Biography - REV. JAMES T. ALSUP
The city of Vienna, Illinois, is fortunate in the character of its
representatives of the ministerial profession, and one of the most highly
respected and gifted men now engaged in that line of work here is the Rev.
James T. Alsup, pastor of the Church of Christ. Rev. Alsup springs from a
strain of sturdy pioneer stock, it having been his grandfather, James Alsup,
who settled in Massac county in 1841, his death occurring shortly after that
date. He had lived in the Choctaw nation for a time before coming to
Illinois.
James T. Alsup was born July 13, 1864, in Unionville, Massac county,
Illinois, a son of William Alsup, who was a native of Tennessee. His wife
was Hannah C. Neal, also a native of Tennessee, who came to Massac county
from near Nashville. They had a family of four children, all of whom are
living as follows: Mrs. Dora Pierce, Mrs. Annie Hight, Robert and James T.
The elder Alsup was a blacksmith by trade, and he died when James T. was but
a small boy and the son was accordingly obliged to make his own way from a
very early age. After the father's death the mother moved with her family to
Johnson county, Illinois, and when ten years old James in order to lift a
portion of the burden of the support of the family from her shoulders hired
out to a farmer. He continued to thus work until his eighteenth year, when
he decided to supplement his meager schooling with further study and entered
the public school. Later he became a pupil at a select school, where he
studied under the tutorage of Professor W. Y. Smith for two years.
The summer of 1888 marked the beginning of Rev. Alsup's career as a minister
of the Christian church, his ordination taking place soon after he had
started to preach. In January, 1889, he accepted a call to the Metropolis,
Illinois, Christian church, and retained that charge for two years. He then
resigned in order to pursue higher studies and entered Eureka College,
remaining there five years, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Arts in
1896. While attending college Rev. Alsup devoted a portion of his time to
preaching, filling at various times the pulpits of Pontiac, Flanagan,
Saunemin and Cerro Gordo, all of which were located near Eureka College.
He responded to a call from the Washington, Illinois, church in 1896, and
remained with that charge for two years, at the expiration of which period
he accepted the appointment of state evangelist at the hands of the State
Board of Christian Missions. This evangelical work he continued for a year
and then, having received an urgent call from the Pekin, Illinois, Church of
Christ, he took up work there and served for three years, severing his
connection with the charge in April of 1902. It was while a resident of
Pekin that Rev. Alsup suffered bereavement in the loss of his first wife,
her demise occurring in October, 1901. She was Mollie Davison. daughter of
Amazinah and Jane Davison, and her marriage to Mr. Alsup took place in 1892.
They became the parents of four children, Janet, Winifred, Errett and
Vivian.
In 1902 Rev. Alsup decided to seek a change of location and selected as his
choice Harrison county, Missouri. Purchasing a farm at that point, he
continued to live thereon with his family, cultivating the land, teaching
and preaching and doing a great amount of good. For seven years he continued
to pursue this mode of life and character of activity in Missouri, when a
desire to return to his old home state seized him and he went back to
Metropolis. Illinois, remaining there until the spring of 1911, when he
returned to his first charge in Vienna.
While in Missouri, in January, 1904, Rev. Alsup married his second wife, who
was Miss Josie L. North, of Washington, Illinois, daughter of Luther S. and
Ellen North. To this union three children were born, two of whom are living.
James and William.
Rev. Alsup is a man of good business ability and he has accumulated some
valuable property, among his holdings being a two hundred acre farm near
Vienna, which he purchased in 1908. He is active in social life and is a
member of the Modern Woodmen and Court of Honor lodges and is also a Mason.
As a minister he is a man of power, a forceful speaker and endowed with
marked oratorical ability. He possesses great energy and has many pleasing
personal qualities and a sterling character that have won for him the
highest respect and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
Extracted 07 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Southern Illinois, by George Washington Smith, published in 1912, volume 3, pages 1509-1511.
