The life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers

Front matter

Ill

He Life

5e¥. Walter Ellis Footers

Foreword

It is unnecessary to say that this book is not a worthy appreciation of its subject: to do so, would be only anticipating the verdict of every intelligent reader that knew and loved this wonderful man who lived so nobly and wrought so effectively for God and man. To set forth, with accurate words and in attractive phrase, his worth and service, is beyond the power of my pen. However, this little book is my best effort to describe his character and portray his works and. show him living and toiling as his brethren saw him.

I gratefully acknowledge the kindness of many of his friends, both lajnnen and pastors, who have assisted much in sending me reminiscences and appreciations of his worth.

Especially do I acknowledge my debt to Mrs. Burrilla B. Spencer — since deceased — widow of the late Dr. J. H. Spencer, for the privilege of reading the autobiography of her distinguished husband — still in manuscript and now deposited in the archives of the Kentucky Baptist Historical Society at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. From this manuscript, I gathered many items of great importance v which could not have been found anywhere else. Dr. Spencer said on many occasions that he could not very well write an account of his own life and work without saying a great deal about Walter E. Powers, his yokefellow for thirty years in the ministry. I have also made copious use of biographical sketches: in Dr. Spencer's History of Kentucky Baptists, but in almost every case they have been supplemented by conversations with Mr. Powers, during the three years he lived after I was requested to begin to collect material and prepare to write his biography.

It is not inappropriate to record the fact that this work was projected at the request of four noble laymen who came under the influence of Mr. Powers in their young manhood and were so gripped by him in the formative period of their characters, that they have never ceased to love and admire him for what he had been to them. All these brethren except one reside in Lexington. Their names are as follows: Sam B. Eoyster, J. N. Merchant, Louis M. Moore, and J. Harlan Callis.

And lastly, this book could not have been written without the memoranda of the man whose life and work are herein set forth. He furnished copious notes of his youth, young manhood, his long service in the ministry and his intimate relations with many laymen and vi ministers in Kentucky who have ceased from their labors and gone to their reward on high.

Thomas Carlyle says that the history of the w T orld is the biography of great men and that admiration for a great personality is the most vitalizing influence in the life of a man. Manliness, courageousness, loyalty to convictions, devotion to duty, and the power of achievement, are characteristics that enter into the make-up of a great man, and measured by these, Walter E. Powers deserves to have his name writ large in the history of Kentucky Baptists. His ministry was manly and courageous, and this little book is sent forth in the hope that it may inspire his brethren in the pastorate with the spirit of his unremitting devotion to duty, so free from taint of self and characterized by an unswerving loyalty to the Master, that made him so great a power for good in the world, also with the hope that it may perhaps be used of God to determine some young man, who has not yet made choice of his career, to give his life to the work of preaching the Word.

VII

ACTION AND REACTION.

If we knew all the influences that go into the making of any character, if we were able to compare them in detail and tabulate accurately all the factors which have acted on any man in his childhood and upbringing to manhood, we should be amply furnished with data for a satisfactory biography. Goethe says: "Everything that happens to us leaves some trace behind; everything contributes imperceptibly to make us what we are.'' Tennyson makes Ulysses, the hero of the Trojan war. express the same idea : "I am a part of all that I have met''; and Byron says: "I live not in myself, but I become a part of that around me."

It is no marvel, then, that the biographer wants to know all about the parents and grandparents of his hero, or even his more remote ancestors, so that their characteristics can be brought prominently into view. It is especially desirable that he bring into view an accurate photograph of the father and mother — their appearance and physique, their character, their disposition and their mental qualities should be 9

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

delineated : only in this way can the biographer determine how much of his father and mother, respectively, have been transmitted to their offspring. It goes without saying that in this method of presenting a sketch of the life and work of any man we find at the very outset that we are not dealing with an independent unit, but with a survival and re-appearance of many features of character and conduct that seemed to be buried in the oblivion of the past.

Again, it is important for the biographer to have knowledge of the more external influences — schools and school teachers, neighbors, home, pecuniary circumstances, the natural scenery of his environment, and by no means the least in the present case, the religious and the political atmosphere of the time. All these hold a fundamental place in moulding the character of the individual and making him what he is, and thus in many subtle ways they determine the course of the future life.

Scientists tell us that the two master influences in the world are heredity and environment. These two influences make men what they are, and they unceasingly play upon all men's lives from childhood to old age. But while these influences are moulding a man 's character and shaping his conduct, it is in his "■10

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

power to grasp the opportunity to effect "a more perfect adjustment to higher and better conditions, to balance some inward evil with some power or influence acting from without, in a word to make his environment at the same time it is making him. Now, what heredity has to do for a man is determined outside himself. No man can select his own parents. But every man, to some extent, can choose, or at least modify, his environment. His relation to it, however largely determined by heredity in the beginning, is always open to alteration. And so great is man's control over environment that he can so direct it as either to undo, modify, perpetuate or intensify earlier hereditary influences within certain limits.

The working of the foregoing influences is well understood by men in the ordinary affairs of life who have the habit of noting what is going on around them and are possessed by the faculty of tracing cause and effect. But for the sake of clarity a concrete example is offered which strikingly illustrates the claim that it is in a man's power to change his environment and thus appreciably modify the influences of heredity. In what may be called a typical community in Kentucky, sixty years ago, there were present the school-house, the post office, 11

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

the blacksmith shop, the churches, and the saloons. Then, as now, the saloons and churenes, severally and collectively, stood as far apart as it is possible to conceive; then, as now, the churches stood for the conservation of all that is good in the community, the purification of society and the ennobling of manhood and womanhood; but then, as now, the presence of the saloon made for the depreciation of property, the lowering of the standard of morals and the debauching of manhood and womanhood; in short, from any point of view, the principles for which tire saloons have always stood are essentially irreconcilable with the principles for which the churches 'have stood. It is no marvel, therefore, that the presence of the saloon in the community was a disturbing factor in the way of the churches' accomplishing their beneficent ends. And so it came about that at almost every business meeting of one church in a certain community, some member of the church was under discipline for drunkenness. It was also noted that those who were called before the church on account of this breach of Christian conduct said they got the intoxicants from a saloon, owned and operated by one of the members of the church. The cases of discipline were so many and came up with such frequency that 12

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

one member of the church, after close observation, mature consideration and fervent prayer over the condition of things in the congregation, gave notice that at the next monthly business meeting in the church, he would offer a resolution requiring the saloon-keeper to give up his iniquitous business on pain of being dis-fellowshipped by the church.

At the time to which reference is made, there was no precedent to justify such a proceeding, and by many good men in the church and upright citizens outside, the object of the resolution was regarded as an unwarranted interference with a man's personal liberty. However, at the appointed time, the resolution was offered and after two hearings when the question was discussed pro and con at gre^t length, the church, almost unanimously, adopted the resolution, and the fellowship of the church was withdrawn from the man on account of his contumacy; But the action of the church, and the discussion of the principles involved, changed the moral atmosphere of the community so that it was a better place for man to live in and bring up their children to manhood and womanhood. The environment was changed because one man had the alertness of mind to see and the courage of heart to act. 13

II. His Forebears

Walter Ellis Powers was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, June the 26, 1824. His paternal grandfather was one of the pioneers of Kentucky and came into the western wilderness when it was still a part of the domain of Virginia, and then known as Fineastle County. Afterwards, by an act of the Virginia legislature, it was called Kentucky County. Clement Powers, the father of Walter, was born before Kentucky was admitted into the Union in 1792 ; thus it came about that he could claim to have been a resident of both Virginia, and Kentucky without changing his place of residence. To Clement Powers and his wife were born eight children, three sons and five daughters, all of which, except one daughter, grew up to manhood and womanhood. Our hero was the fourth child in the sequence of births. Walter's mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Ellis, was born during the last years of the eighteenth century, in Culpepper County, Virginia, a section of the Old Dominion that is hallowed in the mind and heart of every Baptist who takes any interest in the sufferings and achievements 15

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

of our Baptist fore-fathers. In this county, as well as in other parts of Virginia, during Colonial days, persecution raged against the Baptists in every conceivable form, and cruelty seemed to have taxed its ingenuity to invent new modes of punishment and annoyance. Concerning those vexatious days, Dr. Armitage says: ' ' There were some noted cases of holy triumph, such as in the prison at Culpepper, whence Ireland, much after the order of Bunj^an, who was had home to prison in the county jail of Bedford. One could hardly believe the story of the lengths to which these persecutions were carried, were they not well accredited historical facts. Powder was cast under the floor to blow up the jail in which Mr. Ireland was incarcerated, brimstone was burnt to suffocate him, and the attempt was made to administer poison to end his life. However, these diabolical schemes were frustrated, and after much suffering, he hardly escaped with his life; yet he says, 'My prison was a place in which I enjoyed much of the divine presence; a day seldom passed without some token of the divine goodness toward me.'* " Somewhat different, though none the less Satanic, were the persecutions meted out to David Barrow who afterwards came West and became one of the ablest and most influential 16

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

Baptist ministers in Kentucky at the beginning of the nineteenth, century. Of the rectitude of his life, loyalty to the cause of Christ and constancy of zeal and piety, it would be difficult to say too much. But these things did not save him from the minions of the persecuting power. "In 1778, Mr. Barrow was invited to preach at the house of a gentleman, living on Nansemond river, in Virginia, near the mouth of James river. A preacher of the name of Mintz accompanied him. On their arrival, they were informed that they might expect rough usage. And so it happened. A gang of well-dressed men came up to the stage, which had been erected under some trees. As soon as the hymn was given out, the persecutors sang an obscene song. They then seized both the preachers and dragged them down to a muddy pond, saying to them : ' As you are fond of dipping, you shall have enough of it.' They then plunged Mr. Barrow into the mud and water, holding him under until he was almost drowned. They then raised him up and asked him derisively if he believed. In this manner they plunged him the third time, asking him each time if he believed. He finally said: 'I believe you will drown me/ They plunged Mr. Mintz but once. The whole assembly was shocked. The women shrieked. 17

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

But none dared to interfere; for about twenty stout young fellows were engaged in this dastardly conduct. They insulted and abused the gentleman who invited them to preach, as well as every one who spoke in their favor. Before these persecuted men could change their clothes, they were dragged from the house and driven off by these outrageous churchmen.

' ' Such were some of the persecutions the Baptists had to endure only a little over a hundred years ago, for no other crime than that of preaching the Gospel. And let it not be forgotten that the persecutors were members of the Episcopal church, under whose auspices these horrid outrages were committed. But while it would be unwise to forget that the principles which led to these monstrous cruelties in the past would lead to the same results again should their adherents ever gain sufficient power, yet let no one entertain a vindictive, or even unkind, feeling toward the members of that persuasion. ' '

It would be super-serviceable to set forth again these well-attested occurrences in Baptist history, but for the fact that so many, even of our own people, have such an inadequate knowledge of the history of the Baptist denomination, and doubtless many persons who have not taken 18

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

the pains to inform themselves would receive with incredulity an account of the persecutions suffered by the Baptists in Virginia and other colonies before the founding' of the American Republic.

The centennial of American Independence, in 1876, was deemed by the Baptists throughout the country a fit occasion to recount their history and accentuate their distinctive doctrines. The people generally were much enlightened concerning our history. It was an occasion of grateful and stimulating interest But there were some surprises where they would have been least expected. On one occasion, before a large audience in the First Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia, the late Dr. J. L. M. Curry thrilled his hearers by a simple but masterly recital of the persecutions and sufferings of Virginia Baptists. Of course, he recounted the sufferings of the Craigs, Barrows, Wallers, and others. On returning home from the meeting, the daughter of one of the deacons, a very intelligent young woman, expressed surprise that so well-informed a man as Dr. Curry should believe that people had ever been persecuted in Virginia for preaching the Gospel. And a more remarkable case, showing the ignorance of men, otherwise well informed, concerning the princi- 19

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Foivers.

pies and practices of Baptists, is that which used to be told by Dr. J. Wm. Jones, who was, at the time of the occurrence, pastor of the Baptist church in Lexington, Va., and Gen. R. E. Lee was at the same time president of Washington and Lee College. Dr. Jones and Gen. Lee were on intimate terms of friendship with each other, and frequently exchanged social calls. General Lee called on Dr. Jones one afternoon when he was not at home. The next time they had occasion to meet, Dr. Jones expressed regret that he was not in when the General called. To this, Gen. Lee replied that the visit was nothing more than the recognition of social amenities between neighbors and friends, and he observed that he supposed the Doctor had been called to the home of one of his parishoners to christen an infant, or was engaged in some other pastoral duty.

Now, it is not unreasonable to believe that the stories of the persecutions and sufferings in Virginia, so unrighteously inflicted on our Baptist forefathers, and so patiently and courageously endured by them, were, again and again, told in the presence of Nancy Ellis — the future mother of our (hero — who was old enough to have known and heard many of the men and women who had perfect knowledge of the par- 20

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

ties that were the victims of so unrighteous proceedings. And the results of scientific observation and the uniform teachings of the Bible justify us in believing that the repeated narration of those stirring scenes and events made a lasting impression on the young mind and impressible heart of the future mother of our hero and entered largely into the formation of her character; and, in like manner, a knowledge of those events, being transmitted to her son, they became an appreciable factor in determining the manner of man he should become. We shall learn more of our hero's mother when he tells us of her beautiful character and her teachings and influence on his early life.

Mr. Powers was born at a time in the settlement and development of our Commonwealth, when many of the revolutionary heroes were still living. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had a little more than two years to live when the fourth child of Clement Powers and his wife was born. Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of Kentucky, died in the same month that Jefferson did. James Monroe died in 1831. John Marshall and James Madison lived on till the year 1836, twelve years after Mr. Powers was born. Henry Clay, who has been in his grave more than sixty years, was at the zenith of his bril- 21

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liant career as orator, statesman and diplomat, when our hero first saw the light.

Many of the Baptist pioneers in the Commonwealth were still living and in active service when Mr. Powers was born. Walter Warder lived till the year 1836. Edmund Waller labored on till the year 1842, and his distinguished son, John L. Waller, was born only seventeen years before the subject of this biography, and he reached the zenith of his powers shortly after our hero attained to man's estate. For many years, Mr. Powers was neighbor to Wm. Vaughan, who was born in Pennsylvania, February 22, 1785, and died at Danville, Ky., March 31, 1877. Of this truly great man and prince in Israel, Dr. J. M. Pendleton wrote to Dr. Spencer on this wise : ' ' I have heard the great preachers, so called, East and West, North and South, but I have heard no man superior to Dr. Vaughan."

The stirring days of the founding of the American Republic seem a long time back, and yet just a few links in the chain of time join us with that period. It is not a little remarkable that Mr. Powers was, so to speak, contemporary with every man that has been president of the United States, except George Washington, including Woodrow Wilson, the present incumbent of the White House. 22

III. Early Environments

Walter E. Powers was the son of a prosperous farmer, and from childhood, both by precept and example, he was taught the importance of industry and economy. This teaching and example were not lost on the lad. After he reached manhood, it was ever a characteristic of him to do with his might whatsoever he found to do. He recognized the fact that ' ' the soul 's play-day is Satan's work-day; the idler the man, the busier the tempter." In his business transactions, before and after he became a preacher, he was scrupulously honest and prompt to meet all his obligations. He was wary of incurring obligations when there were not reasonable grounds for believing he would be able to meet them at maturity. And when he gave up his business and entered the ministry, he asked for no indulgence because he was a preacher and received an inadequate and uncertain stipend for his services. This same diligence and sense of obligation in financial affairs characterized his bearing as a pastor and preacher, even after he had passed his four-score years. Never pastor of any churches, except those located in rural 23

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Potvers.

districts, and sometimes living at a distance of thirty miles from them, yet he never failed to be at his appointments on time. The winter winds never blew too cold, nor did the summer suns shine too hot for him to go to his appointments. A very interesting and characteristic story is handed down, which illustrates the persistence of the man. In going to one of his monthly appointments at Liberty Church in Oldham County, he had to travel over roads that had been made nearly impassable by recent heavy rains. But about one mile of the way, not very far from the church, the road was: a continuous mudhole and often the wheels of the buggy would sink to the axles. After going a short distance on this part of the road, the trust old horse, Charlie, stopped stock still. The preacher tried to coax him to go on, but he wouldn't budge a step. He cut him with the whip, but that only made him more refractory. Something must be done immediately, or the pastor would not get to the church on time. So the preacher threw the buggy robe over Charlie's back and crawled out on it. The horse then responded promptly when he *was told to go on; and thus the pastor rode on to the. church, where a large congregation awaited his coming. One result of this unusual experience

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

was, that at the next meeting of the fiscal court of Oldham County, a petition was presented to have an allowance made for the improvement of the road. The allowance was granted, and the road was improved.

When not in school, the boys in the Powers home were required to work on the farm, and the girls were taught and required to practice the acts of household industry and economy. Seventy-five years ago, the economic position of women in the average Kentucky home was very different from what it is today. I suspect that there are men and women in many rural districts today who never saw a spinning wheel or a loom. At the time of which the author writes, the greater part of the cloth of which the wearing apparel was made for both men and women, was manufactured in the home, and the hum of the spinning wheel, the noise of the loom and the rattle of the shuttle, as it was driven back and forth by skilful hands, were familiar sounds in every well-ordered Kentucky home. The sight and sound of these implements of industry were a part of the everyday life of our hero.

Like many boys and girls of that day, and

this, too, Walter thought the exactions of father

and mother as to diligence and obedience were

too severe ; but after a lapse of seventy-five

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

years, a backward look on many years of experience and. observation enabled him to see things in a different light and thus he could give a more unbiased judgment as to the discipline in the home in which he was brought up. It was hard for him then to see that discipline was not intended for the pleasure of his parents and an unnecessary interference with the pleasures of the children. In his old age, he could look back and see that what were deemed -unnecessary restraints and painful chastisements were imposed by the hands of a father and mother who had only love for their children.

One little bit of experience was still vivid in the memory of Mr. Powers when he was ninety years old. In the distribution! of labor on the farm, it generally fell to his lot to act as millboy. Once a week, a sack of corn was prepared for the old-fashioned watermill. The corn was generally brought into the family room, after the evening meal, on the cob and shelled by hand and early next morning Walter would have to mount the horse with the sack of corn under him and go to the mill and return in time for school, if school were in session. Some of the bright lads who are in school today would find going to mill in this way a more difficult performance than it seems to be in the telling 26

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Pavers.

of it In the first place, the com had to be so divided that there would be an equal amount in each end of the sack and then laid on the horse with mathematical precision, and when the rider mounted, he would have to sit with military erectness, lest the equilibrium should be destroyed and the sack of corn would slide to the ground. This misfortune has befallen many a boy in going to mill and then he would have to wait till some one came along and helped him get the sack on the horse again.

The facilities for acquiring an education during the boyhood days of our hero were not so good as they are today. And yet good and effective work was accomplished in the schools of that period. Many of the lawyers, doctors and preachers, who afterwards attained to eminence in their professions, received their preliminary training in those schools. Walter was kept in school with more regularity than the average boy in the neighborhood, and he enjoj^ed all the advantages offered by the common schools at that time. Moreover, he was permitted to attend some select schools. These schools were sometimes taught by a man who acted in the three-fold capacity of teacher, trustee and disciplinarian. In short, the school was his, and effective teaching was the only basis of 27

The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers.

his appeal for securing students whose parents or guardians paid for their tuition. Then, again, these schools were taught in what was called "the Academy/' where two or more teachers worked together in conducting a school. The Powers boy received training in one such school that was presided over by Thomas Rice, whose intellectual furnishings and scholarly attainments attracted the notice of the trustees of Georgetown College, and they offered him the presidency of that institution. This offer, however, was declined by Mr. Rice, and he continued teaching a select school which Walter attended for several years. Also he received instruction in another school of the same kind conducted by one Professor P. D. Porter. So it can be said that he received a fair English education, and it is known also that he acquired some knowledge of the Latin language, though he never became proficient in reading that language.

IV. Born Again

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou nearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit.'' There is something in the spiritual life which cannot be explained or fully comprehended and which reveals itself only in its manifestations and can be known only by experience; it is a life which no one can trace backwards to its origin or forward to its culmination. But there is also present in every genuine conversion the human element which can, in a measure, be understood. While reverently acknowledging the sovereignty of God in the matter of salvation, there are many wise and good men who hold that in conversion the human agency is always present.

Mr. Powers never could trace in detail all the human influences that led to his conversion. In his case, however, as in all others, human agencies had their part in bringing about his salvation. It was his good fortune to be the son of a mother who studiously read her Bible and meditated on its teachings, incorporated them into her life and diligently taught them to her 29