Portraits of Endurance

  [579 words] Barton W. Stone was born in 1772. In his autobiography he wrote, “My father, John Stone, died when I was very young. I have no recollection of him in life.” He grew up without his father, but he never used his loss as an excuse to rebel or quit. When soldiers returned after the war cussing, drinking, and gambling, he refused to be like them. In spite of an overbearing teacher, he excelled in school. He went on to be baptized and became one of the most influential preachers in his time. When Moses Lard was twelve his father died of smallpox. His widowed mother lost their home and was unable to provide for six children. When he was seventeen she told him and his brother with tears streaming down her cheeks that they would have to go out and make it on their own. He never…