Page 81 - my-people-abbie-harris-beck

BUILDING FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

This incident in building the First Baptist Church in Geneva was told to Abbie
Harris Beck by Jimpsey and Lucy McGowan about her father.
The construction of the building for the First Baptist Church had come to a
standstill. It was almost complete when the money ran out. All sources in the church for
additional funds had been exhausted. The deacons met and they decided that a committee
should be appointed to go see Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris, though not a member of the
church, had been a very generous supporter in the past. Mrs. Harris was a member and
had given the inheritance from her family estate toward the construction of the church.
The committee members included Jimpsey McGowan, James McGowan and Lester
Martin. They chose 11:30 a.m. to meet and talk with Mr. Harris as it was his custom to
come home at this time and sit on the front porch before the noon meal.
The committee pulled up in front of the Harris' home in the Model T Ford. They
got out of the car and came up to the front porch. Mr. Harris bid them a "good morning"
and invited them to have a seat. He then did not say another word. Mr. McGowan said
they all just sat there for a while not saying a word. Mr. Harris was sitting in the swing
and just kept on swinging. Mr. Jimpsey said he knew that Mr. Harris knew why they were
there. Finally, one of them spoke and told Mr. Harris that the church was out of money
and could not finish the building. Could he give them any more money ? Mr. Harris kept
swinging , saying nothing. The committee sat in silence twisting their hats.
Finally, Mr. Harris broke the silence, "Fve given you people all that I'm able to
give, but I'll tell you what I have, an old mule out at the farm that I'll give you. Maybe
he'll kick hell out of you Baptists and you can get that church building finished."
Mr. McGowan says they slowly got up from their seats and walked back to the car. They
all got in and just sat there ! (Motel T Fords had to be hand cranked) One of the men
stated, "Let's take it." They jumped out of the car, went back to the porch and said,
"Mr. Harris, we'll take the mule." Mr. Harris said, "Go out to the farm and tell old Dan I
said to let you have the mule." They did take the mule and used it in many ways to finally
finish the remaining work needed to complete the church.