REV. WILLIAM BROOKING ROWZIE.
AMONG the two hundred ministers of the Virginia Conference, William B. Rowzie would catch the eye as the man of most apostolic appearance and senatorial mein. He is of stately presence, with a chiseled face, and a certain kindness and gravity of expression, while his voice, measuring words of wisdom, adds to the noble figure. What the eye sees is but the outward sign of inward virtues. He is a model of a Christian gentleman.
He has graced and used to the general good of his church many of its important positions. The choice of our General Superintendents for thirty-six years, fell on him for the office of Presiding Elder. This statement is a wealth of praise to his capacity, discretion and fidelity. He has sat in the General Conference, counselling wisely for the Connection. At home, with equal wisdom, he has been the patron and friend to our educational institutions, exerting himself in securing thousands and thousands of dollars for their endowment. A high, pure, noble man is William Brooking Rowzie.
He was born in the county of Essex, State of Virginia, on the 22d day of February, 1806. His father was a descendant of a Huguenot family, the followers of Victor Hugo, a
celebrated French reformer. His early ancestors fled from France after the bloody tragedy of St. Bartholomew, came to Virginia, and located themselves in Essex county, near the Rappahannock river, where the family remains to this day. His mother was of English descent, dwelling in the same county.
He was the oldest son of nine children. His parents were moderately independent, living contentedly and comfortably on a small farm of four hundred acres of land, cultivated by the family servants.
His educational advantages were not of a high order. His only means for the acquisition of knowledge were the schools and academies in the county in which he lived. Here he made himself acquainted with the English language, geography, arithmetic, and geometry. With this preparation he was sent forth to contend with the trials with which he might meet in running life's devious course.
His parents taught him to reverence and study the Holy Scriptures from his boyhood. His religious education was greatly improved by his early connection with an Episcopal Sunday school, originated and superintended by Hon. James M. Garnett. He regularly attended the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church until his seventeenth year, when he first formed the
acquaintance of the Methodist ministry.
Dr. William I. Waller was the first minister of that church, with
whom he was at all intimate. He was a man of decided talent, and considerable attainments, and an interesting preacher. His colloquial powers were of a high order. One of his chief characteristics was the interest he manifested in the young men of the country. His fine social habits, and his edifying discourses
very greatly attached them to him, and were instrumental in his leading many to Christ.
Dr. Waller was succeeded on Hanover Circuit by Rev. Robert Wilkerson and Rev. William S. Peyton, two young men, full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, who preached the Word with power and demonstration of the Spirit. Their ministry resulted in a revival, in which six hundred persons professed faith in Christ.
Associating with these young men, he became deeply interested on the subject of religion and on the 3rd day of July, 1826, he was happily converted. He united himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and commenced a life of usefulness. His first efforts were to induce his intimate friends to abandon sin, and turn to Christ. He represented to them the importance and necessity of a genuine conversion to God. He held prayer meetings, and exhorted his friends and neighbors to flee the wrath to come, and almost before he was aware of the tendency of his life, he was
earnestly engaged in preaching the gospel.
At the time of his conversion Hanover Circuit in circumference measured four hundred miles with an appointment to preach for every day in the week. Its members in society numbered four hundred. At present the same territory numbers seven circuits, and its numerical strength is about three thousand--a
net gain of seven hundred and fifty per cent, in a half century.
He was received on probation into the Virginia Annual Conference held in Lynchburg in February, 1829. The candidates received at that Conference numbered seventeen, of whom only four remain, viz: Bishop D. S. Doggett, Rev. James Jamieson, Dr. William Carter, and Rev. William B. Rowzie.
Rev. Albert G. Burton, of the class of 1827, died in the zenith of his early life, at Carrolton, Mississippi, in the midst of a fine revival, the result of his industry. He was on a visit to his mother at the time of his death. He promised, to occupy a high position in the church. His ministrations were intellectual and powerful.
Another member of the same class, a young man of large promise, was William Kenningham, who died early of consumption. He was justly entitled to the epithet of the Summerfield of the Virginia Conference.
Both of these young men lived and walked by faith in the Son of God. In this lay the great secret of their success in the ministry. In this was the hiding of their power.
During the period of his ministry, Rev. William B. Rowzie occupied the following circi stations, viz: Gloucester, Culpeper, Columbia, Prince Edward, Chesterfield, Greensville, Mecklenburg, Hicksford and Charlotte Circuits, and Randolph Macon and Trinity stations. He was presiding Elder on the following Districts, viz: Petersburg, Lynchburg, Fredericksburg, Danville and Alexandria. For fourteen years he was agent for Randolph Macon College, Buckingham Female Collegiate Institute, and the Wesleyan Female College at Murfresboro', eastern North Carolina.
Source:
Sketches of the Virginia Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. by Rev. John J. Lafferty Richmond, Va., Christian Advocate
Office 1880.
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