Marks, David; Marks, Marilla. Memoirs of the Life of David Marks, Minister of the Gospel; edited by Mrs. Marilla Marks. Dover, N. H.: Published by the Free-Will Baptist Printing Establishment | William Burr, Printer, 1846. First Edition. [12551]
Full brown leather with a black leather spine title label, binding shows scuffing and edge-wear, joints good, some small edge chipping to the label, 8 x 5 1/4 inches, tight. Old stains to the front end papers and first few leaves, fine steel-engraved portrait with facsimile writing and tissue guard. 516 pp., foxing, some small damp stains in the top margins. Good. Hardcover.
Starr, A Baptist Bibliography, M2922.
Howes M293. "Itinerant Free Will Baptist preacher."
No. 3560 in Roberts, Revival Literature: An Annotated Bibliography. "Includes material on Jacob Knapp, Lorenzo Dow, etc. The sermon which was preached by Charles G. Finney at Marks' funeral is included in this abridgment of the 1831 volume with much additional material."
Flake 5278 for the Mormon content on pp. 236-238, in which Marks tells of a meeting in Fayette, New York, in the home of a Mr. Whitmer, who sons said they had seen a book just published, the "Golden Bible," or "Book of Mormon." "They affirmed, that an angel had showed them certain plates of metal, having the appearance of gold, that were dug out of the ground by one Joseph Smith...The Bible is a book of perfect harmony, and unrivaled sublimity; the 'Book of Mormon' is full of absurdity, and too dull to charm the soul."
This Memoir is derived from the Journals of Mr. Marks, with notes and observations added by his wife. Marks had published a Life in 1831, in a small print run, much of which is included here.
"Immediately after the decease of Mr. Marks, many highly esteemed friends...repeatedly expressed the conviction that the cause of Christ demanded the publication of his biography. In deference to their judgment...this work is now submitted to the Christian public." - Preface.
David Marks (1805-1845), b. Shandaken, New York; d. Oberlin, Ohio. At age 16 Marks became a Freewill Baptist itinerant in upstate New York, and "journeyed through New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Kentucky, Connecticut, and into Canada, on horseback and on foot, all in one year. This was his method of work during the first ten years of his ministry." - Burgess & Ward, Free Baptist Cyclopedia (1889), p. 384.
Marks became agent of the newly-formed Book Concern of his denomination (1831), and oversaw the work for four years. He was pastor of a church in Portsmouth, N. H. (1834-36), and organized a church in Rochester, N. Y. (1836), and after a year or so took up itinerant work again. Prominent in the anti-slavery movement, he and his wife Marilla moved to Oberlin, Ohio, in 1842, where they were associated with Charles Grandison Finney.
