ENOCH E. BYRUM. A distinguished and influential member of the clergy of the Church of God, author of high-grade and valuable works and president of the Gospel Trumpet Company, whose printing and publishing plant, located near the city of Anderson, is one of the finest in the state of Indiana, Mr. Byrum is numbered among the prominent and honored citizens of Madison County, has been a power for good in the various relations of life, is a man of high attainments and exalted character and is eminently entitled to representation in this publication.
Enoch E. Byrum is a native son of Indiana and is a son of one of the old and honored families of this commonwealth, He was born in Randolph County, on the 13th of October, 1861, and is a son of Eli and Lucinda (Fields) Byrum, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Tennessee, The father devoted the major part of his active career to the great basic industry of agriculture and both he and his wife passed the closing period of their lives in Randolph County, Indiana, They were folk of devout Christian faith and their lives signalized their practical observance of the faith which they thus professed and by which they guided and governed themselves, so that they ever held secure place in the confidence and high regard of all who knew them.
He whose name initiates this review gained his early education in the public schools of his native County, Thereafter he entered the Northern Indiana Normal School, at Valparaiso, and in this institution, now known as Valparaiso University, he was graduated as a member of the class of 1886, after the completion of thorough courses in elocution and oratory, Thereafter he attended in 1887, Otterbein University, at Westerville, Ohio, in which admirable institution he specialized in Sunday-school work and in philosophical and divinity studies. Setting t0 himself high purpose and determining to devote himself to the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men, he earnestly and effectively prepared himself for the ministry, and in 1892 he was ordained as a clergyman of the Church of God, Mr. Byrum has done most consecrated and faithful services as a worker in the vineyard of the Divine Master and has become one of the most influential factors in the affairs of the church of which he is a representative, Since 1889 he has been editor of the. “Gospel Trumpet,” published by the Gospel Trumpet Company, and this is one of the leading periodicals of the religious denomination with which he has been long and prominently identified. In 1904 Mr. Byrum made a tour of the world for the purpose of examining the ancient manuscripts of the Bible and otherwise expanding his wide knowledge of Christian literature and activities, and investigating the outlook of Foreign Missionary work and establishing missions in the foreign fields, In 1909-10 he made a most zealous and effective missionary tour through the southern states, Central and South America and the West Indies. Mr. Byrum has written voluminously on subjects pertaining to religion and human responsibilities and ideals, Among the most prominent of his published works are those bearing the following named titles: “The Boy’s Companion,” “Divine Healing of Soul and Body,” “The Secret of Salvation,” “The Prayer of Faith,” “The Great Physician,” “Behind the Prison Bars,” “Travels and Experiences in Other Lands,” and “The Secret of Prayer.” Each of these volumes has been issued from the presses of the Gospel Trumpet Company, of which he is president.
In the year 1880 the publication of the “Gospel Trumpet” was instituted at Indianapolis, and moved in 1906 to Anderson, Indiana, where the plant was located on the corner of Ninth and Main streets, There the business was most successfully conducted until 1910, when the company purchased fifty-seven acres of land just outside the corporate limits of Anderson, adjoining the eastern part of the city, one mile from the court house, where they have erected large buildings of concrete construction, modern in every respect, for the accommodation of the extensive publishing business of which Mr. Byrum is the executive head, and in the upbuilding of which he has been the dominating force. On the same grounds have been erected by the company an excellent building for the accommodation and residence of employees and also an admirable home for old folk who are affiliated with the Church of God, The equipment of the printing and publishing plant is of the most modern and approved order, including the best cylinder and job presses and three linotype machines, so that the establishment is one of the best of the order in the entire Union. Mr. Byrum is president of the company as has been stated previously, and the other members of the official board are as here designated A. L. Byers, vice-president, and N. H. Byrum, secretary-treasurer.
In 1889 Mr. Byrum was married to Rhoda B. Keagy, She bore him six children, named as follows: Ethel E., now Mrs. Kimble of Anderson, Indiana; Birdie Ruth, E. Arlo, Mabel Grace, Bernice Mariva, and Nilah Virginia, The wife and mother died on September 14, 1907, and on October 1, 1908, Mr. Byrum married Miss Lucena C. Beardslee, of Seattle, Washington.
Mr. Byrum is a man of broad culture, but has naught of intellectual bigotry or intolerance in his makeup. As a citizen he is essentially progressive and public-spirited and his genial personality has gained to him the high regard of those with whom he has come in contact in the varied relations of life, In his political activities, he votes for the principle and the man behind it, not being one to make a fetish of adherence to any especial political party.