The Coolidge examiner., 1935-08-30
~ ELMO SCOTT WATSON


By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
4 WAS BORN 10 year ago-on aep.
- tembcr ]. 1875.
At the axe o. seventeen he vas an
-, -erhorter~
By the time be- VAS year older be
- - was regularly ordained preacher Cat
4, The munihceut salary % SO year
which nine times out % ten I got
only In part"l sni for the next 20
years be rcIc up and down The land
carrying the Word TO the remoies,
settlements
During that time be preached more than 1900
sermons and hapilsed more than 1000 persons.
And those agc only the hlEhllghis ln the career
81 Peter Cartwright. hackwoods Methodist
preacher. circuit rider and one ot the mos, pic.
turcsque nEures 10 the History % the American
frontier Because be spoke the language OF The
pioneering folk could bold his cwu as man
among men in the rouEh.and. tumble % debate
o. % physical encounter but. more particularly.
because % bis ccccntrcities the legends of him
were almost numberlcss They were as famll.
lar az the hrcsides % an elder generation the
tales of the cd were 20 The people % Spain In
TIE oiden times Not Ir. Tnvers or pavy
Crockett nor hardly even President Lincoln was
the subject of more anecdotes than this ouch
beloved itin"raui preacher.
native q Amherst county Virginia. Cart.
wright. when SIX years old. was taken By his
Parents 10 Kentucky They settled arsi In Lin
ccln county. near the present site ot Lancaster.
then moved 20 plsce south of Rushvllle IN
Logan county within q mile % the Kentucky.
Tennessee boundary line. Cartwright describes
this section as such haun, Tor refugees from
justice shat Il Was called -Rogues' Harbor "
filled with "murdsrers. horse thieves. highway
robbers aud ccunierfeifeTs." Certainly x was
virgin soil Tor the lahors ~ the future preacher
and it gave him valuable experience for the role
which he was 70 play IN the future in the from
tier country % the Mississippi Valley.
In lSQl young Cartwright Was converted and
uniied with the EbeneEer Methodist Episcopal
church he displayed such talent and fervor
in speaking ,ha, the following year he received
from the society 81 Ebenezer permission 10 ex-
ercise his gifts as an exhortcr 50 long as his
exhoFtinE couformed 20 SIS doctrines In 1903
hs became regular travelling preacher or circuit
rider ca the Red River circuit within nine
years he was presiding elder in Kentucky and
IN Illinois 20 which be removed In 1873. tie held
that Office Tor half century. during which time
the membership of the church within bis jurls
diciion grew from 1900 10 100000.
one of his contemporaries has left rs this
vivid word picture cf The famous circuit rider.
Telling of attending services IN a little church
Ga Illinois. bee says:
-Our attention arrested by strange -
partition sirldlns up the aisle. All seemed whis
perug 20 their neIshbors. There he goes and
all EYES we're rlveted upon a man of medium
height thickset with enormous bone and muscle,
and although his iron gray hair and wrinked
brow told % the advance of years his step was
still vigorous and arm His face bronzed
by exposure 20 the weather he carried white
Quaker hat In his hand, and bis upper garment
was a furniturecalico dressing gown without
wadding The truant breeze seemed 10 seize
this garment By It's skirt and, Hitting Il 10 level
with his armplis. disclosed TO the gazing congre-
cation a fun view OF the ccpperas-colored panta-
looms and shirt of the diyine-for he was di.
vine. and one worth days journey to see.
~He had then been a backWoods preacher for
nearly 40 years. ranging the country from the
Lakes tc the Gulf and from the Alleghenles 10
the Mississippi He was Injured 20 every form
o. hardship and had looked calmly at peril OF
every knd-the tomahawk OF the Indian. the
spring of the panther, the hing OF the bear, the
sweep cf the tornado the rush OF swollen tor
rents. and the fearful chasm OF the earthquake
He bad lain In the canebrake and made his bed
upon the snow Of the prairie and on the oozy
soil OF the swamp. and had wandered. hunger
bitten. among the solitudes OF the mountains He
had been In jeopardy among robbers and In dan.
GER from desperadoes who had sworn 10 take his
life. lie had preached in the cabin OF the slave
and the mansion OF the master. 10 the Indians
and To the men OF the border. lie had taken
his life IN his hands and had ridden In the path
o. whizzinE bullets, that he might proclaim peace
He had stood on the outskirts OF civilization and
welcomed the first comers TO the woods and
prairies.
Many son OF Anak had been leyeled in the
dust BY his sledcelike fist and when the blind
fury OF his assailants urged him headlcng into
personal conflict with him his agility strength
and resolution gave them cause for bitter re
pentance.
such was the that now stood before us
In the desk the famous presiding elder OF Ill
nois-the renowned Peter Cartwright"
Truly a churchman militant was this same
rsaowned Peter Cartwright. one stcry told OF