Since 1905, the college has had the priceless Spurgeon Collection, the Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon's private library of 16th, 17th, and 18th century books. The Collection has been quoted as being worth more than $100,000 and possibly it is worth much more than that.

As for the Breeches Bible printed in 1583, who could estimate its value? Or the copy of Spurgeon's Commenting and Commentators, annotated in his handwriting for improving later editions.

SPURGEON, the original owner of the library, was England's 19th century Billy Graham. He was the best-known preacher in the world from 1860 to his death in 1892. When Spurgeon died the family kept his library for two years. Then his wife, Susannah Spurgeon, and Charles and Thomas, her sons, agreed that the library should be sold, but that it must remain undivided.

They could easily have sold it a few books at a time, but they wouldn't do that. The Rev John Bradford, secretary of London Baptist Association, advertised it for sale as a whole. For 11 years, no one would buy it. It has been said England was napping.

When the first Baptist World Congress met in London July 11, 1905, and Dr. J. T. M. Johnson (a trustee from William Jewell College) heard that the fabulous Spurgeon library was for sale, he was excited. He called a conference with Dr. John Priest Greene, President of the college, and John E. Franklin and Dr. J. E. Cook, all of Liberty. They decided to buy the books.

When word reached the Spurgeons that American buyers wanted the books, they raised the price to $3,000 (some say it was $3,500). Dr. J. W. Thirtle, editor of The Christian, had advertised the books. He offered to bargain for, buy and ship them, which he did, on the S.S. Cuba, to the New Orleans port.

Some time later, 38 wooden boxes of books from London were unloaded at William Jewell College. The college was using the center section of Jewell Hall for a library, and their 12,000 books already overflowed all available space. They had no place at all for the Spurgeon Collection.

Workmen placed some of the tightly-packed boxes in the museum under tables, or anywhere they could. Some of them were put in a closet under the stairway, where I first saw them in 1964. Dixie Sanders Pollard, a graduate of the college, said, "I remember seeing some of the books way up high in a balcony. They told me they were the Spurgeon books.

It was not until the new William Jewell College Library was built in 1965 and the Spurgeon Room was set aside for the collection that most of the books were placed on shelves for use. There just wasn't room for them before.

Many of the 5,100 books are marked with notes and comments. The preacher did not confine his reading to theological subjects. His interests were as broad as the world itself. He had books on a variety of subjects — bees, diamonds, plant species, giants and dwarfs, curiosities, waterfalls, architecture and archaeology.

There are books on jokes, anecdotes, composition and rhetoric. He included such books as Religion of Geology, Precious Stones and Gems, Fairy Mythology and Mystery of Dreames. He studied many kinds of Bibles, devotional poems, books on prayer, history, women's styles, prophecy, philosophy, travel, biography, sociology, education, gardening, insects, birds, music, art, science and preaching.

Among the authors are Tasso, Homer, Horace, Goethe, Shakespeare, Scott, Dickens, Tennyson, Irving, Longfellow and many others. He had the autobiography of Grand and Nights with Uncle Remus.

His books are well-used but, for the most part, they are in prime condition. Old books were printed on paper made from linen or cotton cloth. They last longer than today's books printed on paper made from wood pulp.

Students have come to the Spurgeon Library from many parts of the world. An increasing number of scholars come to pursue their various fields of interest. So great is the variety of subject matter, everyone many find help. When Dr. Ron Brown did research for his doctor's dissertation in the Spurgeon Collection, he discovered about 200 hymnals and books about hymns, including some of the rarest in existence.

"Finding those hymnals was like turning a kid loose in a candy store," Dr. Brown said. "Since then, I have conducted a lot of my hymnology classes right in the Spurgeon room. These books have made history into a living, tangible entity for my students. The forces at work in the department of hymnology, and the church as we know it, are all right there."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was born in Kelvedon, England, June 19, 1834. At the age of 16, he began preaching in homes. At 18, he became pastor of a small church in Waterbeach, and when he was 20, he accepted a call to the pastorate of New Park Street Chapel, London, a weak little church about to disband.

Two years later, the building had to be enlarged to seat those who wanted to hear the young preacher each Sunday. This building soon became too small and the congregation moved to Surrey Music Hall, a spacious building. Crowds increased and Spurgeon's followers tried without success to build a place large enough for expected crowds. They called it Metropolitan Tabernacle and it would hold 10,000 people. He filled every building he ever preached in for any length of time.

One Sunday a month, he made an unusual request of his members, asking them to go elsewhere or stay at home, so that thousands denied admittance might have a chance to attend. They did this for many years.

Microphones had not been invented and a minister had to depend on his own voice, unamplified. When he first started preaching, Spurgeon found it difficult to make himself heard. After speaking, he sometimes fell into a chair, exhausted. The time came when he learned how to use that marvelous instrument, the human voice, so that he could be heard in every part of a large auditorium. Yet his voice was natural and musical, without the least strain. His wife said, "He learned to use his voice as a master musician playing a priceless instrument."

Although she did not hear his first sermon at the [New Park Street] London church, Susannah Thompson came for the evening service. Members had urged her to come "help fill a pew." Two years after they met, Charles and Susannah were married, January 8, 1856. She was a true soulmate for her husband.

In 1880, Charles and Susannah purchased Westwood Estate, nine & 1/2 acres of woodlands, lawns, gardens, a little lake and a bowling green. Two rooms of the house delighted Susannah for a special reason. Her husband had never had an adequate study, or space enough for his ever-growing library. She adapted the two rooms for library purposes, full of tall shelves for his many tall books. She had many shelves for shorter books, and also many other bookcases.

At one end of the study was a fireplace with a mantel above it, and books above that. Overhead his spacious study table, six gas lights (three on each side), gave him plenty of light. Chairs on either side of the table were beautifully upholstered in a predominantly rose design. Gorgeous drapes covered the tall windows. For 12 years the dedicated couple prepared for his sermons in this room.

On Saturdays, when he was at home, Susie read his choice of chapters from his books. Charles busied himself with taking notes, while he organized his thoughts. They enjoyed these sessions together. Sometimes, they laughed aloud as she read. At other times they wept quietly.

It seems as if some strong giant has lifted the handsome book-filled rooms, with fireplace, lamps, massive reproductions of his spacious study table, the upholstered chairs and bookshelves for Spurgeon's books, and placed them in the new college library.

A splendid colored picture of Spurgeon decorates the south wall...

  http://campus.jewell.edu/academics/curry/library/collections/spurgeon.html

On the east wall is a portrait of William C. Nelson, a 1946 graduate of William Jewell College, who died April 12, 1962. Bill Nelson had been a campus leader from 1942-46. Schoolmates voted him "the most likely to succeed." They elected him president of the student body, and he was president of his fraternity.

After graduation, he served as Alumni Association president, and he was active in Clay-Patte Baptist Association. He developed Nelson Heights in Kansas City, and was developing Prather Hills when death interrupted his plans.

From kindergarten, through high school and college, Bill Nelson and Bill Turnage had been friends. Bill Turnage, who is now a lawyer in Liberty and a trustee of William Jewell College, knew of the Spurgeon Collection and that it had no place of its own. He also knew that Mrs. May Cook Nelson wanted to have a fitting memorial to her son. They talked about these matters and she decided to give $40,000 to build her son's memorial and to house the Spurgeon books in a setting as near the original library as possible.

.

. PILGRIM PUBLICATIONS INTERNET PILGRIM PUBLICATIONS MAGAZINE PILGRIM PUBLICATIONS HOME PAGE PILGRIM SPURGEON BIOGRAPHY PAGE   E-Mail:  CATALOG REQUEST or FEEDBACK

http://www.pilgrimpublications.com/wjewell.htm

http://members.aol.com/pilgrimpub/wjewell.htm

LAST MODIFIED  April 30 - 2005

TOP  OF  PAGE

.