My Genealogy Hound

Rev. James F. Jernigan, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of the Osceola Circuit, was born in Henry County, Tenn., May 18, 1851, being sixth in a family of seven children born to Rev. W. H. and Dicy (Moore) Jernigan, natives of Middle Tennessee. There the father followed farming for a long time, but being converted, he began preaching nearly fifty years ago. James’ paternal grandfather, Jesse, and his wife, Rebecca, were pioneers of Western Tennessee, going there from Middle Tennessee in 1823, where the old gentleman lived, following farming and carpentering, till his death, which occurred in January, 1857, at the age of eighty-three years. Rev. W. H. Jernigan later removed from Tennessee to Independence County, Ark., and settled near Sulphur Rock, where he bought a tract of 200 acres. On this land he has made many improvements, providing a comfortable home for the family till about 1883, The mother died August 10, 1878, at the age of sixty-four years. The estate still belongs to the family, but Mr. Jernigan, Sr., makes his home with his youngest son, L. C. Jernigan, a merchant at Sulphur Rock. In 1865 this estimable man (our subject’s father) taught the first free school in Independence County. He was a teacher for a long time in Tennessee, and has always been active in school and church work. He has continued preaching up to the present, and during the summer of 1888 assisted his son in a series of protracted meetings, covering a period of nearly three months. On the 23d of July, 1889, at the house of his youngest son, he made the remark, that forty-nine years previous a chain of two links had been formed; subsequently seven links more had been added, and to this increasing chain thirty-eight more links, representing his grandchildren, were added, making in all a chain of fifty-four links. During this long period there have been but eight breaks in this family chain, the death of five children and three adults. This respected pioneer has lived in Northeast Arkansas thirty years, and during that time has never had a chill; in fact, as will be seen from the above, the health of the entire family has been remarkable. Our subject remained at home, working on the farm, till about the age of twenty-three years, during which time he attended school in the vicinity of his home, and in 1872 was a student at a five months’ session at Spring Hill Academy, Henry County, Tenn. From his sixteenth year, when he was converted, he has been a diligent student of the Bible, and works on theology, feeling from that early age that there were fields for labor in the coming years, in which a knowledge of those books would be his greatest if not his only help; and so with these years of preparation, by private study and his father’s help, he became well qualified for active usefulness. He entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, White River Conference, which was held in 1874 in Searcy, White County, Ark., his first charge being Salem Circuit, Fulton County, where he remained one year. He was then changed to West Point Circuit, White County, and thence, after one year, to Pleasant Valley Circuit, Jackson County. In 1878 he was changed to Newport Station for one year; thence to Lee County, for one year; in 1880 to Clay County, Boydsville and Oak Bluff Stations; in 1881 to Corning Station, same county; in 1882-83, Jamestown Circuit, Independence County; in 1884-85, at Vanndale Circuit; in 1886-87, in Marion Circuit, Crittenden County, and in 1888 back to Sulphur Rock Circuit, his old, boyhood home. In 1889 he was appointed to Osceola Circuit, in Mississippi County, which charge he is filling at the present time. Brother Jernigan can justly be called a revivalist, for in all these years his ministry has been marked with wonderful success. In 1882, 175 conversions resulted from his efforts, and two-thirds of this number united with the church; in other years nearly as many, and this year (1889) during about eight months’ labor he had 118 accessions to the church. He has held protracted meetings at Carson’s Lake, Golden Lake, Pecan Point, Mill Bayou, Dunavant’s Chapel, Louise Chapel, Elmot and Osceola, and at all these meetings great interest has been manifested, and many conversions made. Indeed, the degree of interest manifested among the people who have been attending his various meetings is sufficient to impress a thoughtful person as being wonderful. Religious matters have here been the chief topic of conversation, and the thoughts of almost all seem to dwell on the “big meetings.” Brother Jernigan has been married twice; the first time November 14, 1877, to Miss Kate D. Shoup, a native of Marshall County, Miss., who came to this State with her parents in her youth. She died September 9, 1878. He married the second time, October 11, 1881, Miss Lizzie I. Camp, a native of Tennessee, born in Memphis, and the daughter of Dr. M. V. and Sallie C. (Shed) Camp. Her mother died in 1888, but her father is at the present time a prominent physician of Walnut Ridge. He was on the editorial staff of the first secession paper published in Alabama, and later served as captain in the Confederate army. Brother Jernigan at present resides at Walnut Ridge, where he has a pleasant home, presided over by his estimable wife. In personal appearance, as will be seen by a glance at the accompanying portrait, he is a man of striking personal appearance, with an intellectual expression superior to the average. Slightly above the ordinary height, also inclining somewhat to stoutness, with an erect carriage, it is apparent that physically he has been generously endowed by nature, and as a result makes a commanding presence in the pulpit. Such endowments, when combined with the earnest and entreating expression of the eye, and the ringing tones of eloquence as he expounds the truths of the Divine Story, contribute materially to the success which follows every meeting. He also strives to have the congregation see that what he says is not the labored production, studied for oratorical effect, but that each word springs from the sincere heart, and that he feels with all an enthusiast’s power, the truth and passion of the Holy Law. His preaching, at proper intervals, is often enlivened by an appropriate anecdote, containing a moral, clothed in a few pleasing and often humorous sentences, which relaxes the tension of the hearer’s mind, as it also points more directly to the open door of truth. In conversation with various members of the different churches in Mr. Jernigan’s charge, it is found that his efforts are justly appreciated, for, from no one are heard words of censure or unkind criticism, but from all, terms of the highest praise.