Long lost photograph finds a home

                 Myrle Fisher, about 1897

One never knows what may turn up at a garage sale, flea market, or antique store. And one never knows what may be found through the internet. A long lost family treasure of the Fisher-Horton family was recently located through the internet. It is a picture of Dr. Stanley Horton’s mother.

Assemblies of God theologian and educator, Dr. Stanley M. Horton, is a leading scholar within the Pentecostal movement. He is the author of numerous books and articles in various publications, and he has lectured across the globe. Many have sat under him in college classes and have read his responses in the “questions and answers” feature in Today’s Pentecostal Evangel. He is now 92 years of age.

In the process of compiling and writing a biography of Dr. Stanley Horton, Dr. Lois Olena, a professor at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and at Evangel University, has contacted the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center on numerous occasions in order to research and verify facts. She inquired about a testimony of Dr. Horton’s mother, Myrle Fisher, which is found in the Apostolic Faith newspaper from Azusa Street (January 1907, p. 3). The article erroneously names her as “Myrtle,” but her name is Myrle. She was the daughter of Rev. Elmer Kirk Fisher, who was the founder and pastor of the Upper Room Mission, located just a few blocks from the Azusa Street Mission.

Myrle Fisher married Harry S. Horton, who followed Elmer K. Fisher as pastor of the Upper Room Mission in Los Angeles. The Fisher and Horton families became early Pentecostals in Los Angeles and had ties with the Azusa Street Mission. While looking for any information available on Myrle Fisher, reference archivist Glenn Gohr located an obscure query posted in October 2004 by Marilyn Posey on a genealogy site on the internet.

Marilyn Posey of Orlando, West Virginia is known for doing random acts of kindness. In this case, she rescued a box of old photographs at an antique store. Included in the box was a photograph of “Myrle Fisher.” It is a photo of a small child standing on the seat of a wooden chair that has roaring lions engraved into the back of the chair. The child is about two years old. She posted a query on the internet, hoping to locate any family member of Myrle Fisher in order to provide them with the photograph.

Fortunately, Marilyn’s e-mail address did not change over the last four years, and Glenn was able to make contact with her. She provided a scanned image of the photograph, and Dr. Horton was able to verify that this was his mother. Marilyn was elated to find a home for this photograph, and Dr. Horton is equally excited to have this very early photograph of his mother.

In the letter she composed to Dr. Horton, she wrote:

Dr. Horton,
I hope you will enjoy this picture of your mother. She was certainly a beautiful child and I’m positive that she was even more beautiful as a young woman. I am so thankful I could pass this along to you. I am so hoping that someday someone will find a picture of one of moy ancestors and pass it along to me. It will n ever cease to amaze me how this picture made its way to West Virginia, but I am thankful it has. Please enjoy!
Sincerely,
Marilyn Posey

Dr. Horton’s biography will be completed in the spring of 2009. Now this photograph of his mother can also be included in the book. Horton will also be featured in the 2009 issue of Assemblies of God Heritage.

Posted by Glenn Gohr