Berry, Rev. G. W.—Although this good man is no longer among us, his name is still fragrant with his exalted faith and pious life. Like his stay on earth, his stay in Alabama was short, but useful and endearing. He was the son of Pickens and Mary Berry, and was born in Edgefield county, S. C., in 1859. Having studied some time in the Benedict Institute in that State, he, after doing some effective work in that State, came to Alabama to take the pastoral oversight of the church in Eufaula. Here it was that after a short illness he exchanged the cross for the crown, singing as his soul retired from the earth, “My Lord calls me and I must go.” To know him was to love him, for his gentleness of spirit was beautiful to look upon.
Betts, Rev. J. W., of Huntsville, Ala., son of John and Edith Betts, was born June 4, 1851, near Courtland, in Lawrence county, Ala. In the fall of 1873 he was baptized into the Courtland Church by the Rev. Gabriel B. Johnson. Brother Betts is among the younger men of the Muscle Shoals Association. He is a clear thinker and a lover of books. He is a business man, industrious and economical, and does not live of the donations of his people, but the labors of his own hands. His style is rather didactic for the masses, but it is plain and his doctrine is in line with the teachings of the “Good Book.”
Berry, Prof. J. S., son of Jack and Clara Berry, of Uniontown, is one among the most proficient Sunday School workers in Alabama. He is president of the Sunday School Convention of the Uniontown Association. His happy, unselfish spirit fills all his work with pleasantness and sunshine. He is now about 35 years of age.
Blevins, Rev. John, long the leading man and pioneer of Dallas county, the first pastor of the St. Phillip Street Church after the close of the war, was for his opportunities and times a very strong man in the work of organization. May it ever be told of him that he led his people—his church, to become the foster mother of Selma University in the time of its infancy and weakness. This fact is one of the brightest spots upon his memory, and should never be forgotten.
The buildings in which the St. Phillip Street and the Green Street Churches now worship were built by Mr. Blevins. He died eight or ten years ago at the age of 65.
Bibb, Rev. Wm. T., son of Linzy and Caroline Bibb, was born in Montgomery, Ala., in 1853. Brother Bibb is one of the most worthy of our rising young men. He is not noted for brilliancy, but for constant application in the race for knowledge, for pushing things to a finish in search for truth, for the purest life and loftiest piety, he is hardly to be excelled. Already he has been entrusted with various pastorates, including one at Marion and another near Birmingham. I had the best opportunity to learn him while I was pastor at Selma. Here he was superintendent of my Sunday School and aided me in my ward prayer-meetings. He completed two courses at the Selma University, graduating with the title of A. B., and with the highest confidence of all the faculty. In looking upon his open countenance one instinctively feels the impress of an honest, earnest man—a man free from hypocrisy and guile.
Bradford, Rev. William C., pastor of the First Colored Baptist Church, Union Springs, son of Henry and Elizabeth Bradford, was born in Montgomery, Ala., in 1862. His early years were spent in the Swayne school in said city, in which he succeeded in laying the foundation of a liberal English education. In his eighteenth year, and two years after his father’s death, he was baptized into the fellowship of the Columbus Street Baptist Church, Montgomery, by the late Rev. James A. Foster. Feeling a call to the work of the gospel ministry, he, with a view to fitting himself for this solemn charge, entered Atlanta Theological Seminary. In school as well as out among his brethren, he has managed to occupy a place with those who formed the van.
In the person of his good wife, once Miss M. H. Allen, of Georgia (daughter of Rev. T. M. Allen, ex-member of the Georgia Legislature), whom he wedded in 1884, he has found happy and efficient help in his studies as well as in his calling. For a while Mr. Bradford followed the tailor’s trade, but at the call of the Gilfield Church in Wetumpka, the Dexter Avenue Church, Montgomery, in 1886 set him apart to the work of the gospel ministry. At Wetumpka he built a church edifice worth about $700. While pastor at Clayton he led to the erection of a building worth $1,000, and just now is rejoicing with the good people of Union Springs on his entrance into the new brick structure which was dedicated on the second Sunday in October, 1892. He was principal of the city school while in Clayton, and now holds several positions of honor and trust. Mr. Bradford is one of the strongest and is among the most successful young men in Alabama. His affable manner commends him to all. He is now at Tuscaloosa.
Brooks, Rev. G. J., of Selma, Ala., son of Joseph and Nancy Brooks, was born in 1830 near Richmond, Va., in which city he lived till his eighteenth year, when he was carried to New Orleans, La., and from thence to Texas. 1849 was spent in St. Louis, Mo., and in 1850 he was brought to Huntsville, Ala. In this same year he was baptized into the Primitive Baptist Church of Huntsville by Rev. Wm. Harris (colored). [1] Of this period of his life Mr. Brooks says: “By the will of a Mr. Kenedy I was left free, but as the administrator of the will, a Mr. Clark, refused to execute this point in the will, I remained a slave.” In 1867 he united with the Marion Church, under the pastorate of the Rev. James Childs. Near this town he taught school, till in 1872 he went to Kentucky, where, in 1873, he was ordained to the work of the ministry. After serving various offices in the work in Kentucky, he came to Selma in 1875, where, after a few years, he became pastor of the St. Philip Street Church. By the assistance of the white family he learned to read at the age of 14. In Marion he extended his studies under Prof. Card, and under Presidents Woodsmall, McAlpine and Brawley he further prosecuted his studies in the Selma University. Brother Brooks has held various offices of trust under the State Convention and the Uniontown Association. His health is now rather below his usual strength, but his love for the Master’s cause seems nothing abated. His wife, Mrs. Anna, is among the leading women of Alabama.
[1] It appears that this denomination, Primitive Baptists, had some one or two ordained colored ministers.