REV. MALCOM L. HURLEY.

EV. MALCOM L. HURLEY was born in Montgomery county, North Carolina, September 15, 1854, and died in Randolph county, April 30, 1907. A granite monument fourteen feet high was erected at his grave August 15, 1908. His parents were Daniel W. and Margaret Hurley. Re was converted at Shady Grove Christian church in his native county, at the early age of thirteen years. He began to preach and became a licentiate of the Deep River (now the Western North Carolina) Conference at the age of fourteen. In 1870, at the age of sixteen years he was ordained to the full work of the ministry by Revs. J. R. Holt, W. R. Brown and A. S. Nelson, at Union Grove in Randolph county,. North Carolina. This was soon after the Conference at Oldham's Grove. In 1871, he attended the Conference at Shiloh, and was chosen fraternal messenger to the North Carolina and Virginia Conference. About this time he attended the school at Graham, conducted by Rev. W. S. Long, D. D., in what was then known as the Trollinger Hotel building. He was a class-mate of Rev. P. T. Klapp and the writer. At this place he received the greater part of his education. He had a brilliant mind and a retentive memory.

      In 1872, he attended the Conference at Union Grove and advocated the report on education; in 1873, at Parks' Cross Roads, he was placed on the committee on education and was assigned to the churches at Union, [375] Pleasant Ridge, and Parks' Cross Roads. In 1874, he attended the General Christian Convention at New Providence near Graham, North Carolina, and was invited to a seat as a visiting member. This year he preached the annual sermon before the Deep River Conference at Pleasant Grove, taking as his text Matt. 16:18. At the close of the Conference, he was granted a transfer to the North Carolina and Virginia Christian Conference, with which he united at Hanks' chapel in Chatham county. He located in Halifax county, Virginia, where he was pastor of Union chapel for eight years, of Mt. Auburn, Lebanon and Hebron for four years. He re-organized Hebron church, originally a Methodist Protestant church.

      In 1875, at the Conference at Pope's chapel in Franklin county, North Carolina, he was appointed on the standing committee on Sabbath schools; in 1876, at Salem chapel, on the committee on religious literature; and in 1877, at Pleasant Grove in Halifax county, Virginia, on the committee on religious literature and as chairman of the committee on temperance. He reported that he had attended the Deep River Conference as a fraternal messenger, and was "impressed with the hopeful prospect of that body." At the Conference at Damascus in Orange county, in 1878, he served on several committees, and presented this resolution: "Resolved, That this body endorse the action of the General Convention in the appointment of Rev. J. W. Wellons as an Evangelist, and that we pledge him our prayers, sympathy, and hearty co-operation in his work." In December of this year he was married. In 1879, he served on several committees at the Conference at Christian chapel in Chatham county: and at Bethlehem in Alamance county in 1880, he served on the committee on home missions, and was elected a fraternal messenger to the Eastern Virginia Conference. In his ministerial report he says, "organized two churches." [376]

      In 1882, he accepted work in the bounds of the Eastern Virginia Conference, serving the churches at Bethany, Franklin, Holy Neck and Liberty Spring. Soon thereafter he located at Carrsville, Virginia, and later moved to Franklin. He attended the Eastern Virginia Conference at Union in Southampton county, in 1883, and was invited to a seat in the body; and likewise the Conference at Spring Hill in Sussex county, in 1884; and at Antioch in Isle of Wight county, in 1886. This year (1885) he attended the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Hayes' chapel in Wake county, and was chosen a delegate to the General Convention which met at Mt. Auburn in Warren county, in 1886. He served on the committee on credentials and on other committees, and was appointed on the standing committee on publications. By the North Carolina and Virginia Conference he was appointed a fraternal messenger to the Eastern Virginia Conference at Berea, Nansemond county, in 1886. He also attended the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at New Providence, and offered the following resolution: "That no minister belonging to this Conference shall have the right to organize a Christian church, save under the direction of the committee on Home Missions." At this Conference he asked for a letter of transfer to the Eastern Virginia Conference. This year he edited and published a book entitled "The Five Cardinal Principles of the Christian Church Defined," which was endorsed by the General Convention, and later he issued "Christians not Disciples."

      At the Eastern Virginia Conference at Damascus in Gates county, North Carolina, in 1887, he was appointed on the advisory committee to the Eastern Virginia Colored Conference. He served also on the Executive committee and on the Home Mission committee, and was appointed chairman of the Foreign Mission committee.

      At the extraordinary session of the General [377] Convention at New Providence, in 1888, he served on the committee on Publications, and was chosen a member of the board of trustees of the college, named later Elon College. He was appointed on the standing committee on foreign missions at the Conference at Cypress chapel; and in 1889, at Holy Neck, he was chosen a ministerial delegate to the General Convention, and appointed on the Conference Executive committee. At this time he was serving the churches at Holy Neck and Berea, in Nansemond county. At the General Convention at Suffolk, Virginia, in 1890, he was appointed on the committee on Schools and Colleges. In 1891, at the Conference at Franklin, Virginia, he served on the committees on home missions and foreign missions, and was elected a delegate to the General Convention which met at Elon College in 1892. He was continued on the committee on Schools and Colleges. At this time he was residing at Overland, Virginia, but moved to Elon College in 1893. He attended the conference at Mt. Carmel in Isle of Wight county, Virginia, and the Christian Missionary Association, which met at the same time and place. He was elected corresponding secretary and financial agent of the Missionary Association, and at once entered upon the work giving his whole time, till July 1, 1894, when he became one of the owners of the Christian Sun.

      In 1894, he was a delegate to the General (Southern) Christian Convention at Norfolk, and in 1895, at the Conference at Berkley, Virginia, he was elected "a fraternal messenger to all the conferences comprised in the General Convention of the Christian Church, South." He attended as fraternal messenger the Western North Carolina Conference at Smithwood in Guilford county, the North Carolina and Virginia Conference at Long's chapel in Alamance county, and the Eastern North Carolina Conference at Liberty church in Vance county. He preached for the Eastern Conference on Sunday at [378] 11 o'clock A. M. In 1896, he attended the Southern Convention at Burlington, North Carolina, and likewise in 1906. In 1897, he was at the Eastern Virginia Conference, and having spent some time in the Georgia and Alabama Conference, he reported "that the outlook was hopeful and encouraging to the Christian Church in the South." In 1898, he was a delegate to the Southern Christian Convention at Raleigh, North Carolina, and was pastor of the churches at Liberty, Pleasant Hill and Ramseur, in the Western North Carolina Conference. In 1899, he attended the Georgia and Alabama Conference at Pleasant Grove, and by request preached the opening sermon before the body. He also attended the Western North Carolina Conference and was invited to a seat as a deliberative member. In his report to the Eastern Virginia Conference for 1900, he says that he canvassed for the Christian Sun and preached 205 sermons. In 1901, he attended the Alabama Christian Conference at Rock Springs, in Randolph county, and was invited to a seat as a deliberative member; and likewise to a seat in the Western North Carolina Conference at New Providence near Graham. At this time he had removed from Elon College to Durham, North Carolina, and was pastor of New Providence and Graham churches in the Western Conference, and Wake chapel in the Eastern Conference. In 1902, he was elected president of the Georgia and Alabama Conference though not a member of it. In 1904, he attended the Western Conference and was invited to a seat in the body. From the Southern Christian Convention, in 1906, he returned to his field of labor in the Western North Carolina Conference, the session of which he attended at Zion church in Chatham county. His last ministerial report gives him as pastor of the following churches: "Shiloh, Parks' Cross Roads, and Liberty; sermons 65; conversions 29; [379] marriages solemnized 2; prayer meetings 5; members received 18; burial services 5; salary $225."

      He was taken sick in the pulpit while preaching his last sermon, April 28th, and sat down upon a chair to finish. At the time of his death he was pastor of several churches in the Western Conference, though he was a member of the Eastern Virginia Conference.

      His health failed him several years before his death, but his extraordinary vitality never allowed him to give up. He traveled for some time as soliciting agent for the Christian Sun, being half owner with Dr. E. L. Moffitt. Later he traveled as salesman of Bibles and religious literature in connection with his ministerial labors. Many who knew him will properly interpret the statement, if we shall say that he was an encyclopedia of anecdotes not a few of which he told with zest. He was a fluent speaker and a preacher of much convincing and persuasive power. Being endowed with a masterful memory and an alert receptive mind, he grasped and understood with little mental application that which others would require weeks and months to master. The two books "The Five Cardinal Principles of the Christian Church Defined" and "The Christians not Disciples" edited by him, found ready sale and helped to a clearer understanding of what the Christian Church stands for. In an article published in 1884, entitled "The Glory of Affliction," his life from that time forward was foreshown. It was a real prophecy concerning himself.

[LCM 375-380]