Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-05-16

Nashville Union.
In the little town of Cartersville,
the county scat Of Barlow county
Georgia, in tie year 1849, the noted
evangelist WAS born His father, Capt
John Jones, was soldier in the late
rebellion, and afterwards practiced
law. His grandfather was a Methodist
preacher, AS was also several OF his
nncies, prominent among them being
Col. Robert III. Jones, who. after gal
iant service as soldier, entered the
ministry, and is now an honored and
successful member Of the North Geor-
gia Conference.
During his youth Samuel received a
good academic education, and besides
was stt5ious reader The grammar
and rhetoric used by him in his SER
mons is not the result OF ignorance,
but Is assumed for purpose. Early
in life he displayed preference for
the legal profession, which he adopted,
and, in the courts Of his native county
practiced some three years, and wiIs
looked upon as a very successful and
s ng member of the bar.
In his twentieth year he won tho
heart and hand OF a fair and gifted
daughter of the Blue Grass State, and
they were married at her fathers
home, near Bowling Green. His do
mestic life has been a very happy one.
and at present his family consists Of
six children, the last addition having
arrived only two days before he COM
menced the Chattanooga meeting.
During his early life and while
practlcing IN the courts, his life was
far from exemplary, and he was adj
dicted to several bad traits. He was
generous to fault and that free, joyial
and liberal spirit, which has ever char
acterized him may be assigned ms the
real cause Of his youthful indiscre-
tions, for although very wild and often
wicked, his acts were the result OF inn
pulse, and nothing of vicious charac-
ter has ever been discovered in his
nature.
The death Of his father in 1870,
awakened within him sense of his
religious duties, and shortly after,
under the ministration of Gen. Glenn
cnt A. Evans, the renowned Georgia
preacher, who was at that time con
ducting protracted meeting near the
Jones homestead, the wicked young
man Was converted, and took member
ship with the church.
lis career rs Il minister began
shortly after his conversion, and for
over ten years he labored among the |
different churches of his native State |
and his plain, straightforward manner |
of preaching soon created for him |
name us a revivalist, a I'd the number |
oi converts was something wonderful |
His first eyangelIstic work outside OF |
his native State was in the year 1881, |
and the scene of his labor was the |
State OF Alabama. He then at differ /
ent periods visited the States of Flor |
ida, Mississippi, Kentucky, Texas. Ten
nessee, South Carolina and New York. |
In the city of Brooklyn, in January of |
the present year, he held four weeks |
in the Tabernacle, DR.. Dewitt
church. The Doctor has
since stated that it was the |
most successful ever held in his church |
and the immediate results was 13S ac-
to his own membership, be- |
sides large number added to neigh |
boring congregations. In all the States
visited his meetings were largely at
tended, and numerous conversions |
were the result
In responce to an inquiry from the
reporter as to the remuneration re-
ceived by Mr.. Jones for his labor, Mr.. |
Gibson stated that the object of his /
preaching was not mercenary one. |
That he was in daily receipt Of letters,
sometimes MS high as twenty q day, and |
from avarv ct,arfcr af the olohn bao-
ging him to come and hold meetings. |
Many Of them contain offers OF fabu-
lous sums Of money to him, if he will |
only come. r. such letters this plain
spoken, fearless defender OF the right |
and oondemner OF the wrong has but |
one answer; all that he asks is the |
hearty co operation of the clergy and |
laymen in his efforts to save souls, and |
he has never yet accepted call for a
n,oneyed stipulation