elder in the Stone's River church, and continued to serve that church, as such, with marked fidelity until his death.

The subject of this memoir was a child of the covenant, and is believed to have embraced religion at an early day. May 1, 1809, he entered the grammar school of Rev. Samuel Donnel, Wilson county, Tenn. Mr. Donnel was a good scholar, and educated a goodly number of youth who became useful men. He also studied theology under Mr. Donnel, and for a time before his licensure with Duncan Brown, D.D., of Columbia, Maury county, Tenn., who was a learned divine.*

He was licensed by. Shiloh Presbytery Sept. 2, 1814. His first charge was Mount Vernon, in Wilson county, Tenn. He did not continue long in this charge, but gave it up to take charge of two churches (Hopewell and Stone's River) in Rutherford county, Tenn., where he was ordained and installed by the same Presbytery April 7, 1817. A few years afterward Cripple Creek church, in the same county, was added to his charges. He continued the pastor of those three churches as long as his physical ability lasted, being a period of nearly forty-five years, when he was deprived of his eyesight. He did not cease preaching, however, until some two years after his total blindness.

He died at his residence near Milton, Rutherford county, Tenn., June 15, 1863, of the decay of his vital powers. He married Miss Eliza Ray, a daughter of William Ray, Esq., of Hopewell congregation, Tenn., who, with six children, survives him.

His life was eminently practical, of great piety and consistency. He labored zealously and faithfully as long as his health and strength permitted. He became entirely blind several years before his death, and continued to preach upon regular appointments at his dwelling, even after the loss of his eyesight, until his strength failed him. He had the confidence and love of all who knew him, and he did great good within the sphere of his labors.

His preaching was decidedly biblical. He thought and spoke in the vigorous Saxon words of the sacred volume; he set forth clearly and forcibly its great principles, and drew largely upon its impressive facts for illustrations; he drank deeply of its spirit and seemed to speak under a lively sense of the value of the soul and a clear conception of the realities of eternity. He could repeat from memory a great many important texts of Scripture; these were often happily employed in establishing and fortifying the points of doctrine embraced in his sermons.

As a preacher he might be compared to a perennial fountain, whose sources are too deep to be affected by a sudden fall of rain or a temporary drought. The water from such streams is pure, lasting, refreshing. Such were his sermons, not so eloquent as those of some men, not so meagre as those of other men. Their influence was that of truth in its purity, permanence and life-giving power. His ministry was attended with many revivals, which he managed prudently and wisely. In times of excitement he was not too much carried away, and in seasons of declension he was not overcome by despondency. Faith in God sustained him, and intimate communion with him enabled him to persevere in setting forth the truth. He never introduced politics into the pulpit, from a conviction of the paramount importance of the affairs of the soul.

He moral character was blameless and his conduct prudent. These things contributed much to his power as a preacher. If his sermons fell short in the elegance of their literary execution, they were made powerful by the

* A memoir of DUNCAN BROWN, D.D., is published in The Presbyterian Historical Almanac for 1862, page 82.

good name of the man who spoke them. He began his preparation for the ministry late in life, and there never was a time when he received enough for preaching to support his family. And if his sermons lacked freshness when he was advanced in life, it must be remembered that the infirmities of age and the necessary care for the welfare of his family prevented him from making preparation for the pulpit. Even at this period, when he had opportunity to study a new subject, or revise an old one, he astonished his hearers by his powerful presentation of truth. He spoke not so much in "the excellency of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit." If we would regard success as a measure of preaching talent, he would fall behind few.

BARR, JOHN A.-Was born in Rowan county, N. C., in 1832. His parents, who were exemplary members of the Presbyterian Church, dedicated him to God in his infancy, and trained him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In early life he became, as is believed, a subject of renewing grace. Having a desire to live for the glory of his Divine Master, and believing that he could accomplish most for that object by entering the ministry, he began a course of classical studies in Davidson College in Mecklenburg county, N. C., where he graduated with distinction in 1851. After spending some time as a teacher in Georgia, he spent the year at Union Theological Seminary, Prince Edward, Va., and then he entered Columbia Seminary, S. C., where he graduated in 1857, and was licensed by Concord Presbytery. He labored for some time in North Carolina, after which he went as a missionary to Gaines' Landing in Arkansas, and labored for a year or two, preaching principally, as far as is known, to the colored population and a few planters.

In 1860 he settled in White county, Ark. The church in Searcy, being few in numbers and composed of elements not the most concordant in spirit, did not afford the most inviting field for a young and inexperienced minister. Consequently, after some time he ceased to preach in the town and confined his labors to a church ten miles further west, in what is called Searcy Valley. To this church he continued to minister until the Master of the vineyard called him home. He died July 18, 1863, of typhoid fever.

Rev. JOHN W. MOORE, of Austin, Ark., writes as follows: There was nothing very marked in the character or eventful in the life of our deceased brother. He belonged to that class of men who hold on the even tenor of their way, content to walk in the path which Providence seems to prescribe. His discourses were plain and practical, and in many instances very edifying. In the labors of such a man, especially if his years in the ministry are few, we are not to look for immediate or striking results. By such instruments the great Husbandman seems rather to sow the seed and water the plants, than to gather in an immediate harvest.

Brother Barr was taken away by an attack of typhoid fever which lasted about eight days. As soon as he perceived that the attack was likely to prove fatal, he sent for me. Owing to a delay in the message I did not reach him until a few hours before his departure. The cold dews of death had then settled on his forehead, yet he was conscious, and fully aware that he was already in the valley of the shadow of death. His aged mother and a few sympathizing friends, sat around his bed. He repeatedly requested all in the room to sing, his own voice sometimes joining audibly in the exercises. He once or twice said, "Jesus has come, and I long to go. In exercises of this kind he continued until his physical nature became exhausted, and he seemed quietly to fall asleep.

1813

AllBoyd

BOYD, D.D., ANDREW HUNTER HOLMES-The son of General Elisha and Nancy (Holmes) Boyd, was born at Boydsville, near Martinsburg, Va., June 4, 1814. He received his academic_education at Martinsburg and Middleburg, Va., and in 1828 he entered Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pa., where he graduated with distinction in 1830. During his college life he made a profession of his faith and resolved to enter the ministry. After graduating he spent two years at Yale College, New Haven, Conn., to perfect himself in particular studies. He studied divinity in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J., and subsequently attended lectures delivered by Thomas Chalmers, D.D., and Sir William Hamilton in Edinburgh, Scotland. On his return to the United States he was licensed by Winchester Presbytery in 1837, and began his labors in February, 1838, when he was ordained by the same Presbytery over the churches of Leesburg and Middleburg, Va. In 1840 he removed to Harrisonburg, Va., and in 1842 he became pastor of the Loudoun Street Presbyterian Church, Winchester, Va. This relation existed until Dec. 16, 1865, when he died of an affection of the heart and brain, brought on by exposure whilst a prisoner at Wheeling, West Virginia, and subsequently at Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, Md.

He married Miss Ellen Williams, of Woodstock, Va., who, with three sons, survives him.

Dr. Boyd was a prominent man in the Church. At the disruption of the Presbyterian Church in 1837 he identified himself with the New School party, and he was one of the leaders in the secession from that branch of the Church in 1857 which formed "The United Synod of the Presbyterian Church," and in the preliminary arrangements which led to the absorption of that Synod" in 1864-5, by "The Presbyterian Church in the United States," his view and opinions were duly considered and appreciated. Born and raised in Virginia, he was devoted to his native State and her peculiar institutions, so that when the war broke out he identified himself with the South in the changes brought about during the progress of the war. He was seized as a hostage for persons captured and sent to Libby prison in Richmond, Va.; and as his experience was that of thousands and gives an insight into that form of suffering brought about by a civil war, I give the following acount of his trials, which becomes the more important as they ultimately resulted in his death. He thus became a martyr to his cause as much as though he had fallen upon the battle-field. He was arrestedwithout any specific charge-at his home in January, 1864, and taken to Martinsburg, the nearest military post, but held as a hostage for a person who was recruiting negro soldiers. This man said he had made arrangements to have some of the prominent citizens held for him in case he should be captured. He was paroled and allowed to return home, but in April following he was again arrested with four other citizens for three men captured by the Confederates in Morgan county, Va. They were all sent to Wheeling, West Virginia, and there put in the military prison with two hundred men in the room, the most of whom were desperate characters, so much so that the provost marshal told them not to take any valuables in with them. After

* A full account of the organization of the body is published in The Presbyterian Historical Almanac for 1859, page 135.

remonstrating with him, the provost put them in one end of the room with a guard to protect them. In a few days two of these persons were sent to Richmond to effect an exchange; the other three applied to be removed to the city jail. There they were comparatively comfortable, though they were not allowed (with a guard) to take a walk or to go to church. About the time the two gentlemen reached Richmond the "truce boats" were stopped; so they remained in the jail at Wheeling until the last of July, but as they were about being released an order was received from Washington, D. C., to hold one of them as hostage for the man who was recruiting negro soldiers, and though proof was furnished that said person died June 13th in Libby prison, Richmond, Va., Dr. Boyd was held until August, when General Early went into Maryland and seized two Episcopal ministers. Dr. Boyd was then released and reached his home September 9th. Here he remained until October 28th, when nearly all the Southern men in Winchester, Va., were arrested by General Sheridan and sent to Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, Md. About seventy were sent in one day to Martinsburg in army wagons; from there they were packed in freight cars and taken to Baltimore. When they reached that city they were compelled to walk, carrying their own baggage, to the fort, a distance of three miles. For four days and nights they were kept in the horse stalls; then the whole seventy were all put in the hay-loft, which had been boarded up for that purpose. They were kept there till late in December: the weather was intensely cold; they had neither food nor fuel sufficient to keep them comfortable; their rations were six small crackers and three ounces of meat per day; they were allowed to buy bread and molasses, but friends were not allowed to send them anything to eat. Not having recovered from the effects of a severe cold contracted in the jail at Wheeling, the treatment at Fort McHenry fixed the disease more deeply upon him, and soon after his return home it assumed that character which ended with his death.

JOSEPH C. STILES, D.D., Evangelist of East Hanover Presbytery, preached his funeral sermon, as follows:

"Grief loves to be left to silent, unobtrusive, unmolested contemplation of its sorrows. You do violence to nature bereaved in a kinsman or a friend when you drive him from the retired indulgence of his feelings into the public work of discoursing to others. This I feel when I call to mind those years gone by when my departed brother and myself stood, side by side, in large assemblies of the North, for a succession of days, battling conscientiously for the ecclesiastical rights of the South; when I remember our oldtime meetings of the Synod of Virginia, our fraternal conferences in the sessions of the body, our earnest preachings to the assemblies of the people, and the holy joy we were so often permitted to cherish in the conversion of sinners. I feel a mourner should not be a speaker, but when a strong and holy man has left us we do well to pause a moment and ponder his achievement for the race, and the power that wrought it; that we may remember the workman, and point the world to his example.

"Dr. Boyd was a man of fine intellect. God endowed him with quick and clear perception; a sound, discriminating and comprehensive judgment, and especially with strong and active reasoning faculties. Here, you perceive, are the primary qualifications for strong intellectual achievement-all the faculties, parts or talents for such work. The secondary and most important to man, because most responsible for the same, respect the training or use of natural gifts. Intellectual training for the ministry has reference to two things: the exercise of the mind and the object for which it works. Here our brother was eminently faithful. Many a man quite as highly endowed

by nature as our departed brother, has lived and died, utterly useless and unlamented, because in shameful indolence he failed to employ and improve the talents entrusted to his charge. Not so with Dr. Boyd. He loved study and ever felt both its necessity and obligation. Consequently, a man of indefatigable mental industry throughout his life, he constantly accumulated valuable knowledge, miscellaneous and professional. He was a man of extensive and useful information. On almost every topic of literature and science, which might be started by the conversations of the educated, he often discoursed like one who had given valuable attention to the subject, while in his proper department of didactic and polemic theology, ecclesiastical history and biblical criticism, few men in the land had studied so faithfully, and very few had made such eminent attainments. Not many, who knew him, would have been willing to engage him in public debate on theological issues.

"Another secret of Dr. Boyd's pre-eminence lay in this fact, he sought knowledge only for its legitimate ends. He was single-eyed and sincere in his studies. He sought to learn the truth not simply as an end in itself, but as the appointed means of accomplishing God's glory and man's salvation. He was a man of strong feelings, vehement promptings, inflexible principles. He saw the great doctrines of Christianity clearly; he felt them powerfully, and was impelled to work through them mightily and steadily. Like a steamer with a strong engine, his mind moved along unimpeded in its great work. His character was remarkably well balanced, both in its moral feelings and in its active principles. He was an intrepid man. This virtue he exhibited unostentatiously throughout his life. He manifested admirable self-reliance in public debate. On many occasions when feebly supported he was called by Christian principle to confront numerous, formidable and violent opponents. I felt this trait of his character painfully on an eminent occasion. When the committee of the Assembly and United Synod assembled in Lynchburg, Va., to confer upon the subject of the reunion of the churches, he suffered himself to become impressed with the apprehension that the committee of his own Church (the United Synod) might be strongly tempted to perpetrate an abandonment of their principles. The fact was just the reverse. No one is surprised that such a person as he was should have left his mark amongst men, and wrought a great work for the Church of God. In principle, everybody felt that he was benevolent, and just, and true, and firm, and modest; in practice, everybody knew him to be earnest and studious, and steady and reliable. He executed a great and good work, and he possessed all the requisite intellectual and moral qualifications for the same, under the blessing of God.

"Dr. Boyd held through life a type of theology which the ultra-Calvinistic would scarcely acknowledge to be entirely orthodox, but he was always a clear and decided Calvinist, and we, his brethren, well knew that if the doctrinal minute of the 'joint committee' was so framed as to avoid absolute extremes it would be promptly and heartily adopted by him; and so indeed it was, and we do sincerely rejoice that our departed brother sunk to his rest in full ecclesiastical fellowship with the Southern Presbyterian Church.* It is painful to know that the last year of his life was one of suffering. For ten months he never laid his head naturally upon his pillow, frequently longed for death, and would have felt it an acceptable release at any time. For a succession of months he had to be held up, occasionally for days and

*A full account of the official action in this matter is published in The Presbyterian Historical Almanac for 1865, pp. 215-223.