J.D. Tant was a consummate worker in the kingdom of God. His labors and accomplishments are truly legendary but his sense of humor was also of that character. I am including a couple of excerpts from his biography to show just how he dealt with some of life’s most difficult moments.
Staying in the home of one of the brethren who had a small farm on the outskirts of town, Tant was told to “just make yourself at home” The good farmer and his wife went out to the barn and chicken-house late in the evening to attend to some of the chores, leaving Tant and three or four small children in the house. About fifteen minutes after leaving the house, the farmer and his wife heard unearthly screams coming from the house — screams of outraged protest and childish anger. Rushing back from the barn as quickly as they could cover the distance, they found Tant firmly holding their seven-year-old son between his knees, vigorously scrubbing his neck and ears with soap and water, calmly ignoring the blood-curdling protests of his small victim. “Why, Brother Tant,” said the startled housewife, “what on earth has happened?”
“Sister,” replied her guest in deadly seriousness, “you told me to make myself at home; and, before God, if I had anything in my home as filthy as this child here, I couldn’t rest till I’d cleaned it up!”
Again, another report from this time period- “How an Old-Time Preacher Handled Mischief”
One of the best known preachers of the first half of the twentieth century was J. D. Tant (1861-1941). My Dad knew Brother Tant and heard him preach. A few months before Dad died, he was telling me about some of the preachers he had known and some of the things that had transpired in former days. Among those events was the following story of Brother Tant that Dad said took place about 1912. Brother Tant was preaching in a Gospel meeting somewhere in south Texas and was baptizing a goodly number of people as they heard the message of truth so powerfully taught. Some ruffians decided to disrupt the meeting, and offered the “town clown” a side of ham and a bushel of corn if he would go forward at the meeting to be baptized, and come up from the water cursing. The brethren “got wind” of what was going to take place and anxiously warned Brother Tant. He assured them that he would take care of it if it did occur and for them not to worry.
Sure enough, the man came forward amidst several other respondents. Closing the service under the old “brush arbor,” by lantern-light all made their way to the creek for the baptizing. Brother Tant baptized all the genuine folks first in a very meaningful way, saying something similar to what all Gospel preachers say when baptizing. After all the legitimate baptisms, he then said, “One more man has come tonight and if he’ll now join me here in the creek, we will take care of the matter” The man then waded out into chest-deep water to Brother Tant with the ruffians mingled in the crowd looking on, all ready to laugh brother Tant to scorn when the man came up from the water cussing. But Brother Tant, holding the man firmly in his strong arms, said with a loud voice, “For a side of ham and a bushel of corn, I now dunk one of the most worthless characters that ever was born” Whereupon Brother Tant pushed him under the water and held him there for a bit, and when he finally did lift the man up above water level, the fellow was spewing and gasping for breath! Instead of cursing, he realized he was no match for brother Tant and hurriedly and meekly left the scene.
The final guffaw comes from the first day of the Tant -Pigue debate. On the morning of the first day of debate, Mr. Timothy Pigue presented himself to carry the weight of the day’s battle for the Methodist Church. Mr. J.D. Tant was to represent the Christians and was nowhere to be found at first. After a little time had passed and Pigue came to be more confident that the fearful Campbellite preacher was not going to show, he started being abusive regarding Tant and that soon became the same fate of the humble Christians thereabouts. After what probably seemed like an eternity to the poor abused brethren, something happened that was truly amazing. In the back, there was a poorly dressed man among the crowd. He was wearing garments similar to those worn by workers engaged with butchery of swine. He quickly came to the notice of now bellicose brother Timothy Pigue. The man stood up and introduced himself: “My name is Jefferson Davis Tant and when I was a boy my Daddy always taught me to dress properly for the task that was at hand. I am wearing the clothing of one who is to be killing and dressing hogs. Let us now get on with the job and stop wasting time. “
Needless to say, this admonition did not pass by Brother Pigue unnoticed and he went into the debate well-nigh deflated by the garb of his opponent. The debate ended with bellicose Timothy Pigue, leaving the scene with the proverbial tail between his legs.
There are quite a number of other “Tant Stories” that could be here told, but these are good enough to show that that godly man had a lot to say in many situations. His life was a life of suffering and hardship but he could always find something to chuckle about when times get rough.
There is no longer article associated with this but I just had to include it. It is from a pair of books I wrote called “Deep in the Heart of Texas”. Volume one is a biography while volume two is a record of the debates of J.D. Tant. (it is said that he participated in around 350 debates)