Carthage courier. (Carthage, Tenn.) 1913-current, 1921-02-24
Fifty Years in the Ministry
No. v.

The first Sunday School ever at
| tended was in an old toll-gate build
ing on the TrousdaIe ferry pike be-
tween New Middleton and Grant
across the pike from the residence of
the late Capt. George Moore. Fifty
/ years ago Walter Lambuth lived there
and organized Sunday School in the
fold tollgate house to reach which two
] logs served as a footlog from the
| pike over the branch to the door. In
those days there was no Sunday school
! literature and graded lessons were
unknown. Old man Lambuth, mem
/ Der of the Christian church, selected
as his literature the first chapter of
John which was the only lesson we
had while / attended. l committed
the chapter to memory. Mr.. Lambuth
was superintendent, secretary, treas
urer, teacher and originator of the
school. 1t was small but interesting.
j My connection with it had an abrupt
termination on this wise. One morn
/ ing when about half through the rec
ltation John G. Moore, several years
my senior, rose from the class and
/ walked out on to the pike. 1t struck
me as very smart performance and
i
and out / went. The old man came to
! the door and shook his head and said:
Boys, don't do that any more"
Moore replied: "The Lord roasted a
later and gave me the burnt end,"
and l said: That's it, give it to him.
John c. Moore went home and on
through life without becoming
church member. / went home and
never attended that Sunday School
again. Back in those days it was
considered smart to run in and out
of church during services and a great
many smart Alexis in some comn1uni-
ties keep it up, but in intelligent COM
munIt1es the practice is obsolete. For
ty years after leaving Warner Lam
+ buth's Sunday School where the first
chapter of John was committed to
memory | was in the County asylum
/ near Manchester in which was an old
] deranged woman who said to me: 81
use to go to Sunday School and learn
by heart the scriptures" / said, "Can
you repeat any verses ?" She in
stantly began and quoted the entire
first chapter of John and my mind
fled back to the old tollgate Sunday
{ School. Warner Lambuth has long
rsince passed away but seed were
sown in his little school across the
I
/ day bringing his sheaVes with him.
! By the way, am thinking of Mrs.
rutherford, daughter of Warner
Lambuth, who taught school at old
+ Buena Vista church below Grant at
i the close of the Civil War and held
I her exhibition in the thicket near Bob
Feds cabin just west of Grant. Grant
/ was then known as jennings Fork or
Bill Manning's Grocery. (Saloon.) /
+ remember only a few of the happen
lngs of that, my first exhibition. A
great crowd was present. Lou New
/ by, afterwards the wife of John
Shaver, wore dress fluted and ruff
i fled from top to bottom. / saw a
/ crippled, red-headed girl on a crutch.
student in the school named Roshie
Cunningham, who afterwards became
/ a teacher and taught school at Com
] nerce land now has a brother. Mitch
/ Cunningham, living near Huntsville.
! Bee Borum, Yankee of SALISBURY,
and Jim Gam, Rebel of Rome, had
fight but neither of their pistols
would fire and the fight was bIoodless
yet exciting. These were turbulent
f times. Those who wore the blue and
those who wore the gray have long
since been conquered by the pale horse
/ and his rider, but let us hope they
/ have pitched their tents on an eternal
camping ground where the sun never
/ sets and the leaves never fade and
/ war is no more.
! During the early part of my minis
/ try Salem Association held Fifth Sun
/ day meetings. The sermons and es-
! says were for criticism. My first sub
| Ject for criticism was on prayer. l
was young and not very well up in the
teachings of the Bible. Ed. William
Suite of Rome kindly suggested to me
that he had splendid essay on pray
] er and | might have it to read at the
! Woodbury. Fifth Sunday Meeting. 1t
! suited me exactly. i took and read
and re-read it and Bro Suite went
with me. / read the paper with zeal
! and knowledge but to my astonish-
ment when !. sat down such Bible
scholars as j. M. .. Gates, j. J. Mar
tin and l.. III. Bethel attacked nv es-
/ say and demanded me to explain GER
tain positions. / was absolutely ipno-
rant of positions taken in the paper.
But Bro. Suite, who was the real au-
thor OF the essay, rose and said he
thought the positions taken by the
young brother were scriptural Then
battle royal ensued and ragged for
an hour. sat with a red face and
listened to the arguments pro and
con of the young mans ESSAY but i
was tickled half to death because Bro.
Suite was defending himself and not
the young brother. Well, learned
then and there it's best for a boy or a
man either to make his own prepar-
alton. He then knows it. Sometimes
+ have tried to preach the substance
of other mems sermons but such
preaching is generally mechanical.
When man makes his own sermons
and knows it from study and prayer
he not only in its delivery gives honey
f1.