James Carroll was born into poverty on this day in 1852, while his parents were living in Arkansas, having moved there from North Carolina, via a stay in Mississippi. Almost all the wealth of the Carrolls was incorporated in the slaves which they owned, but with the end of the war, and the death of his father, Benajah, during that war, James’ mother and his eleven siblings had nothing at all. Then his mother also died, leaving James, a sixteen-year-old boy, to fend for himself.
At nineteen, James married his sweetheart, Sudie, who was three years his younger. They settled down trying to farm some rented property until the Lord called the young man to preach. Aware that his education was inadequate, he determined to prepare himself for Baylor College. Both he and Sudie enrolled, and James graduated with a Master of Arts degree.
He was soon pastor of a church in Anderson, Texas, then he started a church in Corpus Christi. He pastored in Taylor, Texas before becoming pastor of the First Baptist Church in Waco.
Eventually overshadowed by his older brother Benajah Harvey Carroll, J.M. was very influential in his own right. As well as leading one of the largest churches in Texas, he became a trustee of Baylor. And he became an author. He wrote “A history of Texas Baptists” and a biography of his brother, B.H. Carroll. But his most well-known work was published posthumously – “The Trail of Blood.”
J.M. Carroll shows to us what can take place in the life of someone dedicated to follow the will of the Lord, no matter what that person’s current, or past, limitations might be.