7. From Generation To
Generation
"THOU SHALT KEEP THEREFORE his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you . . . " Deut. 4:40.
A short time ago, when Henrietta Mears was on a speaking engagement in Texas, she stopped by the Baptist Bookstore in Dallas and asked the clerk, "I was just wondering if you have the Pastor's Handbook, written by Dr. W.W. Everts? It was written well over a hundred years ago and I realize that it is very old."
"Why," said the clerk, "that's like stopping at a super market and asking if they have salt and pepper! It may have been written over a hundred years ago, but it's still selling."
"How amazing," said Miss Mears, smiling happily as she looked at the copy. "My grandfather wrote it. Grandfather Everts. He was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Chicago."
One thrilling thing to me about the life of Henrietta Mears is the great spiritual heritage she has received. The scope of her life has been tremendous; even more tremendous is the spiritual influence of her forebears, which can be traced back through at least five generations, and the spiritual "mantle" that has been handed down on the maternal side from one generation to the next. Truly, this is a witness to the Scriptural promise "that it may go well with you, and with your children after you . . ."
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The biographies of Henrietta Mears' grandfather and grandmother have both been published and have made available many details of her spiritual inheritance. Deuteronomy 5:29 says, "O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" Without a doubt there was just such a heart in Miss Mears' ancestors. We can definitely trace and delineate this great spiritual heart in Henrietta's mother, her mother's mother, her maternal grandfather, his mother, and his mother's mother, Henrietta's great-grandmother, of whom it has been written, "She walked with the Lord and her voice was lifted continually to give praise to God." This great spiritual inheritance was received by each succeeding generation.
To read of Henrietta's grandmother and of her interests and achievements is almost like reading of Henrietta's activities today. To read of her grandfather is to read of Henrietta Mears, if you just change the name. It is almost humorous, except that it is so thrilling in its significance that the laughter changes to a psalm of praise.
Her grandmother had "a genius in influencing young men and in directing their lives." Her grandfather had "a genius for raising money for church buildings and property," and he left behind him a trail of debt-free churches dedicated to God. The only difference in Henrietta Mears is that she has both of these qualities. Her grandfather's great principle was to have carefully written preparation for the humblest occasion. His personal conversation was "rousing and compeling, better even than his pulpit ministry." In a later chapter both of these are shown to be characteristics of Henrietta Mears.
As we began looking into the grandmother's life and reading the biography written by her step-daughter, Miss Mears said, "I'm amazed to see how many of my own policies and beliefs trace back to my grandmother. The same thinking, the same ideas and approach. She taught them to my mother, and I was almost unconsciously reared upon these same precepts." How far back can this spiritual inspiration be traced? Obviously, the grandmother had received many of her precepts from her mother, "the invalid who always wore a white dress, sitting in her wheel chair with a radiant smile." What a sacred and awe-inspiring challenge and obligation to every parent!
In the biography that the son, W.W. Everts Jr., wrote of his father, Miss Mears' grandfather, this is written in the preface: "March 20, 1891, Haverhill, Massachusetts — If anyone is interested in the present
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rather than in the past, in the practical rather than in the ideal; if anyone is stirred by the contemplation of the leader without fear, without reproach, of an orator who sways the multitudes for noble ends, of a reformer of abuses, of the organizer with far-reaching plans, of a creator of permanent material enterprises, such a one will be quickened by reading this brief memoir of an active and effective life." Truly those words could be repeated as a preface to the biography of his granddaughter as well.
Miss Mears' paternal great-grandfather was Samuel Everts. He had been a student at Middlebury College, in Vermont, and was always interested in the spiritual and intellectual welfare of his family and of those about him. When he moved his family to a new region, his first two thoughts were to establish a day school and a Sunday school. With this four-generation-ago calling, no wonder Henrietta Mears is so successful in her work today!
Henrietta's great-grandmother, who had inherited from her mother and grandmother "a strong religious nature," was named Phoebe, and "when a little child, she learned to walk with God. No one ever came into her presence without receiving a Christian message. If a minister or deacon failed to appear at a funeral, her voice gave Christian burial to the dead and comfort to the living." Said Henrietta's grandfather of his mother, "My mother, more than any other human being, determined my character and destiny."
Samuel and Phoebe Everts had a large family, of whom one was William Wallace Everts, Miss Mears' grandfather. When he was twelve his father died and the widowed mother prayed, "Lord, I will take care of all the rest of the children, but You will have to take care of Willie." And the Lord did. The widowed mother took her children and returned the long distance to New York, penniless and bereaved but with great faith. Willie was thankful that they never had to beg, but they "surely did receive an awful lot of gifts!" When he was thirteen there was a revival at the Clarkson school where he was attending, and he was one of the converts.
It seemed that everyone wanted a hand in precocious Willie's upbringing. A wealthy doctor took him into his home to rear him and gave him "all the advantages," but Willie returned to his mother saying, "They spoil me. I will never amount to anything there." At fourteen years of age, Willie attended a revival series and when asked to pray, he did so. He prayed so fervently and sincerely that it amazed all those present, and he was taken into the home of the moderator,
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the Reverend Henry Davis, who within a year sent him to Hamilton, New York, to study for the ministry. He had to study and earn his keep at the same time for there was no money from home. Porridge was his main food and he arose at five o'clock every morning to do chores, yet he rose to the head of his class and stayed there.
His mother's continued injunction was, "In all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy paths." Henrietta Mears has always used this key-verse, probably not realizing it was the one used by her great-grandmother in rearing her son. It was said of W.W. Everts that "he had sympathy with all kinds of men and all departments of Christian enterprise, home missions, foreign missions and evangelists were equally dear to him . . . He became decidedly the most popular young Baptist preacher of the time."
As pastor, he established the First Baptist Church and the Tabernacle Church of New York, and the "numbers continued to multiply so that at the end of three years' service, the young pastor could report the unparalleled net gain of six hundred members." During a revival there, William Colgate, the great soap manufacturer and a deacon of his church, left his business "to the care of others and attended the revival meetings, night and day, for nine days."
William Everts was known as the "boy preacher" because of his flaxen hair, rosy cheeks and youthful appearance. he offered what became known as the Everts' Resolution, at the Hudson River Association, advocating the purchase of sites one mile apart on the east and west side of Manhattan Island, to be used for future church buildings. He gained a rapid reputation as a "builder of churches" and his vision and zeal were far ahead of his years. The conference of Baptist pastors expressed the hope when he left New York that his "far-reaching plans for the welfare of the churches and the world may receive the divine blessing, and that he may be spared to see the accomplishment."
An interesting incident occurred years later during his ministry in Louisville, Kentucky, which has an interesting parallel in his granddaughter's life. John Bates, an American theatrical manager, brought a young English comedian, Edwin Strickland, with his wife and George Lorimer, another actor, to Louisville for an engagement. At the time of their arrival, the two actors passed the church where Dr. Everts was conducting a revival, and seeing all the people of Louisville pouring into the church, they too went in. Some days later, there was a timid knock at Strickland's door. He was in no mood to receive visitors,
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for he was trying to create a new make-up and his room was littered with theatrical paraphernalia. Thinking it was a representative from the press, he opened the door — to Mrs. Everts, the minister's wife and Henrietta's grandmother, "Her face was as beautiful as her disposition and spirit," Strickland later said.
"Oh, I must have come to the wrong place," she said in dismay, as she saw him clutching a wig in one hand and a make-up cloth in the other.
"Madam, I assure you, you have," he said, bowing low.
"Well, you see, I am distributing tracts. My husband is Dr. Everts."
"Come in, madam, I am honored. We have attended his services." Later in the conversation he pointed out that he was an actor. Said the "sweet-faced, noble lady," "Sir, the soul of an actor is as dear to me as any other!"
When she and her companion left, Strickland had a great sense of peace and well-being in his heart. When his wife and George Lorimer returned from rehearsal, he told them of the visit. Again and again Strickland and Lorimer went to hear Dr. Everts preach; before their engagement in Louisville was completed, they both were baptized at the same time in the same baptistry by Dr. Everts. Later, both became ministers, and George Lorimer's son became the editor of The Saturday Evening Post.
This incident is a striking parallel to the fact that a hundred years later the Everts' granddaughter, Henrietta, founded the Hollywood Christian Group to take the Gospel of Christ to the film industry in Hollywood.
As the success and fame of Dr. Everts increased, so did envy and opposition; as he said, "Success always provokes envy." This same statement was to be repeated to me by his granddaughter a hundred years later. Even the charge of "universalism" was bandied about with his name, for "the preacher Everts expresses a preference for an upright man of the world to an immoral professor of religion!" Just so, his granddaughter was to become famous for her spiritual forthrightness.
Blending into his life of great spiritual heritage was that of his wife, Henrietta's grandmother, Margaret Keen Burtis Everts. Her father was John Burtis, a Quaker, who came to Philadelphia from New England and was employed for twenty-five years in the United States Bank of Philadelphia, and then became the proprietor of a large manufacturing firm. He married the daughter of Joseph Keen, a surgeon
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of Welsh ancestry, who was well known among Philadelphia Baptists. Mrs. Burtis became an invalid in her middle life, but her Christian testimony was a radiant and lasting one for her children. She was confined to a wheel chair and always wore a white dress and a radiant smile. Their eldest daughter, Margaret Keen Burtis, married Dr. W.W. Everts and was the grandmother of Henrietta Mears.
The invalid mother died when Margaret Burtis was but sixteen. Naturally her loss was very keen and her suffering great at sensitive sixteen, yet from it came spiritual triumph, as was evidenced in this entry she made in her diary that same year. "The Lord has smitten me, yet will I praise Him. He has laid an afflicting hand upon me, yet will I glorify His name for His seen and unseen mercies. The mother who tenderly watched over my helpless infancy is fled. She who counselled me and taught me lessons of wisdom is gone forever. No more shall I hear the music of her sweet voice nor listen in delight to her instructive conversation . . . . I look to God to enable me to perform my various duties, and that good may ensue. I desire to be a dutiful daughter and to show by my walk and conversation that there is something in the Christian religion which is desirable. I thank God for my many mercies which are innumerable and I trust that if I am the least bit guilty of repining because of His dispensations that He will pardon my sin. Bless Zion, convert the world, and may the millennial day soon dawn on the earth to the glory of the Triune God, Amen."
Her desire to be a dutiful daughter was fulfilled. She maintained the home and complete care of the family of seven, managed the entertaining, the supervision of the servants and was responsible for the training of the young children and was a companion and friend to her father and older brother. She gained a reputation for her entertaining. During all this time she pursued music as a regular study, and developed that spiritual stamina which was to mark and influence three generations. If this were the only spiritual truth this book contained, it would be worth the writing. That spiritual influence and heritage may be passed from one generation to another is proof of the sacred privilege and responsibility that parents have; if this heritage is neglected, stifled, thrown away, what then?
Margaret Burtis attended the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia with her family, but it was while attending a four-day meeting in a Presbyterian church, when she was fourteen that her impressions deepened and she consecrated herself completely to a Christian life. However, lest the Baptists worry that she was "lost" to the Presbyterians,
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let me hasten to point out that her Baptist minister, Dr. Brantley, in the month of November, 1831, opened "a place in the ice" on the Delaware River so that the sacred ordinance of baptism could take place. Let present-day Christians take note of the spiritual stamina this must have taken! This significant blending of Baptist and Presbyterian was a foreshadowing of the event to be repeated one hundred and seven years later, when Henrietta Mears left the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis to become the Christian Education Director at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. Let all ecumenically-minded brethren take heart.
The Quaker influence of her father also contributed to the character of Margaret Keen Burtis, for according to her biography, "Her conscience became aroused on the subjects of Christian dress and expenditure and she laid aside all jewelry and reduced her dress to Quaker simplicity. She refused gifts of ornamental dress." The earliest entry in her diary was: "I notice a prevalence of slanderous gossip among both young and old and I will avoid unkind mention of anyone." At fourteen this was her spiritual platform and she carefully recorded it in her diary: "1. I will attend all meetings for prayer which circumstances will permit. 2. I will commune with Christians and we will exhort one another. 3. I will converse with impenitent sinners who are under my influence, and urge them to flee the wrath to come."
When she was a girl of seventeen, Henrietta's Grandmother Everts went to New Jersey to spend a month with her relatives. Immediately she saw the destitution of "religious privileges" in the community, for there was no Sunday school and no church. So for a month she would be able to relax with no church duties to attend to; is that what you are thinking? Ah, no; she immediately set about visiting and organizing a Sunday school, not because it was easy or that she was just a natural promoter but rather, as she wrote in her diary, "I have been almost disposed to shrink from such an undertaking but on seeking aid at the Throne of Grace I am strengthened and encouraged. May the Lord grant me success." Thereupon she took tracts and set about visiting all the homes in the area. On the first Sunday there were thirty scholars in the Sunday school. In three Sundays she established the Sunday school as a permanent organization with sixty-nine scholars, besides the officers and teachers. Later, from the Sunday school, a permanent church was established.
When she became acquainted with the young minister Everts, she
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refused to marry him for she felt her duty was to remain faithful to the task of providing a carefully organized home for her younger brothers in her father's house. After several years, he married another young woman. Years passed, and all the duties had been fulfilled in her father's house when once more her path crossed that of her former suitor, who was now a young widower. This time, her responsibilities ended, she willingly consented to marriage. What a spiritual alliance! Both had become Christians at an early age, both had known the testing of losing a parent while still in the formative years, both had wholeheartedly devoted their entire concern to Christian endeavor.
At the time of her marriage she became responsible for the rearing of two step-daughters and she was admirably prepared for this task. It was the step-daughter, who loved and admired her so very much, who wrote her biography. They had two daughters of their own, and one son. Her life was spent in constant outgoing Christian concern and support of the ministry of her dynamic husband. She was very conservative, would never indulge in luxuries and her whole life was devoted to being a clear-cut, consecrated channel for Christ.
In this home, under the influence of these two marvelous Christians, Margaret Everts, the mother of Henrietta Mears, was reared. Brought up in the home of the minister of the largest and most influential church in Chicago, she received the spiritual inheritance and the spiritual mantel that would fall on her daughter, Henrietta.
