McNAIRY COUNTY, TN - BIOGRAPHIES - ELDER A.I MYHR ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping, with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic Pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Douglas H. Prather douglas-memphis@worldnet.att.net =============================================================== McNairy County Independent June 6, 1924 ELDER A. I. MYHR of the Christian Church In July, 1890, there came to McNairy county a young preacher and he went to the old town of Adamsville, and there held a meeting in the old Christian church, then situated just north of the old John Newell store building, on the east side of the road leading to Mud creek. The old church has long since been removed, and a garage occupies the place. This young preacher was full of enthusiasm,well informed, both as to current events, and as to the Bible. He was soon in the midst of a soul stirring revival. The young preacher was an inspirational example of what could be done by a young fellow with grit and determination and faith and continuity of purpose. He was born amid the bleak regions of the Scandinavian Peninsula. In early life he had read the stories of this Western World, and of these United States of America, with the manifold possibilities and the wonderful opportunities that belonged to him who struggled whether native or foreign born. He had a great mission and he crossed the broad expanse of ocean deep that separated him from these shores and was soon upon the soil of this mighty land. He entered our schools, and applied himself, making the sacrifices so necessary that he might attain the education he so much desired. He had a lofty purpose. The Ministry appealed to him, and he set forth to attain the goal. Months and years rolled by. Obstacle after obstacle was overcome. More and more he learned of the ways over here, and of the great responsibilities that would be his when he took upon himself the work of preaching the Gospel of the Man of Galilee. He fitted and qualified himself for his life work, and for more than thirty years has been going all over this land in the service of the Master. He has grown gray and maybe sometimes weary in the work but he carries on, and today stands out as one of the greatest preachers and teachers and thinkers in the country. But back to the story. When he came to Adamsville, he was greeted by that old patriarch, long since fathered to his fathers, the venerable G. W. Sipes, in whose home he spent that time and many another one thereafter. We take a glance at the audience that sat spell-bound under the eloquence of the young preacher that day in July, nearly thirty four years ago, and sadness overwhelms us as we call the roll and so many are over yonder. The names of those who were identified with that old church at the time or during its existence, and whom we recollect are G. W. Perkins and wife, Frank Freeman an his wife, P. H. Thrasher and his devoted helpmate, the beloved Mrs. Mary Thrasher, Charlie Combs and wife, Capt. N. M. D. Kemp and wife, R. G. Stanley, and "Aunt Orleanie," his faithful wife, and who sits in the shadow of that church, and in the evening of her life in the same old town, calmly awaits the summons, M. R. Abernathy and his wife, and J. T. Wolverton and wife. There were many others, but in our haste and from memory we do not now recall them. He preached there for that series of meeting and through the years that followed, he was a frequent visitor to the town, and to other places in the county. He preached at Purdy, and at New South, before Selmer was known, and many , many times since those days has preached to the Selmer people. During his connection with the work in the county, so many changes have taken place, that we do not have space here to record them. This preacher has been a most welcome visitor to the county at all times, and as he grows older, he has taken upon himself the additional duties of an instructor in college, and today he is giving the young men and women of Milligan College the benefit of his scholarly attainments, and by his unblemished record, his Godly life, unfaltering and unfailing faith, he is leaving the impress of his life upon them. He is moulding and shaping character in another way. But with all these additional duties he finds time to go among the people who were with him in the beginning, and who have been no richly blessed with his labors and work. It was the delight of the many who on last Sunday morning in the Christian church here in Selmer, heard this preacher of whom we write and who heard him again Sunday evening, at both of which services, he preached with the fervor and with the power and eloquence of the olden times. The one of whom we write is Elder A. I. Myhr, who filled these two engagements here Sunday. He has held high the banner, and in these days may he have and enjoy that peace and happiness which his life of labor and toil and sacrifices for the Master so richly entitles him. And these are the sentiments for all these men of God who have labored as long and as faithfully as this man has.