THANK YOU TERRY GARNER
Our thanks go out to Terry Garner for making a valuable addition to the website. It is a collection of 120 photos and drawings, mostly of gospel preachers from the turn of the last century. They have been donated by Terry Garner of the 36th St. Church of Christ in Vienna, WV. They were given to Terry by Tom Butterfield, Jr. Terry desired that the collection be placed where all could have access to them, and I am glad that they can be included on this website devoted to the history of the restoration movement in the Ohio Valley. The photos have been adjusted, cropped, and scanned to give a uniform appearance as best as possible.
The pictures probably came from a printing house or publishing company like The Christian Leader and would have been used for inclusion in the paper or as illustrations in a book. Though the collection is mostly of gospel preachers, two of the photos have wives pictured alongside their husbands. Additionally, there is a photo of a single woman, “Aunt” Jane Gaskins.
Some of the photos are very familiar, appearing in places like Ligon’s Portraiture or in publications of the period. Several names will be familiar to students of the Restoration movement. Some of the familiar names appear in photos I have never seen before. About half of the pictures are of people unknown to me.
It is hoped that further research will be able to share some of the biographical information of these individuals and some of their labors and sacrifices for the Lord. If you have information on any of these people that you would like to share, please contact me through the website.
I want to include an article from April 1, 1913, in the Christian Leader by Mrs. S. W. York of Renfrow, Oklahoma, who shared her thoughts about Ligon’s Portraiture. I think it is appropriate for these photos donated by Terry Garner.
THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY A PICTURE
The inclement weather keeping us in, we have just now engaged in a season of worship, at our own fireside, and while singing praises to the great Head of the Church, my eyes fell upon the large picture of the 260 gospel preachers which adorn our wall.
We seemed to be assembled with all these good brethren and all joining in our hymn, “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.”
The effect of this illusion brought the happy tears to our eyes, and we realized some little foretaste of celestial joy. And, oh, what must it be to be there, in that beautiful home!
We know the impossibility of ever seeing that same company assembled upon earth, for some have gone to their rest, to receive a reward for their faithfulness here; but, oh, may God help us to meet them there where the tree of life is blooming. The passing into rest of Bro. J. W. Perkins, who, during his meeting in Bloomington, Ind., spent a day in our home, recalls the fact that there is a great number of those who are represented in that group who have passed the meridian of life, and are going down the valley, one by one, when the labors of life’s weary day are done. How very lonely it will be when they pass into their rest, where we shall never again, in this life, clasp their friendly hands or hear their earnest pleadings and timely warnings to us to continue steadfast, or read their kind admonitions in the papers, which are set for the defense of the gospel.
Of those in “Bro. D. S. Ligon’s Portraiture” whom we have had the pleasure of entertaining in our home, I see the familiar faces of Bros. A. Ellmore, J. E. Cain, J. A. Perry, G. W. Winter, Z. T. Houston, C. A. Loney, D. T. Broadus, H. E. Moore, and I. C. Gall. With others we feel almost acquainted, from reading their excellent lessons in the papers.
May our loving Father keep us all humble and faithful and permit us to sing his praises together in the realm of the blest!