ — who re- 
 ceived us very cordially and entertained us 
 all night right royally with brotherly love 
 and affection. Well, we lodged with 
 Brother Jewel that night, and next day 
 took a steamer down the Onchita river; 
 then into the Black river; then into the 
 Bed river; next into the Mississippi; thence 
 to New Orleans, a distance of eight hun- 
 dred miles. It took us four days to make 
 the trip, having to stop at many landings to 
 take on cotton, until we had nine hundred 
 bales. AYe arrived at I^ew Orleans about 
 daylight, and remained imtil five o'clock 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. J^o 
 
 that evening. As we passed through the 
 city on the train we saw many oranges 
 growing in the yards. At the same time 
 snow was falling fast in large flakes; and 
 the snow falling and the oranges growing 
 seemed to be a contradiction; but so it was. 
 
 From Xew Orleans we went on to 
 Mobile, Alabama, traveling over some long- 
 trestles — one was twenty-five or thirty 
 miles, if I recollect rightly — across the 
 bays that made in from the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 AVe arrived home safe and found my 
 dear, precious mother in bed; but she w^as 
 so overjoyed at seeing us that she got up 
 and never was sick after that until her 
 death sickness — about five vears afterwards. 
 
IK THE CAR0LIIs^4. MOUNTAINS. 
 
 On one occasion, while assisting a Metho- 
 dist preacher named Shelton in the moun- 
 tains of Xorth Carolina, we went to spend 
 the night with a family; and this w^as my 
 first experience of such crude life. The 
 log house was about twenty feet square 
 and had a ladder to ascend the loft, where 
 the young men of the family slept. The 
 rest^ — father, mother and daughters — two 
 tremendous girls — with the preachers and 
 visitors all slept below in one room, where 
 there were about four beds. Finally, 
 Brother Shelton said, '' I am going to bed," 
 and hastily removing his clothing, jumped 
 (47) 
 
J{8 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 in bed. That opened my eves, and I waited 
 a while, thinking they would let the fire go 
 out, or that the young men and women 
 would go out so I could disrobe and retire, 
 too; but, no; there they sat and talked 
 until it was very late, and now and then 
 would mend up the fire by throwing in 
 pine knots. 
 
 This primitive custom of the mingling of 
 the sexes was so new to me that I did not 
 know what course to take. Finally, I had 
 to come to it, and I summoned up courage 
 to go to bed; and it was a miserable night 
 I spent, for Shelton, when he jumped in, 
 had carried all the feathers with him and 
 left a high ridge in the bed which had been 
 made by persons sleeping on the back part 
 of the bed and mashing it down. This was 
 rough indeed and quite sufficient for me. 
 
 In the same section we went to another 
 meeting, and after meeting my wife and I 
 went to spend the night at a farm-house 
 
A HOME MISSIO:^ARY. 49 
 
 which contained one large room, with four 
 or five beds in it. We went to the lodging 
 place before the girls. When w^e got ready 
 for bed the mother and father were there; 
 but instead of turning their backs upon us, 
 they just put their chairs near the side of 
 the chimney and planted themselves in full 
 view till we were in bed. After a while the 
 girls came home and retired for the night 
 in the same room. I was sorry for my wife, 
 for she was so very modest, and it was a 
 sad, rough experience to her. 
 
 The mountains are rough, and in many 
 instances they are unsightly, for there is no 
 beauty nor symmetry in them, and although 
 they Avere made by the master hand of the 
 Almighty Architect of the imiverse, yet 
 they seemed to be in an unfinished condi- 
 tion ; for one after another they raise their 
 mighty, terrible heads one above the other, 
 as if to domineer over those of a less degree 
 of magnitude ; and they seem to say, " We 
 4 
 
50 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 dare you!" In many cases tlie inhabitants 
 of these are like the mountains amidst 
 which they reside — rough, uncultured, 
 crude in their manners, habits and spirit. 
 But sometimes you meet ■^\4th those who 
 manifest deep emotions, and are as kind 
 and gentle and lovable as it is possible for 
 them to be. Yes, in some instances we 
 (I say ive, because my wife, the dear part- 
 ner of my bosom, who was with me as the 
 partner of my labors and joys and sorrows, 
 and who was fully imbued with the mission 
 spirit, and did very efficient sen^ice, too) 
 found " fathers and mothers and brothers 
 and sisters in Israel," and when at their 
 homes it was sweet rest and peace — an oasis 
 in the desert, and as the "shadow of a great 
 rock in a weary land." 
 
YIII. 
 BUTTmG THE DUMPLINGS. 
 
 I used to hear this story: 
 
 When the missionary first went to the 
 ''Cape Banks/' on the seacoast of Xorth 
 Carolina, on one occasion the family on 
 going to meeting, left one of the boys at 
 home to attend to the dinner-pot that had 
 been put on. Amongst other edibles in the 
 pot was a sheep's head; and when the pot 
 began to boil temptestously the boy be- 
 came uneasy and ran to the meeting-house 
 to call his mother. On reaching the house 
 he caught sight of his mother and she of 
 him. He called to her to come out; but 
 she was so much interested in the preaching 
 (51) 
 
52 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 she did not want to leave, and she began to 
 wave her hand and nod her head for him to 
 be quiet and go back, whereupon the boy 
 said : " Mammy, you need not wink and 
 blink, but I tell you I'll swear if you don't 
 go home that sheep's head will butt all the 
 dumplings out of the pot." 
 
 This reminds me of a story which the 
 Rev. J. W. Crow^der, a colporteur, used to 
 tell of a visit to an humble iiome in the 
 mountains of Xorth Carolina. One day as 
 he walked in he greeted the occupants 
 with — 
 
 ^^My friends, I am out here looking for 
 the lost siheep of the house of Israel." 
 
 The mother of the family stopped her 
 spinning, and looking up at the old man, 
 who sat in the corner smoking his pipe, ex- 
 claimed, 
 
 ^^Old man, old man, I'll bet you that was 
 one of old Israel's sheep that w^as at our 
 bars yesterday." 
 
IX. 
 
 MAKIXG COFFEE IK THE BABY'S 
 BATH-TUB. 
 
 While engaged in mission work in the 
 monntains of Kentucky in 1869, after 
 preaching one day my wife and I were 
 invited to spend the night with a brother. 
 He was a hard-looking customer, but rather 
 than give offence — which our refusal would 
 certainly do — we accepted the invitation 
 and went. I did not enjoy my ^dsit at all. 
 The house and the people, and, in fact, 
 everything connected with the place looked 
 filthy. They put us to sleep in an out- 
 room in one end of the piazza — a rudely 
 constructed room of rough boards, and 
 with many and large cracks in it. Every- 
 thing about the room was uninviting, and 
 (53) 
 
54 , EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 my Avife found it necessaiy to use her shawl 
 and other clothing for bedding. 
 
 The man had a good farm and plenty of 
 eveiy thing to eat; but in spite of that, we 
 fared worse there than at any other place 
 at which we stopped. 
 
 The next morning my wife noticed the 
 woman cooking breakfast and dressing the 
 baby. She washed the baby in a pan; she 
 then threw the water out — it was a wonder 
 she did not empty it in the teakettle — but, 
 without washing the same pan in which she 
 had washed the baby, she took it and dipped 
 water out of the water-bucket and poured 
 it in the kettle and made coffee vnth it — 
 for they made their coffee in a teakettle, 
 and not in a coffee-pot. My wife did not 
 tell me at the time, for she knew my spirit 
 and did not want to tell me until we had 
 left the house — and to think that I had 
 drunk some of that coffee. If I had known 
 it I would not have drunk it to have saved 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. o5 
 
 the woman^s life. Though it has been 
 thirty years since I drank it, it makes me 
 sick now to think of it. That was certainly 
 the nastiest, filthiest pill I ever had to swal- 
 low. That was one time above all other 
 times in my history that I realized the fact 
 that '^cleanliness is next to godliness. '^ 
 
 In that section there was a common say- 
 ing to this effect: When they would invite 
 you to stop all night, or a part of the day 
 even, they would say, ''Come, stop with us 
 all night. It is rough, I know, but if ive 
 can make out with it all the time you can 
 do so for one night J ^ 
 
 1 had on that circuit three little towns 
 which had big names — viz., London, Man- 
 chester and Barboursville. 
 
 Up in that mountain region of Kentucky 
 a young lady professed religion, and as she 
 got up shouting, she said, " Good gi-acious, 
 gramminy jenkins-es crank — how good I 
 feel!'' 
 
X. 
 
 SCATTERED REMIXISCElNrCES. 
 
 Several times I visited a family whose 
 liabit was to get up at four o'clock in the 
 morning, make a fire and get breakfast 
 about five o'clock, then sit around a big fire 
 till day. I would not get up, but lay in 
 bed until about daylight. The first time 
 I did it the old lady herself — an immense 
 three-hundred pounder — came up, opened 
 my door, and shouted in a stentorian voice : 
 
 ^^ Come down to breakfast." 
 
 I said, ^' Please excuse me, sister; I don't 
 wish any breakfast." 
 
 She slammed the door and said, ^' I don't 
 
 (57) 
 
o8 EXPERIENCES OP 
 
 care if you don't," and went her way as 
 mad as a hornet. 
 
 Traveling on the road in Kentucky one 
 day I came across a boy who told me his 
 name was Abraham-Batie-Kobertson- Allen- 
 Hamilton- Alexander-MoiTow. 
 
 We came across a young woman whose 
 name was Alpha Omega. 
 
 An old man in Jones county, Xorth 
 Carolina, used to say to his friends who 
 used tobacco: 
 
 " My friend, it is an e.rprising 7-ecum- 
 stance that a man of your (iebility should 
 chai'j hacker to such a recess as to conjure 
 your n?stitution." 
 
 In my mission work I had some expe- 
 riences which were exceedingly pleasant 
 and some that would shock the refined, 
 polished ear, and would not do to put in 
 print; yet true, and a bitter pill to swallow, 
 nevertheless; and I swallowed many of 
 them. 
 
XI. 
 A SMART FOOL. 
 
 In Chicot county, Arkansas, I met with 
 what might be termed a smart fool. He 
 was a Mississippian, and evidently had been 
 reared genteelly and in refined society. He 
 called himself '' Captain Jenks," and no 
 one ever knew him by any other name. 
 He had no money, and it was evident that 
 he had slipped away from his family and 
 they were ignorant of his whereabouts. He 
 was educated and polished in manners; was 
 quite an athlete and good looking. But 
 there was a screw loose somewhere. He 
 got his board by doing menial service for 
 the inhabitants. One day I heard him say 
 to them : 
 
 (59) 
 
60 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 " I am a Mississippi hoozier and you all 
 are Arkansas liooziers. You are like the 
 old sow: YOU eat the acorns and never look 
 up to see whence thev come; you feed on 
 God's bounties and never look up and 
 thank Him." 
 
 He told me this storv: Said on one occa- 
 sion, in a certain city a rope-walker had his 
 rope stretched across the street from the 
 tops of the houses, and thousands of people 
 crowded the street waiting for the rope- 
 Y'alker, when he (Captain Jenks) gained 
 access to the rope and walked out on it, 
 and when he was about midway he took off 
 his cap^ — w^hich was a regular army cap of 
 gmj of the Confederate army, and all his 
 suit was Confederate uniform — waved it, 
 and, addressing the vast crowd, said: 
 
 " Ladies and Gentlemen. — This is to 
 prove to you that there is at least one Con- 
 federate soldier still alive." 
 
 He said that upon this the crowd cheered 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 61 
 
 and sliouted terribly. He was certainly a 
 natural curiosity. He would mount the 
 wildest mule of two years and ride him. I 
 saw bim get on one, and the mule bucked 
 witli bim, stood on bis bind feet, kicked, 
 and even rubbed against the trees to get 
 bim off, but be still stuck to tbe mule and 
 rode bim at last. 
 
XII. 
 A " MISS-TAKE/' 
 
 One day in Kentucky, when I was on my 
 work for the American Bible Society (as 
 colporteur), I was at a nice, large '^ blue- 
 grass" farm, and had my huge saddle 
 pockets down and all the Bibles and Testa- 
 ments out showing them to the family. 
 The mother and girls were looking over 
 them and seemed to be pleased, when in 
 came the servant girl, a nice-looking yellow 
 girl, and the lady says, " Sallie, don't you 
 want a Bible?" And inasmuch as she had 
 been introduced thus to me, I said, "Oh, 
 yes, Sallie must have a Bible." This net- 
 tled the old lady. She got mad and would 
 not buy any. 
 
 (63) 
 
64 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 I left the house and went on my way. 
 In a few^ days I met Dr. Savage, general 
 agent. Says he: " There is a little com- 
 plaint against yon.'' I was surprised. Then 
 he told me that the folks at a certain house 
 got mad because I called the colored girl 
 ''Miss Sallie." I told him that it was a 
 mistake — that I did not say "Miss S'allie/' 
 and that if I had it would not have been 
 a crime. He says, " It was a Miss-take , 
 then." 
 
 " Yes," says I, ^^and I think the family 
 was one of those 'fire-eaters' such as inhabit 
 South Carolina, and took me to be a 
 Yankee book-peddler." 
 
 I was not a book-peddler — I was a col- 
 porteur, in a purely missionary work; so 
 that explanation satisfied Dr. Savage and 
 the board, and I went on my way rejoicing 
 and finished my canvassing in the county, 
 to the satisfaction of Dr. Savage and the 
 entire Board of Managers of the Lexing- 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 65 
 
 ton Auxiliary Bible Society; and then it 
 was that Dr. Savage commissioned me 
 to go to another county. I went up 
 there and went to work, and in a few 
 weeks I had ^dsited one hundred and sixty 
 families, and found one-fourth of them 
 without the Bible or any part of God's 
 Book in the house. The Doctor came up 
 to see me and to lecture at the county 
 seat (Owensboro, I think), and during his 
 lecture he called on me to make this report 
 to the congregation, and this was a good 
 point for him: it caused him to get a fine 
 collection, and it astonislied the natives. 
 
XIII. 
 TEYING TO STEIKE A BARGAIis^. 
 
 In this county one day on my work I 
 visited a farm near noonday. The man 
 with his force — two or three great big girls 
 and one or two yonng men, also of giant- 
 like dimensions — were all out at work, but 
 I found the mother and wife at home. She 
 was very kind in entertaining me in the 
 best manner she knew how, and was very 
 much delighted with my Bibles and the 
 exceedingly low prices; for the American 
 Bible Society not only sells to persons able 
 to buy at prime, or net cost, all salable 
 books — /. e., after cost of making and 
 freight, no profit is put on; they also give 
 (67) 
 
68 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 free a Bible or Testament, or some other 
 portion of the book, as the case may be, 
 to any one who has none, and is nnable to 
 buy one. AVell, this dear, -good old 
 farmer's wife had no Bible and wanted one 
 badly — one that cost $1.65 (quite a large 
 size), and I did not feel free to give her 
 such a book. Finally, she said, " I have no 
 money; if I had I would take this Bible." 
 
 It was now about half -past eleven, and I 
 packed my books in my huge saddle 
 pockets, which would hold nearly a bushel, 
 and putting them on my horse to go aw^ay, 
 when the old lady broke out in a new 
 place and says: 
 
 '' Stranger, won't you get down (for I 
 was already mounted to go) and get dinner 
 with us? My man and the boys and gals 
 will soon be in for dinner, and if you will 
 stop you will be welcome, stranger. We 
 ain't got none of this yer high eatin', but 
 we got some pork and peas, and we will 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 69 
 
 be glad if you will eat with us, and git your 
 horse fed, too." 
 
 This last was good news to me, for I 
 would rather have had my horse fed than 
 to have been fed myself. And she says : 
 
 ^' Xow, stranger, if you will, you may go 
 put your horse up and feed him yourself." 
 
 This, toOj pleased me beautifully and 
 to a dot, for I gave Billy a fine dinner of 
 corn and oats, and he enjoyed it, you may 
 know\ When I took him out to start he 
 did not speak to me about his dinner, but I 
 knew just how^ he felt, and if he thought, 
 I knew his thoughts. 
 
 Well, to proceed : After I had performed 
 this kind office to '^ Billy " I took out my 
 books again to see if I could not make a 
 trade with the old lady, wdiereupon she 
 said: 
 
 " Stranger, ^my man' (her husband) has 
 got fifty dollars, but he will not give me 
 any of it, for he is going to buy a cow with 
 
10 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 it, and he would not give me a dollar to 
 buy a Bible." 
 
 She bad a j^ard full of fine chickens — 
 two or three hundred or moi"e — and this 
 idea struck me: 
 
 " Sister/' says I, " whose chickens are 
 those?" 
 
 Says she: " They are mine." 
 
 ^^Then/' says I; "I'll tell you what I 
 will do: I will sell you this Bible and take 
 it in chickens." (I think she said they were 
 worth eight cents apiece; they were very 
 cheap.) 
 
 This proposition delighted her; her eyes 
 sparkled and her face was lit up with smiles 
 of sunshine and expressions of gladness; 
 and in all my life I have never seen such 
 demonstrations of gladness or joy at any- 
 thing of an earthly nature. Handing her 
 the Bible, I said: " Next Saturday you send 
 to Owensville the chickens and deliver 
 them to Mr. Brown (a grocer)." 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY, 11 
 
 So when Saturday came the chickens 
 came also to Mr. Brown, who sold them 
 for me at my request, and I made one soul 
 at least happy that day. 
 
XIY. 
 BKOTHER SMITH. 
 
 On one occasion, at the missionary 
 meeting of tlie Conference of the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church, South, Bishop 
 McTyeire, who presided, addressed the 
 meeting, and in his speech he told them of 
 the nice large crops of cotton that by 
 God's blessing had been made, and gave 
 this example to show that some had not 
 given in proportion to their profits. 
 
 "'Now/' says he, ''there is Brother 
 Smith out there; he has made three hun- 
 dred bags of cotton this year, and he has 
 given only twenty dollars to the mission 
 cause to convert the world. Why," he says, 
 (73) 
 
7// EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 '^ Brother Smith ouglit to give forty dol- 
 lars at least, for God has abundantly 
 blessed him this year.'' 
 
 After the Bishop's speech, Dr. J. B. 
 McFerrin, the missionary secretarv' of the 
 Chnrch, a yery talented man, as witty as an 
 Irishm.an, and a very fine speaker, said he 
 Avonld come after the Bishop and gather 
 lip the scraps. (He was the finest collector 
 I ever heard, and the best missionary secre- 
 tary the Church ever had, or ever will 
 have.) He went on with his speech, and 
 finally he came to the Bishop's '' Brother 
 Smith." 
 
 '^ ;N"ow," he says, '' there is the Bishop's 
 Brother Smith who has made three hun- 
 dred bags of cotton this year and has given 
 onl}^ twenty dollars to 'convert the world.' 
 ^ow. Brother Smith ought to do better 
 than that and give us twenty dollars 
 more," when up jumps Brother Smith, and 
 says : 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 7 J 
 
 ''Doctor, (loirt say any more about it; 
 here is twenty dollars more," and Dr. 
 McEerrin says: '' That's right, Brother 
 Smith; that's right" 
 
 Neither the Bishop nor Dr. McFerrin 
 knew there was any snch brother in the 
 house — ^but they both spoke as if they 
 knew of him. 
 
XV. 
 GATHEEING UP THE SCKAPS. 
 
 On another occasion at a district con- 
 ference in Kentucky whicii I attended, Dr. 
 McFerrin was there, when he again 
 gathered np the scraps, as usual, after the 
 Bishop's speech. A presiding elder of one 
 of the mountain districts in representing 
 his district and his preachers, said: 
 
 " Brethren, I have six or seven preachers 
 in my district who need some money. 
 They have been laboring faithfully and 
 successfully now for six months without 
 a dollar, and they say if you wdll send 
 them ten dollars apiece they will remain 
 and finish the other six months' work. 
 (77) 
 
78 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 They have had fine revivals on all their 
 missions, and have had five hundred con- 
 versions, and now all thev ask is ten dollars 
 apiece." 
 
 This was a fine chance for Dr. McFenin. 
 This conference was in that fine, rich bine- 
 grass section of Kentucky, near Lexington, 
 and Dr. McFerrin says: 
 
 ''We are creditably informed by Brother 
 Jones, the presiding elder of such a dis- 
 trict, that he has six or seven preachers in 
 his district who need some money; that 
 they are good men, and have labored faith- 
 fully and successfully, ha^dng had five 
 hundred convei'sions in six months. 
 '* Xow", says he, straightening himself up, 
 " I want to make a proposition to you fine 
 ' blue-grass ' preachers: which will you 
 do, give me ten dollare, each one of you, 
 to send to those mountain preachers, or go 
 up there and labor six months for nothing, 
 as they have done?" 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 79 
 
 'No sooner said than done. Brother 
 Jones arose from his seat, and with a ten- 
 dollar bill in his hand, walked up and said, 
 " Doctor, here is ten dollars." Then 
 another and another and another responded 
 in quick succession until he had raised in 
 a few minutes two or three hundred dollars. 
 Amongst those who gave ten dollars was 
 one Brother Pointer, whose brother was a 
 lav member. When Brother Pointer re- 
 sponded with the rest of the laymen, Dr. 
 lIcFerrin, remembering that his brother 
 had given ten dollars, said, " That's right, 
 brother, I like that kind of Pointers." 
 
 Dr. McFerrin was one of our great 
 preachers. He was a giant in liis day. I 
 knew him well, having met him several 
 times in Kentucky and Xorth Carolina, 
 and called to spend a night mth him at 
 his home — my wife and little son were 
 with me — in ISTashville. That day as he 
 came up to the gate I said, " Good even- 
 
80 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 ing, Doctor"; but he did not recognize me 
 at first, and said, as he took hold of my 
 hand very cordially and shook it, " Well, 
 who are you?'' I told him, and he still 
 again shook my hand very cordially, and 
 said, '^ Oh, yes; I know you. I am glad 
 to see you, brother. You are from way 
 down yonder in ^orth Carolina — Bun- 
 combe county — ^where they feed their 
 ponies on 'simmons and shucks. Come in, 
 brother; come in. I am glad to see youJ^ 
 And he and his good wife treated us royally 
 that night. 
 
 Dr. McFerrin was one of the nine 
 delegates from the Southern States in the 
 General Conference of 1844, when they 
 seceded and organized the Southern 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in Louisville, 
 Kentuckv. 
 
XVI. 
 ONE POOR SOUL MADE HAPPY. 
 
 One day while traA-eling horseback with 
 my big saddle pockets (holding nearly a 
 bushel) filled with Bibles (I was on my 
 mission colportage work for the American 
 Bible Society of Lexington, Kentucky); I 
 met a woman and spoke to her and she 
 responded politely. We stopped under the 
 shade of a tree. I wanted to rest my horse, 
 for he had a ternble load on him. The 
 big pockets full of Bibles was quite a 
 heayy burden, and then one hundred and 
 fifty pounds of human flesh, blood and 
 bones on top of that. I asked this woman 
 if she had a Bible. She said, ^^ No.'' Then 
 6 (8i) 
 
82 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 I offered to sell lier one for twenty-five 
 cents, and slie replied, " Sir, I have no 
 money, but I want a Bible.'' Then she 
 began to tell me of her troubles and sad- 
 ness. She was neat and cleanly in her 
 ordinary dress, and somewhat intelligent. 
 She said she had lost her husband and 
 children, and had to work hard, and seemed 
 to be quite sad. Says I: " Do you go to 
 Church?" 
 
 " E"©," she said ; '^ I live six or seven 
 miles from any Church, and cannot dress 
 fine enough." 
 
 Said I : "It is good to read the Bible and 
 go to Church; but if you cannot get there, 
 remember that the Great Apostle to the 
 Gentiles said, " The kingdom of God is 
 within you," and if you have a conscious- 
 ness to know within your own breast that 
 God is your Father and Christ Jesus is your 
 Sa^dor, and that your sins are forgiven, 
 then you have peace with God through 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 83 
 
 Christ Jesus, and a heaven within. And 
 as I told her how good God is and how 
 merciful He is, and how Jesus was rich, 
 owning the ISTew Jerusalem, with all its 
 glorious surroundings — he was ricli, yet 
 for our sakes he became poor, that we, 
 through His poverty, might be rich; that 
 He was so poor that He said on one 
 occasion, '^ The foxes have holes, and the 
 birds of the air have nests, but the Son of 
 Man hath not w^here to lay His head." 
 
 '^ N'oAV, madam," says I, "all of this is for 
 you ; and I give you this Bible in the name 
 of the American Bible Society, praying it 
 may be a blessing to you in leading you 
 safely through this vale of sorrow and 
 tears to a home in heaven, where you mil 
 be happy forever, as long as the cycle of 
 eternal ages shall continue to roll." 
 
 As I talked with her her face flushed, 
 her eyes began to fill, the silent tear was 
 seen to start down her cheek, her whole 
 
8Jf EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 countenance beamed with gladness and 
 joy, and she was a happy woman, and said: 
 
 " Sir, I am so happy and glad I have met 
 with yon, and I thank yon so much for 
 your talk, for I have not heard such a talk 
 for many long years, and I shall always 
 remember you with joy and gladness." 
 
 Thus my poor soul w^as made happy to 
 think that God in His providence had made 
 or chosen me as an humble instrument in 
 His hands to afford happiness, peace, light 
 and comfort to the dear one whose life 
 had been in darkness so long. Glory to 
 God for His goodness unto me, and for 
 ^^ HJis wonderful works unto the children 
 of men." 
 
 So I bade her good-bye, and she went on 
 her way rejoicing, and I went on my way 
 with a better heart and full of gladness. 
 To God be all the praise ! 
 
XYII. 
 
 ^^GOOD ISAAC." 
 
 I came across a higlily cultured family, 
 very ricli, in the famous '"'blue-grass'' 
 region around the city of Lexington, 
 Kentucky, and had occasion to stop over 
 night (and, in fact, several times at his 
 earnest solicitation) ^^dth one member of 
 this elegant family, named Isaac Kincade, 
 who was a bachelor; but he was one of the 
 most refined and lovable men with whom 
 it has ever been my good fortune to meet. 
 He was educated, refined and exceedingly 
 polite, and all he needed to make him per- 
 fectly happy was a sweet little wife. 
 
 In conversing on this subject, he woidd 
 (85) 
 
86 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 say, '^ Brother Pigott, when I get married 
 I want a sweet, nice little woman so deli- 
 cate that I can just put my hands around 
 her waist and lift her right on my horse 
 into the saddle." 
 
 He had a beautiful, splendid '^ blue- 
 grass " farm, with a splendid mansion on 
 it, in a lovely grove of trees. This good 
 man, or " Good Isaac," as he was familiarly 
 called (the reason they called him by this 
 appellation was that he was so gentle, 
 sweet, mild and loving — I think he was a 
 good man), was a deacon in a very large 
 and w^ealthy Baptist Church, whose pastor 
 (an old man called '^ Father Dillard ") had 
 served the congregation in that Church for 
 forty years. 
 
 On one occasion my wife and I were 
 spending a few days in the vicinity of this 
 Church with a friend in order to recuperate. 
 It was four or five miles from '^ Father 
 Dillard's" Church, and this brother with 
 
.1 HOME MISSIONARY. 87 
 
 whom we were stopping proposed for us 
 all to go to his Church on Sunday. So we 
 went; and very shortly Brother Kincade, 
 or " Good Isaac," spied me, and he c^me 
 hastily, shook hands in a very cordial and 
 brotherly way, and says: 
 
 " Brother Pigott, I am so very glad to 
 see you here, and you must preach for us 
 to-day." 
 
 Says I : ^' I^o, Brother Kincade ; I came 
 to hear ' Father Dillard,' for I have no 
 appointment to preach here." 
 
 "Yes," he says, 'S^ou must; and I will 
 see Father Dillard." So off he went, and 
 soon here he came with Father Dillard and 
 introduced him to me. 
 
 " Brother Pigott," he says, " I am glad 
 you are here. You must preach for us 
 to-day." 
 
 Says I: '' Xo, Father Dillard, you will 
 have to excuse me ; I came here to hear you 
 
88 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 preach, and you will most assuredly have 
 to let me off." 
 
 '' 'No/^ says lie, "' you must preach for 
 us; we cannot let you off." 
 
 '' Yes you can/' says I; ^^ I am not pre- 
 pared to preach." 
 
 '^ We mil not take ^ Xo' for an answer; 
 we want to hear you preach." 
 
 " ^o," says I, '' you will please let me 
 off." 
 
 ^^1^0, no; we cannot let you off. All 
 the congregation will be glad to hear you." 
 
 ^' Yes, but, Brother, I am not prepared, 
 for such a thing was farthest from my 
 thoughts when I came to hear you preach." 
 
 " Yes, you 7nust preach. "We cannot 
 excuse you, and we v^'iW all put up with 
 what you give us.'' 
 
 And finding there was no getting off, I 
 says, " Well, you will get a poor preacher." 
 
 ^' Well," says he, ^' we will accept it all 
 right." 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 80 
 
 '' Then/' says I, '' you must give me 
 about fifteen minutes in wliicli to retire to 
 the woods, where I can pray and try to 
 collect my thoughts." 
 
 "Yes/' says he, "We will give you 
 fifteen minutes." 
 
 So off I went out in the woods to myself. 
 When I came back he took me in the 
 Church and in the pulpit mth him; where- 
 upon the large, splendid, intelligent, cul- 
 tured congregation assembled; and I 
 preached with satisfaction to myself; for 
 I had to forget self and depend upon the 
 Holy Spirit, and He helped me. When 
 I got through and sat down Father Dillard 
 got up, took me by the lapel of my coat, 
 and says: 
 
 '' Come, now. Brother Pigott, go down 
 and eat with us." 
 
 It was their communion, so I went down 
 out of the pulpit and ate with them. It 
 was the first, last, and only time in all my 
 
00 EXPERIENCE'S OF 
 
 Christian career (of fifty years) that I ever 
 ate with our Baptist brothers; and the day 
 was one of great rejoicing to my soul; for 
 such brotherly love, Christian fellowship 
 and affection Avas, and still is, exceedingly 
 scarce. 
 
XVIII. 
 CEOWNING THE QUEEN. 
 
 In all our travels over many States and 
 in many cities, toAvns and villages, and in 
 many country places, for many years 
 (thirty or more) I settled amongst the very 
 best people, as a community, in Nevada 
 county, Arkansas, that I ever saw; yet 
 they were not up-to-date in many things, 
 for in the neighborhood there were a num- 
 ber of nice, bright children, and no Sun- 
 day school. After I organized a school 
 some one said it would go up in the winter ; 
 but, no, we kept it up all through the 
 winter and spring. Then we had a Sunday- 
 school picnic. I will tell you all about it. 
 (91) 
 
92 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 The scliool decided to crown one jonng 
 lady — Miss Xaomi Young, a tall, graceful 
 and handsome joung lady — as queen. I 
 built a rostrum about fourteen feet square, 
 covered it with a new carpet which I car- 
 ried there with me, then built on this ros- 
 trum a throne for the queen about five or 
 six feet square. On this I built a tall chair, 
 cushioned and covered sill over with red 
 goods. The top of the chair had one large 
 point on it twelve inches long, and two 
 others of smaller size. These were covered 
 with gold paper. Then we built an arch 
 over the chair, covered with evergreen 
 foliage. This throne and chair was for the 
 queen to occupv after her coronation. On 
 the rostrum I had six or seven young men 
 sitting around the throne, dressed up with 
 three-cornered hats, representing foreign 
 ministers, with also her four or five maids 
 of honor. The chief justice of the king- 
 dom, who was to crown the queen, sat also 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 93 
 
 on the rostrum. Then I put the school in 
 ranks of twenty or more floras — little ones 
 four to eight years of age, each having a 
 bouquet. Then came the larger ones, ac- 
 cording to size and age; there were about 
 one hundred and fifty or more. Finally, 
 came the maids of honor, all dressed in 
 white, and they looked charmingly beauti- 
 ful. Mrs. Pigott had made for the queen 
 a long dress of white goods; it had a train 
 six or seven feet long, and we put two 
 maids of honor to hold up and carry her 
 train for her. I marched them up in the 
 order named, the floras first, and as they 
 approached the thr-one they opened ranks, 
 when the maids of honor, then the queen, 
 took seats on the rostrum. 
 
 Everything was quiet w^hen the queen 
 came and knelt on a stool prepared for her, 
 and the '^^Chief Justice" approached her 
 with the crown, and placing it upon her 
 head, said, " Honored Princess, as Chief 
 
H EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 Justice, having proper authority from the 
 Kingdom, I now crown von Queen of this 
 Eealm, and I trust that your reign may be 
 characterized by that true greatness that 
 shoukl ever adorn one in your high and 
 noble position.'- 
 
 '' Eespected Sir, I shall endeavor by all 
 vigilance, fidelity, and sincerity to reign 
 and live as one who is to give an account of 
 all the deeds done in this life to the King 
 of kings and the Everlasting Sovereign of 
 the universe." 
 
 Then, after having been crowned the 
 chief justice held out to the queen her 
 sceptre, painted white, vnth. a sharp point 
 covered with gold paper and a bow of 
 ribbon around its head. Then he said (the 
 queen having been seated in her chair, 
 which sat upon the throne under the arch 
 of evergreen, looked real queenly, and 
 the Rev. Phil. Archer arriving at this 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 95 
 
 jiinicture, said he felt that he was in royal 
 presence) : 
 
 '^ Respected and Honored Queen, before 
 investing yon with royal authority, I, as 
 Chief Justice of this Kingdom, come to 
 elicit from you in the presence of these, 
 your willing subjects, and in the sight of 
 the King of kings and the Judge of all 
 men, an oath for the faithful performance 
 of the onerous duties devolving upon your 
 sovereignty." 
 
 " Sir, I solemnly affirm in the presence 
 of these witnesses, and call upon High 
 Heaven to witness, that, to the best of my 
 ability, as an honorable, discreet lady, and 
 one w^ho loves her race, and especially her 
 subjects, my reign shall be in accordance 
 with law, and with an eye single to the 
 best interests of all our dominions." 
 
 Here the chief justice advanced with 
 the sceptre in his hand, and, addressing her, 
 said : 
 
96 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 " niustrioiis Queen, I now present Your 
 Majesty with this sceptre, which is another 
 insignia of your high office and of your 
 superior position amongst your fellowmen, 
 hoping that your reign may be peaceful 
 and harmonious, and that in the adminis- 
 tration of law, as you wield it o'er the peo- 
 ple at your will, you may always remember 
 that, though you are our chief executive 
 officer, whose will is our pleasure, and at 
 whose mandate we submissively bow, all 
 your acts and deliberations are recorded in 
 the highest court known to angels or men, 
 to whidh you, as well as your subjects, must 
 give an account in that day coming, when 
 the secrets of all hearts will be made 
 known." 
 
 '' Eespected and Honorable Sir, I 
 solemnly tinist that I properly appreciate 
 my high position and fully estimate the 
 importance of the c^use of Truth and 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 97 
 
 Eight; hence, I shall endeavor to govern 
 with wisdom, justice and clemency." 
 
 ]^ow she turns to her subjects and ad- 
 dresses them as follows: 
 
 "And to you, my respected subjects, 
 I would say, I desire not to abrogate law, 
 usurp authority, or to grasp this sceptre 
 and rule as with a rod of iron, or a despot's 
 unliol}^ ambition; but otherwise would 
 fondly indulge the hope that you will find 
 in everif emergency a fast friend in the 
 Crown, and that the Crown may ever be 
 rightly esteemed, and nobly and with 
 fidelity sustained by you, and so we may 
 always have peace, unity and prosperity 
 throughout the entire kingdom. Adieu! 
 Adieu!!" 
 
 Then as the queen sat in the chair on 
 the throne she most assuredly looked 
 (queenly, and the scene looked royal and 
 grand. (The assembly was carried away 
 with enthusiasm.) Then the twenty little 
 7 
 
98 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 floras cast their bouquets at the queen's 
 feet as they, two by two, moved up the 
 steps. 
 
 This will forever linger on my memory 
 as the grandest epoch in my liistory — it 
 was an oasis in the desert — and it gives me 
 solace now in my old age, when I consider 
 it was the crowning and most satisfactory 
 performance I ever conceived and executed 
 in all my life. Yes; it is a green spot that 
 the corroding touch of Time even will 
 never deface. 
 
XIX. 
 BEGIXXIXG WOEK IX XORFOLK. 
 
 I came to Xorfolk, Yirginia, in 1887; 
 had very little money, but liad the mission 
 spirit. I knew no one and had no work. 
 In order to make a dime I took a new lamp 
 tube (the "Argand " burner), bought a 
 lamp, and canvassed the city. I became 
 so much in need of money that I did not 
 have enough to buy a bucket of coal to 
 make a fire ; but about this time I met with 
 B. T. Bockover, a good man and one of the 
 salt of the earth, and after I showed him 
 my testimonials of character it satisfied him 
 who I was, and he said to me: 
 
 ^^ You are the man I am looking for. 
 
 (99) 
 
100 EXPERIEyCE^ OF 
 
 There is a suburb liere (Huntersville) 
 where a man is needed to do mission work, 
 and I have been trying three years to get 
 a young man to go out there and work up 
 that place in mission work, and have failed 
 to find him. If you will go and do the 
 w^ork I will pay you five dollars per 
 month," which he did for ten months. 
 
 Another man made the same offer, but 
 soon failed in business, and only paid me 
 for two months; and upon the strength of 
 these two promises I undertook the mission 
 work. I walked out to Huntersville three 
 times in the rain and mud before I even 
 found any one to sympathize with the 
 movement. The third time I came across 
 two ladies — Mrs. Captain E. J. Savage and 
 Mrs. George Tumbleson — who simply said : 
 
 " I wish you would come out and start a 
 mission work and Sundaj^ school here." 
 
 These ladies wer^e members of the old 
 mother (Cumberland - Street Methodist) 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 101 
 
 Chiirch in ]^orfolk, and I think still liold 
 their membership there, when they should 
 have left it and given their names and in- 
 fluence to the new work in Huntersville, 
 Avhich was established through tears and 
 sorrow and hardships and many difficulties 
 at their own doors. 
 
 I had to trudge and wade through mud 
 and rain and ice to Huntersville three or 
 four days out of the week, having no 
 money to pay car fare ; and on one occasion, 
 I remember, I did not have enough money 
 to get a bucket of coal, and my wife and I 
 had to go to a friend's house and sit until 
 bed-time to get Avarm. Then it was that I 
 first found a friend in the person of B. T. 
 Bockover, who has ever since been true 
 to us and cheered and comforted us many 
 times during a period of thirteen years. 
 I was working at the Huntersville mission 
 work then on about eight or ten dollars a 
 month ; so I reported this to Brother Bock- 
 
102 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 over; told him my rent was due, my coal 
 was out, and that I had no provisions and 
 no money, and he reported it to the official 
 board of Granby-Street Church, to which I 
 belonged, and some of the official board 
 made up for me a subscription of monthly 
 payments for my support, which were as 
 follows: 
 
 B. T. Bockover $5 00 per month. 
 
 M. L. T. Davis 3 00 " 
 
 B. D. Thomas 2 50 " 
 
 J. B. La Keese 3 00 " 
 
 Joseph Norsworthy ... 2 00 '' 
 
 Jos. Brickhouse 2 00 " 
 
 Mr. Brittingham 1 00 " '' 
 
 E. G. Griffith 1 00 " 
 
 E. E. Whitehurst 1 00 ^^ 
 
 Johnson & Kilby.... 1 00 " 
 
 B. A. Johnson 1 00 " 
 
 John L. Koper 1 00 
 
 Mrs. Biggs 50 
 
 B. G. Pollard. 100 " 
 
 Garland Bruce 2 00 '' 
 
 (C ii 
 
 a a 
 
XX. 
 
 BUILDING A CHURCH IN 
 HUNTERSVILLE. 
 
 I took my liatchet and nails on one cold, 
 rainy day, went to Hiintersville, and hired 
 a negro carpenter, and lie and I made nine- 
 teen benches without planing. On the 
 following Sabbath (about the 8th or 10th 
 of Febmaiy) I organized a Sunday school 
 with twenty-two pupils and two or three 
 teachers. On the following Sabbath I had 
 thirty-five pupils and a fine corps of eight 
 or ten teachers from the Granby-Street 
 (now Epworth) Church. I soon found that 
 we needed an organ, and having fine musi- 
 cal talent from the church amongst the 
 (103) 
 
m EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 teacliers, I purchased one on time, whicli 
 gave ns fine music. The children learned 
 rapidly, and the school gradually increased, 
 and in about three months we had one hun- 
 dred in attendance. The house being small 
 and a mere shell, it was veiy uncomfortable 
 in hot weather, and we took the school, 
 with benches and organ and all, out doors 
 in the shade of an old big tree. Then I 
 reported my school and its progress to the 
 Church, and asked them to buy me a lot 
 and erect on it a larger house, which they 
 did, and in ten months we had a nice little 
 brick Church on it, all equipped for work. 
 That was in 1888. For several years, 
 and up to now, they have had a regular 
 minister, and the work is self-sustaining; 
 but for six or seven yeai's the work was 
 kept up by donations from the Granby- 
 S'treet congregation. At the end of the 
 year I resigned my charge and told the 
 official board, to whom I made my report, 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. lOo 
 
 that the house was built and the mission 
 work full under way; and I prayed them 
 to take charge of the ship, for she was 
 ready to sail, and to guide her safely over 
 the stormy ocean of Time and cast her 
 anchor finally in the haven of eternal 
 repose hard by the everlasting throne of 
 God! 
 
 This was in 1888. Then it was that I 
 peddled with the lanq>burner in order to 
 keep hunger from the door. These, my 
 friends, were trying, sharp times; but praise 
 and thanks to the blessed Father above. 
 He brought me out all right, as He had 
 done many times before in similar in- 
 stances. 
 
 On my third visit I hired a small shell of 
 a house at $1.50 per month, at my own 
 expense, and made an appointment to lec- 
 ture in it on the following Sunday on the 
 Sunday-school cause. On the day ap- 
 pointed a small crowd met me, and having 
 
JOG EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 no seats, they had to stand and lean against 
 the sides of the honse while I lectured and 
 preached. I promised them we would have 
 ])lenty of seats for the next meeting; so at 
 the suggestion of Brother Brockover, aiTd 
 with a note from him to Mr. J. Griffith 
 and one to Mr. McCullough, the former 
 gave me ten pounds of nails, and Mr. 
 McCullough gave me two hundred feet 
 of lumber, and an expressman hauled it 
 out for me gratis. 
 
 This was in 1888, and at the last meeting 
 that conference year of the official board 
 of the Church, they endorsed or passed a 
 resolution very complimentary to me with 
 reference to my work, which reads as 
 follows: 
 
 "'Be solved y That this quarterly Confer- 
 ence recognizes and highly appreciates the 
 valuable services of Rev. L. "W. Pigott in 
 behalf of the Sunday school and Church 
 inaugurated by him in Hunters^dlle, under 
 
A HOME MliSSIONARY. 107 
 
 tlie auspices of G ranby-Street Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, South, in :N'orfolk, 
 
 Virginia. 
 
 Wm. H. Gkanbery, Sec'y. 
 
 Norfoll; TV/., Oct 29, 1888. 
 
 Here is another paper written and signed 
 by many of the citizens of Huntersville, 
 Virginia : 
 
 To Rev. W. V. Tudor. D. D., Rev. Bro. 
 Read, Presiding Elder, and the Official 
 Board of Granhy-St. Church, in Nor- 
 folk, Va., to-wit: 
 
 "We, the citizens of Huntersville, earn- 
 estly request you to have Kev. L. W. 
 Pigott appointed to our mission for the 
 next conference year; for he came to us 
 in our time of need, and his valuable ser- 
 vices have been a great blessing to this 
 
 community. 
 
 Signed by Very Many. 
 
 Huntersville, Va., Sept. 15, 1888. 
 
 I would like to state that when I went 
 out to Huntersville, at the instance of that 
 
108 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 i 
 good man before mentioned, B. T. Bock- 
 over, there was not a prayer meeting, Sun- 
 day school, not any religious meeting of 
 any kind of any denomination. I three or 
 four weeks went to Sheriff Lestner, an old 
 gentleman and a German, and asked him 
 if he could not help me with money, for he 
 was a man of means, to carrv on the Sun- 
 day school. When I told him I had forty 
 scholars he was very much surprised, and 
 said, '' Do you undertake to tell me, sir 
 (and he was very emphatic), that joii have 
 got forty scholars in a Sunday school in 
 Iluntersville?'' 
 
 Said I: "Yes, sir." 
 
 Then said he : '' You astonish me, and 
 me helps you." 
 
 I wrote a subscription paper for money 
 to build my church, and collected $50 — 
 $25 from Mr. E. J. Brickhouse and $25 
 from the coal and ice firm of Nottingham 
 (Sz Wrenn. I met the contractor and 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 109 
 
 builder when they commenced work on the 
 Church, and had them to kneel with me on 
 the spot and I offered a short prayer to 
 God that He would bless the enterprise and 
 make the house about to be erected to His 
 worship a blessing through all time to the 
 people of that community. The mason 
 who was to do the work let me dig with a 
 spade the first spadeful of dirt. So thus 
 was the corner-stone of this Huntersville 
 Church laid in faith. 
 
XXI. 
 
 FENNER S. PIGOTT— THE STORY 
 OF A BEAUTIFUL LIFE. 
 
 My son, Fenner S. Pigott, was born on 
 the 3d day of Marcli, 1858, in Beaufort, 
 :N'orth Carolina— ^'the City by the Sea"— 
 the native home of his father. He was 
 blessed with a devoted, pious, and very 
 conscientious Christian mothei, w^ho spared 
 no pains in instilling into his mind the 
 blessed doctrines and principles of our holy 
 religion. Hence, he was like Timothy: he 
 had known the Scriptures from his child- 
 hood; and this faithful, consecrated instruc- 
 tion given in prayer, amidst tears and with 
 faith in God, was so indelibly impressed 
 (III) 
 
112 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 upon his mind and heart that its influence 
 was seen cropping ont from his mild, gentle 
 nature all along his pathway, especially 
 after he c^me to be of age and had traveled 
 considerably and had contended with the 
 world, which will be discovered (first) by 
 reading the many little scrips of writing 
 by his own hand, found in his trunk after 
 his death ; second, it was seen by his parents 
 around the family altar, when he would 
 open his honest heart to them. On several 
 occasions he said: 
 
 " Pa and Ma, I used to think, when I 
 was a boy and you connected me and were 
 so very strict with me in not letting me 
 break the Sabbath by playing and keeping 
 me from the company of bad boys, I used 
 to think you were unreasonable and hard 
 on me; but now I know you did it for my 
 good, and I thank you for it." 
 
 I pray God to make his life, character 
 and death a blessing to the young who may 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 113 
 
 chance to read this, that they may so 
 emulate his example as to live as he lived, 
 and die as he died, and be safely gathered 
 in heaven, where the good of all ages live. 
 
 His pastor. Dr. [N'aylor, of Foundry 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, in Washing- 
 ton, D. C, said of him in his memorial 
 address: 
 
 ^^ He had a magnetism about him that 
 drew people to him.'' 
 
 The chief clerk of the Ebbitt House, one 
 of the finest hotels in America, of which he 
 was one of the honored clerks, said to me 
 in conversation that he was a "sweet-spirit- 
 ed young man," and the proprietor of the 
 same hotel told a gentleman that he was 
 one of the best young people he ever had. 
 He was such a favorite at the house that 
 the book-keeper cut out his obituary from 
 the paper and pasted it in the back of his 
 ledger as a momento. 
 
 Beverly Simpson said, during the me- 
 8 
 
114 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 morial services in the Churcli, that he 
 wanted it distinctly understood that this 
 young man belonged to Foundiy Church; 
 that they claimed him, and that Foundry 
 Church had added one more to the com- 
 pany "over there." 
 
XXII. 
 
 THE STORY OF A BEAUTIFUL LIFE 
 (COXTIXUED.) 
 
 After Fenner was old enough to know — 
 yes, even before lie became responsible — 
 Avbile he was jet a child, and from that 
 time on, he was always obedient and re- 
 spectful to his parents. I never knew him 
 to say " 'No '' when we bade him do any- 
 thing. He was a child that would listen 
 as you reasoned with him. He had a veiy 
 tender heart and a very forgiving spirit. 
 On one occasion a friend wrote to him and 
 asked him to forgive her, and this was his 
 reply : 
 
 " Surely I will forgive you. Yes, it is 
 (115) 
 
116 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 an irresistible word; and ever since my 
 childhood days my heart has learned to be 
 forgiving/' and at the close of the same 
 letter he said: 
 
 ''And when I lay me down to sleep and 
 ask the Lord my soul to keep, oh sure I'll 
 not be selfish in my pra^^er, bnt ask the 
 Lord my little friend to bless, and say 
 good-bye, good-bye, good-bj^e." 
 
 Then we find a sweet little sentiment like 
 this in the same connection: 
 
 ''Let the pleasures and duties of life each 
 
 pathway attending 
 Onward and upward bear thee without 
 
 ending.'' 
 
 I have seen in my travels children six 
 to ten years of age who had been left to 
 themselves — who had had no pains nor 
 prayers nor tears spent on them; who had 
 grown, or were growing, up like briers and 
 weeds — often spit at their mothers or slap 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 117 
 
 them or make ugly faces at them and tell 
 them, " I will not obey you." But we are 
 IDroud to say that our son never had nor ex- 
 hibited any of these bad spirits or tempers. 
 He was always industrious, and when he 
 made money he was careful to keep it and 
 not waste it in circus-going, nor in any 
 immoral way would he spend it. And after 
 he grew up to mature years and was em- 
 ployed he was governed by this principle — 
 viz., he felt the interest of his employer as 
 his interest, and was noted for his prompt- 
 ness, politeness and quickness. 
 
 On one occasion, when an employer gave 
 him a letter of recommendation, after 
 speaking of his noble character, he closed 
 his letter by saying, ''And the best of all is, 
 he is honest." 
 
 Yes, he was mild as well, and he was ex- 
 ceedingly sympathetic, for he truly ^' wept 
 with those who weep." 
 
 From early childhood to mature years 
 
118 EXPERIEXCL\^ OF 
 
 he traveled OA'er many States, and wherever 
 he went he made friends by his polite man- 
 ners, moral conduct and soft, sweet spirit. 
 On one occasion, when he answered the 
 letter to a friend who said to him, " May 
 you always prosper," he answered by say- 
 ing, " Yes, if God blesses me I shall always 
 prosper." 
 
 I mention these little things to show the 
 religious bent of his heart, and this incident 
 was when he was about twenty-one years 
 of age. 
 
 Yes, my dear friends, Ave were proud of 
 our dear son in this life, but infinitely 
 prouder of him in his death, as you will 
 see, if jou peruse these memoirs to the 
 end, we had a good cause for it. 
 
 At the age of eleven yeai'^ he professed 
 religion and said he Avanted to unite Avith 
 the Church, and his mother, to test him 
 Avith the vieAV of finding out Avhether it 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 119 
 
 was a genuine conversion or the result of 
 excitement, said to Mm : 
 
 " My son, Avhy do you want to join the 
 Church? '' 
 
 Whereupon she received this answer: 
 
 ^^ Why, mother, I love God and every- 
 body and God loves me, and I want to be 
 good and get to heaven." 
 
 We thought this was a very good ex- 
 perience, so we let him join the Church. 
 He lived a consistent Christian for many 
 years, and after a while, as is the case with 
 all who go from home influence, he grew 
 cold, then neglected his outward duties, 
 but" never lost faith in God nor the 
 heavenly impressions he had imbibed in 
 childhood from his pious training; for in 
 all his writings we find there was breathed 
 a pious spirit. 
 
 I can truly say that in all our travels 
 we have never come across a more affec- 
 tionate and kind spirit than he possessed. 
 
120 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 He thought there was no mother so kind 
 or good as his, and for his father he had 
 the highest respect and love. 
 
 At about the age of sixteen or seventeen 
 he went to college and passed through the 
 sophomore class. After leaving school he 
 turned his attention to hotel life; and to 
 prove a statement before made, that when 
 he was employed he always felt the interest 
 of his employer was his interest, I will 
 state that on one occasion, in the city of 
 Asheville, I^orth Carolina, while he vras 
 employed as manager of the Grand Central 
 Hotel, a fire broke out in the next building 
 and was making rapid strides of desti'^uc- 
 tion. He was awakened from his sleep, 
 jumped from his bed, put on his clothes, 
 and having the key of the safe, with un- 
 usual presence of mind, aided the ladies in 
 the hotel in escaping; then took all the 
 money from the safe, and with the fore- 
 thought of a Christian hero, before he went 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 121 
 
 out, being then influenced by the great im- 
 pulses of his big heart, he, with great 
 sprightliness, was soon on the top of the 
 building working more faithfully than an 
 hireling; worked there until the fire was 
 subdued, and upon descending to the jyave- 
 ment, picked up a door to hold up, that the 
 firemen should be shielded from the heat; 
 and at this point, after the fire was sub- 
 dued, he fell to the pavement with con- 
 gestion of the lungs, as one dead. It was 
 with great medical skill and aid and very 
 extraordinary nursing of friends all night 
 that he was revived, for the physicians all 
 thought he could not live; but after two 
 weeks' confinement he was up and attend- 
 ing to business. 
 
 "We think that this sad occurrence so 
 affected his lungs that when he contracted 
 a deep cold in the autumn of 1885, it so 
 deeply and fatally struck his \dtals, his 
 decline was irresistible. 
 
122 EXPEBIEXCES OF 
 
 It was the proprietor of this hotel who 
 said, " The best of all, he is honest," and 
 the proprietor of the best hotel in Ashe- 
 ^alle, the Swannanoah, said to me on in- 
 quiring, " How do you like him ? " " He 
 is one of the best young men I have ever 
 employed." 
 
 Finally, he was induced by friends to go 
 to Washington, D. C, because they 
 thought he had a peculiar talent for hotel 
 life. He had been in Washington only 
 about three weeks, when he was employed 
 as one of the office clerks in the Ebbitt 
 House, where he so conducted himself as 
 to gain the confidence of the proprietor, 
 the other clerks, and all concerned. While 
 at this hotel he became a member of the 
 Bible class " Golden Links," at Foundry 
 Methodist Episcopal Church; also a mem- 
 ber of the same Church by letter from 
 Greensboro, Xorth Carolina, where he had 
 received a renewed witness of the Spirit's 
 
.4. HOME MIi^;^WNARY. 12o 
 
 gracious influence upon his heart; and he 
 wrote us about his spiritual blessing in 
 eestacies of joy. In liis connection with 
 this Church and Bible class he won many 
 warm-hearted fiiends, who highly esti- 
 mated his moral worth and cherish fond 
 memories of him, and are sad because they 
 A\dll see him no more here; but rejoice to 
 know that he is safely moored in heaven, 
 and I feel that one of their brightest 
 ^ ^Golden Links" is broken and they have 
 one more tie to hold them fast to their 
 eternal blissful moorings in the " better 
 land," in the '^faraway home of the soul," 
 and, oh, I pray that each member of this 
 class of ^'Golden Links " may constitute in 
 heaven an unbroken chain, including his 
 kind, noble, saintly, eloquent pastor, Rev. 
 Dr. Xaylor, with all his flock and his many 
 other dear friends and loved ones, with all 
 the sanctified elect of God's dear children. 
 
12/t EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 wheve sickness, sorrow, pain and death are 
 felt no more. 
 
 After Ins decease we overlianled liis 
 papers and fonnd amongst many of his 
 letters to different friends, and other scrips 
 of 'his writing, many prayers and other 
 religions eifnsions, all of which proved he 
 was pntting into practice the holy precepts 
 of the Gospel of Jesus Christ w^hich were 
 '^able to make him wise unto sah^ation.'^ 
 
 From early childhood, long before he 
 professed religion, he always had the 
 highest reverence for God's house and wor- 
 ship, and behaved himself as solemnly and 
 reverentially there as an old man. He also 
 had the highest regard for ministers and 
 for any one devotedly pious. 
 
 To sum up some of the virtues of this 
 amiable young man is my pui'pose, praying 
 they may prove to be of some benefit to 
 those who mav read these lines. 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 125 
 
 First, lie was obedient to his parents and 
 loved them. 
 
 Second, he was polite to all, especially 
 to his seniors. 
 
 Third, he was kind and sympathetic to 
 the suffering; then he was industrious 
 and saving. 
 
 Fourth, he had the interest of his em- 
 ployer at heart. 
 
 Fifth, he was honest. 
 
 Sixth, he was prompt and quick, and by 
 his dignity of bearing and all these other 
 noble qualities and dispositions he would 
 draw to him not only his employer, but all 
 with whom he might be associated in busi- 
 ness; and he would manage to gain their 
 confidence and respect. 
 
 A very sensible and accomplished lady 
 of the Foundry Church congregation told 
 me that she well remembered the last time 
 he met Avith their reunion of the Bible 
 class; that he was the life of the company, 
 
/,?6' EXPERTEXCES OF 
 
 and they would miss liiiii so miicli in that 
 circle, for he was always so lively. Yes, 
 nothing pleased him more than to knoAV 
 he was causing others to feel happy, and to 
 produce this effect upon his friends and 
 associates he was successful whenever he 
 made the effort. 
 
 It Avas my lot to travel over the United 
 States to a considerable extent, taking my 
 Avife and son, and all Ave had, AAdth us. 
 Hence, Ave Avere throAvn AA^th many kinds 
 and qualities of people. I can tndy say 
 that he Avas traveling from the time he Avas 
 six Aveeks old till he died ; and, considering 
 that the routine of family training and 
 family worship could only be imperfectly 
 carried out, his parents feel greatly repaid 
 for all their labor and pains, tears and 
 prayers and anxiety of heart, in his mild, 
 noble, SAveet life, and his loA^ely triumphant 
 Christian death; for he died like a philo- 
 sopher and like a Christian hero, and like a 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 127 
 
 sinner saved by grace. If I should live a 
 thousand years and witness t^n million 
 deaths, I would never see one more sublime 
 and beautiful and grand and sweet and 
 peaceful and easy than was the death of 
 this young man. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 THE STOKY OF A BEAUTIFUL LIFE 
 (COXCLUDED.) 
 
 Early one morning about the middle of 
 Xovember, 1885, after lie had had a cold 
 for several days, still attending to his duties 
 at the Ebbitt House, though unable, be- 
 cause he desired to give satisfaction, he felt 
 a severe pain in his right limg. Upon con- 
 sulting a physician, he was told to go home, 
 which he did; and as he came in the 'house 
 the dear child had the saddest face he ever 
 wore before; and it proved to be the har- 
 binger of the saddest and most heart-rend- 
 ing period in our history. We did all we 
 could for him; but the elements seemed 
 9 (129) 
 
]M EXPERIENCED^ OF 
 
 to conspire against the dear boy, for the 
 weather was damp all winter and spring. 
 
 One day in April or May, when we 
 looked out upon the leaves as they were 
 just unfolding in the sunlight of God's 
 genial sun, his mother said: 
 
 " My son, do look out and see how beau- 
 tiful the sun shines, and how lovely the 
 leaves look." 
 
 He very solemnly remarked : " Yes, 
 mother, but the leaves do not bloom, nor 
 the sun shine for me." 
 
 By this time the kind, noble physicians 
 said they had done all they could do, and 
 advised us to take him to the mountains, 
 saying that if anything would do him good 
 the mountain air and water would; so on 
 the 3d of June, 1886, his mother started 
 with him for the mountains in his native 
 State, N^orth CaTolina. When aiming for 
 the town of Hendersonville, they were met 
 by our old doctor, J. G. Waldrop, a very 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 131 
 
 kind-hearted physician, who tendered them 
 his kind offices and sympathy, which will 
 never be forgotten. Then, going in the 
 country about ten miles, just at the foot of 
 a mountain, they were kindly treated by 
 Caiy Maxfield and his wife, with whom 
 they boarded two months. The neighbors 
 also were just as kind as they could be, for 
 which they all have a warm place in our 
 heart's best affections. After remaining 
 there for tvro months he became very wan, 
 thin, emaciated and feeble, so that he could 
 not dress himself without help. We then 
 took him to Ilendersonville, a beautiful 
 little mountain town of about eight hun- 
 dred inhabitants, on the Spartanburg and 
 Asheville railroad, and stopped at the 
 Arlington House. It seemed to be God's 
 will, for Mrs. Allen, the wife of the pro- 
 prietor of the hotel, being a friend of ours, 
 had her great, warm heart drawn out to the 
 utmost tension in deep, heart-felt sympa- 
 
J32 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 thj for lis and tenderness to Fenner. She 
 nursed and attended to him so much like 
 a mother that he called her his " second 
 mother." 
 
 Xever will we forget the kindness and 
 self-sacrifice and affection of this good 
 woman, nor the kindness of her husband, 
 Dr. Allen, and others who came in and 
 ministered to Fenner's wants and comfort. 
 
 Among the ladies who came in with 
 words of comfort and ministered to his 
 wants, one said to mj \viie when she was 
 weeping: 
 
 " Mrs. Pigott, instead of weeping vou 
 should rejoice to know that your life has 
 not been a failure ; for to see Fenner die is 
 enough to repay you for your life-time 
 sendee, j^o; your life has not been in 
 vain; this is your ripe sheaf which has 
 been gathered into the heavenly garner, 
 and it is fit meat for the Master's use." 
 
 It is said that his talks and exhortations. 
 
A HOME MI88I0NARY. ISS 
 
 together with his composure and calmness 
 about dying, had an. influence on some who 
 had never been touched before. During 
 his stay in Hendersonville there was a Bap- 
 tist meeting going on near by and the 
 ministers took a 2Teat interest in Fenner, 
 praying for him and visiting him and com- 
 forting him, all of which he highly appre- 
 ciated. He realized his condition while 
 there, but he was perfectly resigned. He 
 told his pastor, Dr. Xaylor, that if he lived 
 it was all right, and that if he died it was 
 all right. 
 
 He remained in Hendersonville exactly 
 one month. It seemed a strange coinci- 
 dence that when we took him there Dr. 
 Allen asked us how long we wanted to 
 stay, and we told him about a month. We 
 took him there on the 9th of September, 
 and on the 9th of October we buried him. 
 The services were conducted in the Metho- 
 dist Church by the Eev. Mr. Boon, a Bap- 
 
m EXPERlEyCEi^ OF 
 
 tist minister and president of Jndson 
 College, and Eev. ^Ir. Teague, the pastor 
 of the Church. 
 
 When his spirit had gone to God his 
 father and the mourners went about the 
 streets comforting themselves with the 
 blessed trnth : " I am the resurrection and 
 the life; he that believe th in me, though 
 he were dead, yet shall he live," and " who- 
 soever liveth and believeth in me shall 
 never die," and, again, as declared by 
 David, ^^the child cannot come back to us, 
 but we can go to him." 
 
 (Fram the Critic, ]yas]iington, D. C.) 
 Eev. Dr. Baylor's tribute to the late 
 Fenner S. Pigott: 
 
 Rev. Dr. Xaylor held memorial services 
 last night at the '^ Foundry " Methodist 
 Episcopal Church for the late Fenner S. 
 Pigott, who had been a resident of this city 
 for some time, and whose death occurred at 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 135 
 
 his home in Xorth Carolina, on the 8th in- 
 stant. The deceased was a clerk at the 
 Ebbitt House, in this city, and his genial, 
 honorable character had won for him many 
 friends. 
 
 A large audience filled the Sunday- 
 school hall at an early hour and listened 
 with rapt attention to the beautiful tribute 
 paid by Dr. Xaylor to the deceased. The 
 services were opened Arith song and prayer 
 and the reading of the 90th Psalm. In the 
 remarks made by Dr. Xaylor, he said: 
 
 God's ways are, like Himself, past find- 
 ing out. AVe are surrounded by mystery. 
 Providence is only another name for mys- 
 tery, the unknowable. We are called this 
 evening to consider the death of a young- 
 man twenty-seven years of age. A young 
 man taken, who was in the bloom of young 
 manhood, bouyant with hope, and ardent 
 wdth expectation, one, than whom, none 
 gave promise of a nobler career or better 
 
136 EXPERIENCED OF 
 
 sei^ce in the vineyard of our Lord. Fen- 
 ner S. Pigott, on the 8th day of last month 
 closed his short but suffering life in Hen- 
 dersonville, N'orth Carolina. When I last 
 saw liim he was in the Sixth-Street Eail- 
 road Depot, about to start to his Southern 
 home. I felt then, as I took his thin and 
 bloodless hand in mine, that I should never 
 see him more in this life. I never did. 
 Why was he taken, when so many men, 
 who are little better than a curse to the 
 community, are left to thrive and fatten 
 ujDon their ^dces? Why tliis young man of 
 twenty-seven years, when so many have 
 outlived their usefulness and the fullness 
 of the promised allotment of three score 
 and ten years? Surely these could better 
 have been spared. Soon after this young 
 man came to our city he presented his cer- 
 tificate of Church membership, and was 
 welcomed as a member in this Church. 
 But it was destined that he should not be 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 137 
 
 permitted to enjoy many of its public 
 means of grace. He was shortly taken ill, 
 hence, not very many of you remember the 
 young stranger who cast in his lot with us, 
 less than three vears aa'o. I knew him 
 Avell, and can say to-night that he possessed 
 a noble, generous character. He was 
 strictly conscientious. I do not believe that 
 he would have sold the truth at any price. 
 What a quiet, unostentatious life he pos- 
 sessed; quietly, he walked the path of 
 life, seemingly entirely free from vanity, 
 love of display or notice. Simple in heart, 
 honest in intent, and loyal to himself and 
 his convictions, he commanded the respect 
 and confidence of all who knew him. 
 
 And yet this young man was endowed 
 with a peculiar magnetism — this amiability, 
 rectitude, and cheery nature — this very 
 goodness of heart, acted like a loadstone, 
 for without effort of his own, he drew per- 
 sons into a remarkable nearness with him- 
 
138 EXPERIEXCE."^ OF 
 
 self. Admiration, confidence, affection 
 were at once begotten, and Ms beautiful 
 character was absorbed by others. 
 
 The simplicity and purity of Fenner &. 
 Pigott's nature reminded me of a gentle, 
 timid young girl not yet contaminated with 
 tlie vanity and sillyness of society's rude 
 touch; for he was gentle, pleasant, patient. 
 Had this youth lived he would have Avield- 
 ed an immense religious influence. I am 
 tnld that in his native town, a growing in- 
 flnence was already graciously felt by his 
 associates. It is not at all strange to me, it 
 could not have been otherw^ise. Kor is it 
 a surprise to me, when I am told that the 
 scenes which surrounded this young Chris- 
 tian's closing days and hours were wonder- 
 ful, that they were mighty evidences of the 
 faithfulness of God to His children in 
 clothing them at sucli a time for their home 
 above. 
 
 During his suffering and illness in the 
 
A HOME MI8SI0XARY. 130 
 
 Garfield Hospital I visited him as often as 
 practicable, and noticed with gratitude his 
 spiritual condition. There was no mur- 
 muring, no doubt, no fear. He was ^'sim- 
 ply trusting — nothing more." I doubt 
 whether he ever, for a moment, lost confi- 
 dence in his Heavenly Father. There was 
 to me a peculiar sadness in bidding him 
 adieu at the railroad depot that day. And 
 yet there came flooding around and over all 
 a divine glory while cheerily and brightly 
 he bade me farewell. I felt then that he 
 well knew it was the last word I would ever 
 hear him speak in this life. Blessed be 
 God — Ave shall talk hereafter. Mystery, 
 yes mystery. But, 'Svhat thou knowest not 
 now, thou shalt know hereafter." Amen. 
 The superintendent of the Sunday school 
 which he attended (Mr. Simpson) and other 
 friends who knew him made touching and 
 loving remarks about him, and the meeting- 
 closed with the benediction. 
 
l.'iO EXPERIEXCES OF 
 
 [From the HendersonvlUe (N.C.) Times.] 
 
 We regret to announce the death of the 
 above well-known voung man, son of Rev. 
 L. W. Pigott, formerly of this place, but 
 now of Washington, D. C, which occurred 
 on Friday, the 8th instant, at the Arlington 
 House, in this place. His death was not 
 unexpected, as he had been suffering very 
 much for several months. He was an 
 honest, upright young man, full of promise 
 and highly esteemed by all who knew him. 
 The sympathies of the entire community 
 go out to the bereaved parents. 
 
 Eenner S. Pigott, son of L. W. and 
 Pannie Pigott, was born in Beaufort, Xorth 
 Carolina, March 3, 1858, and died in Hen- 
 derson ville, Xorth Carolina, October 8, 
 1886. The deceased was blessed with 
 heavenly influences and surroundings in 
 early childhood, and continued to enjoy the 
 
.4 HOME MISSIONARY. Ul 
 
 blessings of the best society through life. 
 He was a most affectionate, dutiful son, 
 was extremely polite to all with whom he 
 came in contact. He being trained from 
 early childhood by religious parents, and 
 more especially by his saintly mother, was 
 acquainted with the '' Holy Scriptures,'' 
 was brought to embrace the doctrines of 
 the blessed religion of Jesus Christ at the 
 age of eleven years, and after a number of 
 years, having backslidden was reclaimed in 
 Greensboro, X. C, in about the year 1883, 
 after which he removed to Washington, 
 D. C, and became a member (by letter) of 
 the Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 In September, 1883, he became one of the 
 office clerks in the Ebbitt House in Wash- 
 ington (one of the finest hotels in America), 
 which position he filled with credit to him- 
 self and satisfaction to his employer, and 
 became very popular with the high-toned 
 and polished guests of this famous hotel. 
 
I.'i2 EXPJ-h'IJ-JXCE.S OF 
 
 In November, 1884, he was attacked 
 with 23neiimonia and indigestion, which 
 complication finallv caused his life blood 
 to fall into the arms of the grim monster 
 and liberate at last his soul to go back to 
 God. 
 
 By the advice of his noble physicians in 
 Washington his mother took him to Hen- 
 dersonville, X. C, on the Bine Ridge, but 
 disease had snch grip on his vitals, grad- 
 ually pulling him down to the gTave, that 
 in the early morning of the 8th of October 
 he called me to him and said: '^ Pa, kiss 
 me; tell all my friends good-bye; write to 
 the (Ebbitt House) clerks and tell them to 
 be good, and meet me in heaven, for God 
 has pardoned all my sins, and I am dying 
 happy." 
 
 He thus exhorted all who came in to be 
 good and meet him dn the better land ; and 
 later in the day he said to Mrs. Hart as she 
 was about to leave him, ^' The next time 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. US 
 
 you see me, when you get to heaven, you 
 will not see me looking so ugly, pale and 
 thin; but I shall be as beautiful as the 
 VKose of Sharon' and the lily of the valley, 
 with a crown upon my head." 
 
 Thus his happy soul was exercised till 
 the next morning, at about 9 o'clock, when 
 he said: " Pa, turn me over, I am dying.'' 
 So we did, and he had the most heavenly 
 countenance I ever beheld. He asked us to 
 sing, and says, ''Glory, glor)^, glory!" 
 Then he said, ^' Rock of Ages, cleft for 
 me, let me hide myself in thee," at which 
 his mother, aided by other younger ladies, 
 sang " Eock of Ages," and he joined in 
 Avith his soul and heart, with an angelic 
 smile upon his face, which was lit up with 
 the light and life of the presence of his 
 benign Savior. After this he said, " Sing 
 on, sing on!" 
 
 " What shall we sing, my darling boy?" 
 said his mother. 
 
lU EXPERIEXCES OF 
 
 I suggested ^^Jesus, Lover of Mj Soul/' 
 " Yes/' he said, '' that is it; that is it," 
 with giorj in his soul and rays of Divine 
 effulgence upon his face, reflected from the 
 immediate association of the Holy Spirit 
 and a convoy of angels who were there 
 waiting vnih unfolded, snowy wings and 
 white matted Angel's to be^r his immortal 
 soul to happiness and God and heaven, 
 where it shall bask in sunbeams of bliss 
 as long as the cycle of eternal ages shall 
 roll. 
 
 And this is the way in which this happy 
 soul manifested itself to friends and loved 
 ones, gathered around to catch an inspira- 
 tion from the departing saint as he was cut- 
 ting loose from his earthly moorings to 
 cast anchor into the heavenly port, to be 
 forever moored hard by the eternal throne ; 
 Yes, from early morn till 2:30 P. M. he 
 sang the songs of Zion, exhorted all to 
 meet him in heaven, and shouted, ^'Glory 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 145 
 
 to GodP^ his face all the while beaming 
 with heavenly smiles, when he sweetly laid 
 his head upon Jesus' breast and breathed 
 his last out sweetly there — without a groan 
 or sigh or struggle! Thus he breathed his 
 last, in the most glorious triiunphs of the 
 Christian's faith, and in peace with God 
 and man, whereupon ajfi accomplished lady 
 said : 
 
 '' Mr. P., to be in this death chamber 
 makes me feel as if I would like to die, if 
 I could die as Fenner is dying." 
 
 Another good woman said: ^^ Mrs. P., 
 you ought not to weep, for your life has 
 not been a failure, for this is your ripe 
 sheaf, ready for the Master's use." 
 
 Another lady says she had never heard 
 such dying eloquence in her life; and a 
 very intelligent gentleman, who enjoyed 
 the feast, said: "I confess to you, Mr. P., 
 I woidd not take fifty dollars for what I 
 have seen and heard and felt to-dav in this 
 
U6 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 room, and, sir, it ouglit to be published to 
 the world, so that everybody could read it ; 
 "for it is the most convincing proof I ever 
 heard in favor of the immortality of the 
 soul ; and it is the greatest triumph of mind 
 over matter I ever beheld.'^ 
 
 ISTow, a few moments before he breathed 
 his last, he said: " Lift me up," and as we 
 held up his wasted form, he told us to hold 
 up his right arm ; and as we did so, his eyes 
 were set on things above, all afire with 
 heavenly light and glory. With his finger 
 pointed up he says, "Higher! higher!! 
 higher!!! Glory! glory! glory!" and it 
 looked as if he had a glimpse of the 
 heavenly Jerusalem with its shining throng 
 and delectable mountains. Yes, truly has 
 the poet said, " The place where the good 
 man meets his fate is privileged above the 
 common walks of life — quite on the verge 
 
 of heaven." 
 
 Father L. W. Pigott. 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. UK 
 
 A CAED OF THAXKS. 
 
 Editor Kendersonville Times: 
 
 Please allow us to express our sincere 
 thanks and gratitude to the citizens of 
 Ilendersonville for the many kind offices 
 rendered our son in his last illness and 
 death, and their deep sympathy for us. 
 L. W. A.WD Fanny Pigott. 
 
XXIY. 
 LEAVES EKOM MY SCKAP-BOOK. 
 
 I wrote in my scrap-book on Christmas 
 Day in 18 TO the following effusion, and 
 thank the blessed Lord I still live and am 
 in reasonable health; and msh to reiterate 
 the same now on Christmas Day, 1900 — 
 to-wit: 
 
 Eighteen hundred and seventy years ago 
 to-day, in Bethlehem of Judea, the spirit- 
 ual darkness and the sable curtain of moral 
 gloom that enveloped the human race was 
 pierced by the brilliant rays of the Sun of 
 Eighteousness with healing in his wings to 
 heal a sin-stricken world; and it was on this 
 occasion that a convoy of angels, to do the 
 (149) 
 
150 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 everlasting King homage, came from their 
 blissful, eternal abode with songs and re- 
 joicings and made known their heavenly 
 mission and glorious proclamation of 
 " Peace on earth, good will to men." 
 Amen! and amen! 
 
 Lines Written on the Walls of Old Blandford 
 
 Church, Built in 1735, Petersburg, 
 
 Virginia. 
 
 (Written during the Civil War of 1861.) 
 
 Thou art crumbling to the dust, old pile; 
 
 Thou art hastening to thy fall. 
 And 'round thee in thy loneliness 
 
 Clings the ivy to the wall, 
 The worshippers are scattered now 
 
 Who met before thy shrine, 
 And silence reigns where anthems rose 
 
 In days of Old Lang Syne. 
 
 And sadly sighs the wandering winds. 
 Where oft, the years gone by, 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 151 
 
 Prayers rose from many hearts to ffim, 
 
 The hig'hest of the high; 
 The tramp of many a heavy foot 
 
 That sought thy aisles is o'er 
 And many a weary heart around 
 
 Is still forever more. 
 
 HoAv doth ambition's hope take wing, 
 
 How droops the spirit now; 
 We hear the distant city's din, 
 
 The dead are mute below; 
 The sun which ghone upon their paths 
 
 !N'ow gilds their lonely graves. 
 The zephyrs which once fanned their brows 
 
 The grass above them waves. 
 
 Oh ! could we call the many back, 
 
 Who've gathered here in vain. 
 Who've careless roved where we do now. 
 
 Who'll never meet again; 
 How would our very souls be stirred. 
 
 To meet the earnest gaze 
 Of the lonely and the beautiful. 
 
 The lights of other days. 
 
152 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 A Pathetic Parting. 
 
 A country minister in a certain locality 
 took permanent leave of his congregation 
 in the following pathetic manner : Brothers 
 and Sistei^, I come to say good-bye. I 
 don't think God loves this Church, because 
 none of you ever die. I don't think you 
 love each other, because I never marry any 
 of you. I don't think you love me, because 
 you have not paid my salary; your dona- 
 tions are mouldy fruit and apples, and by 
 their fruits ye shall know them. Brothers, 
 I am going to a better place. I have been 
 called to be chaplain of a penitentiary. 
 Where I go ye cannot come, but I go to 
 prepare a place for you, and may the Lord 
 haA^e mercy on your souls. — Bam's Horn. 
 
 Nary a Toil or Spin. 
 
 The choir was singing a new arrauge- 
 ment of the beautiful anthem, " Consider 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 153 
 
 the Lillies.'^ The pure sweet voice of the 
 soprano rose clearly and distinctly in the 
 solo: 
 
 They toi-oi-oi-oil not, 
 
 They toil not, 
 
 They toil not, 
 
 ^N'y-y-y-ther do they spin. 
 
 She paused and the tenor took up the 
 strain : 
 
 IsTee-ee-ee-ther do they spin. 
 They toi-oi-oi-oil not, 
 They toil not, 
 They toil not, 
 ^ee-ee-ee-ther do they spin. 
 
 The tenor ceased and the basso, a solemn, 
 red-haired young man, with a somewhat 
 worldly-looking eye and a voice like a fog 
 horn, broke in: 
 
 ]^ay-ay-ay-ayther do they spin. 
 They toi-oi-oi-oil not, 
 
io4 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 They toil not, 
 They toil not, 
 Xay-ay-ay-ayther do they spin. 
 
 Then the voices of the three were lifted 
 np in a semi-chorus: 
 
 ^>-y-y-"tiier, 
 
 ]^ee-ee-ee-ther, 
 Xay-ay-ay-ther 
 
 do they spin. 
 They toi-oi-oi-oil not, 
 They toil not, 
 They toil not, 
 
 ^y-y-y-tiier 
 
 ]Sree-ee-ee-ther, 
 ]^ay-ay-ay-ther 
 
 do they spin. 
 
 '^ Brethren," said the gray-haired old- 
 fashioned pastor, when the choir had 
 finished, ^' we will begin the service this 
 morning by singing the familiar hymn, 
 ^'And Am I Yet Alive? "—Chicago Daily 
 Tribune. 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 155 
 
 Story of "Nearer, My God, to Thee.'' 
 
 (This hymn was written by an English girl, who 
 did not live to know the glory that awaited it.) 
 
 '^As a writer, as a poet, there were few 
 ill the literary world of London (in the 
 forties) who had not heard of Sarah Mower 
 Adams, the gifted woman to whom all 
 Christendom to-day pays homage in its 
 love for her immortal hymn, ^ i^earer, My 
 God, to Thee/ '' writes Clifford Howard 
 in the February Ladies^ Home Journal. 
 " It w^as w^ritten in 1840, and had subse- 
 quently been set to music by Eliza Flower, 
 and included in a collection of hymns writ- 
 ten and composed by the two sisters. Only 
 within that year had their book of ^ Hymns 
 and Anthems ' been published, and the 
 hymn that was destined to inspire the world 
 had then been heard but once or tmce, and 
 within the walls of a single church — South 
 Palace Chapel, London. 
 
156 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 '' It was not, however, until after the 
 year I860, when the present well-known 
 tune was composed for it by Dr. Lowell 
 Mason, of 'New York, that the hymn at- 
 tained its widespread popularity. Up to 
 that time it had attracted but little notice. 
 Through the spirit of Dr. Mason's sympa- 
 thetic music it was quickened into glorious 
 life and brought within the reach of every 
 congregation and every Christian soul. But 
 this was long after the author of the hymn 
 had passed away. She died in 1848, with- 
 out knowing of the triumph and the glory 
 that awaited her work. Her grave in the 
 little ^dllage of her birth is unmarked by 
 any monument of her fame." 
 
 Exceeding Abundance of Grace. 
 
 When Merle D'Aubigne was a student in 
 Germany, he went to Haldane, perplexed 
 with doubts. " Were I to rid you of 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 157 
 
 these/' said Haldane, '' others would 
 come to take their place. There is a 
 shorter way of annihilating them. Let 
 Christ be really to you the Son of God, 
 Saviour, Lord, author of eternal life, and 
 the light of Christ will lead you into all 
 truth." Afterwards, when, studying 
 Ephesians, he came to the twentieth verse 
 of chapter third, the expression, ^'exceed- 
 ing abundantly,'' fell on him like a new 
 revelation. He and his two fellow-students 
 knelt and prayed. " When I arose," said 
 Haldane, ^^ I felt as if my strength were 
 renewed like the eagle's and I were mount- 
 ing up as on wdng-s. From that time I com- 
 prehended that my own syllogisms and 
 arguments were of no avail, and that Christ 
 was able to do all, by the ^power that 
 worketh in us.' The habitual attitude of 
 my soul was henceforth to lie at the foot 
 of the cross." Fletcher, on one occasion, 
 similarly overcome, cried out, '' Oh, my 
 
158 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 God! I am an infidel even yet! '^ He had 
 come to see so much more of the infinite 
 depths of the riches of grace than ever 
 before he had been wont to suppose true, 
 that he was overwhelmed. 
 
 The Holy Are Not Exempt from Temptation. 
 
 It is not in the power of holiness to 
 render its possessor inaccessible to evil 
 assaults. A perpetual liability in this re- 
 spect is an unchangeable circumstance of 
 probation. If holiness in the highest de- 
 gree were inconsistent \\dth temptation, 
 then was Jesus unholy, for He was 
 tempted, and Adam was created impure, 
 for he was tempted to evil and carried 
 away by it in his primitive state. Surely, 
 if freedom from temptation be a test of en- 
 tire sanctification, then is there not a holy 
 man on earth, for all have been assailed, 
 and often most sorelv when nearest the 
 
A HOME MISSIONARY. 159 
 
 cross. The apostle addressed his brethren, 
 whom he had just congratulated as heirs 
 of a pure and fadeless inheritance, in the 
 following strain: " Wherein ye greatly re- 
 joice, though now for a season, if need be, 
 ye are in heaviness through manifold temp- 
 tations." From this we must infer that 
 temptation is not only possible, but need- 
 ful. In our state of trial it may be re- 
 quired, perhaps, as a test of fidelity and 
 patience. It seems to be God's permissive 
 instrument to try and perfect the graces, — 
 Eev. A. Lowrey, D. D. 
 
 The Old Way. 
 
 To stand up for Jesus when it is costly; 
 to be Bible Christians when the Church 
 and world conspire to make the way to 
 heaven an easy one ; to contend for the old 
 doctrines of the apostles and prophets when 
 it occasions great reproach; to assume that 
 
160 EXPERIENCES OF 
 
 self-denial and non-conformity to the world 
 are esse^itials in our religion; to insist upon 
 the demonstrations of the Spirit with 
 power, and its attestation to its own work; 
 to declare that the old way of the cross is 
 the only way to God — is the special mission 
 of the few who walk in white. But to do 
 this, relying upon God, is to be in the 
 furnace and not feel the flame ; to be among 
 lions, but dwelling securely. — Selected.