Reverend J

Reverend J. W. Brand

(originally published in The Stonewall Item, October 25, 1956, Volume 1, Number 26, page 6)

Submitted by Debora Reese

Rev. J. W. Brand, pastor of the Methodist Protestant Church in Stonewall will be 84 years of age this coming December 24. He says that one thing about your birthday falling on Christmas Eve is that you can never forget it even when you want to.

Rev. Brand was born Dec. 24, 1872 in Calhoun County, Ala. He married Mary M. Whitmire there in 1890 and moved to Mississippi about 1893. Five daughters and eight sons were born of this union.

He joined the Methodist Protestant Church in 1911 and was licensed to preach in 1916. During his 40-years in the ministry he has served charges at Coxburg, Quitman, McLain, Clara, Mosley’s Bridge and Stonewall. He came to Stonewall over ten years ago and built the Methodist Protestant Church here.

Talking about the rugged life of a circuit preacher of more than a generation ago Brother Brand recalls a meeting in Philadelphia, Miss., He was living in Yazoo Community at the time and to get to the Philadelphia revival he hired a horse and buggy for $5.00. His daughter accompanied him on the long trip and for the most part they had no difficulty feeding the horse or finding food and lodging for themselves during the two and a half days and two nights they spent on the road. Folks along the way were usually glad to put up an itinerant preacher for the night, and they would feed his horse along with their own.

Just about noon the third day they arrived in Philadelphia and stopped at a place to have lunch. The lunch for both cost them a total of 25 cents. That night they opened the revival. At the close of the meeting Brother Brand was paid $5.00 for his service. On the long ride home he had time to reflect upon the difficult lot of a country preacher. He was 25-cents in the hole on that meeting.

But in those days cash was even harder to come by than it is today. Most of the farmers conducted all their business by barter and trade rather with cash. On another occasion Brother Brand conducted a meeting sixteen miles from his charge and received a pretty, but inedible bouquet of flowers for his services.

One time he and his son Frank, who frequently assisted Brother Brand in his revival work, and his daughter Miss Buelah were on their way to a meeting. It was during the rainy season and the roads were in terrible shape. Their horse was a rather small one, and to make the job a bit easier for the poor beast Brother Brand and his party would dismount from the wagon when they came to a hill, and walk-up. Sometimes when the wheels got stuck in the mud they had to help the horse pull the wagon loose. When they’d get over the hill and take their places again in the wagon son Frank would cheer them up with one of his favorite hymns which went like this: “The toils of this road will seem nothing, when I get to the end of the way.” Sometimes the visiting evangelist would be paid off in farm produce, chickens and rabbits. But these hardships didn’t prevent the preachers of that day from carrying their gospel messages to the most remote backwoods areas.

Rev. Brand remembers his first pastorate at Coxburg which paid the sum of $200 per year – and in cash too! He believes his most successful revival was one held in the Salem church in Wayne county when 50 members were received into the church.

Last year, on the occasion of his 83^rd birthday members of his congregation and other friends in Stonewall honored him with a special party and a birthday cake. Rev. Brand believes that the happiest years of his ministry have been spent in Stonewall. He loves the people here and says that living and working among them has been very rewarding and inspiring experience.