Billy Sunday
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William Ashley (Billy) Sunday was born on
his grandparents' farm just south of Ames, Iowa, on November 19, 1862.
Martin and Mary Ann Cory settled there in 1852 on land now occupied by
the Highway 30 and Duff Avenue interchange, and the old sewage treatment
plant. The Cory family cemetery is still located on that site. -more-
In the picture on the left are (left to right)
Billy Sunday, his aunt Rosetta Simmons (who was with Billy's mother at
the time of his birth), and his older brother H. E. (Ed) Sunday. They are
standing in front of the log home which was Billy's birthplace. This structure,
no longer in existence, stood near what was later to be Ames Municipal
Airport. -more-
The photo is from William T. Ellis' book, Billy Sunday - the Man and
His Message, published in 1914. |
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Billy Sunday and his two brothers were orphaned
when their father became an early Civil War casualty, and life for the
family was a struggle despite Mary Jane Sunday's remarriage in 1864.
The boys attended a one-room school (Clearview
School) just west of the farm where their teacher, C.G. McCarthy, first
instilled a love of baseball. Mary Jane offered her sons love and
nurturing, but after her second marriage ended in divorce, and a third
union to an itinerant carpenter provided little family support, the two
younger boys, Billy and Ed, were placed in orphanages. Billy returned
to the Cory farm when he was fourteen, but differed with his grandfather
to the extent that he chose to live on his own. He moved to nearby
Nevada, Iowa, where he became acquainted with Colonel John Scott, a leading
citizen and the state's Lieutenant Governor.
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Billy Sunday attended Nevada High School,
also working as a janitor and doing chores for Colonel Scott, who provided
him with room and board. (Historic
Scott home burns) He continued to play noteworthy baseball
in Nevada, and in Marshalltown where he moved to take a job in a furniture
shop. In Marshalltown he was discovered on the city team by Adrian
Anson, captain of the Chicago baseball team then known as the White Stockings
(today known as the Cubs). Billy rose to the major leagues in 1883
after trying out for the team. He remained a professional baseball
player from 1883 to 1890 for Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.
He even held the National League record for running bases in fourteen seconds.
His record of ninety-six stolen bases in one season was exceeded only by
Ty Cobb's mark of ninety-eight. |
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By 1891 he had begun to divide his time between
baseball and the Chicago Y.M.C.A. The spirit of his mother's nurturing
love and his religious training in the orphanage were reawakened and influenced
Sunday to change his life. Turning down an offer of $500 a month
to play with Cincinnati's National League Club, Billy accepted an $85 a
month job with the Chicago Y.M.C.A. His reputation as a ball player
provided natural appeal to the young men he worked with. He attended
Northwestern University where the study of Psychology reinforced his love
of people and contributed to the mastery of audiences. After three
years with the Y.M.C.A., he went to work with J. Wilbur Chapman, well known
Presbyterian evangelist. Billy Sunday's first platform appearance
was in Garner, Iowa, in 1896. There he first became aware that his
direct, sincere manner of speaking got through to people.
In 1903 he was ordained into the mainline Presbyterian
denomination of his day. He became known as the Baseball Evangelist,
using his baseball background, slangy language, flamboyant manners, and
highly developed promotional methods to become the most popular evangelist
of his time. It won't save your soul if your wife is a Christian.
You have got to be something more than a brother-in-law to the Church.
Bible toting Billy Sunday and his wife
Sunday lived at a time when American society
was in the mood for the idealism Sunday expounded. He was supported
and sought after by U.S. presidents and community leaders throughout the
country. His trademarks were pointed, sometimes earthy and always
quotable one-liners, and theatrical antics at the podium. I know
there is a devil for two reasons; first, the Bible declares it; and second,
I have done business with him.
Billy Sunday urged his audiences to become
active in the church and he believed the church should be active in social
issues. I don't believe that God wants any man to be a hermit.
Jesus Christ did not wear a hair shirt and sleep upon a bed of spikes.
He went among the people and preached the Gospel.
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| Postcard images depicting Billy
Sunday's preaching poses |
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Though conservative by some standards, he advocated
women's right to vote, labor unions, and sex education. Many people
disagreed with his theology, but they supported his down to earth style
and his position on moral problems. If you would have your children
turn out well, don't turn your home into a lunch counter and lodging house.
Billy
Sunday died on November 6, 1935 at the age of seventy-three, ending one
of the most remarkable careers of the twentieth century, supposedly preaching
to over 100 million people in his many tent revivals. He was buried
in Chicago.
Image from the postcard containing the following
quote:
6.06 - On Apr. 28.06 was
begun the greatest campaign for righteousness ever known in this city;
for five long weeks it raged in a tabernacle with seating capacity for
6,000; a choir of 4 to 500 voices under Fred Fisher. Wonderful in
every detail. Closing on June 2 with 1365 converts. Rev. Sunday
rec. $3,064.38 as a voluntary offering. Rev. Sunday wears no glasses,
delivered his farewell on Monday night to a large audience in spite of
a heavy rain storm. A powerful sermon. 73 converts. Ebbie.
(next page)
