Born: Fitchville, Ohio, 1850.Died: 1925.
Born: Fitchville, Ohio, 1850.
Died: 1925.
Her father was a Methodist preacher of the most rigid type. The daughter was zealous in her religious life and was quite content with the teachings of her church. She was past her twenty-fifth natal day before she ever heard a sermon from any other class of preachers.
Curiosity led her to attend church one evening in Sterling, Ill., when Evangelist Geo. F. Adams was conducting a series of meetings there. As she passed out, Mr. Adams said to her:
"I hope you enjoyed the services."
She made no reply. He repeated the inquiry. She answered:
"I can't say that I did."
He asked her what there was in the meeting that she did not approve. Several persons had publicly confessed their faith in Christ.
Waving her hand, she said: "Is that all there is in it? Dare you make it so easy to get into Christ?"
He answered: "You must be accustomed to the use of the mourners' bench."
"Surely I am," she replied.
He said: "You are the very woman I have been looking for. If you will bring me a Scriptural authority for it, chapter and verse, I will install it to-morrow night."
She said, "I will," and passed on, Mr. Adams remarking, "You know there are no records of conversions outside of the Acts of the Apostles, so it must be there."
Mrs. Babcock did not sleep that night till she had read the Book of Acts. Not finding what she read for, in the morning she visited her pastor and asked him where she could find in God's word authority for the altar. He answered:
"Where have you been? Have you been listening to that Campbellite exhorter over the river?" She said "Yes."
Then he said: "He will lead you to the devil, for they are not orthodox. They don't believe in the Holy Spirit or in prayer." She replied that she had not gone from choice, "but you have not answered my question."
After some other such conversation, the pastor said that the altar for those trying to come to Christ was not commanded, but the church teaches it as a good method. Then she asked: "How much does the church teach that is not in the Bible? If you have one human plan, how shall we know the divine plan? It weakens my faith."
A few evenings later Mr. Babcock persuaded his wife to hear Mr. Adams again. On that occasion she witnessed Scriptural baptism for the first time, and the sermon was on baptism. Passing out, Mr. Adams asked her about the Scripture for the use of the mourners' bench. She replied frankly: "It is not there and we have no right to use it." He inquired: "Have you been baptized?" "Not according to that form," she answered. "Will you not obey Christ in the Bible way?" he asked. She went home sad and thoughtful.
The next morning she went to see her pastor, who prayed with her and scolded her. "Will you immerse me?" she asked. "No, no; you have been baptized according to your father's faith and the church's teaching," he answered. She said: "What does the Bible teach? You must show me where the Scripture commands sprinkling or I shall go down into the water like my Saviour." A week later, Mr. and Mrs. Babcock were baptized by Mr. Adams.
With Bible in hand, she went from door to door of her friends, many of whom turned to the Lord. She did not formally unite with the Sterling Church until she first measured its teachings and practices by the word of God. Later, she went out into the service of the W. C. T. U. in Illinois. Being in Erie on a Sunday, she was induced to speak to the Christian congregation in the fore-noon. The presence and approval of God were so manifest that she was led to continue in the service of that congregation. Later, after wise counsel and mature deliberation, she was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1888.
Her work proved a great blessing to the church in that part of the State. She proved herself both a good evangelist and pastor. She has conducted twenty-eight fruitful meetings and has made about fourteen hundred converts, one thousand of whom she baptized with her own hand. The little church of Erie she served altogether fifteen years. In that community she preached 172 funeral sermons. She was the first woman in Illinois to enter the Christian ministry. In all this splendid service she had the cordial moral support of her husband. After twenty-five years of this work, she has retired to the quiet of a Canadian farm home.