Charles McCallon Alexander
Encyclopedia
Charles McCallon Alexander (1867–1920), a native of East Tennessee
, was a popular 19th Century gospel singer who worked the evangelistic circuit for many years. Over the course of his ministry, he toured with R. A. Torrey and John Wilbur Chapman
, most notably. In 1904, Alexander married Helen Cadbury
, daughter of the Cadbury Chocolate Company
president. She toured with him on the evangelistic circuit as a women's worker. Together they spread The Pocket Testament League
around the world.
Alexander's early Christian influence came from his mother, who was in the habit of reading Dwight L. Moody
sermons to the family every night around the fireplace. At an 1880 revival, a thirteen-year-old Charlie Alexander committed to the Christian faith. He attended Moody Bible Institute
from 1892–1894, after which time he toured with the M. B. Williams revival campaign. In 1902, he joined Dr. R. A. Torrey's Australian tour.
In 1907, Alexander joined forces with evangelist John Wilbur Chapman
to launch the "Chapman-Alexander Simultaneous Campaign." The duo assembled an impressive team of evangelists and songleaders and took to the streets. The first joint campaign was held in Philadelphia
from March 12 to April 19, 1908. They partitioned the city into 42 sections covered by 21 evangelist-musicians teams. They spent three weeks on each half of the city, resulting in approximately 8000 conversions. It was at a similar Chapman-Alexander event eight years later in North Carolina
that the legendary King James Only
proponent D O Fuller
committed to the Christian faith.
Chapman's biography reports, "The first Chapman-Alexander worldwide campaign left Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 26, 1909, and returned November 26. Stops along the way included: Melbourne
, Sydney
, Ipswich
, Brisbane
, Adelaide
, Ballarat, Bendigo, and Townsville in Australia
; Manila
in the Philippines
; Hong Kong
, Kowloon
, Canton
, Shanghai
, Hankow, Peking and Tientsin in China
; Seoul
, Korea
; Kobe
, Kyoto
, Tokyo
, and Yokohama
in Japan
."
By the end of 1910, Chapman's "mass evangelism" technique was losing favor in evangelistic circles, and Chapman and Alexander were back to large meeting revivals by 1912. The final Chapman-Alexander revival tour was conducted January 6 to February 13, 1918. After the conclusion of that crusade, Alexander retired to England, where he lived out the remaining two years of his life. He died in 1920 in Birmingham, England and was interred in Lodge Hill Cemetery.
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, was a popular 19th Century gospel singer who worked the evangelistic circuit for many years. Over the course of his ministry, he toured with R. A. Torrey and John Wilbur Chapman
John Wilbur Chapman
John Wilbur Chapman was a Presbyterian evangelist in the late 19th Century, generally traveling with gospel singer Charles Alexander. His parents were Alexander H. and Lorinda Chapman.-Faith & Education:Chapman grew up attending Quaker Day School and Methodist Sunday School...
, most notably. In 1904, Alexander married Helen Cadbury
Helen Cadbury
Helen Cadbury was an evangelist.In 1904, Cadbury married popular gospel singer Charles McCallon Alexander. She toured with him on the evangelistic circuit as a women's worker, and they worked together to found the Pocket Testament League, which distributes free pocket-sized New Testaments via...
, daughter of the Cadbury Chocolate Company
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury is a confectionery company owned by Kraft Foods and is the industry's second-largest globally after Mars, Incorporated. Headquartered in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom, the company operates in more than 50 countries worldwide....
president. She toured with him on the evangelistic circuit as a women's worker. Together they spread The Pocket Testament League
The Pocket Testament League
HistorySince 1893, The Pocket Testament League has motivated Christians to "Read, Carry and Share" the Word of God. Originally founded by a teenage girl named Helen Cadbury as a means of winning her classmates to Christ. In 1904, Helen married American evangelist Charles McCallon Alexander, who...
around the world.
Alexander's early Christian influence came from his mother, who was in the habit of reading Dwight L. Moody
Dwight L. Moody
Dwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
sermons to the family every night around the fireplace. At an 1880 revival, a thirteen-year-old Charlie Alexander committed to the Christian faith. He attended Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute is a Christian institution of higher education and related ministries that was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Since its founding, MBI's main campus has been located in the Near North Side of Chicago. MBI's primary ministries are education,...
from 1892–1894, after which time he toured with the M. B. Williams revival campaign. In 1902, he joined Dr. R. A. Torrey's Australian tour.
In 1907, Alexander joined forces with evangelist John Wilbur Chapman
John Wilbur Chapman
John Wilbur Chapman was a Presbyterian evangelist in the late 19th Century, generally traveling with gospel singer Charles Alexander. His parents were Alexander H. and Lorinda Chapman.-Faith & Education:Chapman grew up attending Quaker Day School and Methodist Sunday School...
to launch the "Chapman-Alexander Simultaneous Campaign." The duo assembled an impressive team of evangelists and songleaders and took to the streets. The first joint campaign was held in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
from March 12 to April 19, 1908. They partitioned the city into 42 sections covered by 21 evangelist-musicians teams. They spent three weeks on each half of the city, resulting in approximately 8000 conversions. It was at a similar Chapman-Alexander event eight years later in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
that the legendary King James Only
King-James-Only Movement
The "King James Only movement" advocates the superiority of the Authorized King James Version of the Protestant Bible. The topic increased in newsworthiness in 2011, the 400th anniversary of the translation's 1611 initial publication....
proponent D O Fuller
David Otis Fuller
David Otis Fuller was a graduate of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois and Princeton Theological Seminary...
committed to the Christian faith.
Chapman's biography reports, "The first Chapman-Alexander worldwide campaign left Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 26, 1909, and returned November 26. Stops along the way included: Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Ballarat, Bendigo, and Townsville in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
; Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
; Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
, Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Hankow, Peking and Tientsin in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
; Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
; Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, and Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
."
By the end of 1910, Chapman's "mass evangelism" technique was losing favor in evangelistic circles, and Chapman and Alexander were back to large meeting revivals by 1912. The final Chapman-Alexander revival tour was conducted January 6 to February 13, 1918. After the conclusion of that crusade, Alexander retired to England, where he lived out the remaining two years of his life. He died in 1920 in Birmingham, England and was interred in Lodge Hill Cemetery.