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Carry Nation (1846-1911) was born in Kentucky and later married to Charles Gloyd. A doctor and an alcoholic, they had one daughter, a dissolving marriage, and a dead husband in less than two years. The first hand experience with liquor would change her life dramatically. In 1894, she led her branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union into a local Read more...
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The life of Carrie Nation stands as one of the most striking and controversial chapters in the history of the American temperance movement. Known for her dramatic methods and uncompromising stance against alcohol, Nation became a national figure in the early twentieth century, symbolizing both the intensity and the division surrounding the push for prohibition in the United States. Born Read more...
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The tragic shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on November 5, 2017, stands as one of the deadliest attacks on a place of worship in American history. The event shocked the nation, not only for its scale but for the setting—a small, close-knit church community gathered for Sunday worship. On that morning, members of the congregation had Read more...
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Preacher “One of the most useful qualifications of a good minister is that he have a lively sense of religion upon his own heart.” John Witherspoon Born in Gifford, Scotland, in 1723, Witherspoon was educated at the University of Edinburgh, completing his divinity studies in 1743. The son of a clergyman, he became pastor of the Presbyterian congregation in Beith Read more...
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The history and impact of the The Gideons International and their widely recognized “Gideon Bibles” represent one of the most enduring efforts to place Scripture directly into everyday life. For more than a century, this organization has been known for its simple but far-reaching mission: to distribute copies of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, in places where people are Read more...
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The story of the “Beecher Bibles” and the later shortfall of the Social Gospel movement reflects two distinct but related attempts to address moral crisis in American life. Both arose from a desire to confront injustice, yet they differed sharply in method and long-term impact. The term “Beecher Bibles” is associated with Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent nineteenth-century minister and Read more...
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The Pennsylvania Bible Society stands as one of the oldest Bible societies in the United States, reflecting a long-standing commitment to the distribution of Scripture and the promotion of biblical literacy. Founded in 1808 in Philadelphia, the society emerged during a period of religious revival and growing interest in organized efforts to make the Bible widely available to all people, Read more...
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The first English-language Bible printed in America, commonly known as the Aitken Bible, stands as a remarkable achievement in the early history of the United States. Produced in 1782 by Robert Aitken in Philadelphia, this edition of the Scriptures was born out of both necessity and conviction during the years following the American Revolution. Before independence, most English Bibles used Read more...
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The relationship between Abraham Lincoln and religion has long been a subject of careful study and thoughtful debate. Unlike many American leaders of his time, Lincoln was not formally affiliated with a church, yet his language, convictions, and leadership were deeply shaped by religious ideas, particularly those rooted in the Bible. Lincoln was born in 1809 in Hardin County, a Read more...
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William Jennings Bryan began practicing law in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1883. After graduating from law school at Union College of Law (now part of Northwestern University), Bryan moved to Jacksonville, where he opened a law practice. There he partnered with a local attorney and quickly became involved in both legal work and public speaking. His time in Jacksonville was formative. Read more...
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The story of William Jennings Bryan and his famous “Cross of Gold” speech is most often associated with the dramatic scene at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Yet, like many great speeches, its power was not born in a single moment. Bryan had developed and delivered earlier versions of his argument in towns across the Midwest, including a Read more...
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The Mayflower Compact stands as one of the most significant founding documents in early American history. Signed aboard the ship Mayflower in November 1620, it established a basic framework for self-government among English settlers who had arrived on the shores of what is now Massachusetts without a formal governing charter. Though brief in length, the Compact carried lasting influence, shaping Read more...
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Thomas Hooker stands among the most influential early Puritan leaders in colonial New England. A gifted preacher, theological thinker, and community organizer, Hooker played a foundational role in the development of democratic ideas in America and in the founding of the colony of Connecticut. His life reflects the broader story of Puritan migration, religious reform, and the shaping of early Read more...
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Thomas Hooker was born in Leicestershire, England, and graduated from Cambridge with a Master’s in 1611, the year the translators produced the Authorized (King James) Bible. Hooker pastored in Surrey starting in 1620, and then in Chelmsford in 1626. But in 1629, because of his Puritan sympathies he was forced to flee to Rotterdam, and then in 1633, following the Read more...
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John Eliot occupies a distinctive place in early American history as one of the first European missionaries to devote his life to evangelizing Indigenous peoples in New England. Known often as the “Apostle to the Indians,” Eliot’s work combined religious conviction, linguistic scholarship, and a deep—though historically complex—commitment to cross-cultural engagement. His life and legacy are closely tied to the Read more...
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John Eliot (1604-1690) was born in Widford, England, and graduated from Cambridge. He worked for Thomas Hooker (founder of Connecticut) at his school in Essex. When Hooker escaped England for the Netherlands, Eliot came to Boston in 1631, where he helped compile the Bay Psalm Book. For over forty years he would preach in Roxbury. Many of the Christians who came Read more...
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John Wesley (1703-1791) was an Oxford graduate, an Anglican priest, and led the “Holy Club” where they prayed for three hours a day to try to be a better Christian. He even became a missionary to the Native Americans in Georgia. On October 14, 1735, John and his brother Charles Wesley departed England for Savannah aboard the Simmonds. On February Read more...
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Inscription: William (Billy) Franklin Graham preached his first sermon on Easter Sunday night, March 28, 1947 at the Bostwick Baptist Church near Palatka, Florida. Graham was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 17, 1918. He was saved in a Mordecal Ham crusade when he was 16 years of age. He preached his first sermon at Bostwick Baptist Church while Read more...
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Inscription: A Centennial Memorial of Hiram Bingham. Born in Bennington, Vt., Oct. 30, 1789. Died in New Haven, Ct., Nov. 11, 1869, Aged 80 Years. This slab is placed here in grateful remembrance of a pioneer Missionary by descendants of Hawaiians (aided by his Children) among whom he preached Christ for more than twenty years. He preached the first sermon every delivered Read more...
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At 26, Herbert G. Tovey wrote the song “Give Me a Passion for Souls” – out of 1,500 songs published under his Sacred Music Foundation, this was the most popular. 1 Give me a passion for souls, dear Lord, A passion to save the lost; O that Thy love were by all adored, And welcomed at any cost. Refrain: Jesus, Read more...