REV. EDWIN WILLIAMS BEALE.

EV. EDWIN WILLIAMS BEALE was born in Southampton county, Virginia, January 1, 1834, and died in Suffolk, March 6, 1881. His father's name was John Spratley Beale, and his mother's name was Jane Williams, both of whom were devoted members of the Christian Church. His mother was twice married. He had one sister, Martha, and one half brother and one half sister, Joseph and Eliza Williams. He was converted at the early age of thirteen years and connected himself with the Christian church at Union, in Southampton county, Virginia. The early part of his life was spent in attending school and clerking. In 1853, he entered the Graham Institute, at Graham, North Carolina, which was then conducted by Revs. John R. Holt and Albert G. Anderson. He was was a close student and his mind developed rapidly.

      Rev. E. W. Beale was a lay-delegate from the Eastern Virginia Conference to the Southern Christian Convention at Union chapel in Alamance county, North Carolina, in 1856. Liberty church, in Norfolk county, was received into the Conference at Bethlehem in Nansemond county, in 1856, and he was one of its delegates. At this Conference he was its assistant secretary, and was licensed to preach, and was also appointed an itinerant to the "Lower District" composed of Liberty, Jerusalem, Providence, and Pleasant Ridge churches. He says, "In the church at Liberty was the place where I first attempted to say a word of warning to sinners." In 1857, he was a fraternal messenger to the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Bethlehem in Alamance county, North Carolina. At the Conference at Antioch church in Isle of Wight county, Virginia, the same year, he was ordained by Revs. W. B. Wellons, Mills Barrett and [303] R. H. Holland as the presbytery, to the work of the gospel ministry.

      Rev. E. W. Beale was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Jane Faucette on the 7th of January, 1858. Of these parents were born eight children. For a time he resided near Suffolk, Virginia.

      In 1859, he was assistant secretary of the Conference at Providence in Norfolk county, and was appointed a fraternal messenger to the North Carolina and Virginia Conference, which met at Pleasant Hill in Chatham county, North Carolina, in 1860. In 1861, he united with the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Hanks' chapel in Chatham county. At the Conference, in 1862, he offered a set of resolutions from the committee on the state of our country, which will be given later and which shows the deep sympathy of the true man that he was. The committee on ministerial supply announced him to have charge of "Haw River district." He had charge of New Providence near Graham, North Carolina. He was chairman of the committee on statistics. At the Conference at Antioch in Chatham county, in 1864, he was appointed to deliver the next annual address before Conference. This year he had served Union, New Providence, and Shallow Ford churches, and was elected secretary of the Home Missionary Society of the North Carolina and Virginia Conference.

      At the Conference at Union in Alamance county, in 1867, Rev. E. W. Beale served on the committee on education and as chairman of the committee on periodicals. As chairman he says, "That the liberal views entertained by the Christian Church render it doubly necessary that our people be fully instructed in doctrines and purposes of the denomination: otherwise, they are subject to misrepresentation and abuse, the very principles which constitute our chief virtues are turned to hurtful purposes before our face." In 1868, at Salem chapel in [304] Forsyth county, he served on the committee on church letters and church records, and on the executive committee. The home mission committee announced him to have pastoral charge of Mt. Zion. He was chosen secretary of the Sunday School Convention organized at this Conference. At Wake chapel in Wake county, he was on the committee on Sabbath schools, and was appointed on the presbytery that ordained Rev. W. G. Clements. At this time he resided at McRay's Store, in Alamance county, North Carolina. He was assistant secretary of the Conference at Union in Halifax county, Virginia, in 1870, and on resignation of Rev. J. N. Manning, he was chosen standing secretary and was appointed a fraternal messenger to the Eastern Virginia Conference, which met at Berkley, Virginia, in 1871. This same year the North Carolina and Virginia Conference met at Mt. Zion in Orange county, North Carolina; he reports, "Had five appointments; attended seven protracted meetings, at which more than one hundred souls were converted; received twelve into fellowship; tried to preach about sixty sermons, and received in way of pecuniary compensation about $400. My prospects are cheering." He records in his diary, Saturday, November 9th, "I have decided to labor another year in the bounds of the Eastern Virginia Conference." At the Conference at Shallow Well, in Moore county, North Carolina, in 1872, he resigned the place of standing secretary, and was granted a transfer to the Eastern Virginia Conference.

      In 1878, at Cypress chapel in Nansemond county, Rev. E. W. Beale was received as an Elder into the Conference. To this Conference he reported, "I have had the pastoral charge of the churches at Cypress, Damascus, Berea, and Oakland; have preached seventy sermons; held three protracted meetings; received twenty-four members into the church; married three couples, and [305] have attended four funerals. I have received from the churches of my charge and private individuals about $850. "At this time he resided at Aspen Grove near Chuckatuck, in Nansemond county, Virginia, but before the end of the year he had moved to Suffolk. He attended as a delegate the General Convention at New Providence near Graham, North Carolina, in 1874. He preached at Burlington (formerly Company Shops). May 8th, he visited "the old home of his wife's childhood." The church at Damascus having been burned down, he preached at Philadelphia M. E. church, while it was being rebuilt. The new church was dedicated August 2d, the sermon being preached by Rev. W. B. Wellons, D. D.

      At the Conference at Holy Neck, in 1874, he served on the committee on temperance and as chairman of the committee on church records. The second day of the Conference he preached from Matt. 9:37, 38, an "impressive sermon." In 1875, at the Conference at Berea, he was elected a fraternal messenger to the North Carolina and Virginia Conference which he attended. The annual address was delivered, in 1876, before the Conference at Suffolk, Virginia, by Rev. E. W. Beale. He was a fraternal messenger from the Eastern Virginia Conference to the North Carolina and Virginia Conference, in 1876, at Salem chapel in Forsyth county, North Carolina. At the Sunday School Convention of the Eastern Virginia Conference this year at Oakland in Nansemond county, the subject, "The Lesson in the Closet and in the Study," was discussed by Rev. Mr. Beale "with much earnestness. He showed the great necessity of close study and prayer. He thought the more prayer the more success."

      At the Conference at Mt. Carmel in Isle of Wight county, in 1872, Rev. E. W. Beale served as chairman of the committee on home missions, and also on the committees on education and on grouping the churches for District Meetings on fifth Sundays. He preached from [306] Gal. 6:10. In 1878, he attended the Valley Virginia Conference at Bethlehem in Rockingham county, as a fraternal messenger; the Eastern Virginia Conference met this year at Barrett's church in Southampton county. This same year Rev. E. W. Beale was elected Superintendent of the Suffolk Collegiate Institute, which position he filled successfully two years and gave an impetus to the educational interests of the Eastern Virginia Conference. Years before this he was an instructor in the Graham Institute Graham North Carolina. He served also on the executive and educational committees of the Conference, and was chairman of the home mission committee. And he also attended the North Carolina and Virginia Conference as a fraternal messenger, at Damascus, in Orange county, North Carolina.

      At the Conference at Windsor, Virginia, in 1879, Rev. E. W. Beale was chairman of the home mission committee and served on the executive committee and on that of education. He was pastor of the churches at Antioch, Bethlehem, Berea (Nansemond), Oakland, and Windsor. He attended the North Carolina and Virginia Conference as a fraternal messenger. And in 1880, he was chairman of the committees on home missions and on education, of the Conference at Bethany, in Southampton county, Virginia.

      At Damascus, in 1862, the "report on the condition of the country," referred to above, was adopted as follows:

      "Whereas the present deplorable condition of our beloved country calls for the sympathy and efforts of both Church and State in order that she may be preserved amid the perils which threaten her on every hand; and whereas our prosperity, national as well as religious, depends upon the help of Divine Providence; Therefore,

      "1. Resolved, That, though we have no desire to interfere in political affairs, yet we claim the common privilege granted to all citizens, of expressing our views in a manner becoming Christian men. [307]

      "2. Resolved, That the cause of the Confederate States is in every sense our own cause, that her destiny is our destiny, that we will fall or stand with her, and that to the achievement of her independence we will devote everything which we hold dear on earth.

      "3. Resolved, That we will endeavor to impress our people with the importance of looking more earnestly, in this matter, to the help of Almighty God.

      "4. Resolved, That in order to secure Divine assistance, it is necessary that we should set our faces against the many corruptions which are being practiced in this land; and especially would we enjoin upon our ministers and brethren generally, the importance of using their influence and example against the fearful sin of extortion.

      "5. Resolved, That we recommend every church to meet at least once every month for the special purpose of invoking God's blessing upon our arms, and of entreating that He would soon cheer us with the smiles of peace.

      "6. Resolved, That our thanks are due the Great Disposer of events for the mercies He has shown us in days past, and that in his wisdom and goodness we will humbly confide in days to come. Respectfully submitted."

E. W. BEALE, Chairman.

      When the war was over, he joined in resolutions for the support of, and obedience to the laws of the land. His heart and life were in unison.

[LCM 303-308]