William David Malcolm

William David Malcolm was ordained in the Presbyterian Church as a pastor June 1895.

McCormick Theological Seminary 1892; farmer prior to ordination; West. Sem.; (1 grad.); ord. Pby. Union, June 4, 1895; pastor Atalissa, Ia., 1895-98; pastor Worthington, Ind., 1898-

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Brief Sketch of the Life History of Rev. W. D. Malcolm, D.D.

The Home Coming Service at Eusebia Church in Eusebia, Tennessee, each year brings a message of some of its former members as a part of the program, in this way, preserving a history of the families of the last one hundred forty years and in time, will have an interesting story for the coming generations.

Reverand Malcolm, having spent his boyhood days in Eusebia, was asked through Mary Miles, his niece, to prepare a brief history of his life and work. Using a letter from Dr. Malcolm as a foundation, Miss Miles who was at home on furlough from a Japanese Mission School, prepared the following histoyr which she read at the Eusebia Home Coming Service in August, 1941.

“To make a man, begin with his grandparents.” We believe taht “Blood tells in the life and development of men and women.” W. D. Malcolm’s grandparents, on his father’s side, were of Scotchh-Presbyterian stock, Malcolms and McMurrays. On his mother’s side, Scotch-Presbyterian McCLungs and Irish Hales. His mother’s father, Enoch [note: J.B. Hale Sr. this is probably his grandfather], was brought direct from Ireland to Bakers Creek or Brick Hill, ten miles west of Maryville, when he was just a lad sight or [sic] ten years of age.

Bakers Creek was made up of Scotch and Irish families known to be devout, godly Presbyterians, but they hated the English. (In their new environment, they overcame this). On his mother’s side, Dr. Malcom is only four generations removed from Ireland.

William David Malcolm was born November 27, 1863 at a place nice miles south of Knoxville, Tennessee called Trundle’s Cross Roads, at that time in a corner of Blount County, but now in Sevier County. It was about six miles from Eusebia Church and near the old home of J. B. Greswell. He was the fourth in a family of eight children.

Those were troublous times. The Battle of Chattanooga had just been fought, and the seige of Fort Sanders, Knoxville, was on at that very time. Three armies, one Northern and two Southern, had swept across the whole country side and stripped it bare, leaving the people in a poverty-stricken condition. As tenant farmers, the Malcolm family moved from place to place always returning to the Eusebia Church, adjoining the Jim Sheddan farm. During these years, schools were few and far between with poor equipment and teachers ill-prepared. Dr. Malcolm says: “I did not seek learning for I had no desire to study, and disliked books. The Bible stories which Mother told us we followed her about her work, were the only really educational influence in my life until I reached young manhood.

We quote further from Dt. Malcolm’s letter: “On Sunday night, June 4th, 1882, at Jones’ Chapel in South Knoxville, I was converted, and I knew before I left the meeting house, I was called to preach. There I was--eighteen years old and scarcely able to read or write. I decided I could not and would not preach, but God said ‘I have called you’. So I set to work asking aid of everyone around mel and using the New Testament for my text-book, I really learned to read.”

During that year, he continued to work on the farm studying at night, and for four months in the fall, he attended the public school in that neighborhood. In the fall of 1883, he entered the preparatory department of Maryville College, from the College Department of which he graduated in 1892. Long years of struggle and tremendous effort, “Every steep of the way was a fight; a fight against poverty and a fight against my own handicaps, for I lacked foundation training and I didn’t know how to study. I lacked the ability to make friends, too, and above all, no one seemed to think I’d been called to the ministry. Dr. Bartlett’s encouragement and inspiration were a benediction, but times without number, my other professors told me I could never finish the collefe course. They said I’d better give up where I was and stop trying. But God has called me--I could not stop. In spite of discouragements, and my low standing, scholastically, I always passed and when I graduated at the age of 29, I was at teh middle of a class of twelve, in scholastic standing. God’s promise to me “I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee” then and all through my life was my staff and strength--it was responsible for my being able to complete the college course creditably. God gave me a strong body and a good voice. These I have kept to this day. Outside of these, I could see in myself no qualifications for being a minister. But I put myself in God’s hands and he has done what he would with me.”

Dr. Malcolm was obliged to work for practically the full amount of his living and his college expenses, in itself a Herculean task. We can readily see there was scant time and strength left over for the books and study for which he had no natural affinity. Only a firm purpose and an unshakeable conviction could have carried him through. One of the nine years between 1883 and 1892, he dropped out of school to be able to earn extra money and help his parents build a house and barn on the farm place. That house is the one now standing on the property which is known as “the old Malcolm farm”. In addition to this, he was able to give some help to younger brothers and sisiters who were going to school and college.

Let us continue in his own words: “The summer of 1892, I spent in Moody Bible Institute, the neext two years in Western Seminary in Pittsburg adn in 1895, I finished at McCormick Seminary in Chicago, where I received great encouragement in preaching and in service. The first three years of my ministry was spent in Iowa, and from there I was called to Souther Indiana. While pastor of a field of three churches and an officer in the Presbytery there, I preached all over that part of the state and saw hundreds of souls won to Christ. From there I was called to the Presbytery of Cincinnati, where I spent the last thirty five years of my ministry. My work was to organize new churches in needy fields and to build up disorganized and run-down churches. It was my privilege, as God’s servant, to be instrumental in building more than twenty fields that had been depending on Home Mission help, into fine, active, self-supporting churches with new buildings worth from $60,000.00 to $225,000.00. It was not an easy kind of work. There were adversaries, and humanly speaking, insuperable difficulties, and there were calls to larger easier fields, but His promise was with me. He said, “Stay!” and I stayed in these small fields and He found me faithful.

Because, many times, I was in need of help which didn’t come, I determined to help all who came into my life needing it, and I was alwas seeking those whom I could help. Because I had wanted to become a Christian two years before I accepted Christ and no one showed me the way, I became a personal worker for Christ, in season and out of season, leading hundreds of souls to Him. I wanted to become a great preacher, but God said, ‘No, Follow Me’, and so I stayed in the small fields and with God, the work was crowned with victory. When I retired from the active ministry, every weak field in the Presbytery of Cincinnati had become a self-supporting church, except one that has since reached that status.”

To go back a way, about ten twelve years ago the degree of Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) was conferred on Mr. Malcolm, by Lincoln Memorial University.

While preaching in southern Ohio, during a summer vacation of his seminary years, Dr. Malcolm met a young woman, Miss Nettie Richards. He and Miss Richards were married in 1896, one year after he had completed his Seminary course. They had only one child, a daughter, Marlyn, who is now married and living in Cincinnati. He young son is the pride and joy of Dr. Malcolm’s life and a very promising youngster. Mrs. Malcolm carried on alone until 1931. In that year, he married Mrs. Elizabeth Murray who, with her husband, had been an active worker in one of his churches some years before, and who is proving to be the perfect companion for these years of his life.

Three years ago, at the age of 75, Dr. Malcolm was retired from the active ministry. He and Mrs. Malcolm are making a new home for themselves and living a busy, useful life in Banner Elk, N. C. In his own words, “I am still standing on God’s Promise. I am still ready to follow Him and do active service for Him. I am 78 years old, but my spirit is willing and my flesh is not weak.” These worlds epitomize for us W. M. Malcolm’s indomitable courageous spirit, and his complete devotion to the Lord who said to him, “I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee” --and who has sustained him through all his days.