Hearne History - Page 499

[Continued from page 498]

Episcopal Church; in politics I am a Prohibitionist, and am a farmer.

Rev. Stephen L. Hearne, Corinth, Ill., a brother of Purnell above, says:

I was born near Lebanon, Tenn., Wilson Co., Apr. 17, 1833; moved to Williamson Co., Ill. 1858; married Phoebe Hendrickson Oct. 10, 1861. Children: Erastus H., born Aug. 31, 1864; Oran G., born Oct. 9, 1866; Nancy A., born Mar. 5, 1868; Susan E., born Feby. 23, 1872; Brunetta, born Mar. 20, 1874; Hester S., born Feb. 28, 1876; Martha A., born July 4, 1879; James U., born Dec. 27, 1884.

I am a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church and was licensed in the Southern Illinois Conference Nov. 19, 1873, and am a Republican in politics, Rev, Wilson Hearne, on the family tree, is a son of Thomas Hearne; he came from North Carolina about the time the elder Purnell did, and lived and died in Wilson Co., Tenn., I think, May, 1856. I lived in the same county and was well acquainted with him when I was a youth.

Rev. Wilson Hearne was one of the best men of earth, educated in the common schools of his day, but was a great preacher, and the secret of his success was his power with God. As a revivalist, he could get larger congregations where he was known than any other man of his day. I heard him preach at his home church for many years, and he always had a large congregation, the house being filled to overflowing, and he was always ready to preach. He was a great funeral preacher and preached all the funerals in the range of his acquaintance, and while he was a firm and solid man -- somewhat on the Cartwright style -- he was not without some humor. Once, when he was at a camp-meeting in the mountains of Tenn., there came to him, on the outside of the encampment, a little man, as he was starting home, and said to him: “Parson, can't you preach me a little funeral?” The “Parson” answered him: “If I can preach any at all, it will be a little one. Whose funeral do you want me to preach ?“ The man answered: “My wife’s.” The “Parson,” who was a close observer, asked him: "Who is that you have behind you ?“ He replied: “Oh! this is my other wife.” The “Parson” then said to him: “Just wait until she dies, and I will preach them both together.”

[Continued on page 501]


Notes:


Copyright (c) 1999, 2007 Brian Cragun.