Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1906-10-16
"ObiOn Presbytery Again. I"

naming 10 the G e Church In the O
biou Preshytery as stated in the Mem
phis Commercial Appeal made as i
suppose by an honest Christian. gentle
man from the Church Books IN hand at
that time.-->So far a. know none of
the Unionists Of West Tennessee have
called in question said statement.
am always ready TO correct any
mistakes may make, do not think
there was any mistake, and so far As !
am concerned I know there was no de.
ceptions.
The writer iefers you to Page 1l5,
Assembly Minutes and informs you
that you will there find the Total mem.
bership Of resident members Is only
S,2s7 he does not inform you that In
the next column that you will find that
there 4G35 Total. "He thinks he Is
Unsuitable IN believing the statement
untrue. To his mind such articles are
written for no other purpose Than to
prejudice people as to the real facts +"
And the Editor adds that the correc.
ton was given by well informed Cum
berland Presbyterian. Now Mr.. Editor
| want to say that the entrance of
Truth giveth light, and if you are cor
rect in your statement the Brother has
not brought out the facts. If you will
take the pains to look at the Minutes
OF the Assembly of 1900, page l49,
you will find that the total number as
given is 5O8l. Up to this time there
had never been distinction made as
to resident or nonresident members.
There was a continual complaint as to
Dyes and numbers, from supposed pow
erty, sheer indifference etc, many mem
bers failed to pay their dues hence the
Treasures and Elders to settle said dues
fell upon the plan of reporting those
members as nonresident members who
did not pay their dues, and retain their
names in Total column for numbers
Now if the Non de- plume did moi
know this he should not pass as well
informed G p. If he did know it and
failed to give it to your readers his mo
tive may be impugned. ! leave them
to Judge the motives prompting each oil
us. | have travelled over considerable
territory since May 1906, and the figure
quoted are in perfect accord with mr.
information received in the various
church sessions. Take Lawrence Coun
ty and see we stand. We have abou
246 resident members and so far as
have been able to ascertain Is can no
be counted as Presbyterians, U. S. A
l am sure that l have no disposition
to misinform anyone. l have been
member of the c P Church for AZ year
and have been satisfied all the time
have had many friends who wer
with me along the way, but some {
them be came tired and found some Otht
'ehurch that suited them better and lef
us, some with letters, some without, an
Joined those whose faith was more i
accord with theirs. / have never opene
, my mouth against it, But when
comes to compelling me to leave m
church against my will, rob me of m
fathers and my own life work, / hay
the right to speak, and when | sent this
communication to your paper | had n,
the least idea that any one would ca
it in question, or impugn my motiv
> When stand before the judge of a
the earth my reason will be mantle
= and am proud TO say | am ready
meet it. Now as to facts concernin
Obion Presbytery. There are SO col
gregations. The Stated Clerk an
" Treasurer informs us that he has r
. cieved his reports from Clerks of session
and pastors, l presume that good al
true and well posted G P will belle,
them. He informs us that one congr
CATION has not reported, to wit, Ma
e field. 95 have reported that not 81
a gle Unionist can be found in any
q them, 10 congregations reports 2
.e Unionists, y of them average 81
}, the congregation, 7 averaging fracti,
!. over rs. the same 10 report as Cumbe
q land Presbyterians 1876. Now viii
d am dealing in numbers allow me
e give the report as handed down by Re
,e J T Barbee Of Owensburg, Kentuck
awe have So Preachers in the State
Kentucky since the divide sc Cumbt
land Presbyterians and 30 Norlhe
Presbyterians $50 Cong Cumberla
Presbyterians and 46 Northern Prest
: terians, 5000 resident members as Gu
barIopd preshvteriaps Ism prasb