Sunday, Billy, 1862-1935

William Ashley Sunday, Sr., American evangelist, was born November 19, 1862 in Ames, Iowa. After holding various jobs while completing high school, he was recruited to join the Chicago White Stockings, a professional baseball team. He committed his life to Christ in 1886 or 1887, upon following a street gospel band back to their mission. He married Helen Amelia Thompson in 1888. He gave talks to young men in the cities his team visited and worked part-time for the Chicago YMCA. He coached the baseball team in exchange for tuition at Evanston Academy of Northwestern University in Illinois. In 1891, he quit baseball to devote himself to full-time Christian service. He worked briefly with evangelists J. Wilbur Chapman and Milan B. Williams in 1893 and, in 1896, began to hold his own revival campaigns. He died in November of 1935. Helen Sunday continued her husband's ministry after his death, and became an important Christian leader in her own right. She died in 1957.

William (Billy) Ashley Sunday was born November 19, 1962 in Ames, Iowa. His father died while serving in the Civil War. Unable to provide for her family, Billy's mother sent her sons to an orphanage. Sunday started playing professional baseball in 1883 with the Chicago White Stockings, and later played with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia clubs. He was converted about 1886 and became active in Bible studies as well as Sunday services. He married Helen Amelia ("Nell") Thompson on September 5, 1888, and they had four children. In 1891 Sunday began working full time for the Chicago YMCA in the Religious Department. Later Sunday spent three years assisting evangelist J. Wilbur Chapman in his meetings, until Chapman returned to the pastorate. Sunday began his own evangelistic crusade ministry in Garner, Iowa, in 1896. He was ordained in 1903 by the Chicago Presbytery. Sunday died of a heart attack on November 5, 1935.

Evangelist. Born William Ashley Sunday.

In the early twentieth century Billy Sunday was one of the most popular evangelists in America. He preached revivals all over the country, reportedly converting over 300,000 people to Christianity over the course of his career. William Ashley Sunday was born in 1862 and grew up in Iowa. His baseball skills landed him a spot on the Chicago Whitestockings team in 1883. Billy's life changed dramatically in 1886 after meeting a group of evangelists from the Pacific Garden Mission and converting to Christianity. His religious convictions eventually led him to give up his baseball career and later to lead revivals across the country. Billy's wife Helen selected the cities where Billy would preach and arranged the details of the tours. Sunday moved to Winona Lake, Indiana, late in life. The peak years of his ministry were 1910-1920, but he continued to hold meetings until his death from a heart attack in 1935.

William Ashley "Billy" Sunday came to Boulder, Colo., in the late summer of 1909 to hold 5 weeks of revival meetings, organized by A. L. Ward, pastor of the Christian Church and chairman of the local Evangelical Association. Volunteers built a 4,000 seat sand-floored wooden tabernacle at 13th and High streets, later site of Casey Jr. High. The Boulder Daily Camera covered the meetings extensively. 5,000 persons jammed the tabernacle Oct. 5 for Sunday's final appearance.

The number of conversions during the 1909 meetings was said to reach 1,471. The newspaper reported that Billy Sunday departed from Boulder in a procession of more than 6,000 people, led by the University of Colorado band. He "stood up in an automobile and shook hands with hundreds as they passed by in regular procession, while the throng again broke into inspiring hymns." [Source: article in Boulder Public Library newsletter, The Public Bridge, Spring 1990, by Janet Ross.].

Billy Sunday returned to Colorado for meetings in Denver in 1914, and returned to Boulder in 1925.

Biographical Note

Sunday, Billy