EV. CORNELIUS A. APPLE, son of Rev. Solomon Apple, was born in Caswell county, North Carolina, in 1841, and died about 1884. During the most flourishing period of Graham College he was in attendance and received his education there. In 1860, he was licensed to preach by the North Carolina and Virginia Conference held at Pleasant Hill in Chatham county, North Carolina, and at Hanks' chapel in 1861, he was appointed to deliver the opening address before the next Conference to be held at Damascus in Orange county which duty he performed. At the Conference in 1862, he passed a satisfactory examination in all the requisite studies and was recommended for ordination. The ordaining presbytery was composed of Revs. Solomon Apple, Thomas J. Fowler, and John N. Manning. In 1864, at the Conference at Antioch, in Chatham county, he served on committee on memoirs and on the committee on the state of our country. It is to be remembered that the Civil War between the States was then raging and that the Southern States were being devastated.

      In 1866, Rev. C. A. Apple was elected Standing Secretary of the Southern Christian Convention held at Mt. Auburn in Warren county, North Carolina, and served in this office twelve years, the last Convention he served being held at Lebanon in Caswell county, in 1878.

      At the Conference at Union chapel in Alamance county, he served on the committee on Education, in 1867, and at the Conference at Salem chapel in Forsyth county, in 1868, he acted on the committee on Periodicals. At this time he was located in Virginia, and attended the Eastern Virginia Conference at Bethlehem. At Wake chapel, in 1869, he was assistant secretary, and [344] served on the educational committee. At this Conference he was also chosen a fraternal messenger to the Eastern Virginia Conference, which met at Spring Hill church, in Sussex county, Virginia. At this time he was conducting "an English and Classical" school at Level Green in Nansemond county, Virginia. In 1871, at Berkley, he preached the introductory sermon before the Eastern Virginia Conference from Heb. 13:8, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." This is a most excellent production and should claim the attention of those who are interested in sermonic literature. At this Conference he was elected assistant secretary, and was chairman of the committee on Sunday school literature. Just a short while before this he had issued his "Manual and Catechism," which was being generally adopted by the Sunday schools throughout the various Conferences. It had been previously brought to the attention of the Sunday School Convention of the Eastern Virginia Christian Conference.

      At the Conference at Hebron in Isle of Wight county, Rev. C. A. Apple was elected its president. The report of the committee on Sabbath schools was presented by him, and he stated in his remarks that he "thought in some instances it was hardly advisable to attempt to continue the schools through the winter, but thought it should be done wherever practicable." During the year he preached for Bethlehem, Hebron, Liberty Spring, and Holy Neck. At Cypress chapel in Nansemond county, in 1873, he was re-elected president of the Conference. For the year he had been pastor of Bethlehem, Holy Neck, and Liberty Spring churches.

      In 1874, he was a delegate from the Eastern Virginia Conference to the General Convention which met at New Providence, Graham, North Carolina, and was chairman of the committee on publications.

      At the Conference at Berea, in Nansemond county, in [345] 1875, he preached the annual sermon from Matt. 23:23, 24, and 1 Cor. 1:17, a copy of which was asked for publication. In 1876, he was president of the Conference held at Suffolk, Virginia. At the Conference at Mt. Carmel, in Isle of Wight county, Virginia, in 1877, he was chairman of the committee on education. At the close of the session of 1876-177, he was elected president of the Suffolk Collegiate Institute, which had enrolled more than one hundred students. The report of the committee states: "The Board of Trustees met, and, by unanimous consent, the choice fell upon Rev. C. A. Apple, the present chairman of your committee. The whole faculty of the school was then remodeled, greatly to its improvement, both as respects the culture of its members, and their capacity for successful and thorough instruction." While Rev. C. A. Apple was a strong writer and possessed certain gifts as a sermonizer, yet he failed when his capacity and ability were tested in the directing of an institution of learning of this kind. He resigned the presidency in less than two years.

      In 1878, the Conference met at Barrett's, Southampton county, and was called to order by Rev. C. A. Apple. To the body he presented the report from the committee on education. This year he had served the churches at Holy Neck and Spring Hill. At the close of the Conference he withdrew from the body. "With some allusions to his connection with this Conference, he asked and obtained a certificate of his standing and character in this body." At this time he was residing in Suffolk, Virginia, but soon thereafter moved with his family to Florida. Not long from that time his health having failed, he returned to Caswell county, North Carolina, where he lived for a short while. [346]

[LCM 344-346]