Jon Gary Williams
Articles / Resources
0194
J. W. Chism vs Mormons and Ben M. Bogard
March 4, 1909
(By J. W. Chism)
On January 23, I began a debate at River View Schoolhouse, ten miles from Waurika, Oklahoma, which lasted eight days. This was the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." The debate was well attended despite bad weather and I am sure that Mormonism is at a dead stop in that part of the country. The two preachers tried to hold a meeting after the debate closed, but only three came the second night. So they closed.
I came to Tenaha, Texas for a debate with Ben M. Bogard (Missionary Baptist) of Little Rock, Arkansas. From February 9-12, we debated four specific propositions. I found Bogard to be a nice man in debate, only once did he stoop to "mud slinging." All in all, I found him to be a fair debater, about the best the Baptists have in the South, since J. K. P. Williams is getting physically too feeble to debate and F. L. Dupont is laid out. These were the two strongest in Texas, and either of them the equal of J. N. Hall. But Mr. Bogard thinks of himself "more highly than he ought to think."
He began by boasting what he was going to do; but the people soon saw that he fell far short of his boasts, and by the third day he was begging sympathy in every speech. But, all in all, he is a fair debater for the Baptists. I mean by "fair" that he is an average man with their best today and not as tricky as some men in debate.
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