The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-06-20
SAM JONES THE REvlvALIsT

SAM JONES THE REVlVALIST. Nashville Corr. of St. Louis Republican.
 Some four weeks ago few of the re- Ggious enthusiasts of tie city began to talk of Sam Jones, the revivalist, and his wonderful power. He was almost un- known, but the report spread that he was an evangelist of great strength and elo- quence. First, he paid visit to the smaller towns of the state, and the coun- try press teemed with Sam Jones' siy ings." These, for the most part, were coarse and uncouth, bu: each one con- tained telling point. He put things in an original way, which, while often unique and amusing was yet convnc- ing. He paid preliminary visit to Nashville and his two sermons were rather disappointing, causing savage criticism and comment on the roughness of his language. Some of the clergy men openly denounced him. His friends, however, went ahead to their work, and it was decided to hold a revival For this purpose nearly S4 GOO was readily raised, the contributions coming princl- pally from the business men. He was engaged for 20 days, B of which he has successfully filled, holoins three services day.
 From 900 to 10 900 have heard him at each service. Many well-known men, given up as hopeless cases, have been con- verted. Leading gamblers have avowcd their intention of never again touching a card and of becoming church members. Leading business men have been most earnest in aiding his work. Committees have waited on him and urged his ac- . ceptance of checks of $500 and SI 900 all of which he refused, saying that the good he does is all the reward he wants One jealous convert has rendered him a lot, and the money is ready for building him house if he will consent to remain here.
 In his sermons s-if his talks can be SO designated-he declares that he was a gambler, drupkard, and the worst of men u0til his conversion I2 years ago. Among the best known of his converts is Gen. William H. Jackson, proprietor of the Belle Mead stock farm, the home of Bonnie Scotland, Luke Blackburn, En- quirer, Great Tom, and other noted ra- cers.
 In the little town of Cartersville, the county seat of Barrow county, Ga, in the year I84o the oted evangelist was born, His father, Captain John Jones, was a soldier Tn the late rebellion, and after wards ptacticed law. His grandfather was Methodist preacher, and SO were several of his uncles, prominent among them being Colonel Robert H. Jones, who, after valiant service as a soldier, entered the ministry, and is now an hon. cred and successful member of the North Georgia Conference.
 During his youth Samuel received good academic education, and besides was studious reader. The grammar and rhetoric used by him in his sermons are not the result of ignorance, but are assumed for a purpose. Early in life he displayed preference for the legal pro- fession, which he adopted, and in the courts of his native county practiced some three years, and was looked upon as very successful and rising member of the bar.
 In his twentieth year he won the heart and hand of fair and gifted daughter of the blue grass state, and they were married at her fathers home, near Bowl ing Green. His domestic life has been a very happy one, and at present his fam fly consists of six children, the last addi. tion having arrived only tive days before he commenced the recent Chattanooga meeting.
 During his early life, and while prac. dcing in the courts, his life was far from exemplary, and he was addicted to sev. eral bad traits. He was generous to a fault, and that free, jevial and liberal spirit which has ever characterised him may be assigned as the real cause of his youthful indiscsetions, for although very wild and often wicked, his acts were the result of impulse, and nothing of vic. ious character has ever been discovered in his nature.
 The death of his father in 1870 awak. ened within him sense of his religious duties, and shortly afterward, under the ministration of General Clement A. Evans, the renowned Georgia preacher, who was at the time conducting a pro- tracted meeting near the Jones home sesad, the wicked young man was con. vsrted and took membership in his church.
 His career as . minister began shortly after his conversion, and for over 10 years he labored among the different churches of his native state, and his plain, straight forward manner of preaching soon created for him aname as . revivalist, and the number of his converts was something wonderful. His first evangelistic work outside of his native state vas in the year 1881, and the scene of his labors ~as the state of Alabama. He then, at different periods, visited Florida, Mississippi, Ker- tucky, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina