Tag Archives: Civil War

14b. Robert Lewis

April 18, 2009

Rev Robert Lewis, son of Samuel Howell Lewis and Jane Darnell Lewis, was born in Clay (Jackson) County, TN May 12, 1832 and died in Stonefort IL December 6, 1919.  He is buried in the Joyner Cemetery outside Stonefort, where many Lewis family members including his father and generations of descendants are buried. (Note: There is some controversy about his mother being Jane Darnell. Family tradition and his obituary state it, but to date no source documents have been found.)

His mother died when he was about twelve years old.  His father Samuel Howell Lewis, a schoolteacher, then broke up housekeeping, bringing his three sons to Southern Illinois, placed them in good homes near Stonefort.  He kept in touch with his children and gave them a common school education.

Robert came before the people in early manhood as a singing school teacher, and a little later taught common school in the rural districts, teaching winter terms over a period of thirty-four years.

He showed a dedicated preference for rural life, being a practical farmer and stock breeder.  He was converted to the cause of Christ in 1852 and entered actively into the Christian duties.  In that same year he was married to Miss Sarah Joyner (b. December 6, 1833, d. February 16, 1864). Sarah was the daughter of Joshua and Mary McDonald Joyner. They had a daughter Henrietta and son (Joshua Samuel) Howell Lewis who lived to adulthood. Another daughter Florence was born in 1860 and died in 1871. A daughter Mary and son William H died in infancy, and their markers at Joyner Cemetery do not indicate dates.

He was ordained a minister of the gospel by a General Baptist Presbytery at the Little Saline Church, in Saline County, IL, October 23, 1858, remaining with this denomination for thirteen years, serving various churches as pastor and assisting in evangelistic meetings, severing his relations with the General Baptists when a Seventh Day Baptist church was organized at Stonefort.  He took active interest in the politics of our country, both local and national, and filled various county and township offices.  It was his habit to meet the political issues without compromise.  In the presidential campaign in 1856 it was very unpopular in southern Illinois to express anti-slavery sentiment, the weight of public opinion being with the South.  At that time, although endangering his life, he in a public debate, condemned human slavery and was one of only seven men of Johnson County who cast votes for the Republican nominee, John C. Freemont.  Again in 1860 he was with the minority of only seven in his precinct who cast votes for Abraham Lincoln.

At the opening of the Civil War he volunteered for service in the Federal Army, enlisting with the 31st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B; was appointed first sergeant August 10, 1861; commissioned second lieutenant February 26, 1862.  He participated in the battles of Belmont and Donelson, receiving promotion to first lieutenant September 3, 1862 for meritorious service at Fort Donelson.

Owing to factional strife in his company and failing health of his wife Sarah Joyner, he resigned and left the service of the army March 27, 1863.  His wife died February 17, 1864.  He was married to Miss Minerva Oshel, April 7, 1866, living with her until her death, February 11, 1908. Minerva was the daughter of Dorothy Farthing Oshel and Oshel. It was through her that the Farthing and Lewis families were connected. Their children were Jennie Lewis Kelley, John Henry Lewis, (Seth) Albert Lewis, Oliver Lewis and his twin Oscar who died in infancy, Cora June Lewis Green, (Robert) Ira Lewis, and Ellis Raymond Lewis.

Robert and Minerva Oshel Lewis

Minerva Oshel Lewis, 2nd wife of Robert Lewis

Minerva Oshel Lewis, 2nd wife of Robert Lewis

He was married a third time to Eugena Martin on January 31, 1909.  She was known as “Aunt Deany”

Here is a photo of Robert’s 80th birthday celebration.

family-group-with-robert-80th-birthday-small4

The Stone Fort Seventh Day Baptist Church was organized March 5, 1871 by Elder M. B. Kelly, a pioneer Seventh Day Baptist of Southern Illinois, assisted by Elder James Bailey.  Elder Robert Lewis entered it at its formation and was at that time formally recognized by the church as an Ordained Seventh Day Baptist minister.  He lived on the farm less than two miles from the church, retaining his home in the church community from its organization until his death, making him a resident minister of the church for more than forty-seven years.  He often supplied the pulpit when the church had another pastor, and was the regularly elected pastor many terms of one year.  He maintained other preaching points near-by and assisted in the organization and pulpit supply of the churches of Bethel and Aenon.  His mental and physical forces were wonderfully preserved, permitting him to continue preaching until eighty-four years of age and to attend the meetings of the church and assist in the services for a year later.

Sources of information on Robert Lewis include:

1850 Census, Pope County, IL

1870 Census, Saline County, IL

1880 Census, Saline County, IL

Obituary, Seventh Day Baptist publication “The Sabbath Recorder” p. 603

Robert’s Illinois Death Certificate

Tombstone Photo in Joyner Cemetery, Stonefort, IL

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Chapter 7 – John Lewis of Monmouthshire (Emigrant John)

April 18, 2009

Chapter 7 – John Lewis of Monmouthshire (Emigrant John)

John Lewis, son of Lewis ap Richard (Prichard, Prickett, Ryckett) and Catherine Morgan,  was born near Abergavenny.   He was baptized at St Telio’s Church Feb 22, 1591/2 in Llantilio Pertholy.

John married Johanne Lewis on Feb 3, 1610.  Johanne’s great-grandfather, Lewis ap John (Wallis) was the vicar of both Abergavenny and Llantilio Pertholy.  There is a Lewis Chapel in the church of Abergavenny in his honor.  Other ancestors of Johanne’s were Lords of the manor Triley on the slope of the Deri Mountain.  The Triley Chapel in the church of St Teilio is dedicated to them.  Their coat of arms are on the east window of the church of Llanddewi Rhydderch.  (GM p 13)

Johanne’s father Richard was Curate and Vicar of St Teilo’s Church, where John was baptized and their three children were also baptized.  It is most likely that John and Johanne met and grew up together in St Teilio’s church since it was the home church of both of their families.

John and Johane Lewis had three children baptized at Church of St Teilio.

1)      Gwenllian, Feb 5, 1611 (same name as John’s maternal grandmother)

2)      Lettus (Lettyce) March 1, 1615

3)      Watkin, January 1, 1621 (same name as John’s maternal grandfather)

Johanne is believed to have died sometime after Watkin was born, although there is no record in the church of her burial.

John had at least two sons, John and Edward, after Johanne’s death.  One author says his second wife was Catherine Phillip, but I am not aware of source documents to support that assertion.

John Lewis’s son John was baptized at the Church of St Teilo on December 15, 1633, and the church record does not name his mother.  It appears the Patronymic naming system was abandoned by 1633 because emigrant John is listed in the church register as John Lewis and not John Lewis Prickett.  The baptism of emigrant John’s youngest son Edward is not in the church register, and records are incomplete starting in 1641???

John Lewis held land and homes in the town of Abergavenny.  John was sometimes referred to as a Merchant, sometimes a Mercer; sometimes a Burgess.  He was also referred to as a Gentleman (used to denote “arms bearing”).  The History of Monmouthshire, Vol I, Pt II, p. 153, presents the “Charter of King Charles I to the Town of Abergavenny,” November 9, 1638, and named John Lewis as Senior Burgess.  One obligation of the office of Senior Burgess was to militarily defend the county in times of distress.

It has been theorized that John Lewis, along with Major William Lewis (likely the son of John’s older brother William, or possibly the nephew of John’s first wife Johanne) and Ensign Lewis (possibly son of Major Lewis), led the defense of Chepstow Castle in English Civil War when Cromwell and the Puritans took on King Charles and the Church of England.  The castle is less than 25 miles from Abergavenny, and on the border with England.  Cromwell’s forces of seized Chepstow Castle and overtook it on May 25, 1648.  A John Lewis, Major William Lewis and Ensign Lewis were taken prisoner and later exiled to Barbados for two years.

Recent evidence indicates it was not John Lewis, but another Lewis who led the defense at Chepstow Castle.

Land sale records in Wales dated May 6, 1652, show John was selling property just prior to coming to Virginia.  It was customary to list a wife in the sale if a man was married, and John is listed alone, so it appears he was widowed at that time.

If John was indeed exiled to Barabdos, upon returning to England he sold his lands, and sailed to Virginia in 1653 with his nephew Major William Lewis, sons John and Edward, and a Lida Lewis.  They most likely sailed from Bristol, England, but that cannot be confirmed because embarkation records only started being kept at Bristol in 1654, the year after they left for Virginia.

If John was not exiled to Barbados, then some other impetus led him to sell his land and journey to Virginia at an advanced age.

July 1, 1653 his Grant of Land shows he is a resident of Virginia.  John was granted 250 acres on Poropotank (Lewis) Creek.

poropotank-creek-sign2

He died 3 years later and was buried there.  His son John’s wife, Isabella Miller Lewis, is buried there also.  The graves were “discovered” by Dr Malcom Harris in 1948.  The coat of arms on the stones was the key to unlocking our family history.

Stone on John Lewis' Grave

Stone on John Lewis' Grave

John’s tombstone reads “Here lieth interred the body of John Lewis (borne in Munmoth shire) died the 21st of August 1657 aged 63 years.  The anagram of his name I shew no ill”.

The Tidewater area of Virginia has sandy soil, and no local stone suitable for tombstones.  They had to be ordered from England, a process which took about two years and was very expensive.  Gravestones were uncommon in tidewater Virginia in that era, only the wealthiest had them.  The coat and tombstone indicate the survivors of Emigrant John Lewis wanted to make a permanent record of his Welsh family bloodline.

One interesting note is that, as of June 2007, Emigrant John’s tombstone is the oldest known tombstone in King and Queen County, Virginia.  We know Major William Lewis was very wealthy based on the land he purchased, and it is possible  that he is the one who ordered the tombstone for emigrant John.  Emigrant John’s son William was still a minor

First (top left) Quarter – LEWIS ARMS (coat of Rhys Goch)

Second (top right) Quarter – HOWELL Family, Prince of Caerlleon “Gules, three towers triple-towered Argent“  The son of Rhys Goch, Gemilling (Genillin, Kynyllin, Cynhyllyn) married Jenet, daughter of Sir Howel of Caerlleon.  A Grant of Arms was given to him in the eleventh century to use this arms.

Third Quartering – “Argent three Chevronels Gules“.  Coat of the de Turberville family of Crickhowell in Brecon.

Fourth Quartering – “Azure three plates“.  Fourth position is for the wife, so this was the shield of Johanna Lewis of the family Lewis of Llanddewi Rhydderch.  They were acquired by intermarriage with an heiress of the de Trevely family of that parish.  These Arms were borne by Sir Walter de Trevely who came into Wales with the Norman Conqueror, Bernard de Newmarsh.

The top quarter, the Lewis Quarter, was the “Rhys Goch” line of Brecon, Wales

The three other quarterings indicate three heiresses had married into the Rhys Goch Line – heiresses of such prominence that their Coat-of-Arms warranted being included on the shield of that family.

Lewis Motto – “Omne Solum Forti Patria Est” – “Every Land is Home to a Brave Man”.  This motto does not appear rooted in family records in Wales, and may have been originated in Virginia.

Emigrant John Lewis – Family notes:

MAJOR WILLIAM LEWIS (died between 1658 and 1667)

Major William Lewis was the son of Johanna Lewis’ brother William, so he was the nephew of Emigrant John Lewis.  He was a wealthy man when he came to Virginia, and purchased over 10,000 acres of land within five years of his arrival.  He purchased a 2,600 acre farm Chimahocans, which he referred to as “Port Holy” from Colonel John West in 1658.  Upon Major William’s death, the estate passed to Major John Lewis, the elder of the two sons of Emigrant John Lewis that came with him to Virginia.  Major William Lewis was from the Parish of Llantilio Pertholey in Wales, hence his use of the name Port Holy for his residence in Virginia.

EDWARD LEWIS

Possibly born about 1641 in Wales and attained majority in 1662.  Church of St. Teilio records are incomplete after 1640, and Edward’s baptism was not found in the church register.  There is no conclusive evidence of his marriage or any children he may have had, but there are records of an Edward Lewis who might or might not be this Edward.

LIDA (LYDIA) LEWIS

Lida was possibly a wife or daughter of John the Emigrant or Major William Lewis.  No definite identification has been made based on surviving records.  She was not listed in the land sales made by John Lewis before departing Wales, or on the land purchase made by Major William Lewis.  No record of her death has been found.

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Overview – Lewis Family History

April 17, 2009

Lewis is a common name in Wales and the US, with many different Lewises immigrating to the colonies in the 1600s and 1700s.  A lot of well-intended but highly contradictory information has been published about various branches of the family, and unless you go to source data, the task of tracing our Lewis roots becomes quickly tangled.  Our Samuel Howell Lewis family is fortunate to be among a small minority of families that have surviving records that we can be used to trace our ancestry – we can go back 500 years using those source documents.  Many records survived the ravages of  the English Civil War, US Revolutionary War and US Civil War.  We can read church records from St Teilo parish in Wales, Abingdon Parish in Gloucester County, VA and St Peter’s Parish in New Kent County, VA.  We are also most fortunate that our emigrant ancestor’s grave was discovered, and that Grace McLean Moses had the knowledge, desire and resources available to sponsor an exhaustive examination of historical records in Wales to uncover all surviving records of our ancestors.

Here is the family crest of our immigrant ancestor, John Lewis, the key to unlocking the history of our family.

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Chapter 1 – Overview

April 17, 2009

Chapter 1 – Overview

This book was written primarily for descendents of Samuel Howell Lewis, who was born March 12, 1796 in Mecklenberg County, VA; married Henrietta Mabrey July 4, 1818 in Warren County, NC; believed to have had children James, Samuel, Hardin and Ansell; later married Jane Darnell and had children Benjamin Darnell, Ann, Robert, and William Baugh; moved to Southern Illinois with his three youngest sons Benjamin, Robert and Will about 1845 after Jane died; died November 28, 1867 in Pope County, IL and was buried in Joyner Cemetery, Stonefort, Saline County, IL.  This book may be of interest to other descendents of the “Warner Hall” Lewis family as well.

One shortcoming of this book is the relatively little information on descendents Samuel’s sons Dr Ben and William, as well as Samuel’s older children and their descendents. I would be delighted to have contact with any of these descendents and gather more material that could be included in a future revision.

This is written in as straightforward a manner as possible.  Deciphering Welsh history and names was anything but straightforward, twisting both the tongue and brain.  I have tried to integrate much information and distill our history to its essence.  Family Notes are included in several chapters to tie in locations, historical events and people who are not our direct ancestors.

Acknowledgements:  This work could not have been possible without the efforts of family history researchers whose work this report is built upon.

Leland Lewis, whose passion for family history led him to travel widely to research family history. He interviewed many people familiar with our family, and preserved stories and lineage of Samuel Howell’s descendents in his book Lewis Genealogy 1557 – 1982. His stories of family and the area around Stonefort were an inspiration to dig deeper into our roots. Much of the information about Samuel Howell and his descendents comes from Leland’s book, and his descendents have very graciously allowed me to include it in this booklet.

  • Dr Malcom Harris, whose discovery of the grave of John Lewis on Poropotank Creek near Adner, Virginia in 1948 led to unlocking the mystery of our ancestry. He was a country doctor with a keen interest in the history of the area where he practiced medicine, and spent much of his life collecting and publishing that history.
  • Grace McLean Moses, whose unrelenting determination to discover factually supported historical information led to the deciphering of the coat-of-arms on the grave of our immigrant ancestor John Lewis, as well as tracing his history in Wales and Virginia. She documented her research in the book The Welsh Lineage of John Lewis (1592-1657) Emigrant to Gloucester, Virginia, ISBN 0-8063-4542-X. Dr Susan J Daves of the University of Wales was the principal researcher, conducting her extensive work in 1983/ 84 at the National Library of Wales.
  • Col Edgerton Sorely who wrote “Lewis of Warner Hall, The History of a Family” in 1935, providing much valuable information on descendents of Councilor John Lewis of Warner Hall. Although his ancestry of the Lewis family of Warner Hall was borrowed from earlier published works, and is inconsistent with source documents uncovered through recent research, his book is a wonderful source of information on Councilor John Lewis and his descendents. One omission that is significant to our branch of the family is the fact that he does not list Robert Lewis of Mecklenberg as a child of Robert of Granville.
  • John Cook, who transcribed source records across many states which he later published in his four volumes of the book Pioneer Lewis Families. This excellent reference is no longer in print, but can be found in select libraries.
  • David Brown and Thane Harpole, archaeologists who worked at Warner Hall, and published Warner Hall, Story of a Great Plantation, ISBN0-9763585-0-6
  • Dr Edy MacDonald, the driving force behind the Lewis DNA Project.
  • John Davies, author of A History of Wales. Until recently he was a member of the Department of Welsh History at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. He wrote this book in Welsh, and later translated it to English. The book is an excellent source of Welsh information and is easier to read than others I encountered on this history journey.

There has been heated controversy for at least 100 years among Lewis families in America about their origins, and we need to address it now so it does not cause some readers to be distracted later in the book.  One strongly held and widely published story by multiple Lewis families in both Virginia and New England is that their emigrant ancestor is one “General Robert Lewis”, son of Sir Edward Lewis of the Van and Lady Ann Sackville, who come to America with his wife Elizabeth on the ship “Blessing” in 1635, and received a grant of land of 33,333.3 acres.  Several Lewis books state this “General Robert Lewis” is the ancestor of the Lewis family of Warner Hall, while others state he is the ancestor of their separate line.

Here is the data that leads me to not accept General Robert Lewis as our emigrant ancestor:

  • a Robert and Elizabeth Lewis sailed to the New World on the Blessing on July 16, 1635, but according to the Public Records Office in London the ship sailed to New England, not to Virginia where our ancestors landed
  • Robert and Elizabeth Lewis landed in Salem Massachusetts, then moved to Newbury Massachusetts where Robert died in 1644
  • Although Sir Edward Lewis of the Van and Lady Ann Sackville had a son named Robert, there is no record linking Robert Lewis of the Blessing to them
  • The coat of arms used by the Warner Hall Lewis family is not the same coat as Sir Edward Lewis of the Van
  • There has been no military or civil record found of a “General” Robert Lewis in either England prior to 1635 or Virginia following 1635. In fact, the British War Office has no record of any officer of any rank named Robert Lewis at that time
  • All Virginia land grants from 1634 forward are recorded, and there is no grant for 33,333 acres to anyone with the last name Lewis during that era
  • The grave of Isabella Miller, mother of Councilor John Lewis of Warner Hall, is one of the graves in the same small family cemetery as that of John Lewis who emigrated to America in 1653. Those grave stones, and the multiple church, court and land records that survived the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, link our Warner Hall Lewis family to the emigrant John Lewis buried in that cemetery.
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Lewis Family

April 15, 2009

My immigrant Lewis ancestor was a John Lewis who came to Virginia in 1653 after leavng Abergavenny, Wales following the English Civil War.  My ancestors were prominent in the Virginia Colony, with one being the Speaker of the House of Burgess and owner of Warner Hall, a colonial home that stands today along with the original undivided 600 acres as a beautiful bed and breakfast.

Like many settlers, my ancestors moved South and then West, coming to Illinois in the 1840s where we lived until my family moved away in 1965.

My father is buried in the small Joyner Cemetery outside Stonefort, Illinois, near his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and many relatives.

I am working on a book of family history, and am publishing the work in progress on this site.

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The Transition–Leaving Home and Entering Graduate Study

April 6, 2009

The summer of ’35 was a period of crucial change in several areas of my life. My classmate friend, Byron Whitford, from Little Genesee, New York, invited me to spend the summer with his family before entering the School of Theology in September. Being in New York State appealed to me if for no other reason than I would close to Helen Mae Button.

In the beginning of the summer Byron and I teamed up with his Dad, Ferris Whitford, selling HURLBURTIS STORY OF THE BIBLE and Bibles door to door in the rural area around Little Genesee. Our salesmanship was not very productive so we gave up on that project. Next Byron and I undertook cutting wood for a pulp mill. I believe we were to receive $6.00 per cord. The trees we cut were elm and willow growing near a stream. Our task was to cut down the trees–some quite large–saw them into four foot lengths, debark them and stack them in cords. I enjoyed working with ax and two man crosscut saw but Byron was inexperienced and that slowed our production. We didn’t stay with it long.

When it was the season to harvest hay, I moved to Helen Mae’s home and began working in the hay fields for neighboring farmers. The pay was $1.00 a day and dinner. I helped harvest the hay for three farmers I can remember and stayed in the Button home nights. Haying was hard, hot work but I soon learned the correct techniques for “pitching,” “cocking”, “mowing away” etc. When I stopped at Mr. Guilford’s barn for my pay, he stood up from his milking stool, paid me and said, “You were better help than I thought you would be”. (I had letters of recommendation from president Bond and Dean Harley Bond but the farmers weren’t interested in them.) It was while we were in a hay field at work that news came of the death of Will Rogers and Wiley Post in an airplane crash in Alaska on a round-the-world flight.

It was very pleasant living in the Button home while working on surrounding farms but as the summer wore on it became increasingly obvious that Helen Mae was no longer interested in more than a casual friendship with me. I suspect that through our correspondence she may have fantasized a “me” that didn’t measure up to her expectations. It is fair to say that I was devastated by the breakup of what I hoped would be a lasting and deepening relationship. She went to Salem College as a sophomore and I entered the Alfred University School of Theology. It tore at my heartstrings when friends in Salem reported to me that the word on the campus was, “Button, Button, who’s got the Button?”

I attended General Conference at Alfred in August and stayed with my uncle Alvah and Aunt Mary Randolph. Uncle Alvah was said to have the highest grade average of any Alfred alumnus up to that time. He taught me a valuable lesson that has helped me through the years.

At Conference I was asked to speak on the Young People’s program. wrote a speech and asked uncle Alvah to critique it for me. In the introduction I was apologetic. Who was I to be addressing the General Conference, etc., etc.?” On reading my speech, uncle Alvah said, “Elmo, if you have to apologize for what you’re going to say, don’t say it.” I rewrote the speech and have always been thankful for the advise.

How the arrangement came about, I can’t remember but Bertha Lewis went from Alfred Station, New York, to Salem College and lived with my mother. My first year in seminary I lived in Alfred Station with Bertha’s mother, Ivanna Lewis and high school age daughter, Jean. Mrs. Lewis was a brilliant woman who was Postmistress of the Alfred Station Post Office for many years. In high school Jean was an outstanding student. I enjoyed an interesting, happy year in the Lewis home. It was often fun teasing Jean and then retreating to my room where she was not allowed to enter. Ivanna Lewis was an educated conversationalist and a good listener. She helped me through homesickness and intellectual and spiritual trauma. The two mile walk to and from Alfred was good exercise but there were times when the wind and the cold were intense.

It was sometimes difficult going in the beginning days at the School of Theology. (Before leaving home in Salem I went to Pastor Shaw for any advice he might have for me. He simply said, “Just use your good horse sense.”) I did experience some loneliness and homesickness. It was my first extended time away from home and Mamma. Then, too, I had been in the limelight through college in Salem and in Alfred few university students knew me or cared. No doubt I suffered a deflated ego from the ending of my romance with Helen Mae.

There were three of us in Dean Bond’s first class: Marion Van Horn, Luther Crichlow and I. Through our years together we developed warm, strong ties of deep friendship. Marion was the son of a Seventh Day Baptist minister, Christopher Van Horn. I believe he was a Milton College graduate. His health was precarious. Luther Crichlow, a Negro, was a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. He was a fine trumpet player and had played varsity football in college. (Alfred’s football coach persuaded Luther to play tackle on a winning team one year.) I believe Luther Crichlow was the first Negro I had known personally. He and I became fast friends during our years together. The three of us, with Dean Bond, became quite successful singing as a quartet.

I came to seminary with an open mind. There was no preconceived intellectual or theological position I was committed to defend. The conservative religious beliefs of Lon and Amelia Button seemed to work good in their lives and so I thought to lean in that direction until something better came along. In church and college experience I had been surrounded with people of intellectual integrity who practiced genuine Christian principals in their daily lives. The School of Theology proved to be an excellent environment in which to discover direction and meaning for my life.

Dean A.J.C. Bond served as a safe harbor in a stormy sea for me often. He brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to his role as Dean. Perhaps even more importantly, he loved and understood his students. A rich sense of humor was one of the attributes we lauded him for. His teaching field included Bible, homiletics and Seventh Day Baptist polity and beliefs. How fortunate we were to come under his teaching and to have him as a counselor and friend.

Dr. Edgar Van Horn was our professor of practical theology, giving us the techniques of pastoring and administering a church and congregation. In addition to his teaching, he pastored the Second Alfred Church in Alfred Station.

The whole range of history courses related to Christianity and other religions were taught by Dr. Walter Green. We admired him for his prodigious knowledge of his field and his enthusiasm in sharing it. In his college days he had been formidable as a football player. His presence was impressive.

Frail, sweet, elderly Dr. Powell was our Greek professor. Some university student wag was reported to say that he knew Dr. Powell moved because when he saw him at one point on the sidewalk and then looked minutes later he was not in the same place. Dr. Powell had a passion for Greek and tried valiantly to imbue us with it.

The little chapel in the Gothic was a perfect setting for the Sabbath Eve worship services Crich and Van and I conducted for Seventh Day Baptist university students. We took turns leading the services and received excellent support from the dozen or more faithful attendees. It was also in this chapel that we did our practice preaching under Dean Bond’s critical but compassionate ear and eye.

Another activity the three of us became en-aged in was the publication and distribution of the Seventh Day Baptist Youth Newsletter, THE BEACON. We ran each issue off on a mimeograph and when it broke down one option was to end the publication. Instead, we mounted a campaign with youth across the denomination to raise a fund for the purchase of a new mimeograph machine. The campaign was successful and publication of THE BEACON continued.

My first opportunity to conduct a Sabbath Morning Worship Service came when Pastor Harley Sutton invited me take over for him in the Little Genesee Seventh Day Baptist Church one Sabbath. I prepared an eight-typed-page sermon and placed the manuscript on the pulpit at the beginning of the service. At the insistence of the choir director, I wore a choir robe with flowing sleeves and before time for the sermon caught the robe sleeve in the corner of the sermon manuscript. Page by page the sermon fluttered to the floor.

A quick decision was called for. Did I go down the steps, stoop over in my robe, pick up the pages one by one and finally, put them in order? I thought, “I wrote this sermon and I know what’s in it, so let it lay.” I preached without the manuscript and at the close of the service an elderly lady stopped to shake hands and said, “If that was your first sermon, I’d like to hear your last one.” I did not ask her to explain her meaning.

On several occasions our Dean arranged for us to visit other seminaries for guest lectures or conferences. One such visit was to an Interseminary Conference at Gettysburg Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. On the afternoon before the conference began we three had a guided tour of the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield. The experience left a deep impression on us.

At dinner time Crich, Van and I went into a Gettysburg restaurant to eat. As we checked the menu, the waiter said, “Do you want to eat it here or take it out?” Taken aback, we replied, “We want to eat here.” Then the waiter said–looking at Crich–”Your friend can’t eat here.” When he suggested the two of us could stay and eat we informed him, “This place isn’t good enough for us, either”. We were stunned to experience blatant racial discrimination so near the site of a decisive Civil War battle fought less than a century ago.

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