Robert Sheffey
Encyclopedia
Robert Sayers Sheffey was a Methodist evangelist and circuit-riding preacher, renowned for his eccentricities and power in prayer, who ministered to, and became part of the folklore of, the Appalachian region of southwest Virginia
, southern West Virginia
and eastern Tennessee.
, of a locally prominent family, the youngest of five brothers. His mother died when he was two, and he was reared by an aunt in Abingdon, Virginia
. Sheffey attended Emory and Henry College
in 1839-40, but “his early dislike for books and an aversion for profound study” did not augur well for higher education.
Sheffey was eighteen when he was converted at a revival in Abingdon. Although his relatives wished him to continue in the Presbyterian church, he became a Methodist and, shortly thereafter, an itinerant preacher.
In 1864 Sheffey married Elizabeth “Eliza” Stafford, although her parents did not favor the marriage because of Sheffey’s constant circuit riding. Nevertheless, the marriage was a success. Eliza understood her husband and did not complain about his frequent absences. The couple had one son, Edward Fleming Sheffey, (1865-1933), who became a successful Lynchburg
businessman. He remembered as a boy telling his father, “Uncle Johnny thinks that you ought to spend more time with your family,” to which Sheffey replied, “Son, Uncle Johnny doesn’t know which way the rats run. The Lord will take care of you.” Eventually even the Staffords were reconciled to the marriage.
of the wilderness,” Sheffey was renowned for his concern about the welfare of animals. He once dismounted to collect tadpoles
in his handkerchief so that he could transfer them to a stream from a small pool where they were certain to die. Others he tried to save by bringing water to their mud hole. Sheffey regularly stopped to right beetles and dropped out of funeral processions to lift insects out of the way of wagon wheels. He gave his lunch to hungry dogs and tried (unsuccessfully) to “relieve” flies caught on sticky paper. Once when his brother-in-law cut a wasp
in two with a pair of scissors, Sheffery went out to the yard and starting praying. When the brother-in-law asked why, he replied, “I am praying for the Lord to make another wasp to take the place of the one you killed.” Sheffey was especially solicitous of his horse. He specifically instructed hosts how to water and feed his horse, and he often dismounted rather than make the horse carry him up a steep grade. Sheffey had a sweet tooth and would often fill his mouth with sugar, honey, or maple syrup. He regularly prayed, “Lord, bless the little honeybees for they make sweet honey. Like sweet Jesus.”
He was as solicitous of the welfare of men as of animals. On a number of occasions he gave away woolen socks to those who were in need, sometimes giving away a new knitted pair, sometimes taking the socks off his own feet. Once on a cold day riding the trail, he met a stranger with no coat and gave away his own. He even once gave away his horse to replace an animal that had died pulling a heavily loaded covered wagon. After being beaten by some young toughs after a meeting, Sheffey tried hard not to testify against them in court, and when they were convicted, with tears he pleaded with the judge to allow them to go unpunished because he had forgiven them.
Sheffey enjoyed singing and shouting and would often draw pictures of birds and fish or write snatches of hymns on the walls of his hosts’ homes or on rock outcroppings. One story claims that after having written “What shall I do to be saved?” on a large rock, he discovered that a patent medicine salesman had written underneath, “Use Hite’s Pain Cure.” Sheffey then added, “And prepare to meet thy God.” Sheffey’s peculiar sense of humor is also evident in a story about a child bitten by a rattlesnake. Called in to pray for the child, Sheffey is said to have petitioned, “O Lord, we do thank Thee for rattlesnakes. If it had not been for a rattlesnake they would never have called upon You. Send a rattlesnake to bite Bill, and one to bite John, and send a great big one to bite the old man.”
Even stranger to mountain folk was Sheffey’s insistence on cleanliness. If his towels or bedding were dirty, he would let his host know. He would pour a small amount of coffee into his saucer, wash the edges where the fingers of his hostess had touched it, and then throw the liquid out the door or into the fire. He assured his son that “plenty of water inside and out” was the “best thing for anybody.”
Sheffey’s contemporaries agreed that although “he was the most powerful man in prayer…he couldn’t preach a lick.” He would take a text and never return to it, and his preaching consisted largely of relating personal experiences. Nevertheless, as the Methodist preacher George C. Rankin recalled in his memoirs, although Sheffey “acted more like a crazy man than otherwise,” he “was wonderful in a meeting. He would stir the people, crowd the mourner’s bench with crying penitents and have genuine conversions by the score.”
. He died at the home of a friend, Aurelius Vest, a farmer, coffin builder, and country undertaker, near White Gate on August 30, 1902. He is buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery (off Sheffey Memorial Road) in Trigg. On his monument are the words, "The poor were sorry when he died."
compiled a book of stories he had collected about Sheffey. In 1974, Jess Carr (1930-1990), published a “biographical novel
," a project, he said, that had partially been inspired by seeing what he assumed was a funeral being conducted in the Wesley Chapel Cemetery but which a local storekeeper assured him was regular visitation to Sheffey’s grave, “all the time, year-round.” In 1977, Unusual Films, the cinema division of Bob Jones University
, released a feature-length film, Sheffey, with a script based on Carr’s novel.
Southwest Virginia
Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virginia counties on the Appalachian Plateau, all Virginia counties west of the Eastern Continental Divide, or...
, southern West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and eastern Tennessee.
Youth and conversion
Sheffey was born near the hamlet of Ivanhoe, Wythe County, VirginiaWythe County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,599 people, 11,511 households, and 8,103 families residing in the county. The population density was 60 people per square mile . There were 12,744 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
, of a locally prominent family, the youngest of five brothers. His mother died when he was two, and he was reared by an aunt in Abingdon, Virginia
Abingdon, Virginia
Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, USA, 133 miles southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,191 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Washington County and is a designated Virginia Historic Landmark...
. Sheffey attended Emory and Henry College
Emory and Henry College
Emory & Henry College, known as E&H, Emory, or the College, is a private liberal arts college located in Emory, Virginia, United States. The campus comprises of Washington County, Virginia, which is part of the mountain region of Southwest Virginia...
in 1839-40, but “his early dislike for books and an aversion for profound study” did not augur well for higher education.
Sheffey was eighteen when he was converted at a revival in Abingdon. Although his relatives wished him to continue in the Presbyterian church, he became a Methodist and, shortly thereafter, an itinerant preacher.
Marriages and family
In 1843, Sheffey married Elizabeth Zwecker, and they had six children. Sheffey farmed, taught school, served as a clerk, and kept a store. After the death of his first wife in 1854, he became completely committed to his ministry, and legends began to grow about his “peculiarities, idiosyncrasies, his pet hobbies, and his odd whimsical notions.” For several years he attempted to obtain a license to preach but because of his oddities did not succeed until 1855. Yet eventually his circuit of Methodist churches spanned fourteen mountain counties in Virginia and West Virginia.In 1864 Sheffey married Elizabeth “Eliza” Stafford, although her parents did not favor the marriage because of Sheffey’s constant circuit riding. Nevertheless, the marriage was a success. Eliza understood her husband and did not complain about his frequent absences. The couple had one son, Edward Fleming Sheffey, (1865-1933), who became a successful Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
businessman. He remembered as a boy telling his father, “Uncle Johnny thinks that you ought to spend more time with your family,” to which Sheffey replied, “Son, Uncle Johnny doesn’t know which way the rats run. The Lord will take care of you.” Eventually even the Staffords were reconciled to the marriage.
"St. Francis of the wilderness"
Called a “St. FrancisFrancis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
of the wilderness,” Sheffey was renowned for his concern about the welfare of animals. He once dismounted to collect tadpoles
Tadpoles
Tadpoles are a psychedelic rock band formed in 1990 in New York City by Todd Parker , Michael Kite Audino and Josh Bracken In 1992, Nick Kramer , David Max and Andrew Jackson of the fledgling Manhattan group, Hit, joined the Tadpoles after putting Hit on hiatus.In 1993 Kite and Jackson left the...
in his handkerchief so that he could transfer them to a stream from a small pool where they were certain to die. Others he tried to save by bringing water to their mud hole. Sheffey regularly stopped to right beetles and dropped out of funeral processions to lift insects out of the way of wagon wheels. He gave his lunch to hungry dogs and tried (unsuccessfully) to “relieve” flies caught on sticky paper. Once when his brother-in-law cut a wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
in two with a pair of scissors, Sheffery went out to the yard and starting praying. When the brother-in-law asked why, he replied, “I am praying for the Lord to make another wasp to take the place of the one you killed.” Sheffey was especially solicitous of his horse. He specifically instructed hosts how to water and feed his horse, and he often dismounted rather than make the horse carry him up a steep grade. Sheffey had a sweet tooth and would often fill his mouth with sugar, honey, or maple syrup. He regularly prayed, “Lord, bless the little honeybees for they make sweet honey. Like sweet Jesus.”
He was as solicitous of the welfare of men as of animals. On a number of occasions he gave away woolen socks to those who were in need, sometimes giving away a new knitted pair, sometimes taking the socks off his own feet. Once on a cold day riding the trail, he met a stranger with no coat and gave away his own. He even once gave away his horse to replace an animal that had died pulling a heavily loaded covered wagon. After being beaten by some young toughs after a meeting, Sheffey tried hard not to testify against them in court, and when they were convicted, with tears he pleaded with the judge to allow them to go unpunished because he had forgiven them.
Sheffey enjoyed singing and shouting and would often draw pictures of birds and fish or write snatches of hymns on the walls of his hosts’ homes or on rock outcroppings. One story claims that after having written “What shall I do to be saved?” on a large rock, he discovered that a patent medicine salesman had written underneath, “Use Hite’s Pain Cure.” Sheffey then added, “And prepare to meet thy God.” Sheffey’s peculiar sense of humor is also evident in a story about a child bitten by a rattlesnake. Called in to pray for the child, Sheffey is said to have petitioned, “O Lord, we do thank Thee for rattlesnakes. If it had not been for a rattlesnake they would never have called upon You. Send a rattlesnake to bite Bill, and one to bite John, and send a great big one to bite the old man.”
Even stranger to mountain folk was Sheffey’s insistence on cleanliness. If his towels or bedding were dirty, he would let his host know. He would pour a small amount of coffee into his saucer, wash the edges where the fingers of his hostess had touched it, and then throw the liquid out the door or into the fire. He assured his son that “plenty of water inside and out” was the “best thing for anybody.”
Power in prayer
Many stories about Sheffey related to his power in prayer. Some of his prayers concerned critical needs of agricultural communities, such as the need for rain in time of drought or the prevention of rain during harvest. But Sheffey hated the liquor traffic, and his most remembered prayers were directed against stills and the people who ran them. (They were not moonshiners; at the time, distilling was perfectly legal.) One minister recalled that there had been three distilleries on a creek near where he and Sheffey had been preaching. Sheffey prayed earnestly for their destruction. The proprietor of the first still, in robust health, died suddenly. At the second (where the owner threatened to whip them), Sheffey prayed that a tree would fall on the still house. Although there were no trees nearby, a “great storm came and actually landed a tree on the still.” Fire destroyed the third one three days after Sheffey had spent a night in prayer against it. Men left the area rather than become the object of Sheffey’s prayers.Sheffey’s contemporaries agreed that although “he was the most powerful man in prayer…he couldn’t preach a lick.” He would take a text and never return to it, and his preaching consisted largely of relating personal experiences. Nevertheless, as the Methodist preacher George C. Rankin recalled in his memoirs, although Sheffey “acted more like a crazy man than otherwise,” he “was wonderful in a meeting. He would stir the people, crowd the mourner’s bench with crying penitents and have genuine conversions by the score.”
Final years
Eliza Sheffey died in October 1896. Sheffey continued his ministry as he was physically able, but he eventually suffered intensely from rheumatism. Invited by his son to join him in Lynchburg, Sheffey preferred to stay away from cities and remain in rural Giles CountyGiles County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,657 people, 6,994 households, and 4,888 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 7,732 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...
. He died at the home of a friend, Aurelius Vest, a farmer, coffin builder, and country undertaker, near White Gate on August 30, 1902. He is buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery (off Sheffey Memorial Road) in Trigg. On his monument are the words, "The poor were sorry when he died."
The Sheffey legend
After Sheffey’s death Edward Sheffey expressed an interest in writing (or in having written) a biography of his father; but he died with nothing accomplished. In 1935, Willard Sanders Barbery, a Methodist minister in Bluefield, VirginiaBluefield, Virginia
Bluefield is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, along the Bluestone River. The population was 5,078 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578...
compiled a book of stories he had collected about Sheffey. In 1974, Jess Carr (1930-1990), published a “biographical novel
Biographical novel
The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional and usually entertaining account of a person's life. This kind of novel concentrates on the experiences a person had during his lifetime, the people he met and the incidents which occurred are detailed and sometimes...
," a project, he said, that had partially been inspired by seeing what he assumed was a funeral being conducted in the Wesley Chapel Cemetery but which a local storekeeper assured him was regular visitation to Sheffey’s grave, “all the time, year-round.” In 1977, Unusual Films, the cinema division of Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University is a private, for-profit, non-denominational Protestant university in Greenville, South Carolina.The university was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr. , an evangelist and contemporary of Billy Sunday...
, released a feature-length film, Sheffey, with a script based on Carr’s novel.