Anderson County, Texas - News: Palestine, Texas, 1894 ---------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by: Scott Fitzgerald USGenWeb Archives. Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ---------------------------------------------------------- From Houston Daily Post Sunday, May 27, 1894 Page 1: PALESTINE. PALESTINE, May 26. - The colored people are having a big union Sunday school picnic in this city today. A street procession, composed of a brass band, a military company and four hundred school children, paraded the public streets this morning on their way to the grounds. Last night an attempt was made to burglarize the residence of Mr. O. J. Dugey on Sycamore street, but the thieves were frightened off. Justice court is in session at Elkhart today and County Attorney Ewing and several lawyers are in attendance. KEARBY AT PALESTINE. Palestine, Texas, May 26. - Hon. J. Galatin Kearby of Wills Point, formerly State senator from this district and now a member of the upper house from the Van Zandt district, and a prominent candidate for lieutenant governor, was in thie [sic] city yesterday shaking hands with his many friends. He had nothing to say politically, but seemed pleased at the way the tide had changed in the last few days. Anderson county will doubtless instruct for Mr. Kearby. RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. ---------- REV. SID WILLIAMS WORKING IN PALESTINE ---------- Delivers One of His Characteristic Sermons Especially to Young Men - Great Interest in the Revival at Marlin. Rev. White's Meetings. ---------- Palestine, Texas, May 26. - Sidney Johnson Williams, the celebrated Baptist evangelist, is continuing to stir up the saints and sinners of this city with his powerful sermons. The good man has his coat off and is working with body and soul, day and night, for the salvation of sinners. Last night a tremendous crowd turned out to hear the special sermon to young men, and at the conclusion fully a hundred and fifty people came up and gave their hand. Brother Brown, the sweet singer, who says he plays the fiddle for Sidney to dance by, is proving himself an evangelist as well as a great musician. The beautiful hymns rendered by Mr. Brown are as sermons upon the ears of the audience. The sweet gospel truths in these old hymns are sung in such a manner as to make an indellible [sic] impression upon all who hear them. Each word sinks into the heart as it is uttered and has a profound effect. An old negro woman paid him a high compliment involuntarily last night. He had finished one of his new solos and this old woman sitting on the platform said, loud enough for half a dozen or more to hear her: "If dat long-haired white man would stop playing dat organ and sing ‘Am I Born to Die,' dem sinners would come a tumolin." The preacher said: "When I was wicked it seemed that God didn't le me have but one friend, outside of my mother, and that friend was Dr. E. E. King of San Antonio. He used to take me into his study and plead with me forsake the sins of this world and turn to Jesus. I was indifferent and didn't care anything about his advice, but he stuck to me and finally I was converted, and this good man was instrumental in bringing my lost soul to Christ. I want to help you, young man, toward God tonight. I want to take you before that good old mother and hear you say, ‘ I have found the Savior. The things I once liked I now hate and the things I once hated I now like. I am a different man.' Don't you know that old mother would get up and shout for joy at such a sight! "There was a young man in the bible who was attracted by the preaching of our Lord and was so effected that he asked, ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Christ repeated to him the ten commandments and the young man replied, ‘All these I have kept from my youth up.' He had kept the ten commandments but was yet imperfect. Let us search him. He didn't lack wealth, for he was rich; he had plenty of money. Money is a mighty good thing for you to have, but it is a might bad thing to have you. Money will buy you most anything. It will sometimes buy you a wife, mine didn't cost me but $2.50 though, and I can't kick, for I believe I got the best of the deal. I don't know whether she got a husband or not, but I do know I got a wife. This young man we find seeking Jesus didn't lack money. He didn't lack morality. I had rather be a moral sinner than an immoral church member, for a man can be a moral man and not a Christian, but he can not be a Christian unless he is a moral man. There are men on your church books who haven't got any more religion than a rabbit. I might hold some of you down under the water until you got purple in the face and if when you came up you wasn't a whole lot better than you are now you would come out of that water a plain old wet sinner. The young man had never committed adultery. How many men in my audience tonight can say they never disobey this commandment? He had never stole anything. I couldn't say that. I stole my wife. He had never killed anyone. He had never defrauded anyone, and he had honored his father and mother. "Down at San Antonio there was a young girl, the daughter of a rich widow, who I tried in every way to convert and turn her toward our Savior, but of no avail. The last time I was in San Antonio my pastor told me that this young girl had married a fellow, and that he had got all the money he could out of her and left her. The fellow wrote to the girl and told her to get everything out of the old wretch she could, referring to her mother, and this foolish girl dishonored her mother and wrecked her life for that kind of a man. Put riches on a couple of corn stalks and you will find a whole lot of girls willing to marry it. This young man kept all of the commandment. It wasn't position he wanted, for he was a mighty young ruler. Sometimes you will see a doctor join a church to build up his practice but not so with this young man. He had everything he could wish for, but he was unhappy. "The young ruler ran toward the Lord and fell in the dirt upon his knees and cried, ‘Oh, master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' Oh, what a scene to see such a perfect young man, so rich in this world, seeking happiness in Christ. He wanted salvation; he wanted eternal life. The Lord bade him take up the cross and follow Him. He was not willing to give up his life and position for the bright promises of eternal life and turned his pack upon the Lord. The only thing that young man lacked was obedience. I believe if he had given up this world and followed Christ he would have been one of the wise men of the world and preached of God's precious words. "Young men, you are like this sinful youth, you don't want to turn your back on the worl. I can go down in these shops at Palestine and find an honest hard working young man, who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow and who supports his mother. I had him at work every day and never tardy or late. I go to his home and find his good old mother there with everything around her that plain comfort demands. The young man does his duty in everything except giving his soul to God." From "In Society's Realm" column on Page 6: Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Green have returned from their visit to Palestine. Misses Bertha and Minnie Hinkel of Palestine are in the city, visiting Mrs. A. E. Hart. From "Religious World" column on Page 12: REVIVAL AT PALESTINE ---------- Large Crowds Hear Sid Williams - Excellent Singing. Palestine, Texas, May 23. - Last night fully 2000 people turned out to hear Sid Williams, the great Baptist divine, who is conducting a series of revival meetings at the tabernacle in this city. The crowds get larger at each service, and great interest is being taken in the work by the good people of Palestine, the consequence of which many sinners are being made to turn to God. Sidney either left his funny sermon at home or run out of jokes last night, as the sermon was as solemn and sanctimonious as it could have been. It was a sermon straight from the shoulder, filled brim full of gospel truths, hard facts and religious doctrines. Brother Wingo, pastor of the Avenue Baptist church, who began this meeting, says he feels that the blessing of God is with the Baptists in this work and that much good will come from it. If large crowds and anxious sinners quitting work and turning out to hear William three times a day are encouraging, the good pastor has cause to feel elated. There is no use in talking; Mr. Brown, who plays the music for Williams is simply proving himself to be a musical evangelist. His solos, composed of those sweet, old-fashioned hymns so familiar to one's childhood, can be heard as distinctly on the rear seats of the great building as on the front, and they are sung in such a way that the word, as it is uttered, sinks into the heart of its auditor, and the effect is remarkable. Last night the choir, which is composed of the leading musical talent of the city, was singing one of its new hymns, and before the sweet refrain had hardly died away, a good old negro woman sitting among others of her race in a part of the building allotted to them, was heard to say: "Sho', if dem white folks would stop dat organ and let dat long-haired man sing ‘Am I Born to Die?' dem sinners would come a-tumbling." Before the preacher got started on his sermon he gave his hearers a little talk on Sunday Christianity and week-day wickedness, saying that some people used their religion like their Sunday suit of clothes–keeping it packed away in a bureau drawer all the week, wearing it only on Sunday. He says that some women wear the clothes of the devil so much that when they go to put on their Sunday garments they are so tight they can hardly get their breath. "Some people think," said the evangelist, "that none but the unlearned, unintellectual, common-minded men seek Christ. Did not the wise men seek the blessed Son of God. The intellectual men of the world, the educated and learned men, followed the Star of Bethlehem, and not only sought, but found Christ. It is the intellectual class that seek Him and the unintellectual, nonsensical, half-demented little old narrow-minded sinner like you that seek the devil and shun all that is pure and holy. "Some people are so little that they don't understand how man can be in God and God in the man. It can be illustrated in a blacksmith shop. The blacksmith takes a piece of iron, places it in the furnace, piles the coals around and over it, and begins working the bellows. In a few minutes he rakes off the coals and there lies the piece of iron red hot, the iron in the fire and the fire in the iron. "My mother was a good Episcopal woman and always wanted me to be a preacher. She wanted to send off and have run through some kind of a machine and come out a preacher. I told them I didn't have any religion. They couldn't talk to me about preaching. I knew I wasn't fit to even think about preaching the gospel. I was a pretty bad boy, and went from worse to worse, and I had rather get off in some dark corner and played poker than to have danced with the sweetest girl in the town. I was never any hand for dancing. Dr. King, now pastor of the First Baptist church of San Antonio, was the man who converted me. I came into a meeting he was holding with a crowd of boys, and we took the very back seats. That good man began preaching of the precious works of God, telling of His infinite mercy and love for sinners. Oh, he got them stirred up. It was the fashion those day to weep when your heart was filled with joy, and there was weeping in this meeting and hundreds turned their backs on the devil, unloading their sins on Christ, and began the sweet journey toward heaven. There were about a dozen boys with me, and the preacher got closer and closer to us. Finally it got one or two of the boys went up, one at a time, until there were but two left. One was a little shriveled up, narrow-faced boy named Pete, whose eyes stood out like chinquepins, and the other was your brother Sid. We sat there alone. I looked at Pete and Pete looked at me. First thing I knew little old Pete went a-skedaddling up to the preacher. I began to think about how I looked back there by myself, and began to get lonesome. Pretty soon some power seemed to just pull me up, and before I hardly knew it I rushed up to that good man who was pleading so hard for Christ and gave him my hand, and as I did so I gave my heart to God. Shortly after that I began studying for the ministry. My mother prayed that I would be converted and become a preacher, and her prayers were answered." ---