The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1899-05-31

Book keeping, Logic, Chemistry and
Physiology. Two years were spent in
teaching and reading medicine, 1890.
In 1861 the Civil war commenced. He
enlisted and went with his regiment,
the Twelfth Mississippi, to Virginia,
and took part in nearly every engage
ment in which the regiment partIcipa-
ted. He was wounded several times
during the war. At the battle of
Fort Gregg, just few days before the
surrender of Lees army, he received a
wound that came near proving fatal.
The war over, he came home and en-
gagged in teaching. In December, 1866,
he married Miss Elizabeth Davis, who
has been to him a true wife and faith
full companion, an efficient help-meet,
in all his work He then settled the
home, at which he now lives and moved
his church membership from the Fair
River church, into whose fellowship he
was baptized in 1860, to Mount Zion
church. This church. in 1872, licensed
him to preach, and in 1878 he was en-
ployed by the Fair River Association
as it's missionary. During this year
the church had him ordained. The
next year, 1874, he commenced preach
ing to churches. His wOrk-at first
was with old broken down churches, or
new ones just struggling into existence.
This necessarily made the work hard
on him. The amounts received from
the churches, ranged from ten to thirty
five dollars, and in two instances he
preached a whole year and did not re-
ceive a cent of compensation from the
churches. His work was emphatically
a missionary work. He was the mis-
sionary: his wife was the efficient secre-
tary of the board which employed and
sustained him. A few missionary hens,
few faithful COWS, the farm and
schoolroom, were the sources to which
they appealed for contributions to car
ry on the work. These responded right
nobly and the work went on. There
was strong opposition to missions, edu-
cation and pastoral support; and the
blighting curse of intemperance hung
like dark pail over many of the
churches. To correct these evils re-
quired a great deal of labor and pa
tience, and in some instances sharp and
bitter contests were necessary. On
one occasion thirty nine old whisky
soaks, members of church to which
he preached, signed and presented to
him thing, which they called peti-
ton, asking him to resign. He did not
resign. But they-that is he and the
other members of the church helped
some of them to resign, and that set
tied the matter.
For 10 years Bro. Douglass served
the Fair River Association as mod
orator, having previously served eight
years as its clerk. He was a fine par
liamentarian, quick-minded, self-con-
trolled, and suited by nature for a
presiding officer. He was relieved
from service as moderator by his own
request, but in 1895 was reelected
clerk of the Association, and contin-
ued to serve in that capacity up to
the time of his death. Almost his en-
tire ministry was spent in the service
of churches within the bounds of the
Fair River Association. In 1890 81
he lived at Summit and was pastor of
the Mars Hill church in Amite county.
For five years previous to his death he
had been the pastor of the Philadel-
phia Baptist Church at Caseyville.
At the beginning of this year, his
health, already sadly failing, he en-.
gagged to preach for the Philadelphia
church, New Prospect, and Fair River,
having served the latter II years; but
the Master, in whose vineyard he was
always a willing laborer. decreed it
otherwise. On his return home from
Fair River on Monday after the fourth
Sabbath in January, he was taken to
his room and bed with the fatal all
ment which nearly four months later
caused his death.
Up to a little over a year ago, Bro.
Douglass was remarkably well-pre-
served man for his age, and to look