Researching M. H.
Armor
04/16/2008
In 1892 M. H. Armor appeared on a lectureship at the
West Tennessee Christian College, along with David
Lipscomb, and several other preachers. During the
2008 FHU lectureship, I asked J. A. Thornton from
Booneville, MS if he had ever heard of M. H. Armor.
He said, "I sure have. I was named after him. That is
what the 'A' in J. A. stands for.
So, a new search begins to find where M. H. Armor is
buried. Here is what I have found about him so far.
His name appears several times in History of The
Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) in
Mississippi by M. F. Harmon.
1. M. H. Armor was the preacher for the Aberdeen, MS
Christian Church for about 8-10 years. The building
was erected in 1893 while Armor was the preacher.
2. Armor held meetings for the New Hope Christian
Church.
3. Armor preached in the Baptist church in New Albany
in 1888 or 89. He reorganized the church in February
1921, in the home of sister J. T. Armor. They met in
the court house and also the home of C. F. Work. The
membership was about 56 and Armor served as one of
the elders.
4. Armor preached once a month in 1915-16 at the
Rienzi Christian Church. On August 7, 1921, Armon
preached the first sermon in the new church building.
His topic was "The Word of God."
5. Here is what Harman writes about the West Point
Christian Church: "From Bro. N. B. Patterson, one of
the Elders of the church in West Point, and who has
lived there for more than forty years, we get the
following: "The congregation is about 67 years old,
and has had pastors as follows: J. B. Inman, 3 years,
one fourth time, A. G. Fried, I year, one fourth
time, R. P. Meek, three years, one half time, N. B.
Patterson, one year full time, W. G. Harbin, three
years full time, A. P. Finley, 2 years full time, J.
L. Greenwell, four years full time, Wynne Stout, one
year full time, J. W. McGarvey, one year full time,
I. J. Omer, one year full time, C. E. Moore, seven
years full time, N. B. Patterson and E. J. Stanley
one year as supply, Sam J. White, two years full
time, W. T. Young, one year full time, J. Will,
Walters, two years full time, W. T. Donaldson, six
months supply, and the present pastor, L. E. Sellers
who has been with the church for two years. During
this time the church has been served by the following
evangelists: J. B. Inman, James Sharp W. B. Howe, T.
B. Larimore, Morgan Morgans, R. P. Meek and N.
B.Patterson, John A. Stevens, M. H. Armor, S. M.
Martin, Hugh McCleland, T. L. Cooksie, J. A.
Crossfield, I. J. Spencer, I. M. Boswell, C. E.
Moore, W. T. Donaldson, E. S. Baker, Will Sheffer, J.
T. Brown, Will Tinsley, 0. P. Spiegel, J. W. Walters,
C. C. Cole, J. W. Caubel, Virgil Wallace, Frank K.
Dunn and Roger Fife."
6. Armor served as one of the preachers for the
Okolona (Miss) Christian Church.
7. From Harman's history of the Hickory Flat, MS
Christian Church, we learn that the M.H. stands for
Milton Hatly and his father was J. B. Armor. The
Armors and the Crums were closely related. Here is an
account of their conversion to New Testament
Christianity:
John Smith was a Primitive Baptist who lived in
Indiana. He heard a gospel preacher speak about the
importance of "Rightly Dividing the World of Truth."
After hearing the sermon, he and his wife became
"Christians only."
The Smiths had five daughters who were taught
diligently by their fireside to read, understand, and
obey the scriptures. They later moved to Hickory
Flat, Benton County, Mississippi. Having five young
daughters, they became the center of attention of the
young men in the community. But before marriage the
girls brought each man to the New Testament faith.
One daughter, Rachel, said to her boy friend: "Let us
read the Bible together, hear our ministers fairly,
pray while we study, and do what we believe to be
God's will as revealed to us in his word." After a
few months of reading, learning, and praying J. B.
Armor became a Christian. He became a gospel
preacher, as did his son Milton Hatley Armor who went
to school under J. W. McGarvey. Both the father and
son did much to bring the gospel to people in north
Mississippi.
Brother M. H. Armor spoke on a lectureship, along
with David Lipscomb in Henderson, Tennessee in 1892.
Brother J. A. Thornton, a long-time gospel preacher
and father-in-law of Ralph Gilmore who teaches at
Freed-Hardeman, is named in honor of M. H. Armor.
The youngest daughter of John Smith, Mary Malvina,
married W. A. Crum. They had no discussion of
religious issues until the first baby was born. Eli
Crum, father of W. A. Crum and a devout elder of the
Presbyterian Church, urged his son to have the babe
baptized. Mollie's reply was, "If God so teaches, I
am willing. I have heard that there is neither
command nor example for baptizing infants; but show
me the scriptures for it and I will consent at once."
Eli went to his Presbyterian preacher for help in
finding biblical authorization. In the meantime,
William Crum began to study the Bible for himself,
which lead to his obeying the gospel. He became one
of the strongest preachers in the state of
Mississippi during his time.
His son, William Eli Crum, was the first gospel
preacher for the Beech Hill church of Christ, Benton
County, Mississippi.
8. Armor served as the pastor for the Baldwyn, MS
Christian Church which was established by J. B.
Trimble. Knowles Shaw preached in the largest meeting
every assembled at the church.
9. Harmon gives the following short biography of
Armor: "MILTON HATLEY ARMOR. While not an evangelist
in the strict sense of the word, yet M. H. Armor has
held many meetings in Mississippi, and has devoted
his entire life to the state that gave him birth. And
that too, within a radius of not much over fifty
miles of the spot where he was born. While not an
evangelist, I feel like this book would be incomplete
without mention of a man who has done so much for the
cause of Christ as has Hatley Armor. He was educated
in Kentucky University, long before it became
Transylvania, and quite a time before he anticipated
entering the ministry. He got a thorough education
for his life work, let it be whatever it might.
Stevens used to call him "old Greek," because of both
his looks and his familiarity with the Greek
language, I suppose. But for some years after coming
from College, Bro. Armor was engaged in the railroad
business. All at once he became obsessed with the
idea of preaching. But he was getting a fine salary
for that day, $100. per month. And there were no
strong churches of Christ wanting a preacher and
ready to give him a better salary than the Railroad
was paying. In fact there were few churches of his
choice to be found anywhere close to him to call him
at all. But he gave up the fat job he had and found
four poor country churches that would all told pay
him just half what the railroad was paying. Brother
Armor lived here in Aberdeen for nearly ten years,
and then lived in Columbus for several years, and
then in Tupelo for a number of years. His home for
some years was with the church at Baldwyn, and from
there he moved back to New Albany, close to where he
was born, to spend the rest of his days. No man in
the North East District has done more for the
upbuilding of the Kingdom than has Hatley Armor.
History of Freed-Hardeman
Lectureship
03/17/2008
As a student
enrolled at FHU in the Master of Divinity program, I
have chosen for my thesis to write on the history of
the Freed-Hardeman Lectureship which started in 1937.
I am compling a list of all the speakers and topics.
We have the 1953-2008 lectures on CD. I am looking
for any sermons in audio or written form that
predates 1953. If you know of any materials, please
let me know at tchilders@fhu.edu or 731-989-9347.
Tom L. Childers