Booze and the Baptist Minister

Bass Reeves makes the collar—of his own pastor.

A fascinating story in The Arkansas Van Buren Press of August 24, 1907.

“Rev. Wilson Hobson, a Negro Baptist minister, was arrested here, charged with selling liquor. He was placed under a $500 bond. It is claimed by the member’s of Hobson’s church that he sold liquor to the members in order to pay off a church debt. The members wanted the whiskey and were perfectly willing that their pastor should sell it to them as long as the money went to pay off the church debt. Hobson was arrested by Bass Reeves (photo), a Negro Deputy Marshal who was baptized by Hobson three years ago.”