I have shared this story before, but I like it, even though it may leave some of you ladies shaking your heads.
Abraham Marshall, son of Daniel Marshall, had been pastoring the Baptist church at Kiokee Georgia for eight years, when he decided that it was God’s will to seek a wife in order “to divide the sorrows and double the joys of life.” He determined to travel 2,200 miles to New England, the place of his birth in order to evangelize some of his family there, expecting the Lord to provide a wife either there or along the way. On his journey he stopped at the home of John Waller, in Spottsylvania, Virginia, where he met Miss Ann Waller for the first time. He was bold enough to share with her his twofold purpose, and then set off to finish his trip to the north. Not finding a wife among the Yankees, on his homeward journey he deliberately stopped at the Waller home. On this day in 1792, three days after his arrival, he again spoke of his desire of marriage, asking Ann to become his bride. On April 3, forty-four-year-old Abraham, and thirty-one-year-old Ann were married. A couple days later the couple began their 550 mile ride to Georgia. Ann Marshal became an excellent pastor’s wife, supporting Abraham’s ministry in many ways, as well as giving him four sons, one of whom succeeded him in the pulpit at Kiokee. The couple were married twenty-three years before Mrs. Marshall died, and her husband followed her four years later. Judy and I had the privilege of seeing their graves on the property of the old church not far from the banks of Kiokee Creek.