dedicated to God from his birth and trained in piety by his father, the
venerable David Duncan, who has been prominent through two generations
in the education of the youth of the Southern States, and who accepted
the chair of Ancient Languages in Randolph-Macon College while James was
a child; and by his mother, a woman of saintly character, who preceded
her son by a few years to the heavenly land. In his boyhood he was a
universal favorite, and displayed the gifts of mind and genial spirit
and grace of manner which became so conspicuous in his riper years. We
may mention his overflowing humor and gaiety, tempered with a kind and
generous nature; and a wonderful power of mimicry, which furnished
unbounded amusement to his comrades, and, indeed, to persons of mature
age, but was never used to wound in feeling or reputation. In 1847,
during one of those gracious revivals with which our church has been
signally blessed year after year, he sought and found Jesus. In one of
his latest and most effective sermons, he has described his conversion
and affirmed that the vow of consecration then made had been the
controlling principle of his ministry and the motive of those labors
which his brethren sometimes thought excessive.
"He was licensed to preach probably the next year. The people of
Mecklenburg still speak of his first sermons, in which they saw the
prophecy of his future greatness. Having graduated in June, 1849, he was
immediately placed in charge of a society in Alexandria, which had just
organized in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. From
that hour his popularity and success as a preacher and pastor began, and
they steadily waxed fuller and more lustrous until his death quenched a
star than which none shone with a purer and more brilliant radiance in
the whole firmament of Methodism. A great revival attended his labors
during the few months before the session of our Conference and the
prosperity of the church was secured. He was kept on our northern border
for nine years, in Fairfax, Leesburg, Alexandria and
Washington--everywhere beloved with enthusiasm, everywhere successful in
his ministry. Then followed nine years of faithful labor in the city of
Richmond. In 1857 he was sent to Trinity, one of our oldest and most
important stations. There had come a crisis in the history of that
church. Its prosperity was already impaired and seriously threatened by
the unfortunate location of the house of worship. The young pastor soon
had the building crowded with an eager congregation. The eloquence of
his discourses and the charm of his social manners were a theme of
general comment throughout the city. Two series of sermons to young men
and women proved peculiarly attractive, and resulted in extensive and
lasting benefit. He took front rank among the pulpit orators of the
land. All denominations flocked to hear him, and delighted in his
company and friendship. These honors he bore with modest dignity and
consecrated with godly simplicity to the service of the Master. A little
band from Trinity determined, under his leadership, to build a handsome
and commodious church on Broad street near the Capitol Square. In 1859
he was appointed to this new charge, and preached in a rented hall until
the church was completed. It was dedicated in March, 1861, and, with the
exception of two years, he continued in pastoral charge until the
Conference of 1866. All this time his influence widened and deepened. He
was a power in that city. When it became the capital of the Confederate
States, and was crowded with representatives from all parts of the
South, his faithful, spiritual, eloquent preaching entranced, edified,
encouraged, and impressed with a saving efficacy an untold multitude,
whose number eternity must reveal. No man in our day has accomplished
more for Methodism or for the cause of Christ in the capital of Virginia
than James A. Duncan.
"In addition to his pastorate, he edited the _Richmond Christian
Advocate_ from the fall of 1860 to the fall of 1866. With characteristic
generosity he did this work without money and price--a free-will
offering to the church, except the two years he devoted his whole time
to the paper. The readiness and versatility of his talents were
admirably shown in this office, for, with many other claims upon his
time, he wrote not only the editorials, but much of the most popular and
enjoyable correspondence with which the _Advocate_ was enriched during
those years. Great curiosity was aroused to find out the anonymous
authors of series of letters published in the paper; but few, if any,
suspected that they came from the fertile brain of the editor.
"Two years he was pastor of the Washington-Street Church, in Petersburg.
Such men as D'Arcy Paul loved to speak of the rich spiritual feasts on
which he fed them from the pulpit, and the no less precious influence of
his pastoral visits. In that city he suffered a severe spell of nervous
fever, his first illness since childhood.
"This brings us to a third era of nine years in his eventful life. After
the war Randolph-Macon College re-opened and feebly struggled for life.
Dr. Duncan was among the strongest advocates of its removal from Boydton
to Ashland. The Board of Trustees resolved on this critical movement in
the summer of 1868. The Faculty resigned, and an election was held to
fill the vacant places. Dr. Duncan was unanimously chosen President. He
signified promptly a disposition to accept the responsible post, but
demanded a few days in which to carry the question in private prayer to
the God whose he was and whom he served. Repeatedly and emphatically he
declared the singleness of purpose with which he entered on this office,
and that he would not remain one day in it if it were not for the
conviction that he was thereby serving most efficiently the church of
Christ.
"No one who knew the man doubted his sincerity and simplicity of aim. He
never sought self. He was indifferent to wealth in a degree which some
even censured as extreme. He served not ambition. The esteem and
approval of good men he must have prized, but never, so far as we know,
did he exhibit any undue concern about such things. He belonged to
Christ, and to the church for Christ's sake. He went in the courage of
faith and the spirit of consecration to the College, and devoted himself
to the duties in the chair of Moral Philosophy and in the presidency.
The halls were filled with a larger number of students than had ever
sought its advantages in its palmiest days before the war. He governed
by his personal influence, by the love and confidence with which he
inspired the young men, and diligence and good behavior were the rule
with rare exceptions.
"The reputation of the institution for a high grade of scholarship and
thoroughness of culture was inferior to that of no other college in the
land. Young preachers, often numbering more than forty in a single
session, sat under his special lectures in theology, and were moulded by
his example and his teaching. With the authority of a prophet, with the
gentleness of a father, he preached to the students, week after week,
the word of life, and saw many of them accept with glad heart the yoke
and burden of Christ. In private they revealed to him all that was in
their hearts, and sought his sympathy and counsel. In public, whatever
the occasion on which he spoke, they hung breathless on his lips, and
received what he said as if from an angel of God. Those who have
attended the Commencements can bear witness to the outgushing of love,
the wise and noble utterances, the manly frankness and boldness, and the
tenderness, almost motherly, with which he bade those young men farewell
in unstudied words of genuine eloquence, and the beaming faces, the
streaming eyes, the thunders of applause with which they responded. Nor
were these his only labors. Often during the sessions he hurried off to
preach in city or country at the call of the churches of the Virginia
and Baltimore Conferences, or in order to raise money for the College.
The summer vacation was no rest to him, but his busiest period.
Incessantly he travelled through the two Conferences, speaking on
Christian education, and speaking at District Conferences, at protracted
and camp-meetings. He was in labors more abundant, not sparing himself,
never reluctant to help in any good work. Everywhere he was sought,
everywhere he was welcome. Thousands ascribe to him, under God, their
first impulse to serve Christ, their revival from a lukewarm and
languishing state, or their fuller consecration and seeking of a higher
spiritual life. We may safely affirm that no man of his own generation
has so powerfully impressed the religious character of an equal number
within the bounds of these two Conferences as James A. Duncan. He was
elected to the General Conferences of 1866, 1870, and 1874. That of 1870
he did not attend, his duties at the College not allowing his absence.
He lacked only a few votes to be chosen bishop at that session, several
delegates of this body, who held him in high admiration, and thought him
in every way worthy of the honor, withholding their votes because they
believed him essential to Randolph-Macon College. From that time the
mind of the whole church turned to him as the fittest person to be
elected to the episcopacy. In 1876 he attended the General Conference of
the Methodist Episcopal Church as one of three fraternal messengers from
our General Conference, and his address on that occasion was marked by
its catholic spirit, fervent love for Christ, and grand and thrilling
eloquence.
"In the summer of 1874, exhausted by ceaseless toil of travel and
preaching, and exposed to a malarial atmosphere at a camp-meeting, he
was seized with a fever, which took a typhoid phase, and he lay for
weeks at the point of death. For one year he was scarcely fit for any
work, and though he afterwards rallied and resumed his course of
untiring labors, the seeds of disease lurked in his system, and often
developed in severe spells of sickness; yet he worked on, cheerful,
energetic, consumed with zeal. The past summer he spoke and preached
with an ardor, power, and success equal to his happiest efforts in the
years of his vigorous health. Sunday, September the 9th, he was in
Baltimore, to preach at the re-opening of Trinity, and this he did, in
the forenoon with great power, despite intense physical pain. On his
return to Ashland it was found that his jawbone was decayed, and poison
diffused throughout his frame. Erysipelas attacked his face. His
sufferings were great, but borne with patience and sweetness. He sat up,
however, a part of each day, and seemed not to suspect that his end drew
near. Monday morning, the 24th, he fell asleep in Jesus.
"Oh! the surprise, the shock, the grief of heart, the sense of loss, the
feeling of desolation, which that news produced. Crowds attended his
funeral at Broad-Street Church, which, by a marble tablet, acknowledges
him its founder, and Bishop Doggett pronounced his eulogy. Memorial
services were held in Richmond, Petersburg, and Baltimore. Resolutions
of highest praise were passed by Quarterly Conferences and by the
faculties of colleges and universities. The secular and religious press
honored his memory with heartfelt tributes; but all these honors fell
far short of expressing the reverence and love with which he is
cherished in thousands of hearts and thousands of homes. We yield to our
sorrow of personal bereavement, and then chide ourselves for the
selfishness when we ought to be grieving over the loss to the church. We
think with sadness and almost with despondency of the bereavement of our
College, and Conference, and Church, and tears fill our eyes, and a
sword pierces our heart, at the unbidden suggestion of the void in our
own life which the death of this dear, this noble friend and brother has
made.
"We have said little of his private life. He was early married to Miss
Twitty, of North Carolina, who for many years proved a companion and
helpmeet worthy of such a man, and passed away in 1870. He married in
1873, Miss Wade, a daughter of a minister of the Baltimore Conference,
who ministered to him and comforted him through the last years of his
life, years of comparative weakness and pain, and now mourns, yet in
resignation and trust, his death. He leaves four children of the first
and one of the second marriage. The widow and children have the deepest
sympathies and fervent prayers of this Conference.
"A few more words we must say about this loved brother. He was a natural
orator. Perhaps this remark should be changed, not to abate its force,
but to enlarge its application. He was a born talker, equally gifted in
conversation and in public discourse. He had every physical
advantage--grace of attitude and gesture, a voice which everybody
likened, in sweetness, richness, and compass, to the organ, and, we must
add, to the organ when struck by a master musician, for he had his voice
under perfect command, and moderated it to convey the fullest variety of
pure and worthy sentiment; a countenance on which one loved to gaze,
handsome in repose, lovely when lit up by the noble thoughts and
feelings of his great soul. He had every intellectual and moral
advantage; a ready flow of happy diction, which seemed perfectly
spontaneous, and yet exactly suited the thought; a playful humor, and,
when needed, keenness of wit and satire which added zest to his serious
speech, but detracted not from its weight; a quick insight into the
heart of a subject, judgment remarkably sound, the logical spirit
without slavery to logical forms, and an imagination which could sport
like a butterfly amid flowers, or soar like an eagle beyond the clouds;
sensibility delicate, deep, strong--acute sympathy with his fellow-man;
a response in his feelings to everything true, pure, generous, and
grand. Above all, he was full of the Holy Ghost, and could say, 'For the
love of Christ constraineth me.' His adaptation to all classes of
hearers, to all classes of circumstances, was marvellous. He could
interest and edify the child, the unlettered, the cultivated, the
scholar, with equal ease. Every variety of style came naturally to him,
from a familiar home talk, through all gradations of argument,
instruction and pathos, to the impassioned, sublime and overwhelming
appeal. The earnestness and simplicity of his soul were ever manifest;
that he preached not self, not philosophy, not human wisdom, not
excellency of speech, but Christ and him crucified, not for fame, but to
win souls.
"In his social and pastoral qualities he no less excelled. Others have
equalled, none surpassed him in diligence and fidelity; but who can
compare in charm, in breadth and tenderness of sympathy, in aptness to
guide and comfort, in power to draw forth trust and love? Place him in
any parlor, at any table, among the rich or poor, and he would be the
centre of attraction--every eye fixed on him, every ear attend his
voice. Let him sit by the bed of any invalid, though a stranger before
that hour, and soon he would soothe and cheer, and the heart would open
to his words as though he had been a life-long friend. The young and
old, men and women, the rude and the cultivated, felt free to confide to
him their troubles and ask his sympathy and aid; yet, in the narrower
circle of long-tried friendship and of home, never did there beat a
truer, more constant, more generous heart; so unselfish, so frank, so
forbearing, so trustful, so magnanimous, never giving up a friend,
though he may have strayed far, and long, and fallen low; never slow in
responding to any call for help.
"But we must close this sketch. He was our favorite and our ornament, we
might almost say our idol; but we glorify God in him. He has been taken
away in his prime, at the height of his usefulness, when we were leaning
on his counsel and strength, when we were rejoicing in the prospect of
many years of his company and service. But we thank God for his example,
his work, and his prayers. He rests from his labors, and his works do
follow him."
A meeting of the Board was called, to assemble at Broad-Street Church
October 4, 1877, to make provision for the College after the loss of
President Duncan. Dr. A. W. Wilson, vice-president, announced his death,
and a committee, consisting of Dr. W. W. Bennett, Dr. Samuel Rodgers,
and Hon. Wm. Milnes, Jr., was appointed to report suitable resolutions
to the Board, and they presented the following, which was unanimously
adopted:
"_Resolved_, That, as the Board of Trustees of Randolph-Macon College,
we have the deepest sorrow in our hearts in announcing to our church and
people the great loss we have sustained in the death of Rev. James A.
Duncan, D. D., our late President. His devoted life as a Christian
minister and his constant and arduous labors for the past nine years in
behalf of Randolph-Macon College, and the high position to which he and
his co-laborers in the Faculty have brought the institution, demand that
our people should give some expression of their appreciation of this
work, which, in its widening influence, we trust shall abide for
generations to come. And in the judgment of this Board nothing can more
adequately express our conviction of the value of his life and work for
the College and the cause of Christian education than that the church
should determine to raise a 'memorial fund' of $100,000 for the
accomplishment of an earnest and often-expressed wish of our deceased
President, the permanent endowment of the College and the enlargement of
its sphere of usefulness."
The presidency of the Board having been made vacant by the death of
President Duncan, Rev. W. W. Bennett was elected to it.
To fill the presidency of the College, Rev. W. W. Duncan, brother of the
late President, was elected.
At an adjourned meeting, held in Lynchburg, Va., November 16, 1877,
Secretary Rev. Paul Whitehead presented a letter from the Rev. W. W.
Duncan, Professor in Wofford College, South Carolina, declining the
presidency, to which he had been elected in July last. This declination
and the financial embarrassment of the College elicited the hearty
interest of the Virginia Conference, then in session. A large committee
from that body was appointed to confer with the Board to concert
measures which would meet the serious condition of the affairs of the
College. The joint conference was held for several days.
After the joint conference was concluded, on the 19th of November, the
Board proceeded to elect a President of the College. The result of the
first ballot was: For R. N. Sledd, 6 votes; for W. W. Bennett, 6 votes.
Necessary to a choice, 7.
The second ballot resulted in the same vote.
The third ballot, other members having come in, resulted as follows: W.
W. Bennett, 9 votes; R. N. Sledd, 5 votes. Necessary to a choice, 8
votes. So Rev. W. W. Bennett, D. D., was declared elected.
[Illustration: BISHOP W. W. DUNCAN. _Elected President 1877.--Declined
to accept._]
[Illustration: REV. W. W. BENNETT, D. D., _President of the Board of
Trustees, 1877; President of the College. 1877-1886._]
Resolutions respecting the death of William Willis, Jr., late treasurer
of the Board, who had died since the last meeting of the Board, were
adopted.
At this meeting Rev. Thomas A. Ware resigned his place as Agent.
The new President, when elected, was the editor of the Richmond
_Christian Advocate_, of which he had been the proprietor, wholly or in
part, for ten years. He was a leading man in the Virginia Conference,
and largely acquainted with the ministers and people of the church in
Virginia and elsewhere, having been a member of the General Conference
for a number of sessions. He was in the full vigor of manhood. His
education had been secured at the University of Virginia. Having been an
active member of the Board for years, and frequently on important
committees of the Board, and having lived in Ashland for a number of
years, he was thoroughly conversant with the affairs of the College. He
felt and appreciated the great purposes of its establishment and the
capabilities which it might be endowed with by the action of the church.
He also knew what a burden he was about to take up and carry--a burden
which had taxed the energies and heart of his predecessor; but, hopeful
and sanguine, he probably did not appreciate the full weight of the
burden which was to test his heart and energies, in turn, to their
utmost strain. It was well that he was hopeful and trustful.
Dr. Bennett commenced his duties with the following colleagues in the
Faculty December 1, 1877: Robert Emory Blackwell, A. M., Professor of
English and Modern Languages; Harry Estill, A. M., Professor of
Mathematics; William A. Shepard, A. M., Professor of Chemistry; Charles
Morriss, M. A., Professor of Greek and Latin.
At a meeting of the Board, held in Baltimore, March, 1878, the Faculty
was increased by the election of William Waugh Smith, A. M., to the
chair of Moral and Mental Philosophy. Some time afterward he entered
upon his duties as professor, and his connection, in some capacity, has
continued to this day. Of his connection with the College more will be
recorded further on in this narrative.
[Illustration: GRAY CARROLL, _Sutherlin Medalist, 1878; District
Solicitor, Little Rock, Ark._]
At this meeting it was proposed to have published a memorial volume of
the late President Duncan. That it was not done promptly, and in a
manner worthy of him, is, and always will be, a source of regret to
those who knew and loved him. This affords another instance and example
of how little has been done to let the lives and labors of Virginia's
gifted men speak after they are dead. Surely he was worthy of a fitting
biography.
[Illustration: RICHARD B. DAVIS, A. B., 1862., _Member Board of
Trustees._]
At the annual meeting, June, 1878, the President, in his annual report,
gave the number of students in attendance as 141, from twelve different
States. He reported a revival of religion as having occurred, with
twenty converts among the students.
[Illustration: FRANK NOLAND, _First "Pace" Medalist, 1878; Assistant
Editor "Landmark."_]
An effort has been made, with some success, to retire the floating debt
of the College, amounting to about $23,000, on some of which ten per
cent. interest was being paid, averaging eight per cent. The President
was hopeful of good patronage and retiring the debt.
The following, on recommendation of the Faculty, received degrees, viz.:
Henry A. Boyd, of North Carolina, A. M.; Mansfield T. Peed, of
Virginia, A. M.; William J. Sebrell, of Virginia, A. B.; Wilbur Fisk
Tillett, of North Carolina, A. B.; M. P. Rice, B. S.
The "Sutherlin Medal for Oratory" was won by Gray Carroll, of Virginia.
The "Walton Greek Prize" went to Clarence Edwards, of Virginia.
[Illustration: PROF. R. BASCOM SMITHEY, A. M.]
The "Pace" medal for the best English essay was awarded to Frank Noland,
of Virginia, the first to win it. This medal was offered by Mr. James B.
Pace, of Richmond, Va.
Prof. Harry Estill resigned, July 8, 1878, the chair of Mathematics
after ten years' service. He was the last of President Duncan's Faculty
to leave. He went to the Washington and Lee University, and took the
same chair at that institution, his Alma Mater.
To the chair thus vacated Royal Bascom Smithey (A. M. 1876) was elected,
and he has filled it with great satisfaction to his pupils and the Board
to the present time (1898).
[Illustration: CLARENCE EDWARDS, A.M., _"Pace" Medalist, 1879;
Attorney-at-Law._]
The old chapel was consumed by fire March 12, 1879. Fortunately there
was nothing in it but the furniture, which was saved. It had a varied
history. Before the war it was a ball-room; during the war a hospital;
after the war a place for religious service for nearly eleven years. Its
walls had resounded with the eloquence of Duncan, Wightman, Guard, Ran.
Tucker, Rosser, Bennett, and others. In it many of Randolph-Macon's
brightest sons had received their diplomas; in it many had been "born
again" to a new life. Services were held afterwards in the Mathematical
lecture-room in the Pace building until the "Duncan Memorial" building,
with church and chapel, had been completed.
[Illustration: CHARLES W. TILLET, A. B., _Sutherlin Medalist, 1879;
Member of North Carolina Senate._]
Immediate steps were taken to erect the new building, and Rev. George W.
Nolley took an active and successful part in raising the funds for its
erection. The ladies of the church also did a good part in this work;
also the Faculty and the students.
In June, 1879, the Finance Committee reported that about one-half the
"floating debt" had been subscribed. Nevertheless, for want of
endowment, the current expenses of the year had exceeded the income.
They therefore recommended that the President be requested to devote his
time and attention specially to the raising of funds for retiring the
debt.