William Alexander Byus Sr.

More commonly known as "Pa" Byus was a Methodist "Circuit Rider" from West Virginia. He was a renowned ordained minister of his time, was known as the “Abraham Lincoln of the Methodist Church.” He was the son of William Alexander Byus, Sr. who was a local Methodist minister. His boyhood home was a hewed-log house with a clapboard roof. It was amidst these humble surroundings that he found his “Wonderful Lord” at the age of 16.
• 1900 - licensed to preach
• 1908 – ordained a Deacon
• 1910 – received his elder’s orders
His educational advantages were limited, but he still managed to attend both Morris Harvey College and West Virginia Wesleyan College. He received his first appointments as a supply pastor in 1903 and served the Cabin Creek circuit. Other preaching appointments were from the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist Church…Charleston District:
• Lumberport
• Knottsville (Lawrence Methodist Episcopal Church)
• Snow Hill (Charleston)
• Wesley (Charleston)
He then served as Conference Evangelist for 4 years, retired, and went into a wider field of evangelism which reached from Canada to Florida and as far west as the Dakotas. He was a friend of Billy Graham.
His rugged manly features were so pronounced that he was referred to as the “Abe Lincoln” of the pulpit. Yet there was a charm and attraction that could be attributed to nothing less than the Spirit of Christ within him. The years silvered his hair and wrinkled his face, but it could not dampen his sense of humor or quench his zeal for lost souls. He lived at 806 Byus Drive in Charleston, West Virginia.
He was the author of 3 books of sermons:
• My Wonderful Lord
• Concerning the King
• My Sufficient Savior
These books remain a testimony to a gentle soul dedicated to his Savior. After a brief illness on October 31, 1965, he closed his eyes and his spirit stole away to join that innumerable host in the house not made by hands, eternal in the heaven