Obituary from Milan Exchange, Milan, Tennessee, Vol. 44 No. 40 1916

Rev. J. A. Keaton Dies Suddenly One of the Oldest and Widest Known Ministers of West Tennessee

Rev. J. A. Keaton died very suddenly at his home on Smith street last Saturday morning from acute indigestion. Though he had not been well for several days, the sudden attack was unexpected and his death a shock to the entire community.

He had been about town during the week and on Thursday went to the meeting of the Hopewell Presbytery at Davidson's Chapel and attended the session Thursday. Friday he was not well and returned home in the afternoon. Saturday morning he arose as usual and dressed to go to Cairo to see his brother, Judge C. L. Keaton, who was very low, and ate breakfast with the family.

After preparation for the trip and the buggy had been brought to take him to the train he became sick and sat down in his accustom arm chair in his room. A physician was called, and, though he rallied from the first attack, in a few moments the second proved fatal.

Rev. Keaton was in his eighty-first year. He was a man of large stature and throughout his live had been a strong and active figure. He was minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and had preached for more than 50 years. He was an earnest Cumberland and in the upheaval of the union trouble of a few years ago, he stood prominently with the non-union faction and the re-establishing of the church throughout this presbytery was due largely to his work; and the dedication of the Cumberland church here was the crowning triumph of his latter years.

He was a native of Carroll county, having been born near Atwood, and was twice married, his first wife being Miss Rebecca Browning, his second, Mrs. Mary Roach Craig. She with the following children survive him: W. J. Keaton, Mrs. F.P . Greer, Mrs. W. C. Christenberry, Mrs. Lee Beaty, all of Milan; J. A. Keaton, Jr., of Atwood; and Mack Keaton of Jackson. He is also survived by a number of grand-children and great-grand-children.

His brother, Judge Cornelius Keaton of Cairo, whom he was preparing to visit, is the only remaining member of their large family.

The funeral service was held at Pisgah church at Atwood Sunday afternoon and several thousand people, more than had ever gathered in that little city, paid a last respect. The services were conducted by his brother ministers, Revs. P. F. Johnson, of McKenzie; G. W. Burroughs, of Milan; R. H. Jackson and J. E. Hicks, after which the body was laid to rest in the family cemetery and the grave covered with many beautiful floral tributes.

When the earthly career of of Rev. J. A. Keaton, the son of C. W. and Mary Hayes Keaton, closed on September 30, 1916, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church lost a strong man, Christianity and wise and safe advocate and the county a noble and pure citizen.

He was born and raised on a farm near Atwood in Carroll county, Tennessee. With the exception of the last few years which were spent with his son, William Keaton, in Milan, Tenn., he spent his entire life on a part of the farm upon which he was born. C. W. and Mary Hayes Keaton raised nine children, only one of whom Col. C. L. Keaton, Dexter, Mo., survived J. A., and he has since died.

His opportunities for securing an education were very limited. He only attended school a few months and a part of that time was after he was married, he and his oldest son attending the same school. On January 8, 1856 he was married to Miss Rebeca Browning, to them seven children were born five of whom are still living. His first wife died December 5, 1874, and on June 15, 1875, he was married to Mrs. Mary Roach Craig, who had one child by her first husband, who is now the wife of William Keaton, the oldest son of J. A. Five children were born to Brother Keaton and his second wife only one of which is living. At his death he had twenty-four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Brother Keaton left the following written statement relative to his religious life and history:

"I, J. A. Keaton of the Hopewell Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was born October 25th, 1835, near Atwood, Carroll county, in West Tennessee, professed religion in July 1853 at Pisgah and joined the church at the same meeting held by Rev. Daniel Liles and J. M. B. Roach and J. J. A. Roach. This was one of the great meetings of old Pisgah. Two weeks later while attending a meeting at Enon, in Carroll county, near McKenzie, I felt that God would have me commence at once to preach his word, but I resisted the impression on the account of my inability and resisted for about ten years until my losses in my family and financially I could resist no longer, so I told my feelings to one of the elders of Pisgah (I. J. Roach) when he told me the only relief for me was to go at it, he said he would do the singing and for me to do the preaching and we commenced on the next Sunday night at prayer meeting, and it seemed that God blessed every word and every song and one of the greatest revivals of religion that was ever at that place followed. Then I went from place to place among all denominations preaching, hundreds of souls being saved. I continued this work two or three years having read and studies the Bible only during this time I was satisfied that God was near the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. I went from a great meeting at Old Pleasant Planes, a Methodist Church South, to Humboldt, Tennessee, and joined Presbytery in October 1866. Rev. Rubin [sic ] Burrow being Moderator, he being know to be one of our great revival preachers. One year later I was licensed to preach at Camden, Benton county, Tennessee by Rev. Jo Howard and in 1868 was ordained at Gleason, Weekly [sic] county, Tennessee. Rev. Mike Liles preaching the sermon, Rev. Hamilton Parks gave the charge. All these dear brethren, together with the entire Presbytery are gone to their great reward and I alone am left to battle with the storms of life and Presbyterianism.

I was commissioner to the General Assembly at Fresno, Cal., and was one of the 103 who signed the protest against the Assembly's effort to merge into the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., and stood by and heard Rev. W. W. Black, now of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., say "We (the Cumberland Presbyterian Church) have the best Confession of Faith in existence, but I can give it up for larger things." But I say it is too much like giving up my Bible.

I have gone through heat and cold, day and night preaching the doctrines of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for fifty years or more and have witnessed the conversion of many souls and have organized many churches, and will always contend for the faith once delivered to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church by God himself.

I hope and pray to live to see our enemies hide away so that our church can put on her beautiful garments so as by her instrumentality thousands and millions of souls may come flocking home to God.
                                                          Rev. J. A. Keaton."
   April 27, 1914.

Rev. J. A. Keaton was a great Bible student. He was familiar with the Book. It is said that he read it through fifty-one times. He was not only a reader of the Bible, but a student of its great doctrines. He never attempted to prove the fundamental truths of Christianity by what men said, but by quotations from the Bible. He had studied the Confession of Faith of his church with an open Bible until he had mastered the doctrines of his church. On this account he was kept for years on the Committee to examine the probationers for the ministry under the care of his Presbytery.

He was a fine presbyter and often served on the most important committees, filled the Moderators chair both in Presbytery and Synod and was frequently sent as a commissioner to the meetings of the General Assembly. He loved and stood by the enterprises of his church. Though he failed to receive that early training necessary to finished scholarship he was a great advocate of education and gave largely of his means for that purpose. He was an evangelist of the plain, old gospel type. He never relied on clap-trap methods. He preached the Bible, the word of God, and believed it to be "the sword of the Spirit." He preached the gospel of Christ for he believed Paul was right when he said, "It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." With these simple methods he was instrumental in leading thousands of souls to an experimental knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I would that we had a thousand tongues to preach the gospel as "Uncle Peat" Keaton preached it.

His work as a pastor was confined to the bounds of Hopewell Presbytery. As such he was much in demand. He filled many of the pulpits of his Presbytery and built up some of the best and strongest congregations now on her directory. When called to serve a church he did not stop to inquire about the salary, manse and social standing of the congregation. The first thing with him was to learn the will of God in the matter and the next can I be instrumental in saving souls should I accept the call. With him God's will and soul winning were first and temporal things second. What some would call "larger things" were secondary with him.

He was of that class of ministers that joined hands and saved the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the battle that came to her twelve years ago. It was not a question of social standing, it was not a question of popularity, neither was it a question of salary, it was a question of principle. As Huss, Wycliffe, Tyndale, and Luther stood for principal based upon truth, righteousness and justice, so stood he with his associates in the great battle for the perpetuity of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

He was in the harness and on duty to the last hour. On Wednesday and Thursday before his death on Saturday he attended the meeting of Hopewell Presbytery, but was not able to answer to roll call on Friday. He returned to his home in the afternoon of that day and arose on Saturday morning and dressed to visit his brother who was seriously ill at Cairo, Illinois, and soon afterward died, just as he was in the act of starting to the railroad station he was taken seriously ill and in a very short time breathed his last. His funeral service was conducted on the campus in front of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Atwood, his old home and church, on Sunday afternoon in the presence of an immense audience estimated to be at least 2,000, most of whom stood through the entire service. Why this assemblage? It was the funeral of "Uncle Peat" Keaton, who had led many of them to a saving knowledge of Christ, married them, baptized their children, received them into the church, preached the funerals of their dear ones and consoled them in hours of trouble. It was a token of respect for the man of God.

Sister Keaton, his companion and helper, who was so faithful and true, is still in the harness for service, full of faith and expectation. May the Lord bless her remaining days.
                                               P.F. Johnson.
[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, February 8, 1917, page 5]

James Andrew Keaton, one of the pioneer Cumberland Presbyterian ministers of West Tennessee, was born in the Atwood community, in Carroll County, Tennessee, October 25, 1835, and died September 30, 1916, just twenty-five days before his eighty-first birthday. He was ordained to the full work of the ministry in 1868 by Hopewell Presbytery, the moderator at that time being the Reverend Reuben Burrow, on of the leading theologians of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Brother Keaton organized the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Milan, Tennessee, in 1876. Thirty years later, when the congregation in Milan became divided over the attempted union with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., the remaining Cumberland Presbyterians in the Milan church again called on James Andrew Keaton to lead in re-establishing that church. Although he was then past seventy years of age, he assumed the pastoral oversight of the "remnant" and led in the purchase of a church building and later in the erection of a more adequate building. He retired from the Milan pastorate in about 1911.

He is known to have served various churches in Carroll, Gibson, and Madison Counties, including Double Springs, Pilgrim's Rest, Pleasant Green, Davidson's Chapel, McLemoresville, Pisgah, and Bradford. Just two or three years before his death he organized a church near Idlewild, Tennessee, known as Oliver's Chapel.

His only living son, Mr. Mack Keaton, of Memphis, Tennessee, says of him: "For a period of about 50 years, I think, he was a leading member of Hopewell Presbytery and was always in the forefront of all deliberations and was for many years a member of the Committee on Theology and was many times a delegate to the General Assembly. I can think of three times within my recollection as follows:
Eugene, Oregon; California; and Decatur, Illinois. He was considered one of the leading authorities of his day on the Bible as well as the Confession of Faith of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his counsel and advice was widely sought by young ministers, as well as by people in all walks of life."

A grandson, Dr. Shelton L. Beatty (once Dean of Bethel College and more recently Dean of Students at Pomona College, in California) says of him: "The Reverend James Andrew Keaton, popularly and affectionately called 'Parson Pete,' combined in his life of business and the Christian Church a double emphasis upon his foremost belief and his constant practice: (1) That 'whosoever will' should be the mainstay and absolutely dedicated belief in gaining acceptance of the Christian gospel, and (2) that any citizen of the church, whether preacher or layman (and he was both for many years and even in so-called retirement) should devote himself frequently and regularly to the study of the Testaments, and should also engage in discussions of the Bible and the interpretation of it, with much support from memorized and logically presented passages from the Bible. No one who ever came to see him on his porch or by his fire or after a sermon or as he sat in a pew could come away from his presence without remembering 'Uncle Pete,' as he was also called, taking up topic after topic and supporting it with generous and accurate quotations from the Bible. He liked to talk with all visitors and associates, whether young grandchildren, or peddlers off their wagons, or churchmen, especially young ministers who were his frequent guests in the family household. . .

"His spacious home and very generous table were always open to guests from the church and the Bethel College ministerial students, to friends and even sometimes acquaintances from camp meetings and from the many branches of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in West Tennessee especially. At the General Assembly he was a strong figure who emphasized careful interpretation of the Scriptures without narrow pointing of opinions, but on no occasion could he tolerate any view of man's spiritual life that would deny him what he lovingly and admiringly called "the whosoever will gospel," making the way open for all who confessed their error and sought forgiveness and wished to make a new life.

"One of the most impressive experiences of his grandchildren came from our playing about or inspecting church buildings in counties near us in West Tennessee where we often found on the pulpit platform wall pictures of 'Uncle Pete' who had often helped to found such churches and contributed funds to their establishment. He was indeed, a missionary minister aiding in building churches without considering whether his services should be paid for or not, for he was going about the business he considered the most important in the world, establishing and fostering the growth and practice of 'whosoever will' gospel-preaching churches where the common people should read, study, and discuss ideas gained from the Bible.

Although he resided during his entire life within the bounds of Hopewell Presbytery, his influence has spread far beyond that area. A grandson, the late Fred K. Beatty, was a member of the Harrison Cumberland Presbyterian Church for some time before his death. It is therefore fitting that we pay tribute to the memory of this minister of the gospel who "being dead yet speaketh."