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| Newspaper Ad for "The Circuit Rider" from a Chicago area newspaper, March 18, 1951. |
A few years ago I purchased an LP record album called the "The Story presents Bob Gibbons". It drew my attention, and some money from my wallet, when I realized that I had found a record album based on a unique television program.
Bob Gibbons was a vocalist and evangelistic singer. He would later join the television and crusade ministries of Ford Philpot and appeared regularly on "The Story" TV series. At some point while attending Duke University in Durham, NC in the early 1960s, Bob teamed up with the Rev. J. Mallory Owen, at that time pastor of Horne Memorial Methodist Church, to create a local TV show called "Circuit Rider", which dramatized the lives of early frontier preachers in North America.
While searching for this series, I learned about an earlier television drama, also called "Circuit Rider" that aired on ABC-TV, in 1951.
Circuit Rider (March 5, 1951 - May 7, 1951. ABC-TV, Sundays 11:00pm EST)
Very little is known about this early TV series which dramatized the lives of the evangelical clergymen who ventured all over the nation following the Revolutionary War. It was produced by the Methodist ministry America For Christ, Inc., and was developed for 52 episodes to run on ABC's late Sunday night schedule. Each episode was narrated by Rex Marshall and Rev. George Pigueron served as moderator. Episodes would also feature a guest speaker who would address a current topic.
What makes Gibbons and Owens series unique from the ABC 1951 series of the same title, (see Television page) which was likely a fully dramatized series, is that Owen would preach on the program and Gibbons would sing to tell the stories of the circuit riders.
As I researched this series I discovered another locally produced program that told the history of the Circuit Riders, and I will save that for another post.
Sources for this post:
Gibbons, Bob. (19??). The story presents bob gibbons. Lexington, KY. The Story, Inc.
Lenten services to be held. 1964, March 20. Warren Record [Warrenton, North Carolina]
http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073168/1964-03-20/ed-1/seq-12.pdf
