The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-10
b. REV. y. III. ID. WILSON.

There is not wanting high apprecia-
ton Of the honor which you, sir, have
conferred upon ne by asking me 70
occupy this sacred hour. mere IS
sincere hone that by turning the
thoughts OF my brethren OF the con
ference TO the lives Of those who once
nobly labored and heroically suffered
for our Master ] shall contribute u
the highest success Of our Annual Con
ference gathering, 50 graciouSly ruiz
of opportunities for social, mental ana
spiritual betterrnent. but also SO fun
Of allurements to self-indulgence, sin
fui conversation, and uncharltable anu
sinful thoughts and feelings. More
over it is no small occasion Of salts
faction that / may stand in this mag
nifcent audience-chamDer and SPEAK
to such an audience, especially Whel!
| remember that some at least Of them
are the sons and daughters Of the
friends Of my father young man
hood. when for two pastorates he min
istcrcd in your town For 1t Is the
memory of that father, my boyhood'S
idol and my ~manhood's ideal, which
swallows up all other thoughts tonight.
The men Of whom / shall speak were
among his closet friends, and his life
was intricately linked with theirs. |
shall try TO say no more OF him to you
thar the subject demands, but almost
every sentence win lead my thought to
him.
From the session of the North Car
DINA Conference of 1870 until h af-
ternoon Of the eighth dag of NoVem-
Der. 1872, this conference had in It's
ministry three generations of one fam
lily. This fact in itself. so far as /
have been able to learn. is unique in
the annals OF Southern M~ethodism,
but the character. attainments, and
success of these mon. make the case
prc-emincntly worthy OF note. Frank
IsajI r,nTK an / lnN-aI nv T1aCf ~
US. was at that time mere lad but re-
comfy from the halls of Trinity Col
lege, proving for the first time the
apcns which he was 70 use so nom
o2aDly in the years to come. HIS
c-endfather. ReV. James Reid, was the
st member of. the conference, n
ran of SeVenty-fVe years of life
4 of ffty-five years of service. Numa
f cher Reid, greater than his father
81 greater than his son. was at that
e at the zenith of his reputation
power acknowledged leader Of
= conference. The account Of the
c and labors Of either OF these great
men would exceed the limits of this
occasion and far exceed the powers o.
your speaker. But as it is a manifest
impoSsihility to assign q special ad-
dress to every sainted member of the
North Carolina Conference whose
character and work merit it, and as A
study OF these as a family Will in it
self possess advantages, / shall attempt
tonight to present to you: The Reids:
Emmett Itincrants Through Three
Generations.
.ra~}c- ttri1. the unique founder Of
this honorable line, was born in Cas-
We.i county, North Carolina, April s.,
1875. His parents, Buford Reid and
wife, were among the first and best
members of the Methodist church in
that section. At an early age James
Or hic hoo rt to Cod and united with
the church of his parents. According
to the wise and piouS custom of chat
day, he began while yet a boy to take
part in public worship and by this
means was caused to hear a call to the
ministry. Hero brethren, | am con-
WINGED lies one of the greatest causes
Of our present dearth of recruits for
our ministry. We do not make our
young converts exercise themselves in
the active services of The sanctuary.
The early educational advantages of
James Reid were quite meagre, as
were those of nearly all his contem-
porarics. But this one thing he
knew that the Christ whose love had
saved him was the saviour of all men
everywhere. With that message.
WATCH the p~rOfOundest learning may
ONLY enforce and can never improve,
- -e"t forth to call a SINFUL world TO
lie salvation. In 1915. being twenty
years of age, he was licensed to
preach. and Joined the Virginia Con-
ference, which until 1886 included the
northern half of the State of North
Carolina. From the founding of the
North Carolina Conference. he was
one of its most prominent members.
Daring fifty-eight years of actice itin-
Grant service he never missed a con-
ference rOll-Call. ThOse fifty-eiSht
years were years of toll, suffering and
triumph. Sixteen years he Travelled
districts, five OF which were upon the
New Bern district, the others on the
Raleigh, Salisbury. Wilmington n
Washington districts. Two years he
was agent of Greensboro Female Col
lege. Five years he was in charge Of
the African Mission at Raleigh and
tw~enty-nine years he travelled circuits
II stations. The last six years of his
life he was agent of Sunday Schools,
an office which carried no salary and
was doubtless a nominal appointment
for a veteran who would not suffer
himself to be superannuated. In 1872
he was elected superintendent OF Pub
lie Education for the State upon the
Republican ticket. In the bitter feel
ing which then accompanied politics,
this act brought upon him severe
maledictiOH. ] once heard James w.
Reid boast that so true was his De-
mOcracy, that in casting his nader
ballot he had refused to support his
own grandfather. He died before en-
terlng upon TINS OfhcG. 1t was his Gus
tom, as hat Of the preachers in gen.
erai of his day. in passing Through
Greensboro to stop at our home. Or
the eighth of November, 1872. on his
way home. he dined with us and after
GiHner. being weary went to his room
for Il rest. A short while later, a ser
want found him dead. | was too young
at that time to have any clear recJ,-
lection of the sad event. but l can
din1ly remember the frantic unnin
to and fro of the whole household in
q futile effort to recall the fleeing
spirit.
| cannot fOrbear quoting at length
from a letter to me from one of on"
own eminent and beloved veterans.
DR.. Edwin A. Yates. DR.. Yates knew
the old man we'll and has just those
powers of analysis and expression
which enable him to help us to kno"
him. He says:
Brother James Reid-Uncle jim
mic as he was Familiarity called by
those who knew him best-was a re-
m~arkable man in his day. An effort to
portray and present a perspicuous
likeness of the man and preacher
would seem to many to be simply an
effort to construct p~aradoXes. 1t is
difficult for psychology to harmonic
these two facts namely for o nraaoJ-