Elder James Whitsitt, a son of William and Ellen (Maneese) Whilsitt, was born in Amherst county, Va., on the 31st of January, 1771. When he was ten years old, his parents removed to Henry county in the same State, where they remained until their removal to the Great West. His early advantages for education, though limited, were as good as the part of the country in which he lived afforded. At his father's suggestion, he engaged very early in business, and before he had reached his twentieth year, had accumulated considerable property.Elder Whitsitt was born and educated in the Episcopal church of Virginia, In the course of the year 1789, an extensive revival of religion took place in the neighborhood in which the family lived, under the administration of the Reverend Joseph Anthony, an evangelical and earnest Baptist
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* Contributed by Doctor Howell, to the Annals of the American Baptist Pulpit.
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minister. Elder Whitsitt became converted to the faith and the ordinance of baptism was administered to him by Elder Anthony. On the occasion, both of his examination, and of his baptism, he made an address, characterized by great fluency, appropriateness and fervor. Though he was then only beginning his nineteenth year, he entered at once with great zeal into the revival, not only praying and exhorting, but appointing and conducting meetings; and so acceptable were his services in this way, that within a few weeks the church with which he was connected gave him a formal license to preach the gospel.His maternal uncle, James Maneese, Esq., who resided near Guilford Court House, N. C., had nearly all his properly swept away by the belligerent armies; in consequence of which, he migrated, in 1780, to the valley of the Cumberland, with a view to find there a permanent home. After he settled there, he sent back to his friends in Virginia such glowing accounts of the healthfulness, beauty and fertility of the country, that they finally determined to follow him; and. accordingly, having made the necessary arrangements, the Whitsitt family proceeded on their way to the West, though James remained behind to attend to the settlement of his father's affairs. He now lived in the family of his brother-in-law, whose religious views were strongly adverse to his own. An influence was here brought to bear upon him which was designed to carry him back to his former habits of thought, and feeling, and action; and. though it did not avail to the extent of undermining his faith in the doctrines which he had received, it did greatly impair the vigor of his Christian graces, and generated the most painful doubts in regard to his acceptance with God. He felt himself constrained, not only to relinquish preaching, but to withdraw from the communion of the church.
In the autumn of 1770, Elder Whittsitt, though he had not yet entirely closed his business in Virginia, set out for Tennessee; and, after a journey frought with much hardship and peril, had the pleasure, at length, of finding himself once more in the bosom of his own family. There very soon
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grew up a mutual attachment between himself and his cousin, Jane Cardwell, daughter of his uncle James Maneese. which led to a matrimonial engagement between them. After making a visit to Virginia the next summer, to close up his business, he returned, and in the winter of 1792, they were married. Mrs. Whitsitt was a lady of great fortitude, vigorous health and a model of industry and economy in the management of her household concerns. A more estimable, affectionate and public-spirited Christian lady than she was, it would be difficult to find. They had eleven children, four of whom died in infancy, three reached maturity and died unmarried, and four became the heads of families. Mrs. Whitsitt lived through the allotted period of threescore and ten, and died on the 1st of June, 1840, rejoicing in our Lord Jesus Christ.Elder Whitsitt, by his marriage, became possessed of an uncommonly fine tract of land upon Mill creek, the cultivation of which he immediately commenced. In the autumn of 1794, he wrote to his former pastor, Elder Anthony, asking to be restored to fellowship. The request was most cheerfully complied with, and his membership was immediately transferred to the little church on Mill creek, by whose advice he commenced at once his vocation as a preacher of the gospel. From this time onward, until near the close of his life, the history of Elder Whitsitt's labors, would be substantially the history of the Baptist denomination in the valley of the Cumberland. He took the pastoral charge of four churches, namely: the church at Mill creek, Concord church, in Williamson county. Rock Spring church, in Rutherford county, and Providence church, on Stone's river, in the same county, giving to each one Sabbath in the month, and as much of the preceding week as he was able. A few years later, the church at Antioch, on Mill creek, was organized; and, as that was nearer his residence than Rock Spring church, he assisted the Rock Spring church to procure another pastor, and took charge himself of the one at Antioch. The labor incident to his connection with all these churches continued from thirty to forty years, and up to the time that the
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infirmities of age compelled him to circumscribe his efforts and remain mostly at home.Elder Whitsitt was present at the organization af the Moro [Mero] District, the first association formed in the Cumberland valley, and in this and all others of which he was subsequently a member, his influence was paramount. The association included, originally, all the churches in Tennessee, West of the mountains. His connection with this continued until the formation of the Cumberland association, to which his churches were transferred, and he, of course, went with them. Afterwards, on account of the too great extent of territory of the Cumberland, the Concord came into being, and among its churches were included those of Elder Whitsitt. With this body he remained ever after. The annual meetings of these associations he always attended, while his health would permit, and their proceedings, and especially those of the Concord, bear much of the impress of his views and opinions.
After the death of his first wife, Elder Whitsitt married Mrs. Elizabeth Woodruff, a lady who had long been a member of his church at Mill Creek; she was eminently devoted to him, but survived only about four years. He then divided his remaining property among his two surviving children and grandchildren, and lived with his youngest son, to whom he gave the homestead. The infirmities of age were now pressing heavily upon his manly form and naturally vigorous constitution. He solicited the church at Mill Creek - the only one he still retained - either to release him from his pastorship or to provide an assistant pastor; and they chose the latter. The individual who became his associate, however, differed with him so materially in respect to both doctrine and discipline, that he could not. with comfort to himself. continue in that relation, and he accordingly resigned his charge, and, having obtained a letter of dismission, joined the First church at Nashville, with which he remained in connection till the close of his life; meanwhile he continued to preach in different churches as much and as long as his health would permit. The summer and autumn previous to his decease
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he supplied the Second church in Nashville, in the absence of the pastor, most of the time; and in addition to this preached funeral sermons and performed other occasional services at the houses of his friends in the neighborhood; he also wrote many articles for the religious press, some of which were decidedly among his best productions. On the second Lord's day in October, 1848. he was with his church in Nashville at their communion; his addresses on that occasion were peculiarly affecting.He died in perfect calmness on the 12th of April, 1849, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, after having been for fifty-three years a faithful, laborious and successful minister of Christ.
Elder Whitsitt was a man of striking personal appearance and manners; his frame was tall and combined both elegance and strength; his hair was black; his eyes dark, calm and shaded by heavy brows; his countenance was regular, manly and intellectual, and united great benevolence with unyielding firmness. Indeed, his whole demeanor evinced a dignity which repelled every light reproach and a self-possession which never forsook him.
He was a man whom no one could imitate, and whose style and manner could never be forgotten by those who had once heard him. He was the uniform and earnest friend of missions, and had a primiry agency in originating and sustaining the missionary operations of our State. He left a broader mark upon his generation than almost any of his associates in the ministry.
=========== [From Joseph H. Borum, Biographical Sketches of Tennessee Baptist Ministers, 1880; reprint 1976, pp. 615-619. - Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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