The Batesburg advocate. [volume] (Batesburg, S.C.) 1901-1911, 1902-05-21
A SALUDA MYSTERY.
An Illiterate Mulatto breaches Ad
mirably While He Is Sleep.
a TEST IN THE SCHOOL HOUSE


! ~ DlSpaUcn from Saluua TO I1e
News and Courier says the Sleeping
| Preacher" was here Thursday night,
a large crowd went out to hear this
strange man. Major Perry" for that
is the preachers name, was i'm the
charge MeSSrs ofH. Il. Bouknight and
j. i. Bodie, two of this cOuntyS most
reliable citizens. Perry has been liv-
ing with Mr.. Bouknight, few miles
below this place, for twelve or four
teen years and, with. the exception Of
few nights, he has never failed TO
ing this long period.
| Perry is 81 years OF age, of medium
size, copper colorcd and wears "A flow
! ing beard. He was raised in Fairfield
County, but not by a Baptist preacher,
rs has been said in explanation of this
strange phenomenon.
Mr.. Bouknight has been i'm the COM
munity where Perry was born and
raised and lived until Is years ago. and
emphatically states that Perry did not
! belong to Il preacher. The place of
| his birth was near the present town of
| Ridgeway
One of the peculiar things about
! Perry's SermOnizing lies i'm the fact
| that his preaching dates from the time
of his being paralyzed on the left side
in 1883. He was never known to
preach before then and he has never
failed To preach sermon every night
since then save occasionally on
| Friday night.
test made by your correspondent
revealed that Perry is very illiterate.
being scarcely able to spell out the
simplest words. even with book IN
hand. He is extremely reticent on the
subject of his nightly preaching, and
II pressed will resent too close uueS-
tioning. Another popularity notice
able is that Perry can go to sleep sur
rounded by Il curious crowd as quickly
as babe i'll its mothers arms.
Thursday evening Perry'S wife ar
ranged a bed in the school building
here and at $40 the strange man un-
dressed and turned in apparently tor
the night. In fifteen minutes. amidst
the gaze and hubub of the crowd. he
WIS sound asleep. -Four minutes later
! he commenced 90 sing i'm low ami
measured tones an old hymn, begin
ming Come, We that love the Lord"
After lining out" and singing two
verses he slowly turned on his right
side and reVerently repeated the Lords
Prayer, making but one change in it,
viz, inserting the word ALI before
the words our trcSpaSScS." He fol-
lowed the Lords Prayer with an eX-
tom natiti,u tho l,,ri. md
language of ii being as good as that of
the average white preacher. At the
conclusion Perry turned on his back
and, after 4 moments pause. stated
that his text would he found in the
18th chapter OF Matthew and 2Sth
verse. This he quoted and compari-
son az :iIe quotation with the original
shows that ne repeated the words ver-
batim His discourse lasted forty-tive
minutes and the reading of a Steno-
graphic report made by Mr.. Tadlock
shows Il closely reasoned with some
exceptions Gospel sermon, instead of
being SenSclcSS negro harangue. Few
grammatical errors were made and
many of his citations from the Bible
were substantially correct. At times
he was really eloquent.
For the most part ne spoke i'm
smooth, conversational tone, but oc-
caSionally he became impaSSioncd and
made the welkin ring.
Twice during the sermon he had
something like cOnvulSionS, and when
ever seized by one OF these, he immcdi-
atcly left of speaking, his heart and
pulse ceased to beat and. except for
the strange movement OF his muscles.
one would suppose life extinct. These
commissions lasted but minute and
as soon as over ne would commence
his sermon Just where he left off and
in the same tone.
An examination of the eyes while
preaching showed the pupils notion
less and Il bright light placed close To
his face while the lids were pushed
| back did not cause him TO move or
| finch.
During his preaching period it has
always been found impossible to wake
| him. Pins have been stuck into his
| flesh, Burning acids have been put
about his eyes, but all to no effect.
save that he suffered from there cX-
pcrimcntS on awaking.
Perry is particularly severe i'm his
! criticisms Of the prcScnt-d day preach
erS. He stated that we are told
there were twelve disciples or teach
crS, and one of these was devil. But
today | think about eleven and IA
half out of twelve are devils" In
elaboration of this statement he re-
| icrrcd TO the man-Sent preacher"
and the sclf-Scnt preacher" and the
moncy-making preacher"
Perry mndc no gestures at all. but
when under the impression that ne
was reading from some book i'm the
Bible would run the fingers of his right
hand across the bed covering as if fol-
towing the lines.
He closed his sermon with nm earn
est cNhortation and when the end was
reached lay perfectly still and slept
quietly until awakened by physician.
who closely watched him throughout.
On being awakened he appeared
frightened for the moment. Although
he had greatly cXcrted himself several
times during his sermon, he stated
that ne did not feel tired or at all eX-
hauSted; yet his pulse beat rapidly and
his breath came quickly.
Whatever else may be said of the
strange sleeping prechcr," the per-
formance Is no fake. Time after time
various citizens i'm this county have
gone to Perry'S home after night and
: sccreted themselves to detect the fake
as they supposed, but Invariably af-
ter Watching him through the cracks