William Luther Blasingame

William Luther Blasingame

William L. BlasingameWilliam Luther Blasingame was born in Walton county, Georgia, June 12, 1860. There were troublous times in this country when he came into the world. The war clouds were gathering thick and fast, and before he was a year old the death grapple between the North and the South began. William T. Blasingame, his father, enlisted in the Confederate army in 1861 and was assigned to the western division. A year later, in 1862, he died in "Vicksburg, Mississippi. Mrs. Mary Matildah Rains Blasingame, was left a widow with five small children. Two of these died while quite young. The other three, Josiah, William Luther and Mrs. E. A. Cook, are still living. Josiah is a prominent business man, and has his home at Jersey, Walton county, Georgia. He has represented his county several times in the Georgia legislature, is a deacon of Alcova Mountain Baptist church, and moderator of the Appalachee Association. Mrs. Cook, who has been bereft of her husband, lives at Social Circle, Walton county, Georgia, and in an active member of the Baptist church.

The Blasingame family is of Scotch descent, and the present generation bears the marks of their ancestors, in appearance, industry and determination. The grandfather of William Luther was Powell Blasingame, and his grandmother was Martha Starke. Josiah Barrette and Mary Bains Barrette were his maternal grandparents. These two families were among the early settlers of Georgia, and they reared large and influential families. They were planters, and they educated their children in the school of honest toil, and gave them such literary training as the schools of the times afforded.

William Luther was reared on the farm, and in his early years experienced the hardships common to boys who were brought up by widowed mothers during the Reconstruction Period. The schools of that time offered very limited courses of study, and their terms were only a few months in the year. The children could not be spared from the farms, and the parents were scarcely able to pay the necessary tuition. Mr. Blasingame received his most valuable instruction from his godly mother, and her noble Christian life was one of the greatest factors in shaping his character for usefulness. A collegiate education being beyond his reach, he left the farm at the age of twenty-two and accepted the position of clerk in the store of Abercrombie and Blasingame, at Jersey, Georgia. As on the farm, so in the store he was not afraid of hard work. By the tactful exercise of a vigorous mind and body he became a successful salesman and soon acquired a working interest in the business. In 1905, he disposed of his interest in the business and moved to Winder, Georgia, where he has since been engaged in the banking and insurance business.

In 1885, Mr. Blasingame was married to Miss Lillie Starr, the oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Starr, of Loganville. To them have been born two sons and three daughters. Two daughters are now living: Miss Starr, who married Lieutenant H. A. Carithers, Jr., and Miss Robbie, who married Col. R. H. Kimball, both of Winder, Georgia.

Mr. Blasingame was converted in 1874, when he was only fourteen years old. In those times children of that age were not encouraged to join the church. It was not until 1885, when he was twenty-five years old, eleven years after his conversion, that he united with the Alcova Mountain Baptist church, in Walton county, and was baptized by Rev. John C. Burton, on the 28th of August. As in business, so in his church he became an active member in all its work. In recognition of his piety and leadership, the church elected him to the office of deacon on the third Sunday in May, 1893. Feeling his unfitness, he declined to accept the office and to submit to ordination until February, 1894. The presbytery was composed of his pastor, Rev. T. E. McCutchen, and his brother, Josiah Blasingame, and his brother-in-law, Dr. R. A. Cook. From 1894 to 1905 he was an active and an efficient deacon of the Alcovy Mountain Baptist church.

Upon his removal to Winder, Georgia, in January, 1905, he united with the First Baptist church of that city. In the short time of two months his interest and devotion were recognized, and in March the church elected him as an active deacon. In recognition of his fitness for the office, his fellow deacons made him chairman, and for twelve years he has held that important position. Perhaps no church in Georgia has enjoyed greater and more continued prosperity during this period than the First Baptist church in Winder. To that prosperity Mr. Blasingame has been a liberal contributor.

Mr. Blasingame has always been progressive in educational and religious movements and has taken an active interest in Bible school work, is a regular attendant at prayer meeting, and no more loyal Baptist is to be found in all the State. One of the pleasing things in his long and useful life has been the fact that the churches of which he has been a member have been evangelistic and have received yearly goodly numbers of additions by baptism.

Seldom is a man found in these days of materialism who gives so largely of his time and talents to the Lord's work as does Mr. Blasingame; and yet it pays in a financial way, as evinced in his own life. No little of his prosperity in the financial world is due to his loyal service to Christ and his church. He is a loyal supporter of his pastor, and holds the respect and love of all the people of his city, regardless of denominational affiliation. He is a leading spirit in the North Georgia Trust and Banking Company, though he declined to accept the position of director after having been elected by the stockholders. Next to his family and Savior he loves the First Baptist church of Winder, to the building of which, financially and spiritually, he has contributed so largely.

Mr. Blasingame readily multiplies his friends, and as easily maintains their friendship. He is a man of pleasing address, his countenance bearing the marks of a spirit of optimism. There is nothing light in his personal demeanor; on the other hand he is a man of gravity, a man of conviction and of courage to give wise expression to his convictions. He is a type of citizen and Christian which needs to be greatly multiplied in these days when shams in both respects unhappily abound.