STEPHEN B. WEEKS 
 
 CLASS 0FI886;PH.D. THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UfflVHOTT OF NdDMl CAMDONA 
 TIE WEEKS COLILEOTON 
 
 *|6- ^?55f 
 
This book must not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
 ffHSlfiSf 
 
 ON THE SB* 
 
 
 1 
 
 NOT BE COP;. 
 ScRViCECOPig, 
 
 THIS IIILE HAS. BEEN MICROFILMED 
 
 Form No. 471 
 

'/>■ 
 
 Skctcl) of tl)£ £tfe 
 
 OP 
 
 ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY, 
 
 FIRST BAPTIST MISSIONARY 
 
 TO THE CHEROKEE INDIANS, AND FOUNDER OF VALLEY 
 
 TOWN SCHOOL, NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 BY ROBERT FLEMING, 
 
 OF NEWNAN, GEORGIA. 
 
 -*•*- 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 WESTERN BAPTIST ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA. 
 
 1852. 
 
/ V 
 
 
 
 King & Baird. Printers, 
 
 Sansom St., Philadelphia. 
 
NOTICE. 
 
 This very brief Memoir of Elder Posey, 
 has been prepared by the Author, at the 
 request of the Western Baptist Associa- 
 tion, Georgia. It is hoped that the numer- 
 ous friends of the deceased may be inter- 
 ested in its perusal, and that the religion 
 of Christ may be "promoted by its circula- 
 tion. But it is especially hoped, that the 
 cause of Indian Missions may be aided, 
 and the general cause of benevolence sub- 
 served. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preliminary Remarks 7 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth of Humphrey Posey. — His Education. — Habits 
 of Early Life 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 His Marriage. — Conversion. — Impressions on Preach- 
 ing. — Ordination 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Revival of the Missionary Cause in Europe. — Among 
 the Baptists in America. — American Board of Com- 
 missioners. — Triennial Convention. — Valley Town 
 Mission among the Cherokee Indians. — Mr. Posey's 
 Agency and Influence among them 32 
 
 CHAPTER TV. 
 
 Character of Elder Posey as a Christian. — A Preacher. 
 — A Pastor. — A Yoke-fellow in the Ministry. — Let- 
 ter from Elder A. "Webb. — Interesting Anecdote. — 
 Dr. Howell's Letter. — Respect of the Indians for 
 him 67 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Organization of the Georgia Baptist Convention. 
 — Presence of Elder Posey. — His Labors in Georgia. 
 — Agency for Cave Spring School, in Floyd County. 
 — Death of Mrs. Posey. — His Marriage to Mrs. 
 Jane Stokes, and Settlement in Newnan. — His 
 Death 85 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Persecution of Elder Posey. — Anecdote. — Method of 
 Preaching. — His Portrait 93 
 
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 
 
 From the days of John the Baptist until 
 now, the Baptists have been more famous 
 for preaching in the wilderness, than for 
 wearing soft raiment, and for dwelling in 
 king's houses. They have generally been 
 looked upon as reeds shaken with the wind, 
 and have every where been spoken against. 
 Many of them have been eloquent ministers 
 of Jesus Christ, " fervent in the spirit, and 
 mighty in the scriptures," and have " taught 
 diligently the things of the Lord." Some 
 of the most distinguished men which the 
 world has ever known were in principle and 
 profession Baptists. A record of their 
 history has not, however, in all instances, 
 been preserved. In this respect, the Bap- 
 tists have not done justice to themselves ' 
 nor to the cause they so heartily adhere to. 
 They have probably been criminal in this 
 
8 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 thing to a greater extent than they are able 
 to perceive. The great, and almost un- 
 paralleled increase of their numbers within 
 the past and present century, has given 
 rise to an era in their history which will, 
 no doubt, mark their general character for 
 centuries to come. 
 
 The establishment of " The American 
 Baptist Publication Society' will be re- 
 membered. Through it the enlightened 
 world may learn what the Baptists were, 
 what they now are, and what they probably 
 will be. But while the pages of their 
 general history are rapidly assuming a 
 more interesting aspect, will not the depart- 
 ment of biography add largely to the 
 amount of pleasure and improvement of the 
 thoughtful, candid reader? Almost all 
 classes feel interested in perusing biogra- 
 phical sketches of remarkable persons. 
 There is a kind of charm in this depart- 
 ment of literature, which is rarely found 
 "in any other species of history. "Many 
 valuable observations in the conduct of 
 human life," says a good writer, in the 
 
OP ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 9 
 
 Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 
 u may be made from the accounts of those 
 who have been eminent and useful in the 
 world." Indeed, the lives of wicked persons 
 often furnish us with lessons of instruction. 
 They point with certainty to the fatal con- 
 sequences which, sooner or later, follow a 
 life of heedlessness and rebellion against 
 God. "We may not be able to derive 
 pleasure from perusing the sketches of an 
 unholy life, and therefore may not feel 
 anxious to perpetuate the memory of those 
 who have contributed to augment the sum 
 of human woe. Yet there still lingers in 
 our fallen nature, it would seem, a universal 
 consent that " the remembrance of the 
 wicked shall perish from the earth, and he 
 shall have no name in the street." Job 
 xviii. 17. But while "the name of the 
 wicked shall rot" in forgetfulness, u the 
 memory of the just is blessed." Pro v. x. 7. 
 It is a debt we owe to the memory of those 
 who have given their time, their talents, 
 and their lives to promote the best interests 
 of our bodies and souls. 
 
10 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 This world has often been termed a 
 wilderness. Holy writ declares we are 
 "travelers and sojourners, as all our 
 fathers were." It would, therefore, seem 
 that it may be a good work to write a 
 good biography of a good man, — to de- 
 lineate the journey through this wilderness, 
 and sketch the more useful parts for the 
 benefit of those who may come after. 
 Thus the young traveler may learn how to 
 take advantage of the rough and disastrous 
 places which he may have to encounter. 
 He may also learn how to avoid the dan- 
 gerous precipices over which his predeces- 
 sors have been incautiously precipitated. 
 
 In attempting to give a sketch of the 
 life of Elder Posey, the writer considers 
 himself called upon, from a variety of con- 
 siderations, to inform the reader, at the 
 outset, that he is fully sensible of his in- 
 ability to give to his friends that kind of 
 production which they are desirous to see, 
 and which they have a right, in some 
 degree, to demand. The incidents in his 
 life, from the mere circumstance of his 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 11 
 
 locality in the missionary field, were many 
 and interesting. But a record of them has 
 not been preserved, and but few, compara- 
 tively, can now be collected for the benefit 
 of surviving friends. To gather up his 
 numerous religious letters on business con- 
 nected with his missionary career, is im- 
 possible ; and his private correspondence, 
 though somewhat extensive, has not been 
 in many instances preserved. His diary 
 of travels through various parts of our 
 country, is disconnected, and of such a cha- 
 racter as to be of little service in preparing 
 this sketch. From what his friends have 
 known of him, and from what the writer 
 has obtained by the assistance of some 
 of his worthy acquaintances and fellow- 
 laborers in the gospel ministry, he hopes 
 to give a history of this excellent servant 
 of the Lord, which will be interesting and 
 useful to those who know how to appre- 
 ciate plain productions, and who desire 
 truth, more than embellishment, in works 
 of this kind. 
 
 The sketch of the rise and progress of 
 
12 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 Modern Missions in Europe and America, 
 given in the third chapter of this work, 
 seemed indispensable. Many valuable his- 
 tories of Missions have issued from the 
 press ; but who read them and where are 
 they to be found ? It is a lamentable fact, 
 that many of our good brethren in the 
 ministry have never seen such books as 
 " Qlioxdes History of Missions " or " Cf-am- 
 mells" or even the little tract called " His- 
 tory of the Bur man Mission." It is hoped 
 that the short account given in these pages, 
 will be very acceptable to those who may 
 not possess the works alluded to above. 
 Posey's life was so identified with the cause 
 of Missions, that it was impossible to give 
 his history without giving some detailed 
 account of the Missionary operations 
 amongst us. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 13 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth of Humphrey Posey. — Education. — Habits of 
 
 early life. 
 
 Elder Humphrey Posey was born in 
 Henry County, Virginia, January 12th, 
 1780. When he was about five years old, 
 his father removed to Burke County, North 
 Carolina, where young Posey spent his 
 childhood and youth. He was blessed with 
 parents who felt it to be their duty to bring 
 up their children in the nurture and admo- 
 nition of the Lord. His mother had been a 
 member of the Church of Jesus Christ from 
 her youth, and was, we are informed, a 
 woman of considerable reading, and of very 
 strong mind. But, best of all, she was 
 possessed of high-toned piety. She was 
 not merely a Baptist by profession, her 
 head and her heart were sound in God's 
 statutes; and she was a woman of true 
 
 2 
 
14 SKETCH OP THE LIFE 
 
 Christian decision. This last mentioned 
 trait in her character, her son Humphrey 
 inherited in an uncommon degree. He was 
 almost a stranger to vacillation and sus- 
 pense in the performance of either his 
 religious or secular duties. His mind, like 
 his body, never lingered in its movements. 
 His mother taught him, when but a child, 
 having no spelling book, to spell and read 
 in the Psalter; and by the time he was 
 seven years old, he had read through the 
 New Testament several times, without the 
 opportunity of going to school more than 
 twenty days. Might we not pause here for 
 a moment to inquire whether the hand of 
 the Lord may not be distinctly seen in this 
 early period, shaping, through maternal 
 instrumentality, the mind and character of 
 this poor and obscure boy, for the great 
 work whereunto he was afterwards called. 
 May we not also see how the mind, like the 
 body, becomes strong and active by early 
 well-directed exercise. It is a fact not 
 unworthy of notice, that Elder Posey had 
 an excellent memory, and he was remark- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 15 
 
 ably familiar with the word of God, which 
 he had treasured up in his heart when he 
 was a child; and when he was old it had 
 not departed from him. 
 
 He was not what is usually called an 
 educated man, having never attended school 
 more than to enable him to read, write, and 
 perform the simple rules of arithmetic. He 
 never, at school, studied English grammar. 
 He commenced teaching " little old-field 
 scJioolSy" as he used to call them, when 
 about seventeen years old. And as he who 
 teaches, learns faster than he who is being 
 taught, so it was with young Posey. He 
 had a great thirst for knowledge. Holy 
 writ assures us, " Through desire a man 
 having separated himself, seeketh and inter- 
 meddleth with all wisdom." Prov. xviii. 1. 
 This Bible truth is very strikingly illustrated 
 in his case ; for he became what may be 
 termed a good English scholar. He wrote 
 and spelled well, pronounced accurately, 
 spoke grammatically, thought clearly, and 
 reasoned forcibly. He possessed enough of 
 good common sense to keep him, however, 
 
16 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 from setting himself up as competent to 
 criticise the language and pronunciation of 
 those who had claims to scholarship. Nor 
 was he spoiled by that disgusting dogmatism 
 and self-importance which are so frequently 
 found in ruinous connection with those who 
 are self-taught and self-made, and who have 
 acquired without merit a kind of popu- 
 larity amongst their fellows. It is probably 
 true, in some instances, that "a little learn- 
 ing is a dangerous thing"; but it is cer- 
 tainly a shallow mind that is intoxicated 
 by shallow draughts. 
 
 He was fond of vocal music, and was 
 well acquainted with the principles of that 
 science. When young, his voice was very 
 good, and, " singing with the spirit and 
 with the understanding also," he had great 
 power over his congregations. How desira- 
 ble that a minister should possess this gift, 
 and cultivate it ! 
 
 In his person, Elder Posey was over the 
 ordinary size of men ; with fair complexion, 
 and clear blue eyes, he might be consi- 
 dered handsome. But he was more than 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 17 
 
 this ; he was dignified and commanding in 
 his personal appearance, — always easy and 
 affable in his intercourse with others, — 
 never phlegmatic nor morose. 
 
 Many young men of the present day, 
 should they ever cast an eye over these 
 pages, will probably be surprised to find 
 that with opportunities so poor he should 
 rise to so much distinction. But in reference 
 to difficulties, it may be truly said of him — 
 
 " Where some see mountains, he but atoms sees." 
 
 Naturalists tell us that the wings of the 
 ostrich are not adapted to flying. Their 
 structure authorizes the conclusion, and 
 facts establish it — the ostrich cannot fly. 
 So it is with some minds ; they cannot rise 
 above difficulties — never can expand, nor 
 mount, nor soar. But the kind Creator 
 gave the subject of this biographical notice 
 a mind of superior make — fitted for almost 
 any exigency. Fixed in its purpose, it 
 grasped and mastered whatever came within 
 its reach. Having to " work for a living," 
 his body and his mind were both greatly 
 
 2* 
 
18 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 benefited. The one was healthful and 
 vigorous, the other clear, active, and ener- 
 getic. No dull nor sluggish movements 
 characterized neither the one nor the other. 
 Indeed, his soul and his body seemed to be 
 made for each other. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 His Marriage. — Conversion. — Impressions on 
 preaching. — His Ordination. 
 
 The subject of this Memoir was a few 
 days more than twenty years old when he 
 married. This marriage would not be con- 
 sidered by Dr. Franklin a misfortune; 
 though some green philosophers of the pre- 
 sent age might deprecate early marriages. 
 He selected a pious wife, though himself, at 
 that time, not professing to be a converted 
 man. He believed the Bible was a revela- 
 tion from God, and he acted upon that 
 belief. As a lover of wisdom, he sought a 
 wife of whom he could say, " She openeth 
 her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue 
 is the law of kindness." Prov. xxxi. 26. A 
 sensible man will always endeavor to select 
 such a wife. " She will do him good, and 
 not evil, all the days of her life." Prov. 
 xxxi. 12. 
 
20 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 Among the papers left by Elder Posey, 
 is found, in his own handwriting, a brief 
 account of his religious experience. It will 
 be proper to give the reader this account 
 just as he has left it, that he may have a 
 correct specimen of his style in writing; 
 while it will exhibit his views of the work of 
 the Holy Spirit upon his heart in an inter- 
 esting and instructive manner. He says : — 
 
 " My parents taught me very early the 
 danger of sin, and I had serious thoughts 
 about a future state when very young. 
 Sometimes I was afraid to go to sleep, on 
 account of the dread I had of the judg- 
 ment's coming and finding me unprepared; 
 and I was often terrified with dreams, so 
 that I never could be said to enjoy fully 
 ' the pleasures of sin.' Still, I put off 
 seeking the salvation of my soul until I 
 was about eighteen years old. I often pro- 
 mised to reform, but I as often broke my 
 vows. Now the subject was brought home 
 to my conscience with so much power, that 
 I began to retire into secret places to pray 
 — became very much dejected, but in a short 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 21 
 
 time my distress left me, and I became quite 
 calm. This continued several years, during 
 which time I never could allow myself to 
 go into open sin, (and I will here state that 
 I was preserved, somehow, so that I never 
 swore a profane oath in my life, to my 
 knowledge,) but still my mind was carnal. 
 At about seventeen years of age, I began 
 teaching 'little old-field schools,' and also 
 vocal music, in Greenville District, South 
 Carolina. In the Spring of 1799, I went 
 into Union District to follow the same oc- 
 cupation. On the 28th day of January, 
 1800, I was united in marriage with Lettice 
 Jolly, then a pious member of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church. I taught school, that 
 year, in the same community, and in 1801 
 removed into Greenville District. All this 
 while my mind was occasionally deeply af- 
 fected. Some time about the end of this 
 year, after I had gone to bed, I fell into a 
 doze, and I was addressed so plainly, that 
 I rose hastily up in my bed, believing some 
 human being had spoken to me in these 
 words : ' Without you repent carefully you 
 
22 SKETCH OF THE LIFE. 
 
 shall die, but if you repent there is yet mercy 
 for you' I studied the expression, and be- 
 lieved it was from the Lord, and that it was 
 the last call I should ,be favored with, and 
 I determined immediately to set about the 
 work. I commenced trying to pray, but 
 could not regulate my mind, nor feel any 
 tenderness — not a tear could I shed. I 
 began now to feel the corruption of my 
 nature, and the deceitfulness of my heart. 
 I feared greatly that I had sinned away my 
 day of grace, and that now there was no 
 mercy for me. I could see how Christ could 
 save others, but mine was a peculiar case, 
 I could not do any thing at all in the right 
 way. I could not mourn for sin right, nor 
 pray right ; and every effort I made seemed 
 to plunge me deeper into the mire. This 
 state of feeling continued nearly a month, 
 and I went to a Baptist meeting, on the 
 Lord's-day, when, to my surprise, a large 
 congregation was in attendance, and sing- 
 ing ; which had not been the case there for 
 a long time previous. It struck me there 
 would be a revival, and I went in under 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 23 
 
 very solemn impressions. There were two 
 sermons preached, with no apparent effect ; 
 but when the preaching was closed, a Pres- 
 byterian gentleman, by request, got up and 
 described a camp-meeting which he had 
 attended just previous to this, and which 
 was, probably, the first in the State. The 
 description was given in such a manner that 
 it affected the whole congregation, and my 
 hard heart was softened, so that I shed tears 
 freely. A lively exhortation ensued, and 
 an invitation to seekers being given, I was 
 probably the first to go forward to give the 
 preacher my hand to be prayed for. I was 
 glad that I could weep, and I felt that I 
 would rather stay right there than to go 
 home ; but still I could not think that my 
 sins were forgiven. But I could now pray 
 with some fervor, and therefore hoped there 
 was yet mercy for me. I went home, and 
 my sadness increased. In the morning I 
 took up the hymn-book, and commenced 
 singing the hymn beginning — 
 
 1 How happy are they 
 
 Who their Saviour obey,' &c. 
 
24 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 " I thought they were the happiest people 
 in the world ; but here was I, a sinner, who 
 had no part in it. I laid down the book 
 and retired for secret prayer, which, I think, 
 I engaged in about four times that night ; 
 but found no relief. This struggle continued 
 about four days and nights, during which 
 time sins that had been long committed 
 came fresh to my recollection. I felt that 
 I was in the worst condition of any sinner, 
 mainly on account of the badness of my 
 heart. I thought I was not fit to be on this 
 earth, and acknowledged from my heart 
 that if God should send me to hell it would 
 be just, and I could not see how he could 
 be just and save me. My anguish was past 
 expression. About the fourth night, I went 
 almost in despair, and kneeled down by a 
 pile of rocks in my field, and having found 
 so many evils in my heart, and not willing 
 to remain in ignorance of my real character, 
 I begged the Lord to show me the worst of 
 my case, and if there was mercy in store for 
 such a hell-deserving wretch, for the dear 
 Redeemer's sake, to let it be bestowed. In 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSE*. 25 
 
 this agony, light broke into my soul, with 
 an impression like this, c Thy sins are for- 
 given thee.' My soul was filled with joy, 
 and it appeared to me astonishing that I 
 had not sooner discovered the way of salva- 
 tion through Jesus Christ. My mind was 
 now drawn out for the salvation of sinners.* 
 I thought I could tell them so plainly the 
 way, that they would certainly believe and 
 be saved. But notwithstanding I could see 
 the way so plainly for others, I thought I 
 was not a Christian, because I had not been 
 sufficiently convicted. I would retire into 
 the woods, and beg the Lord not to let me 
 be deceived. I wished my burden back 
 ao-ain, that I might watch more closely, and 
 if the Lord would remove it, I would know 
 more about it.. I also thought if I was truly 
 converted, there would be more of a revolu- 
 tion in my whole man. And while I would 
 be thus engaged, my mind would become 
 sensibly attracted with the beauties and 
 excellencies of the Saviour, and I could 
 experience a joy unspeakable ; but presently 
 
 * This feeling always attends conversion. 
 
 3 
 
26 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 I would get into the same old distress, and 
 conclude that I could not be a Christian. 
 This lasted about four days before I could 
 fully claim the promise. And even then I 
 continued to doubt, frequently, my accept- 
 ance with God, seeing so much imperfection 
 in every thing I did. But on the 10th day of 
 June, 1802, 1 ventured to tell to the church 
 what the Lord had done, as I hoped, for 
 my soul, and I was received. On the next 
 day I was baptized ; and coming up out of 
 the water, I had a strong desire to exhort 
 the people, but the enemy of my soul sug- 
 gested, ' You have gone too far already ; for 
 in a short time you will turn out as bad as 
 ever' — and I yielded, and said nothing. 
 But it was to me one of the most happy 
 days of my life. I felt that I was honored 
 inexpressibly to be permitted to follow my 
 Saviour.* A sense of my own unworthiness 
 was my only grief. 
 
 * This feeling is common to all baptized believers. 
 — They have " the answer of a good conscience." 1 
 Pet. iii. 21. The Eunuch "went on his way rejoic- 
 ing." Acts. viii. 39. R. F. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 27 
 
 " I now had a severe struggle, for I found 
 myself troubled with vain thoughts, and 
 concluded, that if I was a Christian I cer- 
 tainly could get clear of them. I prayed 
 and strove for some time against them, and 
 still found these enemies haunting me, until 
 it was impressed as strongly upon my mind 
 as if it had been a human voice ; In your- 
 self you are a poor helpless creature, and 
 all your strength and sufficiency are in 
 Christ." This gave me considerable relief. 
 My mind was deeply impressed with the lost 
 state of sinners, which impression extended 
 to heathen nations, with such vehemence, 
 that I frequently shed tears on the subject. 
 A sense of my unworthiness kept me back 
 until my mind became so earnestly drawn 
 out, that one Lord's-day night at a camp- 
 meeting at the church where my member- 
 ship was, I exhorted and prayed for the 
 first time publicly. From this period I went 
 on, occasionally exhorting, and sometimes 
 saying a few things on some passage of 
 Scripture. But I labored almost constantly 
 under awful doubts, as to my gracious state. 
 
28 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 When I had appointments to preach, I 
 would frequently wish they had not been 
 made, such was my sense of my unworthi- 
 ness. I would then think of exhorting 
 sinners, as I felt unfit to address Christians ; 
 but as I would proceed in my exhortations, 
 I would become so filled with the love of 
 the Saviour, that I would get all on fire, 
 as it were, and would be telling the Chris- 
 tians how happy they would be in heaven. 
 One day I was deeply distressed with the 
 state of my heart, and was reading a book* 
 in which the author was treating on experi- 
 mental religion. He said, ' None but a 
 true believer mourns over a hard heart.' I 
 knew I was mourning over my hard heart. 
 Tears flowed freely, and my doubts were 
 gone for a time ; but they returned. I was 
 strongly tempted to disbelieve the reality of 
 religion, and even the existence of God ; and 
 this temptation was so strong, that I was 
 afraid to breathe without prayer. My con- 
 stant prayer was, 'Lord have mercy on 
 me, and deliver me from this temptation.' 
 
 * What a blessing to have good books to read ! R. F. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 29 
 
 This continued some time. I was teaching 
 a school, and one afternoon an awful 
 thunder-storm arose, which frightened the 
 children very greatly during its continuance. 
 These words of the poet occurred to my 
 mind — 
 
 ' The God that rules on high, 
 
 And thunders when he please ; 
 That rides upon the stormy sky 
 And manages the seas ; — 
 
 This awful God is mine, 
 
 My father and my love, 
 He will send down his heavenly powers, 
 
 To carry me above.' 
 
 " Here my doubts were removed, and an 
 impression was left on my mind which has 
 been beneficial ever since ; and those awful 
 temptations have never been permitted to 
 return. Here, too, I may adopt the lan- 
 guage of the hymn— ' Blessed be the name 
 of the Lord,' — 
 
 1 Many days have passed since then, 
 Many changes I have seen ; 
 Yet have been upheld till now — 
 Who could hold me up but thou ?' 
 3* 
 
30 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 " I obtained license to preach in Union 
 District, South Carolina, in 1803, and in 
 1804 removed to Buncombe county, North 
 Carolina, on account of bad health. On the 
 third day of August, I preached my first 
 sermon there. I then went preaching about 
 through ' the hill country,' inviting sinners 
 to come to the Saviour ; — telling them the 
 way of salvation through the Redeemer. 
 
 " In 1805, I commenced preaching, in 
 evenings, in a destitute settlement, near 
 where I was teaching a school on Cane 
 Creek. Brother James "VYhitaker and my- 
 self drew up Articles of Faith, as we could 
 not find any in the country; and we col- 
 lected all the members intending to be in 
 the constitution, and examined them on the 
 Articles. All being agreed, a presbytery 
 was invited to attend. The presbytery was 
 pleased with our Articles of Faith, and so 
 the church was organized. Two of the 
 members were, at the same time, ordained 
 to the deacon's office, and I was ordained 
 to the work of the ministry. At the next 
 meeting, I baptized four professed believers, 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 31 
 
 and the work of the Lord continued for a 
 length of time. Some were received for 
 baptism at almost every meeting." 
 
 Thus closes the account which Elder 
 Posey gives of his conversion, and of his 
 introduction into the work of the gospel 
 ministry. Had he lived a few years longer, 
 he no doubt would have completed his de- 
 sign, and the public would have been put 
 in possession of a full account of his labors 
 at Valley Towns, and among the Indians 
 elsewhere. He would have given a general 
 history of his abundant services after his 
 removal from the Cherokee country. 
 
32 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Revival of the Missionary Cause among Baptists in 
 Europe — Among the Baptists in America. — Ameri- 
 can Board of Commissioners. — Triennial Convention. 
 — Valley Town Mission among the Cherokee Indians.- 
 — Mr. Posey's agency and influence among them. 
 
 To be truly a Christian minister, is to be 
 a Christian missionary ; and he who has the 
 spirit of Christ possesses the genuine mis- 
 sionary spirit. Whoever reads the Acts of 
 the Apostles must perceive that the early dis- 
 ciples possessed this spirit in a large measure. 
 The Acts of the Apostles may, with much 
 propriety, be considered a Missionary Jour- 
 nal of the labors of the inspired heralds of 
 salvation. When the blessed Jesus com- 
 missioned his apostles to " Go into all the 
 world and preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture," he fitted them for the work by im- 
 parting to them his own spirit, " good will 
 to men' — to all men. Where this is want- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 33 
 
 ng, no matter •what else the individual may 
 possess, the life — the soul of the commission 
 is wanting, and the individual is not moved 
 of the Holy Spirit to preach — is not called 
 of God to the work. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that whenever 
 the Great Head of the Church is about to 
 accomplish a peculiar purpose of mercy 
 towards mankind, he invariably pours out a 
 spirit of prayer and supplication upon his 
 people ; who, like the disciples on the day 
 of Pentecost, present, "with one accord," 
 their petitions before the throne of grace, 
 and plead the promises on which their 
 Divine and exalted Master had previously 
 caused them to rest. This was literally the 
 fact in respect to the churches and ministers 
 of the Baptist denomination in England. It 
 is worthy of record that the " concert for 
 prayer," one hour on the first Monday 
 evening in every month, originated at a 
 Baptist association, held at Nottingham, 
 England, in 1784. The object of this con- 
 cert-prayer meeting was declared to be, 
 " For the revival of genuine religion, and 
 
34 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 the extension of the Redeemer s kingdom 
 throughout the earth." In a short time 
 thousands of the pious of all denominations, 
 in England and America, united to present 
 their prayers to him who has all power in 
 heaven and in earth, for the accomplishment 
 of this glorious result. Not only with the 
 Baptists of England originated the monthly 
 concert-prayer meeting, but with them origi- 
 nated the first regularly organized purely 
 evangelical Foreign Missionary Society in 
 that country.* In answer to the prayers 
 of the friends of Jesus Christ, God brought 
 forward that remarkable man, Rev. William 
 Carey, from obscurity, full of the Holy 
 Ghost and wisdom, and sent him out to 
 British India, where he planted the stand- 
 ard of Gospel truth. His motto was 
 
 " Expect great things from God ; — 
 ' Attempt great things for God." 
 
 In America, we soon after notice a simi- 
 lar movement in the cause of Christ. The 
 
 * See Choules' History of Missions, and the History 
 of the English Baptist Missionary Society. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 35 
 
 souls of some pious young men at college, 
 preparing " for the work of the ministry," 
 were warmed up with the spirit of Christ — 
 the spirit of missions. They began to 
 wrestle with God in prayer, and seek direc- 
 tion in the great work whereunto they felt 
 he had called them. 
 
 "It is difficult," says Dr. Choules in his 
 History of Missions, to " obtain a minute 
 account of the original foundation and 
 agents of the Missions from America. "With 
 that denominational feeling which is com- 
 mon, the Baptists and the Congregational- 
 ists, each claim for their own missionaries, 
 the honor of the first movement, in the 
 attempt to evangelise a portion of the world 
 through the American churches. The Bap- 
 tists assign the laurel to Adoniram Judson, 
 while the Congregationalists claim it for 
 Samuel John Mills. Upon such a subject, 
 where such noble spirits are the actors, it 
 would be wrong to contend. Indeed, such 
 respect have we for the piety, the benevo- 
 lence and zeal, both of Judson and Mills, 
 that we esteem it a matter of but little im- 
 
36 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 portance, to say which of the two was the 
 honored instrument of God in commencing 
 so glorious a work." 
 
 As Elder Posey was almost all his life in 
 the work of the ministry, and intimately 
 connected with the great work of Missions 
 to the Cherokee Indians, we have thought 
 proper to call the reader's attention to a 
 brief sketch of the origin of missions in 
 these United States. And in order to do 
 this it may not be amiss to insert, in this 
 place, an extract from a letter from the pen 
 of Mr. Judson himself,* written to Elder 
 Luther Rice. He says — 
 
 " My Dear Brother Rice : 
 
 "You ask me to give you some account 
 of my first missionary impressions, and then 
 of my early associates. Mine were occa- 
 sioned by reading Buchanan's ' Star in the 
 East,' in the year 1809, at Andover Theo- 
 logical Seminary. Though I do not now con- 
 sider that sermon as peculiarly excellent, it 
 produced a powerful effect on my mind. 
 
 * See Rice's Memoir, page 81. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPIIREY POSEY. 37 
 
 For some clays, I was unable to attend to 
 the studies of my class, and spent my time 
 in wondering at my past stupidity, depict- 
 ing the most romantic scenes in missionary 
 life, and roving about the college rooms, 
 declaiming on the subject of missions. My 
 views were very incorrect, and my feelings 
 extravagant; but yet I have always felt 
 thankful to God for bringing me into a 
 state of excitement, which was, perhaps, ne- 
 cessary, in the first instance, to enable me to 
 break the strong attachments I felt to home 
 and country, and to endure the thought of 
 abandoning all my wonted pursuits and 
 animating prospects. That excitement soon 
 passed away, but it left a strong desire to 
 prosecute my inquiries, and to ascertain the 
 path of duty. 
 
 " It was during a solitary walk in the 
 woods, behind the college, while meditating 
 and praying on the subject, and feeling half 
 inclined to give it up, that the command of 
 Christ, " Go into all the world and preach 
 the gospel to every creature," was presented 
 to my mind with such clearness and power, 
 
 4 
 
38 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 that I came to a full decision ; and though 
 great difficulties appeared in my way, re- 
 solved to obey the command at all events. 
 But at that period, no provision had been 
 made in America, for a foreign mission ; and 
 for several months after reading Buchanan, 
 I found none among the students who viewed 
 the subject as I did, and no minister in the 
 place or neighborhood, who gave me any 
 encouragement ; and I thought I should be 
 under the necessity of going to England, 
 and placing myself under foreign patronage. 
 " My earliest missionary associate was 
 Nott, who, though he had recently entered 
 the Seminary, (in the early part of 1810,) 
 was a member of the same class with 
 myself. He had considered the subject for 
 several months, but had not fully made up 
 his mind. About the same time Mills, 
 Richards and others joined the seminary 
 from Williams' College, where they had, for 
 some time, been in the habit of meeting for 
 prayer and conversation on the subject of 
 missions; but they entered the junior 
 class, and had several years of theological 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 39 
 
 study before them. Newell was the next 
 accession from my own class. As_for Hall, 
 he was preaching at Woodbury, Connecti- 
 cut. I heard that he once thought favora- 
 bly of missions, and I wrote him a short 
 letter. He had just received a call to settle 
 in that place, and was deliberating whether 
 it was his duty to accept it or not, when the 
 letter was put into his hand. He instantly 
 came to a decision ; and the next rising sun 
 saw him on his way to Andover. I think 
 he arrived about the time of the meeting 
 of the General Association of Ministers at 
 Bradford, in the summer of 1810. I do not, 
 however, recollect him present at that meet- 
 ing, nor was his name attached to the 
 paper' which was presented to the associa- 
 tion, and which was originally signed by 
 Nott, Newell, Mills, Rice, Richards and 
 myself; though at the suggestion of Dr. 
 Spring, your name and Richards', (which 
 happened to be last,) were struck off, for 
 fear of alarming the association with too 
 large a number. 
 
 " I have thought that the providence of 
 
40 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 God was conspicuously manifested in bring- 
 ing us all together from different and distant 
 parts. Some of us had been considering 
 the subject of missions a long time, and 
 some but recently. Some, and indeed the 
 greater part, had thought chiefly of domestic 
 missions, and efforts among the neighboring 
 tribes of Indians, without contemplating the 
 abandonment of country, and devotement 
 for life. How evident it is, that the Spirit 
 of God had been operating in different 
 places, upon different individuals, preparing 
 the way for those movements which have 
 since pervaded the American churches, and 
 will continue to increase until the kingdoms 
 of this world become the kingdom of our 
 Lord and his anointed." 
 
 In referring to this interesting era in the 
 history of the missionary enterprise, by the 
 American churches, it will be justifiable on 
 the part of the writer, as it will be profita- 
 ble to the reader, to. introduce a quotation 
 from a letter of Elder Luther Rice to a 
 friend. He says : — 
 
 " After the society at Andover was well 
 
OF ELDER IIWMPHREY POSEY. 41 
 
 established, the views of the brethren were 
 turned very much towards the East. Judson 
 was the first, as far as I know, who men- 
 tioned Burmah. He had read Buchanan's 
 ' Star in the East,' his 6 Christian Researches 
 in Asia,' and ' Captain Simon's Embassy to 
 Ava.' He insisted that the East afforded 
 much the widest and most promising field 
 for missionary exertions, and that the path 
 of duty led him in that direction. 
 
 " In June, 1810, Gordon Hall, who had 
 been preaching some time, and who had 
 been invited to become the pastor of a 
 church in Connecticut, came to Andover to 
 consult with the professors whether he ought 
 not to hold himself devoted to missionary 
 labor among the heathen. (0 ! how I love 
 to trace important events to minute inci- 
 dents !) It happened to be but a day or 
 two before the meeting of the General As- 
 sociation of* all the evangelical part of the 
 ministers of Massachusetts, at Bradford, 
 where the parents of Ann Hasseltine lived, 
 ten miles from the institution, in Andover. 
 
 " The coming, and the object of the com- 
 
 4* 
 
42 SKETCH OF 'THE LIFE 
 
 ing of Hall, so enlivened the missionary 
 sentiments and feelings, particularly in the 
 bosoms of the members of the Society, that 
 Judson immediately wrote the memorial,* 
 
 * The following is the Memorial alluded to, in Mrs. 
 Ann H. Judson's Life, page 39. See also Choules' 
 History of Missions, vol. ii. page 23G. 
 
 " The undersigned, members of the Divinity Col- 
 lege, respectfully request the attention of their reve- 
 rend fathers, convened in the General Association at 
 Bradford, to the following statement and inquiries. 
 
 They beg leave to state, that their minds have been 
 long impressed with the duty and importance of per- 
 sonally attempting a mission to the heathen ; that the 
 impressions on their minds have induced a serious, 
 and, they trust, a prayerful consideration of the sub- 
 ject in its various attitudes, particularly in relation to 
 the probable success and the difficulties attending such 
 an attempt ; and that after examining all the informa- 
 tion which they can obtain, they consider themselves 
 as devoted to this work for life, whenever God, in his 
 providence, shall open the way. 
 
 They now offer the following inquiries, on which 
 they solicit the opinion and advice of the Association | 
 whether with their present views and feelings they 
 ought to renounce the object of missions as visionary 
 or impracticable ; if not, whether they ought to direct 
 their attention to the Eastern or the Western world ; 
 whether they may expect patronage and support from 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 43 
 
 which you see in the Memoirs of Mrs. Ann 
 H. Judson, addressed to that body of min- 
 isters." (See Rice's Memoir, page 86.) 
 
 a missionary society in this country, or must commit 
 themselves to the direction of a European society, and 
 what preparatory measures they ought to take, pre- 
 vious to actual engagement. 
 
 The undersigned, feeling their youth and inexperi- 
 ence, look up to their fathers in the church, and 
 respectfully solicit their advice, direction and prayers. 
 
 Adoniram Judson, Jr., 
 Samuel Nott, Jr., 
 Samuel J. Mills, 
 Samuel Newell, 
 James Richards, 
 Luther Rice." 
 
 It will be remembered that when Judson drew up 
 the above memorial, it was signed as above ; but 
 before it was laid before the Association at Bradford, 
 it was deemed prudent to strike off the two last names, 
 lest so great a number would embarrass their opera- 
 tions, and defeat the cherished object of their desires. 
 — The reader may feel anxious to know what has been 
 the destiny — the end of those master-spirits in the 
 great work of evangelizing the heathen. Men whose 
 souls, like Humphrey Posey's, burned with holy 
 enthusiasm, for the salvation of their benighted fel- 
 low-men. 
 
 Judsox. — First on the Memorial, was the last on 
 
44 SKETCH OP THE LIFE 
 
 The above association of Congregation- 
 alists appointed a committee, to whom the 
 memorial was referred. The committee re- 
 
 the mission field. He died fifteen minutes past four 
 o'clock in the afternoon of May the 12th, 1850, on 
 board the French barque Aristide Marie, bound for 
 the Isle of Bourbon. At 8 o'clock in the afternoon of 
 the same day he was committed to the deep in lati- 
 tude IB degrees North, longitude 93 East. He lived 
 to translate the Bible into the Burman language, and 
 had nearly finished a great Dictionary of the Burman 
 language. He was in Burmah near 37 years. 
 
 Mills. — Died June 16, 1818. — Buried in the Atlantic 
 Ocean, on his way to England from a mission to 
 Africa. 
 
 Newell. — Died of cholera at Bombay, India, May 
 30, 1821. 
 
 Richards. — Died August 3, 1822, in Ceylon. 
 
 Rice. — Died in Edgefield District, South Carolina, 
 Sept. 25, 1836. 
 
 Nott. — After his arrival at Calcutta, his health 
 became poor, and it was deemed advisable for him to 
 return to America, He is the pastor of the Congre- 
 gational church, in Wareham, Massachusetts. When 
 Dr. Judson visited America, Nott, hearing of his 
 arrival, set out for Boston with all speed to greet 
 him. It was in Bowdoin Square church, while they 
 were singing, he passed rapidly up the aisle into the 
 pulpit, and embraced Dr. J. with uncommon warmth 
 and ardor — which was as ardently reciprocated. Mr. 
 Nott is probably still at Wareham. R. F. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 45 
 
 ported favorably, and consequently nine 
 commissioners were appointed by the same 
 body. They formed in September, 1810, 
 the constitution of the "American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign 3fissions; , ^hich. 
 
 now embraces the entire Congregational 
 and Presbyterian denominations. 
 
 " From this arose," continues Elder Rice, 
 in his letter, "the Baptist General Conven- 
 tion, formed in May, 1814, and since more 
 or less distinctly out of the same range of 
 evangelical influence, the American Bible 
 Society, the American Tract Society, the 
 Baptist General Tract Society, [now the 
 American Baptist Publication Society,] the 
 Columbian College, the Newton Theological 
 Institution, and I know not how many other 
 things of more or less importance. Glory 
 be to God." 
 
 After the formation of the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
 sions, Mr. Judson and his associates ex- 
 pected and desired an immediate appoint- 
 ment as missionaries. But the Board being 
 as yet unprovided with funds, Mr. Judson 
 
46 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 solicited and obtained leave of the Board to 
 visit England, to ascertain whether any 
 measures of co-operation could be concerted 
 between the London Missionary Society 
 and the American Board, and whether any 
 assistance could be obtained from that So- 
 ciety in case the Board should be unable to 
 sustain a mission. He sailed in January, 
 1811, for England. But no concert of 
 measures could be arranged. The London 
 Society agreed to support Mr. Judson and 
 his companions as missionaries, if the Ame- 
 rican Board should not be able to do it. 
 He returned to America, and the Board 
 resolved to sustain a mission to Burmah, 
 and Judson, Nott, Newell and Hall, were 
 immediately appointed. Mr. Rice was ap- 
 pointed afterwards. On the 6th of Febru- 
 ary, 1812, they were ordained in the 
 Tabernacle church in Salem, Massachusetts, 
 On the 18th of June, 1812, they landed in 
 Calcutta, where they were met and wel- 
 comed to India, by the venerable Dr. Carey, 
 Baptist Missionary from England. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Judson remained in Calcutta two 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 47 
 
 months, during which time Mr. Judson and 
 his wife, and also Mr. Rice, who had now 
 arrived in India, became convinced that their 
 sentiments on baptism were unsupported by 
 the Word of God, and they became Baptists. 
 Mr. Judson's doubts commenced while en- 
 gaged in translating the New Testament, 
 on his passage from America, and he fre- 
 quently said during the voyage, that the 
 Baptists were right in their views on the 
 subject. On the first Lord's-day in Sep- 
 tember, 1812, he and his wife were baptized 
 by Dr. Carey; and on the first day of 
 November following, Luther Rice was bap- 
 tized by Mr. Ward. This change of senti- 
 ment on the part of these distinguished 
 movers of the great mission cause among 
 the Congregationalists necessarily produced 
 their separation from the patronage and 
 support of the American Board, and of 
 course they had now to look for support in 
 some other quarter. Mr. Judson therefore 
 addressed a letter to Dr. Bolles, Baptist 
 minister, of Salem, in which he says: 
 " Under these circumstances I look to you. 
 
48 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 Alone, in this foreign heathen land, I make 
 my appeal to those, whom, with their per- 
 mission, I will call my Baptist brethren in 
 the United States." 
 
 It was now decidedly the opinion of Jud- 
 son and Rice, that they must rely on the 
 Baptist denomination in America for sup- 
 port. Rice, therefore, returned to the land 
 of his birth to stir up the Baptists to the 
 work of the Lord in the support of foreign 
 missions. It was on the 7th of September, 
 1813, he arrived at New York. But as the 
 Board of Commissioners was to meet in 
 Boston on the 15th, he hastened on to dis- 
 charge what he considered his obligations 
 to the Board. The Board treated him and 
 his communications, in reference to his be- 
 coming a Baptist, very coolly. They voted 
 that they considered the relation between 
 him and the Board dissolved, from the date 
 of his letter from Calcutta, announcing the 
 fact of his change of sentiment. 
 
 In consulting with the Baptist brethren 
 in Boston, it was thought necessary to pro- 
 ceed, at once, to the adoption of measures 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 49 
 
 which might excite the Baptists of this 
 country to combine their energies in the 
 mission cause. They concluded to call a 
 meeting of delegates from different parts of 
 the country, as soon as practicable, to em- 
 body the energies of the denomination, for 
 the purpose of conducting these operations 
 on an enlarged scale. In September, 1813, 
 Rice set out from Boston on a tour to- 
 wards the South, in order to accomplish 
 the designs above stated. He visited New 
 York, Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, 
 Charleston, and Savannah, and many parts 
 of Georgia, Carolina, and Virginia, laying 
 before the brethren, wherever he went, the 
 objects of his mission ; and he found them 
 ready to co-operate with him. Delegates 
 met in Philadelphia on the 18th of May, 
 1814, from different parts of the United 
 States, and after a careful consideration of 
 the whole subject, for several days, they 
 decided, unanimously, to form a " General 
 Convention of the Baptist denomination in 
 the United States for Foreign Missions." 
 
50 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 This was afterwards denominated the Tri- 
 ennial Convention, and has generally been 
 spoken of in this way. 
 
 Thus we have given a brief account of 
 the origin of those great missionary combi- 
 nations which have been in very successful 
 operation in England and America for a 
 number of years. We have seen that the 
 Baptists have had great agency in awaken- 
 ing up and putting in motion the slumbering 
 energies of the people of God on both con- 
 tinents. We have seen with what zeal that 
 distinguished servant of the Lord, Dr. Wil- 
 liam Carey, was fired amongst his kindred 
 spirits in Great Britain. And we have 
 witnessed the rise and the growing interest 
 of missions in this glorious land of civil and 
 religious liberty. 
 
 The names of Judson, Rice, and others, 
 who labored with them, will long be 
 cherished in the recollection of American 
 churches. Though they now rest from their 
 labors, their works do follow them. And 
 though the mortal remains of Rice sleep 
 quietly in the dust at " Pine Pleasant 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 51 
 
 Church" in Edgefield, South Carolina — 
 and though Adonirara Judson has gone 
 down beneath the dark wave of the Indian 
 Ocean, to await the period when "the sea 
 shall give up her dead," yet they are not 
 forgotten — they shall be "in everlasting 
 remembrance." 
 
 But we must return from this apparent 
 digression. The reader will probably ask, 
 What has this sketch of the rise and pro- 
 gress of modem missions to do with the 
 history of Humphrey Posey? Let it be 
 remembered, in answer to this question, 
 that while the God of missions w 7 as raising 
 up men to go far hence to the gentiles, — to 
 the benighted nations of the Eastern conti- 
 nent, — he was moving the spirit of this 
 obscure man, in the " hill country" of 
 North Carolina, to proclaim the way of 
 salvation to the Cherokee Indians. While 
 Rice and others, (pious young men pre- 
 paring for the ministry,) were students at 
 "Williams College, and were deeply impressed 
 with a sense of the perishing condition of 
 the heathen nations, and while they were 
 
52 SKETCH OP THE LIFE 
 
 pouring out their prayers to God for direc- 
 tion, Posey was in the work of the ministry 
 in Buncombe county, preaching at night, 
 and teaching school in the day. "While 
 those young men of Williams' College were 
 retiring for prayer on Saturdays, to their 
 consecrated spot, by the side of a large hay- 
 stack, in a field on the banks of the river 
 Hoosac, in the fall of 1807, Posey was lift- 
 ing up his voice like a trumpet among the 
 mountains. He was in Christ, and in the 
 ministry, before they were, and before the 
 organization of the "American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions," and 
 consequently before the formation of the 
 General Convention of the Baptist denomina- 
 tion in the United States for foreign missions. 
 Posey was licensed to preach in 1803, 
 and ordained in 1806, as has already been 
 stated. The organization of the Baptist Con- 
 vention was accomplished mainly through 
 the instrumentality of Luther Rice, who, 
 in his tour through the Southern States, in 
 1813, had formed some acquaintance with 
 Elder Posey, either personally or from re- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 53 
 
 port. The Convention, after having made 
 some provision for the support of missions 
 in foreign lands, was now desirous to send 
 the gospel to the aborigines of our own coun- 
 try. In the winter of 1817, Elder Luther 
 Rice, (then agent of the Baptist Board of 
 Foreign Missions, of the Triennial Conven- 
 tion,) wrote to Elder Posey, requesting in- 
 formation in reference to the practicability 
 of establishing a mission among the Chero- 
 kee Indians, residing mostly in the western 
 part of North Carolina, and the northern 
 portion of the State of Georgia. Posey's 
 heart was in the work, and had been for 
 some time burning with anxiety to preach 
 the gospel to his neighbors, the untutored 
 Cherokees. Having lived in their vicinity, 
 he was well prepared to give the desired 
 information. He wrote to Elder Rice, and 
 the letter was laid before the Board at 
 Philadelphia, and Dr. William Staughton, 
 the Corresponding Secretary, was requested 
 to address Elder Posey, in order to ascer- 
 tain whether his services could be obtained 
 as their missionary. Several letters passed 
 
 5* 
 
54 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 between them. The following may be in- 
 teresting to the reader, as well as to the 
 friends of both of these excellent ministers 
 of Jesus Christ. Dr. Staughton to Elder 
 Posey, writes as follows : 
 
 " Philadelphia, Oct. 16, 1817. 
 My dear Brother, — 
 
 At a meeting of the Baptist Board of 
 Foreign Missions, on Monday last, your 
 favor of August the 26th was submitted 
 and considered. The Board, anxious to see 
 "the light of life" spreading among the 
 Cherokees, and on the western frontiers 
 generally, and pleased to find your heart 
 set upon the good work, enter with pleasure 
 into your feelings and views. They wish 
 you to accept immediately an appointment, 
 as their missionary for twelve months. The 
 more immediate sphere of action they must 
 leave to your judgment, only remarking in 
 general, that the frontier of the country, 
 and the Indians, they wish you more imme- 
 diately to keep in view. What you can do 
 in relation to schools, &c, with the Divine 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 55 
 
 blessing, you must inform us. With respect 
 to compensation, the Board could have 
 wished you had been a little more explicit. 
 They submit to you the sum of $500 for 
 twelve months. This is their idea at the 
 commencement. They wish to be frugal, 
 but they feel it their duty to make their 
 missionaries comfortable. You can draw 
 for the above sum as you may find it con- 
 venient. May the Lord be with you and 
 bless you. 
 
 Very affectionately your brother, 
 
 Wm. Staughtox, Cor. Sec." 
 
 The following is Elder Posey's answer to 
 the above, accepting the appointment : 
 
 "Asheville, JV. C, Nov. 24, 1817. 
 Rev. and dear Brother, — 
 
 I wrote to you by the last mail, but on 
 receiving yours of the 16th October, I felt 
 it my duty to send you an immediate an- 
 swer. I wish to communicate to the Board, 
 that with gratitude I accept the appointment 
 of missionary to the Cherokees, humbly 
 
56 . SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 requesting that the Board will bear me up 
 in their prayers, and beseech the blessed 
 Jesus to ask for the poor benighted Chero- 
 kees, as a part of his immediate inherit- 
 ance. 
 
 As it respects my compensation, suffice 
 it to say, I am fully satisfied with the de- 
 cision of the Board on the subject. I shall 
 endeavor to begin about the 1st of December, 
 shall keep a regular record of my proceed- 
 ings, and communicate the same quarterly, 
 or oftener. 
 
 The confidence placed in me by the 
 Board, while it makes me feel unworthy* 
 still binds them to me in a manner not 
 easily to be expressed, and I hope never to 
 be forgotten. May Heaven smile upon you, 
 my dear brother, and may the happy pe- 
 riod speedily roll round, when the earth 
 shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, 
 and his high praises be sounded in every 
 place. 
 
 Yours, in the blessed Jesus, 
 
 H. Posey." 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 57 
 
 Thus a wide and effectual door is opened, 
 and the long-cherished desire of his heart 
 is granted, that he might preach the 
 
 GOSPEL TO THE INDIANS. 
 
 After receiving his appointment, he com- 
 menced, on the 1st of December, 1817, a 
 tour of preaching among the Indians, and 
 the white people on the frontier. In 1818 
 and 1819, he formed a very extensive ac- 
 quaintance with the tribe. He visited 
 Charles Hicks, one of the principal chiefs, 
 and a true friend to Indian reform, " and 
 I trust," says Posey, " a real Christian." 
 
 At a grand council of the chiefs at New 
 Town, Oct. 27, 1819, he obtained their 
 hearty consent, and promise of co-opera- 
 tion to establish a school amongst them at 
 Valley Town. Having now determined on 
 a location for a mission school, under the 
 patronage of the Baptists, it was necessary, 
 by stipulations entered into by the chiefs, 
 that the consent and aid of the President 
 of the United States should be secured. 
 Consequently Posey, with that promptitude 
 and decision of character for which he was 
 
58 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 so remarkable, proceeded at an early date 
 in 1820, to Washington City. While there, 
 he formed an acquaintance with a number 
 of the distinguished men of the nation. 
 The Hon. J. C. Calhoun, then Secretary of 
 War, promised, in behalf of the govern- 
 ment, to defray half of the expense of the 
 school buildings when finished ; and further 
 aid when the school should be in actual ope- 
 ration, allowing the Baptist schools in the 
 Cherokee nation an equal share of the 
 money appropriated for schools in that 
 tribe. 
 
 It may be proper to state here, that this, 
 though the first school established among 
 the Cherokees by the Baptists, was not the 
 first in the Cherokee nation. In 1817, 
 Posey commenced his missionary labors in 
 the nation ; and in the fall of that year the 
 American Board of Commissioners estab- 
 lished a school at a place they called 
 Brainerd. This school had secured an ap- 
 propriation from the government of the 
 United States, and when Posey visited 
 Washington City, as we have seen, he ob- 
 
 f 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 59 
 
 tained from the government the promise of 
 an equal share with that of other denomi- 
 nations. It may also be stated, that al- 
 though the " American Board of Commis- 
 sioners" was organized four years earlier 
 than the "Baptist Triennial Convention," 
 yet they were not a year earlier in sending 
 a missionary among the Cherokees, and 
 they were not a year before the Baptists in 
 the establishment of a school. Years be- 
 fore this Elder Posey would have gone into 
 the nation, " once and again," but he 
 " lacked opportunity." Now the Baptist 
 Board afforded him ample means to allow 
 him fully to develop the desires of his 
 heart. 
 
 From Washington City he proceeded to 
 Philadelphia, where he was cordially re- 
 ceived by the churches. These were the 
 days of Staughton, McLaughlin, Jones, and 
 others of contemporary and congenial spi- 
 rits. On his way thither, he preached in 
 many of the churches, and formed valuable 
 acquaintance with many of the most emi- 
 nent ministers in the denomination. In his 
 
CO SKETCH OP THE LIFE 
 
 Journal of travel, he mentions the names 
 of many ministers with whom he had plea- 
 sant and profitable interviews. At Middle- 
 borough, in Virginia, he became acquainted 
 with Rev. J. L. Dagg, now President of 
 Mercer University, Georgia. While at Wash- 
 ington City, he was cordially entertained 
 by the friends of the Redeemer, and records 
 in his Journal, as a matter of thanksgiving 
 to God, the general success which seemed 
 to attend the object of his agency. Though 
 brought up among the mountains, and of 
 course not accustomed to city etiquette 
 — city ways — he possessed the happy fa- 
 culty of being easy in his intercourse with 
 his brethren under almost any circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The writer of these pages remembers a 
 very pleasing incident which Mr. Posey 
 told him occurred during one of his visits 
 to Philadelphia, when he was preaching in 
 the church of the late Elder James Mc 
 Laughlin. It is not an unusual thing, in 
 many of the churches in our back-woods, 
 for the preacher to close a meeting by sing- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 61 
 
 ing, and going round through the congre- 
 gation, the mean while, shaking hands with 
 the brethren and people generally. To 
 this custom Elder Posey had often been a 
 witness in the regions in which he had la- 
 bored as a minister, and he was himself not 
 unfriendly to it, but would often engage in 
 it. Feeling that the usages of the good 
 people in and about Philadelphia, were not 
 like those of the people in the country 
 where he had been accustomed to preach, 
 he remarked to brother McLaughlin, that if 
 he should become a little excited, and should 
 do such a thing among his people, he hoped 
 he would not take any offence at it. Elder 
 McLaughlin told him to use his liberty 
 among his people, assuring him he should 
 not be offended at it, and he did not think 
 his people would. Posey, it seems, had 
 preached several times to this people, and 
 had become much attached to them. He 
 began to feel at home. When preaching to 
 them on one occasion, he became unusually 
 warm while speaking of the love of Jesus to 
 lost sinners, and while urging upon Christ- 
 
 6 
 
62 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 ians the duty of making efforts to have the 
 gospel preached to every creature. In the 
 warmth of his heart, he exclaimed in the 
 language of Jehu to Jehonadab, " Is thine 
 heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ? 
 If it be, give me thy hand." And in 
 uttering these words, he immediately gave 
 brother McLaughlin his hand, started from 
 the pulpit, and went through the congrega- 
 tion, giving them his hand, and speaking all 
 the while, of the love of the adorable Sa- 
 viour. He stated, that his precious brother 
 McLaughlin, for that was an epithet he 
 frequently used, in speaking of brethren 
 whom he very specially loved, seemed not 
 offended, but rather delighted with the ap- 
 parent heart-felt piety and godly simplicity 
 which prevailed in the church and congre- 
 gation. 
 
 From Philadelphia he came home, as he 
 went, not in coaches or stages, but on horse- 
 back, preaching. His Journal is filled with 
 appointments and notes in reference to his 
 success, all going to show him as a laborious, 
 business-doing man. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. G3 
 
 In 1821, he again visited Philadelphia, 
 to consult with the Board, and to procure 
 supplies for the Valley Town school. He 
 preached in nearly all the churches in the 
 city, and obtained the promise of the Board 
 to furnish a mission family to unite with 
 him in the labors of the school. He con- 
 tinued his valuable and highly acceptable 
 services until the year 1824. The promised 
 assistance arrived in 1821, consisting of 
 Rev. Thomas Roberts and his wife, Rev. 
 Evan Jones and his wife, Isaac Cleaver, a 
 blacksmith, and John Farrier, a farmer. 
 These, with their families, together with 
 Miss Jones, Miss Cleaver, and Miss Lewis, 
 sailed from Philadelphia, in 1821, laden 
 with clothing for their schools, and other 
 things necessary for a large missionary 
 establishment. Elder Roberts and Mr. 
 Farrier discontinued their labors in 1824, 
 and Mr. Cleaver continued until the close 
 of the next year. Elder Evan Jones con- 
 tinued until the Indians removed to the 
 Territory, assigned to them by the govern- 
 ment, beyond the Mississippi. 
 
64 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 Purity and innocence furnish no security 
 against the tongue of the calumniator. As 
 might be expected, the " wickedness of the 
 wicked" sought to blacken the reputation 
 of this indefatigable missionary. Satan's 
 kingdom, through the omnipotence of the 
 Divine truths which he proclaimed, was re- 
 ceiving a death-blow in that quarter. The 
 success which attended his labors amongst 
 the Cherokees, and the white population on 
 the frontiers, was such as to wake up the 
 morbid energies of worldly-minded, whiskey- 
 loving professors, and to excite the bitter 
 gall of the haters of gospel light. Hence, 
 the hue and cry against the mission school, 
 and against the waste of money and means, 
 was heard at Valley Town. The whole 
 was declared to be a matter of speculation, 
 and a money-making business to those en- 
 trusted with its management. Some good 
 men, it is feared, had a hand in this foul 
 work. That there would be much expense 
 incurred in the erection of the necessary 
 buildings, it is easy to conceive. The place 
 was remote from the white population, and 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. G5 
 
 far distant from any market. Ill-disposed 
 persons, and there are always too many 
 such, who know not the value of such work, 
 are ever ready to clamor. To put to si- 
 lence all such, the French Broad Associa- 
 tion, at the request of Elder Posey, ap- 
 pointed a committee, consisting of Elder 
 Jeremiah Taylor, William Kimsey, Garrett 
 Dewees, and Adam Cam, to visit the mis- 
 sionary establishment, and report at the 
 next session. Only Dewees and Carn met. 
 They report : — 
 
 " That tliey had done as they were re- 
 quested, and found the school in a very 
 flourishing condition, fully up to their 
 highest expectations. That notwithstanding 
 there have been large sums of money ex- 
 pended for the establishment, yet not unne- 
 cessarily ; and that they, therefore, do 
 heartily recommend its promotion." 
 
 The venerable Deacon, James Whitaker, 
 in a letter, says, "I was at Valley Town 
 in 1821, six or eight weeks, and during 
 that time, I had full opportunity to know 
 every thing in and about the establishment ; 
 
 6* 
 
66 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 and, I can say, a more attentive and faith- 
 ful man could not be found, and the Chero- 
 kees universally esteem him as a good 
 man. At the mention of his name, those 
 who still remain in the country,* "will 
 brighten up with a smile on their counte- 
 nance." 
 
 In 1836, this school is reported in I. M. 
 Allen's Register, as being in a nourishing 
 condition, " And to this day the Cherokees 
 have more confidence in Humphrey Posey 
 than they have in any other man living." — 
 Page 166. 
 
 In reference to this missionary station, 
 Rev. Mr. Jones states, that it contained in 
 1833, one hundred and eighty-five mem- 
 bers; and at another church, formed seventy- 
 five miles west of Valley Town, there were 
 seventy-three members, gathered princi- 
 pally by the labors of Jesse Bushyhead, a 
 Cherokee convert. 
 
 * A few Indians did remain after the body of the 
 nation had gone to the Indian Territory. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Character of Elder Posey as a Christian. — A preacher. 
 — A pastor. — A yoke-fellow in the ministry. — Let- 
 ter from Elder A. Webb. — Interesting anecdote. — 
 Dr. Howell's letter. — Respect of the Indians for 
 him. 
 
 The developments of vital godliness in 
 the lives of many of those who profess re- 
 ligion, are not always such as to leave if 
 unquestionable that they are the children 
 of grace. God requires, and the world ex- 
 pects, that His people should make full 
 proof of their claims to discipleship. He 
 who has the profession without the princi- 
 ple, or the place without the piety, of a 
 true Christian, is as the "sounding brass," 
 or the "tinkling cymbal." He may boast 
 of his faith, his zeal, his knowledge, his 
 unbounded benevolence, but he is nothing, 
 — God has said it. 
 
 The individual who claims to be a son of 
 God, on the ground that he remembers the 
 
6$ SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 time, the place, and the circumstances of 
 his conversion, while he exhibits none of 
 that meek, lowly, and forgiving temper 
 which characterized the meek and lowly 
 Saviour, is deceived; "that mans religion 
 is vain." Elder Posey has given us, it is 
 true, in his own words, an account of the 
 time, the place, and the circumstances of 
 his conversion; but his spirit, his conversa- 
 tion was " as becometh the gospel of Christ," 
 and afforded the highest evidence of his 
 having "passed from death unto life." 
 Heart-felt piety, not that talkative kind of 
 religion, which is found in words and not 
 in deeds, marked the whole course of his 
 life. He was "a lover of good men," and 
 all good men who knew him loved him in 
 return. 
 
 As a Minister of the Gospel, he was 
 laborious in the discharge of the duties of 
 his high calling, and prompt in attending 
 his appointments to preach. His sermons 
 were sensible and interesting expositions of 
 the Sacred Scriptures. Doctrinally and 
 practically, he was what may be termed a 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 
 
 69 
 
 sound-headed, warm-hearted preacher. His 
 sermons were not a boisterous vociferation 
 of Bible truth, disconnected and inappro- 
 priate ; but they were generally plain, calm, 
 thoughtful, and well adapted to the spiritual 
 wants of his audience. He studied the 
 Bible well, and preached well what it taught. 
 His library was well selected, for a mere 
 English scholar. He had Gill's Exposi- 
 tion of the Bible, Gill's Body of Divinity, 
 abridged by Dr. Staughton, Fuller's Works, 
 Newton's Works, and several commentaries, 
 besides miscellaneous works, of great value 
 to the Bible student. He read them and 
 profited by them. He was not in the habit 
 of attempting to show off as a man of read- 
 in * ; nor did he feel inclined to indulge in 
 strained, far-fetched and absurd theories — 
 he was not "a novice." 
 
 As A Pastor, few men ever succeeded 
 better in securing the kind attention and 
 hearty co-operation of their people, than did 
 Elder Posey. To this circumstance, no 
 doubt, in a very great degree, is owing very 
 much of the success which attended his la- 
 
70 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 bors in his Churches; for no Preacher or 
 Pastor, can do much in building up a Church, 
 and carrying forward the interests of the 
 Kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth, without 
 the aid of those with whom he is connected 
 in this great work. The blessed Son of God 
 prayed that all who should believe on him 
 through the word of his Apostles might "be 
 
 ONE, THAT THE WORLD MIGHT BELIEVE" that 
 
 he was the promised Saviour. What a mis- 
 chievous thing among the people of God, is 
 division and contention ! Hence the Apostle 
 Paul, earnestly and repeatedly rebuked those 
 in his day who were sowing contention among 
 Brethren. He says in his Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, "We being many are one body in 
 Christ, and every one members one of ano- 
 ther." Rom. xii. 6. In his Epistle to the 
 Corinthians, "that there should be no 
 schism in the body, but that the members 
 should have the same care one for another." 
 1 Cor. xii. 25. Who can contemplate the 
 beauty and the importance of that passage 
 in the Epistle to the Colossians without being 
 at once convinced that divisions among 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 71 
 
 Christians are a sore evil. " Let the peace 
 of God rule in your hearts, to the which ye 
 are also called in one body." Col. iii. 15. 
 0, how tender ! how deep the solicitude of the 
 Apostle in reference to this subject ! Hear 
 him again, in the overflowing of a soul full 
 of that fervor of spirit which became the 
 highly exalted position which he occupied. 
 Noio I beseech you, brethren, by the name of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the 
 same thing, and that there be no divisions 
 among, you, but that ye be perfectly joined 
 together in the same mind and in the same 
 judgment. 1 Cor. i. 10. 
 
 Possessing, in a large degree, that love 
 for the peace and the prosperity of the 
 spiritual Jerusalem, which always charac- 
 terizes the "good minister of Jesus Christ," 
 and having much of that wisdom which is 
 profitable to direct in the use of the means 
 to be employed for the accomplishment of 
 this object, so dear to his heart, Elder Posey 
 was rarely found on the wrong side in cases 
 of difficulty. He was a good judge of hu- 
 man character, and rarely failed to place a 
 
72 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 correct estimate on the words or the works 
 of men. High-minded, open-hearted, can- 
 did and firm in his bearing, he held out few 
 inducements to the under-handed, designing 
 sycophant to lean upon him in order to give 
 importance to himself, or to accomplish some 
 selfish end on his own behalf. The deter- 
 mination of the Psalmist, David, when he 
 entered on the discharge of the duties of 
 King in Israel, is that which regulated the 
 conduct of Elder Posey in the exercise of 
 the duties of a Pastor. "I will set no 
 wicked thing before mine eyes ; I hate the 
 work of them that turn aside ; it shall not 
 cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart 
 from me ; I will not know a wicked person. 
 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him 
 will I cut off; him that hath a high look and 
 a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes 
 shall be upon the faithful of the land, that 
 they may dwell with me ; he that walketh 
 in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He 
 that worketh deceit, shall not dwell within 
 my house ; he that telleth lies shall not tarry 
 in my sight. I will early destroy all the 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 73 
 
 wicked of the land, that I may cut off all 
 wicked doers from the city of the Lord*" 
 
 Ps. ci. 
 
 To instruct the people of his charge, and 
 to elevate the standard of personal piety 
 amongst them, was a leading feature in his 
 ministrations. Hence all circus-going, back- 
 gammon playing, and the like, were sure to 
 meet an appropriate reproof, when any of 
 his brethren should be found guilty of such 
 inconsistencies. Pope, in one of his letters, 
 asserts that " To attack vices in the abstract, 
 without touching persons, may be safe fight- 
 ing indeed, but it is fighting with shadows." 
 Elder Posey was pretty much of the same 
 opinion, and consequently he did not conduct 
 his spiritual warfare in that way. Paul, 
 a greater than Pope, did not fail to specify, 
 "Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor 
 idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor 
 abusers of themselves with mankind, nor 
 thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor 
 revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the 
 Kingdom of God. And such were some of 
 you " — you Corinthians. 1 Cor. vi. 9-11. 
 
 7 
 
74 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 Elder Posey viewed the frequent changes 
 in the pastoral relation with the churches 
 as injurious in their general tendency, and 
 was decidedly opposed to the custom, in 
 many of the churches, of calling a Preacher 
 annually. The connection existing between 
 the Pastor and his flock, he considered as 
 one of very peculiar character, and the 
 feelings between him and them should al- 
 ways be of the kindest and most endearing 
 character, and should not be broken off for 
 trivial causes. He always sought to heal 
 the little heart-burnings which might arise, 
 either among the members of the churches 
 of his oivn charge, or those which might 
 spring up among the members of other 
 churches towards their Pastor. He ab- 
 horred in a minister of Jesus Christ that 
 unholy kind of feeling which sought to un- 
 dermine or supplant a brother in the pastoral 
 charge. He, therefore, had no ear to listen 
 to complaints against the preacher in charge, 
 nor would he seize upon these things, as 
 affording himself an opportunity to work his 
 way into a more desirable Pastorate. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 7o 
 
 As A true yoke-fellow, his bearing to- 
 wards bis fellow-laborers in the work of the 
 ministry, was dignified and Christian like. 
 Courtesy he esteemed as a virtue among his 
 brethren, which should always be observed 
 in order to preserve the unity of the Spirit 
 in the bonds of peace. He ever sought to 
 build up, and never to pull down, the repu- 
 tation of those who minister in holy things, 
 knowing full well that whatever would seri- 
 ously affect a minister's influence among his 
 brethren, would injure his usefulness among 
 others, and would be like loosening the strong 
 pillars under an important edifice. He knew 
 the import of that expression of the Apostle, 
 "For now we live, if ye stand fast in the 
 Lord." 
 
 Elder Alfred Webb, favorably known as 
 a good minister of Jesus Christ, in the upper 
 part of Georgia, and whose acquaintance 
 with Elder Posey wasdong and intimate, has 
 furnished in a letter, quite an interesting 
 sketch of his life, from which only a few ex- 
 tracts can here be made. He writes: — 
 
 " My first acquaintance with Elder Hum- 
 
76 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 phrey Posey was in 1809 or 1810, when I 
 was nine or ten years old, at my father's 
 in Rutherford county, North Carolina. He 
 was then living in Buncombe county, and 
 attended several churches in adjacent parts. 
 God blessed his labors in the above counties 
 to the conversion of many sinners. He was 
 engaged in school teaching, and many of his 
 scholars, and numbers of citizens, will no 
 doubt rejoice through eternity that Hum- 
 phrey Posey ever visited Rutherford county. 
 Some time after, he removed to Haywood 
 county, where he was exceedingly useful in 
 the hand of the Lord, in building up the 
 churches in that part of the world. 
 
 " He left Haywood to take charge of a 
 mission in the Cherokee nation, where he 
 originated and attended the management of 
 a very nourishing school, and preached over 
 the nation by means of an interpreter, for 
 the space of about five years. Eternity will 
 unfold the good which this faithful servant 
 of the Most High God effected in the moral 
 condition of these rude people. 
 
 " No man probably ever possessed a more 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. li 
 
 unsullied character, both as a citizen and a 
 Minister of the Gospel ; and though Mr. 
 Posey did not possess a classical education, 
 yet by his energetic and devoted efforts, he 
 rendered himself famous in the Church of 
 Christ. In sentiment he was a Calvinist, 
 and possessed, in a high degree, a talent to 
 explain the doctrine of election and predesti- 
 nation in a practical manner, so that the 
 Free-will Baptists and the Arminians gener- 
 ally received him with love and admiration." 
 
 An anecdote furnished in the letter from 
 which the above extract is made, may be 
 properly introduced at this place. It shows 
 the wit and the power which Elder Posey 
 possessed in wielding the sword of the Spirit, 
 the word of the Lord. The writer says : — 
 
 " Mr. Posey and myself being at Tucka- 
 siege Association on the 20th of August, 
 1832, left to go to the French Broad Asso- 
 ciation, which was to convene on Saturday 
 the 25th ; and having appointment to preach 
 on the route, on Friday I preached for him 
 at Cany Creek, in Yancy county, he being 
 
 sick. After the meeting we called at a gen- 
 
 7* 
 
78 SKETCH OP THE LIFE 
 
 tleroan's house to dine, in company -with 
 Elder Stephen Morgan. The gentleman's 
 brother and wife called also, both being Free- 
 will Baptists. After some conversation, he 
 remarked to Brother Posey, ' My wife and 
 myself feel very much disappointed in not 
 hearing you preach to-day, after coming 
 twelve miles for that purpose.' Mr. Posey 
 remarked that they had heard the Gospel 
 preached. But he still persisted that he was 
 disappointed, inasmuch as he was the preach- 
 er he had come to hear. ' Well, said Posey, 
 you believe what the brother preached to- 
 day.' He answered he did. 'Well,' re- 
 plied Posey, 'I could not have preached 
 any thing else, to have kept within the covers 
 of the Bible.' But the Free-wilier appeared 
 to be dissatisfied still. Elder Posey assumed 
 a grave appearance, and said to him, ' Sup- 
 pose I had occupied the pulpit to-day and 
 said, ' Moreover, whom he did predestinate, 
 them he also called ; and whom he called, 
 them he also justified; and whom he justified, 
 them he also glorified; would you have 
 believed me V The Free-wilier replied 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 79 
 
 promptly, ' No, I would not.' ' No ! said Po- 
 sey; but thank God it is his precious word, 
 and the gates of hell cannot prevail against 
 it.' The Free-wilier blushed in confusion." 
 This objector to the doctrine of election 
 and predestination, it is feared, is a fair 
 sample of hundreds and thousands. He 
 was so unacquainted with his Bible, that he 
 did not know what God had said by his holy 
 apostle on this subject. Many are so igno- 
 rant of the language of the scriptures, that 
 they do not know when the minister quotes 
 from the sacred page ; hence they object to 
 these sublime and glorious doctrines, not 
 knowing what they do. " They do err, not 
 knowing the scriptures." Numbers, just 
 like the above objector, will not believe 
 what the preacher says, though, like Posey, 
 he should exhibit the doctrine in the lan- 
 guage of holy writ. Frequently, too, those 
 professors of the religion of Christ, who 
 know the least of the holy oracles, are 
 the most confident, dogmatic, and obstinate 
 in the defence of their peculiar notions on 
 the subject of religion. It was unsafe for 
 
80 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 the cause of such to come in contact with 
 Humphrey Posey. 
 
 A short letter from Dr. Howell will show, 
 to some considerable extent, the place Elder 
 Posey occupied in the estimation of our 
 learned and talented ministers, at an early 
 clay, and also the place assigned him in his 
 old age. The letter is here inserted entire, 
 because of its brevity and appropriateness. 
 
 " Nashville, Feb. 12, 1849. 
 Dear Brother Fleming, — 
 
 I am not able jo give you the informa- 
 tion you desire, regarding our lamented 
 brother Posey. When a boy, at my father's 
 plantations, on the Neuse, I felt interested 
 in the accounts that reached me, of his 
 preaching in the upper part of the State. 
 North Carolina has, very naturally, as my 
 native place, always been dear to me. Upon 
 its leading ministers, Mr. Posey amongst 
 them, I always kept my eye, and with, if 
 possible, a warmer interest after I left the 
 State to reside, first in Virginia, and sub- 
 sequently in Tennessee, than before. Nor 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 81 
 
 did I cease to mark his course when he re- 
 moved farther South. Rev. J. Wiseman, 
 of this State, a man of eminent talents and 
 usefulness, has often spoken to me of Mr. 
 Posey as the pastor of his youth, and the 
 minister by whom he was baptized. My 
 information is of too general and limited a 
 character to be of special service to you in 
 your proposed Memoir. I saw our venera- 
 ble brother once only, at Murfreesborough, 
 in this State, some five years ago, when we 
 were together for two days. I ever regarded 
 him as a good minister of Jesus Christ, de- 
 voted in his piety, and useful in his labors. 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 R. B. C. Howell." 
 
 The expression, " devoted in his piety," 
 in the preceding letter, is used with great 
 appropriateness. He made the work of the 
 ministry the business of his life, and was 
 often heard to say that he viewed the office 
 he held higher than the office of the Presi- 
 dent of the United States, and that he con- 
 sidered it a hind of coming down in the 
 
82 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 station of the preacher "who might think 
 himself going up in accepting any civil 
 office within the gift of man. He magnified 
 his office in word and in deed, and always 
 endeavored to elevate the standing and pro- 
 mote the usefulness of his " fellow-helpers 
 to the truth." Cheerfulness, and activity 
 of mind and body were strikingly devel- 
 oped elements in his character. Open- 
 hearted, free, and undissembling in his 
 intercourse with others, he made to himself 
 friends, permanent friends, wherever he 
 went. It is a universal law of our nature 
 to hate hypocrisy in others, though we 
 should be guilty of it ourselves. He was 
 not double-tongued, nor double-faced among 
 his brethren in the gospel ministry, conse- 
 quently he always had their confidence and 
 hearty co-operation in carrying out the de- 
 signs of benevolence in which he was so 
 frequently employed. He never sought to 
 promote a good cause by the use of unholy 
 means ; nor to correct one evil by the in- 
 troduction of another. He loved the truth ; 
 loved "speaking the truth in love." Proba- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. S3 
 
 bly few men ever excelled hini in despising 
 "the sleight of men and cunning crafti- 
 ness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." 
 The Indians loved him more than any 
 other white man who ever preached among 
 them. In proof of this, let another extract 
 from the letter of Elder Webb be intro- 
 duced. He writes — 
 
 " In 1832, at the Tuckasiege Associa- 
 
 i tion, on Lord's-day, a considerable number 
 of Cherokees were present, and although 
 the preaching seemed to have a good effect 
 among the white people, the Indians sat 
 
 J unmoved, but kept good order. Some of 
 the young men among them had gone un- 
 
 * der the stand, and were sitting there quietly, 
 until brother Posey arose to close the ser- 
 vices of the day. As soon as they heard 
 Ms voice, most of them arose from their 
 seats and moved forward. The young men 
 came out from under the stand, and all of 
 them looked on with great earnestness. 
 Their countenances indicated that they were 
 excited. They appeared like children re- 
 ceiving the most solemn instructions from a 
 
 v 
 
84 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 devoted father. I have seen, [says brother 
 Webb,] and conversed with the seals of his 
 ministry among the Cherokees." 
 
 To their present homes, in Arkansas, 
 many of them have carried on their tongues 
 the name of Posey, and many have carried 
 in their hearts, through his instrumentality, 
 " the everlasting consolations of a good 
 hope through grace." There is a goodly 
 number of Baptists among the Cherokees. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 85 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The organization of the Georgia Baptist Convention.— 
 Presence of Elder Posey.— His labors in Georgia. 
 —Agency for Cave Spring School, in Floyd County. 
 —Death of Mrs. Posey.— His marriage to Mrs. Jane 
 Stokes, and settlement in Newnan. — His death. 
 
 Humphrey Posey was a laboring man. 
 His eye, his movement, all indicated he had 
 something to do ; and that he felt his was 
 an important work. In June, 1822, while 
 on an agency for Valley Town school, he 
 visited Georgia; and in company with 
 Dr. W. T. Brantly, of Augusta, and Elder 
 Joshua Key, of Burke County, he visited 
 Powelton, and was present at the organiza- 
 tion of the Georgia Baptist Convention. 
 The reception he met with from the vener- 
 able ministers present on that occasion, may 
 be considered as a good index to the high 
 sense they entertained of his worth, and 
 
 8 
 
86 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 produced in his bosom a strong attachment 
 to the Baptists of Georgia. 
 
 We have said he was a laboring man. 
 His travels in Georgia, the Carolinas, Ten- 
 nessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, as well as 
 his journeys to Philadelphia, are sufficient 
 evidence of it. 
 
 After leaving Valley Town, in 1824, he 
 removed to the old upper counties of 
 Georgia, where he resided for a year or 
 two ; and then settled in what is termed the 
 Cherokee country, on a very fertile spot 
 which he designed to make his permanent 
 residence for life. While in this new sec- 
 tion of the State, he traveled much, and 
 preached every where he went " the glorious 
 gospel of the blessed God." Being the de- 
 cided friend of education, he accepted, by 
 the solicitation of the brethren, an agency 
 to procure funds to extricate Hearn Manual 
 Labor School from its then embarrassed 
 condition. It is now relieved and is pros- 
 perous ; and the place has since become 
 celebrated as the location of the Georgia 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 87 
 
 Institution for the Education of the Deaf 
 and Dumb. 
 
 The extensive acquaintance the subject 
 of this memoir had formed with the Bap- 
 tists of the United States, and with their 
 great benevolent enterprises, fitted him for 
 any agency in almost any department of 
 labor by which important objects are to be 
 secured. His plans were not visionary, 
 and the means for their accomplishment 
 were well understood by him. From the 
 time he became a citizen of Georgia, he be- 
 came a regular attendant at the annual 
 meetings of the Georgia Baptist Conven- 
 tion; and such was the respect they had 
 for his opinions, that he was uniformly re- 
 quested to act on committees of more than 
 ordinary interest to the body. "He was 
 known in the gates when he sat among the 
 elders of the land." 
 
 In the providence of God, he was per- 
 mitted to enjoy the society of the wife of 
 his youth forty-two years. She died at 
 their residence in Walker County, June 
 
88 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 22d, 1842. By her he had ten children; 
 eight daughters and two sons, all of whom 
 have given evidence of conversion to God. 
 He was often heard to speak of this as a 
 matter of consolation to him in his declining 
 years. He dedicated his children to God 
 in prayer, daily prayer, which is the only 
 method of dedication about which the Holy 
 Scriptures furnish any instruction. God 
 owned, he hoped, his own method and means 
 of grace, and "sealed with the Holy Spirit 
 of promise " all his children. 
 
 On the 28th day of July, 1844, he became 
 united in marriage to Mrs. Jane Stokes, 
 relict of Deacon Wm. M. Stokes, of New- 
 nan, Georgia. He disposed of nearly all 
 his property in Walker county, among his 
 children, and came to Newnan to reside 
 permanently. Several churches in the vi- 
 cinity called him to preach to them as a 
 pastoral supply, and he devoted his time to 
 their service faithfully, and with much suc- 
 cess, up to the close of his life. He was 
 identified with the Baptists in all their be- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 89 
 
 ncvolent institutions. But the evangeliza- 
 tion of the benighted Indians lay nearest 
 his heart, and to the day of his death he 
 ■was a regular contributor to the funds of 
 the Indian Mission Association. Since his 
 decease, his venerable widow has been a 
 liberal contributor. 
 
 Having been appointed at a previous ses- 
 sion to preach the missionary sermon before 
 the Western Association, at its meeting in 
 September, 1846, he came forward on the 
 Lord's day, and with much acceptance, per- 
 formed the service. During his discourse 
 he remarked, he would join any society cal- 
 culated to do good to his fellow-men. " I 
 would join," said he, " a wolf-killing society, 
 if I lived in a country where wolves were 
 an annoyance." Many Baptists, Method- 
 ists, and others, will long remember that 
 last effort of his on the subject of missions. 
 His soul was in the work, he had extraordi- 
 nary liberty, and probably exerted himself 
 too severely ; for in the evening he took a 
 chill, which was followed by high fever. In a 
 
 8* 
 
90 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 few days, however, he was apparently in 
 his usual health. Nevertheless, it was evi- 
 dent that his bodily and mental powers were 
 somewhat enfeebled. Though he attended 
 his churches regularly up to within a few 
 days of his death, yet he seemed to have 
 a kind of presentiment that his days were 
 drawing to a termination. The last sermon 
 he ever delivered was on the second Lord's 
 day in December, at Ebenezer Church, 
 seven miles east of Newnan. He died on 
 the 28th day of December, 1846. Death 
 did not alarm him. Relying on the blood 
 of Jesus Christ to cleanse him from all sin, 
 he felt no fear to "pass through the valley 
 of the shadow of death." Calmly would he 
 converse about it, as his Christian friends 
 came around his bed. 
 
 His mortal remains lie seven miles east 
 from Newnan, by the side of those of Dea- 
 con W. M. Stokes. His surviving com- 
 panion has placed over his remains a tomb, 
 covered by a neat marble slab, with the 
 following brief inscription, written by John 
 E. Robinson, Esq. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 91 
 
 SACRED 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 REV. HUMPHREY POSEY, 
 
 WHO WAS BORN IN VIRGINIA, 
 
 ON THE 12TH OF JANUARY, 1780, 
 
 AND DEPARTED THIS LIFE DECEMBER 28TH, 1846. 
 
 HE UNITED WITH THE BAPTIST CHURCH 
 
 IN 1802, AND WAS, FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY, 
 
 A FAITHFUL MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 The gospel was his joy and song, 
 
 E'en to his latest breath; 
 The truth he had proclaimed so long, 
 
 "Was his support in death. 
 
 By the special request of his son, residing 
 at a distance, Elder Otis Smith, Principal 
 of Brownwood High School, near Lagrange, 
 delivered, in May following, a funeral dis- 
 course to a large assemblage of his friends, 
 in the Baptist church at Newnan. The 
 Western Association at its session in Sep- 
 tember, requested Elder J. E. Dawson to 
 
92 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 preach a discourse in reference to his me- 
 mory, to the delegates and friends present. 
 His theme was U A good minister of Jesus 
 Christ." All classes felt that the preacher 
 might give full scope to his feelings with 
 little danger of drawing his picture of a 
 good man too bold and bright. 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 93 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Persecution of Elder Posey. — Anecdote. — Method of 
 Preaching. — His portrait. 
 
 Jesus Christ told his apostles that in 
 this world they should have tribulation ; and 
 Paul at Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ex- 
 horted the disciples to continue in the faith, 
 declaring that " we must through much 
 tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." 
 Speaking of his fellow-laborers in the work 
 of the ministry, he says, " We are made a 
 spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and 
 to men." 1 Cor., iv. 9. Again, "We 
 are made as the filth of the world and as 
 the offscouring of all things unto this day." 
 "Blessed are ye," says Christ, "when men 
 shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
 shall say all manner of evil against you, 
 falsely, for my sake." This blessing came 
 upon our venerable brother Posey. " Re- 
 member," said Jesus, "the word that I said 
 
94 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 unto you, the servant is not greater than, 
 his Lord. If they have persecuted me, 
 they will also persecute you." The cause 
 of all this is revealed in another place in 
 holy writ, and deserves special notice. 
 " The tvicked watcheth the righteous, and 
 seeheth to slay him. The Lord will not 
 leave him in his hand, nor condemn him 
 when he is judged." Ps. xxxvii. 32, 83. 
 Elder Posey had his enemies, his trials, his 
 troubles, and his persecution. He could 
 not have been a minister of Jesus Christ 
 without them. It may be proper to give 
 an extract from a letter from Deacon James 
 Whitaker. He writes as follows : — 
 
 " Valley Town, Jan. 9, 1849. 
 Dear Brother, — 
 
 You ask me for a sketch of the charac- 
 ter of Elder Humphrey Posey. I have 
 known him upwards of forty years. I saw 
 him ordained to the ministry forty-three 
 years ago next May. Like most other good 
 men, the shafts of the wicked were some- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 95 
 
 times hurled at him, but always fell harm- 
 less at his feet. 
 
 He was a very poor man, with a rising 
 family, when he commenced the ministry. 
 He preached successfully, and taught school 
 for the support of his family. His charac- 
 ter as a teacher and a minister stood high. 
 He was cheerful and friendly in his inter- 
 course with mankind. His mind was well 
 stored with anecdote. 
 
 He was once attacked by a poltroon, who 
 was on a circuit, bearing the name of a 
 preacher, in which case a suit was brought, 
 when the character of Posey came through 
 unscathed, while the name of the other 
 stands on the records of the court, branded 
 with falsehood." 
 
 Is it not a great blessing that though 
 "the wicked watcheth the righteous and 
 seeketh to slay him." jet "the Lord will 
 not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him 
 when he is judged?" This is a source of 
 peculiar consolation to the man of God, 
 
96 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 who in this world " shall have tribula- 
 tion." 
 
 That Elder Posey's mind should be "well 
 stored with anecdote, " is not surprising, when 
 it is remembered that he was nearly all his 
 life traveling and preaching among almost 
 all classes of his fellow-men. That he was 
 extraordinarily gifted in applying an anec- 
 dote is very well known by those who were 
 intimately acquainted with him. The writer 
 of this sketch having known him ever since 
 the organization of the Georgia Baptist 
 Convention, which occurred in June, 1822, 
 remembers particularly his very pertinent 
 application of the following ; and the cases 
 in which it might be applied are so nume- 
 rous, that an insertion of it can scarcely be 
 considered out of place in this brief Memoir. 
 I shall give it as I find it now in print, 
 though Elder Posey related it, in his otvn 
 words, to a fireside circle of brethren, in 
 which the conversation was respecting the 
 causes of frequent changes of pastors in the 
 churches. It is as follows : — 
 
 " The people in one of the out parishes 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 97 
 
 in Virginia wrote to Dr. Rice, who was then 
 at the head of the Theological Seminary, 
 in Prince Edward, for a minister. They 
 said they wanted a man offi?*st rate talents, 
 for they had run down considerably, and 
 needed building up. They wanted one who 
 could write ivell, for some of the young 
 people were very nice about that matter. 
 They wanted one who could visit a good 
 deal, for their former minister had neglected 
 that, and they wanted to bring it up. They 
 wanted a man of very gentlemanly de- 
 portment, for some thought a great deal 
 of that. And so they went on, describing 
 a perfect minister. The last thing they 
 mentioned was — they gave their last minis- 
 ter three hundred and fifty dollars ; but if 
 the Doctor would send them such a man as 
 they had described, they would raise another 
 fifty dollars, making it four hundred. The 
 Doctor sat right down and wrote a reply, 
 telling them that they ought forthwith to 
 make a call for old Doctor Dight, in hea- 
 ven ; for he did not know any one in this 
 
 world who answered their description. And 
 
 9 
 
98 SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 as Dr. Dwight had been living so long on 
 spiritual food, lie might not need so much 
 for the body, and possibly he might live on 
 four hundred dollars." 
 
 Dr. Franklin, the great American philo- 
 sopher, often carried his point in an argu- 
 ment by the introduction of an appropriate 
 anecdote. Mr. Posey related anecdotes in 
 the social circle with great ease, appropri- 
 ateness and effect, yet he seldom introduced 
 them to illustrate any thing in his pulpit 
 performances. He could enjoy himself 
 pleasantly in the parlor, in an easy and 
 familiar strain of conversation, and rarely 
 failed to render others easy and pleasant in 
 his company. But when he entered the 
 pulpit, he was grave — he was solemn. — 
 " Thou, God, seest me," seemed to influ- 
 ence his whole life ; but especially in the 
 pulpit he appeared never to forget it. He 
 could not pardon any thing like witticism 
 in the sacred desk. He never took a " quip 
 or merry turn." 
 
 As respects Ms course in the pastoral care 
 of the churches he served, it was a uniform 
 rule with him to resign, whenever he dis- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 99 
 
 covered his opinions and feelings were not 
 respected as lie conceived they should be. 
 Always sustaining with dignity the Mode- 
 rator's chair, he scarcely ever failed to se- 
 cure from his brethren a respectful and 
 dignified address in the business of confer- 
 ence. "Let all things be done decently 
 and in order" was his motto on all occa- 
 sions. When this is adhered to by the 
 Pastor, there is despatch in the affairs 
 which usually come before the conference, 
 and there is secured a decent respect for 
 the character of the church from the world. 
 In reference to his dress — Jus apparel — 
 it might not be amiss to state, for the bene- 
 fit of the rising ministry of the present 
 age, that he was very plain and prudent in 
 his clothing. Like the departed Luther 
 Rice, he had too much to do, his heart was 
 too much set on doing it, and his time was 
 too precious to be wasted in attention to 
 such matters. He placed very little value 
 upon fashionable gloves or fine coats. His 
 towering mind rose above the region in 
 which such things are thought of most. 
 
ICO SKETCH OF THE LIFE 
 
 With regard to his sermons, it is a re- 
 markable fact, that though a good penman, 
 he never wrote a sermon during his long 
 and very acceptable ministerial course ; and 
 among his papers I do not find even a 
 skeleton of a sermon. And yet his dis- 
 courses were generally well-arranged, sys- 
 tematical, and full of good sense, containing 
 clear and forcible exhibitions of Bible truth. 
 He pursued, through life, a course of theo- 
 logical studies, which, it is feared, is greatly 
 neglected by many of the young as well as 
 old ministers of the present day. He studied 
 the Bible closely, and was mighty in the 
 English version of the scriptures. In this 
 respect his tongue was " the pen of a ready 
 writer." He considered " Faith the starting 
 point and moving poiver of the divine life;' 
 repentance, fear, hope, love, are but its 
 works. It must, therefore, itself be the 
 divine work it is said to be ; and though 
 divine, it is, on our part, the simplest and 
 first of all good works. His religious creed 
 was not a heterogeneous, absurd mass of 
 indefinable opinions ; but it was clearly con- 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 101 
 
 ceived, well digested, and fully sustained in 
 his sermons. 
 
 He was a great admirer of the late Dr. 
 Wm. Staughton, the author of the Abridg- 
 ment of Gill's Body of Divinity, and the re- 
 puted mover of, and assistant in, the or- 
 ganization of the first Female Bible Society 
 in the world. With the Doctor, during his 
 engagement at Valley Town, he carried on 
 a regular and very interesting correspond- 
 ence ; and many of his letters were pub- 
 lished, particularly those giving an account 
 of his labors as missionary among the In- 
 dians. Dr. S. esteemed him very highly, 
 for his work's sake ; and his family were 
 uncommonly warm in their attachment to 
 him. And when at Philadelphia, on the 
 duties of his agency, a daughter of that 
 distinguished man of God, being skilled in 
 portrait painting, requested him to sit, that 
 she might transmit his interesting features 
 to the canvas. He complied with this re- 
 quest, and she took, it is said, a very 
 accurate likeness, which was afterwards pre- 
 sented to the Columbian College, at Wash- 
 
102 SKETCH OP THE LIFE 
 
 ington city, where it may probably be still 
 seen. 
 
 Mrs. Posey, ample in her resources, and 
 long well known as a liberal Baptist, still 
 living, and ready to every good work, pro- 
 cured, at her own expense, the beautiful 
 engraving which accompanies these pages. 
 She had it made from a daguerreotype like- 
 ness. It will be easy to discover from his 
 portrait that he was an interesting man. 
 Decision and promptitude, firmness and in- 
 flexibility of purpose, for which he was so 
 remarkable, are very distinctly developed 
 in his features. 
 
 She had a likeness, large as life, painted 
 from the same daguerreotype, a year or 
 more after his death. When the artist had 
 finished his work, he invited the friends of 
 Elder Posey to call at Dr. J. W. Terrell's 
 residence, in Newnan, where it was placed 
 in the parlor, that they might see it. Num- 
 bers, feeling anxious to have such a privi- 
 lege, went. The painting was placed in a 
 frame with the face to the wall, and when 
 the friends were seated, according to his 
 
OF ELDER HUMPHREY POSEY. 103 
 
 wishes, he turned it to their view. Such 
 was the effect produced, that some wept. 
 This is stated, not to praise the unnamed 
 artist for his skill, but to let the reader 
 know that Elder Humphrey Posey lives 
 in the recollection of the people of New- 
 nan, and lives-, it is believed, in everlast- 
 ing remembrance before God in heaven. 
 
 THE END.