QUAX:SR GAD ~AP~IST CHURC~

A:?~IL 17, 1966

William Henry and Mary Tollson Sims. Dr. and TY.'"""c Q.; ,.-. c - J..- - • l>...J_ ..... ~

In the latter part of the 19th century i~ the state

of South Carolina, Union·County, citv of Gowcic:ysville there

lived a prominent and hi~hly resnec(:;ed doctor and ~is wife,

were proud parents of a_fine group of childreh, bu0

f'amf.Ly was not c o mp Le t e urrt i I May 2.q...., 1888; on -:::-_is C.ay a

son was born, he was named Edward Thomnson Sims. ~his

youngest member of the Sims' fa5ily was destined 00 bring

to Stokes County and Quaker Gan ~aptist Church ~uch in the

way of happiness, peace, and insniration.

On June 6, 1903, in a 24 hour storm 3n to 5

This is your-life, Ned, as you were affectionately

called by many of your friends.

When you were quite young your mother passed away.

You attended the Spartanburg County schools. ~i~e any boy,

you had numerous and varied experiences as you were growing

up; perhaps none is remembered as vividly as one that han~e~ed

when you were 15 years of age. Reference is macie to the

great Pacolett River flood at Clifton, South Carolina.

Quoting from material found in a library~-

inches of rain fell in the counties of C~~rokee,

Spartanburg, and Greenville. 'I'h i s being a r l a c

country with nothing to hold back the wa~er,

five rivers within e ;'10-rt d i s t anc e o f' e ac ;

other overflowed. D~;rj ~g the week, rain fell

almost incessantly. On Friday evenini;s, .:fune

5, 1903, rains beca~~ v~olent and continuee

till 4 A.M. without 1nterruDtion. On June 7,

1903 the maximum height of the river was 29

feet. The greatPs~ ~molin~ of destruction was

on Pacolett river st CJifton-a four story cot-

ton mill 496 feet lo~~, 500 feet wide, valued

-, r: _Q at one million dolla~s, to~ether with cott-

ages was entirely wa~hed away. ~bou~ l~ ~iles

below this another m i.L'I came down q u i c k Ly and

15 cottages were carried away from the v:llage.

A little over a mile from this place Dexte~

Mill .was in danger. In ~Dite of warnings being

sent out, there were many narr,ow escapes, and

at least 52 persons lost their lives-~any of

these were women and children.

Indeed you will always remember this aweso2e experience-

with sadness bec~use a brother lost his life in it.

You will also remember that one of your jobs, when

growing up, was driving your father in the "ho r s e ant ·ouggy"

to the many calls that he had.

Since Spartanburg w:=i.P a 11cotton county11 t~ere were

numerous textile mills located there and your early lifes'

work was in textiles.

December ~q10 =arked anoth~r ~:..:estone ~r y ur li:e-

i-c was then that yo~ c~me -co Wins~on-3alern. £0 0ha-c -ci=e

you made your home with a Mr. Loga; on N. Spruce S-cree-c.

Your first jobs were with Arista Mills and Briggs Sha:~ner.

It is hard t o se..y wr.i c h event; or 1:.r~at c a t e was t ce no s t

important in your Li f e . Certainly one o~ -:::e ~:.os-: i::.::ior-i:;ar~-c

.:;,-.. - - ./-~. Yes, was the event that -cook nlace on October 24,

this was the day I~iss Sarah :=lizabeth Hunter o : Yac.ka.n Country

·rogether you became your wife and help~ate. your

home in Winston-Salee since that -cime. You have been blessed

with seven fine children.

Mrs. Dorothy Drane Mr. Bob S.:.ms

Mrs. Mary·Shepherd Hiss 3etty Si~s

Mrs. Louise Golightly Mrs. Ruth Carter

Mr. Bynum.Sims

Your hearts were saddened when Dorothy passed away on March

31, 1961.

You now have 13 ~~a~achildren and 4 grea-c gra~dc:::..ltren.

On the 24th day o: ~ay 1919 you started to work as a

machinist in the engineering department of R.J.~ey:lolds

Tobacco Company. You worked for Reynolds for 28 yec..rs,

retiring June 28, 1947.

When you came to Wi~ston-Salem you jo:..nec ~2e

Baptist Church, which was then located on -che corner o:: Second and Church Streets. In 1914 you beca=e in-ceres-ceu i~

a mission sponsored by tie First nap-cist· Churcn, ~ ..... .i.1,, was

King Brown lv:o11ntain South ?or:ic

Baptist Church. You tau~ht ~he ~en's 3ible Class ~~e~e ~~~i: .... 1924. You also served on the Board of Deacons, other DeacoLs

who served with you includ0d Geor~e Hemrick, J.F. Ga~t,

Marvin Lindley, J.H. Henri~k, Fred Lawrence, ....., -. L • ~ •

T.O. Hauser, and Samuel 3rn~m. O~her friends were Er. S.~.

Naff, Mr. T.C. K~aton, Jr. rt.A. 3rown.

The year 1923 staJ6s out i~ your memory as o~e of ~~e

important dates in your li~e. T~is was the year you heard

and answered the call to the ministry. Yo u were cr::.a:..r_ed

that same year at the annual meetin~ of the Filo~ ~ountain

Association. This meetin~ was held at the F:..rst 3aJtist

Church and Dr. John R. Jester p~esided at the or~:..~a~io~

service. Your first pastorate was Center G::rove 3aptist

Church, located west of Clemmons. Do you remember "'~r. J. r

Boner? He was the first person you baptized. Do you re-

member the first wedding you officiated? You r::c..rried

and Mrs. Cunningham.

During the years of active service you pasto::red a~~~-

ber of churches. In addition to Center Grove you servec ~~e

following:

Clemmons Mount Olive

Hanestown Quaker Gap

Walkertown Mountain View

Pilot Mountain Macedonia

..

~a~v members o! Quakrr Ga~ will recall as e

da~e Oc~ober 1934. You were holdin~ a revival service at

Mount Olive, one sermon in particular will never be :argot-

ten by those who heard it, the one on 11The Second Co:r.ing of

Christ11• Then, accordin~ to the records, on Dece~ber _4, 1S35

you filled an appointment here at Quaker Gap. Shortly t~ere-

after, you were called to serve as pastor. ~he record book

says:

110n January 5, 1936, the uulpit c onm i t t.e e

recommended that the church call Rev. E.T.

Sims as pastor for the year 1936. The vote

was unanimous in favor of the recommenda-

tion.

~r. E.W. Carroll, Ko~erator

H. G. Jo:::inson, Church Cle::-k. 11

You served faithfully and lovingly for the ~e::zt 12 yec.rs.

You will always be reoellibered for your friendli~ess, ki~c-

ness, helpfulness, and understanding. We cherish the =e=ory

·of those years and we thank God for sending you to us, we

remember you standing straight and tall behind the uul~it

preaching and expounding God's Word. We reme~ber your c~eer-

ful smile and your warm personality. We re~ember how you

brought comfort to those in sorrow, lifted those w:-:io were

~eeling down, inspired all to nobler action. We are pleased

that you never forgot us after having moved to another

through the years you hrtve not only visited us ~ere at the

•

chruch but you have visited us our .;.o:::-.e s , - ~ - ,.... Li ..... _.::.

srateful. .....

Your favorite song-What A Friend We Eave ~n Jes~s.

Your favorite scripture-Joh~ 3:16.

Your favorite word-Whosoever.

Your favorite food-Stokes County cooking.

This is your life-- A wond e r-f'u I life it is. r:::·:::::: Ec.s-:er

went about doing good; you have followed.3is exa~?le by liv~ng

an unselfish life of service to your fellow ma~.

We have tried in our meager &nd feeble way to exnress

our love, appr-ec i a t i on , and gra"Gi tude "GO you; 1·.T2 r.o pe you

can, in some measure, understand.

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E.T. Sims,

J l\linister, Is Dead

E.T. SIMS •.. funeral Tuesday ..•

The Rev. Edward Thompson Sims, 80, of 143 S. Green Street, died at 3:45 a.m. today at Forsyth Memorial Hospital. He had been in declining health for seven weeks and seriously ill for the past three weeks. He was born May 24, 1888, in

Union County, S. C., to Dr. William H. and Mary Barnett Sims. He moved to Winston­ Salem in 1911. He married Miss Sallie Hunter in October, 1911. He retired from R. J .

Reynolds Tobacco Co. on June 7, 1947. He served as pastor of several Baptist churches in Forsyth, ~ and Yadkin counties and was p a s t o r emeritus of Quaker Gap Baptist Church. His last church was Germanton Baptist Church in Stokes County. He . was a member of Salem B a p t i s t Church. Surviving are his wife; four

daughters, Mrs. Kenn et h Shepherd of 1950 Hi n s h a w Avenue; Mrs. Fred Golightly of Orange Park, Fla.; Mrs. Fred Carter of 140 Queensbury Road and Miss tBetty Sims of the home; two sons, Bynum Sims of 2315 Ardmore Terrace and Rev. Robert Sims of Charlotte, N. C.; thirteen grandchildren; six great - grandchildren and one sister, Mrs. Lois Propst of Sumter, S. C. A graveside service will be

conducted at 11 a.rn. Tuesday at Forsyth Memorial Park by Dr. Charles Stevens and the I Rev. J. C. Shore. The body will remain al

Voglers Chapel until taken to· the park at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. The family will be at Voglers from 7 to 9 p.m. today.

Winston-Salem Journal lWinston-Salem Sentinel Norfolk: Va. Pilot

JUL 1 1968

l E.T. Sims; Was Baptist Minister u v · 'v A graveside service for the

Rev. Edward Th o mp s o n Sims, 80, of 143 S. Green Street will be at 11 a.rn. today at Forsyth Memorial Park. He died yesterday at Forsyth Memorial Hospital. He was born in Union

County, S. C., to Dr. William H. and Mary Barnett Sims. He moved to Winston-Salem in 1911. He was a member of Salem Baptist Church. He was the pastor of

several Baptist Churches in Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin Counties and was pastor emeritus of Quaker G a p Baptist Church. His last church was G e r m a n t o n Baptist Church in Stokes County. Surviving are his wife, Mrs.

Sallie Hunter Sims; four daughters, Mrs. K e n n e th Shepherd of 1950 Hinshaw Avenue, Mrs. Fred Golightly of Orange Park, Fla., Mrs. Fred C a r t e r of 140 Queensboro Road and Miss Betty Sims of the home; two sons, Bynum Sims of 2315 Ardmore Terrace and the Rev. Robert Sims of Charlotte, N. C.; and a sister, Mrs. Lois Propst of Sumter, S. C. The body is at Voglers

Chapel.