Dr. Chester Bullard was the pioneer in the cause of primitive Christianity in all Southwest Virginia. He separated himself from the Methodist Church and most earnestly desired to be immersed, but would not receive it at the hands of the Baptists, as he was not sufficiently in harmony with their tenets to unite with them. About this time Landon Duncan, the assessor of the county, happened to call in the discharge of his official duties. Engaging in a religious conversation with him, Dr. Bullard freely expressed to him his feelings and his desires, and though he freely expressed his dissent from some of the views held by Duncan, the latter agreed to baptize him. In early life Duncan had united with the Baptists and was ordained by them, but after a time adopted the views of the “Christians,” chiefly through the teaching of Joseph Thomas, who was in some respects a remarkable man. He was born in North Carolina, whence he removed with his father to Giles County, Virginia, where he became deeply imbued with religious fervor, and began while quite a young man to urge his neighbors to the importance of devoting themselves to the service of God. Associating with O’Kelley in North Carolina, he desired to be immersed, when O’Kelley persuaded him that pouring was more scriptural, to which he submitted after stipulating that a tubful of water should be poured upon him. But afterward he became fully convinced that immersion alone is baptism, and was immersed by Elder Plumer. This brought him into intimate association with Abner Jones, Elias Smith and others of the “Christians.” He now devoted his life wholly to preaching and became noted for the extent of his travels throughout the United States. He traveled on foot dressed in a long, white robe, hence he was called the “White Pilgrim,” and frequently, in imitation of the Master, retired to lonely places for fasting and prayer. He made a strong impression on the people, and finally died of smallpox amidst his itinerant labors in New Jersey.