The Life of Jacob Creath, Jr.
His Birth and Early Days.
The life of Jacob Creath Jr. begins on January 17, 1799 in Mecklenburg, County, Virginia. His father was a strictly Baptist preacher named William Creath. His mother was Lucy Brame, the daughter of Thomas Brame of Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Both of his parents were staunch Baptists who raised their children in the Baptist faith. The home was also known for hospitality, especially towards traveling preachers. He speaks with great reverence of his parents and their godly manner of life. Oh, that each of us could share the same in regards to our parents and home! Creath says: “My parents were indigent, industrious and religious. I was religiously educated from my earliest years. As far back as I can recollect, at four or five years old I prayed to God. My mother taught me to pray from my infancy. She taught me to read the Bible, and kept a Sunday School in her own house, before such a school was heard of as that which is now called a Sunday School. After plowing and working hard all the week, when Sunday morning came, after breakfast was over, we were called together by her, and we had to memorize one of Dr. Watt’s hymns to say to her at night or else so many verses of the New Testament Scriptures. This was done to keep us employed and to prevent us from fishing and playing, and running about over the neighborhood with other boys. I saw the time, when young, that I could repeat a large number of Dr. Watt’s hymns by heart.”
Young Creath entered into the University of North Carolina though he could not finish due to some problem. He was employed by some sort of missionary organization which apparently did not treat him well leading to a life of conflicts with the ACMS (American Christian Missionary Society) when he was a member of the restoration movement. There were continual strife between Creath and the Society folks. They could not understand why he was so opposed to ACMS but a search of his history would reveal the cause of the strife. He was already familiar what was going to be their position because he had already fought those battles long before they came around trying to gather the most adherents to their cause.
Creath left the school behind and proceeds to start evangelizing. He left Kentucky in 1826 with his cousin Albert Gallatin Creath. On their journey they stopped and spent several days at The Hermitage, made famous by being the home of General Andrew Jackson. Creath had several letters, introducing him to the General. No mention is made of what the General was to say but knowing his reputation, it would be interesting. Creath was to preach at the church in Nashville. From there to Natchez, Mississippi. During his stay in Mississippi, he was to preach again but somehow, he was to infuriate the locals who proceeded to burn him in effigy. It was only the enraged Presbyterians, Methodists and Episcopalians who were responsible for the conflagration. He was warned not to travel on his own due to the death threats that had been received. This did not stop him from continuing to preach the gospel.
In 1828 he took a steamer from New Orleans to Louisville, K.Y. From there went to Bethany, Virginia. He preached the gospel at Versailles, Cane Run, South Elkhorn devoting his off time to study of the scriptures and also ecclesiastical history. He reports that the most remarkable event of his life at this time was the trial that he was to stand by the congregation at the Great Crossings, Scott County, Kentucky.
His Religion
When speaking of Jacob Creath Jr’s religion, it becomes really hard to separate the man from his religion. Having been brought into this world in a hard-core Baptist family and Society, it becomes obvious to anyone that his religion was the major component of his day-by-day life. There could be no possible doubt that Jacob Creath Jr. was a Baptist from top of his head to the very bottom of his feet. His religion was such an important thing to him as well as the other members of his family and those of the local congregation. There could be no faking of these things. Devotion was openly, and widely accepted by one and all. He couldn’t imagine someone who had clinical depression operating well in society. The reason I mention this is because some historian of our earlier time made the suggestion that perhaps Creath dealt with some facets of depression because of his “spells of melancholy.” Perhaps it could be seen but to me it is irrelevant because Creath operated just fine and was outstanding as an evangelist. Case closed!!! His religion fit him just fine.
Creath, the Evangelist,
Jacob Creath Jr was an absolutely first-class evangelist. There is nothing that can be said about it in a negative manner. When it came to Jesus commanding him to preach the gospel on a personal level, he was there and was ready to go whenever, wherever time and opportunity came. If he were standing out today, he would be immensely popular among brethren.
He began to do the work of an evangelist very early in his clerical career. I am thinking that it was the realm of a late teenager. What a fiery teenager he would of have been for that sermon! Creath was one of those hero-types whom you either looked up to or hated.
He made many, many cycles through Kentucky while he still lived in the area. He also was known to make trips through the area after he moved to Missouri. Kentucky seemed to be a favorite destination of his. There are records of him travelling through areas of the Carolinas, and even to Virginia. He is supposed to have been the very first man to have preached the gospel in the territory of Minnesota. How accurate that is is in question. He was burnt in effigy while in Louisiana and he did go through Mississippi but I cannot find a record of his going through Florida. All of these journeys were done while evangelizing.
Creath was totally committed to his Lord and Master. He travelled high and low, summer or even in winter. There are records of his having chopped holes in the ice to baptize believers. There was virtually no place that he would not go to share the word with anyone who had a hunger for spiritual food. He also would travel with other preachers like John T. Johnson, Alexander Campbell and so many other brethren that we would recognize from restoration history. If there was a chance to preach the word, he was there. At a later time in his career, he also was a messenger for the American Bible Union. This was an organization that was raising funds to support the effort to create a revision of the Authorized word .(KJV) He would go preaching and raising money for the revision.
Family Matters
Creath was not too talkative when it came to his family. Looking at the autobiography there is a few mentions made here and there. He was married twice, his first wife dying of the usual culprit-consumption, made. He had daughters which were mentioned in the Civil War section of his record. They were apparently were beautiful in appearance and somehow came to the attention of the local Union Provost Marshall. Again, Creath wasn’t very clear on what happened but somehow his daughter ended up on a list to be kicked out of Missouri to some Confederate territory. Also, Creath’s house was subjected to unlawful searches. Whatever it was the Union Authorities never found what they were looking for. All in all, it was a particularly unsavory transaction. What is known is that Creath approached the authorities about being able to pass through the lines to visit his daughter and do whatever business that he had to do. Creath took care in his prayer life. One day he was walking out into the woods to pray and he was followed by some figure of authority. He stopped and began to pray as only he could pray. Some for his house, family and then he began to pray for those who were in positions of authority, rulers, governors, the president etc. He who was following him beat a hasty retreat, having learned all that he needed to learn. Creath’s prayer life was incredible. Oh, that we had some who could pray like Creath could!!
Moving, Always Moving.
Having mentioned that Jacob Creath Jr. was always on the move. His family was moved a few times, starting in Kentucky and ending up just outside of Palmyra, Missouri. In fact, he buried a wife while moving. He did ultimately remarry and stayed married for the rest of his very long life. So, whether it was moving his family from one state to another, or forever moving his tired body from one city to the next, he was always on the move.
Creath, the Editor and Writer.
Another facet of Creath’s personality that isn’t often examined was his overbearing desire to write. He was what was called a “Pamphleteer.” This is virtually an unknown name in our society but was well known back then. As he travelled he would mail an article for virtually all the gospel papers of those days. Some are The Christian Baptist, Millennial Harbinger, American Christian Review and the Gospel Advocate. These were are all famous and he was very familiar with all of these editors. When I was doing research on Benjamin Franklin, I was always coming up to his articles. This happened in all of these papers as well as the more remote journals that I would search. The man was an Energizer Bunny with a pen and paper. When I searched the journals for him, I would find a pile of pamphlets in the historical societies. I have turned them into a three-volume set and I did not get all of them. It really is incredible how much material that this man produced. Check any historical society and you will most likely come across his writings.
Waning Days
Jacob Creath (now no longer Jr. as his uncle died in 1854 leaving him as the only Jacob Creath left.)was born in 1799 and died in 1886. Eighty-seven years is quite an accomplishment in those days. It is said that he was “straight as an Indian’ till he died. He was buried in Palmyra, Missouri. When he was buried, he had a copy of Campbell’s New Testament as well as a Bible under his head. It was his last act of support of the truth.