I 
 
 The 
 
 Rev. "Billy" Sunday
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UWIVEh t OF 
 CALIFCKrtIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO . 
 
 1
 
 Spectacular Career of 
 Rev. Billy Sunday 
 
 Famous Baseball Evangelist 
 
 BY 
 
 THEODORE THOMAS FRANKENBERG 
 
 STAFF OHIO STATE JOURNAL 
 AUTHOR "ESSENTIALS IN JOURNALISM,'' ETC, 
 
 MCCLELLAND & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 
 COLUMBUS, OHIO 
 
 15343
 
 COPYRIGHTED, 1913, 
 
 BY GEORGE V. SHERIDAN AND T. T. FRANKENBERG. 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 THE F. J. HEER 
 
 PRINTING Co.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 TN offering to the world the first 'comprehensive 
 biography of Rev. W. A. Sunday, the famous 
 evangelist, it is necessary at the very outset to 
 absolve Mr. Sunday from any responsibility for the 
 venture or any interest in it. 
 
 Mr. Sunday has been repeatedly and unjustly ac- 
 cused of petty machinations for profit and gain, there- 
 fore, this statement is justly due him. 
 
 Mr. Sunday derives no revenue from any of the 
 several publications which are sold during his cam- 
 paigns, with the exception of pamphlet formed edi- 
 tions of four of his sermons, and all of this money 
 he gives to charity. It is true, that Mr. Sunday did 
 consider at the outset being interested in the present 
 publication, but as it began to grow and take form 
 with the gathering of data ; and as the importance of 
 the work, and its wide-spread demand became more 
 and more apparent, it was felt that proper delicacy 
 on the evangelist's part would not permit of his con- 
 nection with the enterprise. It became obviously 
 necessary to say so many things of an extremely 
 laudatory nature, that any participation of the evan- 
 gelist in the work, would have been subjected to gross 
 misconstruction. 
 
 On the other hand, fidelity to the public de- 
 manded the incorporation of certain things upon 
 which the public's view and the evangelist's have not 
 
 3
 
 4 INTRODUCTION 
 
 always coincided. Mr. Sunday has been for some- 
 time compiling data concerning his work, and this 
 will probably at some time appear in book form. 
 
 The necessary autobiographical nature of his 
 work will have an interest from which no other book 
 can detract, but which will hardly have the degree of 
 self-laudation, which a large reflex of his life and 
 work must possess. 
 
 The author is under many obligations to dozens, 
 and even hundreds of persons who have contributed 
 facts and information herein incorporated. He has, 
 so far as possible, studiously avoided any expression 
 or editorial opinion; confining himself to facts or to 
 quotations directly from persons informed, or from 
 official records. 
 
 An important part of this work is a list of names 
 and addresses of all those who have furnished in- 
 formation, incorporated in this work, and whose tes- 
 timony is a sufficient index to the truth and reliabil- 
 ity of the present undertaking. 
 
 In a work of this kind it is too much to hope that 
 errors have not crept in. They are, however, the 
 errors which arise from differences of opinion or the 
 occasional necessity of accepting a report which could 
 not be verified definitely. The list of authorities cited 
 in the back of the book will enable those who are in- 
 terested, to pursue further investigation of Rev. Mr. 
 Sunday's career on their own account. 
 
 To all these, and others who may not be directly 
 quoted, the author makes heartfelt acknowledgment. 
 Assured by the many kindly indications of interest
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 which have come from all parts of the country that 
 the book will have a considerable welcome, the author 
 commends it to the attention of the thousands of ad- 
 mirers of Rev. Billy Sunday everywhere in the United 
 States. 
 
 Theodore Thomas Frankenberg, 
 Columbus, Ohio, 
 November, 1913.
 
 DR. J. WILBUR CHAPMAN.
 
 FOREWARD 
 
 1HAVE the very greatest possible joy and delight 
 in the successful ministry of the Rev. W. A. 
 Sunday. I consider him one of the most gen- 
 uine, true-hearted men I have ever known and be- 
 lieve that he has almost in perfection what every 
 minister must have if he is to be a success in his 
 preaching, namely, a consuming passion, that all who 
 do not know Christ should accept Him as a Saviour. 
 It is, of course, not possible for everyone to 
 possess the remarkable gifts with which Mr. Sun- 
 day has been naturally endowed, but it is pos- 
 sible to be dead in earnest, and without in any 
 way detracting from Mr. Sunday's mental, physical 
 and spiritual equipment, I shall not be misun- 
 derstood when I say that much of his phenomenal 
 success is to be traced to his downright earnestness. 
 A half-hearted minister has never yet done much in 
 the cause of Christ, and Mr. Sunday is setting the 
 ministers of the United States and the world a noble 
 example in thus throwing himself into his great work 
 with such tremendous zeal. I do not know how long 
 he can last if he continues working under such heavy 
 pressure, but I have no doubt that he has counted 
 the cost and that he has fully decided that it will be 
 far better for him to preach for a limited time as he 
 is now preaching and have the consciousness that he 
 is being blessed of God in his work, and turning mul- 
 
 7
 
 8 THE FOREWORD 
 
 titudes to Christ rather than to live a less strenuous 
 life and see a fewer number come to the Savior. 
 
 If a fair proportion of the ministers of the 
 Church would preach with the same spirit of aban- 
 donment which possesses Mr. Sunday I believe all 
 the world would hear of Christ in a generation. It is 
 one of my great joys to realize that I may have had 
 some influence in determining Mr. Sunday's life 
 work. He came to me many years ago to help in my 
 services. He was ready to do anything if only he 
 could be of assistance to me, to sell books, to direct 
 the ushers, to look after the inquirers, to make my 
 burdens lighter in every way, and he had the same 
 hearty enthusiasm in doing such ordinary things as he 
 has since displayed in his most remarkable work. 
 
 One day in Urbana, Ohio, I had a request from 
 someone out of town for a speaker, and I asked Mr. 
 Sunday to accept the invitation. He seemed greatly 
 frightened, said that he could not speak and that he 
 was not the man for the place. Finally it was de- 
 termined that he should tell the story of his conver- 
 sion. Following that day's services the most inter- 
 esting reports were made to me of the impression 
 which he had made upon his audience, and I then had 
 the conviction that he ought to do more of this sort of 
 work, and I suggested to him that he ought to go to 
 a number of places and stay for a week's meetings. 
 When he told me that he did not have sermons I 
 asked him to make use of anything that he had heard 
 me say, and told him that I should feel highly honored 
 at his doing so. It was thus that he started, so far 
 as I can remember. His successful work from that 
 day to this needs no descriptive word of mine for how-
 
 THE FOREWORD 9 
 
 ever much men may differ with him as regards 
 method, all will agree if they know him at all that he 
 is absolutely honest and sincere as well as being a 
 truly great man. I consider Mr. Sunday very gen- 
 erous. I cannot think of any time that he has met 
 me and had opportunity for conversation that he has 
 not said to me "Do you need any money?" And 
 that he has not told me that if I did need it he would 
 gladly give it to me. Fortunately for me and possibly 
 for him I have not found it necessary to accept his 
 kind offers of monetary gifts, but he has never made 
 the suggestion that I have not had a glimpse of his 
 great and generout heart. 
 
 It is a matter of small concern to me as to what 
 methods Mr. Sunday may use. I am not at all dis- 
 turbed that he should be working plans which are 
 exactly the opposite of my own. Sam Jones never 
 said a better thing than when he said, "God never 
 made two men alike without making one of them a 
 fool." I am filled with rejoicing that Mr. Sunday is 
 just himself, honest, sincere, noble, devoted to Christ 
 and filled with an intense longing to see others accept 
 Him as their Saviour, and I shall ever pray that God 
 may long spare him for his work, and that his career 
 of usefulness may be greater and greater as the days 
 pass by. 
 
 It has been my privilege to influence a number of 
 men to enter the ministry, and my great joy to en- 
 courage not a few to take up evangelistic work, and 
 insofar as I have been able to do so I have sought 
 to encourage them in their efforts, and give to them 
 unsparingly of my influence that their work might be 
 owned and blessed of God, but of all with whom I
 
 10 THE FOREWORD 
 
 have come in contact I must say that I am more 
 grateful to God for Mr. Sunday and for his ministry 
 than I can ever express in words. God bless him, 
 and more and more mightily use him is my prayer. 
 
 J. WILBUR CHAPMAN. 
 October, 1913. 
 3 Park Gardens, W., Glasgow, Scotland.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 FOREWORD By Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman . . 7 
 
 I. THE MAN WHO HE Is 13 
 
 II. ORPHANED SON OF AN IOWA PATRIOT ... 25 
 
 III. THE BOY'S STRUGGLE UPWARDS 89 
 
 IV. A STAR OF THE WHITE Sox 49 
 
 V. THE MEMORABLE NIGHT IN VAN BUREN STREET 61 
 
 VI. COURTING NELL 73 
 
 VII. APPLIED CHRISTIANITY AT $83 PER MONTH . . 79 
 
 VIII. TENTS, TABERNACLES AND OTHER THINGS . . 87 
 
 IX. THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAY'S REVIVAL CAM- 
 PAIGNS 97 
 
 X. SOME WHO HAVE ASSISTED 113 
 
 XL SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 123 
 
 XII. SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 141 
 
 XIII. THE GLADDEN-SUNDAY CONTROVERSY .... 159 
 
 XIV. MA 175 
 
 XV. THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE EVANGELIST . . . 189 
 
 XVI. EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT AND QUOTATIONS 203 
 
 APPENDIX . 229 
 
 11
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE MAN WHO HE IS 
 
 How evangelists come by their ranking Motives that 
 operate, standards that change Dr. Green in Hamp- 
 ton's Magazine Lindsay Denison in the American 
 Magazine Bruce Barton gives views in Collier's 
 Quotations from the daily and from the religious 
 press. 
 
 13
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 HAT does it mean to be ranked with Wesley 
 and with Luther; Savonarola and with 
 Peter the Hermit? Yes, to be coupled with 
 the Twelve who walked with the lowly Nazarene? 
 
 Either it means a Wonder Man marked through 
 all the ages, or it means a greatly exaggerated and 
 distorted vision, due to proximity to the object ad- 
 mired. 
 
 At fifty the world's judgment of a man usually 
 is the one that will endure. The stroke oar of Har- 
 vard fades into the inconspicuous haunts of a small 
 town high school, or the Princeton half-back is for- 
 gotten in the petty politics of a western country. The 
 winner of the Marathon who recalls his name after 
 the lapse of the first Olympiad? The fame that 
 comes in youth is more often than not of a transitory 
 nature. The man of fifty, who is beginning to re- 
 ceive the acclaim of his fellows, and serious com- 
 mendation, as well a vituperative opposition, is one 
 who has built on a sure foundation, and has come 
 from little to more, and from great to greater through 
 a natural method and evolution, which has given the 
 strength and stamina that will endure in the way of 
 reputation after the life itself has gone out. 
 
 How far it is fitting and correct to consider Rev. 
 William Ashley Sunday, familiarly known as "Billy" 
 Sunday, the base-ball evangelist, the greatest living 
 evangelist and possibly the greatest since the days of 
 
 15
 
 16 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Pentecost, is a question well worthy of serious con- 
 sideration in the light of all the facts that can be 
 adduced. 
 
 The merest statement of his accredited accom- 
 plishments is startling. More than 100 series of meet- 
 ings held throughout the length and breadth of the 
 land, resulting in the professed conversion of more 
 than 200,000 souls, is a record which, on its face, 
 will challenge comparison with the most conspicuous 
 in ancient or modern history. To establish the jus- 
 tice of comparison, it is not necessary to go into the 
 merit of the methods employed, nor the motives that 
 have operated to do this, would be to vitiate all 
 standards and compel history to be rewritten from 
 the time when Constantine swung an empire into the 
 Christian fold and became an object of suspicion for 
 all succeeding generations. 
 
 Early missionaries who made their way north 
 from Italy into the wilds of Gaul, Germany and the 
 British Isles are accredited with wonderful results 
 in converting the natives to the Christian faith. Yet, 
 it is admitted history that in many instances, a tribe 
 or clan followed blindly in the wake of its leader and 
 religious observances were laid on and off like a 
 mantle. Neither will the history of the modern 
 church stand scrutiny if the inner motives that 
 prompted all of the leaders are questioned in the 
 light of high moral standards. Henry VIII divorced 
 England from the Roman church that he might di- 
 vorce himself from an objectionable wife. The 
 princes of Northern Germany espoused the cause of 
 Luther, because it gave them a pretext to war against 
 the domination of the House of Austria. Yet, in the
 
 THE MAN WHO IS HE 17 
 
 history of the world and the advance of religion, all 
 of these men and their actions have played impor- 
 tant and lasting parts. 
 
 Criticism, is, and always has been directed against 
 the methods and the results achieved in evangelical 
 and general Christian work. An unbiased contempla- 
 tion of history simply compels the conclusion that 
 there are at the present time no recognized standards 
 whereby the work of various men in various ages 
 may be measured honestly. 
 
 It is only possible, therefore, to estimate Rev. Mr. 
 Sunday by comparing his admitted achievements with 
 the accredited achievements of the great historical 
 evangelists, and with these it would seem that he 
 ranks in every way a peer. Coming from the com- 
 parative obscurity of what is generally known as the 
 Middle West, he has in late years challenged the at- 
 tention of the entire country, and there has been de- 
 voted to him recently a considerable amount of dis- 
 interested attention from which a consensus of judg- 
 ment can be established. 
 
 As early as June 1910 Dr. Thomas E. Green, 
 writing in Hampton's magazine, said, after an ex- 
 tended description of the man's manners: 
 
 That's Billy Sunday, America's great evan- 
 gelist. On the platform he "plays ball." Attitude, 
 gestures, methods he crouches, rushes, whirls, 
 bangs his message out, as if he were at the bat 
 in the last inning, with two men out and the bases 
 full. And he can go into any city in America and 
 for six weeks talk to six thousand people twice a 
 day and simply turn that community inside out. 
 
 2
 
 18 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Over 300,000 people have been "converted" under 
 his preaching and he says, ninety per cent of 
 them stick. 
 
 Even earlier than that Lindsay Denison writing 
 in the September 1907 number of the American Mag- 
 azine, without making a pretense to direct interest in 
 religion, nor posing as an authority on that subject, 
 said: 
 
 I have seen many a university foot-ball vic- 
 tory celebration; I have seen several riots of 
 joy after a Yale-Harvard boat race; I was in the 
 headquarters of District Attorney Jerome of New 
 York when the word came, on election night, that 
 he had beaten independently the candidates of all 
 the regular parties. But I have never seen any 
 crowd more beside itself than was the congrega- 
 tion of the tabernacle when the meeting was over. 
 The noise was inchoate until Fred Fischer took 
 charge and organized it. There were a hundred 
 dangerous rushes by people at the back to reach 
 the platform and Bill Sunday. Fischer got them 
 singing. When they were tired of singing a tune, 
 he asked them to whistle it and then to hum it. 
 Now and then somebody got up and interrupted 
 by calling for three cheers for Billy Sunday! And 
 when it was announced that altogether Sunday had 
 won 1,118 Fairfield souls from the Devil for Christ 
 it seemed as though the roof was tugging at the 
 rafters. 
 
 After the remarkable work in Columbus the 
 larger magazines began to give more and more at- 
 tention to the career of this evangelist. Bruce Barton 
 was assigned by Collier's to make a close study of the 
 man and his method, and in the spring of 1913 he 
 made this summing up :
 
 THE MAN WHO IS HE 19 
 
 It's fourteenth-century theology, you say, and 
 perhaps that's true. But there is no cant in it. 
 It is the hard-hitting message of a strong man, 
 stirred to the depths of his soul by the spectacle 
 of puny, impotent, mortal men setting themselves 
 in revolt against the purpose of Almighty God. 
 And men respond to it the leading men of the 
 city editors, merchants, bankers, as well as the 
 rank and file. No other evangelist owes so little 
 of his success to emotionalism; none other can 
 number a larger proportion of men and women on 
 his convert rolls. 
 
 You must hear him more than once to know 
 his power ; indeed it takes quite the cumulative ef- 
 fect of his meetings, night after night, to represent 
 him adequately. The particular sermon that you 
 may hear may seem to you overdrawn, even futile; 
 the immediate effect of it on the converts who come 
 forward may appear all out of proportion to its 
 worth. You should have heard them all. I heard 
 him once in a little town in Central Illinois a 
 rainy night, when he spoke with difficulty and, to 
 my mind, poorly. "Surely," I said to myself, "this 
 is an off night for Billy; there'll be no response 
 to a sermon like that." And yet he had hardly 
 concluded when the converts came trooping toward 
 the platform, and the first man among them the 
 president of the local gas company. 
 
 It is the hammer, hammer, hammer of six 
 or seven weeks of man-to-man talk that compels 
 results. 
 
 And the results what are they? 
 
 In Decatur, 111., he labored six weeks, and 
 more than 5,000 persons pressed forward to take 
 his hand the sign of their intention to begin 
 another life. The meetings closed on the eve of 
 a local option election. On the morning after the 
 election, when the result of the overwhelming vote
 
 20 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 was known, there appeared this sign in the front 
 window of one of the most prominent saloons : 
 
 CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. 
 
 By order of 
 BILLY SUNDAY. 
 
 The Herald, a newspaper in Decatur, had 
 for years served the interests of the local Re- 
 publican machine with a fidelity that was as un- 
 swerving as it was conscienceless. For the stars 
 to reverse themselves in their orbits would have 
 caused no greater surprise in Decatur than for the 
 Herald to bolt the machine ticket. Yet after 
 the meetings the Herald did bolt, and declared 
 itself in favor of the Democratic candidate for 
 Mayor, nominated on a reform platform. "The in- 
 fluence of that paper, conducted as it is," said one 
 of the thoughtful men of Decatur, "is worth $500,- 
 000 to this town ; and Sunday did it." 
 
 In the same article occurs another paragraph that 
 refers to a paper in the City of Columbus: 
 
 The Ohio State Journal was compelled to 
 deny editorially that its first-page columns, which 
 were given over every morning to the meetings, 
 as well as the whole second page, had been pur- 
 chased by the Sunday organization. "We never re- 
 ceived a cent," it said, "never expect to; would not 
 take it if it were offered. Devoting so much space 
 to Billy Sunday is newspaper business, pure and 
 simple. The people want to read what he says. 
 In all our experience we never knew of such uni- 
 versal desire to read something as there is to read 
 Mr. Sunday's sermons. Therefore we print them."
 
 THE MAN WHO IS HE 21 
 
 Think of that from a leading newspaper in a city 
 of nearly 200,000, with all its thousand conflicting 
 interests. 
 
 Mr. Barton seems to lay particular stress upon 
 the importance of newspapers when it comes to es- 
 timating the work of a revivalist, as he is at some 
 pains to quote a third instance of the same general 
 type, reproducing the following publisher's notice 
 which appeared on the front page of the McKees- 
 port, Pa. Times when the Sunday campaign closed 
 there in the fall of 1912: 
 
 From this date forward the Evening Times 
 will not accept the advertisement of any distiller, 
 brewer, or wholesale or retail liquor dealer. This 
 rule is made a part of the policy of the advertising 
 department of this newspaper. 
 
 From this date forward the Evening Times 
 will not accept the advertisement of any manu- 
 facturer or seller of remedies for diseases caused 
 by vice, appliances or preparations that are against 
 morality and good public policy, of practitioners 
 who prey upon the credulity and fear of youth, 
 or of compounds of the "make beer at home" sort. 
 A few advertisements that come under these last 
 headings are now running in the Evening Times 
 under contract, but such arrangements will be dis- 
 continued at the earliest possible day. 
 
 It is the desire of the management of this 
 newspaper that it shall be a force for the better- 
 ment of its city and district, and no effort will be 
 spared to make and keep its columns so clean that 
 it may be read every day with entire safety and 
 real benefit by persons of all ages and both sexes. 
 McKEESPORT TIMES COMPANY, 
 BY WILLIAM B. KAY, 
 
 General Manager.
 
 22 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 So much for the secular press. In conclusion, it 
 is interesting to quote from the well known Congre- 
 gationalist which because of the attitude of certain 
 ministers in that denomination was popularly sup- 
 posed to be opposed to Mr. Sunday. In an editorial 
 of its issue in April 1913, it said: 
 
 Who can help rejoicing when the inertia and 
 indifference of years gives way to love for God 
 and the service of others, when men who have 
 lived long in the under-world and have become 
 besotted and brutal are totally reconstructed. Hu- 
 manly speaking, Mr. Sunday effects such results 
 in countless cases and, humanly speaking, these 
 changes would not be likely to come about without 
 him. And who can doubt that along with increas- 
 ing reliance upon cultural methods we need also 
 to preach and to stand for a gospel that radically 
 and often changes the inner life. Many men and 
 women in middle life today are far beyond the 
 reach of cultural methods. They need the sound- 
 ing of a trumpet which will awaken them from 
 their sleep. It is significant that, as a rule, those 
 who work with Mr. Sunday from the beginning 
 to the end of a campaign reach a point where they 
 are more inclined to appreciation than to criticism 
 or condemnation. 
 
 No effort is here made to cite unnumbered com- 
 mendations from the press of the cities in which Mr. 
 Sunday has labored, for the purpose of establishing 
 his standing as an evangelist. They would be open to 
 criticism of possible bias. National magazines, edited 
 with a view of giving truth as nearly as they can by 
 securing authentic information for thousands who 
 have no opportunity for first-hand observation, have 
 seen fit to endorse this man in no unmeasured terms,
 
 THE MAN WHO IS HE 23 
 
 and to verify for themselves the statements of the 
 daily press in the various communities where Mr. 
 Sunday has labored. Students of history will know 
 the accomplishments of the great evangelist of all 
 ages, and those who are not thus informed will be 
 content with the statement from these persons as au- 
 thority, that never in the history of the Christian 
 faith have more men and women been moved to make 
 an expression of their faith in the gospel teachings, 
 than have resulted from the ministrations of this re- 
 markable man. 
 
 These are the fruits of his labors as he com- 
 pletes the cycle of a half century of life. They are 
 not sudden or spasmodic expression of opinion ; rather 
 in some instances they seem to have been grudgingly 
 given, or seem to indicate that the person making 
 them had first to be persuaded of their truth himself. 
 
 Concerning such a man, it may be worth while 
 to question further of his life and work.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 ORPHANED SON OF AN IOWA PATRIOT 
 
 Ancestry of the Sunday family Born in Iowa Father 
 dies without seeing his son Life in an orphan asy- 
 lum What the superintendent says Early childish 
 escapades Caring for ponies and going to school 
 What Billy's mother has to say about her famous son. 
 
 25
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 GOD makes few exceptions to the general rule in 
 preparing His great men for the world. 
 Almost invariably they come from the soil and 
 from humble origin yet the stock is always good. 
 The seclusion of the Kentucky mountains, and the 
 grinding poverty of a small cabin, could not hide the 
 blood that flowed in Abraham Lincoln's veins. Gar- 
 field on a tow-path was a true descendant of the 
 Revolution. The rule holds with most of the truly 
 great who have preached the Inspired Word, and 
 Rev. W. A. Sunday is no exception. 
 
 Ames, Iowa, still a very little place after more 
 than seventy-five years of municipal existence, claims 
 the birthplace of the evangelist, and so hard pressed 
 and lacking in comfort were those early days, that 
 Mr. Sunday seldom refers to them except in general 
 terms, or to point some pertinent lessons in the dis- 
 course he has in hand. 
 
 The Sunday family is an old one, even in this 
 country. Before the days of its residency in Penn- 
 sylvania the family lived in Germany. The German 
 form of the name was Sonntag, and this was literally 
 translated into "Sunday" before the Revolutionary 
 days. This, in itself, explains and refutes the scur- 
 rilous charge sometimes made, that the evangelist mas- 
 querades under an assumed name. The Pennsylvania 
 
 27
 
 28 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 archives show that several of the Sunday family 
 served in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 In an address delivered at a meeting in Pennsyl- 
 vania Mr. Sunday took occasion to refer to his an- 
 cestry in these words: 
 
 My grandmother on my mother's side was 
 Welsh; my father was a German, born near Cham- 
 bersburg and you can't find a triumvirate of an- 
 cestors for any man to be more proud of than that. 
 
 Some years before the outbreak of the civil war 
 William Sunday, father of the evangelist, moved with 
 his family from Chambersburg, Pa., and settled in 
 Iowa. Father and grandfather were farmers and 
 tilled the soil. It is the frequent boast of Rev. Mr. 
 Sunday that at the age of nine, he held a man's place 
 in the harvest field and did a full day's work with the 
 rest of the hands. 
 
 With the outbreak of the civil war William Sun- 
 day, the evangelist's father, like so many other Iowa 
 patriots answered the early call for troops. Quoting 
 from the records of the United States Department of 
 War Adjutant General H. O. S. Heistand, says: 
 
 The records show that William Sunday was 
 enrolled August 14, 1862, at Des Moines, Iowa, 
 and was mustered into service September 19, 1862, 
 as a private in Company E, 23d Iowa Infantry 
 Volunteers, to serve three years, and that he died 
 of disease December 22, 1862, at Patterson, Mis- 
 souri. 
 
 Mr. Sunday never saw his father. On the ipth 
 of November, 1862 he was born, the third of three 
 boys. Before he was two months old he was an
 
 ORPHANED SON OF AN IOWA PATRIOT 29 
 
 orphan. The other children were Albert and Edward. 
 Just how much the evangelist values these things in 
 his estimate of life, is shown in one of his well known 
 sermons in which he says: 
 
 I have as much to be proud of as to lineage 
 as any one ; my great-grandfather was in the revolu- 
 tionary war, and my daughter is eligible to the 
 D. A. R. General U. S. Grant was a fourth cousin 
 of mine. My grandfather and he played together, 
 ate out of the same tin pans. When he was elected 
 president he wrote a letter to my grandfather ask- 
 ing him to go down to Washington for a three 
 weeks' visit. I've seen the letter. That don't get 
 me anything, though. 
 
 This grandfather was one of the guiding influ- 
 ences of the boy's life, and was possibly second to his 
 mother, to whom, in common with most great men, 
 he ascribes practically all that he is. The grandfather 
 was an orchardist, and also a worker in wood very 
 frequently referred to in Mr. Sunday's sermons, as 
 a maker of caskets. 
 
 How hard the first few years were, probably even 
 the evangelist does not know. The meager pension 
 which the government allowed was not sufficient for 
 the maintenance of a family of four and, accordingly, 
 at an early age the mother decided that she would 
 have to send the two younger boys to an orphan 
 asylum. Nothing could be more effective than the 
 evangelist's own description of the parting, which 
 he uses frequently in his sermons, and which seems, 
 naturally enough, to have made a very deep impres- 
 sion on his young mind.
 
 30 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 At Ames, Iowa, he says, we had to wait for 
 the train and we went to a little hotel and they 
 came about one o'clock and said : "Get ready for 
 the train." I looked into mother's face, and her 
 eyes were red, her hair was disheveled. I said : 
 "What's the matter mother?" All the time Ed and 
 I slept, Mother had been praying. 
 
 We went to the train; she put one arm about 
 me and the other about Ed and sobbed as if her 
 heart would break. People walked by and looked 
 at us, but they didn't say a word. Why? They 
 didn't know, and if they did, they wouldn't have 
 cared. Mother knew. She knew that for five years 
 she wouldn't see her boys. We got into the train 
 and said "Good-bye mother," as the train pulled out. 
 
 We reached Council Bluffs. It was cold and 
 we turned our little thin coats around our necks 
 and shivered. We saw a hotel and went up and 
 asked a lady for something to eat. She said : 
 "What's your name?" 
 
 "My name is Willie Sunday and this is my 
 brother Ed." 
 
 "Where are you going?" 
 
 "Going to the Soldiers' Orphans' home at 
 Glenwood," I said. 
 
 She wiped her tears and said : "My husband 
 was a soldier and never came back. He wouldn't 
 turn anyone away, and I wouldn't turn you boys 
 away." She threw her arms about us and said : 
 "Come on in." She gave us our breakfast and our 
 dinner, too. There wasn't any train going out on 
 the "Q" until afternoon. We played around the 
 freight yards. We saw a freight train standing 
 there, so we climbed into the caboose. 
 
 The conductor came along and said : 
 
 "Where is your money?" "Ain't got any." 
 
 "Where is your ticket ?" "Ain't got any ticket." 
 "You can't ride without money or tickets, I'll have 
 to put you off."
 
 ORPHANED SON OF AN IOWA PATRIOT 31 
 
 We commenced to cry. My brother handed 
 him a letter of introduction to the superintendent 
 of the orphans' home. The conductor read it, 
 handed it back as the tears rolled down his cheeks. 
 Then he said : "Just sit still boys. It won't cost 
 you a cent to ride on my train." 
 
 It's only 20 miles from Council Bluffs to Glen- 
 wood, and, as we rounded the curve, the conductor 
 said : "There it is on the hill." We went there and 
 stayed for years. 
 
 The institution at Glenwood was conducted by 
 the state and was subsequently used for other pur- 
 poses than an orphans' home. All the children were 
 transferred to the newer institution at Davenport. 
 F. J. Sessions, Superintendent of the Soldiers' Or- 
 phans' Home, at Davenport, says: 
 
 Howard E. and William A. Sunday were ad- 
 mitted to this institution by transfer from the 
 Glenwood, Iowa, Soldiers' Orphans' Home when 
 the latter was closed January 29, 1875. They were 
 admitted to the Glenwood institution September 25, 
 1874. Dismissed from this institution June 10, 1876. 
 The record says to go home, but place is not 
 located. 
 
 William A. Sunday, according to our record, 
 was born November 18, 1862. His father, William 
 Sunday, belonged to Company E, 23d Iowa In- 
 fantry. He died of disease near Pilot Mound, 
 Missouri, December 23, 1862. 
 
 S. W. Pierce, who was superintendent of the 
 Home when the Sunday boys were there, is still living, 
 an old man, at Davenport. His recollections, though 
 limited, are clear on the boyhood days of the evan- 
 gelist.
 
 32 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 He says : "He was always obedient, indus- 
 trious and active at work or at play. He was a 
 good student, and loved and respected by those 
 who had the care of and training of him." 
 
 The years before being sent to the orphans' 
 asylum were not without their value in their impres- 
 sions upon the future evangelist, nor does he fail to 
 make frequent references to some of them. An early 
 penchant for swimming and the disaster that followed 
 an unauthorized attempt to gratify the inclination, is 
 made the subject of a forceful illustration in one of 
 his sermons. He represents himself as saying: 
 
 "Ma, I want to go swimming." She said, 
 "No, Willie, it's baking day, and you must bring in 
 cobs and chips." We used to have an old dish pan 
 with holes in it, and I would fill it with cobs and 
 chips and bring them in. I went and got some, and 
 while I was at it I heard the fellows shouting up at 
 the swimming hole. I took the old pan in, then I 
 ducked. I went up and watched the other fellows 
 awhile, then I said to myself, "Oh, but it's hot !" 
 So I took off my clothes and went in and paddled 
 around on a sandbar and picked up mussel shells. 
 Before I knew it I stepped off into 10 feet of water. 
 I couldn't keep myself up and I went down and 
 got a mouthful of water. I felt that I was going 
 to drown. I had heard that when a man drowns 
 he thinks of all the mean things he has ever 
 done, and I know I thought of a lot of things 
 right there. I had heard that you would go down 
 three times, and that when you went down the third 
 time you would die. I came up once then went 
 down for the second time. Again I came up gasp- 
 ing and choking, then I went down for the third 
 time.
 
 ORPHANED SON OF AN IOWA PATRIOT 33 
 
 It happened that there was a man lying on the 
 bank just about asleep. I didn't know he was there. 
 When he heard them shouting out, ''Willie's drown- 
 ing!" he jumped up just in time to see me go down 
 for the last time. He went in after me and groped 
 around on the bottom and found me. I was un- 
 conscious when they took me out. They stood me 
 on my head and let some of the water run out of 
 me, then they laid me down and worked my arms 
 to start me to breathing again. They started to 
 carry me home, and I came to myself and said, 
 "I want to go to my mamma. Oh ! I'm so sick at 
 my stomach ! E-yah-ah !" and up came a lot of 
 water. Mother had missed me, and she was out 
 calling, "Wil-lie ! Wil-lie !" They took me in and 
 put me to bed, and mother put a plaster on me. 
 She ought to have put a plaster on me somewhere 
 else. Do you know that incident made such an im- 
 pression on me that I was a good boy for for I 
 reckon as much as two weeks. 
 
 Another familiar incident of these early days in 
 which his grandfather figures which he frequently 
 tells in another sermon indicates the activities of the 
 farm. He describes it as follows: 
 
 When I was a little boy my grandfather said 
 to me : "Willie, come on," and he took a ladder, 
 and beeswax, a big jack-knife, a saw and some 
 cloth, and we went into the valley. He leaned the 
 ladder to a sour crab-apple tree, climbed up and 
 sawed off some of the limbs, split them and shoved 
 in them some little pear sprouts as big as my finger 
 and twice as long, and around them he tied a 
 string and put in some beeswax. I said, "Grandpa, 
 what are you doing?" He said, "I'm grafting pear 
 sprouts into the sour crab." I said, "What will 
 grow crab-apples or pears?" He said, "Pears, I 
 3
 
 34 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 don't know that I'll ever live to eat the pear I 
 hope I may but I know you will." I lived to see 
 those sprouts which were no longer than my finger 
 grow as large as my limb and I climbed the tree 
 and picked and ate the pears. He introduced a 
 graft of another variety and that changed the nature 
 of the tree. 
 
 Shortly after he left the asylum young Sunday 
 came to Nevada, Iowa, where he was given a home 
 with Colonel John Scott, a veteran of the Union 
 army, who at one time served his state as lieutenant 
 governor. Colonel Scott was a breeder of Shetland 
 ponies, and the boy helped to care for them in return 
 for his board and clothes. 
 
 Charles H. Hall, mayor of Nevada, and one of 
 the many loyal supporters of the evangelist in that 
 town, is always glad to talk of the man who has 
 brought fame to their little place. In a letter he says : 
 
 Bill Sunday, in boyhood days, was no angel, 
 but was a good, average, energetic boy. He was 
 fond of all kinds of sports. He had a record of 
 running 100 yards in 10 seconds; a fine swimmer, 
 and could out-jump any of the other boys. Many 
 people here insist that the world has never pro- 
 duced as good a ball-player. His position was 
 center field. He was a sure batter and a good base- 
 runner. What was a one-base hit for others, was 
 a two-bagger for him. In a game at Marshalltown, 
 Iowa, Captain Anson, from Chicago, saw him work 
 and took him back with him to Chicago, where he 
 played on the Chicago team. 
 
 Billy liked the girls and was a favorite among 
 them. He was popular also with his boy associates. 
 He was fair-minded, and never stirred up strife. 
 He was never looking for trouble, but would fight
 
 ORPHANED SON OF AN IOWA PATRIOT 35 
 
 at the drop of the hat if imposed upon. He dis- 
 played no traits in youth of becoming the preacher 
 he now is. 
 
 Finally there is the judgment of his mother. 
 After more than 50 years acquaintance with the man 
 who is a mystery to so many thousands, Mrs. W. J. 
 Stowe gives a vivid word picture of the boyhood days 
 of the evangelist, coupled invariably with the loving 
 comments of a fond mother. 
 
 Whenever one speaks of her evangelist son her 
 face lights up with a smile and she invariably re- 
 marks : 
 
 "Willie is a good boy. He was always so." 
 If one continues to discuss the evangelist, his 
 mother is sure to tell of some of the amusing 
 incidents that happened during Willie's boyhood, 
 when but a little lad he ran free over his grand- 
 father's farm in Story county, Iowa. The farm 
 was located near Ames, not far from the agricul- 
 tural school of that name, and was owned by the 
 evangelist's grandfather, "Squire" J. E. Cory, who 
 was a typical pioneer of the Middle West. "Squire" 
 Cory, until a year before his death at the age of 
 72, never thought of climbing to the back of one of 
 his horses from a block, but instead he would grasp 
 the pommel and leap into the saddle in true 
 western fashion without touching the stirrup. 
 According to his mother, Billy was the pride of his 
 grandfather's heart and was taught many of his 
 boyish athletic tricks by him. When but a mere 
 baby the "Squire" would place the boy upon his 
 outstretched hand and raise him high in the air. 
 "Willie would just stand there as straight as an 
 arrow and never make a whimper," says his mother 
 with just a touch of pride in her voice when she 
 tells about it. "He was a great favorite with his 
 grandpa because he was such an active little chap."
 
 36 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Since the time the evangelist has been old 
 enough to walk he has been fond of dogs. His 
 mother tells of his favorite childhood pet, a big 
 shepherd named "Watch." 
 
 "I can remember when Willie used to go to 
 the pasture every evening for me and bring home 
 the cows," she says. "Seems that I can almost see 
 him now, coming down the lane astride of the cows, 
 whistling or singing, while Watch took care to see 
 that none of the cattle strayed from the herd. He 
 surely loved that dog and I don't hardly think that 
 he has forgotten his old playmate yet, although he 
 has had several such pets since. 
 
 "Yes, Willie was always a good boy to work. 
 Did you ask if he has always worked like he does 
 now? I guess he has. When just a boy he would 
 go after things pell-mell and it seemed that he 
 always had an extra supply of energy. Some might 
 call his methods nervousness but it appears to me 
 just the way he is made because he has been the 
 same ever since I can remember. 
 
 "I don't think Willie shall ever have what you 
 call a nervous breakdown. Even though he works 
 ever so hard it is just his fashion and I guess he 
 can stand it. He is built peculiarly, that is why 
 so many people do not understand him when they 
 meet or watch him. At times, I know he seems to 
 be snappy, but it is his style when he is busy and he 
 has no idea he is hurting the feelings of any one. 
 He was just the same when he was a boy. He 
 always put his whole soul into everything that he 
 did, whether it was work or play. I guess that is 
 what has helped to make him the man he is. 
 
 "Willie always liked to play games where he 
 could show his strength, for he was a strong 
 little lad. I can remember that many times before 
 he was ten years old he would go down to the 
 college where the boys were playing ball and get in 
 the game with them. I guess he was pretty good
 
 ORPHANED SON OF AN IOWA PATRIOT 37 
 
 at baseball even then. After his grandfather died 
 he and Ed Ed is his brother who lives out in 
 North Dakota went to school at Marshalltown. 
 My, but I missed my children so much. 
 
 Their father had died during the civil war 
 while serving in the 23d Iowa down south, and he 
 never got to see Willie. His name was Willie, too, 
 and we named the baby for him. His father had 
 always liked the name Ashley, so that is where 
 Willie got his middle name." 
 
 No greatness which ever comes to a man ever 
 prevents his being other than a boy in the sight of 
 his mother. Learned dissertations on the value of 
 Mr. Sunday's work; arguments about his theology; 
 questions about his methods fail to cast the light upon 
 his work and his character as thoroughly as the simple 
 details from the lips of his mother uttered when she 
 was well past 70.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE BOY'S STRUGGLE UPWARDS 
 
 The country school house Studies liked and disliked 
 Working for an education The education of travel 
 Brief career at Northwestern University Ordina- 
 tion as minister Degree of Doctor of Divinity Di- 
 versity of the man's knowledge. 
 
 39
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 6EORGE EBERS, in the preface to his great 
 novel "Homo Sum" adopts the old Latin 
 motto "Nothing That Is Human Is Foreign 
 To Me." Thus is described the curriculum of the 
 greatest university of the world life itself. It is 
 in this university that W. A. Sunday has acquired 
 his Ph. D. and L. L. D., and in that capacity he holds 
 fellowship with Abraham Lincoln, Dwight L. Moody, 
 William Lloyd Garrison, Guiseppe Garibaldi and the 
 many others whose lives shine as beacons throughout 
 the realm of history. Persistently the world's inquiry 
 of a man who has achieved is what was his educa- 
 tion, thinking to learn through that the route by which 
 he blazed his way to an eminence which makes men 
 marvel. If it were the way, and not the man, then 
 all who tread the path might hope to reach pre- 
 eminence. 
 
 History will not endorse this philosophy. It is 
 the individual, the aspiring soul, the endeavoring 
 mind which grasps each problem as it comes, and 
 solves it; which wrestles with each difficulty, and 
 throws it; which ultimately finds itself breathing 
 in the rarified air which God has ordained for the 
 elect of history. W. A. Sunday is authorized to 
 write himself, reverend, an ordained minister of the 
 Presbyterian church, and that fact alone would pre- 
 suppose a considerable academic career. This as- 
 
 41
 
 42 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 sumption, however, does violence to the fact. Few 
 men probably ever came to their ordination by a more 
 peculiar route than has the famous baseball evangelist. 
 The poverty of his youth and the early life in the 
 orphan asylums was not conducive to deep learning 
 or profound thinking, however intimately it might 
 acquaint him with the joys and griefs of life. The 
 country school house undoubtedly gave him his first 
 rudiments of knowledge. From his own lips there is 
 authority for the statement that he was in no ways 
 a remarkable student: 
 
 When I was a little boy out in Iowa, he says, 
 at the end of the term of school it was customary 
 for the teachers to give us little cards, with a hand 
 in one corner holding a scroll, and in that scroll was 
 a place to write the name. "Willie Sunday, good 
 boy." Willie Sunday never got hump-shouldered 
 lugging them home, I can tell you. I never car- 
 ried off the champion long-distance belt for verse 
 quoting, either. If you ever saw an American kid, 
 I was one. 
 
 Earlier than most boys, however, he became con- 
 vinced of the value of an education, and by work 
 and sacrifice, he made possible through his own 
 efforts what school training he received. It was in the 
 late seventies according to Mr. Hall, of Nevada, Iowa, 
 that he came to that town to take up his high school 
 studies, having prepared himself as best he might in 
 the country schools and at the orphanages. Mr. Hall, 
 is authority for the statement, that while he attended 
 high school for several years, he did not graduate. 
 It was while pursuing this course that he lived with
 
 THE BOY^S STRUGGLE UPWARDS 43 
 
 Colonel Scott, and by working for him earned the 
 privilege of going to school. 
 
 According to the evangelist, his choice of studies 
 ran to geography and history. "I was a dunce in 
 arithmetic," he says, "and grammer was not my long 
 suit, either." 
 
 One of the means which Sunday employed to be- 
 come self-supporting, was that of acting as janitor 
 in a school house. It was in this capacity that an 
 event took place which is frequently referred to by 
 the evangelist in his sermons: 
 
 I was working, as he tells it, in a school house 
 where I went to school when a boy out in Iowa. 
 I received the enormous sum of $25 per month for 
 sweeping out the building, carrying the coal, and 
 having the title of janitor. 
 
 One day I went up to the bank to get my 
 check cashed. Another fellow was standing beside 
 me at the cashier's window and we both shoved 
 our checks in at the same time. When I got outside 
 I looked at the roll of bills in my hand and dis- 
 covered that I had $40, just $15 more than my check 
 called for. As I was standing in the middle of 
 the sidewalk debating with myself what to do, along 
 came a friend of mine, who is one of the biggest 
 lawyers in Kansas City. I told him about the 
 extra money and he told me to keep it and nobody 
 would be the wiser. Well, I did, and when I was 
 converted years afterwards the first thing that came 
 to my mind was the $15. I went ahead for years 
 until finally one time I was down in Terre Haute 
 with Dr. Chapman. Every time I got down to pray, 
 God seemed to tap me on the shoulder and say, 
 "Remember the 15." 
 
 Well, one night I went up to my room in the 
 hotel and wrote a letter to that bank out in Iowa
 
 44 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 asking if the accounts at that time had come out 
 short, and explaining that it was Billy Sunday that 
 had taken the $15 and enclosed the money with 
 interest. 
 
 From an unfinished high school course to an 
 ordained minister is a far cry, however, and there was 
 many a pungent lesson in the school of life before 
 this first acknowledgment by the world of what he 
 was, could take place. It must not be forgotten that 
 one of the great elements of his success has been the 
 remarkable familiarity which he has with every phase 
 of work-a-day life. 
 
 In boyhood, a farmer; in youth, a care-taker of 
 animals, and apprenticed to a worker in wood; a 
 professional ball player before he was 20, he put 
 in the time between seasons in a variety of work 
 which kept him in proper form. One of these ex- 
 periences was that of fireman on what is now the 
 Chicago and Northwestern. As soon as he became 
 a recognized ball player, his travels naturally took 
 him over a considerable portion of the United States 
 and afforded him the privilege of becoming acquainted 
 with a great many varieties of people, and different 
 phases of life as these differentiated themselves in 
 the East and the West, and the North and the South. 
 
 His next effort at school work, however, relates 
 to his connection with the Northwestern University 
 where he took service in 1887-1888 in the capacity of 
 baseball coach. Dr. Nathan Wilbur Helm, principal, 
 Evanston Academy, says of the evangelist: 
 
 He is entered on our books as William Amos .. 
 Sunday, but Dr. Fisk says he is the same man.
 
 THE BOY'S STRUGGLE UPWARDS 45 
 
 He came to us as baseball coach and was here only 
 for the third term of the year 1887-88. He took 
 work here called "Rhetorical Exercises," which in- 
 cluded elocution. It is impossible to tell who his 
 teacher was, because this was rather a general 
 public exercise in which students were required to 
 take part regularly, but were not under the charge 
 of any one teacher. 
 
 I regret that Mr. Sunday was not here longer 
 as a regular student, but according to our records, 
 and Dr. Fisk's statement, the facts above given 
 apply to his sojourn here. However, I feel pleased 
 that he was here even in that capacity. 
 
 Dr. Fisk says that Mr. Sunday had been 
 converted at that time, but was not actively in 
 religious work. His influence on the ball field was 
 excellent, and he stopped the practice of swearing, 
 which had gotten to be somewhat of a habit with a 
 number of boys on the team. 
 
 More baseball, then his Young Men's Christian 
 Association work, and finally his excursion into the 
 evangelical field in company with other men whose 
 reputation he has since equaled or distanced, and 
 during all of which period he was a careful student 
 not only of the Bible, but of current literature and 
 everything of interest which came his way, and then 
 he was ready for the recognition of his service to the 
 church in general. 
 
 Previous to his ordination Mr. Sunday had been 
 recognized as an elder in the Jefferson Park Presby- 
 terian church, which he had joined shortly after his 
 marriage to Helen M. Thompson. By August i, 1898, 
 he had been licensed to preach the gospel, but it was 
 not until 1903 that he come up for ordination. In 
 view of the controversies which have appeared in
 
 46 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 some sections of the secular press, it seems expedient 
 to quote directly from the records of the Chicago 
 Presbytery, dated April 13, 1903. This shows : 
 
 The Committee on Education, through Rev. 
 W. S. Plumer Bryan, chairman, so recommending, 
 Mr. William A. Sunday, a licentiate of Presbytery, 
 desiring to enter the ministery, was examined for 
 ordination. His examiantion being sustained, it 
 was ordered that when Presbytery adjourn it be to 
 meet Wednesday, April 15, in Jefferson Park church, 
 for the purpose of his ordination, that Rev. J. 
 Wilbur Chapman, of Presbytery of New York, be 
 requested to preach the sermon, the Moderator, 
 Rev. Joseph A. Vance, to preside, propound con- 
 stitutional questions and offer ordaining prayer, 
 and Rev. Alexander Patterson to give the charge 
 to the evangelist. 
 
 Presbytery met pursuant to above adjourn- 
 ment, in Jefferson Park church, April 15, 8 p. m., 
 and was opened with prayer. Present: Ministers, 
 Joseph A. Vance, Moderator; Frank Dewitt Tal- 
 madge, Alexander Patterson ; Elder J. Henry 
 Bentz, corresponding member; J. Wilbur Chapman, 
 President, New York. Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman 
 preached sermon. Rev. J. A. Vance propounded 
 constitutional questions and offered prayer of or- 
 dination. Rev. Alexander Patterson gave charge 
 to evangelist. Adjourned with benediction by the 
 newly ordained minister, Rev. W. A. Sunday. 
 
 Attest, James Frothingham, Stated Clerk, 
 Chicago Presbytery. 
 
 Mr. Sunday has never been particular about be- 
 ing called Reverend. Plain "Bill" or "Billy" is the 
 appellation which seems to be dearest to his heart. 
 Still less is he inclined to use the title Doctor of 
 Divinity, which is the last honor which has been con- 
 ferred upon him in academic circles. He holds this
 
 THE BOY'S STRUGGLE UPWARDS 47 
 
 degree from Westminster College at New Wilmington, 
 Pa. Dr. Robert McWatty Russell, president of the 
 college, reports that Westminster College conferred 
 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity upon Mr. 
 Sunday at the commencement exercises June 13, 1912. 
 Dr. Russell says: 
 
 Mr. Sunday was not able to be present, being 
 engaged in evangelistic services at Beaver Falls, so 
 the degree was conferred in absentia. 
 
 We count it to the honor of Westminster 
 that she did this thing. Dr. Sunday knows his 
 Bible, which is the true body of divinity in theolog- 
 ical lore. Mr. Sunday has devoted his life to the 
 supreme task of world evangelization for which 
 the Bible is the great charter. He is, therefore, 
 both in scholarship and practical effort entitled to 
 the degree. Just as a Doctor of Medicine is sup- 
 posed to know the Science of Medicine and practice 
 the art of healing, so a Doctor of Divinity who 
 knows the truth about God and practices the art of 
 saving is entitled to the degree. In many institu- 
 tions it is customary to bestow the honorary 
 degree of Doctor of Divinity upon those who are 
 men noted for their knowledge of "the traditions 
 of the scribes and Pharisees" than for knowledge 
 and practical use of the Bible itself. 
 
 Patched and disjointed as are these efforts at 
 acquiring the knowledge which to many men comes 
 through channels so simple and natural that they are 
 never conscious of them, they afford no real index to 
 the attainment or the ability of the man. Agriculture 
 he knows as well as most farmers; medicine and law 
 he can discuss freely with professionals. Even those 
 preachers who find that he is not profound theolog- 
 ically, do not say that he is not sound. Art and
 
 48 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 science he knows as well as the average amateur. 
 The stars are not unknown to him. A colossal capac- 
 ity for figures is staggering to those who become lost 
 even in the ordinary intricacies of bookkeeping. His 
 reading has been diversified and extremely wide- 
 spread. He has a keen knowledge of the thing that 
 will appeal to an audience, and a selective spirit which 
 enables him to judge almost intuitively the story, the 
 episode or the comparison which will most readily 
 appeal to his hearers. 
 
 During the course of his campaigns he addresses 
 in one day the society women of the city, and in the 
 same half day the convicts of the penitentiary. He 
 dines with the governor of the state, addresses the 
 legislature, speaks to shopmen in large factories and 
 is ready within a few minutes to launch upon a pro- 
 found exposition of some Bible theme. 
 
 It is almost impossible to hit upon a subject for 
 conversation where he is not better informed than the 
 average person and at least able to discuss intelligently 
 with those who have specialized in that line. In this 
 respect his mind shows much in common with that 
 of the great Napoleon whose versatility and adapta- 
 bility were the marvel of his generation. A phenom- 
 enal memory has been of material assistance in the 
 proper use of his diversified knowledge. He calls by 
 name readily men and women whom he has not seen 
 for years, and then only for a brief period. He quotes 
 verbatim whole passages not only of the Scriptures 
 but of the English classics, and reproduces, with ac- 
 curacy, those most baffling compilation of statistics, 
 the government reports, which deal with labor, agri- 
 culture, commerce and the traffic of the world.
 
 - 
 
 f. 
 c 
 
 S! 
 
 o
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A STAR OF THE WHITE SOX 
 
 Philosophy of the national game Billy Sunday's in- 
 terest in baseball Sunday's discovery by "Pop" An- 
 son Reminiscences from one who knew Sunday on 
 the team Sunday's own version The race with 
 Arlie Latham "Go" with H. U. Johnson Still an 
 authority on baseball A veteran's opinion. 
 
 49
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 IN defense of many of the methods of modern 
 evangelism it is often urged that when the 
 Savior chose his disciples he called Peter from 
 the fish nets, and Paul from his job as tent maker. 
 In a word, those who were chosen to be messengers 
 of the new salvation were of the people, and they 
 preached primarily to the people. In varying degrees 
 this has been true of all great evangelists who have 
 achieved an acceptable ranking in history. 
 
 It is true Luther was equipped with the academic 
 training of the clergy of his time, but his life, his 
 habits and his language were essentially those of the 
 common people. The German into which he trans- 
 lated the Holy Writ, is the German of the masses, 
 and on his authority alone against all lexicographers, 
 there are German expressions sanctioned which do not 
 conform to the ordinary usages of good German dic- 
 tion. Modern evangelism has numerous, if not such 
 marked, examples of the same truth. 
 
 Nor do these men ever shake off the vernacular 
 of their early calling and association. Human nature 
 is so constituted that that which smacks of the soil, 
 is considered to smack of sincerity. What there is 
 about studious and philosophical preparation that robs 
 the masses of confidence in the man, who uses it, it 
 might be hard to explain. The fact that such a seem- 
 
 51
 
 52 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 ing prejudice exists is too well known to any who 
 have occasion to deal with the masses habitually. 
 
 There is no question but that baseball is the great 
 American game. Its appeal is to thousands where the 
 appeal of any other sport is to hundreds. It is dis- 
 tinctively American. Its vigorous, if unschooled ex- 
 ertions typify the American spirit, restless of all con- 
 trol. Full of the element of contest, rapid in its action, 
 exhilarating in its effect, essentially a contest in every 
 aspect, the game is a reflex of the national life of to- 
 day. 
 
 Whether or not an All Wise Providence gave 
 thought to this when He constituted W. A. Sunday, 
 His messenger, or whether mere natural causes suffi- 
 ciently account for the bounding popularity of the 
 evangelist, who came from the ranks of the most 
 popular sport in America, is a matter for speculation, 
 the outcome of which is of no particular importance. 
 Whether a coincidence or a cause leading to an effect, 
 is immaterial. The facts are that in stepping from 
 a baseball team to the rostrum of a tabernacle Mr. 
 Sunday achieved a feat without parallel in modern 
 history, but quite in keeping with the best traditions 
 of the calling he espouses. 
 
 It is not of record that the evangelist cherished 
 any youthful ambition to shine upon the baseball field. 
 Rather it is probable that baseball meant to him what 
 it means to most healthy boys, a pleasant sport and an 
 agreeable means by which they may express their 
 energy. A hardy and lithe form inherited from 
 generations of those who had tilled the soil, coupled 
 with an indomitable desire to excel in whatever line 
 pf endeavor he entered are sufficient grounds upon
 
 A STAR OF THE WHITE SOX 53 
 
 which to explain the remarkable career which he en- 
 joyed in his early youth. His history is peculiar only 
 in that he had come to extraordinary fame in his 
 baseball work before he took up what has proved to 
 be his life activity. 
 
 The discovery of Billy Sunday on a back lot in 
 Marshalltown, Iowa, by A. C. Anson, popularly known 
 as "Captain" Anson, or "Pop" Anson, is baseball tradi- 
 tion. It has been the remark of sporting editors that 
 Billy Sunday never worked in a "brush" league, but 
 stepped full fledged, a star, into the arena of the 
 national game when he became a member of the White 
 Sox team in 1883. Sunday remained with the Chicago 
 organization for five years, and for all that time head- 
 ing the batting order he played either right or center 
 field. From, Chicago at the end of five years Sunday 
 went to Pittsburgh, and later on to Philadelphia. 
 
 More than 20 years of active work in promulgat- 
 ing the gospel has not cooled the ardor of his en- 
 thusiasm for the national game, nor abated one jot 
 or tittle the friendship he feels for the men who are 
 still keeping it before the public, or for the older 
 fellows who have had to get out of the way of the 
 younger generation. Baseball and baseball lingo are 
 a concomitant part and attractive feature of many of 
 his best known sermons. A hearty welcome and an 
 opportunity for a chat is always afforded those who 
 come to discuss old times, or the changes in the game 
 as it is played today. 
 
 A man whose experience would fill volumes and 
 whose career is brilliant with many exceptional 
 achievements in other lines, the magazines still turn 
 to him for articles on baseball, and he is regularly
 
 54 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 quoted as an authority on many phases of the subject. 
 Everywhere that Mr. Sunday goes in the furtherance 
 of his evangelical campaigns, he meets with many who 
 recall his White Sox days and not infrequently these 
 form a nucleus of the subsequent crowds which rally 
 to his support. As a unit these men insist that Sunday 
 was a great baseball player. Most pertinent to quote, 
 however, is his brother-in-law, Wm. J. Thompson, 
 who as a boy traveled with the Chicago team, and 
 who took more than a boy's interest in the courtship 
 between Mr. Sunday and Miss Thompson, which was 
 in progress at the time. Mr. Thompson in a recent 
 interview thus outlined his brother-in-law's baseball 
 career : 
 
 He certainly was a punk hitter, but on the 
 bases he was, by all odds, the fastest man in the 
 big league. Did you know that Billy was the first 
 man in this country to run a 100 yards in 10 
 seconds flat? I saw him do it. At the time it was 
 considered a marvelous thing and Billy got national 
 prominence as a result. Everybody on the team 
 always worked to get Billy on the bases because 
 they knew that if he once got to first he was almost 
 certain to score. 
 
 As a base-stealer Billy didn't have a rival. 
 Just as Ty Cobb is the terror to present-day catchers, 
 Billy was the terror in his day. I've seen him many 
 a time start to slide into the bases when he would 
 be 20 feet away, and nine times out of ten he'd 
 make it. All the spectators would see would be a 
 cloud of dust. Billy was such a twister that it was 
 almost impossible for a baseman to get the ball on 
 him. 
 
 Billy played in the field and, believed me, he 
 could cover a lot of ground, too. In those days 
 Billy was the same good fellow that he is today,
 
 A STAR OF THE WHITE SOX 55 
 
 only he hadn't got religion. He was a favorite 
 with everybody on the club, and especially with the 
 fans. He was a great "kidder," too, and no matter 
 what they hurled at him from the stands, he came 
 right back at 'em with a still hotter one. Maybe 
 you've noticed he's some talker today. 
 
 Mr. Sunday's own version of his work and his 
 success in it does not materially differ from that of 
 Mr. Thompson: 
 
 1 never was an extra heavy batter, he says, 
 but I used to strike around 250 or 300 in the 
 batting percentage. Where I excelled was in speed, 
 and I always led the batting order, because I was 
 a dangerous man to have on bases with heavy 
 batters behind me. 
 
 Of Mr. Sunday's agility, there seems to be no 
 shadow of a doubt. Current sporting writers compare 
 him to Ty Cobb and others in the limelight at the 
 present moment. He is given credit for establishing 
 the mark of encircling the bases from a standing start 
 in 14 seconds, an achievement calculated to try the 
 wind and limb of the most perfect athlete. One base- 
 ball writer says: 
 
 He probably caused more wide throws than 
 any other player the game has ever known, because 
 of his specialty of "going down to first" like a 
 streak of greased electricity. When he hit the ball, 
 infielders yelled, "Hurry it up!" The result was 
 that they often threw 'em away. He was ac- 
 knowledged champion sprinter of the National 
 League. This led to a match race once with Arlie 
 Latham, who held like honors in the American. 
 Billy won by 15 feet and with $75,000 of Chicago 
 money up on the race.
 
 56 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 More than the contest with speed, however, in 
 this particular instance, was a contest that went on 
 within the breast of the young baseball star, who at 
 the time had been recently converted. At a luncheon 
 tendered to him in one of the clubs at Columbus, Mr. 
 Sunday gave his own version of the race with Arlie 
 Latham : 
 
 "When I played ball I could outrun any man 
 in the National League," he said. Arlie Latham 
 could do the same in the American League, so we 
 fixed it up to have a race one Sunday afternoon. 
 But in the meantime I got converted. I went to 
 Cap Anson and said : "Cap, I can't do it. I'm 
 converted and I can't run that race on Sunday." 
 Cap said to me, "Bill, don't show the white 
 feather. We've got $12,000 bet on you and all the 
 boys have bet their last cent on you. If you don't 
 win that race they'll have to eat snowballs next 
 winter. You go down to St. Louis and run that 
 race and fix it up with God afterwards." 
 
 Well, I ran the race and I beat Latham by 15 
 feet and came home with my pockets full of money. 
 I then went before the presbytery and told 'em 
 all and stuck to the church, and after eight years 
 they ordained me as a minister. And then the 
 other day Westminster gave me an honorary "D. D." 
 Say, that's going some for an old sport that's never 
 seen the inside of a college, isn't it? 
 
 Another speed contest which attracted national 
 attention at the time was an unexpected "go" with 
 H. U. Johnson, a man very well known in his day. 
 As the South Bend Tribune tells it: 
 
 In the spring of 1887, without any special 
 training or previous experience in that specific
 
 Too HOT TO HANDLE.
 
 A STAR OF THE WHITE SOX 57 
 
 athletic line, without practice in quick-starting and 
 without words of encouragement from friends to 
 spur him on, Sunday came within an ace of lowering 
 the colors of H. U. Johnson, who at that time was 
 heralded as the fastest runner of the day. 
 
 Sunday accepted a challenge, left the diamond 
 for the day, donned a track suit, dug his spikes 
 into the sands of the track at Chicago beach, on 
 Lake Michigan, and raced Johnson, who was in the 
 pink of condition, and who had just returned from 
 capturing the Sheffield championship in England. 
 
 We started off like a shot, said Sunday while 
 in a reminiscent mood the other day. I was used 
 to speedy work on the diamond but not on a 
 straight track. I led Johnson for 80 yards, and 
 then he began to crawl up on me. Everything 
 blurred before me. The crowd seemed to swim 
 before my eyes as I ran, but I could see the finish 
 line getting nearer and nearer. The distance was 
 100 yards. Johnson and I neared the line neck- 
 and-neck. He ran lower than I did and breasted 
 the tape just six inches ahead of me and won. 
 
 The timers had six watches on us. Three 
 caught us at 10 seconds flat and three at 9 4/5 
 seconds. After the race Johnson turned, grasped 
 my hand and told me that in two weeks' time he 
 could train me so that I could beat him by five feet 
 with but a little training. I said "nothing doing," 
 though, and went back to the diamond and played. 
 
 Quoting from another article: 
 
 Sunday probably has the longest lower leg, 
 that is, from the knee to the foot, of any man ever 
 seen in this city. It has powerful bulging muscles 
 near the knee, tapering down to actual thinness near 
 the ankle, a runner's foot in every particular. 
 
 At Steubenville, when the national championships 
 were drawing to a crisis, Sunday could not refrain
 
 58 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 from making a comparison with the ball players of 
 his day. The conversation is typical, in that it dis- 
 plays the loyalty of the man, both to his past associates 
 and to the calling in which he first won recognition. 
 The interview says: 
 
 You can talk about Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, 
 Lajoie, and all the others, but there isn't a man 
 that has ever come up to Cap Anson as a batter, 
 says Evangelist Billy Sunday. Cap could swing on 
 that ball my, how he could swing ! and you could 
 never tell where he would send it. He could give a 
 terrific swat and there isn't a batter today that can 
 surpass him. 
 
 And as to pitchers, John Clarkson topped them 
 all. John was the only man I ever saw who would 
 throw overhanded and make the ball go down and 
 then up. He used to wear his finger nails down to 
 the quick in throwing that ball and would have his 
 fingers and the ball covered with blood. 
 
 And some of you fellows talk about the 
 "squeeze play" and other new plays of the diamond. 
 Bah ! We used to make those same plays 25 years 
 ago, only we didn't have any fancy names for them. 
 Four times that I know of I scored from second 
 base on an infield hit. 
 
 No, sir. We didn't wear any gloves in those 
 days. You say: "Oh, the ball must have been 
 softer." Let me tell you it was hard then as it is 
 today and they used to shoot 'em over just as 
 swiftly, too. My, how Clarkson, McCormick, 
 "Long" John Whitney, Amos Rusie, Charles Rad- 
 bourne and those fellows could send the ball over 
 the plate. 
 
 But you know in those days fouls did not 
 count as strikes. Mike Kelley was really respon- 
 sible for the present rule. Mike would stand up at 
 the plate and sometimes foul off 20 balls before he
 
 A STAR OF THE WHITE SOX 59 
 
 would hit safely. It became an art and he'd get 
 the pitcher tired. He would stand at the plate all 
 day if they hadn't made the new rule on foul. 
 
 It was during his career as a baseball player that 
 Mr. Sunday was converted at the Pacific Garden Mis- 
 sion in Chicago, under the ministration of Harry Mon- 
 roe. Naturally this event made a decided change in 
 his life, and while, by his own confession, he was 
 somewhat given to excesses in his earlier day, it is 
 interesting to know that in a general way his character 
 and his habits were of a good order. He was esteemed 
 by all who knew him. That their standards of life 
 were not the standards of leaders in ethical thought 
 is a criticism of present-day society, and not of the 
 man. In this connection it is worth while to quote 
 Mr. Frank C. Richter, editor of Sporting Life, 
 probably the best known publication of its class in this 
 country. Mr. Richter says: 
 
 I never had the pleasure of personal acquaint- 
 ance with Mr. Sunday, and therefore cannot speak 
 with the authority of intimate knowledge of his 
 personality or character. But I never heard any- 
 thing but good of him from those who knew him 
 or associated with him. He stood high with his 
 teammates, and that is a splendid credential in my 
 opinion, as no hypocrite could associate long with 
 ball players without being unmasked and, per con- 
 sequence, being treated with merited contempt, and 
 perhaps let severely alone by a class never chary in 
 expression of their views of men and things and 
 endowed with little reverence, as a rule.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE MEMORABLE NIGHT IN VAN BUREN 
 STREET 
 
 Religious antecedents of the evangelist An emotional 
 nature Baseball and religion Mr. Sunday's own 
 story of his conversion at Pacific Garden Mission in 
 Chicago The resolutions that followed. 
 
 61
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 CHE great transformations in the lives of men 
 conspicuous in the affairs of the world are 
 always a subject of exceptional interest. Each 
 man looks at them in the light of his own philosophy 
 of living. Few men have come to great prominence 
 in the world without having some date or event set out 
 that transcended with vividness from the rest of their 
 lives. Particularly is this true of the great men in 
 the world of religion. Occasionally one will find a 
 great divine who says of himself : "I do not remember 
 when I was converted." Even these rare incidents 
 are usually found in families which for generations 
 have led not only godly lives, but lives actively de- 
 voted to the advancement of religious work. 
 
 No such lack of certainty concerns the life of 
 Mr. Sunday. A definite Sunday night in the fall of 
 1887 stands out vividly in his recollections over all 
 the other nights of his life. That event has been the 
 subject of one of the greatest sermons the evangelist 
 ever delivers. It has been heard in more than 100 
 cities, twice that number of newspapers have printed 
 it, and yet it thrills each time with a sense of newness 
 and truth that makes a profound impression on all 
 who sit beneath its spell. 
 
 Mr. Sunday's mother was a Methodist. As a 
 boy he had been schooled in the usages of that church. 
 Students of cause and effect may like to ascribe the 
 
 63
 
 64 REV. 1ULLY SUNDAY 
 
 remarkable transformation in life which took place 
 at the age of 24 as based upon this antecedent. 
 There is none who can deny them the right to that 
 opinion, although it will not be the one generally ac- 
 cepted. "Mr. Sunday's mother was a Corey," writes 
 a friend of the family, "and emotionalism was a prom- 
 inent trait in their make-up." In this fact others will 
 find a reason for what transpired on the memorable 
 night in Van Buren street, Chicago, Illinois. But here 
 again no sufficient reason is forthcoming to account 
 exactly for what took place when it did. No one 
 who examines the facts from without can hope to 
 have the knowledge that comes from a survey within. 
 No philosophical disputation could add any truth to 
 the statement as the evangelist himself has outlined 
 it, and certainly none could be put so forcefully. 
 
 Mr. Sunday stands today an ordained minister 
 of the Presbyterian church, and emotionalism is not 
 essentially a Presbyterian trait. True to the earliest 
 influences of his home, he exemplifies the benefit of 
 his mother's church, the foundation of which were 
 laid in evangelism. At the time of his conversion. 
 Mr. Sunday had been a baseball player of national 
 reputation for four years ; he was in receipt of a salary 
 which at the time was considered very large. As life 
 goes, for men of that class, success and whatever hap- 
 piness that is supposed to bring with it was already 
 his. Nothing that life in future years has brought 
 him has ever caused him to deprecate his earlier call- 
 ing and his associates. Without being blinded to their 
 faults, he has always had for them the greatest charity. 
 
 The life of a baseball player is in no sense cal- 
 culated to induce religious reflection. Its practices
 
 BILLY SUNDAY IN THE Box.
 
 MEMORABLE NIGHT IN VAN BUREN STREET 65 
 
 are not consistent with any particular church life. It 
 is not to be presumed, therefore, that the conversion 
 of the baseball player Billy Sunday was predi- 
 cated upon his previous religious activities other than 
 that of his very early home days. Hundreds of thou- 
 sands of persons have heard him tell the story, and 
 dozens of men have attempted to write it, but none 
 have achieved an approximation of success when he 
 has departed in any way from a verbatim report. As 
 Mr. Sunday tells the story: 
 
 Twenty-six years ago I walked down a street 
 in Chicago in company with some ball players who 
 were famous in this world some of them are dead 
 now and we went into a saloon. It was Sunday 
 afternoon and we got tanked up, and then went and 
 sat down on a corner. I never go by that place but 
 I pray. It is Van Buren street, Chicago. 
 
 As I said, we walked on down the street to the 
 corner. It was a vacant lot at that time. We sat 
 down on the curbing. Across the street a company 
 of men and women were playing on instruments 
 horns, flutes and slide trombones and the others 
 were singing the gospel hymns that I used to hear 
 my mother sing back in. the log cabin in Iowa, 
 and back in the old church where I used to go to 
 Sunday school. 
 
 And God painted on the canvas of my memory 
 a vivid picture of the scenes of other days and other 
 faces. Many have long since turned to dust. I 
 sobbed and sobbed and a young man stepped out 
 and said : "We are going down to the Pacific Gar- 
 den Mission; won't you come down to the mission? 
 I am sure you will enjoy it. You can hear drunk- 
 ards tell how they have been saved and girls tell 
 how they have been saved from the red light 
 district." 
 
 H5
 
 66 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 I arose and said to the boys : "I'm through. 
 We've come to the parting of the ways," and I 
 turned my back on them. Some of them laughed 
 and some of them mocked me ; one of them gave 
 me encouragement; others never said a word. 
 
 Twenty-six years ago I turned and left that 
 little group on the corner of State and Madison 
 streets, walked to the little mission, went on my 
 knees and staggered out of sin and into the arms 
 of the Savior. 
 
 I went over to the West Side of Chicago 
 where I was keeping company with a girl, now my 
 wife, Nell. I married Nell. She was a Presby- 
 terian, so I am a Presbyterian. Had she been a 
 Catholic I would have been a Catholic because I 
 was hot on the trail of Nell. 
 
 The next day I had to go out to the ball park 
 and practice. Every morning at 10 o'clock we had 
 to be out there and practice. I never slept that 
 night. I was afraid of the horse-laugh that gang 
 would give me because I had taken my stand for 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 I walked down to the old ball grounds. I 
 will never forget it. I slipped my key into the 
 wicket gate, and the first man to meet me after I 
 got inside was Mike Kelley. 
 
 Up came Mike Kelley. He said : "Bill, I'm 
 proud of you. Religion is not my long suit, but I'll 
 help you all I can." Up came Anson, Pfeffer, 
 Clarkson, Flint, Jimmy McCormick, Burns, William- 
 son and Dalrymple. There wasn't a fellow in that 
 gang who knocked ; every fellow had a word of 
 encouragement for me. 
 
 That afternoon we played the old Detroit club. 
 We were neck-and-neck for the championship. 
 That club had Thompson, Richardson, Rowe, Dun- 
 lap, Hanlon and Bennett, and they could play ball. 
 
 I was playing right-field and John G. Clarkson 
 was pitching. He was as fine a pitcher as ever 
 crawled into a uniform. There are some pitchers
 
 MEMORABLE NIGHT IN VAN BUREN STREET 67 
 
 today O'Toole, Bender, Wood, Mathewson, John- 
 son, Marquard, but I do not believe any one of them 
 stood in the class with Clarkson. 
 
 We had two men out and they had a man on 
 second and one on third, and Bennett, their old 
 catcher, was at the bat. Charley had three balls and 
 two strikes on him. Charley couldn't hit a high 
 ball I don't mean a Scotch highball but he could 
 kill them when they went about his knee. 
 
 I hollered to Clarkson and said : "One more 
 and we got 'em." 
 
 You know every pitcher digs a hole in the 
 ground where he puts his foot when he is pitching. 
 John stuck his foot in the hole and he went clear 
 to the ground. Oh, he could make them dance. 
 He could throw overhanded and the ball would go 
 down and up like that. He is the only man on 
 earth I have seen do that. That ball would go by 
 so fast that a thermometer would drop two degrees. 
 John went clear down, and as he went to throw the 
 ball his right foot slipped and the ball went low 
 instead of high. I saw Charley swing hard and 
 heard the bat hit the ball with a terrific blow. 
 Bennett had smashed the ball on the nose. I saw 
 the ball rise in the air and knew it was going clear 
 over my head. I could judge within 10 feet of 
 where the ball would light. I turned my back to 
 the ball and ran. 
 
 The field was crowded with people and I 
 yelled : "Stand back !" and that crowd opened like 
 the Red Sea opened for the rod of Moses. I ran on, 
 and as I ran I made a prayer ; it wasn't theological, 
 either, I tell you that. I said : "God, if you ever 
 helped mortal man, help me get that ball, and yu 
 haven't very much time to make up your mind, 
 either." I ran and jumped over the bench and 
 stopped. I thought I was close enough to catch it. 
 I looked back and saw it going over my head, and 
 I jumped and shoved my left hand out and the ball 
 hit it and stuck. At the rate I was going, the mo-
 
 68 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 mentum carried me on and I fell under the feet 
 of a team of horses. I jumped up with the ball in 
 my hand. Up came Tom Johnson. He was after- 
 wards mayor of Cleveland. "Here is $10, Bill ; buy 
 yourself the best hat in Chicago. That catch won 
 me $1500. Tomorrow go and buy yourself the best 
 suit of clothes you can find in Chicago." 
 
 An old Methodist minister said to me a few 
 years ago : "Why, William, you didn't take the $10, 
 did you?" I said, "You bet I did." 
 
 Listen ! Mike Kelley was sold to Boston for 
 $10,000. He came up to me and showed me a check 
 for $5,000. John L. Sullivan, the champion fighter, 
 went around with a subscription paper and the 
 boys raised over $12,000 to buy Mike a house. They 
 gave Mike a deed to the house and they had $1,500 
 left and gave him a certificate of deposit for that. 
 His salary for playing with Boston was $4,700 a 
 year. At the end of that season Mike had spent the 
 $5,000 purchase price and the $5,000 he received as 
 salary and the $1,500 they gave him and had a 
 mortgage on the house. And when he died in 
 Pennsylvania they went around with a subscription 
 to get money enough to put him in the ground. 
 Mike sat there on the corner with me 26 years ago 
 when I said : "Good-bye, boys, I'm through." 
 
 A. G. Spalding signed up a team to go around 
 the world. I was the first man he asked to sign a 
 contract and Capt. Anson was the second. I was 
 sliding to second base one day. I always slid head 
 first and I hit a stone and cut a ligament loose in 
 my knee. I got a doctor and had my leg fixed up, 
 and he said to me: "William, if you don't go on 
 that trip I will give you a good leg." I obeyed 
 and I have as good a leg today as I ever had. They 
 offered to wait for me at Honolulu and Australia. 
 Spalding said : "Meet us in England and play with 
 us through England, Scotland and Wales." I did 
 not go.
 
 MEMORABLE NIGHT IN VAN BUREN STREET 69 
 
 Ed. Williamson, our old shortstop, was a 
 fellow weighing 225 pounds, and a more active 
 man you never saw. He went with them, and 
 while they were on the ship crossing the English 
 Channel a storm arose. The captain thought the 
 ship would go down. Then he dropped on his knees 
 and promised God to be true and God spoke and 
 the waves were still. They came back to the United 
 States and Ed. came back to Chicago and started 
 a saloon on Dearborn street. I would go there 
 giving tickets for the Y. M. C. A. meetings and 
 would talk with him, and he would cry like a baby. 
 I would get down and pray for him. When he died 
 they put him on the table and cut him open and 
 took out his liver. It was so big it would not go 
 in a candy bucket. Ed Williamson sat there on the 
 street corner with me 26 years ago when I said 
 Good-bye boys, I'm through. 
 
 Frank Flint, our old catcher, who caught for 
 19 years, drew $3,200 a year on an average. He 
 caught before they had chest protectors and masks 
 and gloves. He caught bare-handed. Every bone 
 in the ball of his hand was broken. You never saw 
 a hand like Frank had. Every bone in his face was 
 broken and his nose and cheekbones, and the 
 shoulder and ribs had all been broken. 
 
 I've seen old Frank Flint sleeping on a table 
 in a stale beer joint and I've turned my pockets 
 inside out and said : "You're welcome to it, old 
 pal." He drank on and on, and one day in winter 
 he staggered out of a stale beer joint and stood on a 
 corner and was seized with a fit of coughing. The 
 blood streamed out of his nose, his mouth and his 
 eyes. Down the street came a woman. She took 
 one look and said: "My God, is it you, Frank?" 
 and the old love came back. 
 
 She called two policemen and a cab and started 
 with him to her boarding house. They broke all 
 speed regulations. She called five of the best 
 physicians and they listened to the beating of his
 
 70 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 heart one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, 
 nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and the 
 doctor said: "He will be dead in about four 
 hours." She said : "Frank, the end is near." And 
 he said: "Send for Bill." 
 
 They telephoned me and I came. When I 
 reached his bedside he said to me : "There's noth- 
 ing in the life of years ago I care for now. I can 
 hear the grandstand hiss when I strike out. I can 
 hear the bleachers cheer when I make a hit that wins 
 the game; but this is nothing that can help me 
 out now, and if the Umpire calls me out now, 
 won't you say a few words over me, Bill?" 
 
 He struggled as he had years ago on the 
 diamond when he tried to reach home but the great 
 Umpire of the Universe yelled : "You're out." And 
 the great gladiator of the diamond was no more. 
 Frank Flint sat on the street corner drunk with 
 me 26 years ago in Chicago, when I said, "I'll bid 
 you good-bye, boys, I'm going to Jesus." Say, men, 
 did I win the game of life or did they? 
 
 Of the sincerity and the persistence of the change 
 of heart which took place at the Pacific Garden Mis- 
 sion in Van Buren street, there has been no reason to 
 question in the more than one-quarter century that has 
 transpired since then. The event marked the turning 
 point in the man's career. Not immediately did he 
 give up the only calling which at the time afforded him 
 a means of livelihood ; but at once he began to plan 
 for that change which other subsequent years of 
 sacrifice led ultimately to his present pre-eminence in 
 the evangelical field. 
 
 The Pacific Garden Mission, famous for other no- 
 table conversions, among them that of Melvin E. Trot- 
 ter, the greatest home mission worker in America, still 
 stands, and the veteran Harry Monroe is in charge,
 
 MEMORABLE NIGHT IN VAN BUREN STREET 71 
 
 as he was upon that night when there came to Mr. 
 Sunday a vision of the error of his ways, a glimpse 
 into the better life that lay before, and into his soul 
 that steel of determination which bade him close the 
 doors on all that had gone before, to turn his face to- 
 ward the promise land and journey thither strong in 
 the faith that his past transgression had been forgiven.
 
 Orr-Kiefer Studio. 
 
 MR. AND MRS. W. A. SUNDAY.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 COURTING NELL 
 
 Religion, baseball and love A small brother's part A 
 September wedding A little home in Chicago. 
 
 73
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 BEFORE W. A. Sunday had visited Pacific Gar- 
 den Mission ; before he had become convinced 
 of the obliquity of the life he was leading, there 
 had come into his existence the element of what 
 Goethe calls, the eternal feminine. In this instance 
 it was personified by winsome Nellie Thompson, 
 daughter of a well-known West Side Chicago ice 
 cream manufacturer. 
 
 The exact incidents of the first meeting are not 
 clearly defined. Mrs. Sunday frequently refers to it 
 in her talks as having taken place at a Presbyterian 
 church, but the evidence is all in favor of Mr. Sun- 
 day having had some interest in the premises prior 
 to that time, since the Presbyterian service is not ex- 
 actly the place to look for a baseball player who comes 
 of Methodist parentage. 
 
 A very little youngster at that time, now a 
 Chicago business man by name of W. A. Thompson, 
 a brother to Mrs. Sunday, ascribes the successful con- 
 summation of the courtship somewhat to his own ef- 
 forts. At least it was his interest in baseball, and his 
 youthful admiration for the star, Sunday, that made 
 easier the friendship between the daughter of a well- 
 to-do manufacturer and a baseball player, who like 
 many of their class, could boast of no particular social 
 standing. 
 
 According to young Thompson the beginning of 
 this friendship was back in 1885. Thompson tells an 
 
 75
 
 76 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 interesting story of how he tried his influence with his 
 sister for the position of mascot on the Chicago team, 
 a position which Sunday made possible for him, and 
 which he enjoyed for a couple of seasons. 
 
 Nellie Thompson had had advantages which were 
 not part of Mr. Sunday's bringing up. She not only 
 enjoyed the usual schooling accorded young women 
 in Chicago, but devoted considerable time to a study 
 of painting, and her intimate friends still prize evi- 
 dence of her skill with the brush. 
 
 It was during the courtship that Mr. Sunday was 
 converted. It is to the influence of his sweetheart 
 that he ascribes the fact that he became a Presbyterian. 
 The Thompsons were Scotch, and Nellie Thompson 
 so adhered to the national church of her ancestors. 
 As evidence of her influence on his career he is today 
 an ordained minister in a church which is neither the 
 logical affiliation for one of his German extraction 
 nor of the early training of his mother and the home. 
 
 Just how much the religious convictions of Mr. 
 Sunday had to do with his marriage to Helen A. 
 Thompson probably no one will ever know. The 
 momentous question was asked, however, and the 
 proper answer returned, and the record shows that on 
 the 5th of September, 1888, Wm. A. Sunday and 
 Miss Helen A. Thompson were joined in marriage by 
 David C. Marquis, a minister of the gospel. It would 
 seem that Mr. Sunday, in common with all mankind, 
 was considerably nervous at the time he secured his 
 license. This was the day previous to the wedding, 
 and on that ocasion he gave his age as 24, and that 
 of Miss Thompson as 20. This calls attention to 
 the discrepancy of several records concerning the early
 
 COURTING NELL 77 
 
 life of Mr. Sunday. According to the information 
 on file at the orphan asylum, Mr. Sunday was born 
 in 1862 ; according to the biographical sketch in "Who's 
 Who," which is usually very accurate, he was born 
 in 1863, while the deduction from the records of his 
 marriage license would make his birth year 1864. 
 
 Mrs. Sunday says that the date 1862 is correct; 
 and that the discrepancies arose because as a youth 
 Mr. Sunday was so much away from home and knew 
 very little of his family history. 
 
 For more than twenty years, the Sundays made 
 Chicago their home, living in the vicinity of Throop 
 and Adams streets, which was then one of the best 
 resident sections of the city. 
 
 Even in the lapse of the relatively short time 
 since the marriage of these two, times have changed 
 remarkably now when a star baseball player be- 
 comes the victim, of Cupid's dart the newspapers all 
 over the country herald it in large type, but in that 
 day comparative obscurity was the portion of the 
 wives of baseball players. The Chicago papers either 
 ignored the wedding altogether or dismissed it with a 
 line or two.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 APPLIED CHRISTIANITY AT $83 PER MONTH 
 
 First evidence of sincerity The temptation that fol- 
 lowed Some drastic economy His Y. M. C. A. 
 work as an education What his superior officer 
 says Fighting Bob Ingersoll Speaking in prayer 
 meeting A four year struggle closes. 
 
 79
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 IN the day of his unprecedented successes it has 
 become the fad among a large number of 
 skeptics to question the sincerity of Rev. W. A. 
 Sunday. It is a well established principle of law that 
 causes which govern in the origin of any act must be 
 fully weighed in considering its ultimate consequences. 
 The strongest proof of the sincerity of Mr. Sunday 
 in his subsequent activities is found in the early steps 
 which he took, following his conversion, to alter the 
 course of his life pursuant to the new convictions he 
 entertained. 
 
 Probably the very first step was that of declining 
 to play baseball on Sunday. This new stand while 
 difficult, was easier to take because of his exceptional 
 ability and prominence in the club of which he was a 
 member. 
 
 This did not satisfy him however. Repeated 
 visits to the mission persuaded him that there was 
 Christian work which he could do along somewhat 
 similar lines. An early step was to petition for his 
 release from the team with which he had a contract. 
 At first it was impossible to bring about the desired 
 result. In 1891, however, the dissolution of the so- 
 called "Brotherhood" threw a lot of baseball talent 
 into the open market, and it was possible for the young 
 convert to secure his release. 
 
 Now it must be borne in mind that a salary of 
 $1,000 a month was a possible salary for a top-notch 
 6 81
 
 82 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 baseball player of national acclaim. To these specifi- 
 cations Billy Sunday conformed in every detail. Yet 
 despite this fact, and the further one that he had a 
 wife to support, he relinquished all further connection 
 with the baseball field to become an under-secretary 
 at the Chicago Y. M. C. A. in March, 1891, at a 
 maximum salary of $83.33 P er month. 
 
 To make the contrast still stronger the Chicago 
 Association at that time was in such straits for 
 funds that his salary was sometimes as much as six 
 months in arrears. The evangelist has remarked very 
 often that no one then accused him of being a 
 grafter. According to his own statement, "I went 
 hungry at noon and walked to and from work to save 
 car fare." 
 
 Properly speaking the Y. M. C. A. period of Mr. 
 Sunday's life which extended from 1901 to 1905 
 should be considered as a part of his education. It 
 gave him a training, which has since proved invaluable, 
 in meeting all manner of men on the broad plane of 
 humanity. It gave him an opportunity at public 
 speaking, at which, according to all reports, in the be- 
 ginning he was awkward enough. More important 
 than these it brought him in touch with the big men 
 who were doing things in the religious world, and 
 out of it ultimately grew his association with Dr. J. 
 Wilbur Chapman, even then a world-famous evange- 
 list. 
 
 L. Wilbur Messer, general secretary of the Chi- 
 cago Y. M. C. A. in discussing Mr. Sunday's con- 
 nection with his institution said: 
 
 Mr. Sunday had begun the Christian life, as a 
 result, as I remember, of his contact with the
 
 CHRISTIANITY AT $83 PER MONTH 83 
 
 Pacific Garden Mission and soon became identified 
 with our association activities. Mr. Sunday ren- 
 dered very valuable service in the specific religious 
 work of the association. He was especially strong 
 in his personal effort among men who were 
 strongly tempted and among those who had fallen 
 by the way. He was also effective in his evan- 
 gelistic appeals even at that early period in his 
 Christian life. 
 
 We never had a man on our staff who was 
 more consecrated, more deeply spiritual, more self- 
 sacrificing or more resultful in his work in winning 
 men to Christ. 
 
 Mr. Sunday while with us was a bitter foe of 
 any kind of vice and did some effective work in 
 creating public sentiment concerning certain evils 
 which beset young men. Mr. Sunday has since that 
 time rendered most valuable service in many cities 
 where he has conducted meetings by approving the 
 association and by raising large funds for its 
 support. 
 
 I count my friendship with Mr. Sunday as one 
 of the rare priveleges of my life. 
 
 The change from active outdoor life to the com- 
 parative confinement of institute work at first inter- 
 fered seriously with Mr. Sunday's health and he was 
 obliged to take an extended vacation at Lake Geneva 
 for recuperation. More and more, however, he made 
 his Y. M. C. A. work take him into the open, and 
 meeting with the various classes of people whom it 
 was his province to interest. 
 
 An incident of his work is probably typical of 
 its general trend. In one of his sermons Mr. Sunday 
 says: 
 
 When I was assistant secretary of the Y. M. 
 C. A. in Chicago, I had H. L. Hastings, who
 
 84 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 edited an anti-infidel paper, send me 3,500 copies of 
 it. Bob Ingersoll was delivering three lectures in 
 McVicker's Theater, and I had these copies dis- 
 tributed to people on the sidewalk as they went in 
 or out. The first night Ingersoll had a big audience. 
 The next night it was smaller and on the third night 
 it had dwindled almost to nothing. 
 
 Every day at noon, while Ingersoll was lectur- 
 ing, Hastings would go to old Farwell Hall and 
 answer Ingersoll's statements of the night before. 
 One night Ingersoll painted one of those wonderful 
 word pictures for which he was justly famous. He 
 was a master of the use of words. Men and women 
 would applaud and cheer and wave their hats and 
 handkerchiefs, and the waves of sound would rise 
 and fall like great waves of the sea. As two men 
 were going home from the lecture one of them 
 said to the other : "Bob certainly cleaned 'em up 
 tonight." The other man said : "There's one 
 thing he didn't clean up. He didn't clean up the 
 religion of my old mother.' 
 
 Another sermon expression throws a light on the 
 manner in which he was groping toward that self- 
 expression in which he came to excel : 
 
 We, all of us, grow by expression. When I 
 first started out to be a Christian I couldn't stand up 
 In a prayer meeting and use three sentences con- 
 secutively, but I made it a rule to speak whenever I 
 got a chance and so I overcame my natural diffi- 
 dence. God blesses me because I am determined 
 to do something for Him. I could have sat still and 
 withered and mildewed like a lot of you. God. 
 wants to develop us according to nature. 
 
 The evangelist's own version of his introduction 
 into Y. M. C. A. work is interesting. He had a cpn~
 
 CHRISTIANITY AT $83 PER MONTH 85 
 
 tract to play with the Philadelphia baseball team at 
 the same time that he was particularly desirous of tak- 
 ing up the new work. He had already received his 
 orders to report for the trip South, which is the com- 
 mon practice of large baseball teams in the spring of 
 the year. Not knowing what to do Mr. Sunday "laid 
 it before the Lord as a business proposition," to quote 
 his own words. He decided that if he got his release 
 before March 25, he would go into the Y. M. C. A. 
 work ; if he did not get it he would play out the rest 
 of his contract. The release came on March 17. But 
 with it came another offer from Cincinnati which again 
 threw him into doubt. He was offered a contract at 
 $500 per month, while his Y. M. C. A. position would 
 give him only $83. Consultation with friends and 
 particularly with his wife persuaded him that the 
 proper thing to do was to follow his conscience and 
 to enter the field of work for which he had prayed 
 so earnestly. 
 
 Thus began the struggle of four years of hard 
 work on an indefinite income. A work with varying 
 aspects and experiences; broadening and deepening 
 his nature; amplifying his outlook upon life and giv- 
 ing him acquaintance with the people, and familiarity 
 with the organization which was shortly to lead to his 
 exceptional triumphs in the field of evangelism.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 TENTS, TABERNACLES AND OTHER THINGS 
 
 Parting with Dr. Chapman Episode with President 
 Harrison Start in small towns Lack of sermons 
 Association with M. B. Williams, father of the 
 tabernacle The first tabernacle The philosophy 
 of the tabernacle The famous "sawdust trail" A 
 choir leader is added What Fischer says The 
 work grows. 
 
 87
 
 MELVIN E. TROTTER.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 TT was in Chicago as under-secretary of the Y. M. 
 C. A. that Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman first met Mr. 
 Sunday. The earnestness and sincerity of the 
 young man and particularly his close sympathy with 
 the masses made a strong impression upon the evangel- 
 ist and led to the offer of a position to travel with 
 him as an assistant. Those who, in later days, chose 
 to contrast the methods of Dr. Chapman and Rev. 
 Mr. Sunday often failed to take into account the 
 difference in personal temperament and doctrine of 
 the two men. Although they parted company after 
 two years they have always maintained a friendship 
 and shown an interest, each in the work of the other. 
 There can be no doubt that the two years spent with 
 Dr. Chapman were of great educational benefit to the 
 aspiring evangelist. Dr. Chapman was not only a 
 thorough Bible student but a magnetic speaker and a 
 good organizer; he had developed at that time his 
 peculiar capacity for doing a great deal of work in a 
 short space of time, a capacity in which the student 
 probably outstripped the master in later years but 
 which at the time was a valuable training. 
 
 Mr. Sunday frequently refers to his period with 
 Dr. Chapman in his addresses and always in the spirit 
 of the greatest appreciation. Dr. Chapman then, as 
 in later years, confined his efforts largely to cities of 
 considerable magnitude. One episode to which Mr. 
 Sunday is fond of alluding has to do with a campaign
 
 90 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 in Indianapolis. On that occasion President Benjamin 
 Harrison and his daughter were in the audience and 
 it became possible for Mr. Sunday to extend in person 
 an invitation to the president to occupy a seat upon 
 the platform. The argument which the young evan- 
 gelist used and which finally proved effectual was that 
 the spectacle of a man so generally known and so 
 generally revered, making a public confession of his 
 adherence to religion and his faith in the doctrine of 
 the church, would have a powerful influence upon 
 those in the audience who had never taken such a 
 stand. He regarded it as one of the proudest moments 
 of his life when he was able to lead Mr. Harrison to 
 a seat upon the platform. 
 
 With Dr. Chapman Mr. Sunday got frequent 
 opportunities to test his oratorical powers and to im- 
 prove his skill in the composition and handling of his 
 sermons. 
 
 Although he has never said so, there is a feeling 
 that it was a desire on his part to reach men who could 
 not be reached under the Chapman plan that led Mr. 
 Sunday to embark in the evangelistic work by him- 
 self and to abandon the large cities. Anyhow, this was 
 what he did. 
 
 He went straight home to Iowa, the state of his 
 birth, and took up his work in small towns. Places 
 of 3,000 and 4,000 were the scenes of his very earliest 
 independent endeavors, and through sheer lack of 
 material, according to his own account, he was driven 
 from place to place at intervals of a week or ten days. 
 "I had half a dozen sermons at that time," he says, 
 "and when these had been used I had to go on to the 
 next place." During this period of his career tents
 
 TENTS, TABERNACLES AND OTHER THINGS 91 
 
 were frequently employed because no auditorium in 
 these small places would accommodate the crowds 
 which from the very first began to flock to his re- 
 vivals. 
 
 It was a little later that Mr. Sunday became asso- 
 ciated with M. B. Williams, an evangelist of consider- 
 able note in his day, and in that part of the country. 
 Mr. Williams is given the credit for being the father 
 of the tabernacle idea, an idea which Mr. Sunday has 
 perfected and improved, and brought to a magnitude 
 and degree of perfection of which its inventor never 
 dreamed. 
 
 Elgin, Illinois, has the honor of building the first 
 tabernacle. It seated 3,000 people and had a 
 chorus of 300. It was dedicated in December, 1900. 
 From this it will be seen that at the outset Mr. Sun- 
 day preserved the ratio of i. to 10 between choir and 
 auditorium. In the days when 10,000 and 12,000 
 capacity auditoriums became actualities the choir had 
 grown to 1,000 and 1,200 members. The tabernacle 
 idea originated in the early nineties and has been very 
 generally adopted by evangelists, particularly those 
 operating in smaller communities or in sparsely settled 
 districts. It remained for Mr. Sunday, however, to 
 demonstrate its utility under other conditions such as 
 Columbus, Toledo, South Bend, Wilkes-Barre and 
 Pittsburgh presented. 
 
 The architecture of the tabernacle, like its size, 
 has been a development. The prime requisite in every 
 instance is the best possible accommodation of a single 
 voice. To this end, lofty ceilings are abandoned and 
 low straight roofs are used. The platform or speak- 
 ing pulpit is pushed as far as possible toward the cen-
 
 92 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 ter of the auditorium. Necessity as much as anything 
 else gave rise to the famous "sawdust trail." Where 
 thousands of people are gathered together even an 
 occasionally shuffling of the feet is a serious disturb- 
 ance. No sort of floor is noiseless, certainly none 
 that is possible in a temporary structure therefore 
 the sawdust covering. This is absolutely soundless 
 and by giving it a base of tamped tanbark it is also 
 impervious to fire. In many cities where the danger 
 of fire has been urged against it, the mere expedient 
 of throwing a shovelful of blazing coals upon the saw- 
 dust floor and watching them die out has convinced 
 the authorities that their fears were vain. So 
 thoroughly persuaded is Mr. Sunday of the utility of 
 the tabernacle that he has refused to use large audi- 
 toriums in the rare instances where he has found 
 cities supplied with buildings large enough to accom- 
 modate his crowds. There are other and psychological 
 aspects of the tabernacle idea, such as its democracy, 
 accessibility and uniqueness, which need not be con- 
 sidered at this time. 
 
 For two or three years Mr. Sunday struggled on 
 with only the assistance of his wife and such help as 
 came from the cooperating ministers of the community 
 in which he was laboring. Another of the fundamental 
 facts of a Sunday campaign, that of absolute coopera- 
 tion and unity among the inviting churches, was also 
 insisted upon from the first. 
 
 In spite of all the obstacles and difficulties the 
 work grew, so did the pile of sermons, and some of 
 them amplified, modernized and intensified are doing 
 duty today.
 
 TENTS, TABERNACLES AND OTHER THINGS 93 
 
 An interesting if unverified account is given of 
 the origin of the phrase "hitting the trail." Accord- 
 ing to the Steubenville Gazette the phrase originated 
 during Mr. Sunday's first campaign on the Puget 
 Sound. The tabernacle there was built according to 
 the present well known plans and the use of sawdust 
 and shavings made a particular appeal to the lum- 
 bermen who predominate in that region. Trails are 
 cut through the western mountains and in the more 
 sparsely settled districts, furnish the only means of 
 communication from one settlement to another. 
 
 The Steubenville Gazette says : "The woodsmen 
 sometimes wander far away from camp and are lost 
 in the primeval forest. In their wanderings if they 
 can, hit the trail they are saved as it leads to the 
 safety and shelter of the camp. So on the pathway of 
 life if you can 'hit the trail' of God's mercy through 
 the Lord Jesus Christ you are led to safety. So these 
 rude lumbermen in their camp language giving up 
 self to God and going down the sawdust aisle of the 
 tabernacle were 'Hitting the Trail.' The phrase stuck 
 to the Sunday party ever since and it has a thrilling 
 touch of the wildwood and a meaning that is very 
 appropriate and beautiful when taken in the language 
 of the backwoods." 
 
 Mr. Sunday does not sing and cannot sing, and 
 one of the very first things that he recognized was the 
 need of a musical assistant. The first man to occupy 
 this position officially was Fred G. Fischer. Mr. 
 Fischer began his work with Mr. Sunday, January 4, 
 1900, at Bedford, Iowa, and continued it until July 
 15, 1910, at Everett, Washington, when Homer Rode-
 
 94 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 heaver become the choir leader. In commenting upon 
 his association with Mr. Sunday, Mr. Fischer says: 
 
 My work had to do with the musical end, as 
 soloist and chorus conductor for five years, after 
 which, because of larger and longer meetings, a 
 soloist was added to the party. I then gave my 
 attention to the chorus and song services doing 
 some solo and duet work. 
 
 Mr. Sunday and I made up the party in the 
 early years of the work. Length of our stay in a 
 community was two and one-half to three weeks. 
 Gradually the work grew, the party was enlarged 
 and longer time was spent in a place. 
 
 It was in this earlier period of his work that Mr. 
 Sunday attracted the attention of some few magazine 
 writers. In the American Magazine for September, 
 1907, Lindsay Denison gives this impression of one 
 of the earlier meetings : 
 
 To one who has attended a Billy Sunday 
 revival the story of the methods by which he 
 achieves these results seems almost incredible. But 
 by his words you must know him. Some of his 
 sermons and prayers, in cold type, are of a sort to 
 make all New England shiver with horror and 
 cause the ungodly to giggle. But they make con- 
 verts, the converts become church members and 
 the army of salvation is magnified by thousands of 
 permanent recruits. Finicky critics must consider 
 carefully before they deplore the Rev. William A. 
 Sunday. It has been our habit for centuries to 
 discuss religion and the affairs of the soul in a King 
 James's vocabulary, to depart from that custom 
 has come to seem something like sacrilege. Billy 
 Sunday talks to people about God and their souls
 
 TENTS, TABERNACLES AND OTHER THINGS 95 
 
 just as people talk to one another six days in the 
 week, across the counter or the dinner table or on 
 the street. 
 
 No ambition for the acclaim that comes from the 
 masses seems to have had any weight with Mr. Sunday 
 in the choice of his fields of labor. That he was almost 
 fifty before he became nationally famous as an evan- 
 gelist is due more to the size of the communities in 
 which he worked than to any other one thing. Nat- 
 urally diffident despite a seeming assurance when in 
 the pulpit, he long hesitated to accept the calls that 
 came from the big cities which are the eyes of the 
 world. This disinclination on his part was intensified 
 because it was shared by Mrs. Sunday and it was only 
 by degrees that the remarkable organization which Mr. 
 Sunday has perfected demonstrated its adaptability to 
 the more complex conditions which obtain in the con- 
 gested centers of population. True to his earliest dis- 
 position to heed the call for service when he was 
 sure he received that call Mr. Sunday gradually under- 
 took larger and larger responsibilities until his work 
 took him to the truly metropolitan centers of the 
 United States.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAY'S REVIVAL 
 CAMPAIGNS 
 
 Sowing the seed Invitations Necessary unity of in- 
 viting churches Incidental expenses, how guaran- 
 teed and how paid Newspaper publicity Cottage 
 prayer meetings Building the tabernacle Train- 
 ing the choir Dedication of tabernacle The evan- 
 gelist arrives Organization of ushers, personal 
 workers, trained nurses and takers of collections 
 The first surprises The first call for converts The 
 uniform success of the organization Mr. Sunday's 
 offers from the outside What a big campaign costs, 
 
 97
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 CO thousands who have participated in a Sunday 
 campaign merely as individuals they are more 
 or less of a mystery. To thousands who have 
 only a reading knowledge of them they are unbelieve- 
 able. To the few who have had part as aids or cogs 
 in the great machinery which is set in motion in every 
 place where Mr. Sunday conducts a campaign, the 
 results are almost inevitable. 
 
 Through more than twenty years of work and 
 experimentation Mr. Sunday has contrived a detailed 
 system which to all observers, interested, disinterested 
 and prejudiced alike appears practically infallible. 
 Time after time, as new territory has been approached, 
 the prediction has been made freely that in that in- 
 stance Mr. Sunday or his method of operation would 
 fail. Yet time after time he has emerged at the end 
 of a six or seven weeks' campaign with flying colors 
 and with new laurels added to those which already 
 marked phenomenal achievements. When unexpected 
 obstacles have presented themselves the genius of the 
 evangelist always has proved sufficient to overcome 
 them. 
 
 For this work Mr. Sunday takes no credit to 
 himself. Uniformly he gives to Almighty God the 
 honor of whatever success has attended his labors. 
 He does not believe, however, in leaving anything to 
 chance, nor in imposing on Divine Goodness by any- 
 thing which even remotely resembles shirking. As a 
 
 99
 
 100 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 result he and his associates work with prodigious 
 vigor and energy through every minute of the cam- 
 paign. But no amount of energy, nor anything short 
 of a miracle, like the parting of the Red Sea, would 
 account for the success attendant upon all the Sunday 
 revivals if it did not begin before the arrival of the 
 evangelist. 
 
 It is in the preliminary campaign and in the 
 masterly handling of details that Mr. Sunday demon- 
 strates his superiority over all other workers in his 
 field. For years the demands upon Mr. Sunday's time 
 have been such that if he accepted all invitations he 
 would be booked at least ten years in advance. Obvi- 
 ously this gives him an opportunity to pick and choose. 
 
 Here, then, is the first note of the scale which 
 must be sounded in order to realize the full harmony 
 of the results obtained. The mere invitation to come 
 to a city has no great weight with the evangelist. The 
 city not only must want him, but must want him with 
 a consummate fervor. A fine instinct resident in the 
 evangelist, and largely enjoyed by his wife, enables 
 him to sense to a nicety the real anxiety of any com- 
 munity to entertain him. 
 
 Committees which call upon him during cam- 
 paigns, beholding the phenomenal results obtained, 
 are not slow to make almost any promise exacted of 
 them. Realizing that not more than one out of four 
 invitations can be accepted, they press forward with a 
 renewed eagerness which naturally places them en 
 rapport with the evangelist and his work. Thus there 
 is established in the inviting committee the nucleus 
 of the necessary local organization.
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAYS CAMPAIGNS id 
 
 Next comes the unity of evangelical churches and 
 the abandoning of all conflicting services in the com- 
 munity during the campaign. The larger the city the 
 more this demand meets with resistance; but since 
 resistance in no wise affects the evangelist, and since 
 compliance with his request is an indispensable pre- 
 requisite to a campaign, the second force for coopera- 
 tion and interest is set in motion. 
 
 Next comes the campaign for incidental expenses. 
 It is one of the Sunday doctrines that religion in all 
 its phases should be self-supporting, and he will start 
 upon no revival service the full expenses of which 
 have not been guaranteed in advance. A peculiar 
 aspect of this rule is, that never in his career has the 
 guarantee been invoked always during the progress 
 of the meeting Mr. Sunday raises by collections more 
 money than is needed to cover the entire cost of the 
 series. 
 
 The preliminary underwriting of a guarantee 
 fund, however, furnishes the third force which draws 
 people together, arouses their activity and compels 
 their cooperation. "Where a man's treasure is, there 
 is his heart also," and the men who have signed their 
 names to a guarantee aggregating from $10,000 to 
 $25,000 are very apt to work to make a success of 
 the meetings for which their money is pledged, even 
 though there is a moral certainty that they never will 
 have to pay a cent of what they guarantee. 
 
 At this point, or even before, the element of ex- 
 tensive publicity enters into the campaign. News- 
 papers in any community, whether large or small, 
 must necessarily pay attention to an enterprise which 
 the business men of the town or city are backing to
 
 102 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 the extent of thousands and thousands of dollars. The 
 element of publicity continues with increasing vigor 
 to the very end of all campaigns, and one of the 
 remarkable features in connection with it is the fact 
 that this publicity is never sought by any direct or 
 overt act it comes naturally almost spontaneously, 
 and is easily the fourth factor toward preparing the 
 field for the advent of the evangelist. 
 
 Complete success demands that all phases of in- 
 terest and energy be correlated and combined in the 
 single unit, which is the series of meetings. Most 
 important in the estimation of the evangelist is the 
 series of cottage and district prayer meetings which 
 begin two or three weeks prior to the opening of the 
 campaign. For securing results in this line the com- 
 munity is divided according to wards and districts, 
 and an organization somewhat akin to political 
 machinery is perfected and set in motion. District 
 and sub-districts have their captains or leaders, 
 and these in turn report to larger divisions. At the 
 headquarters, which have been established prior to 
 this time, there is an exact knowledge of what activity 
 is going forward in every part of the city. Wherever 
 there is a lagging or failure to show zeal trained 
 specialists are sent to awaken a sense of responsibility 
 and concern. 
 
 Next of the forces put in motion for the welding 
 of interest and for the accentuation of publicity is the 
 building of the tabernacle. For many years Mr. Sun- 
 day's party has had as one of its members a practical 
 builder and architect. This man reaches the city from 
 four to five weeks before the opening of the meetings. 
 The site of a tabernacle having been chosen in advance,
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAYS CAMPAIGNS 103 
 
 with the approval of Mr. Sunday who always insists 
 upon a convenient, accessible, down-town location, the 
 builder calls for voluntary workmen. A special effort 
 is made to enlist the services of prominent church 
 workers, and the spectacle of such men donning over- 
 alls and acting as carpenters is one which never fails 
 to excite curiosity and arouse interest. Prominent 
 preachers, well-known doctors, lawyers with state-wide 
 reputation working shoulder to shoulder with clerks, 
 mechanics and school teachers is a scene that is sure 
 to arouse interest and receive generous newspaper at- 
 tention. Committees of women from the cooperating 
 churches are solicited to take charge of decorating the 
 interior as soon as the structure has been roofed. 
 
 In the meantime, another very important force 
 has been at work in the collection and training of the 
 people who are to constitute the choir. As previously 
 noted there is an approximation in the relation of 
 choir and audience of one to ten. Musical people are 
 known for their enthusiasm and energy. Singing is 
 remarkable for the impress which it makes on large 
 crowds. The preliminary training which this choir 
 receives gives the evangelist the kind of a field force 
 which develops in effectiveness as the campaign pro- 
 ceeds. 
 
 Then comes the dedication. The practice has been 
 to secure some noted divine from a city where Mr. 
 Sunday previously has conducted a campaign and to 
 have him preach the dedicatory sermon. Local min- 
 isters prominent in the campaign have other places on 
 the program. By this time one or two of the advance 
 members of the party probably are in town and direct-
 
 104 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 ing the forces already existing into channels of maxi- 
 mum usefulness. 
 
 It is not the usual thing for these advance mem- 
 bers to be unduly complimentary or conciliatory. In- 
 deed, the day or two next preceding the arrival of the 
 evangelist often are among the most uncomfortable 
 of the entire campaign from inception to culmination. 
 The feeling that with all their earnestness and good 
 intentions they yet may have failed in properly direct- 
 ing their efforts places the entire local contingent on 
 the qui znve, and when finally Mr. Sunday arrives a 
 degree of expectancy and suppressed excitement, 
 which is almost without counterpart in civic experi- 
 ence, makes itself felt. 
 
 So much for the major preparations and the chief 
 forces which combine in making fertile the field and 
 ready the workers before the actual meetings begin. 
 They are only a portion, however, of the many de- 
 tails which make for the ultimate success of the en- 
 deavor. An organization for ushers that operates like 
 clock work and is equal to any general emergency, is 
 one of the lesser portions of the machinery; a com- 
 pletely equipped emergency hospital in some corner of 
 the tabernacle, and out of sight from the audience, 
 is another; trained nurses and hospital helpers are 
 always on hand, as are one or more regular physicians. 
 Even the taking of the collection is made spectacular 
 by the use of tin pans which are rapidly passed to the 
 melodious jingle of silver and copper coins. Outside 
 the tabernacle, but near at hand, there is a nursery 
 where mothers may leave their children in the care 
 of professional nurses, and be sure they will be re- 
 turned to them in first-class condition when the services
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAYS CAMPAIGNS 106 
 
 are over. On the platform there are always provided 
 from a half dozen to a dozen and a half desks for 
 newspaper men. Telephones are installed in the taber- 
 nacle for the convenience of the evangelist's party and 
 for the press representatives. Such matter as should 
 properly be given publicity always is easily accessible 
 to those whose duty it is to minister to the public in 
 that line. Thus a perfectly oiled piece of machinery 
 awaits the touch of the evangelist when he steps into 
 the pulpit for the first time and faces an audience com- 
 posed usually of the regular church members of the 
 congregations which have united in extending the call 
 to him. 
 
 They are not in for a complacent praise of their 
 virtues, nor for a congratulatory address on their pre- 
 liminary work. Instead, the sins of omission and com- 
 mission of those whose names are regularly on the 
 church roster receive a scathing arraignment. Three 
 times in one day this will happen, and before twenty- 
 four hours have passed the town is ringing with won- 
 der at the new order of things. No amount of prelimi- 
 nary announcement ever has been able to prepare a 
 community for what is coming to it. Those hearing 
 him for the first time never know what to expect. 
 
 So much for the start. For the rest, the indom- 
 itable zeal, the phenomenal vigor, the exceptional 
 plainness of speech of the evangelist must be credited 
 with the major portion of the success that follows. 
 
 Ordinarily Mr. Sunday preaches from ten days to 
 two weeks before any invitation is issued to those who 
 may be under conviction of sin. In the meantime by 
 great activity he has familiarized himself through per- 
 sonal contact with all the leading forces and factors in
 
 106 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 the city life. He calls on city, county and state offi- 
 cials; he visits prisons and penitentiaries, almshouses 
 and hospitals; either in person or through his assist- 
 ants, noonday meetings are held in factories, in work- 
 shops, in churches and in private homes. The inner 
 circle of the so-called "four hundred" is penetrated. 
 The outer bounds of the most degenerate classes are 
 made to feel the force that is at work ; from center to 
 circumference the community is stirred. Such is the 
 prodigious energy that gets in motion, that thousands 
 who would follow it are prone to let most of their 
 work-a-day activities go by default. In church and in 
 barroom, on the streets and in the offices, at clubs and 
 in factories, among leaders and among those who fol- 
 low, without distinction of race, color or creed, the 
 revival campaign becomes within a very few days the 
 one general and accepted topic of conversation. Poli- 
 tics pass unheeded and business becomes a secondary 
 consideration. 
 
 Each time Mr. Sunday has approached a city 
 larger than the scene of his previous operation, the 
 prediction has been made freely that here he would be 
 unable to make the preponderating impressions that 
 had been his previous rule. Invariably these predic- 
 tions have been marked by failure. As the campaign 
 has progressed Mr. Sunday has put his fingers upon 
 the various leaders who can be counted upon at the 
 proper moment to use their influence, by precept or 
 example, to turn the tide of their fellows lives into the 
 channel of higher thoughts, better resolves and right 
 living generally. Thus are marshaled all the forces 
 which in the end combine for complete success.
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAY'S CAMPAIGNS 107 
 
 Much has been said in public prints of the volun- 
 tary offerings made to Mr. Sunday at the close of each 
 campaign. These are exactly what the term implies : 
 While in some instances his friends may interest them- 
 selves in securing promises to this fund, the evangelist 
 himself at no time takes any part in it, nor will he 
 receive or permit to be received for him any money 
 or moneys until the last day of the campaign. At that 
 time through the local leaders an appeal is made in his 
 behalf. What enthusiastic appreciation coupled with 
 a competitive spirit will do in these instances has been 
 truly remarkable. Yet the same amount of energy 
 and the same system employed in commercial fields 
 would have resulted in equal or greater gains. 
 
 After he had effectually established himself as 
 an evangelist offers of $500 and even more per day 
 were received from various Chautauquas and Lyceum 
 bureau managers. Invariably these have been declined 
 and where Mr. Sunday has gone outside his prescribed 
 routes for a day or so, it has been with no cost beyond 
 the expenses incurred in making the trip. 
 
 The size of Mr. Sunday's party of assistants 
 varies with the size of the community and the length 
 of the stay. The usual practice has been to exact 
 of the local organization one-half the sum paid to these 
 assistants, the remainder of their fee Mr. Sunday him- 
 self pays out of the voluntary offering given him on 
 the last day of each campaign. The expenses incident 
 to a six or seven weeks' campaign, including all the 
 ramifications of entertainment, special meetings, cost 
 of helpers, construction of tabernacle, etc., in a city of 
 150,000 to 200,000, is very large. The multiplicity of 
 details is hardly to be believed by one not having ac-
 
 108 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 tual experience. The following official recapitulation 
 of the auditing committee of the campaign at Colum- 
 bus, Ohio, made while it was in progress may be taken 
 as typical : 
 
 Additl 
 TABERNACLE Accts. Paid Expenses Refunds 
 
 Lumber $5,678.40 
 
 Labor 1,219.00 
 
 Metal Siding 287.74 
 
 Ladders 28.02 $14.00 
 
 Roofing and Paper 451.00 
 
 Hardware 152.56 
 
 Shavings 123.75 $22.50 
 
 Gas Lights 65.00 
 
 Electric Wiring 628.89 50.00 
 
 Chairs 962.50 600.00 
 
 Benches 24.00 20.00 
 
 Signs 11.50 
 
 Furnaces 348.26 
 
 Decorations 67.05 60.29 
 
 Fire Extinguishers 157.50 75.00 
 
 Carpet 10.00 ........ 10.00 
 
 $10,214.87 
 
 Lor 
 
 Taking down and replacing 
 
 billboards $113.06 200.00 
 
 Clearing lot 160.00 
 
 Rent for extra ground 7 .50 
 
 Restoring Airdome 5.00 95.00 
 
 $125.56
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAYS CAMPAIGNS 109 
 
 OTHER EXPENSES 
 Printing 
 
 $399.79 
 
 35.00 
 
 Postage . 
 
 128.89 
 
 25.00 
 
 Office Kxpenses 
 
 17.68 
 
 15.00 
 
 Office Salaries 
 
 96.75 
 
 100.00 
 
 Interest 
 
 33.73 
 
 
 Entertainment 
 
 336.27 
 
 424.00 
 
 Bonds 
 
 20.00 
 
 
 Insurance 
 
 162.85 
 
 40.00 
 
 Dedication 
 
 50 00 
 
 
 Coal 
 
 97.79 
 
 350.00 
 
 Gas and Electricity 
 
 79 50 
 
 575.00 
 
 Local Transportation ... 
 
 3 50 
 
 395.00 
 
 Salaries of Workers 
 Fred's Room 
 
 1,794.77 
 66.75 
 
 1,425.00 
 10.00 
 
 Rent of Memorial Hall 
 
 
 100.00 
 
 Nursery 
 
 
 90.00 
 
 Electrician 
 
 
 36.75 
 
 Watchman 
 
 152.00 
 
 87.50 
 
 Badges 
 
 25.10 
 
 
 Telephones 
 
 29.05 
 
 6.00 
 
 Rent for Southern Theater 
 meeting ... 
 
 46.50 
 
 
 Reception at Y. M. C. A. by 
 Sunday 
 
 11.25 
 
 
 Team expenses Gill, Peacock, 
 Spiece 
 
 64 30 
 
 
 Advertising 
 
 5.21 
 
 5.00 
 
 \Vesley Chapel Meetings 
 
 
 40.00 
 
 Incidental Expenses 
 
 11.25 
 
 25.00 
 
 Extra Expenses Sunday Party, 
 Long Distance Telephone and 
 Telegraph 
 
 
 100.00 
 
 
 
 
 $3,632.93 $4,422.04 $769.00 
 
 Grand Total Acc'ts paid. .$13,973.36
 
 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 RECAPITUUVTION 
 
 RECEIPTS 
 
 Sunday Collections $13,849.35 
 
 Church Carpenters 229 . 10 
 
 Southern Theater Meeting 37.70 
 
 Dedication 69 . 13 
 
 Total Receipts to date $14,248.28 
 
 Total Paid Out to date 13,973.36 
 
 Balance on hand $13,973.36 
 
 Bills paid to date 274.92 
 
 Future Expenses Estimated 4,422.04 
 
 Total Budget $18,395.40 
 
 Future Expenses Estimated $4,422.04 
 
 Cash on Hand.. 274.92 
 
 Amount to Raise $4,147 12 
 
 In explanation of this recapitulation which was 
 prepared several weeks before the campaign closed, it 
 is only fair to say that the entire $4,147.12 was raised, 
 that all collections ceased more than a week before the 
 close of the campaign, that several thousand dollars 
 additional were raised for charity and that after the 
 tabernacle had been sold and the other salvage incident 
 to the campaign turned into money, there was more 
 than $3,500 to be divided among the 60 co-operating 
 churches. 
 
 Thus Columbus had a seven weeks revival not 
 only without expense to the guarantors who had sub- 
 scribed to the company, but with a net profit to every 
 church that participated. It was in addition to this 
 total budget of more than $18,000 that the citizens of 
 Ohio's capital contributed $21,000 as a free will of-
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF SUNDAY'S CAMPAIGNS 111 
 
 faring to the evangelist himself. This immense sum 
 was secured in three collections one each at the morn- 
 ing service, the afternoon service, and the evening ser- 
 vice. With some variation as to detail the practice and 
 the results in other cities has been the same. The state- 
 ment here given is typical and shows the many details 
 which have to be provided in assuring the complete 
 success of any campaign, yet in every instance in more 
 than 20 years the public has met these expenses and 
 has given a generous offering to the evangelist at the 
 conclusion of the revival, an indication of apprecia- 
 tion for what he has done.
 
 EVANGELIST SUNDAY IN ACTION.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 SOME WHO HAVE ASSISTED 
 
 Sunday's ability to select competent workers Fred G. 
 Fischer the first man Rev. Elijah P. Brown an 
 early worker Melvin E. Trotter appears Mr. 
 Trotter's comments A western author associate 
 Ohio contributes Homer A. Rodeheaver B. D. 
 Ackley's work Something about Fred Seibert 
 Miss Grace Saxe and other assisting women Rev. 
 L. K. Peacock is called. 
 
 113
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 T"WBRAHAM Lincoln and George Washington pre- 
 pfl eminently among the many great men of the 
 J I world were characterized by the unusual wis- 
 dom with which they drew about them assistants, sup- 
 porters and advisers. Almost without exception this 
 has been true of men who have been leaders among 
 their kind, particularly in any movement that calls for 
 organization. 
 
 Apparently the day of one man power has passed. 
 In this respect, as in many others, Rev. W. A. Sun- 
 day is entitled to comparison with the most important 
 men in the world's history of his day. The tremendous 
 celerity with which his campaigns move is in harmony 
 with the general spirit of rush which characterize the 
 American people. 
 
 It is important, therefore, that the many details 
 and minor arrangements, which necessarily are left to 
 others, be arranged in complete harmony with the gen- 
 eral scheme and carried out with the exactitude of a 
 railroad time table. In this Mr. Sunday and his party 
 are particularly successful. Whenever the control of 
 events is in his own hands the evangelist is never late. 
 All his meetings start on time and close on time. At 
 the myriad engagements which are part of every cam- 
 paign, he is punctuality itself. He exacts the same 
 respect for time of all those who assist him in his work. 
 
 Beginning in 1898 with no other assistants than his 
 wife and the local ministers the organization grew in 
 
 115
 
 116 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 less than 15 years to comprise parties from 10 to 15. 
 The number and personnel varied from time to time to 
 meet the local conditions. For the larger cities Mr. 
 Sunday has always arranged to have some one famil- 
 iar with work among the young folks, for work among 
 shop and factory people, and at prison and other penal 
 institutions wherever they are found. Two or more 
 soloists and a choir leader in addition to a pianist and 
 private secretary are necessary adjuncts for the suc- 
 cess of the work. A builder who goes in advance and 
 prepares the tabernacle, a keeper of that tabernacle and 
 in late years a general manager of the work, a sort 
 of right-hand assistant to the evangelist, have become 
 definite portions of the organization. Many well known 
 evangelistic and missionary workers have been identi- 
 fied with the Sunday party from time to time. 
 
 Their church affiliation has played no part in their 
 selection. Methodist, Baptist, Congregationalist, Pres- 
 byterian and other of the evangelical churches have 
 been represented. 
 
 One of the very earliest of his assistants was 
 Fred G. Fischer. "I began my work with Mr. Sunday 
 January 4, 1900," says Mr. Fischer, "ending it July 15, 
 1910, making a continuous service of ten and one half 
 years. My work had to do with the musical end, as 
 soloist and musical conductor for five years, after 
 which, because of the larger and longer meetings, a 
 soloist was added to the party. I then gave my at- 
 tention to the chorus and song services, doing some 
 solo and duet work. Mr. Sunday and I made up the 
 party in the earlier years of the work. The length of 
 our stay in a community was from two and one-half 
 to three weeks. Gradually the work grew, the party
 
 SOME WHO HAVE ASSISTED ll? 
 
 was enlarged and longer time was spent in a place." 
 Serious impairment of his health required Mr. Fischer 
 to give over his work with the evangelist after more 
 than 10 years with him, and he was succeeded as musi- 
 cal director by Homer A. Rodeheaver. After a pro- 
 longed rest Mr. Fischer sufficiently recovered his health 
 to renew his evangelistic efforts and in company with 
 J. R. Hanley they have conducted meetings both in the 
 East and Middle West, attended by very great success. 
 
 Another helper whose reputation is coextensive 
 with the religious field of the United States, is Rev. 
 Elijah J. Brown, one time editor of The Ram's Horn. 
 Mr. Brown was associated with Mr. Sunday beginning 
 with a campaign in Austin, Minnesota, in February, 
 1906 and concluding with the Galesburg, Illinois, cam- 
 paign in November, 1907. Bad health on the part of 
 Mr. Brown was the cause of separation in this case 
 also. From time to time the editor was called in to 
 assist briefly in subsequent campaigns. He occupied 
 the position of confidential assistant and was for many 
 years one of the most intimate of the several members 
 of the party with the evangelist himself. 
 
 One of the most distinguished and well known 
 men who have contributed to the success of the Sun- 
 day campaigns is Melvin E. Trotter of the famous 
 City Rescue Mission at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. 
 Trotter is another of those who were converted under 
 the administrations of Harry Monroe at the Pacific 
 Garden Mission. Mr. Trotter did not travel with Mr. 
 Sunday but would come on just at the close of the se- 
 ries and assist with the last meetings. "I never was 
 officially connected with the Billy Sunday party" he 
 says, "although I used to go and take his last Monday
 
 118 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 night service in nearly every meeting he had. In that 
 way I kept in constant touch with the work in almost 
 every city he was in. It is certainly wonderful the 
 way he moves cities for God. I know of nothing like 
 it in the world, and never read of any. 
 
 "I have been in many cities after he has left 
 them, and found that after a year, two years and even 
 three years, the interest is as keen as could be. Some 
 other cities the interest is not so keen, but I can almost 
 always find a reason for that locally. 
 
 "The town or city that can land Billy Sunday is 
 certainly fortunate. It means crowded churches ; much 
 work for souls; finances plenty, and an all-round 
 healthy spiritual growth. 
 
 G. Walter Barr, well known through the Middle 
 West as a writer of fiction and short stories, trav- 
 eled with the Sunday party for a considerable time 
 in the earlier campaigns in Iowa and Illinois. His 
 descriptions of the meetings and his analysis of the 
 character of the man although made in the opening 
 years of the present century continue to circulate 
 freely in the press of the country. 
 
 Homer A. Rodeheaver is an Ohio product born in 
 Hocking county and educated in the Methodist school, 
 Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware. Originally 
 destined for a musical and dramatic career, he early 
 abandoned all thought of this to take up music along 
 religious lines. In addition to his choir work and solo 
 work with the Sunday campaigns Mr. Rodeheaver is 
 the head of a music publishing house in Chicago and 
 in constant demand by Chautauqua and camp meeting
 
 SOME WHO HAVE ASSISTED 119 
 
 assemblages. His musical compositions are in demand 
 from coast to coast and he is one of the half dozen 
 great religious song writers of the country. 
 
 Associated with Mr. Rodeheaver in a musical ca- 
 pacity, also acting as confidential secretary to Mr. Sun- 
 day, is B. D. Ackley, whose home is Philadelphia. Mr. 
 Ackle is a pianist of exceptional accomplishment, the 
 author of many fine hymns, and is interested in a 
 number of musical publications. Originally a railroad 
 ticket handler in the East he abandoned this work 
 when his musical ability forced itself upon the atten- 
 tion of his associates. Mr. Ackley is a stenographer 
 and one of the few in the country who is even par- 
 tially successful in reporting Mr. Sunday in his tre- 
 mendous rapid-fire flights of oratory. Mr. Ackley 
 has composed the melodies for many of the songs 
 which are most popular and effective during the Sun- 
 day revivals. 
 
 One of the unique characters of the Sunday party 
 is Fred R. Seibert, who is known as "the cow boy 
 evangelist". He is also the keeper of the tabernacle 
 and the one person who is on duty 24 hours out of 
 24. Of German- Jewish extraction his features give 
 him out to be rather one of the Mexicans with whom 
 he associated so long, than what he really is. Born 
 in Waverly, Iowa, he was broncho buster for many 
 years and rode the range when that was an accom- 
 plishment that tried the mettle of which men were 
 made. He joined the Sunday party in 1905. With 
 all his life in the West he is a graduate of the Moody 
 Bible Institute, the author of a pamphlet on "Rescue 
 the Perishing" and is an adept at Bible quotation. He 
 can cite at will 1,400 verses from the Scripture. The
 
 120 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 conversion of Seibert dates back to 1895, when leav- 
 ing a gaming table to go home in disgust he passed a 
 church and was drawn by the music he heard to enter 
 and participate in a revival then in progress. He 
 was converted at that meeting and at once took up 
 work among the ranchmen and cow boys who were 
 his regular associates. 
 
 In 1906 Miss Frances Miller, a newspaper woman 
 of St. Louis joined the Sunday party. Her specialty 
 has been work among business women and the or- 
 ganizing of Bible classes, in which she has been pre- 
 eminently successful. 
 
 Miss Grace Saxe joined the Sunday forces in 
 1911. Miss Saxe has had a variety of experiences 
 in missionary work and is also a contributor of some 
 note to religious publications. While visiting in Egypt 
 she was assigned to go down the Nile and get an in- 
 terview with Colonel Theodore Roosevelt when he 
 \vas returning from his famous hunting expedition in 
 Africa. 
 
 The general manager of the Sunday campaigns 
 is Rev. L. K. Peacock, a minister of pronounced suc- 
 cess in Western Pennsylvania, who gave up his pul- 
 pit to follow Mr. Sunday. It is Mr. Peacock who first 
 meets visiting delegations, who threshes out the pre- 
 liminary arrangements for campaigns, who visits the 
 city once or twice before the meetings open, and who 
 is called upon to fill the pulpit upon those compara- 
 tively rare occasions when Mr. Sunday for any rea- 
 son cannot be present. The evangelist was attracted 
 to Rev. Mr. Peacock by hearing him preach. He 
 found that Peacock had taken a "run down" congrega- 
 tion and built it up until it was the leading church of
 
 SOME WHO HAVE ASSISTED 121 
 
 me city. "There is a man I want," Sunday remarked. 
 He got him. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Peacock is naturally allied to the 
 United Presbyterian church in which he was ordained 
 a minister in 1901. Houston, Pa. is his home. Mr. 
 Peacock has the distinction of being the youngest 
 moderator who ever presided over the United Pres- 
 byterian Synod. He is a graduate of Westminster 
 College and of the Allegheny Theological Seminary.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 
 
 Early records uncertain Compilation by Judge H. E. 
 Burgess List of campaigns, conversions and col- 
 lections Early records in Iowa towns Complacent 
 Maryville, Mo. Elgin, 111., builds first tabernacle 
 Keokuk, Iowa, and Pontiac, 111., show growth First 
 entrance into Colorado Record in Burlington, Iowa 
 First work in Minnesota Back to Colorado 
 Bloomington, 111., makes a record First appearance 
 in the East Spokane, Wash., eclipses all precedent 
 First campaign in Ohio. 
 
 123
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 CHE trite adage "mighty oaks from little acorns 
 grow" has no better exemplification than in the 
 history of the W. A. Sunday campaigns. Th. 
 monster movements swaying thousands and interest- 
 ing in some instances close to a million people in a 
 single city are the outgrowth of comparatively tiny 
 meetings whose history is lost in the shadowy recol 
 lections of the memories a quarter century old. This, 
 for no better reason than at the time they were not 
 considered important. The careful records which the 
 press of the country has compiled in the day of the 
 big campaigns were not made. 
 
 A detailed enumeration of even the more important 
 campaigns must lack variety and possibly that ele- 
 ment of spectacular interest which attaches to a ma- 
 jority of the activities of the evangelist. No work 
 that purports to be a biographical survey of his life, 
 however, would be complete without such an enumera- 
 tion. Unfortunately such of the records as exists 
 are in many instances conflicting or lacking in def- 
 inite authority. In that which follows a careful 
 effort has been made to sift facts from fancies and 
 so far as possible to give the best available informa- 
 tion even where it has not been possible to verify 
 statements made. 
 
 The commonly accepted -list of campaigns to- 
 gether with the reported number of conversions as 
 this has gone the rounds of the press is given below.
 
 126 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 It should be definitely understood that this is an un- 
 official list and that diligent efforts to verify a number 
 of the statements and figures have been without suc- 
 cess. 
 
 CAMPAIGNS 1904 AND 1905. 
 
 Cities and States 
 
 Conversions 
 
 Collections 
 
 Marshall, Minn 
 
 600 
 
 
 Sterling, 111 
 
 1,678 
 
 
 Rockford, 111 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 Elgin, 111 
 
 800 
 
 
 Carthage, 111 
 
 650 
 
 
 Pontiac, 111 
 
 1,100 
 
 
 Jefferson , Iowa 
 
 900 
 
 
 Bedford , Iowa 
 
 600 
 
 
 Seymour, Iowa 
 
 600 
 
 
 Centerville, Iowa 
 
 900 
 
 $1,500 
 
 Corydon , Iowa 
 
 500 
 
 
 Audubon, Iowa 
 
 500 
 
 
 Atlantic, Iowa 
 
 600 
 
 
 Harlan Iowa 
 
 400 
 
 
 Exira, Iowa 
 
 400 
 
 
 Keokuk, Iowa 
 
 1,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 Redwood Falls Minn 
 
 600 
 
 
 Mason City Iowa 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 Dixon, 111 
 
 1,875 
 
 2,000 
 
 Canon City Colo 
 
 950 
 
 
 Macomb , 111 
 
 1,880 
 
 3,100 
 
 Canton 111 . . . 
 
 1,120 
 
 
 CAMPAIGNS 
 
 1905-1906 
 
 
 Rantoul 111 
 
 550 
 
 
 Aledo 111 
 
 974 
 
 
 Burlington , Iowa 
 
 2,484 
 
 4,000 
 
 Rochester, Minn 
 
 1,230 
 
 2,250 
 
 Princeton , 111 
 
 2,325 
 
 5,036 
 
 Austin , Minn 
 
 1,388 
 
 2,250 
 
 Kreeport , 111 
 
 1,365 
 
 
 Proohetstown. 111. . 
 
 900 

 
 SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 127 
 
 CAMPAIGNS 1906-1907 
 Cities and States Conversions Collections 
 
 Salida, Colo 
 
 800 
 
 Kewanee, 111 
 
 3,018 
 
 Worthington, Minn 
 
 1,037 
 
 Kankakee, 111 
 
 2,650 
 
 Murphysboro, 111 
 
 2,180 
 
 Fairfield, Iowa 
 
 1,118 
 
 Knoxville , Iowa 
 
 1,017 
 
 Gibson City 111 , 
 
 1,000 
 
 CAMPAIGNS 
 
 1907-1908 
 
 Galesburg, 111 
 
 2,580 
 
 Muscatine, Iowa 
 
 3,579 
 
 Bloomington , 111 
 
 4,266 
 
 Decatur, 111 
 
 6,700 
 
 Charlestown, 111 
 
 2,467 
 
 Sharon, Pa 
 
 4,731 
 
 CAMPAIGNS 
 
 1908-1909 
 
 Jacksonville, 111 
 
 3,007 
 
 Ottumwa, Iowa 
 
 3,732 
 
 Spokane, Wash 
 
 5,300 
 
 Springfield , 111 
 
 4,729 
 
 Marshalltown , Iowa 
 
 2,026 
 
 CAMPAIGNS 
 
 1909-1910 
 
 Boulder, Colo 
 
 1,596 
 
 Cedar Rapids , Iowa 
 
 2,906 
 
 Youngstown, Ohio 
 
 ' 5,915 
 
 Danville, 111 
 
 5,000 
 
 Bellingham, Wash 
 
 4,500 
 
 Everett , Wash 
 
 ..... 4,000 
 
 New Castle, Pa 
 
 ..... 6,683 
 
 Waterloo , Iowa 
 
 4,500 
 
 2,100 
 2,100 
 2,100 
 3,608 
 3,148 
 
 5,000 
 5,611 
 8,000 
 10,372 
 6,000 
 6,330 
 
 7,500 
 
 7,353 
 
 10,808 
 
 10,734 
 
 6,022 
 
 3,490 
 7,080 
 12,000 
 9,000 
 6,000 
 5,500 
 
 8,000
 
 128 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 CAMPAIGNS 1911 
 
 Cities and States Conversions Collections 
 
 Portsmouth, Ohio 5,224 7,100 
 
 Lima, Ohio 5,659 8,050 
 
 Toledo, Ohio 7,686 15,423 
 
 Erie, Pa 5,312 11,565 
 
 Springfield, Ohio 6,804 12,000 
 
 Wichita, Kansas 5,500 10,114 
 
 CAMPAIGNS 1912-1913 
 
 Canton, Ohio 5,640 12,500 
 
 Wheeling, W. Va 8,437 17,450 
 
 Fargo, N. D 4,000 5,000 
 
 Beaver Falls, Pa 6,000 10,000 
 
 East Liverpool, Ohio 6,354 12,554 
 
 MeKeesport, Pa 10,022 13,438 
 
 Columbus, Ohio 18,137 21,000 
 
 Wilkes Barre, Pa 16,854 23,527 
 
 South Bend, Ind 6,458 11,200 
 
 Beginning with the campaign at Rantoul, Illinois, 
 in 1905 Judge H. E. Burgess of Aledo, Illinois com- 
 menced and has continued a compilation of the Sunday 
 campaigns. He has concerned himself only with the 
 number of conversions and his list down to the South 
 Bend, Indiana, campaign is as follows: 
 
 1905-1906 Rantoul, 111., 550 ; Aledo, 111., 974 ; 
 Burlington, Iowa, 2,484 ; Rochester, Minn., 1,244 ; 
 Princeton, 111., 2,325; Austin, Minn., 1,388; Free- 
 port, 111., 1,365; Prophetstown, III, 900. 
 
 1906-1907 Salida, Colo., 612 ; Kewanee, 111., 
 3018; Worthington, Minn., 1,012; Kankakee, 111., 
 2,650; Murphysboro, 111., 2,180; Fairfield, Iowa, 
 1,118; Knoxville, Iowa, 1,051; Gibson City, 111., 
 1,089,
 
 SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 129 
 
 1907-1908 Galesburg, 111., 2,508; Muscatine, 
 Iowa, 3,579; Bloomington, 111., 4,266; Decatur, 111., 
 6,213; Charlestown, 111., 2,467; Sharon, Pa., 4,525. 
 
 1908-1909 Jacksonville, 111., 3,007; Ottumwa, 
 Iowa, 3,660; Spokane, Wash., 5,666; Springfield, 111., 
 4,700; Marshalltown, Iowa, 1,987; Boulder, Colo., 
 1,596; Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 2,967; Joplin, Mo., 2,937; 
 Youngstown, Ohio, 5,915; Danville, 111., 3,127; Bel- 
 lingham, Wash., 4,500; Everett, Wash., 2,494. -x 
 
 1910-1911 New Castle, Pa., 6,680; Waterloo, 
 Iowa, 3,357; Portsmouth, Ohio, 5,224; Lima, Ohio, 
 5,659; Toledo, Ohio, 7,360; Erie, Pa., 5,312. 
 
 1911-1912 Springfield, Ohio, 6,804; Wichita, 
 Kansas, 5,245; Canton, Ohio, 5,640; Wheeling, W. 
 Va., 8,437; Fargo, N. D., 4,000. 
 
 1912-1913 Beaver Falls, Pa., 6,000; East 
 Liverpool, Ohio, 6,354; McKeesport, Pa., 10,022; 
 Columbus, Ohio, 18,137; WilkesBarre, Pa., 16,854; 
 South Bend, Ind., 6,458. 
 
 Seymour, Iowa, boasts one of the very earliest 
 campaigns. Its duration was brief as measured by 
 the standards of later years. Beginning December 23, 
 1900, it was concluded January 20, 1901, according to 
 a friend who participated in that campaign Mr. Sun- 
 day came from Elgin, Illinois, and went to Afton, 
 Iowa. The conversions numbered but 400 and the 
 free-will offering was $568. Fred G. Fischer was the 
 only assistant. 
 
 N. W. Rowell of Afton, Iowa, is authority for the 
 statement that the campaign in that town began March 
 6, 1901, and concluded on the 2/th of the same month. 
 The number of conversions given is 300 and the free 
 will offering $750. Mr. Rowell adds this statement: 
 "not to exceed 10 per cent of these 300 remained l\ 
 faithful members of the church." 
 
 9
 
 130 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Among the earlier campaigns for which no abso- 
 lute date can be assigned is that of Bedford, Iowa. 
 Rev. J. W. Neyman, pastor of the Baptist Church 
 there, placed the conversions between 300 and 400 and 
 the free will offering at $925. He says there were no 
 assistants, but in all probability he has forgotten Mr. 
 Fischer. 
 
 Rev. C. H. John, secretary of the Nodaway 
 County Anti-Saloon Alliance, at Maryville, Mo., 
 writes, "Mr. Sunday was here some 15 years ago. The 
 church people failed to give him any support in the 
 way of co-operation and his work here was not a 
 success. Personally I never have thought that the 
 fault was his. The Maryville churches were at 'ease 
 in Zion' and did not want to be disturbed. Their 
 greatest need today is one or two months of such work 
 as Billy Sunday is able to do." From all of which it 
 appears that even in that early part of his work Mr. 
 Sunday did not always meet with the co-operation 
 which is essential to his greatest results. 
 
 The editor of the Gazette of Sterling, Illinois, 
 another one of the early campaigns, gives the number 
 of conversions as 1,652 and the free will offering as 
 $3.250. 
 
 In light of developments it is almost amusing to 
 find instances where a Sunday campaign has com- 
 pletely passed out of history. Repeated inquiries to 
 various sources of information in Elgin, Illinois, pro- 
 voked the answers that so far as these people knew 
 Mr. Sunday had never conducted a campaign in their 
 city. Mr. Fischer the first musical assistant of the 
 evangelist, however, fixes the date as early in 1900 and 
 credits Elgin with being the seat of the first taber-
 
 SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 131 
 
 nacle ever built for these meetings. The future may 
 see in Elgin a repetition of the history of Homer 
 whose last resting place is claimed to be in several 
 cities through which the poet begged his way in life. 
 
 The editor of the News in Atlantic, Iowa, fixes 
 the campaign in that city as February 1902, the num- 
 ber of conversions 565 and the free will offering at 
 $1,500. Fred G. Fischer and local pastors constituted 
 the only assistants at the time. 
 
 Beginning with the year 1904 reasonably definite 
 records are available. 
 
 Marshall, Minnesota, enjoyed a successful cam- 
 paign in the months of January and February 1904, the 
 number of conversions is given as 620 and the free 
 will offering $2,100. 
 
 The campaign at Keokuk, Iowa, marks the first 
 appearance of Rev. I. E. Honeywell. The work in 
 that city began the 5th of October 1904, and continued 
 for four weeks after which the evangelist and his party 
 moved to Pontiac, Illinois. In Keokuk there were 
 900 conversions reported, and $1,900 in free-will of- 
 fering. 
 
 Exactly one month was spent in Pontiac. The 
 campaign began November 5, and closed December 5, 
 1904. The number of conversions is given by the 
 editor of the Leader of that town as 1,054 and the free- 
 will offering as $2,503. Rev. Mr. Honeywell and Fred 
 G. Fischer were the assistants. 
 
 Even at this period of his work Mr. Sunday made 
 frequent long jumps between his campaigns. 
 
 Canon City, Colorado, according to the editor of 
 the Record of that town, had a campaign beginning 
 March 26, 1005, and ending April 23. after which Mr.
 
 132 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Sunday went to Macomb, Illinois. The number of 
 conversions is given as 934 and the amount of money 
 given to Mr. Sunday as $2,200, while $2,300 was re- 
 quired for local expenses. In addition to Mr. Fischer 
 and Rev. Mr. Honeywell, a Mrs. Connett of Cheyenne, 
 assisted as soloist. 
 
 At Macomb, Illinois, the campaign started April 
 29 and concluded May 28, 1905. The conversions are 
 given as 1880 and the free-will offering to Mr. Sun- 
 day, $3,146.30. 
 
 W. H. Davidson, Managing Editor of the Bur- 
 lington Haivk-eye, Burlington, Iowa, is the next to 
 report a campaign. "Mr. Sunday" he says, "came to 
 Burlington from Aledo, Illinois, beginning his meet- 
 ings here on Thursday November 9, 1905. The meet- 
 ings closed December 17. After a week's rest at his 
 home in Chicago Mr. Sunday went to Rochester, Min- 
 nesota, where he began a series of meetings on De- 
 cember 28, 1905. The result of his meetings in Bur- 
 lington were 2,500 conversions, and a free-will offer- 
 ing of $4,000. Mr. Sunday was assisted by Rev. I. 
 E. Honeywell, as chief of staff, and F. G. Fischer, 
 musical director." 
 
 The Rochester, Minnesota, meeting almost equaled 
 that of Burlington according to the report of A. P. 
 Gove, editor of the Rochester Daily Bulletin. Mr. 
 Gove locates the campaign as beginning December 
 28, 1905 and ending January 29, 1906, "The first ser- 
 mon" he says, "was not preached until December 30." 
 From Rochester Mr. Sunday went to Princeton, Ill- 
 inois. The number of conversions is given as 1,244 
 and the free-will offering at $2,206.81. "In addition 
 to this sum and the expenses of the campaign $16,-
 
 SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 133 
 
 ooo was raised immediately following the closing of 
 the Sunday meetings for the construction of a Y. M. 
 C. A. building." The same assistants participated in 
 these meetings as in the previous ones. 
 
 After a rest of only a few days the Princeton, 
 Illinois, campaign opened February n, 1906 and con- 
 cluded March 17, after which Mr. Sunday again re- 
 turned to Minnesota, that time to the town of Austin. 
 The number of conversions reported was 2,225 with 
 a free will offering of $5,170. The assistants were 
 the same as at the earlier meetings of that season. The 
 statements made here are vouched for by H. U. Bailey, 
 editor of the Bureau County Republican. 
 
 Judged in numbers the Austin, Minnesota, cam- 
 paign did not measure up quite to the mark of the 
 campaign or two last preceding. It opened in March 
 and resulted in 1,387 conversions and a free will of- 
 fering of $2,367.53. This is the first campaign of 
 record were Rev. Elijah P. Brown, one-time editor 
 of The Ram's Horn, appears as an assistant. From 
 Austin Mr. Sunday went to Freeport, Illinois. The 
 data of the Austin campaign is gathered from the files 
 of the Herald of that city. 
 
 Mr. Sunday's second incursion into Colorado was 
 made at the opening of his work after a summer's rest 
 September 22, 1906, at Salida. The campaign ran one 
 day less than a month closing October 21, according 
 to F. C. Woody, cashier of the First National Bank 
 at Salida. Mr. Woody does not give the number of 
 conversions, but the unofficial record is 612, which 
 compares with the usual ratio observed between the 
 number of conversions and the free-will offering 
 which in the case of Salida was $1,300. This is the
 
 134 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 first campaign in which "Fred" is mentioned as hav- 
 ing charge of the tabernacle. 
 
 By the opening of the next season Mr. Sunday 
 had largely increased his working force. His campaign 
 at Galesburg, Illinois, began Saturday evening, Sep- 
 tember 28, 1907, and continued through Monday even- 
 ing, November 4, of that year. From Galesburg he 
 went to Muscatine, Iowa. The conversions are given 
 as 2,508 and the offering as $6,340.71. In this cam- 
 paign not only did Mr. Fischer, Mr. Seibert and Rev. 
 Elijah P. Brown, but a Mr. Butler appears as soloist, 
 Miss Miller is mentioned for the first time as having 
 charge of Bible class and Melvin E. Trotter assisted 
 at the meetings. W. W. Whipple, editor of the Gales- 
 burg Mail, is authority for data concerning the cam- 
 paign in that city. 
 
 The proportions of the campaigns continued to 
 grow steadily. At Muscatine, Iowa, according to 
 Frank D. Throop, publisher of the Journal, there were 
 3,579 conversions and a free-will offering of $5,611.23. 
 These meetings began November 10, 1907, and closed 
 December 15. After the Muscatine campaign Mr. 
 Sunday went for a visit to his mother who then lived 
 in Kansas. He remained there over the holidays re- 
 suming his evangelistic work at Bloomington, Illi- 
 nois. His assistants included Fred Seibert, F. G. 
 Fischer, Mr. Butler, Miss Miller, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Harper. There were 74 meetings in all and the cam- 
 paign involved an expense of $4,500, which Mr. Sun- 
 day as usual raised in addition to the free-will of- 
 fering. This was one of the first places where an 
 effort was made to keep track of the total number of
 
 SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 135 
 
 attendants and they are estimated in excess of 180,- 
 ooo. 
 
 At Bloomington, Illinois, according to J. L. Sco- 
 field, General Secretary of the Y. M. C. A., the taber- 
 nacle was made to seat 5,000 which was the largest up 
 to that time. Bloomington took on itself the credit of 
 being the scene of the first big meeting. The cam- 
 paign opened December 27, 1907, and ended February 
 3, 1908, after which Mr. Sunday went to Decatur, 
 Illinois. "The tabernacle cost $4,500," according to 
 Mr. Scofield, "the meetings lasted 38 days with 3,865 
 converts. Mr. Sunday received $7,763.17 and the ex- 
 pense of the meetings including the tabernacle was 
 $7,786.54. We had 102 regular meetings, with 375,- 
 400 attendance ; 896 cottage prayer meetings, with 
 1,400 attendance; 25 Court House meetings for men 
 with 1,500 attendance. Meetings for women were 
 held with 10,500 in attendance. In all a grand total 
 of 414,000." Mr. Pledger was Mr. Sunday's assistant, 
 Mr. Fischer had charge of the music, Mr. Ackley 
 pianist, Mr. Seibert in charge of the tabernacle, Mr. 
 Gill advance man and Miss Miller Bible teacher. Mrs. 
 Sunday also assisted in the women's work. During 
 the meetings Mr. Sunday had a number of evangelists 
 and missionary workers come to Bloomington to as- 
 sist for a day or two at a time." 
 
 The records established at Bloomington were im- 
 mediately distanced at Decatur, however, and the in- 
 vincible nature of the Sunday organization was fur- 
 ther demonstrated. W. F. Hardy, editor of the 
 Herald, has abstracted from his files the information 
 concerning the meetings and vouches for its accuracy. 
 He says : "The campaign opened February 7, 1908, and
 
 136 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 continued until March 17, after which the evangelist 
 left for Charleston, Illinois. The number of conver- 
 sions was 6,209 and the free-will offering $n,- 
 379.56. The assistants were Clifford Pledger, evan- 
 gelist; Fred Seibert, custodian of the tabernacle and 
 personal workers ; Fred G. Fischer, chorister ; Charles 
 Butler, soloist; and B. D. Ackley, pianist. 
 
 Making his first entrance into what is usually 
 known as the East Mr. Sunday opened a campaign at. 
 Sharon, Pennsylvania, in May, 1908, continuing for 
 five weeks after which he returned to Winona Lake 
 for a vacation. According to Ralph W. Roberts, sec- 
 retary of the Y. M. C. A., the number of conversions 
 in Sharon was 4,700 and the free will offering $6,200. 
 The assistants were Messrs, Fischer, Ackley, Gill, 
 Pledger and Seibert, and Miss Miller. 
 
 Following his vacation Mr. Sunday once more re- 
 turned to Illinois opening his fall work with a cam- 
 paign at Jacksonville. The first meeting was held on 
 September 25 and the series continued through No- 
 vember 5, 1908. This campaign immediately preceded 
 the one at Ottumwa, Iowa. The Jacksonville Journal 
 gives the conversions at 3,002 and the free-will of- 
 fering $7,837,20. The usual assistants participated. 
 They were: B. D. Ackley, Fred G. Fischer, Fred Sei- 
 bert, C. P. Pledger and Charles Butler. 
 
 Ottumwa, Iowa, enjoyed one of the big meetings 
 of the fall of 1908. E. P. Canny of the Ottumwa 
 Courier, is authority for the statement that: "Coming 
 from Jacksonville, Illinois, Mr. Sunday began a series 
 of meetings in Ottumwa November 6, 1908 and con- 
 tinued through to December 16. The number of con- 
 versions is given as 3,732 and the free-will offering is
 
 SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 137 
 
 given as $7,355-77- The assistants were C. P. Pledger, 
 Charles Butler, soloist ; Fred G. Fischer, choir leader ; 
 Fred Seibert, in charge of tabernacle; B. D. Ackley, 
 pianist, and Mrs. Muirhead, woman assistant. 
 
 Many new phases of the work are developed in 
 the campaign which followed Ottumwa, when Mr. 
 Sunday made his first excursion into the extreme West, 
 conducting a series of meetings at Spokane, Wash- 
 ington. Spokane was the largest city the evangelist 
 had undertaken up to that time, and he had doubts in 
 his own mind as to his ability to handle so large a 
 place. Spokane at that time had a population of 100,- 
 ooo. Spokane established a new record in the taber- 
 nacle line, building a structure calculated to seat 10,- 
 ooo. Rev. Conrad Bluhm, of the Centenary Presby- 
 terian Church at Spokane, reports the number of con- 
 versions as 5,666, and the free-will offering as $10,871. 
 The assistants were, Rev. C. P. Pledger, B. D. Ackley, 
 Fred G. Fischer, Charles Butler, Fred Seibert, Mrs. 
 Muirhead and Miss Miller. Rev. Mr. Bluhm was in- 
 timately connected with the campaign and in speaking 
 of it says : "His meetings began on Christmas night. 
 I had feared the opening night, it happening on Christ- 
 mas. Probably the most extensive publicity he had 
 to that time received was given to announce his ad- 
 vent to Spokane. We used the big advertising cars 
 of our two trolley companies ; we sent to all the subur- 
 ban railway stations huge posters ; we roused the In- 
 land Empire of which Spokane is the nerve center, a 
 district the size of New England, New York and New 
 Jersey combined ; we got the unanimous support of 
 our three big dailies; also of most of the suburban 
 press; we had large prints of the evangelist in the
 
 138 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 windows of the majority of our homes ; and from the 
 pulpit, the hustings, and every place where two or 
 three were gathered together there we met them and 
 they were Billy's. The impossible had been accom- 
 plished the man who was unknown, and who by 
 most of our people was looked upon simply as a good 
 evangelist instead of the evangelistic genius of Amer- 
 ica had suddenly become the first man among us; 
 Christmas night the citizens gave him a reception that 
 fairly swept the evangelist off his feet the place was 
 packed to the doors ! 
 
 "Mr. Sunday has been in few places where his 
 work has been more fundamental than in Spokane. 
 To this center men happened from the British Colum- 
 bias, from the Wenatchees, the Yakimas, from points 
 in Oregon, from the coast, and from far off California. 
 Later, from all these points, word came back express- 
 ing gratitude for the Providence that had led them into 
 the meetings that became their starting place for hea- 
 ven. Similar letters came from hundreds who were 
 converted by reading the excerpts from the papers of 
 his wonderful sermons." 
 
 The fall of 1909 found Mr. Sunday again in Colo- 
 rado, this time at Boulder. The meetings began there 
 September 5, and concluded October 10. The num- 
 ber of conversions is given at 1,347, and the free-will 
 offering $3,496.91. Among the assistants appears for 
 the first time Miss Anna MacLaren, the vocalist whose 
 work has become such a pronounced feature of the 
 Sunday campaigns ; Fred G. Fischer, B. D. Ackley and 
 Mrs. Muirhead also appeared, while Colonel Gill is 
 reported as the builder of the tabernacle.
 
 SOME GREAT CAMPAIGNS 139 
 
 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, followed Boulder, Colorado. 
 The campaign began October 29 and continued through 
 to November 21, 1909. From Cedar Rapids Mr. Sun- 
 day went to Joplin, Missouri. At Cedar Rapids the 
 number of conversions is given at 2,906 and the free- 
 will offering as $7,000. Rev. John Linden assisted 
 in these meetings together with Mrs. Muirhead, Miss 
 Anna MacLaren, B. D. Ackley and Fred G. Fischer. 
 W. G. Young, editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, 
 concludes his recapitulation of the campaign with a 
 characteristic expression. "We like Billy Sunday." 
 
 Mr. Sunday's first appearance in Ohio, where he 
 was subsequently destined to break all previous rec- 
 ords, was made at Youngstown. In Ohio Mr. Sun- 
 day encountered a different sort of population and 
 a different class of people, and the success of 
 his efforts was another demonstration of the effi- 
 ciency of his system and the uniform favor of 
 Providence which has followed all the evangelist's 
 campaigns. The Youngstown meetings covered the 
 months of January and February, 1910. It opened im- 
 mediately following the Christmas holidays which in- 
 tervened between the Joplin, Missouri, campaign and 
 Mr. Sunday's appearance in Ohio. From Youngstown 
 Mr. Sunday went to Bellingham, Washington. Mr. 
 E. L. McKelvey, a prominent merchant of Youngs- 
 town, reports the conversions as 5,965 and the free- 
 will offering as $12,000, a sum considerably in excess 
 of any to that time contributed. Mr. Sunday brought 
 to the Youngstown campaign the most complete or- 
 ganization he had had up to that date. It comprised, 
 Rev. John M. Linden, as assistant; Albert P. Gill, as 
 organizer; Fred G. Fischer, chorister; B. D. Ackley,
 
 140 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 pianist; Mrs. Sunday, Miss Frances Miller; Mrs. Rae 
 Muirhead ; Miss Anna MacLaren ; Homer A. Rode- 
 heaver, as trombone soloist, and Fred Seibert as cus- 
 todian. 
 
 For his next efforts Mr. Sunday returned to 
 Pennsylvania holding meetings at New Castle. There 
 his campaign opened September 18, 1910 and con- 
 tinued through October 31. Pennsylvania responded 
 even better than Ohio had done up to that time, show- 
 ing 6,683 conversions and $13,098 free-will offering, 
 according to the Herald of that city. Rev. Mr. Honey- 
 well, reappears as an assistant; Mr. Rodeheaver had 
 become chorister, and other helpers included Mrs. 
 Muirhead and Mr. Ackley. 
 
 Returning to the West the forces were reaug- 
 mented for the campaign in Waterloo, Iowa, which 
 began November 7, 1910, and closed December 19. The 
 assistants were Homer A. Rodeheaver, choir leader; 
 Mrs. Rae Muirhead, for work among women; Miss 
 Anna MacLaren, as soloist; Mr. B. D. Ackley, pianist; 
 Miss Frances Miller, as Bible teacher; A. P. Gill, as 
 architect ; Fred Seibert, as custodian of the tabernacle ; 
 and Rev. I. E. Honeywell, as assistant evangelist. Ed- 
 gar W. Cooley, of the Waterloo Reporter, is authority 
 for the statistics of the meetings in his city. 
 
 Returning from Waterloo to Ohio Mr. Sunday 
 took up a series of campaigns which practically cov- 
 ered all the larger cities of the state, excepting Cin- 
 cinnati and Cleveland. It was his work in Ohio prob- 
 ably more than anywhere else that attracted national 
 attention to him and brought him invitations from the 
 largest cities in the land.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 
 
 Significance of Ohio as a pivotal state The opening at 
 Portsmouth Toledo claims attention Campaign in 
 Erie, Pa. Phenomenal work in Springfield, Ohio 
 Wichita, Kansas, displays results Canton, Ohio, 
 comes next Wheeling, W. Va., pleased Work in 
 Fargo, N. D., and Beaver Falls, Pa. East Liverpool, 
 Ohio, visited McKeesport, Pa., next On to Co- 
 lumbus Columbus a crucial test All previous 
 records broken Sensation in near-by towns What 
 the Literary Digest said Some other great cam- 
 paigns. 
 
 141
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 SINCE the close of the civil war when the State 
 of Ohio got in the habit of naming presidents 
 and in other ways dominating the affairs of 
 state, any considerable activity that has gone on within 
 its borders has had a national significance. The met- 
 ropolitan papers of the East and West alike have 
 paid an unusual attention to the doings of the Buck- 
 eye State. The people are accustomed by long train- 
 ing to take an active interest in a great variety of 
 things, if these are properly presented. 
 
 Without arrogating to itself, however, either an 
 established wickedness or yet a peculiar disposition 
 toward piety, Ohio presented a logical scene for such 
 work on the part of Rev. W. A. Sunday as would 
 bring him most fully into the light of national at- 
 tention. Moreover the various Ohio campaigns which 
 the evangelist conducted beginning with the close of 
 1910 came after years of varied experience through 
 which he had perfected himself and his organization 
 and made himself ready for the greater things to 
 which he had been called. 
 
 Up to that time his achievements had been such 
 as to challenge comparison with the better known evan- 
 gelists of the day. From that time forward he was to 
 hear himself ranked with the men whose names have 
 rung through the corridors of time, since first the 
 Christian evangel was preached. The days of Luther, 
 of Wesley, of Whitfield and Savonarola were invoked 
 143
 
 144 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 for comparison, and as campaign after campaign piled 
 up its invincible figures, even these similes seemed 
 insufficient. Pentecost itself was the only achieve- 
 ment which Mr. Sunday had not surpassed. 
 
 The distinctive Ohio era of Mr. Sunday's work 
 practically starts with Portsmouth, where a very sig- 
 nificant campaign opened on the last Sunday of 1910 
 and continued for six weeks. As a result 5,200 con- 
 verts are reported and a free-will offering of $10,554 
 was made. The assistants at that time were: Rev. 
 Mr. Honeywell, Homer A. Rodeheaver, B. D. Ackley, 
 Fred Seibert, Miss Frances Miller and Miss Anna 
 MacLaren. 
 
 It was during the Portsmouth campaign that Mr. 
 Sunday made his first excursion into Columbus, the 
 state capital. There was at the time a vigorous wet 
 and dry fight going on in the legislature, and the Ohio 
 Anti-Saloon League induced Mr. Sunday to come to 
 Columbus for an address, which he delivered in Me- 
 morial Hall to a crowd which broke all records for that 
 large auditorium. The event made more than a state- 
 wide impression, as the talk, delivered with its accus- 
 tomed fire and vigor was a startling innovation even 
 to a press which had 50 years' experience with the 
 vitriolic possibilities of uncounted political meetings. 
 
 This visit to Columbus laid the foundation for 
 the call which was finally accepted in 1912. 
 
 From Portsmouth Mr. Sunday went to Lima, 
 Ohio, with only a few days of rest intervening. The 
 Lima campaign opened February 19, 1911, and closed 
 April 2. Rev. T. H. Campbell who was one of the 
 co-operating pastors at the time, reports the conver- 
 sions at 5,700 and the free-will offering at $11,324.
 
 I 
 
 K 
 
 H 
 
 r 
 
 
 H 
 
 x 
 
 5
 
 SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 145 
 
 The assistants were Rev. Mr. Honeywell, B. D. Ack- 
 ley, Homer A. Rodeheaver, Fred Seibert, Miss Fran- 
 ces Miller, Miss Grace Saxe, Miss Anna MacLaren 
 and Mrs. Sunday. 
 
 Exactly one week after the conclusion of his ar- 
 duous services at Lima Mr. Sunday opened the cam- 
 paign at Toledo, Ohio, April 9, and closed it May 21, 
 1911. The figures given by L. J. Beecher, city editor 
 of the Toledo Blade, shows that Toledo eclipsed all 
 previous records with 7,300 converts and a free-will 
 offering of $15,423.58. The assistants were Rev. I. 
 E. Honeywell, B. D. Ackley, Homer A. Rodeheaver, 
 Albert Gill, Miss Anna Mac Laren, Miss Frances Mil- 
 ler and Miss Grace Saxe. 
 
 Mr. Sunday passed over the borders of Ohio for 
 his next campaign which was at Erie, Pa., but returned 
 immediately thereafter. The Erie campaign opened 
 May 28 and continued until July 9, after which the 
 evangelist went on his usual summer vacation. The 
 conversions are given by the editor of the Herald as 
 5,314 and the free will offering $11,565.67. The same 
 authority says that the total collection for all pur- 
 poses was $21,926.83. The assistants were exactly the 
 same as those of the previous campaign. 
 
 Springfield, Ohio, which claimed Mr. Sunday at 
 the opening of his work in September, 1911, while con- 
 siderably smaller in size than the scene of his several 
 preceding campaigns almost equaled them in results. 
 During the six weeks that the meetings were in prog- 
 ress 7,000 conversions were reported, and the free-will 
 offering amounted to $13,000. James S. Webb, who 
 was an interested observer during the entire period, 
 10
 
 146 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 writing after the lapse of two years says : "The good 
 work he did here still continues and the live members 
 of our churches, Sunday schools and brotherhoods are 
 Sunday converts." At Springfield Rev. L. K. Peacock 
 had succeeded Rev. Mr. Honeywell as assistant evan- 
 gelist. 
 
 Once more Mr. Sunday left Ohio for a brief pe- 
 riod, conducting his next campaign at Wichita, Kan- 
 sas. The opening date was November 12, and the 
 closing was Christmas, 1911. From Wichita, after the 
 holidays Mr. Sunday resumed his Ohio labors at Can- 
 ton. Rev. Andrew Brodie of Wichita, reports the con- 
 versions as 5,245 and the free-will offering $10,250. 
 The assistants were Rev. L. K. Peacock, Mr. and Mrs. 
 A. P. Gill, B. D. Ackley, Homer A. Rodeheaver, Miss 
 Frances Miller, Miss Anna MacLaren, Miss Grace 
 Saxe, Fred Seibert and Mrs. Sunday. 
 
 Rev. Jay W. Somerville, Pastor of St. Paul's M. 
 E. Church, of Wichita, Kansas, writes: "The work 
 has been abiding and has revolutionized our city. Many 
 prominent men were converted and have been a tower 
 of strength in the church. Out of this meeting came 
 the Layman's Evangelistic teams that have secured 
 over 3,000 conversions in 150 towns. Several churches 
 have been rejuvenated and the work is still going on." 
 
 A press dispatch from Wichita says : 
 
 Just one year from the organization of the 
 first team, 1,913 men and boys have been reported 
 as converted as the direct result of the work of 
 this aggressive lay ministry. Converts in other 
 towns in turn have organized teams and have ex- 
 tended the work into other districts, and report 
 similar harvests. A letter from a town in Okla-
 
 SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 147 
 
 homa expressed gratitude for the visit of one of 
 our teams, when 40 converts were secured, and 
 the writer added significantly, "We now have a 
 team of our own and have visited a number .of 
 places, and down to date" a period of about two 
 months "we have 125 converts." 
 
 There are bankers and barbers, capitalists 
 and cattlemen, dentists and drivers, editors and 
 electricians, lawyers and laborers, merchants and 
 mechanics, teachers and traveling men, all bound 
 together by one bond of faith in Jesus, one stead- 
 fast and consuming purpose to win men into the 
 Kingdom. These men walk long distances to hold 
 meetings, go in automobiles, or charter Pullman 
 cars, as the case may require, each man paying his 
 own traveling expenses and hotel bills, giving 
 freely of his time, substance, and service for the 
 Master. Lately, however, our independent Kansas 
 towns, when visited, prefer to pay traveling ex- 
 penses and give entertainment. 
 
 Conservative Canton, Ohio, was the next place 
 to feel the sting of the activity of a Sunday campaign. 
 The meetings opened there December 31, 1911 and 
 ended February n, 1912. Wm. A. Ernst, of the 
 Canton Repository, says the accepted number of con- 
 versions was 5,654. This excluded a large number of 
 youngsters, perhaps several thousands. The free-will 
 offering amounted to $13,000. The assistants were 
 Homer A. Rodeheaver, B. D. Ackley, Miss Frances 
 Miller, Miss Anna Mac Laren, Miss Grace Saxe, Rev. 
 L. K. Peacock and Fred Seibert. 
 
 Three campaigns intervened before Mr. Sunday 
 again returned to Ohio for active work. Wheeling, 
 West Virginia, had a series of meetings which started 
 February 18 and closed March 31, 1912. Charles E.
 
 148 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Miner quoting from the press of his city says "8,437 
 is the accepted number of conversions, the free-will 
 offering was $17,000." This was a new record in 
 offerings at that time. The assistants were the same 
 as those for the previous meetings with the addition of 
 George M. Sunday, a son of the evangelist, partici- 
 pating for a period. 
 
 Rev. W. S. Dysinger, pastor of the First English 
 Lutheran church of Wheeling, in a public meeting 
 two years after the campaign said "every church in 
 the city had derived wonderful results from the cam- 
 paign; that practically all of the new members who 
 were converted during the revival are still in the 
 church and that Wheeling people were benefited mor- 
 ally, physically and financially." Rev. Mr. Dysinger 
 cited three instances of good Mr. Sunday had accom- 
 plished that had recently come to his attention. 
 
 The first, he said, was the case of a huckster 
 he had met on the street. "You see that good 
 horse and wagon and that wagon load of pro- 
 duce?" the fellow said to the minister. "Well, 
 that's what Billy Sunday did for me." 
 
 The second was the case of a wife deserter, 
 who had been converted and had returned to his 
 family to protect and provide for them. Another 
 was that of a laborer who had, previous to the 
 campaign, been satisfied with living in a little 
 shack entirely too small for the needs of his 
 family. He "hit the sawdust trail" during the 
 Sunday meetings and immediately doubled the size 
 of the dwelling. "Billy Sunday and his preach- 
 ing made me do it," the fellow told Rev. Mr. 
 Dysinger, when the minister asked him what had 
 brought about the change.
 
 SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 149 
 
 The minister said his own church had re- 
 ceived 328 new members as a result of the cam- 
 paign, and less than a dozen had dropped out since. 
 He laughingly explained to the audience he wished 
 to lay particular emphasis on the fact he is the 
 pastor of a Lutheran church. 
 
 "If the people don't stick," the minister said 
 in conclusion, "don't blame Billy Sunday. It isn't 
 his fault. Rather you should lay it at the door of 
 the ministers and the people." 
 
 Making another of his long jumps Mr. Sunday 
 next directed his energies to the spiritual rejuvenation 
 of Fargo, North Dakota, a community, which accord- 
 ing to all published reports, stood in need of such at- 
 tention. Ralph R. Wolf, secretary of the Y. M. C. A., 
 defines the campaign as starting March 7 and conclud- 
 ing May 12, 1912, with conversions numbering 3,159, 
 and a free-will offering of $5,026. The same corps 
 of assistants that had been so successful in Wheeling 
 participated in the North Dakota work. 
 
 Beaver Falls, Pa., was the last place that meetings 
 were held prior to the summer vacation of 1912. The 
 Beaver Falls meetings according to Rev. Geo. B. Laird, 
 opened May 16, and closed June 24, 1912. The con- 
 versions were over 4,229 and the free-will offering was 
 $10,357.56. Rev. L. K. Peacock, Homer A. Rode- 
 heaver, B. D. Ackley, Mr. and Mrs. Gill, Fred Sei- 
 bert, Miss Grace Saxe, Miss Anna Mac Laren, Miss 
 Frances Miller and Mrs. Sunday added their energies 
 to this campaign. 
 
 F. S. Reader, editor of the Beaver Valley News, 
 which was within the zone of the Sunday influence 
 writes. "He was a great blessing to our valley."
 
 150 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 East Liverpool, Ohio, followed the summer vaca- 
 tion. The meetings opened September 15 and closed 
 October 27, 1912, according to C. V. Talbot, manag- 
 ing editor of the Morning Tribune. He gives the con- 
 versions as 6,354 and the free-will offering as $12,600. 
 The assistants were, B. D. Ackley, Miss Grace Saxe, 
 Prof. Hugh Laughlin, who took the place of Homer 
 A. Rodeheaver who was taken ill at East Liverpool, 
 Miss Anna Mac Laren, Fred Seibert, "Uncle Jimmy" 
 Johnson and Mrs. Sunday. Mr. Talbot concludes 
 "Billy Sunday is worthy of every boost." 
 
 McKeesport, Pa., practically a suburb of Pitts- 
 burg, was the scene of the second campaign of the 
 fall of 1912. The work started there November 3 
 and continued for six weeks, during which time 10,- 
 022 converts were made and a free-will offering of 
 $13,438 was secured. The assistants were the same 
 as those who co-operated at East Liverpool. 
 
 From McKeesport with only a few intervening 
 days of rest spent at his home in Winona Lake, Mr. 
 Sunday and his party came to Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 Columbus, because of the peculiar cosmopolitan 
 nature of its inhabitants and the extraordinary im- 
 portance attached to politics in that city at all times 
 of the year, and the further fact that the legislature 
 was in session, and that the inauguration of the gov- 
 ernor would take place during the period of the Sun- 
 day campaign, led to repeated predictions, both pub- 
 lically and privately expressed, that the usual results 
 attending Mr. Sunday's efforts would not be forthcom- 
 ing as they had been in the past. Seven weeks were 
 destined to disapprove every one of these assertions 
 and to establish new high marks in all the lines of his
 
 SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 151 
 
 efforts, most of which have not at this writing (No- 
 vember 1913) been equaled. 
 
 Joe Speice, the architect, who had taken the place 
 of Colonel Gill as advance man, builded for Columbus 
 the largest tabernacle ever erected for Mr. Sunday, 
 and the glory of the work which he carries on. Includ- 
 ing the choir loft which seated over 1,200 people the 
 auditorium had a capacity of 12,000 seats, and this 
 with few exceptions was tested at every one of the 93 
 meetings, so that at the conclusion it was estimated 
 that almost 1,000,000 persons had sat under the spell 
 of this wonderful man's preaching. 
 
 The total number of converts was 18,333, of whom 
 2,189 came forward on the last day, thus eclipsing all 
 evangelical records of modern times. 
 
 Mr. Sunday's offering was $21,000; the amount 
 collected for current expenses was $19,187.81 ; col- 
 lected for charity $2,381.55; special offering for the 
 women in the Sunday party $1,115.55; grand total of 
 moneys collected during the campaign $44,432.68. 
 
 The nursery, which was in a building adjacent to 
 the tabernacle, cared for 1,884 babies during the meet- 
 ings. A "check" was issued to the mother of each 
 baby to avoid confusion. 
 
 The revival opened December 29, 1912 and closed 
 February 16, 1913. 
 
 It was during the Columbus campaign that Mr. 
 Sunday was compelled, somewhat against his will, to 
 repeat a number of his sermons, because often the 
 12,000 who crowded the tabernacle was only a portion 
 of the throng which demanded to hear certain of his 
 well known sermons.
 
 152 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Columbus also broke all records for the "women 
 only" meeting, Mr. Sunday being compelled to give 
 the same discourse three times in the same day, a tour 
 de force of such magnitude that it can be appreciated 
 only by those who have heard the evangelist through 
 one of his large and exciting discourses. 
 
 The press of Columbus estimated that on that day 
 40,000 women heard Mr. Sunday. They began to 
 seek admission as early as 5 o'clock in the morning; 
 doors were opened for the first meeting at 10:30 and 
 closed at n, and at 11:45 the first sermon was 
 preached, concluding at 1 :5o. The second sermon 
 followed immediately and the third was given in the 
 evening. 
 
 To fully appreciate the significance of these 
 figures it is necessary to add that during all the morn- 
 ing hours a cold drizzling rain was falling. The ex- 
 citement on the outside so nearly approached a riot 
 that police reserves were called out to prevent acci- 
 dents. 
 
 The women finally "rushed" the police line and 
 literally battered down a large door to gain admit- 
 tance. The place was packed almost to suffocation 
 several fainting. Even the pulpit platform was 
 crowded with women, who sat on the edge. 
 
 On several nights Mr. Sunday was compelled to 
 stop his sermons temporarily on account of noise by 
 people who had climbed to the roof to peer through 
 the ventilators. 
 
 Columbus served to show the wide range of in- 
 fluence a Sunday campaign has in the surrounding 
 community. The following episode detailed by the 
 Columbus Citizen is typical:
 
 SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 153 
 
 Fire and ehurch bells rang, whistles blew, 
 shops shut down', stores and schools closed and 
 the people turned out en masse at Dunkirk 70 
 miles north of Columbus, on the T. & O. C. to 
 greet Billy Sunday Tuesday afternoon when he 
 changed trains on his way here from Winona Lake. 
 
 An automobile met him at the station and 
 whirled him to the biggest church in the town. It 
 was packed to capacity when he arrived. He threw 
 off his hat and fur overcoat and plunged at once into 
 a fiery sermon. Almost before he knew it he had 
 preached 45 minutes. He gave a call for converts 
 and 12 "hit the trail" not on saw dust, but on 
 Brussels carpet in the church. 
 
 When the time drew near for his train, Billy 
 hurried from the church, but not until he had 
 shaken hands with half the people of Dunkirk. "If 
 I go home next Sunday night I'll stop over here 
 again next Tuesday, and preach for you," Billy 
 told them. Then they cheered him. A big crowd 
 followed his auto to the depot, where they waved 
 good-bye as the train pulled away for Columbus. 
 
 "You people don't appreciate half what the 
 newspapers are doing to spread the Gospel in this 
 campaign," said Mr. Sunday Tuesday night, at the 
 tabernacle in telling of his Dunkirk meeting. "For 
 100 miles in every direction from Columbus they're 
 reading of these wonderful meetings and are be- 
 ing aroused." . 
 
 The ministers of Dunkirk, by long distance 
 phone had arranged for the meeting with Sunday 
 before he left Winona Lake, Tuesday morning. 
 "I'll stop anywhere between trains to preach God's 
 word and save souls," said Billy to his tabernacle 
 audience. 
 
 On another occasion to gratify the beautiful little 
 city of Marysville, 30 miles from Columbus, Mr. 
 Sunday denied himself his usual morning's rest, and
 
 154 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 by use of a special train, in each direction, was able 
 to reach the place, preach to 3,000 people who were 
 packed in the largest building, which the town pos- 
 sesses (a factory), and return to Columbus in time 
 for his afternoon service. 
 
 At the conclusion of the campaign, in which three 
 meetings occupied the entire day from 9 130 in the 
 morning until almost 1 1 in the evening the Ohio State 
 Journal, and afterwards the Literary Digest quoting 
 it, said: 
 
 Eclipsing all previous evangelistic records in 
 point of numbers of converts and in funds raised 
 by free-will offering for the exclusive use of the 
 revivalist, Rev. Billy Sunday wound up his seven 
 weeks' campaign in Columbus yesterday with five 
 rousing meetings, in which 2,231 people hit the 
 sawdust trail and $20,795 poured into the hands 
 of the tellers in checks, greenbacks, gold and 
 glittering piles of small change. 
 
 Scenes of the greatest dramatic moment 
 marked the closing hours of the campaign at the 
 huge tabernacle, which for a stretch of seven weeks 
 had been jammed with throngs of earnest listeners. 
 
 Thunders of : 
 
 "God be with you till we meet again 
 
 Keep love's banner floating o'er you, 
 
 Smite death's threatening wave before you," 
 
 died away among the rafters of the Billy Sunday 
 tabernacle; one by one the lights went out, one by 
 one farewells were said, the evangelist and his 
 wife, and then the helpers departed. 
 
 But many lingered, loath to see the end of 
 the day whose six monster meetings including one 
 at the penitentiary, were attended by 40,000 per- 
 sons who listened to the Preached Word ; when
 
 SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 155 
 
 more than 2,000 confessed conversion and nearly 
 $21,000 was collected, and which brought to a close 
 the seven weeks campaign that had shaken Co- 
 lumbus as nothing religious ever had shaken it ; 
 which brought 18,000 persons to make personal and 
 public confession of faith in Jesus Christ, and 
 which gave to Columbus last evening, every record 
 in modern evangelism. 
 
 Everyone was tired, everyone was happy, 
 everyone was satisfied. So pleased were those in 
 attendance at one meeting yesterday, that a resolu- 
 tion asking Rev. Mr. Sunday to return to Co- 
 lumbus was adopted with a cheer. 
 
 For more than seven weeks hundreds of busi- 
 ness men had neglected their private affairs, for 
 an equal period social engagements were dis- 
 regarded or sidetracked; for that length of time 
 60 churches had closed their doors, their pastors 
 had devoted the bulk of their time to advancing 
 the work of campaign and during all those days, 
 Rev. Billy Sunday, the baseball evangelist, had 
 talked and prayed, sweated and pranced about the 
 platform, besought and entreated the sinners, flayed 
 with scathing invectives every sort of wickedness 
 and endeared himself personally to multitudes who 
 either had been openly, or covertly, antagonistic. 
 Under the spell of this oratory and the persuasive 
 influence of his co-workers, all manner of men were 
 made to take a new view of life. City and county 
 officials, saloonkeepers and professors, society 
 women and shop girls, school children and avowed 
 agnostics, stood up and said "I publicly accept Jesus 
 Christ as my personal Savior." 
 
 There were held 95 tabernacle meetings, at all 
 but two of which Mr. Sunday spoke. At these 
 meetings there were present between 750,000 and 
 one million people. The total number of cards 
 signed was 18,333 greater than any number ever 
 secured in this country in a like period of time by
 
 156 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Rev. Mr. Sunday, or, it is said, by any other 
 evangelist. 
 
 The assistants were the same with the addition 
 of Rev. and Mrs. Wm. Asher and Wm. Collison. 
 
 "The interest of the newspapers of the city 
 throughout the campaign was intense. On the final 
 Sunday, for instance. The ColumbusDispatch moved 
 its entire news gathering staff of 20 men to the taber- 
 nacle. A "city news room" was established in the 
 Railway Y. M. C. A. adjoining, in charge of Manag- 
 ing Editor Johnson and City Editor Rieker. The 
 staff reporters were assigned to duty in different parts 
 of the tabernacle, in the temporary bank in the base- 
 ment, in the crowds that thronged the outside, etc. 
 They worked throughout the day and night and at 
 daylight Monday issued an "extra" giving a complete 
 history of the wonderful day several pages in all. 
 They sold by the thousands, like the traditional "hot 
 cakes." 
 
 Immediately following Columbus, Mr. Sunday 
 opened a series of meetings at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the 
 farthest East of any district in which he had ever 
 worked. The campaign opened on Washington's 
 Birthday February 22 1913. Rev. W. M. Randies, 
 pastor of the Bethesda Congregational church, gives 
 the number of converts as 16,548, and the free-will 
 offering as $23,527.66. In only this one respect did 
 the Wilkes-Barre campaign exceed that of Columbus 
 and the amount remains at the present time the record 
 sum raised at the conclusion of any one series of 
 meetings. Rev. Mr. Randies in commenting on the 
 number of conversions says:
 
 SOME GREATER CAMPAIGNS 157 
 
 With regard to the number of converts, this 
 needs to be said, quite a number were members 
 going forward to take others forward, some were 
 members that by this expressed a desire to reach 
 "higher ground" or to leave out of their lives 
 things that they had been led to see were wrong. 
 Some pastors report a number of duplications, some 
 of the duplicate cards bearing different dates (I 
 think this came thru new converts taking others 
 forward a little later and thus being counted twice.) 
 On the other hand this does not count the large 
 number converted in the weeks following the meet- 
 ing. As an example my church received 184 cards, 
 yet to date we have added 240 to full communion, 
 almost all of which can be said to have been the 
 result of the meeting. I think that a very con- 
 servative estimate would be that 15,000 were added 
 to the churches of the Wyoming Valley. 
 
 South Bend, Indiana, concluded the range of Mr. 
 Sunday's activities prior to the summer rest for 1913. 
 The meetings there opened April 27 and concluded 
 June 15. The accepted number of converts 16,398 
 and the free-will offering $11,200. The assistants 
 were the same as those who participated in Columbus, 
 excepting Mr. Collison. 
 
 Wilbur R. Armstrong of the South Bend Tribune. 
 who observed the entire campaign, makes the follow- 
 ing comment: 
 
 If the Creator had seen fit to make 50 Billy 
 Sundays simultaneously instead of but one, I am 
 firmly of the opinion that the army of Christianity 
 would shortly become the most formidable or- 
 ganization the world has ever known. That number 
 of evangelists of the Billy Sunday type with his 
 organization behind them could revolutionize the
 
 158 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 world big as it is. The baseball evangelist is un- 
 doubtedly the most remarkable preacher of his age 
 and the whole truth in regard to the effective work 
 he is doing never has, and probably never will be 
 known. Much of the benefits of a Sunday cam- 
 paign are buried in the young boy, the young girl, 
 the home, society and business and the general 
 public will never be able to secure all the facts 
 and it is not necessary. 
 
 Billy Sunday undoubtedly has as many true 
 friends and as many bitter enemies as any man in 
 America today. His friends know him largely 
 through his unusual work, and his enemies know 
 him as a destroyer of their particular business or 
 an enemy of their particular acts, or they are totally 
 ignorant of the man. Some of his most bitter op- 
 ponents in South Bend would not have gone near 
 one of his meetings for $5,000, much as they love 
 gold. It made them purple in the face if they were 
 so much as invited to his tabernacle, so afraid 
 were they that they might change their opinion of 
 him. The best estimate of the baseball evangelist I 
 have ever heard was made by Joseph D. Oliver, 
 Indiana's plow magnate. He said : "There is 
 nothing better in men than Billy Sunday himself, 
 and few things worse than his imitators."
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE GLADDEN-SUNDAY CONTROVERSY 
 
 All evangelists misunderstood Some historic examples 
 Opposition of Dr. Washington Gladden Origin 
 of the difficulty Dr. Gladden quoted in The Congre- 
 gationalist Higher criticism considered Dissen- 
 tion produces profound sensation Resolutions of 
 the Evangelical Association Resume of the Colum- 
 bus conflict Tempermental differences of Mr. Sun- 
 day and Dr. Gladden Wisdom of silence. 
 
 159
 
 // 
 
 /'//// 
 
 t .'t4il-.ii ' 
 
 THE SILENT Vow.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 UNIFORMLY it has been the fate of great men 
 to be misunderstood. The lowly Nazarene as 
 He walked by the waters of Galilee or preached 
 on the mountain sides was no exception. History be- 
 fore His time had recorded others only slightly less 
 unfortunate. Those who have followed in His foot- 
 steps with more or less vigor and courage have met 
 with the same misapprehension. 
 
 There is a saying that men are known by the 
 caliber of the opposition they meet. Armies are not 
 put in the field to crush a handful of riotous school 
 boys. The giant forces of intellect do not concern 
 themselves seriously with the vagaries of disordered 
 minds which crop out in various freak sects and isms. 
 
 Charles G. Phinney the evangelist who is so often 
 quoted and praised by Rev. W. A. Sunday, was 
 severely criticised by the famous Dr. Beecher and 
 others because of the methods he employed. John 
 Wesley from 1739 to the close of life was persecuted 
 and annoyed ; not alone by the magistrates, but by the 
 clergymen of his country, and these differences ex- 
 tended into his own family and threatened the natural 
 ties which bound him to his brother Charles. George 
 Whitfield could not agree with his great friend Wes- 
 ley, and papers and tracts were continually published 
 against him although he conducted wonderfully suc- 
 cessful evangelical campaigns both in England and 
 America. The friendship which existed between 
 11 161
 
 162 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Whitfield and John Wesley was at one time actually 
 broken and for a long time seriously impaired by dif- 
 ferences of opinion which they held upon church 
 government. 
 
 It is not strange therefore that W. A. Sunday 
 should come in agitated conflict with some of the 
 leaders in church work everywhere he goes. It re- 
 mained, however, for episodes growing out of the 
 campaign in Columbus to attract international atten- 
 tion to develop what has come to be known as the 
 Gladden-Sunday controversy. This controversy was 
 taken up, not only in the columns of the church 
 papers, chief of which was the Congregationalist, but 
 was caught up by the secular press everywhere and 
 given extraordinary space and attention. 
 
 Dr. Gladden is probably the greatest church au- 
 thority and the most powerful intellect who ever set 
 himself in opposition to Mr. Sunday and his works. 
 A dispassionate survey of the results is almost im- 
 possible at the present time (November 1913). Cer- 
 tain features that are easily apparent, point to a divided 
 result. One thing conclusively established by the con- 
 troversy was the tremendous loyalty of those who 
 had been most intimately associated with Mr. Sunday 
 in his several campaigns. Opposite to this was the 
 unquestioned fact that Dr. Gladden's attitude and 
 reasoning withheld from Mr. Sunday a call to In- 
 dianapolis and possibly other cities. More serious 
 than anything else, however, was the strife and dissen- 
 sion which the controversy provoked among the less 
 intellectual and more bitterly partisan of church work- 
 ers on either side. Both parties to the disagreement, 
 so far as they were individually concerned, let the
 
 THE GLADDEN-SUNDAY CONTROVERSY 163 
 
 matter drop when their side had been given to the 
 public. 
 
 Mr. Sunday himself never took part in the dis- 
 cussion. Whatever was said in his behalf was made 
 public by friends who may, or may not, have been 
 fully authorized in the premises. At no time did Mr. 
 Sunday in any of his public addresses mention Dr. 
 Gladden by name, and such publications as appeared 
 coupling the two names were due to unauthorized re- 
 pi eduction of essentially personal conversation. 
 
 On the other hand, Dr. Gladden who had opposed 
 the coming of Mr. Sunday to Columbus maintained 
 the strictest silence after this had been determined 
 upon. At no time during the Columbus campaign did 
 he do or say anything which could be construed as 
 opposition, unless it was the maintaining of his reg- 
 ular Sunday services. His first public utterance ap- 
 peared in the issue of the Congregationalist May 29, 
 more than three months following the close of the 
 Sunday campaign in Columbus. Because of Dr. Glad- 
 den's international prominence in the Congregation- 
 alist fold and in the educational and religious world 
 generally this article provoked the most wide-spread 
 discussion. 
 
 Dr. Gladden's article appeared in response to hun- 
 dreds of requests poured in upon him from all sources 
 where a Sunday campaign was contemplated. The 
 letters came from people who differed from the evan- 
 gelist in his methods. Leaving out of account for the 
 moment the differences in personality, which in them- 
 selves would have made any co-operation between 
 these two men impossible, it is of importance to know 
 first Dr. Gladden's attitude on some of the doctrines
 
 164 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 which Mr. Sunday preaches. In his paper entitled 
 "The Trouble About Billy Sunday", published May 
 29, 1913, in the Congregationalist, Dr. Gladden says: 
 
 The intolerance and violence which are the 
 native breath of Mr. Sunday furnish the first and 
 strongest reason for refusing to work with him. 
 /' In his first or second day in Columbus Mr. Sunday 
 said, "The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood 
 of Man is the worst rot that ever was dug out of 
 hell, and every minister who preaches it is a liar." 
 I could hardly believe my eyes when I read it, but 
 I made very sure that he had said it, and the same 
 thing was said in substance over and over. I do 
 not wish to pass judgment on the ministers who 
 listened, without protest, to that; I know what 
 their excuses were; but I could not, without for- 
 feiting my self-respect, have attended those services 
 until, those words had been withdrawn and humbly 
 apologized for. 
 
 Such language was repeated every day. Every 
 man whose opinions differ from those of Mr. Sun- 
 day is a liar; every day he mounts the judgment 
 seat of the universe and sends men by scores to the 
 right hand and to the left mostly to the left. 
 Statistics of a sort were kept of the number of 
 "conversion"; but of the number of those sent 
 to hell, by name, no record, I believe, was made. 
 It is a great omission ; for that is a large part of 
 the business. 
 
 All evolutionists are consigned to hell. Mr. 
 Sunday names one by one, those whom he supposes 
 to be evolutionists, and with a dramatic gesture 
 flings each of them into perdition. "There goes 
 old Darwin ! He's in hell sure !" And the en- 
 raptured audience yells its applause, as one evolu- 
 tionist after another is dropped into the fiery pit. 
 A staid Methodist preacher, who watched this per- 
 formance, said afterwards, "I would never have be- 
 
 1
 
 THE GLADDEN-SUNDAY CONTROVERSY 165 
 
 lieved, if I had not seen it, that an audience of 
 civilized Americans could show such a spirit as 
 that." The scene at a Spanish bull fight is really, 
 when you think of it it, less horrible. 
 
 It is well known to church workers that Dr. Glad- 
 den is a consistent believer in the theory of evolution 
 as it applies to all life, including the spiritual life, and 
 both his writings and his preaching make this clear. 
 This sufficiently explains his objection to the doctrine 
 which Mr. Sunday preaches. 
 
 Another thing to which Dr. Gladden objects is 
 what he calls the commercial feature of the Sunday 
 campaigns. Concerning this phase the article above 
 quoted goes on to say : 
 
 The commercial feature of this "evangelism" 
 is also a serious matter. It is far truer today than 
 when Paul said it, that the love of money is the 
 root of all kinds of evil; and the warning of 
 Jesus, "Take heed and beware of covetousness," is 
 counsel which was never before so pertinent. It is 
 the one vice of which a Christian teacher should 
 never be suspected. Mr. Sunday sets all that counsel 
 at defiance. It is notorious that he is making him- 
 self rich in this business of evangelism. At a con- 
 ference of evangelists held in Chicago last summer 
 one of the younger men told of counsel which had 
 been given him as to methods of work by "one of 
 the leading evangelists." Among other things this 
 leading evangelist had said to him, "I've got all 
 those other fellows skinned a mile in the free-will 
 offering." The name of this leading evangelist was 
 not given. Dr. Chapman thinks it should have been, 
 and so do I. Only one man could have truthfully 
 said it. 
 
 Mr. Sunday takes out of every considerable 
 city which he visits, for an eight weeks' service,
 
 166 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 money enough to pay the average Congregational 
 minister's salary for twenty years ; and his year's 
 accumulation would support one hundred foreign 
 missionaries. He is not reticent about this ; he 
 preaches about it frequently and defiantly; he in- 
 sists that it is nobody's business how much money 
 he makes or what he does with it. 
 
 Returning to the Sunday doctrines, Dr. Gladden 
 sums them up in the following paragraph : 
 
 As for the doctrine taught, it is the most hope- 
 less form of mediaeval substitutionism. Salvation 
 is a matter of contract; hell is a literal pit of fire 
 and brimstone; the Bible is verbally infallible; 
 every man who teaches the Higher Criticism is a 
 liar. Any minister who disputes any of Mr. Sun- 
 day's dogmas is leading his people to hell ; Edward 
 Everett Hale is undoubtedly in hell. Adventism of 
 the most crass variety is unflinchingly proclaimed ; 
 the world is going to hell as fast as it can ; all talk 
 about improving social conditions is rot. 
 
 Since Dr. Gladden is admittedly one of the 
 leaders in the Higher Criticism and was for many 
 years a personal friend of Edward Everett Hale his 
 sense of resentment toward what he understood Mr. 
 Sunday's attitude to be is not hard to understand. 
 
 Concerning the Gladden article which it printed, 
 the Congregationalist said editorialy, in the same is- 
 sue: 
 
 Dr. Gladden's powerful arraignment of Mr. 
 Sunday will undoubtedly convince many that he is 
 a man whose methods and spirit disqualify him 
 for effective Christian service. Others will con- 
 tinue to feel perplexed and almost baffled in their 
 endeavor fairly to appraise him and his work. We 
 have never thought of him, for an instant, as one
 
 THE GLADDEN-SUNDAY CONTROVERSY 167 
 
 to whom we could point as a model for young 
 people. He is far from being the best illustration 
 of the graces and virtues Christianity is supposed 
 to engender when given a fair chance in the human 
 heart. What we have said and what we are dis- 
 posed to reiterate is, that judging by what he has 
 done throughout the Western country, he has ap- 
 parently been the means of bringing into the Chris- 
 tian life multitudes who, humanly speaking, would 
 never have been converted. As one of his own 
 converts wrote us the other day, "The more I hear 
 and see of Mr. Sunday the more I wonder at the 
 instruments God uses for accomplishing his pur- 
 poses." Ultimately we are all brought to one or 
 the other conclusion. Either Mr. Sunday is a harm- 
 ful and devastating force whose influence blights 
 every spot it touches, or else, despite his glaring 
 faults, he is a man whom God, for reasons which 
 we cannot explain, sees fit to use for bringing many 
 persons into obedience to Jesus Christ. 
 
 God does not lodge all his gifts in one man. 
 Some men in the pastorate repel those whom their 
 successors win. Mr. Bruce Barton, in the article 
 which started this discussion, rightly said that the 
 question of Mr. Sunday is wrapped in the larger 
 question of the wisdom of all kinds of special 
 evangelistic effort. Many a good movement in the 
 Kingdom is followed by reaction and disppoint- 
 ment. Varied indeed are the modern manifesta- 
 tions of religion and some of its outstanding ex- 
 ponents sometimes not only offend our tastes, but 
 cross our most cherished convictions. We have 
 sought in our recent exploitation of Mr. Sunday 
 chiefly to fulfill our function as a religious news- 
 paper confronted with a remarkable phenomenon 
 in the field of current religious life rather than 
 to attack or defend him. Either of these courses 
 might be easier than to try and weigh the evidence 
 concerning him and his methods and to reach a 
 conclusion just to him and all the issue involved.
 
 168 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 These publications, coming almost without warn- 
 ing, produced the most profound sensation in the news- 
 papers in the cities where Mr. Sunday had conducted 
 a campaign and where Congregationalists composed 
 any considerable portion of the population. Mr. Sun- 
 day declined to make any reply and even said to friends 
 that he had never read the arraignment, knowing its 
 contents only by hearsay. His enthusiastic support- 
 ers, however, manifested no such control of their 
 tongues or their emotions. The ministers conference, 
 of which Dr. Gladden was a member, was sadly di- 
 vided. The Evangelical Association under the aus- 
 pices of which the Columbus campaign had been con- 
 ducted printed and had distributed a pamphlet giving 
 its side of the argument. 
 
 The co-operating pastors of the churches in Co- 
 lumbus adopted the following series of resolution : 
 
 As co-operating pastors in the recent evan- 
 gelistic campaign held in Columbus, Ohio, by the 
 Rev. William A. Sunday, we hereby deprecate the 
 unchristian spirit prompting the recent published 
 attack upon Mr. Sunday and his methods of work, 
 by a local pastor who bitterly opposed his coming 
 to our city and who was NOT PRESENT at a 
 single service during the campaign. 
 
 We protest against his article as being a mis- 
 representation of the facts and fruits of the cam- 
 paign, and especially would we repudiate the state- 
 ment that Mr. Sunday's doctrine was "the most 
 hopeless form of medieval substitutionism; salva- 
 tion a matter of contract; hell a literal pit of fire 
 and brimstone; the Bible verbally infallible." 
 
 Most emphatically do we declare against the 
 following statement : "The evils of the movement 
 are, the lowering of men's sentiments of reverence,
 
 THE GLADDEN-SUNDAY CONTROVERSY 169 
 
 the blunting of their finer sensibilities, the stimulat- 
 ing of their uncharitableness and censoriousness, the 
 commercializing of their ideas of Christian service 
 and reward, the blinding of their intellects by an 
 immoral theology." 
 
 We believe in Mr. Sunday as a man of God, 
 chosen to do what no man in this generation has 
 been able to accomplish, in elucidating the funda- 
 mentals of religion as set forth by Jesus Christ the 
 Son of God. 
 
 We believe the Columbus campaign, in far- 
 reaching and lasting results, is the most -successful 
 in every way of any in modern times. 
 
 Dr. Gladden is a man of wonderful personality, 
 beloved by all who know him. His acquaintance is 
 not so readily made as that of the evangelist, but is 
 prized by every man who enjoys it. His friends and 
 supporters are as loyal as those who follow any man 
 living. Yet, a number of them found it convenient 
 to be present at several of the Sunday meetings, and, 
 like most people who took the trouble, were disabused 
 of the prejudice which they had entertained. 
 
 In the 30 odd years of his residence in Columbus, 
 Dr. Gladden, has contributed a service to the city 
 which is immeasurable; not appreciated by some, be- 
 cause they are by nature not sufficiently endowed to 
 participate in it. No matter how successfully any 
 evangelist might riddle evolution and the evolutionists, 
 to his own satisfaction, there are still hundreds of in- 
 telligent men and women who are persuaded of the 
 general truth of that theory and who are loath to sur- 
 render their belief in the Bible and their faith in God. 
 To such number, peculiarly large in a university town, 
 Dr. Gladden has performed an unspeakable service.
 
 170 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 On the other hand, it is vain to deny that Rev. 
 Mr. Sunday in the course of seven weeks accom- 
 plished in Columbus some things which no one church, 
 or all the churches together, had been able to bring 
 about. For this it is possible to leave out of consid- 
 eration the large number of accessions due to dis- 
 puted conversions ; one of the debated points between 
 the two leaders. 
 
 The strong sentiment aroused by Rev. Mr. Sun- 
 day resulted in the closing of all up-town retail stores 
 on Saturday' night. The evangelist contended that 
 Saturday night stores operated against Sunday morn- 
 ing church attendance. This was brought about by the 
 fact that a prominent merchant was an officer of the 
 evangelical association and the very plain speaking of 
 the evangelist made it apparent to him that he was not 
 according his help the same privileges which he en- 
 joyed. His example aided and abetted by public sen- 
 timent, brought about the closing of practically every 
 large store in Columbus three hours earlier on Satur- 
 day night than was their practice previously. This 
 would seem like civic righteousness. 
 
 Other items, which were not considered of public 
 interest, have come under personal observation, the 
 direct result of Rev. Mr. Sunday's work in Columbus. 
 A number of business men voluntarily increased the 
 wages of their help, particularly the women, because 
 of the vigorous utterances of the evangelist on the sub- 
 ject of a living wage. 
 
 In a larger way more rigid law enforcements re- 
 sulted from the fact that the chief of police became a 
 follower of the evangelist. Saloons and drinking 
 places freely admit a very considerable decrease in
 
 THE GLADDEN-SUNDAY CONTROVERSY 171 
 
 business, not only during the campaign, but since its 
 conclusion. 
 
 Dr. Gladden and Mr. Sunday are fundamentally 
 different. Each is sincere in his convictions that the 
 differences of belief hold them apart. Disinterested 
 observers, however, incline to the opinion that it is 
 temperament rather than theology that separates them. 
 
 While a man of deep and tender emotions, Dr. 
 Gladden is essentially intellectual. 
 
 While a man of very considerable intellectual at- 
 tainments, Rev. Mr. Sunday is essentially emotional. 
 He has the advantage in this, that more people are 
 controlled, habitually, through the emotions than 
 through the mind, therfore, he has the lead in point of 
 supporters. 
 
 Dr. Gladden has said that it is too early to judge 
 definitely the result of Rev. Mr. Sunday's work. Yet, 
 this must be apparent; either good can come of evil, 
 which is a conclusion most men are loath to accept; 
 or else, that from which good proceeds must be itself 
 worthy. From this deduction it seems impossible to 
 escape. 
 
 No one regrets that Rev. Mr. Sunday came to 
 Columbus. 
 
 No one regrets that Dr. Gladden continues to re- 
 side in Columbus, where he is generally esteemed the 
 first citizen of the city. 
 
 The only regrettable thing is that two wonderful 
 forces moving through a very fertile field could not 
 continue their beneficial operations without coming in 
 to conflict, each destroying some portion of the good 
 the other has done.
 
 172 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 The echoes of the conflict continued throughout 
 the columns of the public press for many weeks, but 
 the last considerable announcement was in the nature 
 of a letter from the pen of Dr. Gladden printed in the 
 Columbus Evening Dispatch, and subsequently repro- 
 duced in the Congregationalist. 
 
 In this letter Dr. Gladden said : 
 
 It has been said a great many times that I 
 had no right to oppose Mr. Sunday, because I had 
 never heard him; that my judgment had been 
 founded on hearsay. This is simply silly. I have 
 never been in a house of prostitution or a gambling 
 den, but I have a right to protest against them. 
 With respect to a public teacher whose works are 
 known and read of all men, every man has a right 
 to judge. Mr. Sunday's sermons, in stenographic 
 reports, authorized by himself, have been printed 
 over and over in hundreds of newspapers. He 
 preaches the same sermons everywhere. He uses 
 the same languages everywhere. The bits of choice 
 English picked out and printed in the daily press 
 are substantially the same everywhere. Mr. Sunday 
 has never repudiated them; on the contrary he 
 keeps repeating them. 
 
 To say that one who has not taken pains to 
 inform himself with respect to this teaching has no 
 right to express an opinion of Mr. Sunday as a 
 teacher is simply fatuous. To a public teacher, 
 surely, the judgment of Jesus must be applied, "By 
 thy words thou shalt be justified and by thv words 
 thou shalt be condemned." I wonder if these 
 brethren have never expressed an adverse judgment 
 respecting teachers whom they have never heard. I 
 doubt if any of them ever heard Thomas Paine, or 
 Robert Ingersoll, or Mary Baker Eddy or the Pope; 
 and yet I am sure that they would not hesitate to 
 express their opinion concerning their teachings.
 
 THE GLADDEN-SUNDAY CONTROVERSY 173 
 
 Some of my critics accuse me of the same in- 
 tolerance as that of which I complain in Mr. Sun- 
 day. I think that my neighbors know that I am 
 not intolerant. I have never, in my thirty years 
 in Columbus, called in question any man's right to 
 speak his mind. I have never engaged in any con- 
 troversy on religious subjects. I have never re- 
 plied to criticisms on my own teaching. But when 
 a man comes into town and spends seven weeks in 
 preaching and teaching and practicing intolerance, 
 it seems to be necessary to raise a voice against it. 
 There is just one thing that a tolerant mind can- 
 not tolerate, and that is intolerance. That ought 
 to be plain without a diagram. But if one is needed, 
 here it is: 
 
 "For I am in love with love, 
 And the sole thing I hate is hate; 
 For hate is the unpardonable sin, 
 And love is the Holy Ghost within." 
 
 Gradually the sober minded men of the church 
 realized that no possible good could come of the con- 
 tinued argument. There was none who could directly 
 refute the plain statements made by Dr. Gladden. On 
 the other hand they were confronted with the fact of 
 largely increased church membership, with church ac- 
 tivity on the part of men and women, but particularly 
 men, who never had given time or thought to anything 
 concerning the church or the things for which the 
 church stands. Through the efforts of these lay-mem- 
 bers conversions continued to be made and accessions 
 were made to church membership in a manner that was 
 highly gratifying to the leading laborers in the Vine- 
 yard. 
 
 With the passing of weeks and months by tacit 
 consent the Gladden-Sunday controversy became a
 
 174 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 closed incident. The famous First Congregational 
 Church of Columbus went on to bigger and finer things 
 under the administration of Dr. Gladden, while the 
 co-operating churches which participated in the Sun- 
 day campaign enjoyed the fruits of activity and spirit- 
 ual blessings which they never had known before. 
 The differences which held the two great men apart 
 remain unsettled.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 "MA" 
 
 Value of her advice Traveling and maintaining a home 
 at the same time A woman's view of the woman 
 Husband amenable to wife The way Mrs. Sunday's 
 days are crowded The power of Nell The silver 
 wedding anniversary How the twain are one. 
 
 175
 
 Orr-Kiefer Studio. 
 
 BILL'S FAVORITE PICTURE OF "MA."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 nO account of the career and achievements of Rev. 
 W. A. Sunday would be complete or accurate 
 unless it made full recognition of the part Mrs. 
 Sunday has had in both. So nearly coincidental are 
 the Christian ministry and the married life of Mr. 
 Sunday that a separation of the two is almost impos- 
 sible. It is doubtful if either of the couple realize 
 the amount the other has contributed to the success of 
 the work. 
 
 Mr. Sunday was married about a year after his 
 conversion, but before he began actual evangelical 
 work. Mrs. Sunday, therefore, started married life, 
 as the wife of a base ball player. This involved a cer- 
 tain amount of travel and a variety of associations 
 vastly different from those which were to become her 
 everyday experience. 
 
 To thousands and thousands who have sat be- 
 neath the spell of Mr. Sunday's voice, Mrs. Sunday is 
 affectionately known as "Ma." Nothing could be more 
 effective and at the same time a finer compliment to 
 the woman than the manner in which Mr. Sunday is 
 wont to introduce her to his audience. After he has 
 presented the assistants, and the choir leader, and the 
 soloists, and the instrumentalist, he will usually end 
 by that terse phase "and this is Ma." 
 
 It means everything to the evangelist. In public 
 and in private he is generous in his acknowledgment 
 of the important part she plays in all his work. Essen- 
 
 12 177
 
 178 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 tially she is his business manager, practically she is 
 the buffer which comes between the preacher and the 
 thousand and one little trials of life which do so much 
 to disturb the even tenor of existence. At home and 
 abroad Mr. Sunday remains the impetuous sweetheart 
 which he was in his base ball days. In a recent cam- 
 paign he paid this tribute to Mrs. Sunday : 
 
 I've never yet gone contrary to Mrs. Sun- 
 day's advice that I haven't found myself up against 
 it. Nell wouldn't take first prize at a beauty show, 
 but she's got more good horse sense than any 
 woman I ever saw in my life. And I think she's 
 the most beautiful woman I ever saw, too. 
 
 The mother of four children, two of whom are 
 married, Mrs. Sunday has found it possible to spend a 
 great deal of her time traveling with her husband at 
 the same time maintaining a home for him first at 
 Chicago and later at Winona Lake. It has always 
 been open and ready for entertainment on a moment's 
 notice. For all her much living in hotels and continued 
 traveling, meeting with business men, clergymen, news- 
 papermen and others, Mrs. Sunday has preserved that 
 wonderful fidelity to her home instincts, and is in every 
 sense a home woman, quite as much as Mr. Sunday is 
 a home man, despite the little opportunity either has 
 had to enjoy a natural inclination. 
 
 A charming picture of the life of the evangelist 
 and his wife is given by Miss Julia Brandon Cole in 
 the South Bend Tribune. Miss Cole visited Mr. and 
 Mrs. Sunday at their home and giving her impression 
 of the woman says :
 
 "MA" 179 
 
 Mrs. Sunday is a homely women in the truest 
 sense of the old English word. Plain of face, com- 
 fortable of figure and characterized by a sym- 
 pathetic smile and the kindest eyes in the world, 
 her entire personality breathes quiet efficiency. 
 
 She sat before the broad window in the living 
 room of her home looking out over the lake the 
 other day as she talked about the coming revival 
 in South Bend and experiences which the party 
 has had in other towns. About her things were in 
 confusion for the household was cleaning house 
 in true old fashioned manner. 
 
 Although the two boys were excitedly watch- 
 ing dust gather in the glass jar of a vacuum cleaner, 
 seriously hampering the manipulator and the maid 
 was rushing about superintending odd jobs of the 
 men of the Sunday party who were spending a few 
 days at the cottage, the confusion seemed to fall 
 away from her. Matters referred continually to 
 her were disposed of instantly with quiet decision 
 and without interrupting the thread of her talk. 
 
 With a feeling of sympathy for the house- 
 wife whose home program must be continually dis- 
 arranged by the constant moving from point to 
 point I asked if she objected to the frequent up- 
 heaval of moving about. Here I received the first 
 insight into an attitude which fairly permeates the 
 entire household and party. 
 
 "Why, no," with a smile of genuine surprise, 
 "it is necessary, so I accept it as a matter of course." 
 
 Her tone held something of reproof and I 
 hastened to explain that in putting up preserves 
 and caring for household matters must of neces- 
 sity be difficult under such conditions. 
 
 "People should just see my provision closet," 
 she laughed, "I guess they would admit I don't let 
 my family starve." 
 
 "Mamma where's my tennis racket?" this from 
 young Billy, and she arose hastily to produce the 
 lost traps.
 
 180 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 As she seated herself again she fell to chatting 
 about revival reminiscences. 
 
 "You know about 75 per cent of the church 
 membership are women which would indicate that 
 they are more easily reached than men. But in 
 revival work I believe a man's heart is touched 
 more quickly than a woman. 
 
 "A woman once reached, however, will not rest 
 until the men she is interested in, her husband, her 
 brother, father or her sweetheart, have been con- 
 verted. Nine out of 10 women have unconverted 
 husbands and with tears in their eyes their first 
 request will be that we pray for their husband. 
 
 "It is seldom that a woman will grow 
 hysterical in the audience, improbable as that may 
 first appear. Generally hysteria or fainting may be 
 traced to physical or nervous condition. 
 
 "No disturbance is allowed, anyhow, from 
 such incidents. If a woman faints or a baby 
 cries, there is a trained corps of ushers who take 
 them out immediately before the interruption can 
 break the attention of the audience. Crying babies 
 are about the only thing Mr. Sunday is really fussy 
 about. 
 
 "He never allows scoffing or argument during 
 the course of a meeting he just says 'two can't 
 talk at once, and I'm on the job' and refuses to al- 
 low any discussion." 
 
 While Miss Cole was interviewing Mrs. Sunday 
 the evangelist came into the house clad in his outdoor 
 togs and after his fashion entered at once into the con- 
 .versation. Miss Cole asked him among other things 
 whether it were true, as had been reported, that he em- 
 ployes detectives previous to conducting a campaign 
 in a city. She thus details what happened :
 
 181 
 
 "That's one thing I wish you would explain 
 once for all, make it as strong as you please. I 
 never employed a detective to get information 
 against a town in my life. I won't listen or use 
 information given by anyone unless they are willing 
 to make sworn affidavit to their statements. 
 
 "Moreover, I never use an anonymous letter. 
 The first thing I do when I open a letter is to look 
 for the signature. If it isn't signed into the waste 
 basket it goes. I don't even read it. That's a 
 rule I made when I first began evangelistic work 
 and I have never broken it. I never saw a town 
 that had so many crazy ideas about me as South 
 Bend," he fumed. 
 
 He turned away brusquely. 
 
 And what about Sunday baseball, I called. 
 
 "I never compromise with the devil." 
 
 But if it is a factory town where men can't 
 go on week days and if they didn't have ball they'd 
 go to the beer picnics 
 
 "Why they go isn't your business. I'm against 
 it ! Once and for always." 
 
 "Papa," she interrupted, "I wish we could 
 get some grass seed in before the rain." 
 
 "So do I." 
 
 "Hadn't you better put it in?" 
 
 "There's a bucket back there. Why don't 
 you use that?" 
 
 "All right." 
 
 A minute later a pacified Billy Sunday crossed 
 the lawn lugging a big tin wash boiler of grass 
 seed. Then his wife pointed out where he should 
 sow it while she called to young Billy to go take his 
 music lesson. 
 
 "He won't go unless he's sent each time," she 
 laughed. 
 
 "Mr. Sunday always has strength enough to 
 do what is before him," said his wife later, talk- 
 ing of his reported recent nervous collapse. He
 
 182 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 speaks so often of the way the Lord gives him extra 
 strength. We see it plainly all the time. For in- 
 stance, he has to be very careful not to take cold 
 after a sermon when he is perspiring heavily for 
 it effects his voice. Now no matter how strong a 
 draft he may stand in when he is shaking hands 
 with converts, he never catches cold. 
 
 "Other times he takes a closed carriage to his 
 room and rubs down being careful not to get cold. 
 He never drinks water when he is talking as so 
 many speakers do." 
 
 Talk drifted to Mrs. Sunday's experiences in 
 Columbus where the women entreated her to ac- 
 company their car to Washington for the suffrage 
 demonstration. 
 
 "I couldn't go, I couldn't have gotten away in 
 the first place. Besides I'm not an ardent suf- 
 fragette. Women will probably have the vote in 
 time and that is all right if they want it. 
 
 "I don't believe the American women will ever 
 adopt the tactics of the English. They are too well 
 balanced and they haven't the provocation. But if 
 they had to stand what the English women do and 
 were treated as they are, I shouldn't blame them." 
 
 So much for life at Winona Lake. 
 
 At Steubenville an ambitious scribe attempted to 
 chronicle the activities of Mrs. Sunday during the 
 routine of a campaign. The Steubenville Gazette 
 gives this outline : 
 
 Arise at 8 a. m. 
 
 Breakfast, 8:30. 
 
 Hunted up Treasurer of Steubenville Evan- 
 gelistic Association. 
 
 Paid bills for Colonel Albert P. Gill. 
 
 Dictation one hour and a half to Secretary 
 Robert Matthews.
 
 "MA" 183 
 
 Opening left-over mail. 
 
 In it found bill for 70 cents for repairs to 
 furnace at Winona Lake home. Sent check for 
 same. 
 
 Dispatched payment for laundry bill to South 
 Bend, Ind. 
 
 Wrote and sent nine letters. 
 
 Answered phone a dozen times. 
 
 Helped Billy Sunday get ready to work. 
 
 Brought paper, sharpened pencils and pro- 
 cured other necessary materials. Sunday works 
 fast and likes everything directly at hand, so as to 
 insure no delay. It is Ma's duty to see that nothing 
 is overlooked. 
 
 AFTERNOON. 
 
 Man came to talk business. Mrs. Sunday 
 stayed at home to attend to this matter, thus per- 
 mitting Billy to devote his entire attention to his 
 regular duties. 
 
 Wrote and dispatched four more letters, one 
 to an expert accountant in Pittsburg; another to 
 a convict in the Ohio penitentiary. 
 
 Received two callers. 
 
 Answered a letter to the editor of The 
 Beacon Journal, Akron, O. 
 
 Two ladies called, one of whom had an ap- 
 pointment by mail. 
 
 Rodeheaver introduced a singer who wished 
 to try out with the idea of joining the Sunday 
 party. 
 
 Washed. 
 
 Supper. 
 
 EVENING. 
 
 Prepared her husband's clothing for three 
 changes during the day, took out and put in buttons 
 and laid out clothes ready for his immediate use. 
 
 Attended evening service. 
 
 Prepared Bill's lemonade.
 
 184 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Yes, Ma Sunday is some busy lady. Bill took 
 a sip of the temperance thirst-quencher, then said, 
 "And if Ma hadn't been here I'd have to attend to 
 all this. Wouldn't have had a minute for my 
 work." 
 
 That the helpful relation existing between Mr. 
 and Mrs. Sunday is apparent to the casual observer is 
 indicated by the following letter which appeared in the 
 Columbus Citizen after the close of the campaign in 
 that city in the usual column of letters from our read- 
 ers. Under a caption of "The Power of Nell" the let- 
 ter goes on to say : 
 
 Whatever Billy Sunday has done for Co- 
 lumbus, he cannot have failed to have left, deeply 
 imprinted in the hearts of all that heard him preach, 
 a wonderful example of the love of a strong man 
 for his wife. Who can have failed to notice his 
 loving references to "Nell." From the first day 
 to the last of his seven weeks' campaign he ac- 
 knowledged her power. Billy Sunday has come 
 and gone. That he had power and success is shown 
 by 18,000 human beings accepting his teachings and 
 publicly acknowledging their faith. He has shown 
 it by the subscription of $21,000 for his meritorious 
 work. But back of it all is "Nell." 
 
 Sunday evening when Billy Sunday had closed 
 an inspiring sermon in Memorial Hall and the 
 people were halting on. decision, "Nell" stepped in 
 to the breach, lead the choir and all unconscious of 
 her power swung several hundred penitent to a 
 public acknowledgment of God. And the beauty 
 of it all was that she was not striving to establish 
 something. No, she was just trying to show her- 
 self a real, live helpmate. Just trying to help 
 Billy, that was all. No wonder Billy Sunday 
 speaks reverently when he says "Nell."
 
 "MA" 185 
 
 Far more than the average outsider is permitted 
 to know Mrs. Sunday figures in the counsel of the 
 family and in the determination of the activities of the 
 evangelist. No campaign of any moment is agreed 
 upon without her assent. Anything like an innovation 
 in arrangements is referred to her for advice. Like 
 the wives of many great men she looks after the detail 
 of his physical comfort with great care. She it is who 
 sees that he has his overcoat immediately after a 
 period of strenuous exertion. She skillfully extracts 
 him from the throng of curious who press about him 
 at the conclusion of every meeting, and on the other 
 hand sees to it that not the smallest child who has real 
 cause to meet the evangelist fails of doing so. 
 
 Wherever possible in campaigns the Sunday party 
 secures a private home for living and for headquarters. 
 Only where this is impossible do they accept hotel ac- 
 commodations. Usually the family housekeeper comes 
 on and looks after the routine affairs of the house. 
 In determining upon the choice of a hotel for the Sun- 
 day party, the local committee has to be very careful 
 It must not have a bar. As the great majority of 
 leading hotels have, Sunday is forced to accept second- 
 class accommodations. In Columbus, for instance, 
 he refused residence at five modern hotels and settled 
 his party in a small family hostelry in a residence sec- 
 tion of the city. Quite frequently the smaller children 
 are visitors and whenever the campaigns are within 
 twelve hours by rail from Winona at least one or two 
 rest days are spent there. 
 
 In September 1913 the Sundays celebrated their 
 silver wedding anniversary, and press dispatches thus 
 describe the event :
 
 186 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Billy Sunday and wife reached the twenty- 
 fifth year of their married life on September 5th 
 and they celebrated the event quietly but happily 
 at Winona Lake. A number of their friends called 
 at the Sunday home during the day and offered 
 their congratulations on their silver wedding anni- 
 versary. Mr. and Mrs. Sunday received congratu- 
 latory messages from friends and admirers in all 
 parts of the country. 
 
 "The evangelist is just as devoted to his wife 
 today as he was a quarter of a century ago when 
 he was courting "Ma," then Nell, in Chicago, while 
 he played on the old Chicago White Sox base- 
 ball team. Billy always has an eye for the com- 
 fort of Mrs. Sunday wherever they go and if his 
 wife is not at his side he is continually inquiring 
 of her whereabouts. 
 
 Mrs. Sunday has business ability rarely given 
 to women and can conduct the affairs of her hus- 
 band evangelist better than he himself, accord- 
 ing to his own confession. 
 
 His little peculiarities, what he likes, what 
 he dislikes, how things should be conducted are 
 known to her and she always makes every possible 
 effort to see that accommodations are suitable to 
 his comfort. 
 
 Mrs. Sunday has that same tact that enables 
 a woman to accomplish great results while ap- 
 parently moving in the even tenor of her way. 
 Their home life is an ideal one of Christian com- 
 panionship and they have thus joyously passed their 
 silver wedding and are working on hand to hand 
 and hearts attuned to the sweet distant chimes of 
 golden wedding bells. 
 
 Until the last trumpet has sounded the world never 
 will know how much of what is accredited to Evan- 
 gelist W. A. Sunday, is in truth, due to the one affec- 
 tionately known as "Ma." She is a steadying balance
 
 "MA'' 187 
 
 wheel to an excitable and nervous temperament; a 
 sure source of inspiration when his patience is tried; 
 a buffer between the many annoyances of life and their 
 intended object; the sure and level headed counselor 
 when decisions must be wisely made ; the devoted and 
 unwearied assistant both in tedious detail and in splen- 
 did generalization Mrs Sunday has come to be known 
 among those who have had opportunity of intimate 
 observation, as the power behind the throne. 
 
 With the true moral instincts which the Saxon 
 race everywhere has come to revere, her greatest de- 
 light is in the success and achievements of her hus- 
 band. Without reservation her life has been given 
 wholly to him since the day they were joined in wed- 
 lock. From that day the star of W. A. Sunday has 
 brightened on the horizon until it has stood at the 
 zenith, flaming as the noonday sun. How much of that 
 light is Billy Sunday's, the base ball evangelist, and 
 how much of it is the self-denying, level-headed, 
 Scotch determination of Nelle Thompson, daughter 
 of a Chicago ice cream dealer, no one, not even "Ma," 
 herself can tell.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE EVANGELIST 
 
 Mr. Sunday's love for home The cottage at Winona 
 Lake How the rest hours are spent Description 
 of Bungalow Some notable presents The evan- 
 gelist's three hobbies What his neighbors think 
 Personal likes and dislikes of the evangelist About 
 clothes Some favorite books His career as a 
 writer The abandoned biography The Sunday 
 family. 
 
 189
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 XVOME there is a word to conjure with. Through 
 m/ the operation of a peculiar law which no one 
 7Ly seems to fully understand those love it most who 
 know it least. The Anglo-Saxon temperament, try as 
 it will, cannot accommodate itself to the nomadic prac- 
 tices of the Saracen and the Gypsy. The nature of a 
 man's calling signifies little if that calling takes him 
 far from home. A traveling salesman, actor, evan- 
 gelist, lecturer, musician or what not, not only cherishes 
 his home with a fondness and a vigor which those who 
 are more settled in their habits do not know, but mani- 
 fests in their homes a disposition and character at 
 variance with that which the world at large knows. 
 
 A man is both at his best and at his worst in his 
 home. Therefore, no man is fully known until he is 
 seen in his home. As no man is a hero to his valet so 
 do few men display in their homes those attributes 
 which the world at large admires. 
 
 On the other hand, only in the home are the 
 gentler aspects of humanity fully unveiled. The love 
 of home is coupled with love of children. Simplicity 
 of tastes and habits are the natural co-relation of men- 
 tal superiority and spiritual stature. 
 
 Winona Lake, a summer resort and Bible student 
 town which nestles on the banks of a little lake in 
 Northern Indiana, is "home" for Rev. W. A. Sunday. 
 Lionized from coast to coast he becomes here the vil- 
 lage oracle. Matched for him in greatness in the es- 
 
 191
 
 192 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 timation of the multitude is his fellow-townsman, Wil- 
 liam Jennings Bryan, who despite his official residence 
 in Nebraska is president of the Winona Association, 
 and has repeatedly spoken in public of its importance 
 and the work that is being carried on there. 
 
 Between Mr. Sunday and Mr. Bryan, Winona 
 Lake may rely safely on being kept before the public 
 eye as long as these gentlemen retain their normal 
 activity. 
 
 But Winona Lake is the place to see Mr. Sunday 
 as a man. There the human side of his character un- 
 folds itself to best advantage. There he has an oppor- 
 tunty of gratifying, in part at least, his love for nature 
 and his pleasure in communing with her in the simplest 
 manner. Mr. Sunday has said that when old age 
 creeps on he wishes to retire to a farm. Until such 
 time, however, Winona offers the proper compromise 
 between complete rustic existence and the crowd and 
 rush of city life. Raking the leaves, tending the lawn, 
 planting and pruning flowers, walking or sitting in the 
 shade of the large trees, reading, Mr. Sunday puts in 
 most of the daylight hours of his vacation days out of 
 doors at Winona. 
 
 The Sunday home at Winona Lake has been the 
 subject of considerable public discussion because of the 
 large sums alleged to have been spent on it. While in 
 Columbus Mr. Sunday made a public offer to sell it to 
 anyone who would give him $5000 for it. He said : 
 
 They have circulated the report that I live in 
 a $40,000 mansion. The facts are that Nell planned 
 the place and it cost us just $3,700 to build it. 
 Then we spent about a thousand more on interior
 
 THE SUNDAY COTTAGE AT WINONA LAKE, IND.
 
 THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE EVANGELIST 193 
 
 decorations and fixtures. If anybody's got the nerve 
 to offer me $5,000 for the place I'll take is so quick 
 it'll make his head swim. 
 
 The home is described as a modest frame bun- 
 galow with nine or ten rooms, standing on a stretch of 
 lawn overlooking the lake. 
 
 After a visit of Wilbur R. Armstrong of the 
 South Bend Tribune to Winona, he gave the following 
 description of the place and his meeting with the 
 evangelist : 
 
 "Come in and look through my $40,000 home," 
 said he laughing, "the house cost me exactly $3,800 
 to build." 
 
 Inside he explained the $40,000 connection 
 with his residence. 
 
 "Mrs. Sunday and I always call it out our 
 $40,000 home," said he, "because the 'booze crowd' 
 have advertised it from one end of the country 
 to the other that that is what I paid for it. The 
 truth of the matter is it cost me exactly $3,800, and 
 I spent about $1,000 in addition for interior decora- 
 tions. So it is an investment of just about $5,000, 
 exactly one-eight of the amount charged against me 
 by the 'booze gang.' 
 
 "We think we have it right cozy here, 'Mam- 
 ma' and I," said Sunday as he dropped into an easy 
 chair near the door. 
 
 A thorough search of the dictionary would 
 not bring forth a more appropriate word to de- 
 scribe the Sunday home interior and exterior, than 
 "cozy." 
 
 It is ideally planned and so filled with pretty 
 things that you want to ask the evangelist if he 
 has ever been tempted to remain at home for the 
 balance of his days. 
 
 13
 
 194 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 The question unasked, was answered indi- 
 rectly a short time after when Mrs. Sunday volun- 
 teered the information that "Papa" always dreaded 
 to think of leaving it again after a rest there. 
 
 The entire width of the front of the house 
 is taken up with one large room, which is a com- 
 bination of parlor, sitting room, den and music 
 room. It is finished and furnished elegantly. A 
 wide hallway runs from this room to the rear of 
 the house. On the walls are displayed beautiful 
 enlargements of various members of the evangelist's 
 family; oils, painted by Mrs. Sunday several years 
 ago, and other pictures of interest. The display 
 is so arranged that the passageway assumes the ap- 
 pearance of an art gallery rather than an unattrac- 
 tive hall. Other rooms throughout the house are 
 furnished on practically the same scale as the front 
 of the house. 
 
 There is evidence that expense was not spared 
 in furnishing although Mr. and Mrs. Sunday were 
 both constantly pointing out things of value about 
 the house which had been presented them by ad- 
 miring friends. 
 
 These gifts ranged in variety from sets of 
 dishes to Panama hats. The former were gifts 
 largely from people in the pottery towns of Penn- 
 sylvania and the hat came from Robert Wolfe, 
 "Bob" Wolfe, Sunday called him, the owner of the 
 two newspapers in Columbus, Ohio. The hat lay 
 on the bed in one of the rooms, a very ordinary 
 appearing hat at first glance, but one which would 
 have cost Mr. Sunday $60 or $75 if he had at- 
 tempted to buy it in a haberdashery. 
 
 One of the most notable gifts to the Sun- 
 days brought to light during the visit, was an 
 elaborate clock, six feet in height, which occupies 
 a prominent position to the front of the house. 
 This clock was the gift of a Masonic lodge in an 
 eastern city and its value is something between 
 $300 and $400.
 
 THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE EVANGELIST 195 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sunday are proud of their Wi- 
 nona home and they make no effort to conceal their 
 pride. The Sundays there are as different from 
 the Sundays of "the sawdust trail," as day and 
 night. 
 
 Sunday in the pulpit is a fiery orator; a mag- 
 netic figure who commands men; a man who utters 
 words of fire, which some people label vulgar and 
 coarse. In his home he is a quiet, orderly sort of a 
 person, who pets his children and visits with his 
 wife on topics of the day. 
 
 Mr. Armstrong writing on another occasion says : 
 
 Billy Sunday has three hobbies, religion, home 
 and baseball. The evangelist fairly revels in the 
 pleasure of his home. Not infrequently he travels 
 hundreds of miles while in the midst of one of his 
 campaigns to spend a few hours at his beau- 
 tiful cottage at Winona Lake. When he reaches 
 Winona Lake he immediately plans to secure all the 
 recreation possible. His usual natty apparel is 
 discarded for something old and tried and true. He 
 arrays himself in a loose fitting suit, a soft hat, 
 battered with much usage, and collarless shirt. He 
 spends every possible moment in the open air. He 
 derives keen enjoyment in caring for plants and 
 flowers on the lawn. 
 
 Residents of Winona Lake owe much to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Sunday for the beauty of the park there. 
 Each spring and at intervals during the summer 
 months they hire students at the Winona Academy 
 to clean up and care for the entire park. Often the 
 evangelist and his wife assist in raking the leaves, 
 carrying away broken limbs and otherwise doing 
 the work of gardeners. Mr. Sunday knows every 
 boy at the school. When he and his wife pass
 
 196 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 through the park they are the subject of continued 
 greetings. To the students Mrs. Sunday is "Ma," 
 and Mr. Sunday is known as the "professor." 
 
 The younger children William Jr. and Paul 
 share with their father in the unbounded admiration 
 for Winona. Although as much as possible he has the 
 children with him on his trips, proper regard for their 
 education makes this possible only at comparatively 
 long intervals, and there are few places out of the 
 many reached in the travels of Mr. Sunday that appeal 
 to the boys as much as Winona. 
 
 Mr. Sunday's neighbors are most proud of him 
 and his good wife. They always appear delighted with 
 the fact he selected Winona Lake as his home, and they 
 never make any attempt to conceal their pleasure at 
 having him with them. At the assembly each year 
 there is one day bigger than the Fourth of July and 
 Christmas. That is a day along early in the summer, 
 when Mr. Sunday delivers his annual address to his 
 neighbors and the patrons of Winona. Thousands of 
 farmers for miles around drive to Winona each year 
 to hear Mr. Sunday make his annual address. Usually 
 he delivers a new sermon at the opening of the assem- 
 bly, a fact which is always known to his neighbors 
 and a source of no little pride on their part. 
 
 Mr. Sunday's neighbors almost with one accord 
 agree that he is the greatest agency in the world today 
 for the cause of righteousness. The majority of them 
 there were converted through their association with 
 him, and they are probably as devout and God-fearing 
 group of Billy Sunday penitents as he can boast. 
 
 Dozens of people down at Winona Lake and at 
 Warsaw, Indiana, a little town a couple of miles from
 
 THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE EVANGELIST 197 
 
 the resort swell with pride at their acquaintanceship 
 with Mr. Sunday whenever his name is mentioned. 
 They swear by his sincerity, challenge his enemies to 
 prove their charges, and declare he is doing more 
 good in the world "than any other dozen ministers 
 alive." No matter where he is conducting a campaign 
 they watch the revival from day to day and their heads 
 are fairly filled with figures and statistics by which 
 they know whether "Billy" is proving more of a suc- 
 cess in one town than he did in another; just how cer- 
 tain of his more famous sermons succeeded in winning 
 souls, and the precise condition of health of himself 
 and wife. 
 
 In his personal life Mr. Sunday is simple. He 
 has his tastes, his likes and dislikes, but these sel- 
 dom express themselves in an exaggerated form. He 
 is a good dresser, a moderate eater, an omnivorous 
 reader, and a consistent devotee to outdoor life. De- 
 spite the extraordinary exertions he makes habitually 
 during his campaign, he enjoys exceptional health. At 
 50 he could readily pass for 40. With the exception 
 of an occasional attack of hay fever he is seldom ill. 
 To combat this insidious malady he frequently spends 
 the summer in the Hood River district of Oregon 
 where he owns a considerable fruit farm. It is one of 
 the Sunday traits of good will that he frequently sends 
 those whom he wishes to compliment in a peculiarly 
 personal manner, a barrel of apples raised on his west- 
 ern ranch. 
 
 Despite his continued outdoor exercises and his 
 extraordinary physical exertion incident to his preach- 
 ing Mr. Sunday is a light sleeper. Often he spends 
 but four or five hours out of the twenty-four in sleep.
 
 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Among any gathering of clergymen he stands out 
 conspicuously as a well-dressed man. It is seldom in- 
 deed that he effects the conventional garb of the pulpit 
 and appears rather as a dapper man of business. A 
 careful tailor has contrived to give him the advantage 
 of every inch of his height so that he appears some- 
 what taller than he is in reality. The physical exer- 
 cise which is a part of so many of his sermons is neces- 
 sarily severe on his raiment and this compels him to 
 carry what amounts to a cleaning establishment with 
 him wherever he goes. When occasion demands Mr. 
 Sunday can press a suit of clothes quite as well as he 
 can deliver a sermon. During a campaign he is fre- 
 quently obliged to change from head to foot as many 
 as four times a day, and this involves a wardrobe that 
 is quite large. The peculiar loyalty of the man prompts 
 him to have his laundry done at an establishment near 
 his home, so that no matter where he may be preach- 
 ing, huge bundles of linen go and come from Indiana. 
 
 Mr. Sunday's literary activities are carried on for 
 the most part at Winona and sometimes at his fruit 
 ranch in Oregon. The exacting demands on his time 
 during a campaign admit of very little new work. At 
 Winona it is his favorite method to take his Bible and 
 spend the long days beneath the trees reading. This 
 he calls resting and with the single exception of preach- 
 ing to a responsive audience, is his favorite occupation. 
 He is also fond of books relating to evangelistic and 
 kindred work. 
 
 "There are some books I like to read" he says, 
 "I consider the Bible the best of them all. I also 
 think the lives of Peter Cartwright, Charles G. 
 Phinney and John G. Patten are among the greatest
 
 THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE EVANGELIST 199 
 
 !- 
 
 of all books. Phinney converted the owner of the 
 New York mills at Utica, New York, and since he 
 campaigned there, the mills have not been in the 
 hands of non-Christian men." 
 
 In comparing his sermons for use Mr. Sunday be- 
 gins by noting various quotations and anecdotes which 
 will illustrate the theme he wishes to handle. Nota- 
 tions of these are made on all sorts of scraps of paper 
 and are then turned over to his secretary who shapes 
 them into memoranda. Gradually the sermon takes 
 form in the preacher's mind and then with a great 
 sheaf of notes in his hand he whips the whole into 
 something like the form in which it will be used. Sel- 
 dom if ever, however, are even his famous sermons 
 preached twice exactly alike. He never goes into the 
 pulpit with more than an outline before him. His ex- 
 traordinary memory permits him to quote lengthy 
 passages verbatim, but on this he does not rely for 
 effect. It is in the infusion of intense personal enthu- 
 siasm that the most remarkable results from his dis- 
 courses come. 
 
 In his earlier days Mr. Sunday made no effort to 
 copyright any of his writings. What he considered 
 unwarranted liberties with the text, however, later 
 prompted him to do so, and in a little more than three 
 years he copyrighted no less than 31 of his discourses. 
 
 The records of the Library of Congress show the 
 following titles, copyrights of which are in his name: 
 
 Amusements. 
 
 And he said tomorrow. 
 
 Atonement. 
 
 Backsliders. 
 
 Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
 
 200 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Get on the water wagon. 
 
 Great reward. 
 
 Home. 
 
 Hope. 
 
 How shall we escape? 
 
 How to succeed. 
 
 If any man will. 
 
 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 
 
 Incarnation. 
 
 Is it well with thee? 
 
 Judgment. 
 
 Little plain talks Character. 
 
 Moral leper. 
 
 Nathan and David. 
 
 No man cared for my soul. 
 
 Not far from the Kingdom. 
 
 Nuts for skeptics to crack. 
 
 Power of motherhood. 
 
 Question of the ages. 
 
 Samson. 
 
 Three great questions. 
 
 Three groups. 
 
 Twenty-third Psalm. 
 
 Unpardonable sin. 
 
 What must I do to be saved? 
 
 What shall the end be? 
 
 Title to one other copyright stands in the name 
 of Mr. Sunday, this is for a book entitled "Life and 
 Labors of Rev. Wm. A. (Billy) Sunday, the Great 
 Modern Evangelist; With Selected Sermons." It was 
 copyrighted in the year 1908 by S. T. Herman and E. 
 E. Poole, of Decatur, Illinois, and published by a 
 printing establishment in Chicago. 
 
 The only feature of the book, which properly can 
 be considered a life, are four pages of introduction. 
 In the first paragraph of this introduction there are
 
 THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE EVANGELIST 201 
 
 no less than five errors in fact, other portions of the 
 meager outline are more or less at variance with ac- 
 tual conditions, although there is nothing to indicate 
 any greater offense than carelessness. 
 
 The bulk of the 360 pages is taken up with re- 
 productions of sermons. The readers of the book, if 
 there be any, would have recognized whole pages of 
 familiar expressions which he had heard in the taber- 
 nacle. The evangelist, however, more intimately fa- 
 miliar with the construction of all his works, finds that 
 a number of his sermons were ruthlessly joined to- 
 gether and the entire continuity of thought disturbed. 
 
 Mr. Sunday, therefore, made it his business, at a 
 considerable outlay in cash, to secure both the copy- 
 right and the plates of the book, which he destroyed 
 and effectively prevented any further issue. Copies 
 are extremely rare and indeed none are known to ex- 
 ist outside of the Library of Congress. Thus ended 
 the only previous attempt to put in book form the do- 
 ings of the evangelist. 
 
 His public career has brought to Mr. Sunday a 
 number of offers to embark in educational work of one 
 sort and another. These he has steadily refused even 
 when they came in the attractive form of the head 
 of a department of an institution like the University 
 of the Southwest at Dallas, Texas, an institution with 
 millions behind it and backed by the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. Chautauquas and lecture bureaus have 
 offered him almost unbelievable sums, but they have 
 been regularly refused. When Mr. Sunday does de- 
 liver an address or a series of addresses outside of his 
 regular campaign his practice is to donate his services
 
 202 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 and to accept no other fee than his traveling expenses 
 to and from the place where he may be heard. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sunday have been blessed with four 
 children, one girl and three boys. Helen the oldest 
 born in 1891, is now Mrs. Mark P. Haines; George, 
 born in 1894 is also married, his wife was Miss Har- 
 riet Mason ; William Jr. who perpetuates the name of 
 his father, was born in 1902, and Paul, the only one 
 to receive a Bible designation, was born in 1908. Paul 
 was named after the evangelist's favorite apostle.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENTS AND 
 QUOTATIONS 
 
 Gov. Harmon and Mr. Sunday Gov. Tenet's opinion 
 Gov. Cox talks Famous wagon maker a friend 
 Preacher and prize fighter meet Told to Ohio 
 convicts At governor's inaugural reception More 
 Billy Sundays needed Mr. Sunday and his critics 
 Why Sunday uses slang Sunday newspapers barred 
 Advice to high school students What converts 
 cost Sunday on troubles Sunday's view on di- 
 vorce Prayer to the passing year Sunday's poem 
 of farewell Sunday favors woman's suffrage Ser- 
 mon to women only Sunday's journey through the 
 Bible Sunday on amusements Sunday's dream of 
 heaven Sunday's estimate of Solomon Sunday's 
 version versus Bible Paraphrase of feeding the mul- 
 titude, Sunday's version, Matthew's version Sun- 
 day's tribute to Gen. Lee Sunday's tribute to Lin- 
 coln. 
 
 203
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 mANY incidents of the life and work of Rev. 
 W. A. Sunday are of interest and worthy 
 of preservation, without having any essential 
 connection with his life's history. These have been 
 culled and set down, for the pleasure of the admirers 
 of the evangelist. Whenever possible the authority 
 has been cited. 
 
 There are also appended a number of quotations 
 and excerpts from his sermons, which have had an 
 unusual vogue in the newspapers. No attempt has 
 been made to give these their original setting. They 
 are given here for convenient reference in a perma- 
 nent form. 
 
 GOVERNOR JUDSON HARMON AND MR. SUNDAY 
 
 When Evangelist Billy Sunday and Governor 
 Harmon exchanged greetings in the latter's office Sat- 
 urday two things of similarity in their lives developed 
 about which they could swap pleasantries. 
 
 "Your father was a preacher and so was mine," 
 said Uncle Jud. Whereupon they shook on the fact. 
 
 Then Governor Harmon held up his right hand, 
 exhibited a gnarled and bent digit and smilingly said, 
 "and we're pals when it comes to the diamond, too. 
 You know I used to play baseball and there's a finger 
 I had broken in a game." 
 
 Billy then displayed both hands, neither one evi- 
 dencing any scars of the diamond. "Nope, I haven't 
 
 205
 
 206 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 any," he said. "I used to be pretty lucky on the dia- 
 mond and never managed to get my fingers in the way 
 of the ball." Columbus Citizen. 
 
 GOVERNOR TENER'S OPINION 
 
 Asked what he thought of Billy Sunday, Gov. 
 Tener, of Pennsylvania, who played ball against him 
 back in the nineties, made answer in this semi-solil- 
 oquy and semi-quiz fashion: "Wouldn't he make a 
 dandy in politics?" 
 
 Those who know something of politics and who 
 have heard Sunday quite agree with Pennsylvania's 
 chief executive. Steubenville Gazette. 
 
 GOVERNOR JAMES M. COX TALKS 
 
 "Billy Sunday's success in this city ought not to 
 be surprising. The man has a wonderful personality. 
 He has a splendid organization. He has the right side 
 of the argument. He is simply bound to succeed at 
 anything he undertakes and we are all fortunate that 
 he has undertaken to help men to lead better lives by 
 inducing them to embrace religion." 
 
 Columbus Dispatch. 
 
 FAMOUS WAGON MAKER A FRIEND 
 
 "Hello, Clem/' 
 
 "Howdy, Bill!" 
 
 That's all that could be heard of a conversation 
 between Clement Studebaker, jr., of Sounth Bend, and 
 Billy Sunday just before he began his evening sermon 
 in the tabernacle last night.
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 207 
 
 It was a reunion of old college chums for the two 
 men were classmates at Northwestern University, 
 Chicago, in 1888 and 1889 and have had no opportunity 
 to get together in years. 
 
 Meeting Mr. Studebaker again, and talking of old 
 times together, was one of Mr. Sunday's desires as 
 soon as he decided he would come to South Bend. 
 
 While his old classmate pleaded for the cause of 
 revivals in probably the most eloquent sermon he has 
 delivered thus far, Mr. Studebaker sat with members 
 of the Sunday party just behind the evangelist. J. 
 M. Studebaker, sr., who has known Sunday for a num- 
 ber of years, sat with the other Mr. Studebaker, also 
 as a guest of the Sunday party. South Bend Tribune. 
 
 PREACHER AND PRIZE FIGHTER MEET 
 
 "Battling Nelson is the whitest pug in the busi- 
 ness," said Evangelist Billy Sunday Monday. 
 
 "I never met Bat until yesterday. He strikes me 
 as a mighty fine fellow and I was awfully glad to see 
 him at the meeting Sunday night. He tells me he 
 does not drink, smoke or chew, and I consider him 
 one of the straightest men in the fighting line." 
 
 "Billy's great," exclaimed Battling Nelson Sun- 
 day night during the evangelist's sermon. "He ain't 
 afraid to say what he thinks and I like him for it. I 
 really have no religion myself except that of doing 
 what I think is right, and I sometimes believe that is 
 the best kind of religion ; better anyway than that of 
 some of these religious fanatics." 
 
 Columbus Citizen,
 
 208 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 TOLD TO OHIO CONVICTS 
 
 Alexander Motherwell, superintendent of the 
 Buick Motor Co. of Flint, Mich., gave an interesting 
 testimonial. "Thirty years ago I helped build these 
 walls about you and also the water tower which pro- 
 tects these buildings from fire," he said. "Twenty 
 years ago I was chasing through the country to keep 
 out of this prison. I was converted by Rev. Mr. Sun- 
 day ten years ago in Chicago, and started working 
 regularly. I kept climbing from humble positions to 
 foreman, superintendent, until now I am out of debt, 
 own my home and drive my own automobile. Thirty 
 years ago there wasn't a man in Lancaster who would 
 lend me fifty cents. Last summer I went down there, 
 took the leading banker out in my machine, and fin- 
 ally sold him one. There was a time down there when 
 they said I wouldn't amount to a 'whip scratch,' and 
 I didn't until I took the word of Jesus Christ." 
 
 Columbus Dispatch. 
 
 AT GOVERNOR'S INAUGURAL RECEPTION 
 
 Billy Sunday attended the governor's reception at 
 the State House Monday evening. It was at first ru- 
 mored that the evangelist, who had frowned on the 
 inaugural ball, would not attend the reception, but at 
 about 8 130 he appeared, accompanied by Mrs. Sunday 
 and B. D. Ackley and went down the receiving line. 
 
 Before they reached the senate chamber, however, 
 Billy became lost in the "wilds" of the State House 
 and had to be accompanied by an usher. He and Mrs. 
 Sunday awaited their turn in the great crowd that was 
 waiting to go "down the line." The man next to the
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 209 
 
 governor did not recognize Billy when he came along, 
 asked him his name and then presented him to the 
 governor, as "Mr. Saunders." But the governor recog- 
 nized him. 'Well, well" he said putting out his hand, 
 "I'm glad to see you. You're coming down to see me 
 before you leave, aren't you?" 
 
 "You bet," said Billy. 
 
 Before the reception Sunday had ridden in the 
 inaugural parade and attended the formal 6 o'clock 
 dinner at the Ohio club. 
 
 This dinner, although brief, was one of the hap- 
 piest events of the day. "Billy" Sunday turned his 
 wine glass upside down and asked the blessing before 
 the "eats." 
 
 "We beseech Thee to bless Governor Cox and the 
 state officials who today took hold of the guiding reins 
 of the state government," Sunday prayed, "and we 
 thank Thee that today when Governor Cox took the 
 oath of office his hand rested on the old family Bible, 
 in which is recorded the names of children and which 
 is probably stained with the tears of his old mother, 
 who has read and pondered over its pages and who 
 taught the family to love and revere the Christ which 
 it reveals." Columbus Citizen. 
 
 i 
 
 MORE BILLY SUNDAYS NEEDED 
 
 This country, and the world, should have more 
 Billy Sundays in the evangelistic field. Humanity to- 
 day is in more of a receptive mood, so far as religion 
 is concerned, than ever before in the history of man- 
 kind. What is known as the "Men and Religion Move- 
 ment" is gaining more and more force and momentum 
 
 14
 
 210 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 every year. This sort of a movement a quarter of a 
 century ago would have proven a flat failure because 
 of lack of interest or sympathy, while at the present 
 time some of the strongest men in the country are 
 giving it their most hearty support. 
 
 We are not surprised to learn that Billy Sunday 
 has made a great success of the Columbus campaign. 
 He will make a success wherever he goes, because the 
 people of no city are quite so dense as not to be able 
 to see the good which he accomplishes in their midst. 
 East Liverpool Review. 
 
 MR. SUNDAY AND HIS CRITICS 
 
 In one hundred years of Columbus history, there 
 is no record of anybody who preached here the gospel 
 of Jesus Christ as Billy Sunday is now preaching it. 
 There are many who do not like it and do not hesi- 
 tate to say so. They object to this, that and the other 
 feature of the evangelistic campaign, and perhaps they 
 are right. 
 
 The fact remains, however, that there are many, 
 perhaps more, who do like this unconventional, rough- 
 and-tumble preaching and seem likely to be benefited 
 by it. There is the testimony of one of his critics that 
 Mr. Sunday is preaching the greatest fundamental 
 truths of right living. The accessories only are ob- 
 jected to. But these are for him what the circulation 
 department is to a newspaper. They make it possible 
 for him to tell the truth to tens of thousands where 
 he might otherwise proclaim it only to empty benches. 
 
 Columbus Dispatch,
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 211 
 
 WHY SUNDAY USES SLANG 
 
 During one of his sermons yesterday Sunday 
 halted long enough to tell the people why he likes to 
 use slang expressions. 
 
 "I like good old Anglo-Saxon words," said the 
 evangelist. "They mean more and have more power 
 behind them. If I should come here and say you were 
 prevaricators and evaders of the truth instead of call- 
 ing you the liars that some of you are, it would make 
 no more impression than water on a duck's back. 
 Slang gets the thing in a nut-shell and makes it easy 
 for the people to understand. Preachers would get 
 along much better if they used words of a plainer 
 type so that the ordinary class would know what they 
 are talking about. Columbus Dispatch. 
 
 SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS BARRED. 
 
 Reading Sunday newspapers in Billy Sunday's 
 tabernacles is tabooed. Fred Seibert, tabernacle boss, 
 forcibly impressed this fact upon a number of persons 
 who went early to secure seats after buying a paper 
 on the way, Sunday morning. Scarcely had they un- 
 folded the "sheets" and glanced at "Snookums" and 
 the other funny pages than Fred tapped them on the 
 shoulder. 
 
 "No reading of Sunday papers allowed here, sirs," 
 he said. "If you want to read, get your Bibles and 
 read the first and second chapters of Paul's epistle to 
 Titus." 
 
 ADVICE TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 
 
 "Be careful where you let your mind go. Don't 
 read bad books. Don't go round wearing your hat
 
 212 } REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 cocked over one ear. Don't talk too much. Some 
 people would make more friends and keep them if 
 they were dumb. David didn't make himself the hero 
 of every story he told. The Bible makes it plain that 
 the bulldog always gets it in the neck." 
 
 "Idleness is the foe of your youth," he said, talk- 
 ing of the habits which grow to mammoth proportions. 
 
 "We want you to win," he continued. "You'll find 
 people wherever you go who are willing to give you a 
 glad hand if you do right. Be governed by kindness 
 and not by disgust." 
 
 "Learn to do common things. Be a Christian so 
 that everyone will know it. Don't be afraid they will 
 scoff at you. When they find you are in earnest, they'll 
 like you so much the better." 
 
 WHAT CONVERTS COST 
 
 That he is paid less proportionately than any other 
 evangelist was the statement of Billy Sunday, Friday 
 evening. 
 
 "Considering the number of converts and the ag- 
 gregate amount of current expenses of the churches 
 for the year," said he, "it costs $2,000 to convert one 
 soul in New York, $465 in Boston, $445 in Denver, 
 $425 in Chicago, $78 in New Orleans and $75 in At- 
 lanta. 
 
 "Why less in the South ? Listen, and I'll tell you, 
 Why did it take 60,000,000 people in the North four 
 years to whip 8,000,000 in the South? Because the 
 North was fighting true American blood. That's why 
 it is less in the South. The truest blood is south of 
 the Mason-Dixon line.
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 213 
 
 "In spite of all these high figures, you kick about 
 what I get. What I'm paid for my work makes it 
 only about $2 a soul, and I get less proportionately for 
 the number I convert, than any other living evange- 
 list." Columbus Dispatch. 
 
 SUNDAY ON TROUBLES 
 
 There is no back but what has its burden, there's 
 no heart but what has its sorrow. 
 
 Trouble is the common lot of all. 
 
 There is no one on God's earth that I pity more 
 than the parents of a willful son or daughter. 
 
 The greatest trouble results from sin. 
 
 Trouble makes all poor. All are helpless before 
 trouble. 
 
 Standing still in sin is as impossible as standing 
 still in fire. 
 
 If you want to read true religious experience 
 read the Psalms. 
 
 When a man cries you know he is in great trou- 
 ble. 
 
 There is no impossibility with God. 
 
 There are not enough devils in hell or on earth in 
 or out of church to stop God's work. 
 
 Religious conditions are in a deplorable condition 
 and don't you forget it. 
 
 A man in sin is always in the mire and sinking 
 deeper. 
 
 It is a thousand times easier to lead a Christian 
 life than to live in sin. 
 
 God's way is made for man and man is made for 
 God. The devil's road is mire.
 
 214 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 SUNDAY'S VIEWS ON DIVORCE 
 
 Billy Sunday is an arch enemy of divorce and 
 incidentally he pays a high compliment to the Catholic 
 church. In his Sunday night sermon he said : "Christ 
 says, 'What God hath joined together let no man put 
 asunder.' The world says : 'we'll divorce you and 
 then we'll marry some other woman and we won't 
 sin.' (The evangelist clenched his fist), You lie! 
 
 The only scriptural excuse for divorce is adultery. 
 When it comes to the divorce question. I'm a Roman 
 Catholic from the top of my head to the sole of my 
 feet." 
 
 To Sunday's former home in Chicago a dapper 
 young man once came, "dressed fit to kill," and pre- 
 sented a bride and a marriage license. 
 
 "Have either of you been married?" Sunday 
 asked. "I have," said the man caressing his silk hat 
 and adjusting a diamond shirt stud as big as a hickory 
 nut. 
 
 "Is your wife alive?" the evangelist then inquired, 
 and the man returned "Yes." 
 
 "Beat it you lobster," was the Sunday ultimatum. 
 
 "What's that?" returned the other, much sur- 
 prised. 
 
 "Good night," said the preacher. 
 
 "But I have a license," argued the would-be bride- 
 groom. 
 
 "Yes," said Billy, 'there are some things legally 
 right that are morally wrong."
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 215 
 
 PRAYER TO THE PASSING YEAR. 
 
 "Well, Old Year, good-bye," began Billy Sun- 
 day's prayer New year's eve at the tabernacle. "We 
 hate to say the words, because it is like saying fare- 
 well to an old friend. But we bid you good-bye. You 
 have been good to us, Old Year. You have given us 
 days of sunshine ; some were splashed with rain. Some 
 were light with laughter; others heavy with grief. 
 Sometimes our faces were wreathed with smiles ; some- 
 times they were bathed with tears. You've left some 
 empty chairs by the fireside, Old Year. You've been 
 unkind to some of us. There are clothes in some of 
 our closets that some little form will never wear 
 again. There are some people who would give all they 
 have in the world if a little form could toddle through 
 the door again and cuddle-doo. Oh, Lord, if you 
 have any sorrow in store for my family, defer it as 
 long as you can. 
 
 "But good-bye, Old Year. Wait there, little fel- 
 low around the corner because the old fellow with the 
 beard cannot be with us long. There are thousands 
 and tens of thousands of people all over this land who 
 will wake up with clean hearts and new resolutions 
 in 1913 that when 1912 came in hated God and all thaf 
 is good. 
 
 "God, if you'll let me live until tomorrow I'll try 
 to be a better preacher. I'll try to hate you more, 
 devil, and you know it. Devil, I'll fight you more than 
 ever before. You saved my poor miserable soul 26 
 years ago and you put a new song in my mouth. For 
 26 years I haven't hit the booze ; for 26 years I haven't 
 cursed; for 26 years I've been true; for 26 years I
 
 216 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 haven't darkened the door of a theatre except to preach 
 the Gospel; for 26 years I haven't gone to a cheap- 
 skate leg show to look through a pair of glasses at 
 women who don't have enough clothes on to flag a 
 hand car. 
 
 "Here's a great bunch of preachers over here," 
 he said, turning over to the corner where the pastors 
 and their families sat, "Lord, bless them. And back 
 here is a choir. Oh, Lord if you have one up in glory 
 that will beat that, you'll have to go some. Bless all 
 of them. And Lord, bless the newspapers and tfie 
 boys some of whom I've known in other towns. Bless 
 the State Journal and that man who has written those 
 magnificent accounts and the man who draws those 
 cartoons on the front page. And bless the Citizen and 
 Mr. Busby whom I have known in other meetings. 
 And bless The Dispatch who's that fellow who's bee;i 
 writing for them? bless Mr. Sheridan. 
 
 "Hear us and help us. Good-bye, Old Year. 
 Lead us and guide us, for Jesus' sake." 
 
 Columbus Dispatch. 
 
 SUNDAY'S POEM OF FAREWELL 
 
 "How swiftly the years of our pilgrimage fly, 
 As the days, weeks and months move silently by; 
 "Our days are soon numbered, death sounds our 
 
 knell, 
 
 We scarcely know our friends 'till we bid them 
 farewell. 
 
 To you fellow-Christians, I turn with delight, 
 The grave cannot harm you, your future is bright; 
 Be fairthful, be earnest, temptations repel, 
 And you'll soon bid this world a smiling farewell.
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 217 
 
 Farewell, fellow-sinners, I'm free from your blood, 
 My message delivered, I leave you with God. 
 I've pleaded, I've entreated, but I could not com- 
 pel, 
 
 And 'till the Judgment day breaketh, I bid you 
 farewell." 
 
 SUNDAY FAVORS WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE 
 
 Woman suffragists ought to like Billy Sunday. 
 
 "Do you favor woman suffrage?" he was asked 
 the other .day. 
 
 "Why not?" he hurled at the reporter just as 
 though the latter were an "and." 
 
 "I don't know," murmured the representative of 
 the press in a tone measured to encourage Mr. Sunday 
 to a further discussion of the subject. And Mr. Sun- 
 day was quite willing to talk about it. 
 
 There are 6,000,000 women and girls working for 
 a livelihood in this country, he statistically declared 
 to the reporter. 
 
 He urged that the working woman fills an im- 
 portant place in the industrial and business life of tlu 
 country. "Take them out of the offices, mills, factor- 
 ies and stores, and you'll miss them quickly enough. 
 These 6,000,000 women so engaged were advanced as 
 one of Mr. Sunday's reasons for granting the franchise 
 to women. South Bend Tribune. 
 
 SUNDAY'S SERMON TO WOMEN ONLY 
 
 There are married women who shrink from ma- 
 ternity, not because of ill health, but simply because 
 they love ease and fine garments, and hanker to flit like 
 butter-flies at some fool social function.
 
 218 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Malpractice should be treated the same as any 
 other class of murderers. 
 
 There isn't an angel in heaven who wouldn't be 
 tickled to death to come down to earth and be hon- 
 ored with motherhood. 
 
 No wonder the men go to their clubs, with these 
 women bumming around bridge parties, gadding and 
 fondling pet dogs. No man wants to play second fid- 
 dle to a bow-legged bull pup. You may bet your sweet 
 life I wouldn't. 
 
 Many girls who marry are not actuated by the 
 noblest of human motives but are simply seeking a 
 good time, and are willing to pay the price. 
 
 You mothers are fools to force your daughters to 
 marry some old lobster simply because he has money, 
 and when he dies your girl will be able to ride in a 
 buzz wagon instead of hot-footing it. You're fools. 
 
 Some mothers will find that it would have been 
 far easier to have buried their girls than to have mar- 
 ried them to some damnable, cigaret-smoking, cursing 
 libertine. 
 
 The devil and the women can damn the world. 
 
 If a God-fearing man marries a God-fearing wo- 
 man they will have God-fearing children. 
 
 I tell you, the virtue of womanhood is the ram- 
 part of civilization. You break that down and you 
 pave the way to hell. 
 
 There are 60,000 girls ruined in America every 
 year. A man caught dealing in white slavery should 
 be shot on the spot. 
 
 Society has just about put maternity out of busi- 
 ness. And when you stop to consider the average
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 219 
 
 society woman. I do not think that maternity has 
 lost anything. 
 
 Look at the girls on the auction block daily. Look 
 at the awful battle the average stenographer and the 
 average clerk has to fight. You cannot wear fine 
 clothes daily on six dollars a week and be on the 
 square as much as you are, without having people sus- 
 picious. 
 
 SUNDAY'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE 
 
 Twenty odd years ago, with the Holy Spirit as my 
 guide, I entered at the portico of Genesis and went 
 into the art gallery of the Old Testament where, on 
 the wall, hung the pictures of Enoch, Noah, Jacob, 
 Abraham, Elijah, David, Daniel, and other famous 
 prophets of old. Then I passed into the Music Room 
 of the Psalms where the Spirit swept the keyboard of 
 my nature and brought forth the dirgelike wail of the 
 Weeping Prophet, Jeremiah, to the grand exultant 
 strain of the 24th Psalm and where every reed and 
 pipe in God's great organ of nature seemed to respond 
 to the tuneful harp of David as he played for King 
 Saul in his melancholy moods. Next I passed into 
 the business office of Proverbs, and into the Chapel of 
 Ecclesiastics, where the voice of the Preacher was 
 heard; then over into the conservatory of the Songs 
 of Solomon where the Lily of the Valley and the Rose 
 of Sharon and the sweet-scented spices perfumed my 
 life. Then I stepped into the prophetic room and saw 
 telescopes of various sizes, some pointing to far off 
 stars or events and others to nearby stars, but all con- 
 centrated upon the bright and Morning Star which 
 was to rise above the moonlit hills of Judea while the
 
 220 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 Shepherds guarded their flocks by night. From there 
 I passed into the audience room and caught a vision 
 of the King from the standpoint of Matthew, Mark, 
 Luke and John. I then went into the Acts of the 
 Apostles where the Holy Spirit was doing His office 
 work in the formation of the Infant Church. From 
 there I went to the correspondence room where Mat- 
 thew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James and Jude 
 sat at their desks, penning their epistles to the church. 
 Then I passed last of all into the throne of Revelation 
 and saw the King sitting high upon His throne where 
 I fell at his feet and cried, "God be merciful to me, 
 a sinner." 
 
 SUNDAY ON AMUSEMENTS 
 
 The theater, as conducted today, is one of the rot- 
 tenest institutions outside of hell. 
 
 The dance is the moral graveyard of many in- 
 nocent girls. 
 
 Passion is the basis of the popularity of the 
 dance. 
 
 If you make women dance by themselves and men 
 with the men the dance would stop in two weeks. 
 
 The gambler played his first game in a church 
 member's home. 
 
 Three- fourths of the girls who are ruined in 
 New York each got their downfall in the dance. 
 
 The dance is not an innocent amusement. It 
 sends thousands of girls to their downfall. 
 
 A dancing church member is not a soul winner 
 member. 
 
 The dance permits and allows freedom thmt will 
 be such as to allow divorce anywhere else.
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 221 
 
 If it wasn't for the church members there would 
 not be a saloon in existence today. 
 
 The church bars are so low down that most any 
 old hog with three suits and a bank account can get 
 inside. 
 
 I would rather be a chambermaid in a livery stable 
 than a caller for a dance. 
 
 Card playing is the most insidious contribution 
 of vice in the world today. 
 
 Cards and the dance are doing more to stifle the 
 spiritual life of the church than do the saloons. 
 
 I have more respect for a hog who gambles in 
 Monte Carlo than for a woman who plays for a prize 
 in her home. 
 
 I don't think much of a preacher who condemns 
 the police for not stopping gambling and yet don't 
 say anything against card playing in the homes. 
 
 There is more damnation in the average club 
 than in any other public institution I know. 
 
 The Christian homes are often the kindergarten 
 of gambling hells. 
 
 No man believes more in amusement than I do but 
 I like that which recreates and does not tear down 
 right inclinations. 
 
 There is as much difference betwen a game of 
 cards and authors as there is between hell and heaven. 
 
 SUNDAY'S DREAM OF HEAVEN 
 
 "Some years ago, after I had been romping and 
 playing with the children," he said, "I grew tired 
 and lay down, and half awake and half asleep, I had 
 a dream.
 
 222 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 "I dreamed I was in a far off land; it was not 
 Persia, but all the glitter and gaudy raiment was 
 there; It was not India, although her coral strands 
 were there; it was not Ceylon, although all the beau- 
 ties of that island of paradise were there; it was not 
 Italy, although the soft dreamy haze of the blue Ital- 
 ian skies shone above me. I looked for weeds and 
 briers, thorns and thistles and brambles and found 
 none. I saw the sun in all its regal splendor and 
 I said to the people: 'When will the sun set and it 
 grow dark?' They all laughed and said: 'It never 
 grows dark in this land; there is no night here.' I 
 looked at the people, their faces wreathed in a sim- 
 ple halo of glory, attired in holiday clothing. I said : 
 'When will the working men go by clad in overalls? 
 And where are the brawny men who work and toil 
 over the anvil?' They said: 'We toil not, neither 
 do we spin; there remaineth a rest for the people of 
 God.' 
 
 "I strolled out in the suburbs. I said: 'Where 
 are the graveyards, the grave diggers? Where do 
 you bury your dead ?' They said 'We never die here.' 
 
 "I looked out and saw the towers and spires: I 
 looked at them, but I did not see any tombstones, 
 mausoleums, nor green nor flower-covered graves. I 
 said : 'Where, where, are the hearses that carry your 
 dead? Where are the undertakers that embalm the 
 dead?' They said: 'We never die in this land.' I 
 said : 'Where are hospitals where they take the sick ? 
 Where are the surgeons that come with scalpel and 
 knife? Where is the minister, and where are the 
 nurses to give the gentle touch, the penacea?' They 
 said: 'We never grow sick in this land.' I said:
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 223 
 
 'Where are the houses of want and squalor? Where 
 live the poor?' They said: 'There is no penury; 
 none die here; none ever cry for bread in this land.' 
 I was bewildered. I strolled along and heard the rip- 
 ple of the waters as the waves broke against the 
 jeweled beach. I saw boats with oars tipped with 
 silver, bow of pure gold. I saw multitudes that no 
 man could number. We all jumped down through 
 the violets and varicolored flowers, the air pulsing 
 with bird song, and I cried: 'Are all here?' And 
 they echoed back : 'All are here.' 
 
 "And we went leaping and shouting and vied with 
 tower and spire, and they all caroled and sung my 
 welcome, and we all bounded and leaped and shouted 
 with glee : 'Home Home Home.' " 
 
 SUNDAY'S ESTIMATE OF SOLOMON 
 /} 
 
 Solomon, acording to Sunday, was a millionaire 
 
 baby, born with a golden diamond-plated spoon in his 
 mouth, who developed into a thirty-third degree sport 
 having taken all the regular degrees and invented a 
 few of his own. He was surrounded by high-brow 
 courtiers until he drank dry the well of knowledge 
 and pulled out the pump. Even as a kid he was so 
 precocious that he exhausted the curriculum and gave 
 his teachers nervous headaches. And after he had 
 finished his schooling he cut loose on sport until he 
 made a good world series ball fan look like a clothing 
 store dummy. 
 
 He drove his diamond-studded chariot so fast 
 that he woud have dusted the eyes of Barney Old- 
 field. He set the bleachers crazy as he galloped by.
 
 224 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 And as a side line he started into the matrimonial 
 market and with his 700 wives and 300 concubines 
 made Brigham Young look like a dirty deuce. 
 
 Taking to wine, he hit the booze as it has never 
 since been hit. He had all the grapes of his kingdom 
 crushed into a great lake of wine, millions of gallons. 
 He took up architecture as a side line, and built his 
 temple 30 times as large as the tabernacle. He had 
 so much gold dumped at his feet every year that he 
 could have bought and sold Columbus a few times 
 and never missed it. He was no bum panhandling 
 for a hand-out or mooching for a flapjack. Not on 
 your life. He had so much coin that R. G. Dun or 
 Bradstreet would have needed new rating symbols. 
 After running the extreme gamut of human pleasure 
 he found he needed something else. "What profit has 
 a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun," 
 he wrote. Columbus Dispatch. 
 
 BIBLE VERSION SUNDAY'S VERSION 
 
 5. And the people spake The Jews were in Egyptian 
 against God and against Mo- bondage for years. God said 
 ses. Wherefore have ye He would release them, but 
 brought us up out of Egypt to He hadn't come. But God 
 die in the wilderness for there never forgets. So he came 
 is no bread, neither is there and chose Moses to lead them, 
 any water ; and our soul and when Moses got them out 
 loatheth this light bread. in the wilderness they began 
 
 6. And the Lord sent fiery to knock and said, "Who is 
 serpents among the people, this Moses anyway, we don't 
 and they bit the people; and know him. Were there not 
 much people of Israel died. enough graves in Egypt?" and 
 
 1. Therefore the people they said they didn't like the 
 came to Moses and said. We white bread they were getting 
 have sinned for we have and wanted the onions and
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 
 
 225 
 
 spoken against the Lord and 
 against thee; pray unto the 
 Lord that he take away the 
 serpents from us. And Moses 
 prayed for the people. 
 
 8. And the Lord said unto 
 Moses, Make thee a fiery ser- 
 pent, and set it upon a pole, 
 and it shall come to pass that 
 every one that is bitten, when 
 he looketh upon it, shall live. 
 
 9. And Moses made a ser- 
 pent of brass and put it upon 
 a pole and it came to pass, 
 that if a serpent had bitten 
 any man, when he beheld the 
 serpent of brass, he lived. 
 
 the leeks and the garlic and 
 melons of Egypt, and they 
 found fault and God sent the 
 serpents and was going to 
 kill them all, but Moses inter- 
 ceded and said, "Now see 
 here God." But the Lord 
 said, "Get out of the way, 
 Moses, and let me kill them 
 all." But Moses said, "Hold 
 on there, Lord. That bunch 
 would have the laugh on You 
 if You did that. They'd say 
 You brought them out here 
 and the commissary stores ran 
 out and You couldn't feed 
 them, so You just killed them 
 all." So God said, "All right, 
 for your sake, Moses, I 
 won't," and He said, "Moses 
 you go and set up a brazen 
 serpent in the wilderness and 
 that will be the one thing that 
 will save them if they are bit- 
 ten. They must look or die." 
 
 PARAPHRASE OF FEEDING THE MULTITUDES 
 
 SUNDAY'S VERSION 
 "When the disciples saw the 
 great crowd gathered to see 
 Jesus and saw they were hun- 
 gry they were scared silly. 
 Finally they went to Jesus 
 with their trouble and said, 
 "Lord, send them away. We 
 can't feed them all." But 
 Jesus told Philip to feed them. 
 That was too much for 
 *15 
 
 MATTHEW'S VERSION 
 "And when it was evening, 
 His disciples came to Him, 
 saying : This is a desert place, 
 and the time is now past ; 
 send the multitude away that 
 they may go into the villages, 
 and buy themselves victuals. 
 
 "But Jesus said unto them, 
 They need not depart; give ye 
 them to eat.
 
 226 
 
 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 poor, old, practical Philip. 
 "Why, we haven't anything to 
 feed them with," he informed 
 Jesus. "Two hundred penny- 
 worth of bread wouldn't feed 
 all that hungry crowd." 
 
 But Jesus looked around 
 and spied a little boy whose 
 ma had given him five bis- 
 cuits and a couple of sardines 
 for his lunch, and said to him, 
 "Come here, son, the Lord 
 wants you." Then He told 
 the lad what He wanted, and 
 the boy said, "It isn't much, 
 Jesus, but what there is you're 
 mighty welcome to it !" 
 
 So Jesus took the biscuits 
 and the sardines and fed that 
 whole bunch and they all had 
 all they wanted, and after 
 they got through the disciples 
 went around and picked up 
 twelve basketsful of the frag- 
 ments. 
 
 Then the evangelist pointed 
 the moral, "You can't all be 
 Peters and James and Johns, 
 but you can all be barley 
 loaves and fishes for God." 
 
 And they said unto Him, 
 We have here but five loaves 
 and two fishes. 
 
 "He said, Bring them hither 
 to Me. 
 
 "And He commanded the 
 multitude to sit down on the 
 grass, and took the five 
 loaves, and the two fishes, and 
 looked up to heaven. He 
 blessed, and brake, and gave 
 the loaves to His disciples, 
 and the disciples to the multi- 
 tude. 
 
 "And they all did eat and 
 were filled and they took up 
 the fragments that remained 
 twelve baskets full. 
 
 "And they that had eaten 
 were about five thousand men, 
 besides women and children." 
 
 SUNDAY S TRIBUTE TO GENERAL LEE 
 
 "At the beginning of the civil war General Robert 
 . Lee said to General Scott that he was a Union 
 man at heart, but that his native state of Virginia 
 had seceded and that as a loyal son he felt he must 
 cast his fortunes with the Confederacy. As the war 
 proceeded, Lee saw the bright hopes of the Confed-
 
 EPISODES, INCIDENTS, COMMENT, ETC. 227 
 
 eracy fade, saw its government overturned and broken 
 at his feet. When the end came he was a prematurely 
 old man, his health fled, his fortune gone, his property 
 at Arlington confiscated. At that time of despair 
 there came to him the officers of the Louisiana Lot- 
 tery company, offering to make him its president. 
 
 " 'But, gentlemen/ he said, 'I don't know any- 
 thing about the lottery business.' 
 
 " 'That makes no difference,' they said, 'we do. 
 We want the use of your name, and we will give you 
 $10,000 a year.' 
 
 "General Lee buttoned his coat over his sunken 
 breast, brushed back his gray hair from his forehead, 
 and said: . 'Gentlemen, my good name and self re- 
 spect are all that is saved from the wreck, and they 
 are not for sale. You cannot buy Robert E. Lee.' 
 
 "My father was a Union soldier. I am a loyal 
 American, but I say that Robert E. Lee was one of 
 the noblest Christian characters this country has ever 
 produced, and that Stonewall Jackson was another." 
 
 SUNDAY'S TRIBUTE TO LINCOLN 
 
 The Angels said, "let us hide Abraham Lincoln 
 where the world will never find him," and they hid 
 his big, kind, generous, humanitarian, sympathetic, 
 God-fearing soul in that long, lean, lank, homely, 
 gaunt, ungainly body. They bronzed his cheeks until 
 he looked like an Indian. They hardened his hands 
 with toil. For employment they gave him common 
 work, the poling a flatboat on the Ohio river and 
 clerking in a country store. 
 
 But, while drifting down the stream, he was 
 solving problems that would help him up the stream.
 
 228 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 And while clerking in the country store he was learn- 
 ing whole chapters from the book of human expe- 
 rience which became golden rounds in the ladder of 
 fame up which he climbed to the top. 
 
 For parents, they gave him common people whose 
 names were unknown five miles away; for a home, 
 a log cabin in the wilderness. The battle would grow 
 hard. He would grit his teeth, buckle up his yarn 
 galluses a little tighter and determine that he would 
 be somebody, anyway. He would spread the ashes 
 thin on the dirt floor of his log cabin home and, with 
 a hickory log in the fireplace for a light and a hickory 
 stick for a pencil, he solved problems from Euclid 
 and read the life of Washington and other great men. 
 
 Finally, the angels could keep him hid no longer, 
 so one morning this old sleepy, dreamy, drowsy world 
 rolled out of bed, rubbed her eyes and started on a 
 still hunt for a great man. She struck a new scent 
 and a new trail that led out through the woods into 
 the wilderness and up a hill to a log cabin. She 
 rapped at the door and Lincoln arose so big, so high, 
 so tall that the logs rolled down the roof and fell off 
 and he stepped forth a giant among men. Fame has 
 placed him upon a pinnacle so lofty that he looks down 
 upon all who attempt to reach his side.
 
 AUTHORITIES QUOTED IN "SPECTACU- 
 LAR CAREER OF REV. BILLY 
 SUNDAY." 
 
 F. J. Sessions, Superintendent, Soldiers' Orphans' Home, 
 Davenport, Iowa. 
 
 S. W. Pierce (Superintendent of the S. O. Home when 
 Sunday was there), Davenport, Iowa. 
 
 Charles H. Hall (Mayor) Nevada, Iowa. 
 
 Dr. Nathan Wilbur Helm, Principal Evanston Academy, 
 Evanston, Illinois. 
 
 Dr. Robert McWatty Russell, Westminster College, New 
 Wilmington, Pa. 
 
 Frank C. Richter, Editor Sporting Life, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 L. Wilbur Messer, General Secretary, Young Men's 
 Christian Association, Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Judge H. E. Burgess, Aledo, Illinois. 
 
 N. W. Rowell, Afton, Iowa. 
 
 Rev. J. W. Neyman, Bedford, Iowa. 
 
 Rev. C John, Maryville, Missouri. 
 
 Editor, Gazette, Sterling, Illinois. 
 
 Editor, News, Atlantic, Iowa. 
 
 Editor, Leader, Pontiac, Illinois. 
 
 C. F. McFarland, Keokuk, Iowa. 
 
 Editor, Record, Canon City, Colorado. 
 
 Editor, Journal, Macomb, Illinois. 
 
 W. H. Davidson, Managing Editor, Burlington Hawkeye, 
 Burlington, Iowa. 
 
 A. P. Gove, Editor, Rochester Daily Bulletin, Rochester, 
 Minnesota. 
 
 H. U. Bailey, Editor, Bureau County Republican, Prince- 
 ton, Illinois. 
 
 Editor, Herald, Austin, Minnesota. 
 
 F. C. Woody, Cashier, First National Bank, Salida, 
 Colorado. 
 
 229
 
 230 REV. BILLY SUNDAY 
 
 W. W. Whipple, Editor, Galesburg Mail, Galesburg, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Frank D. Throop, Publisher, Muscatine Journal, Musca- 
 tine, Iowa. 
 
 J. L. Scofield, General Secretary, Young Men's Christian 
 Association, Bloomington, Illinois. 
 
 W. F. Hardy, Editor, The Herald, Decatur, Illinois. 
 
 Ralph W. Roberts, Secretary, Young Men's Christian As- 
 sociation, Sharon, Pa. 
 
 E. P. Canny, Ottumwa Courier, Ottumwa, Iowa. 
 
 Editor, Jacksonville Journal, Jacksonville, Illinois. 
 
 Rev. Conrad Bluhm, Pastor Centenary Presbyterian 
 Church, Spokane, Washington. 
 
 Secretary, Young Men's Christian Association, Boulder, 
 Colorado. 
 
 W. G. Young, Editor Cedar Rapids Gazette, Cedar Rapids, 
 Iowa. 
 
 E. L. McKelvey, Youngstown, Ohio. 
 Editor, Herald, New Castle, Pa. 
 
 Edgar W. Cooley, Waterloo Reporter, Waterloo, Iowa. 
 
 James Pfeiffer, Portsmouth, Ohio. 
 
 Rev. T. H. Campbell, Pastor King Avenue Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 L. J. Beecher, City Editor, Toledo Blade, Toledo, Ohio. 
 
 Editor, Herald, Erie, Pa. 
 
 James S. Webb, Springfield, Ohio. 
 
 Rev. Andrew Brodie, Wichita, Kansas. 
 
 Rev. Jay W. Somerville, Pastor St. Paul M. E. Church, 
 Wichita, Kansas. 
 
 Wm. A. Ernst, Canton Repository, Canton, Ohio. 
 
 Charles E. Miner, Wheeling, W. Va. 
 
 Rev. W. S. Dysinger, Pastor First English Lutheran 
 Church, Wheeling, W. Va. 
 
 Ralph R. Wolf, Secretary Young Men's Christian Asso- 
 ciation, Fargo, N. D. 
 
 Rev. George B. Laird, Beaver Falls, Pa. 
 
 F. S. Reader, Editor, Beaver Valley News, Beaver Falls, 
 Pa.
 
 AUTHORITIES QUOTED 231 
 
 C. V. Talbot, Managing Editor, Morning Tribune, East 
 Liverpool, Ohio. 
 
 Rev. W. M. Randies, Pastor Bethesda Congregational 
 Church, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 
 
 Wilbur R. Armstrong, South Bend Tribune, South Bend, 
 Indiana. 
 
 Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, 3 Park Gardens, W., Glasgow, 
 Scotland. 
 
 Melvin E. Trotter, City Rescue Mission, Grand Rapids, 
 Michigan. 
 
 Fred G. Fischer, 808 Edgecomb Place, Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 G. Walter Barr, Keokuk, Iowa. 
 
 Miss Julia Brandon Cole, South Bend Tribune, South 
 Bend, Indiana. 
 
 E. Kenneth Todd, South Bend Tribune, South Bend, In- 
 diana. 
 
 Steubenville Gazette, Steubenville, Ohio. 
 
 PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDS CON- 
 SULTED. 
 
 Records, County Clerk's Office, Cook County, Illinois. 
 Hampton's Magazine, June 1910. 
 American Magazine, September 1907. 
 Collier's National Weekly, Spring of 1913. 
 Who's Who, Volume 7. 
 
 The Congregationalist & Christian World, April 24, 1913. 
 Life and Labors of W. A. Sunday. 
 
 Records, United States War Department, Washington, 
 D. C.
 
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