When an individual has so much talent and ability, it is difficult at times to see the true greatness that comes from that individual. It is only after that person comes and then departs is it possible to see the true greatness that that individual has had. It is also very true when there were giants in the land. Those giants being Alexander Campbell, his father, Thomas and the likes of Benjamin Franklin and John W. McGarvey. Just as it is difficult to see the light from heavenly bodies when the sky is littered with light from street lights, parking lots and twenty-four hour businesses. Such was the life of Moses E. Lard, there were truly giants in the land in those days but he was one of the very largest over his compatriots. His editorial efforts as well as his many truly great abilities as a writer and preacher would lift him higher but being talented to the extent that he was made him a writer par excellence. His commentary on Romans is still in print and his Lard’s Quarterly is still consulted even these, many, many years-153 to be exact, later. We will seek to give an exact accounting of this life that was referred to as “That Prince of Preachers.”
The Early Years
Moses Easterly Lard came into this world in a truly poverty-stricken condition. He was born near Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tennessee. Life was very difficult when there sometimes was no roof over their heads. Often that would only consist of a lean-to shelter. The land that they farmed was a very poor producer so it was often a matter of going hungry if it did not supply their needs. Besides Moses, there were five other children who needed food, shelter and clothing.
Levin had heard of reports that the western neighbor, Missouri, was a land of milk and honey. Friends who had moved there reported it as rich soil, primeval forests with streams teeming with fish. Levin was especially interested in the reports that wild game was everywhere available to be had. So, with very little thought, the decision to move to the west was decided upon. In the year 1829 they were ready to make the move.
In the eleventh year of Moses Lard’s life they left Tennessee forever, although he himself would return to preach the gospel in Shelbyville, Tennessee, nearly a half century later. The Lard family settled in Clinton County, just across the county from Clay County. They were not far from the Ray County line.
When the family arrived in the far west, they found things to be pretty much as they had imagined. Leven Lard breathed a sigh of relief when the move was concluded and his family had safely reached their new home. Although it was a new section of a new land it was just right as to what Levin Lard expected.
Lard was a man of great fortitude with seeming control over any situation. He had a quick temper but seemed to be able always to govern it
And thus, use it to his advantage. As a hunter
he was an expert rifle shot. He owned a very good gun and took excellent care of it, for the gun was
the difference between a well-fed family and a starving one. Because it was the tool of his trade, it was necessary for him to be its master; and he was. His two hunting partners were of the four-legged variety — one a horse and the other a dog. The dog was trained to locate and tree the game; the horse provided transportation to the hunt as well as a means of hauling the game back after it was killed. Leven Lard treated his horse and dog with the same tender, loving care that he gave his gun. Not long after reaching Missouri Lard was able to build a cabin. He also started a mill on the banks of nearby New Hope Creek, cleared some land, planted crops and hunted deer. Life was so much better than it had been in Tennessee that Leven Lard and his wife Mary were both ecstatic. They were certain that their fortune would continue to improve, but, alas, this was not to be.
But, as is often the case in such a situation, the happiness was short-lasting. Levin Lard became ill with the scourge of eighteenth century-small pox. It has basically been eradicated from our society due to the giants in the world of vaccination and inoculation but to those of that world and day, it was a very present day and society. “This highly infectious malady affected large numbers of people in the early nineteenth century, especially on the frontier. The old pioneer cemeteries attest to that fact, and it can often be noted that several in one family were wiped out by this scourge. The virus-caused illness was characterized by such symptoms as high fever, chills, severe head and back ache and often delirium. Had he survived, he would have had the scars often left behind to his face and body would certainly have been permanently scarred with pockmarks. which later blistered. The vivid memory of the final night of Leven Lard’s life would never be erased or eased in the mind of Moses Lard. The elder Lard’s suffering increased as the night went on. His body was first on fire with fever and then freezing with severe chills. Extraordinary pain racked his entire being and there was no comfort. The Lard family was alone with the exception of Josiah Cogdell, a kindly neighbor man whose courage and love manifested in his care of the sick and dying, who was a godsend to them. He kept wet cloths on the fevered face, eased him through the terrible chills and, of even greater importance, spoke to him of death and helped him in his final prayer. Nobody else came to assist because of the fear of one of the world’s most dreaded diseases.” (Moses Lard-That Prince of Preachers, page 14)
The mother of Moses Lard, Mary Lard, was forced to move back to where she was much better known and would be far more likely to find a place where she could rest her grieving head and to receive help. That place was Bedford county, Tennessee It would be conjecture to explain why she chose not to take her children with her. Prior to her exit, she was able to give her boys each a small New Testament which was to guide Moses for the remainder of his days. Either way, the family was divided up and went to different homes. Because of this as well as other reasons, the children were compelled to work at an early age. At the age of seventeen Moses was required to work for a living. He could neither read nor write. He married at that young age, he attended school as well as work to support his young family. Lard had been introduced to the gospel plea through Walter Scott’s book The Gospel Restored. He would be introduced to an evangelist named Jerry Lancaster. At the time of his conversion, he would also know both Mason Summers and Thomas Gaines. These two would cultivate the talent that they obviously saw in Moses. It was in 1842 that he did his very first preaching at Lexington. Lard was exhorted to preach for the church at Richmond. It was here that he “cut his theological teeth.” Richmond was a mere six miles to the north of Lexington. This was done by Gaines who sought to build up both the church as well as Moses Lard. Another goal of Gaines was to teach Lard the scriptures so that he would be able to expound them and to have a sharp insight into their meaning. Little would he possibly know how successful he would be at his task. He must have seen the gem that was there because his student surely exceeded his teacher.
His first opportunity to preach the gospel in a meeting occurred at Oakland. It was seen as his first and probably most important meeting. At least this was what he said at a much later date in his Lard’s Quarterly.12/63 page 218. Here, he was faced with all of those that treated him badly as a child. He saw in them souls created in the image of his master and his hard heart softened and he then prayed for each and every one there in the building. This brought freedom from ill feelings about them.
General Alexander W. Donaphan discovered in him the elements of greatness and encouraged him to go to school and better prepare himself for greater usefulness. The school that he chose to attend was Bethany College where he could study at the feet of Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Board, lodging, room rent, washing, fuel and lights could be attained for $100 per session of ten months at the College Inn. Also, private boarding was available. The requirements for a degree was satisfactory work in each of the five schools. When the student had satisfied the head of each school, a certificate of proficiency was signed by each. The main demonstration of accomplishment were the final exams held each year in February and June. When the student felt that he was ready for the examination, he filed his application or request. He then was brought before the examination board, which was headed by the president, to answer the questions which were to be asked of him. This was an individual, not a class examination. His graduation depended upon his satisfying the board as to his intellectual accomplishments. Although students at Bethany had little, if any desire to be preachers and would pursue other occupations, they would be articulate by the end of their studies. When combined with his native abilities, or rather “gift” Moses E. Lard would leave Bethany with a superior vocabulary as well as an innate ability to use that. For this, I believe that he was referred to as “a prince of preachers.” At a short time later, he wrote a letter in which he said: “Four years and four months ago, strange, homeless, penniless and untaught, I landed a stranger at Bethany College. It was my fixed purpose, though encumbered with the responsibility of a family, to qualify myself for more extended usefulness. The object, the first and nearest to my heart, I wanted the means to accomplish.
For the interested and cordial manner in which you so often aided me when want bore heavily on me, I owe you the feelings of gratitude which I have no power to express. To my friends and brethren in Christ, W.K. Pendleton and J.O. Ewing, I am under the strongest obligations. Friends they proved themselves to me when I needed friends. They have untied their purse strings and tendered to me their gentlemanly aid at times and in ways of which I cannot think without the tear of grateful remembrance starting in my eyes.” Life of W.K. Pendleton F.D. Power page 168.
As soon as Lard graduated from Bethany College, he headed toward home, which was still in Missouri. This he did on July 4, 1849. He had been asked by the church at Independence to serve the brethren there and he gladly did so. The log meetinghouse was located near the courthouse square. While here, he was privileged to work with the legendary preacher Allen Wright. This enabled him to learn from a master teacher. Wright had baptized thousands, including T. P. Haley, Alexander Procter and H.H. Haley. A house was provided while he served with the local congregation. Besides his work with Independence, he was allowed generous time to preach at other places. It was while in Missouri that Lard was involved with Dick and Thomas (South Point). They had prepared a wonderful place for Lard to preach and also a great crowd when Lard appeared on Wednesday morning. (They were a famous story in his Lard’s Quarterly in upcoming years.) He preached in every possible place, such as Lexington and many other places throughout Missouri. He had many friends who accompanied him on his preaching trips. He started preaching for the saints at Camden Point in 1857-58. He did this as he was appointed as administrator for the Missouri Christian Academy for Girls. He was in this position for only 2 years but he established himself as a very able administrator. Lard could continue as an administrator or return to his first love-the church. He was preaching for the saints at St. Joseph.
“Review of Campbellism Examined”
Jeremiah Jeter was one of the most influential Baptist leaders of the mid-nineteenth century. He considered Alexander Campbell a vile hypocrite ; and his teaching unmitigated heresy; his great contempt for Campbell had become an obsession with him. He had nothing but hatred for the vile “Campbellites.” In 1854 authored an “expose” of Campbellism which he called Campbellism Examined. In this work Jeter sought to “slay the dragon” and protect the sanctuary of the Baptist church. When it was published it was spread far and wide throughout the land. The disciples had heard nothing from Campbell and were calling for an answer to it’s purported claims. The reason Campbell had not answered was because of his work with the college, meeting work, publishing the Millennial Harbinger, business responsibilities and state affairs. The simple answer was that he was too busy. He was aware that an answer needed to be made, and soon. He decided that Moses E. Lard of Liberty, Missouri, was the man and this was the hour.
At this point Lard was thirty-eight years of age and had preached for fourteen years. His analytical mind could dismantle Jeter’s work and to respond in a appropriate manner. He was known far and wide because of his meeting work and travels among the Lord’s people. While some thought that he had assigned it to himself, the truth of the matter was that the request had come from Alexander Campbell himself.
Lard’s Review
As Lard delved into Jeter’s work, he came to the conclusion that it was full of straw men, innuendoes and was deeply injurious to the disciples as a people. It had been widely circulated hence much damage had been done. It needed exposure as soon as possible. Justice demanded that God’s word be not perverted and the truth needed to be proclaimed. Moses Lard probed and scrutinized Jeter’s book as no other man had ever done. Some considered his work as being aggressive, his attitude hasty, abrupt and ill-tempered. Obviously, whoever felt this way had not examined Jeter’s work as it truly was. He hated Campbell and sought to hurt him and the disciples in any way possible-truth or not. Truly, Lard had taken off the gloves and Jeter did not like it. As a result of the book, Lard’s reputation as a skillful defender of the faith was greatly enhanced. And Jeter’s work could be seen as it truly was., a sophistry. Jeter did not like the response though nothing had changed for him. He went on spewing anger and hatred.
His Time in Kentucky
Having left his work in Missouri and moving to Canada in 1864 and 1865, Lard relocated to Kentucky in the late summer of 1865, after the end of the Civil War. He held a meeting in Bridgeport, Kentucky. It was seen as very successful. This meeting began on Friday, September 1st and over the next year he would hold twenty-one similar meetings, which averaged ten days with two sermons a day. That meant that during the twelve months span, Lard preached at least 440 gospel meetings. During that time, he baptized 290 people. He preached all over the state and those who heard him felt he was the finest speaker in the brotherhood. During this time, it must be remembered that Alexander Campbell was within a short time of his death. There could be no comparison between the two as speakers. The basic idea was that he was very fruitful in Kentucky and his labors there had no end as to the good that was done. He preached at several churches in Kentucky. Few, if any, men benefitted the church from the pulpit as much as M.E. Lard. He preached before hundreds of congregations and baptized thousands of people. He established untold numbers of churches and restored many children of God who had gone astray.
Lard as a Publisher
It is unlikely that the two journals, The Apostolic Times and Lard’s Quarterly could have been managed better by anyone in the brotherhood. Before he had graduated in 1849, he had had thirteen articles published in the Harbinger. After school, Lard was a regular contributor to Ben Franklin’s American Christian Review. His prestige grew with the paper’s. Lard saw the formula that worked and wanted to launch another paper that would not compete with the Review. It was here that the idea for a Quarterly occurred to him. In 1859, the Central Pennsylvania Cooperation Meeting passed the following resolution: RESOLVED, That the issuing of a quarterly, edited by Brother M.E. Lard meets our hearty approbation. Lard appreciated the approbation, but what was needed was two thousand paid subscriptions! The Civil War was raging and was the 800 lb. elephant that was in the room which no one would acknowledge. Franklin and Lard were approached by brethren in favor of the Union but would not publish anything in favor of either combatant for fear of causing division. All that could be said was how horrid the whole affair was!
The Quarterly’s first issue was in September 1863 and was continued for five years. It was a fabulous work by bro. Lard who edited it with great skill. The finest writers among the brotherhood were represented in it. Some began with pseudonyms but eventually everyone was open and honest with their identities. What good would it be to hide behind another name?
The instrumental music was brought up here just like everywhere else. Lard could not make himself believe that some would make it a matter of faith but in time it became such. The church could not be divided. He truly believed that but time would tell. All of these demons would in time be exposed and the damage would be done. Even as skillfully managed as the Quarterly was, there would be no way to get around these issues that had begun to fester and damage the churches. That was really all that could be said about those issues.
The Apostolic Times
This paper was issued for the first time on April 15, 1869. It had several editors which must have made a giant job easier to handle. The editors were M.E. Lard, R. Graham, W.H. Hopson, L.B. Wilkes and J.W. McGarvey. This was a group of heavy hitters and much good was done at their hands. This paper circulated in the Lexington, Ky area and was very popular. Having such a talented corps of editors it was sure to be chocked full of interesting articles. In the January 30, 1873 issue an announcement was made that Lard would withdraw from his normal editorial duties that he might put his pen towards something more permanent. That permanence would be his commentary of the book of Romans. He prepared and planned for nearly ten years to undertake this momentous work. The brotherhood now knew that he was involved with “the work of my life.”
Lard’s Commentary on Romans
Lard was so thrilled with McGarvey’s commentary on Acts that he suggested to his friends that they all undertake such works. His work was to be Romans. He felt that all other works were either pro-Calvinistic or anti-Calvinistic. Since Paul was neither he felt the need to approach the work in a new way-entirely fresh from other men’s works. His sole aim of which would be to determine Paul’s thoughts with complete freedom and then to express it in clear English, free from all superfluity.
Another rather novel thing about how he approached it was that he noticed that other writers did not deal with the difficult areas but wrote at length on the easily understood ones. His approach was exactly opposite-he labored hard on the difficult passages but passed over the easy ones. Lard had been somewhat disappointed in the small amount of benefit derived from the text of the New Testament and the inductive method of interpretation; whereas, many others in similar endeavors had claimed their experience was just the opposite. Lard refused to encumber every clause and verse with many parallel passages, as certain other commentators were prone to do. Throughout the commentary the reader develops an awareness of the awesome respect the author felt for the great apostle. There was no question in Moses Lard’s mind that the world and the church owed more to Paul than to any man whoever walked this earth, except Jesus of Nazareth. In Lard’s Commentary on Romans we see and feel Paul’s great desire to go there and preach the Gospel to the multitudes. Lard’s Commentary on Romans then gave a verse-by-verse study of the complete book which was very unusual, since few commentaries then or now have been that comprehensive. Moses Lard-That Prince of Preachers
Finally, the commentary included the Lard Revised Text of the book of Romans. The version is very interesting and is easy and pleasant to read. A vast number of people still consider it to be the finest commentary on the epistle ever written. This was a very refreshing commentary to read and study.
Lard’s Final Days
Lard finished his great commentary in 1875. It brought him great joy to know that he had been blessed to produce such a work. This should have helped him to enjoy his later days but apparently this was not the case. The instrumental music issue had been gaining ground and he was involved in the controversy. Lard believed that none had the right to force an opinion on others that would violate their consciences. His opposition to the instrument was so formidable that it’s advocates found themselves helpless before his onslaughts and were forced to retreat. Brethren looked to Lard as their leader and his life was their assurance of future success. The church was also faced by those who held to higher criticism. The Bible critics in the church made it clear that they believed the Scriptures were a collection of literary genius, whereas, Moses Lard, J. W. McGarvey and others were even more insistent that they were the inspired Word of God. The critics referred to the ones who contended that the Bible was the inspired Word of God as “legalists” and to their teaching as “legalism.” Moses E. Lard and John W. McGarvey were among the leaders in the war against modernism, and a more capable pair could not have been found.
The contention set some old friends against each other. Lard and McGarvey were on one side while Alexander Procter and George W. Longan were on the opposite. Lard’s daughter, Emma, was married to Longan’s son, George B., and Lard, McGarvey and Procter had been students and friends together at Bethany College. As time passed, the friends grew farther apart in thought and in sentiment. What should have been a close friendship soon developed into enmity and the two groups grew further away. Longan, Procter, Garrison, and others taunted the defenders of the old paths as “legalists,” ignorant and unlearned people. This hurt Lard deeply and he responded in The Apostolic Times.
Moses E. Lard never had a better or closer friend than J. W. McGarvey. They were much alike in many things, yet they were also very different. They were alike in intellect and Christian dedication. From 1846 through 1849 they were both students together at Bethany College. Both men left Bethany to preach in Missouri, Lard at Independence and McGarvey at Fayette. Both were excellent preachers, skillful in converting many to Jesus Christ, and they were always in wide demand for gospel meetings. Each married a Missouri woman. Both left Missouri for Kentucky because of the Civil War, and neither resided in Missouri again. Both lived and died in Lexington, Kentucky, where they had ministered to the Main Street Church in that city and served as President of the “College of The Bible.” They were successful as debaters. Each wrote a commentary on Romans. Both men fervently opposed instrumental music in the worship but supported the Missionary Society. Moses Lard-That Prince of Preachers page 238
The thing that brought Moses Lard great sadness was that though he had been named as the president of University of Kentucky and had successfully managed to remove John Bowman’s association with the school, he was ostracized by nearly everyone who were unable to see what he had been able to accomplish. This included his dear friend J.W. McGarvey, this surely hurt him badly. Also, due to the poor health of his wife and daughter, he was forced to stay home much of the time rather than be out holding meetings among the brotherhood he loved so dearly. He needed to care for the ill members of his family, keeping him away. Being away and ostracized hurt him so badly and most likely led to an early death. After a falling out with his dear friend Benj. Franklin he was no longer found in any of the journals leading to questions being asked if he had fallen away. These hurt him very badly. The reasons for all of these things could be reached if anyone was willing to look at it but no one did.
By June of 1880 Moses Lard’s condition had grown steadily worse. Since he could retain only a small amount of very bland food, he had lost interest in eating, and his weight and strength plummeted downward. Dr. J. W. Cox, a friend of many years, now brought together a panel of leading physicians to examine him at his home. After extensive examination and analysis the doctors agreed that Moses Lard was near death. His case was hopeless. They declared his heart was completely worn out and was the main reason for his distress. (NOTE: Following Lard’s death, a post-mortem was performed which showed advanced cancer of the liver, cancer in the stomach and lungs, and a malignant tumor on the heart. The liver cancer was the immediate cause of death.) Moses Lard-That Prince of Preachers page 260
Bibliography: Moses Lard-That Prince of Preachers
Search For the Ancient Order vol 2
Bio. Sketches of Gospel Preachers Boles
The Trailblazers-Wilmeth