John Milton Sallee
Baptist Pastor and Author

      John Milton Sallee was born March 14, 1844 in Somerset, Kentucky. He grew up attending the First Baptist Church of Somerset, where his father Joel W. Sallee served as church clerk and deacon for more than forty years. After surrendering to preach, J. M. Sallee was licensed to the gospel ministry by the First Baptist Church of Somerset in 1866. He was ordained by the Mount Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, Kentucky on August 16, 1868.

      In Kentucky, J. M. Sallee would pastor the Mount Salem and the Middleburg Baptist Churches for 10 years, the Cox’s Creek Baptist Church for 11 years, the First Baptist Church of Somerset for 2 years and the First Baptist Church of Henderson for 9 years. In 1899 he moved west to become the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Beeville, Texas. He would serve this congregation until his death on November 16, 1915.

      In 1871, while pastoring the First Baptist Church of Somerset, J. M. Sallee married Rachel Fair. The two had eight children, three of which became Baptist foreign missionaries in China. William Eugene Sallee served 27 years, Mamie Sallee Bryan served 32 years and Hannah Fair Sallee served 39 years. Like their father, they were each faithful in service to the Lord Jesus Christ.

      Sallee wrote the book Mabel Clement as well as Baptist Churches Like Apostolic and The Story of Christ in Verse.

      J. M. and Rachel Sallee are buried in the Glenwood Cemetery in Beeville, Texas. His gravestone reads: "The Master Bids Leave Work Today for New Work and for Rest."

      In 1926 Mabel Clement was included in "The Baptist Home Library," published by the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board.

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[From J. H. Spencer Historical Society pamphlet. Transcribed and formatted by Jim Duvall.

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