Unknown County GaArchives Biographies.....Holmes, Adam T. 1803 - 1870
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 5, 2005, 12:59 pm

Author: J. H. Campbell

ADAM T. HOLMES, D. D.

  This gifted minister was born in Sunbury, Liberty county, Georgia, about the
year 1803. His father was Mr. James Holmes, a wealthy and leading citizen of
that county. His mother's maiden name was Kell, an aunt of the distinguished
Lieutenant Kell, of the Confederate Navy, an officer of the Alabama. His
brothers were not unknown to fame—Dr. James Holmes, of Darien, and Captain Isaac
Holmes, of Macon, who died in Mexico. His two sisters were ladies of culture and
refinement. His mother was one of the most devout and godly women the writer has
ever known.

  Mr. Holmes enjoyed the best educational advantages the country afforded. For a
time he was a student at Yale College, Connecticut. Whether he graduated or not,
the writer is not informed. He was. however, an excellent scholar, a highly
gifted writer and a fluent and forcible speaker. His early years were spent in
sin and folly, and it was not until he was about twenty years of age that divine
grace arrested his course. He was one of the first subjects of the great revival
which was experienced on the coast of Georgia and South Carolina in 1822, and
was baptized at Sunbury, in November of that year, by Rev. Charles 0. Screven.
For two or three years he ran well, was put forward by his brethren in
exhortation and prayer, and promised great usefulness. But, from various causes,
he got into a cold and backslidden state, and for a time was a wanderer from the
fold of Christ. It is with pain the author records this fact in his friend's
history, and it is with pleasure he adds that his restoration to the church was
cordial and permanent.

  It was not long after his restoration that he embarked fully in the work of
the gospel ministry, in which he was a faithful laborer the balance of his life,
embracing a period of about forty years. He left the coast and was engaged in
teaching school for a time in Forsyth, Monroe county. For two or three years he
was pastor of the church in Macon, whence he removed to Houston county. For the
balance of his history, the author acknowledges himself indebted to the gifted
pen of Rev. H. C. Hornady. In a notice of Dr. Holmes, which appeared in the
"Christian Index" soon after his death, (which occurred in Atlanta, September
29th, 1870,) Mr. Hornady says:

  "On the 4th day of July, 1839, the writer, then a boy, was present at Pine
Level Academy, at that time under the superintendence of Rev. Peter McIntyre,
when and where we heard, for the first time, a public address from Rev. ADAM
TUNNO HOLMES. He was then in the full vigor of his mature manhood, and presented
a personal appearance equaled by few and surpassed by none of his compeers. The
address was delivered on the subject of the 'Temperance Reformation,' and it was
so replete with matured and vigorous thought, that it was subsequently published
by request of the large and intelligent audience then present, and there are
doubtless copies of it still in print. A little previous, the subject of this
notice had been married to Mrs. Nelson, a lady of fine culture, from the State
of South Carolina. She was a member of the Hampton family, than whom none have a
brighter record in that once proud State; but, as she still survives, further
mention in this connection may not be entirely appropriate.

  "It was about this period that brother Holmes was called to the pastoral care
of two of the most important churches in Houston county, viz: Perry and
Hayneville, which he served with characteristic ability until 1851, when he was
elected to the presidency of the Baptist Female College at Cuthbert, to which
place he removed and entered upon a new career of usefulness.

  "During the autumn of 1846, while the writer was a student at the Academy at
Hayneville, the Rehoboth Association held its session with the Baptist church at
that place, and as there was an unusual amount of religious interest manifested
by the people, the meeting was protracted for a number of days. In attendance
upon the meeting of the Association were C. D. Mallary, C. F. Sturgis, J. R.
Kendrick, Jacob King and Hiram Powell. On Monday, Rev. J, H. Campbell reached
the place from Richland, in Twiggs county, where he had just closed a revival
meeting of great interest. The writer was then in his minority, and went to the
meeting with mingled feelings of curiosity and respect for the talented
preacher, and on reaching the place found the church filled with a congregation
which appeared unusually serious and attentive. The text of Mr. Campbell was
taken in I. Peter, iv. 18: 'And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall
the ungodly and the sinner appear?' During the delivery of the sermon many poor
sinners ‘were cut to the heart,' and it was there, while under deep conviction
for sin, that the writer was brought into intimate relations with Rev. A. T.
Holmes, in whom he found a spiritual adviser every way qualified to guide his.
untutored mind to Christ, the friend of sinners; and if it is given to the
departed to know what is occurring on earth, then the spirit of our departed
brother understands what are the feelings of his humble biographer, and can
appreciate the gratitude of one who now trusts for salvation in the merits of
Jesus Christ alone.

  "The writer was baptized by brother Holmes, and for five years enjoyed his
pastoral labors and spiritual counsels; and when he was ordained to the gospel
ministry, his beloved brother was present and preached the sermon on that
occasion. An acquaintance was thus formed that ripened into a close and cordial
friendship, which, by the grace of God, continued unbroken until the sacred tie
was rudely severed by the icy hand of the great image-breaker. For these and
similar reasons, the lamented one urged, as his dying request, that his
religious pupil should write the words of affectionate remembrance which might
enshrine his name, as it should meet the tearful eyes of his fellow-laborers who
still linger on these mortal shores; or as it is handed down, a priceless
legacy, to coming generations. In sketching the life and character of the
deceased, those who have ever known the power of loving religious fellowship
will make due allowance for any apparent exaggeration in the portraiture.

  "Adam T. Holmes was an honest man, and, whatever weakness of our common nature
he may have betrayed in other directions, no temptation was sufficient to draw
him from the path of rectitude and moral integrity. He was possessed of a high
degree of courage, both moral and physical, and was never, therefore, in 'the
fear of man, which bringeth a snare;' nor was he ever found employing the arts
of dissimulation in order to hide his defects, or to escape the responsibility
of a position. His bold, fearless and candid nature qualified him, in an eminent
degree, to set forth and defend the doctrines and practices which have always
been distinguishing features of our denomination; and he never appeared to
better advantage than when, surrounded by those who held different views, he
showed from the scriptures the firm foundations upon which rested his faith and
that of his brethren. Upon what are usually called the doctrines of grace, his
teaching was remarkably clear and forcible; and never, perhaps, since the days
of Andrew Fuller, have the churches of any pastor been better instructed in the
Calvinistic view of theology than those which were blessed with the labors of
our brother whom these pages commemorate. His members, for solid piety and
active usefulness, had no superiors, as all can testify who were acquainted with
Hugh Lawson, one of the deacons of Hayneville, and Samuel Felder and _____
Barrett, who sustained the same relation to the church at Perry. They were men
'full of the Holy Ghost and of faith,'—men always ready to do good; and we find
it difficult to repress the inquiry: When shall we behold their like again? To
the labors of brother Holmes they doubtless owed much for their symmetrical and
well sustained characters as Christian gentlemen, that have made their example
so rich a heritage to the churches which were the scenes of their earnest and
useful lives; and well may they mourn for them, now that they have passed away
from the labors of earth to the reward of the faithful.

  Brother Holmes was a man of a high order of intellect, and as he had enjoyed
the advantages for mental cultivation, few men were better qualified for the
arduous and responsible duties of the public ministry; and the Baptists of
Southwestern Georgia are largely indebted to him, under God, for their present
influence and power in the vineyard of the Lord. While at Cuthbert, he was
elected president of Central Institute, located at Lynchburg, in the State of
Alabama, which position he accepted, but retained it only a short time. While at
Lynchburg, he had something like a paralytic stroke, and it was deemed advisable
by his physicians for him to relinquish his position and rest from active labors
for a time, hoping thereby to restore his shattered health. Soon after his
recovery from this attack, he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist
church in Atlanta, which relation he sustained for two or three years, loved and
honored by a large and appreciative flock. In consequence of some disagreement
which arose between him and a portion of the members, he resigned his charge and
retired to the town of Decatur and labored for the churches in the country
around, until compelled by ill health to relinquish the care of churches
altogether. Returning to the city of Atlanta, his health began to improve so
that he was able to resume the active duties of the ministry, and for a time
alternated with Dr. Shaver in supplying the pulpit of the Baptist church in
Newnan. But the seeds of decay were sown in his system, and again, in
consequence of declining health, he was compelled to leave his post and learn to
suffer his Master's will as well as to perform, it.

  "During his last illness, the writer had several interviews with him, in which
he expressed his unwavering trust in that Saviour whom he had preached to
others, and he looked to the termination of his earthly career with a calm and
cheerful spirit, which showed that when the summons should come, he would be
ready 'to wrap the drapery of his couch about him and lie down to pleasant
slumbers,' When he felt his end drawing near, he sent word to the writer to
visit him; but, on account of other and pressing engagements, a compliance with
the request was impracticable, so that the last scenes of his valuable life must
be drawn from information furnished by others, whose privilege it was to be
present in 'the chamber where the good man met his fate.' In his last hours,
though suffering from difficulty of breathing, he found Jesus increasingly
precious, and he who had been a fellow-laborer with Jacob King, Hiram Powell, C.
A. Tharp, C. D. Mallary, John E. Dawson and James 0. Screven, has gone to join
them in 'that land which has no storm;' and joyful, indeed, must be the meeting
and communion of kindred spirits at the Saviour's blessed feet!

  "He is gone—the able minister, the fast friend, the affectionate husband, the
indulgent father—and when these lines are read, there will be many tearful eyes,
for some who once enjoyed his pious labors, or were his co-workers in the Lord's
vineyard, and still linger on these mortal spheres, will receive their first
information that another 'great man in Israel has fallen,' from this offering of
affection and friendship.

  "An aged wife, now widowed and lone—an only son, now fatherless and sad—will
mourn when they miss the manly form and beaming eye of the departed, but they
will sorrow not as those without hope."


Additional Comments:
From:

GEORGIA BAPTISTS: HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
BY
J. H. CAMPBELL,
PERRY, GEORGIA.


MACON, GA.: J. W. BURKE & COMPANY. 1874.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
J. H. CAMPBELL,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.


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