By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Copyright © 2019
#FFBosworth
#ChristTheHealer
#BosworthMatters
 |
| Elias
Birdsall (left) and F.F. Bosworth outside home in Dallas, Texas. |
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Reminder: "F.F.
Bosworth History" is now on Twitter. Follow @bosworth_fred
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On Aug. 21, 1911, F.F. Bosworth wrote a letter about a
beating he endured because of his ministry to blacks at a camp meeting near Hearne,
Texas. In the letter, which he addressed to his mother, he described the
assault as a “mobbing” that left him with a fractured wrist and bruises on his
back. The men, all white, reportedly struck him with wooden clubs. Bosworth
said his “flesh was mashed to the bone on my back down nearly to my knees.”
The mob, which consisted of 25 men, had urged him and his
friend to leave town. One of the men had a revolver and seemed determined to
shoot Bosworth and his friend. He said they “cursed us for coming there as they
said to put them on a level with the d-niggers.” While Bosworth was standing outside
the depot and waiting for his train to Dallas, the men attacked him. He wrote:
[A] larger mob of about 25 took
me from the depot and knocked me down and pounded me with heavy hardwood clubs
with all their power, cursing and declaring that I would never preach again
when they were through with me. As they pounded me with these heavy clubs (made
from the oar of a boat), I offered no resistance, but committed myself to God
and asked him not to let the blows break my spine.
God stood wonderfully by me and
no bones were broken except a slight fracture in my left wrist. When they left
off pounding me with the clubs as I got up others of the mob who had no clubs
knocked me down hitting me in the head with their fists. I was knocked down
several times but was not for a moment unconscious, which was miracle of God’s
care.
When the beating subsided, Bosworth stood and grabbed
his “heavy suitcase.” He began a nine-mile walk to Calvert, praying along the
way. He said God gave him strength. During his walk, he prayed for the men who
assaulted him.
Bosworth’s letter appeared in the Summer 1986 issue of
A/G Heritage magazine. The magazine’s editor noted:
Persecution in the early years
of the Pentecostal movement was common. F.F. Bosworth’s descriptive letter to
his mother, a copy of which was donated to the Archives by his son Bob, is
reprinted here. The two mobs which attacked him did so because he ministered at
a black church camp meeting near Hearne, Texas. Bosworth founded what is now
First Assembly in Dallas. Earlier he had been associated with John Alexander
Dowie and Zion City, Illinois.
#OnThisDay #OTD #ThisDayInHistory
#ThisDayInFFBosworthHistory #Pentecostal #Revival #AssembliesOfGod #HearneTexas
#ChurchHistory #PublicHistory #CFNI #ORU #BosworthMention
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Note: My
book, F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind "Christ the Healer," can
be purchased here with a 25% discount. Use the discount code: bosworth25.
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For more information:
Visit the F.F. Bosworth page here. Questions
about the research and commentary on F.F. Bosworth may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D.,
via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com. For updates on
F.F. Bosworth history, simply follow this blog or @bosworth_fred and
@Roscoebarnes3 on Twitter.
#ChristTheHealer #BosworthMention #BosworthMatters
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