Author's foreword: It has frequently occurred to me to put down in book form some of the interesting incidents in my long life, as an orphan boy, with something of my conversion, entering the ministry, and the various fields in which I have labored these sixty-three years, preaching throughout this nation and in many countries around the world.
Numbers of my friends have asked me to write my Life Story, and I have found it fascinating; one of the most interesting features is the very remarkable part of my Life Story that I could not tell without reflection on others who have been strongly opposed to the work in which I have engaged, the Bible truths I have loved and delighted to preach.
I have sought to avoid anything that could possibly give pain to any one who might read what I had written. I have been compelled to leave out much that was interesting to me, as it came up in the refreshing of my memory, and would doubtless, have been interesting to others who are interested in me, but the book is already too large; and here it is.
If in its pages the reader can find anything of interest and helpfulness I shall be grateful.
The Table of Contents are as follows: Chapter 1: MY ANCESTORS Chapter 2: MY ANCESTORS (Continued) Chapter 3: MY FIRST MEMORIES Chapter 4: THE CIVIL WAR Chapter 5: BOYHOOD IN THE COUNTRY Chapter 6: A BATTLE WITH SATAN Chapter 7: MY CONVERSION Chapter 8: FROM THE PENNYROYAL TO THE BLUE GRASS Chapter 9: I FOUND A FRIEND Chapter 10: RIDING A CIRCUIT Chapter 11: A PAIN IN MY HEART Chapter 12: MY FIRST STATION Chapter 13: AT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Chapter 14: A TRAIN OF MEMORIES Chapter 15: IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KENTUCKY Chapter 16: A REMARKABLE CONVERSION Chapter 17: NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF REVIVALS Chapter 18: ENTERING THE EVANGELISTIC FIELD Chapter 19: CONDITIONS IN KENTUCKY METHODISM Chapter 20: TEMPTING OFFERS Chapter 21: THE ENLARGED EVANGELISTIC FIELD Chapter 22: A GREAT SORROW CAME INTO MY LIFE Chapter 23: MY FIRST TRIP TO CALIFORNIA Chapter 24: THE TENT MEETING WHICH LED TO MY EXPULSION FROM THE CHURCH AND MINISTRY Chapter 25: MY TRIAL BEFORE A QUARTERLY CONFERENCE Chapter 26: LOYALTY AND LOVE Chapter 27: PREACHING AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES Chapter 28: AN ENLARGED EFFORT IN THE HOLINESS MOVEMENT Chapter 29: MY EVANGELISTIC TOUR OF THE WORLD Chapter 30: ON OUR WAY TO INDIA Chapter 31: TRAVELING IN INDIA Chapter 32: WORLD TOUR OF EVANGELISM Chapter 33: THE CALL TO THE PRESIDENCY OF ASBURY COLLEGE Chapter 34: FORWARD MOVEMENT AT ASBURY Chapter 35: MY LOYAL ASSISTANTS Chapter 36: MY RETURN TO THE PRESIDENCY OF ASBURY COLLEGE Chapter 37: CLOSING REFLECTIONS
About the author: Morrison was in Barren County, Kentucky. His parents died when he was very young, and he was reared by his paternal grandfather. Morrison was converted at the age of 11 in a Methodist revival at the Boyd's Creek Meetinghouse near Glasgow, Kentucky. Soon after he felt a call to the ministry. He was licensed to preach at the age of 19 and began his work as circuit rider and station pastor.
In 1890 Morrison left the pastorate and moved into evangelism. He also began editing a religious publication called The Old Methodist, which later became the widely-read Pentecostal Herald. Morrison's reputation as a Methodist evangelist grew rapidly from his home state of Kentucky to most other states and many foreign countries. The camp meeting became one of his favorite evangelistic venues, and throughout the rest of his life Morrison gave much time and effective leadership to this religious movement. William Jennings Bryan regarded Morrison to be "the greatest pulpit orator on the American continent."