Former professional baseball player-turned urban evangelist. Follow this daily blog that chronicles the life and ministry of revivalist preacher William Ashley "Billy" Sunday (1862-1935)
In October 1906 Billy preached to a crowd of roughly 800 people in Salida, Colorado, at First Presbyterian Church. During his message he exhorted the crowd…..
Read good books and keep good company. Every gambler and drunkard became so by imitating the gang he went with. Good books and good companions are to character what water is to the fruit trees, the grasses and the vegetables in this beautiful valley.
There are a few hundred books in the present Winona Lake home that Billy lived in for the last 30 years of his ministry. On the shelf, one can find A History of the American People, by Wodrow Wilson in the first edition (1902).
While Sunday’s authority came from Scripture, A History of the American People offered a grand, moral narrative of the United States that fit seamlessly with his revivalistic call: a chosen nation needing repentance and reform to fulfill its destiny. Wilson’s combination of national mission, moral urgency, and literary flair reinforced Sunday’s belief that evangelism and patriotism were inseparable in early-20th-century America.
Morgan Library at Grace College (Winona Lake) has several cards or notes in which Sunday and Wilson communicated together. They seemed to have liked each other.
Mr. Sunday’s literary activities are carried on for the most part at Winona and sometimes at his fruit ranch in Oregon. The exacting demands on his time during a campaign admit of very little new work. At Winona it is his favorite method to take his Bible and spend the long days beneath the trees reading. This he calls resting and with the single exception of preaching to a responsive audience, is his favorite occupation. He is also fond of books relating to evangelistic and kindred work.
Books in the Billy Sunday home, Winona Lake, Indiana.
— “There are some books I like to read” he says, “I consider the Bible the best of them all. I also think the lives of Peter Cartwright, Charles G. Finney and John G. Paton are among the greatest of all books. Finney converted the owner of the New York mills at Utica, New York, and since he campaigned there, the mills have not been in the hands of non-Christian men.
He never goes into the pulpit with more than an outline before him. His extraordinary memory permits him to quote lengthy passages verbatim, but on this he does not rely for effect.
In comparing his sermons for use Mr. Sunday begins by noting various quotations and anecdotes which will illustrate the theme he wishes to handle. Notations of these are made on all sorts of scraps of paper and are then turned over to his secretary who shapes them into memoranda. Gradually the sermon takes form in the preacher’s mind and then with a great sheaf of notes in his hand he whips the whole into something like the form in which it will be used. Seldom if ever, however, are even his famous sermons preached twice exactly alike. He never goes into the pulpit with more than an outline before him. His extraordinary memory permits him to quote lengthy passages verbatim, but on this he does not rely for effect. It is in the infusion of intense personal enthusiasm that the most remarkable results from his discourses come.
In his earlier days Mr. Sunday made no effort to copyright any of his writings. What he considered unwarranted liberties with the text, however, later prompted him to do so, and in a little more than three years he copyrighted no less than 31 of his discourses.
The records of the Library of Congress show the following titles, copyrights of which are in his name:
The only feature of the book, which properly can be considered a life, are four pages of introduction. In the first paragraph of this introduction there are no less than five errors in fact, other portions of the meager outline are more or less at variance with actual conditions, although there is nothing to indicate any greater offense than carelessness.
The bulk of the 360 pages is taken up with reproductions of sermons. The readers of the book, if there be any, would have recognized whole pages of familiar expressions which he had heard in the tabernacle. The evangelist, however, more intimately familiar with the construction of all his works, finds that a number of his sermons were ruthlessly joined together and the entire continuity of thought disturbed.
Mr. Sunday, therefore, made it his business, at a considerable outlay in cash, to secure both the copy-right and the plates of the book, which he destroyed and effectively prevented any further issue. Copies are extremely rare and indeed none are known to exist outside of the Library of Congress. Thus ended the only previous attempt to put in book form the doings of the evangelist.
Man Who Wrote Book for Him Sues for $100,000 for Breach of Contract.
The Rev. William A. Sunday, the evangelist, was sued in the New York City Supreme Court last Wednesday by Hugh C. Weir of New Rochelle to recover $100,000 for breach of a contract, under which Weir alleges he wrote the series of “Great Love Stories of the Bible,” which appeared with Billy Sunday’s name as the author. Weir also alleges that under the agreement with Sunday he was to write “Billy Sunday’s Own Story,” and another series based on the Bible.
Weir says that he was to get 50 per cent. of the royalties on all the books except “Great Love Stories of the Bible,” for which Sunday got 60 per cent., out of which he was to pay 10 per cent. to a Bible historical authority for proofreading. Sunday was to advance $5,000 to Weir and collect out of the latter’s share of the royalties. The plaintiff also alleges that Sunday agreed to arrange for the sale of the books at all his meetings.
The complaint alleges that although a contract has been made with a reputable house for the publication of the books the evangelist has repudiated his agreement in all respects.
Mr. Sunday has served his answer in the suit, in which he admits that Weir collaborated with him in writing “Great Love Stories of the Bible,” but denies that he has broken any agreement made with Weir
Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935) 