Borum, Joseph Henry, D.D., son of Deacon James and Martha (‘Tucker) Borum, was born inPrince Edward Co., Va, July 20, 1816.

Baptist Church History

Published by Jim Curran (11) Facebook

 Daily Baptist Encyclopedia

Post by Jim Curran

Borum, Joseph Henry, D.D., son of Deacon James and Martha (‘Tucker) Borum, was born inPrince Edward Co., Va, July 20, 1816. His parents were highly respectable. Both were mem- bers of the Baptist church of Christ. His father and family moved from Virginia to Tennessee, December, 1828, Joseph being then twelve years old, and settled in Wilson County, eight miles east of Lebanon, where he remained three years; and in December, 1831, he removed to Tipton County, where he resided up to the time of his death, which occurred March 29, 1843. After devoting a number of years to mercantile pursuits, Mr. Borum, on Sept. 20, 1836, made a public profession of religion among the Methodists. There being no Baptist church nearer than fifteen miles, he was over-persuaded by his» Methodist friends to unite with them, having the promise of the preacher in charge to immerse him, with which, however, he never complied. The next Conference sent another preacher, to whom he communicated the fact that he had joined the Methodists with the express understanding that he was to be immersed. The preacher now in charge put it off from time to time. A sermon against immersion by the pre- siding elder taught Mr. Borum his duty, and a few days after he heard it he presented himself to Beaver Creek church, Fayette Co., Tenn., for mem- bership, where he was cordially received, but at the time it had no pastor. He was referred to Rev. Peter S. Gayle,. then living near Brownsville, Tenn., to baptize him, who, on Aug. 17, 1837, near Covington, ‘’enn., buried him with Christ in bap- tism. The Beaver Creek church being without a pastor, and having no regular meetings, he could not be licensed to preach. Impressed with the duty of calling sinners to repentance, he conferred with several brethren on the subject, who urged him to go forward and preach the gospel. So, on the third Lord’s day in September, one month after his baptism, he preached his first sermon at Liberty meeting-house, Tipton Co., Tenn., forty years ago. On March 24, 1839, a church was organized at Covington, Tenn., of which he was a constituent member. He was chosen clerk at its organiza- tion, and soon after he was elected deacon. He was ordained to the gospel ministry by the Coy- ington church on the 21st day of September, 1845. Not long after this he removed to Durhamville, Lauderdale Co., Tenn., and united with the Elon church, and became associated with Rev. Geo. W. Young, the pastor of said church, worshiping in Haywood County. Durhamyille was then the only Regular Baptist church in Lauderdale County. Mr. Young and he rode and preached together (mainly in Lauderdale County) for about three years, when they had to separate to take charge of churches which they had constituted. There are now twenty Baptist churches, white and colored, in the same county. Mr. Borum and Mr. Young never engaged in union meetings, nor did they invite Pedobaptist ministers into their pulpits to preach, regarding this’ practice as inconsistent with Bible teachings and injurious to the truth. By pursuing this straightforward and consistent course the Lord abundantly blessed their labors. Mr. Borum has served the following churches: Elon, Grace, Ripley, Covington, Dyersburg, Newbern, Stanton, Mount Olive, Harmony, Society Hill, Salem, and Poplar Grove, in Tennessee, and also Osceola, Ark. He had charge of the Elon church for about twenty- eight years, first and last. He served the Covington church about fifteen years, and the Dyersburg church ten years. He and Rev. G. W. Young assisted in the organization of Elon, Salem, Her- mon, Grace (Pleasant Plains, in conjunction with Rey. M. G. Turner), and Ripley, in Lauderdale County, Dyersburg, in Dyer County. Rey. J. H. Borum has acted as agent for the Brownsville Fe- male College, and the West Tennessee Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Publication Society, Memphis, Tenn. He has been clerk of Big Hatchie Association for twenty-eight years, and moderator for two years; and he has acted as secretary of the West Tennessee Baptist Convention and the Tennessee Baptist Convention for thirty years. He is now engaged in writing the history of the Baptist ministers of Tennessee (living and dead) by the request of his brethren of the State. He is a “‘ Land-marker,’ deeming their practice as most consistent, and most agreeable to the teach- ings of God’s Word. He has removed to Dyersburg, Dyer Co., Tenn., where he expects to finish his course. He is now (1880) the pastor of Dyers- burg, Elon, Newbern, and Poplar Grove churches. From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William CathcartPhoto and obituary below from Findagrave The Osceola Times ObituaryOsceola, Mississippi County, ArkansasJuly 21, 1888AT REST. Death of Rev. Jos. H Borum.A Brief Estimate Of His Character.While the people in and around Osceola were still deeply absorbed in the trifling affairs of Co. politics, word came that Rev. Joseph H. Borum had just departed this life at Dyersburg, Tenn., on the 13th of this month, 1888, in the 74th year of his age, and the 51st of his labors and sacrifices in the ministry.He was no ordinary man. The striking fact that for more than half a century, she lived and labored in the Christian ministry with remarkable success, being, in his own conduct, an example of the religion he preach, friend even an imperfect sketch of his life and character interesting.He was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia July 20, 1816. He came from a family of Baptist. His father and mother were very superior people, intelligent, refined and deeply religious. They were not able to give their son, Joseph, the advantage of a finished education, but they could, and did, give him the training of a Christian home, according to the old-time Virginia model, which, in the outcome of a man’s life, will prove of greater advantage than a collegiate education.From the achievements of the later years, it is plain to be seen that the son became an educated man in the best sense of the word. If his means of self-improvement was limited, he made good use of such as he could command. No one who can ever have had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Borum preach, or converse in the social circle, could detect the least trace of illiteracy in his mind or conversation. Like the celebrated Virginia or 8 or, John Randolph, who was a familiar figure to Mr. Borum when a boy, he sometimes lamented his lack of a better education, when in fact, his mental equipment was superior to that of most collegians.While still a boy, his father removed with his family to Tipton county, Tennessee. Then, from the age of 17, we find young Borum clerking at the different stores in Covington, then becoming a partner in business with W. B. Hill, and again with his brother, James H. Borum. It is precisely such experiences as these, that the opportunity to study human nature in a country store, that educated Patrick Henry, and suggested to him his wonderful career as an orator.It was while engaged in the study of human nature at a country store, that the most important event of the young man’s life took place. On 20 September 1836, while attending a Methodist Meeting near Covington, he, for the 1st time made a public profession of religion. In the natural course of things, we would have expected him to have become a Methodist. The truth is, he could not accept their views on the subject of baptism. Besides, he came from a family of Virginia Baptist, which means much more than words convey to an average reader. In Virginia, at an early day, the storm of religious persecution had fallen with fury upon that denomination. “The ministers were imprisoned and the disciples buffeted.” For a time, their treatment was harsh in the extreme; mobs attacked their congregations and preachers. Many were beaten and imprisoned.On one occasion, a snake and hornets’ nest were thrown into their meeting, and even firearms were brought to disperse them. John Walker, celebrated in the early annals of Virginia Baptists, and who died in 1808, had been a minister for 35 years, and in that time had been in for different jails 113 days, being in the meantime, treated to a Liberal allowance of abuse, beatings and stripes. These events must have made a deep impression upon the minds of the Virginia Borum’s. People actuated by principle, love a cause for which, either they, or their friends, are made to suffer. Young Borum could not have been ignorant of these events. He must have often heard of the fiery ordeal through which the church of his ancestors had passed in the dark days of religious intolerance. It was therefore to be expected that he could gravitate towards the church of his father and mother, consecrated as it had been, by so much unmerited suffering.Accordingly, on the 17th day of August 1837, Elder Peter S. Gayle, near Covington, “buried him in the Christian baptism.” Then came the promptings of that inward voice, distinctly known as the “call to preach.” Joseph H. Borum without hesitancy, obeyed it. On the 3rd Sunday of September, 1887, at Liberty School and Meeting house, Tipton County, Tenn., He preached his 1st sermon. That was more than half a century ago. The slender, delicate youth, with the swift, keen and glancing eyes, a pioneer preacher preaching to a pioneer congregation, had a future before him that he little dreamed of. In the beginning of a career singularly useful, fortunate and happy.At the age of 24, he married Miss Annie Christie Brooks. Their married life was such as in the old age to bring to mind the touching ballad of “John Anderson, my Jo.” The future hides in its generally, much more of sorrow than of gladness; but the rule seems to have here reversed and the case of this pair. The life of a true minister, one who has not mistaken his vocation, has always been described as one full of beauty and felicity. Once fairly embarked, our young minister through his whole soul into his work. A more busy, industrious man did not live. Yielding to know traitorous doubts, if any such ever haunted his mind, from the hour of his ordination he worked as if conscious that he was “ever in his great taskmasters I.” His labors were among the hearty, hearty, liberal and high-spirited people of West Tennessee, of whom Davy Crockett was a true representative. It was not his business to make money, to become eminent and politics, but to preach the gospel; and all through a long life, the gospel fed, clothed and housed him and his family, and secured to him the love and confidence of troops of friends. Hosts of converts and many churches attested the fact that he had not mistaken his call to the ministry.The secret to his great success as a minister will be found in the fact that he believed in his religion, and entered the ministry in obedience to what he felt in his heart to be an emphatic call. This belief made him, when in his prime, a powerful preacher. He always knew just what he wanted to say before he began to speak, and as he believed in its truth and importance himself, the natural earnestness of his manner was enhanced by his own deep-seated convictions. It is the earnest speaker, whose words come from his heart, who influences the will, and changes the opinions of people, and causes them to think and act. Joseph H. Borum was an earnest man, and being obedient to the inward, divine light, which disclosed to him his business and this life, he was bold, confident and fearless in the cause he advocated.It has been written of him, that no man in West Tennessee had been so universally successful the cause of this success will be found in the fact that his life had been glabrous and self-sacrificing. That success which is founded on labor and self-sacrifice, will stand as an enduring monument to the memory of the brave heart that reared it. When not standing in his pulpit, the fearless and eloquent advocate of the Christian religion was busy with his pen, working in the same cause. His Biographical Sketch of Tennessee Baptist Ministers, is a faithful record of the lives of devoted, faithful men who by their works left the world better than they found it.One so feeble and frail, suffering at intervals through life with bleeding lungs, could not have lived so long, if labor and self-sacrifice were not conductive to longevity. The collection of such a life would dispel the clouds of poor, fear, sorrow, despair, and keep the mind in a state of serenity. Disquieting thoughts kill more than the diseases of the body. He was a slight, delicate man; of late years, very feeble in appearance, but prompted quick in all his movements, stately in bearing, kind, courteous and consolidating in his intercourse with the world. In fact, his unstudied grace and courtliness of manner, originating in due deference to the rights of others, made him a welcome companion and guest at all times. One so kind, so genial, must have been blessed with inward peace, that which Heaven grants no greater blessedness to mankind. Hence, the presence of this wrinkled, timeworn old gentleman in any home circle he visited, was like a benediction. The children did not look at him as an awful man of God, suggestive of hell and the devil but seen at his approach, with a gentle smile, the old man could have them all at his knee.That any man should for 50 years sustain himself as a Christian minister unspotted from the world, and during its trials, resisting its temptations, and by percept and example training men and women to a higher life, is a fact remarkable in itself. Such a life could have had but one motive—of obedience to the true light, that lighteth every man that, into the world.For the past few months his health began rapidly to decline, and it was plain the end was not distant; and at last he sank upon his bed, and prepared for the final struggle. His latest hour was in perfect harmony with his life. Though at times suffering great pain, and knowing that it was the pain of death, his last moments were employed in speaking words of comfort and hope to those who mourned at his bedside. With a love as strong as death, he called his wife and children around him, kissed them loving farewell, and bade them meet him in heaven. Even amid the stifling papers of death, he was happy, and his eloquent tongue spoke words of joy and hope, “I will go today,” said he, speaking of his departure from life as if it were an appointment to preach. The faith which he had kept in his heart and preached from youth to old age, now revealed to his soul the immortal light beyond the land of darkness and shadow of the death. In that last hour, the divine promise, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” was made good. “In thy light we shall see light.” And so, in the full light of Truth, the old soldier of the cross cast off even the chains of death, with as much ease as Sampson did his green withes, marched off to receive his pension in Heaven, according to the promises which had been the guiding motive of his long and useful life.