HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972 Thirty Years History: First Baptist Church Book (Pg. 1)PREFACE
EARLY LIFE OF REV. R. L. BROWN
Rev_ R. L. Brown was bnm in Marlboro County, South Carolina, on
June 17. 1886. At the early age of 11 years he was converted and
joined the Judson Missionary Baptist Church. kis father, who had been
a member of the Methodist church, joined the Baptist church at the
same service and they were baptized together. Lonnie, as he was called,
was the sixth of seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Brown. The
Browns had five daughters and, as some would say, it was a rare day in
June when the first son arrived. lie was followed, seven years later, by a
brother who lived only 11 years.
Since good schools were almost nunexistent in the country, he lived
with his sister and her husband in Bennetsville, South Carolina for some
months in order to take advantage of a good graded school. While he
was living with them he was stricken with typhoid fever and lingered
between life and death for several weeks. During this serious illness a
revival meeting was being held in the city. The preacher was the Rev. G.
D. Watson. One night during the revival, a special prayer was offered by
the evangelist for the boy who was seriously ill in West Bennetwille. At
the close of the prayer the minister asked if it were possible that some
relative was present. His father stood and announced that he was his
father. He was told by the minister to go back and tell the boy's mother
that he was not going to die, that the Lord had a special work for him
to do. He was able to go home about a week before Christmas. On
Christmas day a messenger came to inform the family that the sister in
whose home the brother was staying was seriously ill with pneumonia.
She died during the holidays and was soon followed by her husband.
They left one small daughter who had to be cared for by the grand-
parents and the uncle who had lived with them. Soon thereafter he lost
Ids only brother and a sister, both passing in a 24 -horn period. The
reader can we that R. L. Brown became a steward of suffering. He
connects it with his early call to the ministry. Why did he all but die
with fever? Why did he lose his only brother, two sisters and three
brothers-in-law in rapid succession? Why did he, in a second illness,
nearly succumb to pneumonia? He believes that whatever the primary
cause, there was an overruling of these chastisements to bring a
stubborn will to surrender to God's will.
As noted before, five girls were born to Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Brown
before a son arrived. This, of course, meant that the son was left at
home to help an aged father and semi -invalid mother with the business
and domestic chores. For fwe years, when he should have been in
school, he was busy helping to direct the work on a large farm, keeping
the books for a small store, running a public cotton gin in the fall, and
helping his mother with the duties connected with a home. These duties
and responsibilities played a large part in his entering the Academy