schools of his county. He was converted in 1880, and joined the M. E. church, which marked a turning epoch in his life. Having been moved by the Spirit to begin the work of a teacher of divine truth, he applied for an exhorter's license and received it at the hands of Rev, S. A. Lewis, and subsequently was the recipient of orders as a local preacher from Presiding Elder Samuel G. Griffin.
Having the good sense to know that a man, in these days, who enters the ministry, must be trained for the position, he applied for admission at Morgan College, one of the schools controlled by the Freedman's Aid and Southern Evangelical Society, located at Baltimore, Md,, and was received there. His attendance at this institution was under some great sacrifices, and therefore he could spare no time for idleness. He at once took a prominent place among the bright students with whom he was associated, and won the G. V. Leech prize for excellence in theology in 1884, and received the Baldwin prize for English oratory in 1887. He is a graduate of the normal, classical, and theological departments of that college. He was examined and admitted to the Traveling Connection of the Washington Conference of the M. E. church, in March, 1889, and was stationed at Harpers' Ferry, W. Va., and was sent back in March, 1890. He is one of the best pulpit orators among the young men of that Conference. He is winning in his manner, and at the same time he impresses upon his hearers the divine teachings of the Master with force and power.
For some time before Mr. Clair entered the Washington Annual Conference, it was a great question with the members whether a local organ could not be established and maintained by that portion of Methodism. Several attempts to do this were made, among which were The Conference Journal and The Central Methodist, noted in other chapters. The Banner is only a resurrection of The Central Methodist, after a year's
