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last twenty-five years of his life he spent at the home
of his son John, and continued to preach as long as
he was able to travel; he was permitted to baptize
nearly or quite one thousand persons who had been
ted to Christ through his ministry. One who has often
heard him preach, has said that he often rose to great
heights of genuine eloquence of being very familiar with
the word of God and peculiarly apt in illustration; in
addition he had a fine commanding presence and a
musical voice. He was moderator of the Madison
Association for twenty years and was asked to preach
the introductory sermon at eight different sessions of
the body. He died in 1877 after a few weeks' illness;
he had a lucid hour in the midst of several days of un-
consciousness, and in that hour be rehearsed his first
Christian experience, and his work in the ministry; and
spoke of his hope of going home to be with Christ.
After speaking personal words to those of the family
who stood about him he again lapsed into unconscious-
ness to awaken in the land of light and love. The
funeral exercises were held in the church of which
he was pastor so long, and his body was buried beside
that of his wife in the Read cemetery, a few miles east
of Vernon.
The Rev. William Y. Monroe was moderator of the
Association for a longer period than any other minister,
having served in that office twenty-four or twenty-
five times; he was pastor of the North Madison church
ior thirty years, and would have., continued, but for
ill health. He came to Scott county, Indiana, in 1834,
and joined a Methodist church in 1842; but being dis-
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satisfied with some of the doctrines of that denomina-
tion, he began a thorough search of the Bible, and as
a consequence he became a Baptist. He was ordained
in 1850 and proved to be a strong minister of the word.
No one could make the way of salvation plainer, and
in such esteem was he held, that men were compelled to
listen to his preaching. He was in the civil war as
captain in the Eighty-second Indiana Infantry, and on
his return from the war his fellow citizens honored him
with public offices of trust. He was twice elected
treasurer of Jefferson county, and was twice elected
to the legislature of the state. Being a man of good
business ability he was frequently called on to assist
in settling the estates of families of his acquaintance.
In the eighties he moved to Franklin for the sake of
giving his boys a course in Franklin College. Most
of the time from his coming to Franklin he was an
invalid, much of the time being confined to his bed.
But he was never in despair nor discouraged; when the
new College chapel was dedicated he expressed a de-
sire to be present to ejoy the exercises; accordingly
the young men carried him on his couch,. and no one
was more deeply interested than he. As another ex-
ample of his cheerfulness of spirit: a prayer-meeting
was appointed to be held in his room, and his ema-
ciated form had the effect to deeply stir the emotions
of those present; in fact it was a time of copious tears.
He said afterwards in a playful way that he did not
want any more "funeral services" till he was ready.
If he were alive today he would rejoice with his wife
that their older son is an able teacher in Columbia
