Edward McKendree Bounds
Encyclopedia
Edward McKendree Bounds (August 15, 1835 – ) was a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and author of eleven books, nine of which focused on the subject of prayer
.
to Thomas J. and Hatty Bounds. His father, Thomas J. Bounds, was instrumental in organizing Shelby County, Missouri, he was an original landholder in the county seat, Shelbyville
, and he was a driving force in the building of the First Methodist Church in 1840. Because his father served as county clerk, the Bounds' home was used for court sessions. When Edward was fourteen years old, his father contracted tuberculosis and died.
Shortly after his father's death in 1849, Edward, his eldest brother (Charles), and several other relatives joined a wagon train and traveled to Mesquite Canyon in California in hopes of making a fortune in gold mining. After four unsuccessful years, they returned to Missouri and Edward studied law in Hannibal, Missouri
. He became the state's youngest practicing lawyer at age nineteen. Although apprenticed as an attorney, Bounds felt called to Christian ministry in his early twenties during the Third Great Awakening
. Following a brush arbor revival meeting led by Evangelist Smith Thomas, he closed his law office and moved to Palmyra, Missouri
to enroll in the Centenary Seminary. Two years later, in 1859 at the age of 24, he was ordained by his denomination and was named pastor of the nearby Monticello, Missouri
Methodist Church.
He became a chaplain
in the Confederate States Army
(3rd Missouri Infantry CSA) During the Second Battle of Franklin, Bounds suffered a severe forehead injury from a Union saber, and he was taken prisoner. On June 28, 1865, Bounds was among Confederate prisoners who were released upon the taking of an oath of loyalty to the United States.
After serving several important churches in St. Louis and other places, south, he became Editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate for eight years and, later, Associate Editor of The Nashville Christian Advocate for four years. The trial of his faith came to him while in Nashville, and he quietly retired to his home without asking even a pension. His principal work in Washington, Georgia
(his home) was rising at 4 am and praying until 7 am. He filled a few engagements as an evangelist during the eighteen years of his lifework. While on speaking engagements, he would not neglect his early morning time in prayer, and cared nothing for the protests of the other occupants of his room at being awakened so early. No man could have made more melting appeals for lost souls and backslidden ministers than did Bounds. Tears ran down his face as he pleaded for us all in that room.
According to people who were constantly with him, in prayer and preaching, for eight years "Not a foolish word did we ever hear him utter. He was one of the most intense eagles of God that ever penetrated the spiritual ether. He could not brook delay in rising, or being late for dinner. He would go with me to street meetings often in Brooklyn and listen to the preaching and sing with us those beautiful songs of Wesley and Watts. He often reprimanded me for asking the unconverted to sing of Heaven
. Said he: 'They have no heart to sing, they do not know God, and God does not hear them. Quit asking sinners to sing the songs of Zion and the Lamb.'"
on September 19, 1876. They had two daughters, Celeste and Corneille, and a son, Edward. Emmie died on February 18, 1886. Twenty months later, Edward married Emmie's cousin, Harriet (Hattie) Elizabeth Barnett in 1887. To them were born three sons (Samuel, Charles, and Osborne) and three daughters (Elizabeth, Mary, and Emmie). His son Edward, by his first wife, died at the age of six, and his son Charles, by his second wife, died eight days after his first birthday.
. The funeral was held on the following day.
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
.
Early life
Bounds was born in Shelby County, rural MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
to Thomas J. and Hatty Bounds. His father, Thomas J. Bounds, was instrumental in organizing Shelby County, Missouri, he was an original landholder in the county seat, Shelbyville
Shelbyville, Missouri
Shelbyville is a city in Shelby County, Missouri, United States. The population was 682 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Shelby County.-Geography:Shelbyville is located at...
, and he was a driving force in the building of the First Methodist Church in 1840. Because his father served as county clerk, the Bounds' home was used for court sessions. When Edward was fourteen years old, his father contracted tuberculosis and died.
Shortly after his father's death in 1849, Edward, his eldest brother (Charles), and several other relatives joined a wagon train and traveled to Mesquite Canyon in California in hopes of making a fortune in gold mining. After four unsuccessful years, they returned to Missouri and Edward studied law in Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal is a city in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. Hannibal is located at the intersection of Interstate 72 and U.S. Routes 24, 36 and 61, approximately northwest of St. Louis. According to the 2010 U.S. Census the population was 17,606...
. He became the state's youngest practicing lawyer at age nineteen. Although apprenticed as an attorney, Bounds felt called to Christian ministry in his early twenties during the Third Great Awakening
Third Great Awakening
The Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the early 1900s. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense of social activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ...
. Following a brush arbor revival meeting led by Evangelist Smith Thomas, he closed his law office and moved to Palmyra, Missouri
Palmyra, Missouri
Palmyra is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,467 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area.- Geography :Palmyra is located at...
to enroll in the Centenary Seminary. Two years later, in 1859 at the age of 24, he was ordained by his denomination and was named pastor of the nearby Monticello, Missouri
Monticello, Missouri
Monticello is a village in Lewis County, Missouri, United States, along the North Fabius River. The population was 126 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County.Monticello is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area....
Methodist Church.
Civil War Chaplain
E.M. Bounds did not support slavery. But, because he was a pastor at a congregation in the recently formed Methodist Episcopal Church South, his name was included in a list of 250 names who were to take an oath of allegiance and post a $500 bond. Edward saw no reason for a U.S. Citizen to take such an oath, he was morally opposed to the Union raising funds in this way, and he didn't have the $500. Bounds and the others on the list were arrested in 1861 by Union troops, and Bounds was charged as a Confederate sympathizer. He was held with other non-combatants in a Federal prison in St. Louis for a year and a half. He was then transferred to Memphis and released in a prisoner exchanged between the Union and the Confederacy.He became a chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
in the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
(3rd Missouri Infantry CSA) During the Second Battle of Franklin, Bounds suffered a severe forehead injury from a Union saber, and he was taken prisoner. On June 28, 1865, Bounds was among Confederate prisoners who were released upon the taking of an oath of loyalty to the United States.
Pastor and Author
Upon his release as a prisoner of the Union Army, he felt compelled to return to war-torn Franklin and help rebuild it spiritually, and he became the pastor of the Franklin Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His primary method was to establish weekly prayer sessions that sometimes lasted several hours. Bounds was regionally celebrated for leading spiritual revival in Franklin and eventually began an itinerant preaching ministry throughout the country.After serving several important churches in St. Louis and other places, south, he became Editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate for eight years and, later, Associate Editor of The Nashville Christian Advocate for four years. The trial of his faith came to him while in Nashville, and he quietly retired to his home without asking even a pension. His principal work in Washington, Georgia
Washington, Georgia
Washington is a city in Wilkes County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,295 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Wilkes County...
(his home) was rising at 4 am and praying until 7 am. He filled a few engagements as an evangelist during the eighteen years of his lifework. While on speaking engagements, he would not neglect his early morning time in prayer, and cared nothing for the protests of the other occupants of his room at being awakened so early. No man could have made more melting appeals for lost souls and backslidden ministers than did Bounds. Tears ran down his face as he pleaded for us all in that room.
According to people who were constantly with him, in prayer and preaching, for eight years "Not a foolish word did we ever hear him utter. He was one of the most intense eagles of God that ever penetrated the spiritual ether. He could not brook delay in rising, or being late for dinner. He would go with me to street meetings often in Brooklyn and listen to the preaching and sing with us those beautiful songs of Wesley and Watts. He often reprimanded me for asking the unconverted to sing of Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
. Said he: 'They have no heart to sing, they do not know God, and God does not hear them. Quit asking sinners to sing the songs of Zion and the Lamb.'"
Marriage and children
Bounds' first marriage was to Emma (Emmie) Elizabeth Barnett from Washington, GeorgiaWashington, Georgia
Washington is a city in Wilkes County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,295 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Wilkes County...
on September 19, 1876. They had two daughters, Celeste and Corneille, and a son, Edward. Emmie died on February 18, 1886. Twenty months later, Edward married Emmie's cousin, Harriet (Hattie) Elizabeth Barnett in 1887. To them were born three sons (Samuel, Charles, and Osborne) and three daughters (Elizabeth, Mary, and Emmie). His son Edward, by his first wife, died at the age of six, and his son Charles, by his second wife, died eight days after his first birthday.
Death
E.M. Bounds died on August 24, 1913 in Washington, GeorgiaWashington, Georgia
Washington is a city in Wilkes County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,295 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Wilkes County...
. The funeral was held on the following day.
Nonfiction
- Power Through Prayer (e-text) NOTE: This text was originally published as "Preacher and Prayer"
- Prayer and Praying Men (e-text) (online book) NOTE: This work has basically been retitled "Obtaining Answers To Prayers"
- Purpose in Prayer (e-text)
- The Essentials of Prayer (e-text)
- The Necessity of Prayer (e-text)
- The Possibilities of Prayer (e-text)
- The Reality of Prayer (e-text)
- The Weapon of Prayer (e-text)
- Preacher and Prayer (Google Books) (online book) NOTE: This text has been retitled as "Power Through Prayer"
- Satan: His Personality, Power and Overthrow (online book)
- Heaven: A Place - A City - A Home (online book)