The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-22


 the enlarged congregation gradually as- was, perhaps, the most powerful plain preacher of truth in his church in Vir-, ginia- The enlarged building soon be- n mer. at oG feast a gave notice of semi-daiiy ssrviees morning and afternoon to son- stinue for two weeks, q revival. in fact ,undef the atsplces of the Book of Com. each meeting but the two weeks orig inally contemplated, extended into. weeks with overflow congregations, ana went on Into months with the same success.
 There was a Virginia element of popu- lation resident in Cincinnati, The cot ton States and the West of that time were in blessed harmony for free trade. pr, Cobps, as had become his title, was called to church in that vigorous young extereme Western city. and thither he prepared to go, preparing for his depart ure by the release, internationally of his inhsfitance of property righta m few bslsVes Of his household by madnxnission When the starting time for his family to go along also with the family posses sions When the master started with his family from Cincinnati to the slave bio cese~ of Alabama, the same freed me- groes came with him. back into the fact of slavery as the fact was here.. of their own insistance.
 | The first Bishop of the Episcopal Dio- cese of Alabama took up his abode at Tuskaloosa. in the winter of iS44-45 bring ing the wife of his early marriage. and seven sons and daughters over the river and coast routes- He was as man of commandtng appearance. six feet tall. sparsely built, swathy complexion un- concealed by beard. a high forehead over deep blue eyes, rather of the melancholic cast. His manners bore the simplicity of self-contained man, of strength of character and a perfectly bred gentleman. Not long after the arrival of the Bish- op at Tuskaloosa, some gentlemen of means there proposed to him to take up | his residence at Greene Springs, to open there a classical school for boys, to which he should devote such time as the duties of his Diocese of few parishes night th permit , The proponndsrs , a G % would buy were of the Bishops church, all were not. | The Bishop could not consent. Later. Dr. Henry Tutwiier bought the same property and set up the school there which bears the immortal name in the educational enterprises in Alabama. eT
 Tuskaioosa was the political capital The Bank of the State was thete at att tracted to 1t planters, merchants, men of prosperity and1 men of distress in af- fairs, and of the latter class there were many. On one side, at a distance across | the hills, was the Valley of the Tennessee l and its plantations; on the other the praf- | ries, stretching the plantations from the l Chattahooehe to the Tom Bigbee. There were to be found his organized parishes;
 
 | church at Tuskaloosa, small church at | Florence. Tuscumbia and Huntsville. he | found. The wide territorial gap inter vened until the small churches at irreg- | ular but long distances, between Eufaula and Demopolis. were to be found Christ | Church at Mobile was prosperous, but 1 there was no other Episcopal church in that town The Bishops salary was A.5Oo. l increased In a few years by $250
 | In 1S47 the capital was removed to Montgomery. Some of the laity there ere | op to buy residence in or near the town. | He invested the donation in the small house, and originally large piece of | ground, the place of his abode from 1859 1 to the day of his death, and these prem ises are yet occupied by his descendants. | Before the Bishop removed his resi- deEce frow Tuscaloosa. he gave evidence | of the practical sympathy with the af- | fairs of men which never ceased to at- tract him personally to every community | in which he lived He joined with A. J. | Pickett, pr. Garland, Dr. Barnard. and 1 number of gentleman. who were in att versity. in the organizing of the Alabama | Historical Society. At this period. too. evidence of increas- l ing organization 1.-the Diocese was mani | fested in the subscriptions by the laity II of about $11, 900 to permanent fund. since largely augmented the interest to be ap- piled to the Bishops salary.
 |
 I | seemed to have been practically regu- l lated by circumstances dependent on gen. | eral social conditions developed, as he | lived at one or the other Of the places, Tuskaloosa and Montgomery; the one the | cruder and the other the riper time. Com | ment here is upon the man of enlarging influence on the thought and manners of
 peoples. When the first Bishop of Ala
 bama came to make the plans for his
 work, from Tuskaloosa. he seems to have decided upon these several objectives, | -aAlwv NA 1A kn.A
 several widely scattered parishes to do each his best work; to visit in person, every church family that he
 could reach in AIabamS and thus to try
 ganiZed, and to lay the foundations of new parishes; to build a church school for
 boys; to build a church school for girls; | to secure religious instruction for the | negroes on the plantations.
 He kept horse and gig and drove | himself far and wide. The mail stage Ga. via Montgomery. Marion and Greens
 boro to Columbus, Miss. from Mobile via Montgomery. to Huntsville. There were connecting cross lines. one to Tuskaloosa, but the cross lines were lew in number All the stage coaches carried the Bishop l free, When the lines came in to fullest development, they were all owned by Jemison, Powell Ficklin & Co., Robert | Jemison of this copartnership Is remem. | bered as the author of the resolutions in
 the State Senate of February, 1860, pledg
 ing the State to call a sovereign conven.
 elect a President in November. R. II
 Powell of the copartnership, Duke oi | Birmingham" was killed ultimately by youth in Mississippi Benjamin F. Ffck
 lin died suddenly in Washington City | Hotel, long after the war. from hemor rhage from swallowing fish bone a I breakfast table. These "magnates'' O
 the stage lines controlled passenger traf I fic absolutely.
 Bishop Cobbs soon proved to the par
 tsh clergy that his faculty of admins stra
 ton was equal to the conditions. Th'
 church grew safely and well. Upon being
 informed, as serious news, by some well
 wisher of watchful turn of mind tha
 one of his clergy habitually chastiseC
 himself, monk like. An" replied tn,
 Bishop. Well. if he only whips hlmsel
 he will be sure to get no more than h.
 deserves!" At table a young man. no
 knowing who the principal guest presen
 was. had muc hto say in adverse criticsn
 of the preachers" After dinner, tn
 Bishop seized his opportunity to assur,
 the young gentleman that he was unde
 him so much of himself that he had not
 until then, known! The Bishop often in l quired of the young men he met in hi
 visiting tours. of their prospects of mar l rying and their standing with the girls
 He assured them that "a young man witl
 of taste or promise!' My wife Is tn
 most beautiful woman"' was his frequen l remark away from home.
 | The Diocesan field had widened no lit l tie when the Bishop moved to Montgom
 cry. He began at once to adapt himsel
 horse and buggy and drove daily. whei
 at home, into the heart of the town
 There he conversed informally with peo
 pie of all faiths. The population of tn