BRO. FORNEY.--The news of this dear brother's death was quite unexpected to me. He has been called out of the field of labor here in the zenith of life. I first became acquainted with him in January, 1870. I was holding a meeting near Delphos, Allen county, Ohio. Bro. Gaskill resided in the same neighborhood and was teaching in the school-house in which the meeting was held. One night during altar labors I went into the congregation to speak to some men who appeared to be serious. I approached Bro. S. and asked whether he was a Christian. He replied he was not. I asked him if he did not wish to be. He replied, Yes. Then said I, Come at once to Christ. He immediately went and bowed at the altar. After several prayers were offered an opportunity was given for the seekers to speak; when he arose and spoke with great firmness and with a power that seemed to be felt all over the house, professing to feel his acceptance with God.

      The next day I called to see him, and when I inquired how he felt, he replied, that he had no language to describe his feelings and the glorious flood of light that filled his heart and mind. Said he, "I have studied infidelity for some years, but I never found thoughts so deep and sublime that I was at a loss for language to express them. O how inadequate is human language here, how utterly weak and powerless." He then gave me a sketch of his life, which he compared to a voyage. When thirteen years of age he attended a school near Blufton, Allen county, Ohio, which was taught by Bro. C. S. Bolton, who read the Bible and prayed in his school. Here his mind was first awakened on the subject of religion. Then began a voyage in search of lights on the great problem of man's duty and destiny. Instead of exploring the Bible alone, he steared his bark from one sect to another, testing their foundations by the Bible, with the hope of finding a place where he might land and dwell in perfect safety.

      Several years were spent in this way, in all of which he found no Church that God owned in his word. Hence he was forced to the conclusion that they were of human origin as even their own records show, and as such he could not trust them. Being thus disgusted and bewildered through this fatal influence of sectarianism, he turned his bark down the cold stream of infidelity, in which he continued to drift until the above meeting, where he heard of the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, bought and founded by Christ himself, who is its head and only lawgiver. Here he could find no flaws. To him it appeared at once a safe and sure foundation. By hearing the Church of God preached he was brought to Christ, and through Christ he was brought into it and saved from sin and infidelity and obtained peace to his soul. Both he and his companion were baptized during the meeting.

      Not long after his conversion he was moved to preach the gospel, and in the spring of 1871 he gave himself up to the work, moved in with me, and we traveled together the Seneca Circuit till fall, when he was assigned to the St. Mary's Circuit. He was much beloved and respected by the brotherhood; a deep thinker, and was satisfied with nothing but the unadulterated truth. His work is now done; his conflicts are all over. May the Lord comfort his family, and raise up others to take his place.

[The Church Advocate 38 (October 15, 1873): 3.]

      Daniel S. Warner's "Memoir of Elder S. M. Gaskill" was first published in The Church Advocate, Vol. 38, No. 24 (October 15, 1873), p. 3. The electronic version has been transcribed from a copy of the article provided by Jean Leathers, Archivist of the Churches of God Historical Society.

      I have let stand variations and inconsistencies in the author's (or editor's) use of italics, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling (e.g., "steared" for "steered").

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 5 February 1998.
Updated 15 July 2003.