Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-01-28
WANTS TO ASSIST
MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
Rev. J. NJ. Osborne, East Moline Min.
lister, Expects to Return to Ken
lucky Region Soon.

When the time arrives that the Bap-
fist church of East Moline, quartered
in its new building now rising at Ninth
street and Eighteenth avenue, is in
good financial condition and prosper
ing so that liquidation of its debts can
be seen in the immediate future, Rev.
j. NJ. Osborne, its pastor now, will
hand in his resignation, pack his be-
longings and go back to the Ken
lucky mountains from whence he
came. There he will take up the work
he gave up II years ago for new fields.
He longs to get back into the Ken
lucky hills and among the Kentucky
rountaineers, and engage in the work
which is revolutionizing the district
and the people.
For Mr.. Osborne is one of the Ken
lucky mountaineers himself. He is q
product of the Oneida institute found
ed and operated by J. A. Burns, 1.-The
Lincoln of the Mountains" who re-
Gently appeared in Moline and gave a
stirring address before the After-Din-
ner club on the work that is in pro-
gress in the mountain districts. In
his lecture Mr.. Burns referred enthus-
iastically to one of the men who had
come from his school and was new in
the community, and it was Mr.. Os-
horne whom he meant
Mr. Osborne was born in Hell-fOr
Sartin creek, Is miles from Oneida, on
June 26. 1886 His home in boyhood
was in the very midst of the feud dis
tricts of the mountains. Close about
his home were the scenes pictured In
the wonderful stories of John Fox,
stories he stopped at the home of Mr..
Osborne's father. The younger Os-
borne acted as the authors guide and
took him over the mountain country
while he gathered the material which
he wOve into his tales of the hills. The
French and Eversole feud, referred to
Ivy Mr.. Burns in his lecture in Moline,
is fresh in the memory of Mr.. Os-
borne, and he had a personal acquaint-
ance with most of the participants in
the Harges-Callahan feud, the last big
feud of the mountains, which died out
! about twelve years ago.
Split Logs for Seats.
Coming of a family which had more
means than common among the noun
tain people, Mr.. Osborne was able to
pursue his studies further than most
young men of the hills. He went to
school in boyhood in a little public
school in a log hut about fourteen feet
square, rooted with weighted clap
! boards The seats were split logs
stuck on pegs against the walls, and
the floor was the bare earth. School
terms lasted just three months of
the year. Mr., Osborne enrolled in the
Oneida institute, and after he finished
the regular course he was one of four
who appealed to the faculty for bit
of high school work. The teachers
themselves were unprepared for such
work, and so Mr.. Burns held night
classes to teach the faculty members
the lessons which they in turn pro-
pounded to the pupils the following
day. Mr.. Burns was too modest in his
lecture to relate this phase of the
matter, and he would have had his
hearers believe him rough noun
taineer of limited education, while the
fact is that he is real scholar and
, he was we'll qualified himself to con-
duct the high school course.
OF the four who sought this ad-
vanced work, three of thea, after com
plet. their courses ir Geocg It ,wn
college one 70 the best institutions e
learhing in Kentucky, went back to
Oneida institute and are there carry
Ing or the work. Most Of the time
they have worked for nothing. Mr..
Osborn. himself returned to lis home
county, Clay, and entered mountain
missionary work He organized the
first Baptist church in the county, and
built the first church building in that
district. During the four years he de-
voted to mountain missionary work,
Mr.. Osborne brought about the build
ing of q churches. His work was
supported by contributions from the
residents of the cities.
Interesting lights on the attitude
of thes people, 100 per cent
pure Americans, are given by Mr.. Os-
borne. The mountaineers acutely re-
sent interference from the plains peo-
pie, who are to them ''furriners."
| (The people of the mountains have no
conception of the real foreigner. and
| flock from miles around if an Italian
drifts through with trained monkey,
and the truth is that the Italian him
self is as great curiosity as the
monkey Old time mountain preachers
are unique characters. Uneducated,
they are, however, sincere. and con-
scientious and religious to the core.
They preach in sing song monotone,
appealing in primitive manner to the
emotions of the audiences. They
preach from any text, or from no text,
| it is all the same. He that gathereth
not with us scratchest on a board"
was the way one of these preachers
quoted the xext, "He That Gathereth
Not With us Scattereth Abroad"
These preachers are instilled, just as
are all the other people of the coun-
! try, with the feudal spirit, and this