Rev. A. N. Kelly is a man of remarkable personality. He is an evangelist and Christian scholar of national reputation. He is an idealist and a man of practical affairs. This is an unusual combination and yet a very useful one when it exists. For it is the man behind the gun who wins the battles.
These are some of the things Reverend Kelly has accomplished in two years:
He found Beulah almost a wilderness. Hundreds of acres of land could be bought for from $2 to $4 an acre. An occasional settler eked out a scanty livelihood in a primitive way, for the lands in this immediate neighborhood were known as the “Barrens,” and it had never entered into the mind of man to give them a practical test. To-day a thriving colony, ever increasing in circumference, marks the spot. Cosy cottages dot the landscape. A comfortable schoolhouse and church building have been erected. The land is being rapidly cleared and is found productive beyond expectation. Much of the land is fast increasing in value, but as compared with more thickly populated sections is still ridiculously cheap. For families of small means, who are looking for a pure, healthful environment, where they may cultivate their own vine and fig tree under comfortable and easy circumstances, this section offers unusual advantages. Only the better class of citizens is desired, for this is designed to be a community of Christian people. Not fanatics, mind you, with visionary and impractical ideas of life, but clean, wholesome people, honest and honorable in their dealings, and with high ideals that propel them constantly upward in the battle of life.
I spent a pleasant day at Beulah, and Rev. Mr. Kelly unfolded to me some of his plans. He is a man of great faith and very useful and noble purposes. It was interesting to talk with the man, to note his fine optimism and invincible energy and courage. He is a college graduate, with a roomy brain and a dynamic spirit. He knows no such thing as the impossible.
Small fruits and vegetables grow to perfection here. The soil is a sub-clay, and, being virgin, retains its pristine strength and vigor. Apples and peaches, and all kinds of vegetables, grow to perfection. A canning factory is in course of operation to utilize these products. The growing of cantaloupes on a large scale will be undertaken this season. Large tracts of land adjacent to the railroad between Beulah and Hohenwald, a stretch of thirty miles, have been secured for this purpose, and a contract has been entered into with the railroad for the marketing of the crop.
Within the limits of this article it is impossible to more than touch on Beulah, its many desirable features, its splendid possibilities. To those more than casually interested, a letter addressed to Rev. A. N. Kelly, Burns, Rural Route No. 2, will bring full information.
