Eliza Arbuckle

During my reading of the booklet “Campbell Mansion” (reviewed earlier) I noticed that there were several references to this book by Mrs. Eliza Davies. I then discovered that her book was available for no charge via the Archives site online and also via Google books. Hence, I downloaded the book and am happy to report of my reading it from cover to cover.

Mrs. Davies, born 1819 as Eliza Arbuckle in Paisley, Scotland, is an autobiography of a woman who endured incredible hardships throughout her childhood and most of her adult life. When she was but an infant her father died. Her beautiful mother remarried and expressed little love toward her daughter, expecting her to keep quiet and obey her commands.

When she was a teenager she became a Christian of the Baptist faith, although she did not find support in the Bible for the Baptist's Calvinistic beliefs or “rules” (e.g., a “spiritual experience” acceptable to the elders) for admittance to the church. She did agree that baptism involved immersion in water. Her mother did not approve.

At age 19, and under guardian control of a non-related elder couple, Eliza boarded a ship for a four month voyage to New South Wales, best know at the time for being a penal colony of the British Empire. The voyage was one of several Eliza made to distant shores in her life, and virtually every one of them involved horrors of sickness and stormy weather that should be wished for no one.

In the colony of South Australia, she was pushed by a guardian to marry a man (Mr. Davies) she didn't love. The marriage was a complete disaster, as she described extreme mental and physical abuses made to her by her husband. Laws did not favor her, but eventually she achieved a separation from her husband, which may have saved her life.

She returned to New South Wales where her sister introduced her to a man who asked to marry her. She refused his advances.

In 1847 she returned to Scotland where she met Alexander Campbell during his famous visit to Scotland. From Chapter IX (p. 237) onward, the book takes on much added value to persons interested in the Stone-Campbell religious heritage. She provides details as only a witness could regarding Campbell's conduct, preaching, and his imprisonment in Scotland.

Chapters X through XIV convey the rather pleasant experiences Mrs. Davies enjoyed while living at Bethany, Virginia (now West Virginia) and then to Kentucky where she worked at the Kentucky Female Orphan School at Midway. During her stay in America she lived with and worshiped with many of the Campbell family members. Several family members died during that time (November 1847 to sometime in early 1850). J. W. McGarvey was a close friend while at Bethany. In Kentucky she met John Gano, Walter Scott, and other leaders of the Christian Church.

She dodged getting “yellow fever” on summer visits to Louisiana.

In 1857, under the impression that her sister was dying, she returned to New South Wales via New York. She represented the American Bible Union and introduced a new version of the Bible to Australia. She also distributed numerous tracts and writings of Alexander Campbell.

Eventually she went into the bush country of North Sydney and established a school for girls and boys. It developed into an outstanding school, one of the leading ones in all of Australia. Mrs. Davies was finally getting the recognition and support she so deserved.

She went back to South Australia and taught at a school in Adelaide, again with much success and adoration.

In 1874, Mrs. Davies returned to America with the goal of seeing remaining members of the Campbell family and other friends of the Christian Church. This time she arrived in San Francisco and traveled across America by railroad to West Virginia. It is here that her story ends.

The book is lengthy (570 pages), but is recommended for persons interested in learning about a little-known but remarkable woman of faith who lived with the early leaders of the Stone-Campbell religious heritage. The book is available at no charge online and has no index.… (plus d'informations)