Billy Sunday (1862-1935)

SUNDAY, CORY

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 10/30/2008 at 11:46:39

Ames Daily Tribune and Times, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Thursday, November 7, 1935.

BILLY SUNDAY, NATIVE OF AMES, DEAD

Stone Foundation on Albert Kelley Farm Near Ames All That Remains of Sunday's Birthplace

Billy Sunday was born Nov. 19, 1862 in a log cabin located one-half mile west of the present Clearview school. For many years this cabin stood on the Albert Kelley farm, but stones of the foundation are all that remain today.

Sunday never saw his father, William Sunday, senior, who walked from Ames to Des Moines in Aug. 1862 to enlist in the Civil war. He was assigned to Company E, 23rd Iowa infantry and died in the south.

Sunday's mother, whose maiden name was Mary Jane Cory, remarried several years later and Billy went to Live with his grandmother, who lived in a cabin just across Squaw creek south of Ames, near the present highway.

Numerous Ames residents recall early school days with the evangelist who, as a youngster, was described as a mischievous, quick-tempered boy, who spent most of time playing baseball. He attended the school known then as "Little School" which was located on the site now occupied by the Clearview school, one mile south of Ames.

Many Local Friends

Ames residents who attended the "Little School" at that time are L. R. Morris, Frank Morris, Mrs. C. F. Davis, Mrs. L. G. Rosenfeld, Gertrude Morris, Mrs. Flora Hill, Mrs. L. L. Wherry, Bert Jewett, H. H. Nowlin, Mrs. Harriet Sheldon-Hammer, Mrs. Fannie Carpenter. Carl Little attended school shortly after Billy Sunday left. Others well acquainted with Sunday are L. C. Tildel, A. B. Maxwell and W. P. Kintzley.

C. G. McCarthy, who later became state auditor, was the teacher at that time and encouraged baseball playing to the extent that he sometimes would dismiss school early. With this start, Billy Sunday developed into a good player, and the way was paved to his short careet as a professional palyer with the former Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia clubs of the National league.

After living at an orphan's home in Glenwood with his brother for a number of years, Billy returned to his grandfather's home near Ames. Among the many tasks he undertood at that time was husking corn on the nearby Parley Sheldon farm.

Borrowed Sheldon's Horse

One day Billy borrowed a riding horse from Parley Sheldon and rode to Nevada to look for a job. He heard that Col. John Scott wanted a boy, and he was hired. While working for Colonel Scott he attended the Nevada high school from which he was graduated. While living in Nevada he played on the town baseball team, later on the Marshalltown professional team.

Among his earlier athletic experiences is a race held one Fourth of July at Iowa State college, in which young Sunday defeated a college professor in a foot race to win a $3 prize. This speed and his ability to play field made him one of the outstanding ball players in this section and, after the Marshalltown team won the state championship, he was given an opportunity to play with the Chicago White Stockings, later known as the Cubs.

After playing professional baseball, Billy Sunday quit the game in 1891 to devote his entire time to religion. He attended Northwestern university and received a doctor of divinity degree from Westminister college, New Wilmington, Pa., in
1912.

On Chautiuqua

While attending Northwestern he became interested in Y. M. C. A. work and served as assistant secretary of the Chicago Y. M. C. A. from 1891 to 1895. From this position he went into evangelistic work, starting in 1896. His most active years were from 1904 to 1907, when he received from 1,000 to 5,000 converts per month. He lectured in almost every principal city in the United States and for several years lectured on the Redpath Chautauqua circuit, which was operated by W. S. Rupe. publisher of the Ames Daily Tribune.

After his Y. M. C. A. work. "Billy" became assistant to Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, evangelist. He sold song-books, helped out about the tent and did everything in connection with the meetings.

"Billy's" pointed statements and acrobatic demonstrations while delivering sermons brot much criticism from many of the more conservative religious classes and his methods were often attacked by the press, but his audiences continued to grow.

The Old Religion

He defended his sermons by saying he preached only the oldtime religion. "It never changes," he said. "I read the newspapers and keep up with what is going on in this world and am constantly looking for new expressions and new illustrations. It's just like putting a new frame around an old picture - the picture is unchanged.

"I may be crude. I use slang. But I always try to make myself understood. Tht average man - the man on the street - has only about 300 words in his vocabulary. He needs the message, and I speak his language, so he will understand."

Religious records show that there was never another evangelist who equaled Sunday's popularity. His audiences were the largest, his conversions outnumbered all former religious workers and his collections were the greatest. In one revival meeting In New York City, Sunday collected $120,000. His average collection for a three-weeks meeting was more than $25,000 - often between $40,000 and $50,000.

He had a small army of assistants, singers, musicians, etc., and the evangelistic party usually traveled in special cars. Extra space always had to be arranged for his meetings—usually special buildings with a seating capacity of from 10,000 to 25,000.

He was an ardent prohibitionist, and that often furnished the subject for his heated sermons. He opposed any legislation that loosened the liquor laws and was quick to take a stand on any major political subject. He often delivered sermons on the "movies" and sought to make them cleaner.

"Ma" Sunday

His wife, "Ma" Sunday, was his constant, faithful companion, and was ever at his side when he was was on tour. She assisted in the meetings and kept him physically fit, nursing his ills and handling his army of callers.

Sunday was often asked to go abroad for an evangelistic tour, but he always refused, declaring that he was needed in America and here was plenty here to keep him busy.

Billy Sunday's last visit to Ames was in August, 1932, when he stopped in Ames while engaged at he Iowa State fair in Des Moines. He arrived in Ames Sunday morning, Aug. 29, hoping to see his old birthplace and the family burial ground. However, muddy roads made the trip difficult and Billy Sunday did not get out of the car to walk up the hill to the old graveyard.