Mississippi College - Tribesman Yearbook (Clinton, MS)

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B. D. Gray, ’78 t VEN though it is not universally be- lieved that heredity has a power in the molding and shaping of the lives and characters of great men, it cannot be denied that it adds a venerableness to the name to which it is attached. Baron De Kalb Gray is descended directly from men who belong to that band which immortalized it- self in the Carolinas during the Revolution- ary War. His grandfather. Clinch Gray, a civil engineer, in the employ of the govern- ment, came to Winchester, Mississippi, from Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early part of 1805, and subquently became a member of the first Constitutional Convention, which formed this great territory into a State. From a lineage so patriotic we could but expect a man so cosmopolitan in his interests as Doctor Gray. After elementary education in his county schools and academy work under the famous S. S. Melben, we find him entering Mississippi College in 1874. He was graduated from this institution in 1878, receiving the M. A., w ith first honors, and delivering the Latin Salutatory address. He enjoys the notable distinction of being, with P. H. Eager, tlie first who ever attained the master’s degree from the college. Throughout his entire college course he was conspicuous for promptness and regularity in the performance of all duties. These characteristics were especially prominent in regard to all religious exercises. He w r as fall orator of the Hcrim nian Society and also Anniversarian in his Senior year, having declined in his Junior year the same honor which his popularity had made possible foi him. As a student, he took a lively interest in college athletics, and is an enthusiastic supporter of inter- collegiate football, under regulations. Indeed, we may say that loyalty was his attitude to all college interests, and is the criterion to which may be attributed the soul, spirit, and essence of his life work and suc cess. . After taking graduate and postgraduate work in the Baptist Theological Seminary, he held the pastorate of the East Baptist Church of Louisville for a year. He resigned this with the intention of taking a course at the University of lrgima, but later, at the earnest solicitation of his friends, he abandoned this cherished plan and became pastor of the Clinton Church, in 1884; while he was here, he was married to Miss Alma Ratliff, the accomplished daughter of Captain W. T. Ratliff. As president of the board of trustees of Howard College, he led the move- ment that resulted in the removal of a fifty-thousand-dollar debt. After refusing the presidency of eight colleges, he was finally induced to accept that position in Georgetown, Kentucky. Although he loved educational w ork and was planning largely for the future of his institution, he listened to the appeals of his brethren that lie enter upon the corresponding secretaryship of the Home Mission Board, located at Atlanta, Georgia. Mississippi College conferred upon him the degree of I). D. in 1890, and of LL. D. in 1904. 18

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i H. Longino, ’75 T IS an exemplary fact that in demo- cratic America there are no obstacles so great as to stand in the way of a determined man. No matter how much ham- pered in youth by poverty and environment, the opportunity for unlimited achievements is extended to all. All Mississippians are proud to honor a man who has manfully fought his way in spite of such difficulties to a place of preeminence among his fellow men. This is well illustrated in the life of Governor A H. Longino. He was born twelve miles above Monti- cello, the county site of Lawrence County, Mississippi. His parents, John Thomas and Annie Ramsay Longino, both died when he was a very small child, leaving no property or money of consequence. At the tender age of ten years he began the battle of life alone, with never so much as a legal guardian to re- strain or direct his childhood career. In order to feed, clothe, and educate himself, he worked By teaching school, and with careful economy, he as a day laborer on the farm, was able to graduate from Mississippi College. In the same year of his graduation, he was elected circuit and chancery clerk of his native county. At the end of that official term, he became State Senator for the district composed of Lawrence, Lincoln, and Pike counties. By reading law in his spare moments, and, after a short course at the University of Virginia, he was admitted to the bar and began the practice at Monticello in 1881, where he continued to practice until appointed by President Cleveland to the office of United States attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, in 1888. In 1890, he moved to Greenwood, where he became chancellor, by appointment of Governor Stone. At the end of his first term, he was reappointed by Governor McLaurin, but soon thereafter resigned to enter the race for governor. He was elected to that office in 1899, over five strong opponents, and was inaugurated governor Januaryl9th, 1900. It is with no little pride that we remember the administration as governor of this son of Mississippi College. A critical time had arrived in the affairs of the State. Rapid progress and phenomenal development was being made along every line, and a strong hand was needed to guide the ship of state along its glorious course. A new eapitol, beautiful in its artistic design and architectural grandeur, built at the cost t over a million dollars, without the issuance of a single bond, or the slightest J ' Uspic ion of graft, stands as a tribute to his intelligent executive ability. He found State struggling under the weight of heavy debts, and left the chair having placed •it ' I t 1 ? highest respect financially with her sister commonwealths. This, too, r having carried to completion a system of internal improvements, will be for a laie a n °ble monument to his He name. is prominent in religious circles as president of the State Baptist Conven- ion, and Sunday school superintendent. Since returning to private life, he has ecome identified with many manufacturing and industrial enterprises. 17 2

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J. G. Chastain, ’82 are we greatly indebted advantage. J AMES GARY IN C HASXAIN, like most of the men who have gone out from Mississippi College to strive for the betterment of their fellow-men, came from the farm. He was born in Itawamba County, Mississippi, December 18th, 1853. His boy- hood was spent in manual labor and going to school at intervals. After teaching county schools for fifteen months, he entered Missis- sippi College in 1877 and received his A. 15. degree in 1882, with first honors, delivering the valedictory address. During most of his five- years course, he paid his expenses by doing various duties around the college buildings, teaching penmanship, and a part of the time acting as assistant in the preparatory depart- ment. He took part in the first military com- pany, and was made one of its officers, rising to the rank of lieutenant. As a member of the Hermenian Society, he was very popular and efficient in the performance of his duties, serv- ing as fall orator and anniversarian. To him for the magnificent library of which we now have the , M . r : C1 ?astam took his postgraduate course at the University of Mississippi ?eeolnGo? 1,1 f nd ; n “ ta physies in ,88;i - Here his literary ability was cognized, and he was elected to the editorial staff of the Phi Sigma Literary Society. himself of p baptist denomination in 1873, and has since proven plTtor evamS- 8 ext “ f the Kingdom. After two years as at Louisville IV - anon and the adjoining counties, he entered the seminary He ew lan ’,, a T T if n ? mduated in 1888 - While taking a course in the Mex eo Z? t if Virginia, he was appointed missionary to j il • ° fT cam e to him in grand old Virginia, he was happily married to Miss Mary Lillian Wright, of Norfolk , He is completing his twentieth year as missionary — four at Matehuala, six t V L r0y0 v t f rec at MoreI1 °’ and seven at Guadalajara. A year after I a mi , xl °’ IC 0 S an his career as a Spanish writer by preparing portions of et ures o e ( e ivered before the theological institute for native preachers. For ur years 1( was a stated contributor to La Luz, the Baptist organ of the republic ounded and edited Nuestros Ninos , also edited El Expositor Biblico, the only I aptlst Sun, i la y school publication in Spanish in the world. His course of eight • n i U u 8 ° n en l ;euc ' h has been repeatedly called for in more permanent form, k manuscript is nearly ready for the press, the book to be used by the native pas ors and other Christian leaders. Other productions of similar nature are xpec e tiom the facile pen of Mr. Chastain in the future. He received his D. D. irom Mississippi, in 1897. l 9 3