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 Gaston B. Cashwell
Gaston Barnibus Cashwell (1860-1916) was a early Pentecostal leader in the
southern United States. He was born in Sampson County, North Carolina. His
importance lies in bringing several Holiness movements into the Pentecostal
camp.
G. B. Cashwell first became a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, and later joined the Holiness Church of North Carolina in 1903. In
November of 1906, he traveled to Los Angeles to visit the pentecostal revival
at the Azusa Street mission. In early December, he had an emotional experience
that he believed to be the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the evidence of
speaking in tongues. Upon returning to Dunn, North Carolina, on December 31,
1906, Cashwell preached the pentecostal experience in the local Holiness
church. Interest in the pentecostal experience was so great that he rented a
local tobacco warehouse and began a month-long crusade. A revival broke out in
North Carolina, especially in the holiness movement. Most of the ministers of
the Pentecostal Holiness Church, the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church and the
Holiness Free Will Baptist Churches were swept into Pentecostalism by this
revival. Over the next six months, he toured the south preaching "Pentecost".
His zeal and influence in spreading Pentecostalism through the south has
earned him the title of the Apostle of Pentecost to the South.
In the summer of 1907, Cashwell brought the message of Pentecost to
evangelists H. G. Rodgers and M. M. Pinson, who carried the message to
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi. Later they would lead these
churches into the Assemblies of God. Through Rodgers and Pinson, A. J.
Tomlinson of the Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee heard of Cashwell's
message and invited him to Cleveland. On January 12, 1908, following a sermon
by Cashwell, Tomlinson fell to the floor. He professed to receiving the
baptism of the Holy Ghost and speaking in at least ten different languages.
In October of 1907, Cashwell started a publication in Atlanta, Georgia called
The Bridegroom's Messenger. The periodical was created to spread the
Pentecostal message over the country through a combination of sermons,
articles, editorials, and testimonies. He edited it for a year before
returning fully to his evangelistic efforts. The magazine was later taken over
by Paul and Hattie Barth, who organized the International Pentecostal
Assemblies (now International Pentecostal Church of Christ). It is still
published by Beulah Heights Bible College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Although the influence of Cashwell was strong, his time of association with
the Pentecostal movement was for a brief period of three years - from his
"conversion" in 1906 until his departure from the Pentecostal Holiness Church
in 1909. In 1910 and afterward, his name no longer appeared in the roster of
ministers belonging to the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Cashwell distanced
himself from "Pentecostalism", rejoined the Methodist church, and died from a
heart-attack in 1916.
Cashwell's apostleship of Pentecostalism in the south influenced many
denominations. About a dozen existing Pentecostal bodies can trace their
Pentecostal heritage directly or at least in part to Gaston B. Cashwell,
including:
Assemblies of God
Church of God (Cleveland)
Church of God of Prophecy
Congregational Holiness Church
International Pentecostal Church of Christ
International Pentecostal Holiness Church
Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church
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