William Crocker

William Robert Crocker was born on February 24, 1907, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, to Lorenzo and Sally Evelyn Crocker. When he was 13 years old, in the seventh grade, he had to quit school to help his father on the farm. In 1927, when he was 20 years old, his father passed away.

In the spring of 1928, Bro. D.L. Welch of Pensacola, Florida, came to Neshoba County near Philadelphia, Mississippi, and preached at a brush arbor meeting. Robert decided to go see what the commotion was all about. Listening to Bro. Welch preach brought conviction to him, and after attending brush arbors for a few nights, he went to the altar. He repented of his sins and was baptized in Jesus’ name, but he did not receive the Holy Ghost at that time. Later, Bro. Paul L. Williamson preached there, and Robert received the Holy Ghost.

Bro. William Robert Crocker was ordained on April 19, 1931, in Mansfield, Louisiana, in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ. A Certificate of Ordination was issued October 31, 1938, and it was reissued January 1, 1946, when the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ and the Pentecostal Church Incorporated merged and became The United Pentecostal Church International. The Certificate of Ordination was signed by General Superintendent Howard Goss, Assistant Superintendent, W.T. Witherspoon, General Secretary, S.W. Chambers, and Mississippi District Superintendent, A.D. Gurley.

Soon after receiving the Holy Ghost, he began to feel he needed to tell others the wonderful news of the oneness of God, baptism in Jesus’ name, and the gift of the Holy Ghost with speaking in tongues. Bro. J.P. Crenshaw had received the Holy Ghost and was eager to work for the Lord, too. Together, they began going from house to house having prayer meetings and praying with people who were seeking God. Bro. Crenshaw played the violin, and Bro. Crocker played the guitar. On Saturdays, they would go into town and have a street service. They would sing, play music, and read scriptures.

At one revival, they met a man and his wife who were from a community near Lucedale, Mississippi. The man was a trinitarian preacher and was working in Louisiana. Bro. Crocker explained the oneness of God and baptism in Jesus’ name and gave them documented scriptures. They both were baptized in Jesus’ name. When the man’s job played out, he begged them to go home with him to preach this truth to his people. After seeking God’s will, Bro. Crocker agreed to go with them. They arrived at a place 12 miles from Lucedale, at a community called Buzzard Roost. Bro. Crocker preached from the front porch of a man known as Uncle Dave Davis. Many people came to the revival, some sought the Lord and received the Holy Ghost and were baptized in Jesus’ name. On Saturday afternoons, they went to Lucedale for street services. Two men from the Mt. Pisgah community near Leakesville, Mississippi, were in Lucedale that Saturday and heard the singing and preaching. After the service was over, they asked Bro. Crocker if he would consider going to Mt. Pisgah to preach. He told them he would pray about it. He had a first cousin who lived at Mt. Pisgah, so in August of 1931, Bro. Robert Crocker went to the Mt. Pisgah Community.

The first service he held in the Mt. Pisgah community was in the small Presbyterian Church that Pearlean Dueitt, his wife to be, had joined. She was, in fact, the church pianist. She added, “I was awed by their singing and preaching and the spirit I could feel. I had always had a desire to live for God but had never heard of the Pentecostal or Holiness faith. My mother had always taken me to church and taught me all she knew.”

After that first service, however, the elders of the church said, “No more Pentecostal services in the church,” so the next service was on a foggy, rainy night around a big bonfire. Many people stood around the fire in the misty rain and listened to Bro. Crocker play his guitar and sing and preach the Word of God. He said he felt he was in the perfect will of God. The interest was so great, he decided to stay on. Some of the men helped him build a brush arbor, and he preached there until the weather turned too cool. Many people were converted. Some got together and got permission to use the school auditorium to have service. Pearlean Dueitt went every night. She was hearing something she had never heard before. She started going to the altar, where there would be 75 to 80 people kneeling on the floor with tears streaming down their cheeks, asking God to fill them with the Holy Ghost. She saw Bro. Crocker walk among them, laying his hand on their heads and praying for them and they would begin speaking in tongues and magnifying God. She received the Holy Ghost on October 16, 1931, and was baptized a few days later. About 100 souls were filled with the Holy Ghost and baptized in Jesus’ name. The revival went on every night for over six months.

One evening as Bro. Crocker and Pearlean were walking to church, he told her that he loved her and wanted her to be his wife and helpmeet in the work of the Lord. Pearlean was only 17 years old, but she had fallen in love with Jesus and with Bro. Crocker. On April 27, 1933, they were married by her former pastor, Rev. R.M. Dixon.

In the spring of 1934, Bro. Crocker felt led to go to the town of Lucedale and preach a revival. He and a visiting preacher friend hitchhiked to Lucedale, about 15 miles, to see if they could find a place to preach. They met a man who owned a sawmill, and when they told him what they wanted to do, he told Bro. Crocker that he owned some property on Mill Street in the city limits that had a lot of big pine trees. The man said he would furnish blocks and some lumber for seats and a Bible stand.

Bro. Earl Gamblin contacted the Crockers and wanted them to help him and his wife in some revivals in Florida and Alabama. When the Crockers came back home, they preached revivals all around Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. Bro. Crocker pastored a small church in Georgetown, Mississippi, for one year before returning home to Mt. Pisgah.

In 1941, they decided to go back to Lucedale and help the group there to build a church. They had bought seven and a half acres of land, and they donated one acre for a church. It was about two miles out of town. They built a small building and started having services.

At that time, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee were combined. Bro. Hansford, Bro. Gurley, and Bro. Crocker worked with Bro. Greer in Bemis, Tennessee. They traveled quite a lot trying to help young preachers establish churches. Bro. Crocker helped Bro. O.E. Lamb establish the first church on Ingalls Avenue in Pascagoula, Mississippi. He helped Bro. D.J. Whitten establish the first church on Wilson Avenue in Prichard, Alabama. When Mississippi became a district, it was divided into four sections. Bro. Crocker was elected Presbyter of Section Four where he served for many years. After giving up that position, he was elected Sectional Secretary and served in that position for many years. When the Ladies Auxiliary was organized in Section Four, Sis. Roberta Goff was elected President and Sis. Pearlean Crocker was elected Secretary.

While pastoring in Lucedale, Bro. Crocker was also instrumental in establishing Mt. Calvary, in the small community of Crossroads.

In Leakesville, Mississippi, a group of people who had received the Holy Ghost at Mt. Pisgah got together and decided they wanted to build a church. They were having prayer meetings in each other’s homes. Bro. L.L. Pierce came to the Crockers’ house in Lucedale and asked Bro. Crocker to come to his house and set the church in order. Bro. Crocker, as Presbyter of the section, did so. He asked Bro. Damon Crawford and his wife, who were good evangelists, to go to Leakesville for a revival and help them build a church. They built a small block building, and the First United Pentecostal Church of Leakesville began.

When Bro. Pierce heard that Bro. Crocker had resigned the church in Lucedale, he went to Bro. Crocker and asked if he would consider going to Leakesville to pastor since their pastor had resigned. Bro. Crocker told him he would pray about it and would go there for a service. The Crockers went to Leakesville for a mid-week service. The following week, they received a call from Bro. Pierce saying that Bro. Crocker had been elected pastor with a unanimous vote. Bro. Crocker finished all his business in Lucedale, and on May 23, 1952, moved to Leakesville. Leakesville had built a small parsonage, but it was not completed, just a shell. Bro. Crocker borrowed money from the bank to finish the parsonage. The congregation was small at first. He asked Bro. Edward Johnson to come preach a revival, which lasted several weeks. God blessed in a mighty way, and about 15 souls were filled with the Holy Ghost. The Lord continued to bless, and they soon needed more room. There was not enough space on the property to add onto the building, so he began to look for property to build a new building. Mr. Ball sold him a large lot at the intersection of Highway 63 and Highway 57 in the city limits.

There were many wonderful revivals over the years and many young preachers preached their first revivals in Leakesville. Revivals usually lasted at least two or three weeks, with services every night, and lots of fasting and praying. Bro. Crocker would sometimes fast for several days at a time and fasted for up to seven days without food or water. He loved to help young preachers get started and encouraged them any way he could. Many young preachers came out of those works in Mt. Pisgah, Lucedale, Crossroads, Mt. Calvary, and Leakesville.

When Bro. Crocker’s health began to fail, he asked his son-in-law, Bro. Irvis Everette, to assist him. Bro. Everette had felt his call to work for God, and he was elected as assistant pastor by the church. Bro. Everette still serves as pastor in Leakesville.

Bro. Crocker was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1982. He went home to be with Jesus, the One he loved the most, on June 12, 1984.

Excerpts from Sis. Pearlean Crocker’s biography of The Story of William Robert Crocker.