Samuel Porter Jones
1847-1906
American evangelist. Sam Jones was born at Oak Bowery, Ala-
bama, and reared at Cartersville, Georgia. He studied to be a
lawyer, but drinking and gambling soon brought him to the
brink of ruin. At his father’s deathbed, he fell on his knees
and repented of his sin and trusted Christ. He preached his
first sermon one week later and was licensed to preach in the
Methodist Church after only three months.
        He served several pastorates but gained fame as a
lecturer and evangelist. Soon he was conducting campaigns in
some of America’s largest cities. Wherever he preached, liq-
uor stores closed, theaters and jails emptied, and cursing
was reduced to whispers. His life was threatened on several
occasions. But these did not deter his strong preaching. He
died en route to an evangelistic meeting in Oklahoma. Much of
the wit of Will Rogers is traceable to Sam Jones. Well over
500,000 people were converted to Christ as a result of his
ministry.

ARTIST’S NOTE: Earth colors dominate the entire picture, as
this is the outstanding thing about Sam Jones’ ministry–it
was down-to-earth. The homey wit and droll country stories in
his messages were earthy and true to nature.

Ruckman ’66

Samuel Porter Jones{SCT}