The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-04-26
REV. SAM. r. JONES.
q he Great Georgian visits Anderson, and
Lectures and breaches, to Large Audi

V SlsAN
The long wish of great many of our
Kpeople to hear and.s the great Georgia
preacher, Rev. Sam. p. Jones' has been
gratifed, and since Sunday lie has been
the talk of the city. There is perhaps no
man in the United States to-day who has
been more severely criticised by the Press
than he, but Notwithstanding this, he still
holds his own. Many of our citizens who
had read these criticisms had formed an
opinion OF the man before his coming
and they naturally expected to see gen.
uine hyena or some other rare animal in
human shape. But in this they were
disappointed; he is simply man, of the
average size, but he is certainly Won
derful mana genius.
Before speaking of his lecture and ser.
mons in this city, we do not think briei
| sketch of his life would be out Of place
here. Mr.. Jones was born in Gainesville,
Ga,-his present home-in 1S49. His
father was lawyer, but several of. his an-
cestors were connected with the ministry.
His early life was marked by restless
ness and recklessness that threatened
nothing but evil, but the death of his
father led to the conversion of the young
man. Such scene as was witnessed in
that chamber of death is not often beh eld.
The hour was tragic; falling on the floor
the prodigal son cried ont I'll quit, I'll
quit; God be merciful to mo sinner.''
The great change came by the renewing
power of the Holy Spirit. The yonng
convert soon had o desire to preach, aud
in 1872 was admitted to the North Geor-
gia Conference, but it was not until 1876,
in Floyd County, Georgia, that he
emerged from obscurity. For over ten
years he labored in. the various churches
of his native State, but in 1881 went to
Alabama He in turn visited Florida,
Mississippi, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee,
South Carolina, New York, Ohio, etc.,
etc. His audiences ran into the thou
sands, and in Nashville, Tennessee, he
was so successful that crowds were turned
away nightly. He has since visited Cana
da aud nearly every State in the Union,
and to-day among the many religious
revivalists no one is attracting more
attention than he.
Mr.. Jones came to Anderson at the
solicitation ofthe Methodist congregation.
He arrived in the city Saturday afternoon
from Greenville. For ten days preced-
ing Saturday tickets to the lecture were
on sale, and by Saturday evening nearly
all the seats were Sold. The lecture was
in the Methodist Church, which was
comfortably filled with very intelligent
audience. Mr.. Jones appeared on the
rostrum at the appointed hour, and was
introduced by Rev. W. s. Wightman.
he announced as his subject for the even
ing, Character and Characters" and spoke
for more than two hours. His lecture
throughout abounded in humor, logic
and common sense. Many OF his anec.
dotes may have appeared little rough
and blunt to some of his hearers, but
nevertheless every one Of them illustrated
good point and carried its moral with
it. The lecturer showed what constituted
fa good character and how to build it, and
If every one who heard him will only fol.
low bis advice they will be benefited.
At the conclusion of the lecture, Mr..
Jones announced that he would preach
next morning at 10 o'clock.
Sunday morning dawned bright and
clear, and long before 10 o'clock the spa
cious church building was filled to its
utmost capacity, the audience being com.
posed Of people not only from the city
and County, but also from the neighbor-
ing Counties. Many people were unable
to get in the building. Mr.. Jones took his
text from the 9th verse of the 3rd chapter
Of john: "Whoever is born Of God doth
not commit sin; for his seed repaineth in
him and he cannot sin, because he is born
of God" He preached for nearly two
hours, and was listened to very attentive
ly by the large audience. The sermon
was delivered in free, easy style, and
deeply impressed his hearers.
At the conclusion of the service, Mr.:
Jones announced that $500 was needed to
complete the church, aud in short time
he had secured about $40o.
Sunday afternoon at half past o'clock
another service was held, and again the
church was crowded.
Sunday night, at o'clock, the final
service was held, and there was not
standing room in the church, the crowd
In attendance being larger perhaps than al
the morning service. The text was.from
Proverbs, 1lth chapter and 10th verse
GAS righteousness tendeth to life; so he
Guot PU1ou0tA Of1 PWoucGt u w a1o wv =
DEATH" This sermon is considered by
many to be the ablcst Of the three he
preached during his stay. It was per
haps deeper and more impressive, and al
Its conclusion it was very evident that he
had fairly captivated his hearers and re-
moved every prejudice that may have ex'
listed against him. It was certainly 8
grand effort, and no one could have lis
tened to it without being seriously affect
ed.
Before dismissing the congregation Mr..
Jones stated that he had about 60 children
in his Orphans Home, ell of whom were
dependent upon him for their support,
and if any one present felt disposed to
help him in this work, he would be glad
to receive their contributions. In re-
sponse to this call, he received about $3O
Rev. Sam. Jones has come and gone,
and whatever may be said and thought ot
him in other places, there is no defying
the fact that be has made a host Of friends
| in Anderson, and that his visit here has