AT CONFERENCE
Presiding Elder J. W. Shackford
Drops Dead While
Calling Roll.
(Special to The Times-Dispatch)
LYNCHBURG, VA., September 11. - Rev. Joseph Wesley Shackford, presiding elder of the Lynchburg District of the Methodist Church, and a member of the Virginia Conference for thirty-five years, dropped dead this afternoon at Early Chapel, Bedford county, while he was calling the roll for the last quarterly conference of that charge.
He had called but one name when his pencil slipped from his hand and his head fell forward. When the congregation rushed to him he was dead.
Mr Shackford was a native of King and Queen county. He was born July 21, 1848. He was educated in near-by schools and at the University of Virginia. He was a local preacher for three years when admitted to the North Carolina Conference in 1874.
Two years later he was transferred to the Virginia Conference. His appointment came two or three years later.
Mr Shackford married Miss Cora Kingsberry [sic, jsp], at Oxford, N. C. November 1875. She died years ago. He is survived by the following children: Mrs S. B. Walker, of Westmoreland county: Mrs Joseph E. Johnston, of Farmville; Mrs G. W. Dyer, of Nashville, Tenn., Rev. John W. Shackford, pastor of Rivermont Avenue Church, Lynchburg, and Theodore Shackford also of Lynchburg.
The funeral will be held from Court Street Church here Monday and the body will be taken to Oxford, N. C., for internment.
REFERENCES:
"Calling Roll, Preacher Dies," Richmond (Virginia) Planet, 18 September 1909; digital images, Library of Congress Chronicling America (: accessed 26 July 2013), http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
Johnston Joseph S, editor, The Diary of Joseph Wesley Shackford King and Queen County Virginia 1868-1893 (Library of Congress: Library of Congress, 1991),
"MINISTER DIES AT CONFERENCE Presiding Elder J. W. Shackfor Drops Dead While Calling Roll," The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), 12 September 1909; digital image, Library of Congress Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 30 July 2013).
"SOME DEATHS," Virginia (Irvington, Virginia) Citizen, 17 September 1909; digital images, Library of Congress Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 8 February 2014).
Note: We purchased our copy of Joseph's diary on Amazon.com about four years ago for about $20. There do not seem to be any copies for sale at Amazon any longer - the only source online is a Rare Antique book selection so if you happen to find a copy of this book, we'd recommend you read it and cherish it.
Copyright 2014 Joanne Shackford Parkes