The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-30


 prominent Baptfst preacher ir, Arkan- sae and tn the Indian Territory.
 After some years residence near Montgomery. MT Compere moved west Miss In that county his wife died September 6. 1884. Tn lsss he was mar- ried to Sarah Jane Beck. The offspring Mr. compere was prominent factor for many years in the councils of the Baptists of Mississippi. Tn the absence Of records t Is at present impossible compere's residence in the state of Mississippi. In the late forties and early nfties he lived In East Missis- a0 cSureS r Ss n ssT Ess santg o
 A letter recently. received from an aged member of that church says:
 His manner of preaching was elc- audience spelibound and could tel more of the goodness and mercy of God than any other minister ever heard"
 About the beginning of the war MT; to Arkansas and lived in Dardanelle, until the close of the var. About 1885 he settled in Paris. Texas. Later he ess were hs @ died Juns is H ds1i in his % sis; Eyear. His wife survived him several years, likewise dying in Texas. Apart from his pathological work, Mir. Com press, and devoted his time to teaching and preaching. Prof. Henry <. HaibsrI . resident of this city. and q member of your eongregation. knew MT. Com pere In East Mississippi and has lively. recollections of his personal appearance and ministry.
 Another fact: MT. compere was not
 preacher alone lone @ 80 far as st,,asnt Is snow@ ne the Muscogee Indian tongue. The re- suit of some of his philological work can be seen in the 'Archaelogia Amer and collections of the American Anti-l quarian Society pages 38i-422. con- sfsting of an extensive vocabulary, sev- srai pages of select sentences and the language. A copy of this rare volume can be seen in the Alabama Depart ment of Archives and History.
 h,steriesl e sGmSsrss wSers od and applied some data concerning the Creek Indians to Col. A. Pickett for use in his invaluable History of Alabama.
 Rev. s. ID. Worthington, Second Pastor.
 Rev. Samuel D. worthington, your second pastor. was born about l7ss In Edgefield District. South Carolina. He was educated in that State, took col- legiate course and graduated. though In what college Is as yet unknown. Early in life he Joined the Baptist Church, and soon afterward entered the ministry. He devoted his life to VEGACnlHkt LnQuRHA AA NOtttACAShtRtt WaNts his ministry he often engaged in farm ing and teaching. At one time in his early life he lived and preached a short time in Now Orleans. About this perind he married tn East Feliciana Parish. La, Mrs. Linn widow lady, whose maiden name was Mary Ann spilIer She was Catholic, but after marriage she embraced his faith and united herself with the Baptist Church.
 The only literary work extsnt of Rev. s. D. Worthingtop, so far as know, 10 an article in The Southwest- ern Baptist of September 3, 1858, in versation if 1894 with Colonel Loytnon- { owsky, in which the latter gives his experience with the Spanish inquisi- try in the Frepch army. Colonel Loy- rlonowsky had bean an aide to the Emperor Napoleon. He subsequently became Protestant minister, ana In aid in building a Protestant house oI worship. While in Montgomery, he made a public address in the First Baptist Church. and for several days In Tha Southwestern Baptist of Sep- tember g, 1858. gives from his notes the facts related above.
 r After seyerlng his connection with the church In Montgomery he pur& chased a plantation near Monroe. La where he lived several years. Howe eyer eyer sg Sggrng slmcst all this time was and preaching. About 1s4f he dis posed of his plantation. moved up into Union County Arkansas. and founded the nrst Baptist Church in that Coun- ty. For. several years succeeding he lived and preached In various places IT, Arkansas and Mississippi. In is5s and tos hs oaSty ysd and Msissisnf Rsshsned n Ponto moved to. Lamar County, Texas, where ne preached and taught school until DIS death in 1859. He lies buried in children, two sons and two dauThtern. all of whom are dead except W G' Worthington of Fl Dorado. Ark, who .s ss nov an oid man of 70. and cripple.
 Missions to the Creek Tndsau.
 Having sketched the lives of these two pastors. t is proper that should facts in the history of this church sa intimately connected therewith as I'd form part of it. I do so with tha more pleasure because 1t gives me the onportunity through the recital of these events 10 congratulate the Baptlsta of Montgomery-the First Baptist Church of Montgomery -- on record of achievement altogether unioue and probably without parallel From my eAaminatlon or vour history. come to you with the plaudit well done" but the greater is your duty and re- sponsibility for the future
 - You VIII recaH my statement that Rev. Lee Coinpere. the founder og your church. was the first and only Baptist missionary to the Creek m. dians In what Is now Alabama II is an interesting further fact, and one anording quite a coincIdence that Rev II. F. Buckner. of Alabama, was thp first BaDtist missionary to the Greek Indian Nation. upon which work he entered in 1S4s. There was about that period, peculiar interest felt by the Haptists Of Alabama fin the Chriztiap- nation of the Creek Indians, owing. in some degree perhaps to the fagt that the homes of the people of Ala bama were in the ancient domain ot the Creek people.
 Mir. Bucl<ner was well sustained in bfs missionary work by tho Baptists Baptist Church of Montgomery, as can be verified by the collections in the State Department of Archives and History. In May, 1857, MT. Buckner addressed a letter to your church in which he told it's members that he had just organized a new Baptist Church among the Creeks on the north side of Canadian River After the organiza- tion of tho church. he writes, a ques- name by which the church should be known to distinguish it from other Baptist Churches in the Creek Nation. Finally, one of the Creek brethren pro- posed that 1t should be named Mont gomery'' in honor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery. as some ac- knowIedgement of their ltberaltty In Supporting the beloved missionary, Roy. Dr. Buckner. This proposition was adopted. and it was unanimously re- solved that the church should be named Montgomery" for the reasons I have