Freed-Hardeman Connections
Researching the Restoration Movement in Mississippi and West Tennessee
William Slaughter Long, Jr.
1874-1957?
W. S. Long was born in Union City, TN. His grandparents were baptized by Alexander Campbell in Hopkinsville, KY. W. S. Long was baptized by J.S. Haskins at the age of 16 in the Obion River at Rives, TN.
Gospel Advocate, July 10, 1941, 658
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W. S. Long
William Slaughter Long
3368 Douglas Ave., Memphis, Tenn.; BIRTH: Union City, Tenn., Jan. 9, 1874
WIFE: Aure Burcham Long (deceased)
BAPTIZED BY: J. S. Haskins, Nov., 1899
BEGAN PREACHING: Reeves, Tenn., 1899
TRAINING: David Lipscomb College, Freed-Hardeman College, George Washington University
CHURCHES SERVED: Fourteenth Street, Washington, D.C., 1918-24, Vinewood Avenue, Detroit, Mich., 1925-28, Union Avenue, Memphis, Tenn., 1908-14, 1946-52
PAPERS: Gospel Advocate;
PUBLICATIONS: The Spirit of Christ, F. L. Rowe, 1924; The Light of Hope, Earnest Hayes Press, 1936, Christ the Answer, Gospel Advocate, 1952
RELIGIOUS DEBATES: "The Church,"1913;
RADIO: Richmond, Va., weekly, Bristol, Tenn., daily, Chicago, Ill., weekly
MEETINGS PER YEAR: Five
PERMANENT CONTACT; Miss Annie Glenn Puryear, Union Avenue Church of Christ, Memphis, Tenn.
OTHER FACTS OF INTEREST: Has preached in twenty-five states from New York to Fla. and in Canada. Baptized Katherine Kelley (Machine Gun Kelley's wife) and her mother, Mrs. Cora Shelley, in Federal Penitentary at Milan, Mich. (Note: http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/mgk.htm).
Preachers of Today, Vol. I, p. 203
Brother Long attended Georgie Robertson Christian College in Henderson in 1899. First minister of the Whitehaven church of Christ, now Goodman Oaks in Southaven, Miss.
Germantown church of Christ -- In September of 1948 a small group of Christians, most of whom lived in the Germantown area and attended the Union Avenue Church of Christ, organized a Tuesday evening Bible class with W. S. Long as their teacher.
In a small volume titled Collection of Sermons by W. S. Long published by the Gospel Advocate Company in 1954, brother Long gave a very brief biography of his life. Christians living in Memphis or with ties to Memphis will find his statements of interest.
William S. Long was born in Union City, Tennessee in 1875. His grandparents were from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Alexander Campbell in Hopkinsville baptized both his grandfather and his grandmother. Then brother Long told about early beginnings in Memphis. He wrote, “On November 10, 1905, I was called to the Harbert Avenue Church which was the only congregation in Memphis. It had a membership of thirty-five and rapidly grew to a total of one hundred fifty-one. While connected with the Harbert Avenue Church I held sixteen meetings in and around Memphis. Many people were baptized and about ten new congregations were started in Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee, and some in Arkansas” (p. 8).
It is hard to think of Memphis as a mission field, but in 1905 it was. Brother Long wrote, “I spent much of my time in work in mission fields. My first six years were given to work in Memphis and surrounding territory” (p. 9).
In 1905, the city limits likely extended no further than the loop formed by the Parkways, South Parkway, East Parkway, and North Parkway. Later his work took him to many large cities like Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Detroit, and Chicago. Later in 1945, he was called back to Memphis to work again with the Harbert Avenue congregation but by then it was called Union Avenue (p. 10).
In the intervening years G.C. Brewer preached for the Union Avenue Church which was the largest congregation in the brotherhood. He began January 1, 1929. In a year the congregation grew to 1,100 members. He preached at Union Avenue for six years. Earl West tells more about the congregation back then, “It was an active congregation, supporting George Benson in China, often helping with Marshall Keeble’s evangelistic work, and involved, too, in orphan home work” (The Search for the Ancient Order, Vol. IV, p. 147).
(Note: The Union Avenue congregation now meets in Cordova, a suburb of Memphis, and is known as the Woodland Hills Church of Christ, 10011 Woodland Hills Drive, Cordova, TN 38018. (901-755-7709). Mike Mayes serves as the preacher. The congregation meeting in the building on Union Avenue is known as the Midtown Church of Christ, 1930 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104. (901-726-4612). Harold Redd is the preacher.)
W. S. Long, Sr. - 1844-1929
Brother Long was born near Hopkinsville, Ky, July 8, 1844. His parents heard Alexander Campbell preach and obeyed the gospel. When he was 16 years old, he was baptized by James Mobley. When he was 21 years old, he moved to Union City, Tenn. He married Martha A. Harper who was baptized by Isaac Sewell. In 1884, there was only one church of Christ in Obion County. When the instrument was introduced, he started working with John R. Williams and brother Mills. He died Dec. 28, 1929.
Taken from Biographical Sketches of Gospel Preachers, H. Leo Boles, p. 337ff.
Out of My Memory… W. S. Long at Kimery
Basil Overton, The World Evangelist, Nov. 1984, 3.
Forty-two years ago I heard W. S. Long preach in a series of meetings at Kimery Church of Christ in Weakley . County, Tennessee where I was a member.
Brother Long baptized my brother Bill and his wife Juanita during that meeting. They are members of the Franklin, Indiana Church of Christ.
In that series brother Long preached on the church we can all read about in the Bible. His preaching was plain and simple New Testament truth on the church.
In my young years preachers of the gospel preached often about Christ and his church and showed from the Bible that -the church of Christ is important because it was purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28) and that salvation is in it. They preached about how much Christ loved the church, and that he showed this love in giving himself for it. (Ephesians 5:25.) The last time I can remember seeing brother W. S. Long was when he visited Margie and me at Abilene, Texas when I was in school at Abilene Christian College about 35 years ago. He was a kind and gentle man, but loved the Lord and preached his word ably and faithfully.
Brother Long's father was also named W. S. (William Slaughter) Long, and was a preacher of the gospel. He obeyed the gospel in Hopkinsville, Kentucky about 1860 when he was 16 years of age. The parents of this W. S. Long learned the gospel plan of salvation by hearing Alexander Campbell preach in Hopkinsville about 1850, and became Christians.
Not only was the father of the W. S. Long I knew named W. S. Long, but also his great-grandfather was named W. S. Long. I got this information on brother , Long's family from the book on pioneer preachers that was written by H. Leo Boles.
- The Editor
Long.-
Friends and loved ones are saddened by the sudden death of Sister W. S. Long on May 28 at the Methodist Hospital, Memphis, Tenn. Mrs. Long was stricken suddenly the morning before at her home, 3368 Douglass. She was born on May 3, 1886. Mrs. Long, the former Miss Aura Burcham, was born in Columbia, Tenn., daughter of the late John W. and Viola Harder Burcham, both members of pioneer Middle Tennessee families. A graduate of David Lipscomb College, having entered there when the school was located on Spruce Street and was called the Nashville Bible School, she taught in public schools in Middle Tennessee and served six years on the faculty of Fanning Orphan School.
In 1917 she entered government service in Washington, where she held a responsible position until her marriage to W. S. Long in 1936. Baptized in early life, Mrs. Long was always active in the work of the church. She had an effective part in the establishment of the church in Washington, D. C., when services were held in a rented hall. She was one of the small group that acquired property on Fourteenth Street. Since her marriage to Brother Long, widely known for his work in establishing churches in hard places, Mrs. Long has devoted her entire time to assistance in this work. She has worked Untiringly for the progress of the church in the places where Brother Long has been located: Chicago, Tuscaloosa, Richmond, Norfolk, Bristol and locally.
Brother and Sister Long came to Memphis about six years ago from Virginia, and since that time he has been associated with the Union Avenue congregation, serving and establishing various churches in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Currently, Brother Long is working with the church in Crossett, Ark. No more genial person with· more admirable qualities of Christian character has ever come our way at Union Avenue than Sister Long. Truly, to know her was to love her. Loyal to the church of the Lord, faithful and obedient to the teachings of her Savior, helpful and always lending encouragement to her husband, who has done so much in the Lord's kingdom-all this is shallow praise to bestow upon so worthy a life as that of Sister W. S. Long. For her influence we shall ever be indebted.
Sister Long leaves her husband; three· brothers, W. H. Burcham, Fort Stockton, Texas; D. H. Burcham and James R. Burcham, Columbia, Tenn.; and her sister, Mrs. H. T. King, Memphis, Tenn.
-JESSB W. Fox.
July 31, 1952, Gospel Advocate, 500-01
1874-1957?
W. S. Long was born in Union City, TN. His grandparents were baptized by Alexander Campbell in Hopkinsville, KY. W. S. Long was baptized by J.S. Haskins at the age of 16 in the Obion River at Rives, TN.
Gospel Advocate, July 10, 1941, 658
-----------------
W. S. Long
William Slaughter Long
3368 Douglas Ave., Memphis, Tenn.; BIRTH: Union City, Tenn., Jan. 9, 1874
WIFE: Aure Burcham Long (deceased)
BAPTIZED BY: J. S. Haskins, Nov., 1899
BEGAN PREACHING: Reeves, Tenn., 1899
TRAINING: David Lipscomb College, Freed-Hardeman College, George Washington University
CHURCHES SERVED: Fourteenth Street, Washington, D.C., 1918-24, Vinewood Avenue, Detroit, Mich., 1925-28, Union Avenue, Memphis, Tenn., 1908-14, 1946-52
PAPERS: Gospel Advocate;
PUBLICATIONS: The Spirit of Christ, F. L. Rowe, 1924; The Light of Hope, Earnest Hayes Press, 1936, Christ the Answer, Gospel Advocate, 1952
RELIGIOUS DEBATES: "The Church,"1913;
RADIO: Richmond, Va., weekly, Bristol, Tenn., daily, Chicago, Ill., weekly
MEETINGS PER YEAR: Five
PERMANENT CONTACT; Miss Annie Glenn Puryear, Union Avenue Church of Christ, Memphis, Tenn.
OTHER FACTS OF INTEREST: Has preached in twenty-five states from New York to Fla. and in Canada. Baptized Katherine Kelley (Machine Gun Kelley's wife) and her mother, Mrs. Cora Shelley, in Federal Penitentary at Milan, Mich. (Note: http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/mgk.htm).
Preachers of Today, Vol. I, p. 203
Brother Long attended Georgie Robertson Christian College in Henderson in 1899. First minister of the Whitehaven church of Christ, now Goodman Oaks in Southaven, Miss.
Germantown church of Christ -- In September of 1948 a small group of Christians, most of whom lived in the Germantown area and attended the Union Avenue Church of Christ, organized a Tuesday evening Bible class with W. S. Long as their teacher.
In a small volume titled Collection of Sermons by W. S. Long published by the Gospel Advocate Company in 1954, brother Long gave a very brief biography of his life. Christians living in Memphis or with ties to Memphis will find his statements of interest.
William S. Long was born in Union City, Tennessee in 1875. His grandparents were from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Alexander Campbell in Hopkinsville baptized both his grandfather and his grandmother. Then brother Long told about early beginnings in Memphis. He wrote, “On November 10, 1905, I was called to the Harbert Avenue Church which was the only congregation in Memphis. It had a membership of thirty-five and rapidly grew to a total of one hundred fifty-one. While connected with the Harbert Avenue Church I held sixteen meetings in and around Memphis. Many people were baptized and about ten new congregations were started in Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee, and some in Arkansas” (p. 8).
It is hard to think of Memphis as a mission field, but in 1905 it was. Brother Long wrote, “I spent much of my time in work in mission fields. My first six years were given to work in Memphis and surrounding territory” (p. 9).
In 1905, the city limits likely extended no further than the loop formed by the Parkways, South Parkway, East Parkway, and North Parkway. Later his work took him to many large cities like Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Detroit, and Chicago. Later in 1945, he was called back to Memphis to work again with the Harbert Avenue congregation but by then it was called Union Avenue (p. 10).
In the intervening years G.C. Brewer preached for the Union Avenue Church which was the largest congregation in the brotherhood. He began January 1, 1929. In a year the congregation grew to 1,100 members. He preached at Union Avenue for six years. Earl West tells more about the congregation back then, “It was an active congregation, supporting George Benson in China, often helping with Marshall Keeble’s evangelistic work, and involved, too, in orphan home work” (The Search for the Ancient Order, Vol. IV, p. 147).
(Note: The Union Avenue congregation now meets in Cordova, a suburb of Memphis, and is known as the Woodland Hills Church of Christ, 10011 Woodland Hills Drive, Cordova, TN 38018. (901-755-7709). Mike Mayes serves as the preacher. The congregation meeting in the building on Union Avenue is known as the Midtown Church of Christ, 1930 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104. (901-726-4612). Harold Redd is the preacher.)
W. S. Long, Sr. - 1844-1929
Brother Long was born near Hopkinsville, Ky, July 8, 1844. His parents heard Alexander Campbell preach and obeyed the gospel. When he was 16 years old, he was baptized by James Mobley. When he was 21 years old, he moved to Union City, Tenn. He married Martha A. Harper who was baptized by Isaac Sewell. In 1884, there was only one church of Christ in Obion County. When the instrument was introduced, he started working with John R. Williams and brother Mills. He died Dec. 28, 1929.
Taken from Biographical Sketches of Gospel Preachers, H. Leo Boles, p. 337ff.
Out of My Memory… W. S. Long at Kimery
Basil Overton, The World Evangelist, Nov. 1984, 3.
Forty-two years ago I heard W. S. Long preach in a series of meetings at Kimery Church of Christ in Weakley . County, Tennessee where I was a member.
Brother Long baptized my brother Bill and his wife Juanita during that meeting. They are members of the Franklin, Indiana Church of Christ.
In that series brother Long preached on the church we can all read about in the Bible. His preaching was plain and simple New Testament truth on the church.
In my young years preachers of the gospel preached often about Christ and his church and showed from the Bible that -the church of Christ is important because it was purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28) and that salvation is in it. They preached about how much Christ loved the church, and that he showed this love in giving himself for it. (Ephesians 5:25.) The last time I can remember seeing brother W. S. Long was when he visited Margie and me at Abilene, Texas when I was in school at Abilene Christian College about 35 years ago. He was a kind and gentle man, but loved the Lord and preached his word ably and faithfully.
Brother Long's father was also named W. S. (William Slaughter) Long, and was a preacher of the gospel. He obeyed the gospel in Hopkinsville, Kentucky about 1860 when he was 16 years of age. The parents of this W. S. Long learned the gospel plan of salvation by hearing Alexander Campbell preach in Hopkinsville about 1850, and became Christians.
Not only was the father of the W. S. Long I knew named W. S. Long, but also his great-grandfather was named W. S. Long. I got this information on brother , Long's family from the book on pioneer preachers that was written by H. Leo Boles.
- The Editor
Long.-
Friends and loved ones are saddened by the sudden death of Sister W. S. Long on May 28 at the Methodist Hospital, Memphis, Tenn. Mrs. Long was stricken suddenly the morning before at her home, 3368 Douglass. She was born on May 3, 1886. Mrs. Long, the former Miss Aura Burcham, was born in Columbia, Tenn., daughter of the late John W. and Viola Harder Burcham, both members of pioneer Middle Tennessee families. A graduate of David Lipscomb College, having entered there when the school was located on Spruce Street and was called the Nashville Bible School, she taught in public schools in Middle Tennessee and served six years on the faculty of Fanning Orphan School.
In 1917 she entered government service in Washington, where she held a responsible position until her marriage to W. S. Long in 1936. Baptized in early life, Mrs. Long was always active in the work of the church. She had an effective part in the establishment of the church in Washington, D. C., when services were held in a rented hall. She was one of the small group that acquired property on Fourteenth Street. Since her marriage to Brother Long, widely known for his work in establishing churches in hard places, Mrs. Long has devoted her entire time to assistance in this work. She has worked Untiringly for the progress of the church in the places where Brother Long has been located: Chicago, Tuscaloosa, Richmond, Norfolk, Bristol and locally.
Brother and Sister Long came to Memphis about six years ago from Virginia, and since that time he has been associated with the Union Avenue congregation, serving and establishing various churches in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Currently, Brother Long is working with the church in Crossett, Ark. No more genial person with· more admirable qualities of Christian character has ever come our way at Union Avenue than Sister Long. Truly, to know her was to love her. Loyal to the church of the Lord, faithful and obedient to the teachings of her Savior, helpful and always lending encouragement to her husband, who has done so much in the Lord's kingdom-all this is shallow praise to bestow upon so worthy a life as that of Sister W. S. Long. For her influence we shall ever be indebted.
Sister Long leaves her husband; three· brothers, W. H. Burcham, Fort Stockton, Texas; D. H. Burcham and James R. Burcham, Columbia, Tenn.; and her sister, Mrs. H. T. King, Memphis, Tenn.
-JESSB W. Fox.
July 31, 1952, Gospel Advocate, 500-01