A turning point in my life – from country boy to preacher

Continued stories from Rev. R. W. Brooks of Escambia, County, Alabama written in 1939

Turning Point in my life

“The year 1876 marked the turning point of my (Rev. R. W. Brooks) life. In that year, on March 12^th, I was married to Miss Ellen Byars, daughter of a pioneer Baptist preacher. Two daughters were born to us and I have grandchildren living here and in New Orleans. I was licensed to preach at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church on the eleventh day of August the following summer.”

“I was a raw country boy, and I’ll never forget that first sermon. The text of my first sermon was from the eighteenth chapter, thirty-sixth verse of the gospel of St. John. I was converted in 1873, and joined the Baptist Church in Garland, and was baptized in July of that year. I have preached in South Alabama, West Florida and South Florida for sixty-three years. (in 1939) In this time I have built churches at Bluff Springs, Florida; Westville, Florida; and my last one in Atmore, called Brooks Chapel.”

Against prohibition

“I have always been a strong advocate of prohibition. The wets claim that prohibition is responsible for all the blind tigers, racketeering and bootleg gangs, but I have lived in Alabama when saloons were plentiful. I can remember when good men were killed, when so many people were murdered, that good citizens were afraid to burn a light at night.”

“In 1912, I was called in to edit the Atmore Advance and was editor of this paper for several years. This paper, however, never made much progress until under the capable hands of the present owner, Mr. Smith. It has grown to be the best paper in Escambia County.”

Once Alabama was admitted as a state of the United States of America on December 4, 1819, a great wave of immigrants from other states and countries came by flat-boats, pack-horses, covered wagons and ships to become the first citizens of the state. ALABAMA FOOTPRINTS Statehood presents the times and conditions Alabama first citizens faced in lost & forgotten stories which include:

Who Controlled And Organized The New State of Alabama?
Tuscaloosa Had Three Other Names
Chandelier Falls & Capitol Burns
Alabama Throws Parties For General LaFayette
Francis Scott Key Was Sent to Alabama To Solve Problems
General Jackson’s Visit to Huntsville For A Horse Race Created Discord At Constitutional Convention

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About Donna R Causey

Donna R. Causey, resident of Alabama, was a teacher in the public school system for twenty years. When she retired, Donna found time to focus on her lifetime passion for historical writing. She developed the websites www.alabamapioneers and www.daysgoneby.me All her books can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. She has authored numerous genealogy books. RIBBON OF LOVE: A Novel Of Colonial America (TAPESTRY OF LOVE) is her first novel in the Tapestry of Love about her family where she uses actual characters, facts, dates and places to create a story about life as it might have happened in colonial Virginia. Faith and Courage: Tapestry of Love (Volume 2) is the second book and the third FreeHearts: A Novel of Colonial America (Book 3 in the Tapestry of Love Series) Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) is the continuation of the story. . For a complete list of books, visit Donna R Causey