Orphaned No More: The Boyhood Story of Rev. Henry Clay
Morrison by Gary Bewley and Nancy Richey. Morley, MO: Acclaim Press, 2019. 112
pages, $14.95 (soft cover).
Reviewed by Sean Kinder
One Sunday morning in 1857, not
long after giving birth to her son, Henry Clay (H. C.), young Emily Morrison
prayed to God to accept her child into His service. She died two years later,
never knowing what H. C. (also affectionately known as Buddy) would achieve in
his incredible life: establishing a religious newspaper, The Pentecostal
Herald (1888) and editing it for fifty-four years; serving as President of
Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky (1910-1925; 1933-1940); founding Asbury
Theological Seminary in 1923 and presiding there until his death in 1942.
During his amazing sixty-three years of ministry, he led some 1,200 revivals,
preached no less than 15,000 times, travelled over 500,000 miles, saw more than
30,000 people converted, and participated in more than 250 camp-meeting
campaigns, the latter amounting to twelve years of his life. His prowess as an
evangelist was so impressive that three-time Presidential candidate William
Jennings Bryan called him the “greatest pulpit orator on the American
continent.” As if this were not enough, Morrison was also a prolific author. He
wrote at least twenty-five books, several of them selling as many as 75,000
copies.
Morrison wrote extensively about
his life, and authors Gary Bewley and Nancy Richey draw freely from many of
these sources, enhancing it with their own assiduous research, to tell the
story of the pastor’s boyhood years in Barren County, Kentucky, where his
father brought him and his sister after their mother’s death. The decision to
focus on H. C.’s early years was motivated by a desire to share some of his
most touching and enduring moments, most notably his poignant, life-altering
conversion, at the age of thirteen, at an altar of prayer:
“Almost immediately
something happened in his heart. His great
burden just went
away and the joy of forgiveness went through him.
He leaped to his
feet praising the Lord. He felt as though he would
burst with great
happiness and joy. . . Everyone looked so beautiful
to Buddy, and his
heart was aglow with love. Buddy had been saved.
He was born again
and filled with the wonderful Holy Spirit of God.
Now he knew the
Lord, and he knew he had a heavenly Father.”
It was hoped that Buddy’s story
would provide all readers, particularly younger ones, a source of inspiration
to do the Lord’s work and draw them closer to Him through faith, commitment,
and service. Furthermore, the writers hoped that Buddy’s feelings and
experiences would resonate with young people who could identify with his
disparate array of struggles—anger, guilt, shame, bitterness—as well as his
love, joy, hope, and steadfast devotion to his Creator.
Bewley’s twenty illustrations in
this section (seventeen drawings and three paintings) merit attention and
special recognition. They show a rare sensitivity to their subjects and
demonstrate a keen sense of composition and attention to detail. Not only do
they beautifully depict key moments in Morrison’s life, but they also adroitly
capture the spirit and atmosphere of the setting and time period, rendering the
narrative all the more powerful and authentic.
The second part of the book
contains an impressive compilation of facts, comments, and accolades about
Morrison’s incredible life, including a listing of his books and publications.
Local history aficionados will enjoy reading the detailed descriptions of
places connected to Morrison’s time in Southern Kentucky (specifically
present-day Glasgow): his boyhood home; Boyd’s Creek Methodist Church, the
third church to occupy the approximate location where Morrison attended and was
converted in December 1871; the John O.
Morrison Home (later known as the Hammer House), originally built by Henry Clay
Morrison’s great grandfather, it was the first brick home in the area and
belonged to Henry’s great Aunt and her relatives during his lifetime; the
Morrison-Hammer Cemetery; Morrison’s retirement home, a two-story log home,
where the incessantly working preacher spent less than two weeks of his life;
and finally the Morrison Park Community, where Morrison conducted his two-week
camp meetings every year. During its peak period of operation, the park
comprised, among other structures, a large open-air wooden tabernacle,
cottages, kitchen and dining areas, a one-room school, a library that doubled
as a small auditorium, and a grocery store. This part of the book concludes
with newspaper accounts, one documenting eighty-year-old Morrison’s return in
1937 to his birthplace in Bedford, Kentucky; the other describing his first
camp meeting at Morrison Park in 1900. Information throughout this section is
complemented by numerous photos.
Part III of the book opens by
describing how the nearly one-hundred-year-old tradition of annual camp
meetings at Morrison Park came to an end in the late 1990s due to dwindling
support and attendance. At that point in time, services were being held in
tents because the tabernacle had been razed due to the deterioration and storm
damage it had sustained over the years. In 2010, a group of concerned citizens
decided to restore the park, and their tireless preservation efforts are
documented by two dozen photographs. Their hard work culminated in the
restoration of several cabins, including the Morrison Memorial Library Cabin,
whose second floor now houses a Morrison museum; the dedication of a new
Kentucky Historical Marker, as well as the construction of a new tabernacle. By
2016, a few final touches—a new restroom building and improved
landscaping—were completed, making the park fully restored for public use.
With its meticulously researched
details, inspiring storyline, compelling illustrations, and informative
supplementary material, this book has much to recommend it, most importantly
the shining example of a young man who finds peace and salvation through his
commitment and faith to God. Reverend Henry Clay Morrison’s childhood story
should prove especially appealing and satisfying to those readers hungry for
spiritual enlightenment and fulfillment. It offers them a precious gift
not readily found in most books: food and nourishment for
their very souls.
Sean Kinder is a professor in the Dept. of Library Public
Services at Western Kentucky University, where he serves as the
Humanities/Social Sciences librarian.
