I did my very best at Chapel Hill in the way of preaching, because the way in which the people assembled made them deserving of the very best. They came up manfully to the help of the stewards. I remained here several days with Rev. H. P. Hollingsworth, the pastor, and his people.

         I next went to Starville, where I met a vast crowd, largely mixed with white people. My text was from John i. 17. Mr. Samuel Waters was the most celebrated steward there; and when he called for help, the whites gave their dollars and remarked that the new elder was as sharp as a brier. That was a grand time with Methodists. Brothers Pinkston, Mosley, William Webb, Alexander, John Pinkston, and Richard Burchard were the lights in the Starville Church.

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Conference assembled about two o'clock in the afternoon. It was a fine-looking set of men, among whom were Lewis Robertson, Ben Robertson, R. Lee, Jack Cole, and others. We soon learned that there was a division among the brethren. I confined my inquiries to the main questions of the Discipline. Finishing these, I was ready to listen to all things the brethren had to say touching the pastor's removal. I soon discover that the whole trouble was the result of Elder Taylor's interfering with the affairs of the charge; so I dismissed the case with a request that the brethren uphold their preacher in charge. Nearly all seemed willing to do this. When I signed the journal, I took pains to state that the cause of the trouble was attributed mainly to Elder Taylor's leaving the Pittsburg District to interfere at Shiloh with Rev. Lloyd's business. 

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  The most noted event of 1879, perhaps, was the Blue Spring Camp Meeting, held by Rev. H. P. Hollingsworth, near Chapel Hill. I was a curiosity in that part of the country. Thousands attended the meetings night and day. W. R. Grundy, O. T. Womack, Robert E. Hagler, and J. R. Wages did the preaching, and it was good preaching indeed. I sang all the good songs I knew. I made "Jerusalem City" ring for miles around. Sister Warren seemed to have taken greatest delight in my singing. 

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Not long afterwards we joined Rev. D. Mimms in a meeting held by him at Shady Grove. Rev. A. Taylor, a Baptist minister, accompanied us. When we arrived at the church, we found that services had begun. George Roberts, a local Baptist preacher, was preaching. The brethren came out and requested me to do some of my best preaching. "For we are on a rock," they said, "and it requires hard preaching here to get us off." Grundy said laughingly: "Put me up. I'll set 'em up. Won't I, Joe?" "Yes, you will," I assented. But the brethren knew nothing of Grundy's ability as a preacher, and to them it was no time for experimenting; and, besides, they thought he was joking. Grundy, adjusting his tooth and snuff brush most vigorously, would roll his big white eyes at them in a regular backwoods manner which was very amusing. Finally the evening services were begun. Elder Mimms put Grundy up to preach. 

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1883 Conference met at Pittsburg, Tex.

         At this Conference Bishop Holsey assigned me to the Leesburg Circuit. I was no stranger to the officials here, as most of them knew me by some means before I visited the circuit. Hon. George Jones was head and shoulders above the West Chapel division, and was one of the soundest Christians I ever met. Bob Caldwell was a great man. He was generally liberal toward the Church, and this counted for much when it is remembered that he was a man of considerable means and influence. Dennis Bufford and D. Ladd stood head at Mt. Lebanon, a church in the piney woods of Upshur County. The house had no door or window shutters. Nothing praiseworthy can be said of Mt. Lebanon. They would not finish their church nor build another. It was cold here, and the wintry winds made it very uncomfortable to worship at that season of the year. When spring set in and the birds were all out in beautiful plumage and with sweet songs, the seed ticks would cover one and almost drive him insane. Notwithstanding all this, I liked Mt. Lebanon.

         Joe Culberson, Christon, and others stood head at Oak Grove Church. Henry Williams was collecting steward at Mt. Zion. Mr. Joe Mangum was the old chief among the sinners, yet he was a free-hearted gentleman with his means. In fact, he was the wealthiest negro in that part of the country. Mr. Stephen Waddleton and Mr. Stephen Meadows were truly good citizens and good Christians, and they possessed good farms. Mr. Abe Mangum was a splendid man, one whom everybody respected very highly.

         Of the four Churches, Mt. Zion thought more of its pastor than any of the rest, and the people seemed always ready and willing to come out to enjoy preaching. At each monthly meeting they paid the pastor by roll call, and generally all paid their dimes. At Conference we were only ten dollars short of the claims.

         Oak Grove stood second in 1885 and 1886. West Chapel stood first in 1885, but fourth and last in 1886. I made a mistake in moving my family to West Chapel in 1886. Wife was very much displeased with the place. This and some of the people made it harder on me.

The Caldwell faction and the Jones faction squabbled about the school. Caldwell was the great schoolman, and Jones was the great churchman. It had been the rule to run a ten months' session during the year--seven months' free school and three months' subscription school at one dollar and fifty cents per month for each student. Now, in order to do this the two factions had always pulled together; but owing to short crops that year, Jones foresaw the impossibility of paying the preacher and running a pay school at the same time. The teacher had married the daughter of Mr. Caldwell, the great school champion, and the refusal to carry on the ten months' session was regarded as a stroke at the school champion and his family. He withdrew his aid from the Church, thus weakening its financial interests. The general claims necessarily went up minus a few dollars, and the pastor fell seventy-five dollars short in his own claims. Such was the result of the division in the West Chapel community that Conference year. I paid dearly, I thought, for these two leaders' differences. It was no fault of mine, and yet I sustained the greatest loss. I held my peace by holding my tongue, for both were good to me. Prof. Joseph Anderson was teacher, and carried on one of the best schools in Texas. He has prepared and equipped some of the best teachers to be found in the public school service in the State. Our friend, R. A. Caldwell, was deserving of praise for the successful prosecution of the grand work. I have never seen a colored man more devoted to the educational interests of his race than Mr. Caldwell. Though I liked them all, I had decided not to serve them again as pastor.

Autobiography and Work of Bishop M. F. Jamison, D.D. ("Uncle Joe") Editor, Publisher, and Church Extension Secretary; a Narration of His Whole Career from the Cradle to the Bishopric of the Colored M. E. Church in America
Jamison, M. F. (Monroe Franklin), 1848-1918
Nashville, TN: Published for the Author by the Publishing House of the M. E. Church, 1912. 206 p.

Courtesy of The University Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.