I/I E> RARY
OF THL
UN IVERSITY
OF ILLINOIS
B
C593p
cop. 2
IlloHist. Survey
"FATHER CLARK,
OR
nath
SKETCHES AND INCIDENTS
^
re
OF
*
KEV. JOHN CLARK,
"
BY AN OLD PIONEER.
-
NEW YORK:
SHELDON, LAMPORT & BLAKEMAN,
No. 115 NASSAU STREET.
1855.
into
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by
SHELDON, LAMPORT & BLAKEMAN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
JOHN J. REED,
Stereotyper and Printer,
16 Spruce street,
n
INTRODUCTION.
THE incidents, manners and customs of fron-
tier life in the country once called the " Far
West," — now the valley of the Mississippi, are
interesting to all classes. The religious events
and labors of good men in " works of faith and
labors of love " among the early pioneers of this
valley, cannot fail to attract the attention of
young persons in the family circle, and children
"v.
in Sabbath schools.
The author of this work, as the commence-
ment of a series of PIONEER BOOKS, has chosen
for a theme a man of singularly benevolent and
philanthropic feelings ; peculiarly amiable in
manners and social intercourse ; with habits of
great self-denial ; unusually disinterested in
his labors, and the first preacher of the gospel
who ventured to carry the " glad tidings " into
I I 54043
IV . INTRODUCTION.
the Spanish country on the western side of the
GREAT KIVER.*
The writer was intimately acquainted with
this venerable man, who, hy all classes, was
familiarly called " FATHER CLARK," and indu-
ced him to commence sketches for his own bio-
graphy. His tremulous hand and enfeebled,
powers failed him soon after he had gotten to
the period of his conversion, while a teacher in
the back settlements, and he was unable to
finish the work.
By correspondence and personal interviews
with many who knew Father Clark, and from
his verbal narratives in our interviews for many
years, the writer has been enabled to give a
truthful sketch of the most important incidents
of his life.
While seriously disposed persons of every age
and station may derive pleasure and profit in
contemplating the moral portraiture given, it is
to the young reader, more especially, the author
dedicates the memoir of FATHER CLARK.
* The true aboriginal name of the MISSISSIPPI.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Birth—Ancestry — Misfortune of Becoming Suddenly Rich — A
Religious Mother — Fate of an Elder Brother— Mathematics —
Purposes of Life— Deportment in Youth— Views of War. - 9
CHAPTER II.
Clark becomes a Sailor — Privateering — His Subsequent Reflec
tibns— Last Visit to his Parents— Sails as Mate to the West In-
dies—Pressed on Board the Man-of-War Tobago— A Fight and
Death of the Gunner — Admiral Rodney — Escapes from the
Tobago— Visits his Brother— Ships for England— Taken by the '
Spaniards — Obtains his Freedom, and again Pressed on Board
the Narcissus — Deserts a Second Time, aad Swims Ashore on
James' Island, off Charleston, at Great Risk. ... 16
CHAPTER III.
Mr. Clark arrives at Charleston — Meets with Friends — Interview
with John Scott— The Story and Fate of Duncan— Alarmed,
and Relieved by an Old Shipmate — Stationed on Cooper River
— Returns to Charleston — Protected by Three Scotch Tailors —
They all Escape — Adventures in a Swamp — Reach Gen. Mari-
on's Army — Clark Proceeds to Georgetown — Enters a Row-
galley and reaches Savannah — Sails to St. Thomas — Voyage to
New York— Proclamation of Peace— Returns to the West In-
dies— Shipwreck — Various Voyages — Distress of Mind — For-
sakes a Sea-faring Life. 37
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Retires to the Back Settlements in South Carolina— Teaches a
School — Self-righteousness — His Experience for Twelve Months
— Despondency — Reads Russell's Seven Sermons — Conversion
and firm Hope— Removes to Georgia and Becomes a Teacher
there— First Methodist Preachers in that Quarter— Mr. Clark
joins the Society. .' - - 51
CHAPTER V.
Appointed Class Leader— Desires to Visit his Native Country-
Takes a Berth on the Royal George — Singular Notions on
Board — A Storm — Interview with Tom Halyard — His Conver-
sion— Arrival in London — Sabbath Morning — Visits the Foun-
dry and hears Rev. John Wesley — Parting with Halyard —
Sails for Inverness. --------
CHAPTER VI.
At Moorfield in London — Returns to Georgia — Received as a
Preacher on Trial — Richmond Circuit — Testimonials — Charac-
ter as a Preacher — Walked the Circuit — Views on the Metho-
dist Episcopal Government — Views on Slavery — Blameless
Habits — Thoughts on Marriage — Love Cured by Prayer —
Gradual change of Views — Contemplates a New Field — Quar-
terly Conference — Conscientious Scruples — Philanthropy to
Negroes— Withdraws from the Conference— Parting Scene. - 86
CHAPTER VII.
Clark Journies towards Kentucky — His Dress and Appearance —
Colloquy — Hospitality of Mr. Wells— Recognized by a former
Convert— Description of a " Big Meeting"— Persuaded to Stop
and Preach — Effects Produced — Mr. Wells Converted — A Re-
vival—Shouting— Family Religion— Departs— The Wells Fam-
ily turn Baptists. 105
CONTENTS. vii
CHAPTER VIII.
Mountain Range — Manners of an Itinerant — Preaching in a Tav-
ern-house— How to avoid Insults — Hospitality — Reaches Crab-
Orchard— Preachers in Kentucky— Baptists, "Regulars" and
"Separatists"— Principles of Doctrine— School-Teaching—
Master O'Cafferty and His Qualities. 134
CHAPTER IX.
Schoolmaster Equity in 1796— New Customs introduced— Mr.
Birch Discarded — Enrolment — Books Used — New ones Pro-
cured— Astonishing Effects — Colloquy with Uncle Jesse — The
New School-House— A Christmas Frolic— Shocking Affair by
the Irish Master — A Political Convention — Young Democracy
— A Stump Speech — New Customs — A True Missionary —
Trouble about Money— Mr. Clark leaves Kentucky. - 152
CHAPTER X.
Journey to Illinois — Story of the Gilham family, captured by In-
dians— Hard fare — Mr. Gilham attempts to recover them — In-
dian War — Peace made — The Family Redeemed — Removes to
Illinois with Mr. Clark— Navigation of Western Rivers— Story
of Fort Massac— Terrible sickness— Settlement of New Design
— An ungodly race — First Preacher in Illinois — A Stranger in
meeting — First Baptisms — Other Preachers — First Church
Formed — Manners and customs of the French — Indian War —
Stations or Forts Described — PIONEER BOOKS projected. - 179
CHAPTER XI.
Religious families noticed — Cstpt. Joseph Ogle — James Lemen,
Sen., — The three associates — Upper Louisiana — Attack on St.
Louis — The Governor a Traitor — The assailants retire — Ame-
rican Emigration encouraged— Baptists and Methodists go
there. 208
Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
Forms a Methodist Class in Illinois — Gradual change of Views
—Mode of Inquiry — Circumstances of his Baptism — Practical
progress in Baptist Principles. — Zeal and influence in promoting
education — Early Schools in the Illinois country — A formida-
ble obstruction to a pupil— Three fellows in the way— Want of
books — A whiskey-loving teacher rightly served — Effects of
Father Clark's teaching— Visits Kentucky again— Visits to
West Florida — Interview with a Sick man — Efficacy of Prayer
—A Revolution. 235
CHAPTER XIII.
Baptists, " Friends to Humanity "—Their Anti-slavery position
— Mr. Clark joins them — Manner of his reception — His Views
of African Slavery — Views of African Colonization — Made
Life-member of a Colonization Society — Circulars on Slavery
—Personal behavior— Conversational Gifts— Writes Family
Records. - 250
CHAPTER XIV.
His mode of Traveling — Excursion in Missouri, 1820 — His
monthly circuit in Missouri and Illinois — A night Adventure —
A Horseback Excursion — Origin of Carrollton Church — Faith
and Prayer — Interview with Rev. J. Going — A "Standard"
Sermon — An Affectionate Embrace — Comforts of Old Age —
Last Illness and Death 268
SKETCHES OF "FATHER CLARK."
CHAPTER I.
Birth. — Ancestry.— Misfortune of Becoming Suddenly Rich. — A Re-
ligious Mother.— Fate of an Elder Brother.— Mathematics.— Pur-
poses of Life. — Deportment in Youth. — Views of War.
CAST your eyes, reader, on a map of Scotland.
Look towards the north-eastern part, and you
will find distinctly marked, the Frith of Mur-
ray, a narrow channel of salt water, like a bay,
penetrating a long distance into the interior of
Scotland, and named after the Earl of Moray,
or Murray.
Follow up this channel to the city of Inver-
ness, once regarded as the capital of the Scot-
tish Highlands. Near this city is the small and
secluded parish of Petty, which we notice as the
birth-place of Father Clark, on the 29th of
November, 1758. Here his father, grandfather,
and other ancestors, for several generations,
were born, lived and died. A brother of his
grandfather, whose name was John Clark, be-
came an eminent scholar, and taught the parish
10 FAMILY ADVENTURES.
school for many years. All the family connec-
tions, for many generations, were strict Presby-
terians, who paid careful attention to the morals
of their children. The classics and mathema-
tics, the Presbyterian catechism, and their forms
of religious worship were taught the children in
the parish schools, and in families, in that part
of Scotland. They were taught to do justly,
love mercy, and always speak the truth.
The father of our John Clark was named
Alexander, who, in the early part of his life,
owned and worked a farm. He had a brother
named Daniel, who was educated for the min-
istry in the Presbyterian church ; but he had
no taste for that business, and became qualified
for a merchant. In this capacity he sailed for
South Carolina ; then went to Georgia in com-
pany with some Scottish traders by the name of
Macgilvary, who monopolized the trade with the
Creek Indians. In that connection he gathered
a large fortune, and dying, left his estate to his
brother Alexander, who had previously married
a respectable and religious woman. They had
two sons, Daniel and John, and three daughters,
one of whom lived many years after her mother's
death.
The fortune of Daniel the elder Droved the
THE MOTHER OF CLARK. 11
ruin of the father of our hero. He neglected his
farm, kept open house for his friends, drank
intoxicating liquors freely, lived in a style
of luxury and grandeur, gave his name
and credit on the notes of his companions ;
loaned his money to sharpers, and in a few years
was reduced to bankruptcy. He lived to old
age, and after a long period of intemperance
and wretchedness, was reclaimed and died a pen-
itent, past the age of three-score and ten.
The mother of John Clark became a very re-
ligious woman, and taught him to pray in early
childhood, and that he was a sinner against God,
and must have his heart changed, be converted
and saved through Jesus Christ. Before he was
eight years of age he had many serious impres-
sions about his salvation, many alarming fears
about death and hell, and thought he experienced
a saving change at that early period of life. He
often declared to his Christian friends, that to
the instruction and prayers of his mother at that
tender age, as means under God, he was indebt-
ed for his salvation. And rarely have we known
a man more earnestly devoted to the religious
instruction of children and youth. It would
come out from a gushing heart in almost every
sermon, and by kind and gentle hints and friend-
12 DISLIKES THE CLASSICS.
ly expostulations leave a deep impressioii on
every family he visited.
His elder brother Daniel was a moral and
amiable youth while under the charge of his
mother ; but he was sent from home to a gram-
mar school at an early age. He became an ex-
cellent scholar, was taught the mercantile busi-
ness, went to Jamaica where he soon became
rich. But he . lost two ships, taken by priva-
teers in the war between Great Britain and the
American Colonies, became disheartened, gave
way to temptation, and followed the footsteps
of his father by becoming intemperate, and died
a bankrupt and a miserable drunkard in 'the
37th year of his age.
John Clark's father knew the benefits of a
good education, and spared no pains or expense
in providing his children with the best means of
instruction that Inverness could afford. John
was sent to school at the age of five years. He
read the Scriptures and other English books be-
fore he was seven ; and at that period was put
to study Latin. He learned the grammar, read
Corderius, and studied the elementary classics
for two years ; but he disliked the study of
Latin and Greek, for which he often sorrowed
in after life. During this time he was at a
SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION. 13
boarding school, away from home and all the
kind influences of his affectionate mother.
" All these circumstances," he writes in the sketches be-
fore us, " laid the foundation for an invincible prejudice
against the acquisition of that useful language ; — useful be-
cause much of the English tongue is derived from it. Al-
so it disciplines the mind, corrects desultory habits, and
forms a taste to imitate in oratory and composition, class-
ical authors. I think it highly necessary for those, who
• aim at common education, to memorize a Latin vocabulary.
Study mathematics to discipline the mind, and study well
our English classic writers.
But my early and deep-rooted aversion to the dead lan-
guages prevented me from receiving much advantage from
Latin and Greek authors, so that I acquired but a smat-
tering knowledge of those languages."
When his father learned his aversion to class-
ical studies he sent him to an excellent school
in the parish of Nairn, to learn arithmetic, book-
keeping, mathematics and natural philosophy.
The purpose of his father was to qualify him to
join his brother in the mercantile business in
the island of Jamaica. At this school he stu- .
died geometry, trigonometry, mensuration, sur-
veying, astronomy, and navigation in all its
branches.
Two objects occupied his youthful mind, and
which he craved in all his studies. They en-
gaged his thoughts by day and flitted through
14 DETERMINES TO BE A SAILOR.
his dreams by night. They were the only airy
castles his fancy ever built. First, to spend
about eight years on ship-board, and visit for-
eign countries and see the manners and customs
of other nations. And, secondly, then to settle
for life in one of the American colonies. With
his mind fixed on these objects, with a steadi-
ness of purpose that never tired, he entered on
those studies connected with navigation with an
eagerness and zest rarely equalled in youth.
He could not divest himself of this propensity
to a sea-faring life for the period proposed.
He had no inclination to be a mere sailor, or to
spend his days with the profane and drunken
of that class of men. He saw enough of such
specimens of degraded humanity in the port of
Inverness to excite feelings of disgust and sym-
pathy. In all his longings to be on ship-board,
his benevolent nature sympathised with the
heedless and wicked sailors. He would often
retire and weep over their miseries, and think of
plans for their reform and relief, when he
should attain the command of a ship.
During the period of youth, Clark was singu-
larly amiable, moral, kind-hearted and gene-
rous. He lost no time by idleness, had no
inclination to the vain amusements and frivoli-
ENTHUSIASTIC LOVE OF LIBERTY. 15
ties of youth, and sustained an estimable char-
acter for personal sobriety, good order and
morality. The unfortunate example of his
father excited pity and disgust ; the devoutly
religious character of his mother confirmed and
deepened the impressions of childhood. There
was more of puritanical strictness, form, and
rigid orthodoxy, than active piety and the out-
pourings of the religious emotions, in the Church
of Scotland at that period, and young Clark
neither felt or manifested those feelings of
ardent love to the Redeemer, and comfortings
of the Holy Spirit, that had been awakened in
his young heart at the early age of eight years,
or which distinctly marked his religious charac-
ter in after life.
Our youthful friend became an enthusiastic
lover of liberty and of the rights of man, at an
early age, and which continued the ruling pas-
sion during life. In the period of old age he
records these facts.
" When I was very young, I deeply imbibed the spirit
of war — owing chiefly from hearing much of the success
that attended the British arms by land and sea, during the
war in Canada. "When in the seventeenth year of my age,
the Revolutionary war between Great Britain and her
Colonies commenced, and I soon found myself as much
opposed to the spirit of war as I was formerly in favor of it."
16 CLARK BECOMES A SAILOR.
This feeling remained after he "became con-
nected with the navy, and caused him to desert
the service, into which he had been forced by
the press-gang. And yet, as if to show us that
a young man so amiable, kind-hearted, and
philanthropic as Clark, was far from perfection,
or even consistency of character, he engaged in
the business of privateering ; a business now
regarded by civilized nations as barbarous and
immoral.
CHAPTER II.
Clark becomes a Sailor. — Privateering. — His Subsequent Reflections. —
Last Visit to his Parents.— Sails as Mate to the West Indies.—
Pressed on Board the Man-of-War Tobago. — A Fight, and Death of
the Gunner. — Admiral Rodney. — Escapes from the Tobago. — Visits
his Brother. — Ships for England. — Taken by the Spaniards. —
Obtains his Freedom, and again Pressed on Board the Narcissus.
— Deserts a Second Time, and Swims Ashore on James' Island, off
Charleston, at Great Risk.
The propensity of young Clark to a sea-faring
life remained ungratified until he was twenty
years old. Much as he desired to see the world,
and repulsive as was the conduct of his father'
to his sensitive feelings, John had no wish to
run away clandestinely — to leave his affection-
ate mother and sisters, or to reject the monitions
of his conscience. He patiently waited until
"ENGAGES IN THE TRANSPORT SERVICE. 17
the proper time should come ; until he attained
the period of manhood, and could go with his
parent's blessing. And then, even filial affec-
tion and true philanthropy, prevailed over a
churlish and selfish temper, and prompted him
to regard the welfare of his parents to his own
personal interests.
It was in the summer of 1778, in the twen-
tieth year of his age, that John Clark embraced
the opportunity of carrying into effect his
darling purpose of life, by engaging in the
transport service. But to this he was induced
by higher motives than a selfish indulgence.
His education had been completed, and he had
spent some time copying in the town and county
office of Inverness. To the close of his life he
wrote in a style of uncommon neatness and
accuracy. This employment furnished no in-
come beyond ordinary expenses. The extrava-
gance and dissipation of his father, had nearly
reduced the family to want. The riches real-
ized from their uncle Daniel's estate, gained
doubtless by fraud and extortion, from the
Indians of Georgia, had made themselves wings
and flown away.* The farm in Petty was left,
but the income was barely sufficient for their
* Prov. xxiii : 5.
18 PRIVATEERING.
support, and nothing can prosper under the
management of an intemperate husband and
father ; and John piously and resolutely re-
solved to do his best in the business of his choice,
to keep their heads above water.
He embarked in the transport service, at low
wages.* Finding, on his return, that his father's
extravagance was fast wasting away their means
of support, and hoping to obtain in a more
speedy way the means of relief, he went to
Greenock and entered onboard a privateer; and
the voyage was so successful in capturing two val-
uable merchant vessels, that in less than a year he
returned home with his wages and share of the
prize money, amounting to more than $200.
Of that business then regarded lawful and hon-
orable in war, fifty years after, he writes thus :
" This unchristian, inhuman, and almost piratical prac-
tice, was never permitted in Scotland before that war.
But my moral feelings by this time began to be im-
paired, for my situation in life deprived me of the com-
pany of the godly, and ' evil communications corrupt good
manners.'! Although my conscience recoiled at doing
that which I was not willing others should do to me, yet
I made necessity my excuse, and plead the example of
those whom I then thought knew more and were better
than I was."
* Transport ships are engaged in carrying soldiers and munitions
of war from one country to another.
1 Cor. xv : 33.
PARTING WITH HIS PARENTS. 19
After remaining with his parents a few days,
and leaving all the money he could spare, for
their use, he gave them the parting hand, and
in accordance with a promise made with one of
the owners of the privateer, he entered as mate
one of the prize ships taken, called the Hero, for
a voyage to the West Indies. There he intend-
ed to join his brother, and engage in business
with him.
Little did he anticipate this was the last
parting time with his parents, but let him tell
the story.
" I shall never forget the morning I left them. My
mother, who loved me most tenderly, when we parted, ex-
pressed, with the greatest confidence, without shedding a
tear, that God would preserve me by land and by sea,
from every danger. My father walked with me about one
mile to a small river where I had appointed to meet a
young man with a horse for me to ride to Port Glasgow,
near Greenock, where the ship was to fit out ; and as we
parted, my dear old father wept like a child. Very likely
he had forebodings he would never again fix his paternal
eyes on me, for he was infirm, and his constitution much
broken by intemperate habits. This was in May, 1779,
and he died in the autumn following. I left my friends
mourning, while I went away rejoicing ; for though I in-
tended to follow a sea-faring life for a few years, I fancied
it was in n^ own power to see them whenever I pleased.
I little imagined that man may appoint, but God may dis-
appoint.
20 PRESSED ON A MAN-OF-WAR.
" I went on my way merrily, without the least thought
that Unerring Wisdom had set the day of adversity over
against the day of prosperity, to the end that man should
find nothing after him.* According to my engagement,
I shipped with my friend, the owner's son, on the Hero
as second mate, from Port Glasgow, to the Cove of Cork
in Ireland, where we waited for a convoy. There we were
joined by a large fleet of victuallers, store ships, and
transports, with one or two regiments of Hessians, for the
port of New York. Our vessel and some others was
bound for the West Indies. We set sail under convoyf
of the frigate Roebuck, of forty-four guns. The convoy
and transports were destined for New York, and we that
were bound to the West Indies sailed in company to a
certain latitude, when we parted, and were then under
convoy of the Leviathan, of seventy guns, and a sloop of
war of sixteen guns. Then I began to notice and ex-
amine God's marvellous works in the boisterous deep.
Nothing transpired during the passage worth relating
until we got to Barbadoes, and there I was pressed on
board the Tobago, a British war vessel of eighteen guns.
Here ended my prosperity and adversity came. Or shall
I say this seeming affliction was a blessing in disguise, in-
tended by Infinite Wisdom for my everlasting good ?
" My wages on the Hero were forty-five dollars, for
which I sent an order to my mother that she might re-
ceive it. Although my mother out-lived my father seven
years, I afterwards learned with great satisfaction neither
iny father or mother suffered for want of the necessaries
or comforts of life while they lived ; for many years after
* Eccl. vii : 14.
•f A convoy is one or more ships of war sent to protect
merchant vessels and transports.
UNHAPPY FEELINGS. 21
I learnt my mother left upwards of sixty dollars of the
wages I had sent her."
* Mr. Clark was now a sailor, pressed by arbi-
trary authority on board the British man-of-
war, Tobago, and lying in the harbor of Car-
lisle, in the Island of Barbadoes, to prevent
American and French privateers from plunder-
ing the plantations in the bays and road-steads
of that Island. This business was against all
his principles and feelings ; for in all his long-
ings for a sea-faring life, it never entered into
his calculations to serve on board a man-of-war.
Let him give his own views and feelings :
" I was continually unhappy while in the navy, and
would have ventured my life to have obtained my former
liberty. I made an unsuccessful attempt to escape the
night before the ship left Barbadoes, but was detected,
and both my feet put in irons, and a sentinel placed over
me, with a candle and a drawn sword, the whole night.
Next morning the ship weighed anchor, and steered on
our course. Great Britain was then at war with three
maritime nations, and we suspected every ship that passed,
especially if alone, to be a cruiser and an enemy.
': Before night we espied a ship bearing down towards
us. when our ship prepared for action. The boatswain blew
his pipe, and hoarsely bawled, 'All hands to quarters,
ahoy !' My irons were taken off, and after a severe repri-
mand, I was ordered to my post. When we came within
hailing distance, we found the ship to be the Venus, a Bri-
22 ON A CBUISE.
tish frigate, and passed, after giving and exchanging three
cheers."
They were about three months lying off and
on, upon cruizing ground, in the Caribbean Sea,
very short of provisions. Their butter, cheese,
flour, lard, and fruit, failed entirely, and for
much of the time were on short allowance, when
they joined the fleet lying at St. Lucia. The
force consisted of two squadrons, one command-
ed by Admiral Parker, the other by that truly
pious Admiral Holly, as Clark denotes him.
The French fleet lay at Martinique, not far dis-
tant, but were too numerous and powerful to
risk an encounter. So the British lay in the
harbor, with springs on their cables, waiting for
a reinforcement, and fresh supplies of provisions
and naval stores. The French were waiting to
be reinforced by the Spanish fleet and land-
forces from Hispaniola, (now Hayti,) and both
united, purposed to invade the Island of
Jamaica. The British Government, knowing
the precarious situation of that valuable island,
made every effort to send relief, but they were
hard pressed by the war in the American
Colonies, and they needed an energetic, and
skillful commander, to save their West India
possessions.
ADMIRAL RODNEY. 23
They had a naval officer of great skill and
courage, but he had been absent many years on
the continent of Europe. This was the cele-
brated Sir George Brydges Kodney, who had
distinguished himself in the West Indies, in
1761, by the capture of Martinique. He was
an admirable commander in the navy, but while
on land, was profligate, and had wasted his es-
tate, and become hopelessly in debt. In this
situation he left England to reside on the con-
tinent of Europe. His biographer says, " He
injured his finances in a contested election for
Parliament in 1768." The French government
made some overtures to him, which would have
repaired his fortune, which he rejected with in-
dignation, and remained true to his native
country.
Such was the alarming state of affairs in the
West Indies that the government called home
Sir Gr. B. Kodney, paid his debts, redeemed his
estates, and gave him the chief command of the
fleet in the West Indies. This policy, proba-
bly, prevented Jamaica from falling into the
hands of France or Spain. Admiral Kodney,
with a reinforcement, joined the fleet at St.
Lucia ; and, as Clark says, " It was the best
equipped squadron I ever saw."
24 PREMONITION OF THE GUNNER.
Kodney soon captured a Spanish squadron,
and used the prisoners with great humanity.
This became known to Charles III., the venera-
ble king of Spain, and he issued orders to his
naval and military officers to treat all British
prisoners humanely.
The arrival of Admiral Rodney at St. Lucia,
was the occasion of great joy in the fleet, which
had been penned up there for many months, and
the French in turn were blockaded in the Island
of Martinique, and could not join the Spanish
fleet in Hispaniola. While Rodney was watch-
ing the French and Spanish fleets, the Tobago,
on which our friend Clark had been forced by a
press-gang, was ordered to Jamaica with des-
patches in all possible haste. On this voyage
Clark narrates an incident deserving a place in
this little work.
" We had a venerable man on board our ship for chief
gunner, who, from some unknown cause, had taken a dis-
like to me, and never gave me a kind word. One beauti-
ful, moonlight night, while sailing near Hispaniola. it was
my turn at the helm, and I was astonished at the unex-
pected behavior of the gunner to me. He approached me
with as much respect as if I had been his superior in rank
or station. Had he been an intemperate man, I should
have accounted for his conduct, as some men are remark-
ably good natured while under the influence of liquor, and
CHASED BY A BRIG. 25
others are very cross and surly. But he was a moral
man and never became intoxicated. He appeared in his
conversation like a person who had done with this world,
and in kind and respectful language gave me a sketch of
his life. He had been in the British navy forty years ;
but the subject on which he dwelt with the most feeling
was the bursting of cannon in action ; and expressed with
an emphatic tone of voice, he had never known a gun "ex-
pended "* but that a gunner was expended with it
Next day after dinner as we were sailing near the
same Island, an armed brig popped out from the Island
and gave us a chase. Our business required haste, and we
could not stay merely to fight, and we endeavored to decoy
her near by housing our guns. Suspecting our manoeu-
vres, she fired two guns, and altered her course. We, in
turn, intended to fire a broadside soon as we could bring
our guns to bear. But, alas ! the sixth gun we fired
burst, and mortally wounded three men, and maimed sev-
eral others for life.
Our venerable gunner had one foot entirely cut off, and
the other hung by his leg. The surgeon told him, he
could not survive, and he called for his mate, and told him
to adjust his temporal affairs with the Board of Admiral-
ty, and with great composure of mind, and in hope of
mercy, he yielded up his spirit."
This incident made a lasting impression on
the mind of Clark. The manner of his approach
the preceding night, the long and somewhat re-
ligious conversation he held, the premonition
he seemed to entertain of the approaching cal-
* Technically « burst."
26 DEFEAT OF COUNT DE GRASSE.
amity, and his sober, orderly and correct life
left the fixed impression that the gunner was a
Christian. A young man had his skull fractured
by the same gun, and Clark stood by and saw
the surgeon trepan him, while he exhibited the
greatest degree of fortitude and patience. The
wounded men were all sent to the hospital in
Jamaica, where this youth died.
The fleet they had left behind under Rodney
soon had an opportunity to act on the offensive.
The French fleet that had been blockaded were
reinforced by Count de Grasse, and made an
attempt to join the Spanish fleet. They were
followed by Admiral Rodney, who sunk one of
the largest vessels and captured five others.
For this act of naval heroism, he was created a
baronet, had a pension of two thousand pounds
sterling per annum settled on him by the crown,
and at his decease in 1792, a monment was
erected in St. Paul's church, London.
The Tobago, on which Clark was, needing
repairs, she was hove down for the purpose in
Port Royal. In consideration of his fidelity
and good conduct after his attempt to desert,
Mr. Clark was promoted to the station of quar-
ter-master. This did not reconcile him to the
war, nor to the despotism of the officers, and
DESERTS THE MAN-OF-WAR. 27
the sufferings of the men on board of a war
vessel. He was still resolved on escaping the
first opportunity, for as he had been forced on
board a man-of-war, in violation of his rights,
he thought it no wrong to escape the first op-
portunity. In company with two other young
men he escaped one night, and reached Savannah
La Mar, a port on the south-western part of the
Island. Here he found a ship taking in lading
for London ; and so weak-handed, that they
scarcely had men enough to heave the anchor.
Clark and his comrades were employed at once
and helped load the ship ; and in great haste to
be off, or the time of their insurance would ex-
pire. " Here," he states, " for the first and
last time in my life, I worked on the Sabbath
for double wages."
When the Captain paid off Clark and his
companions, he used a stratagem to induce
them to work the ship to England. The wages
then were forty guineas and forty gallons of rum
for the voyage ; but John Clark had resolved to
visit his brother, according to a promise he
made his mother when he parted with her, and
no high wages or other inducement would tempt
him to break his promise. The Captain pro-
fessed great generosity, and proposed treating
28 EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE.
Clark and a young man who was to be his
traveling companion, to French brandy ; and as
Clark suspected with drugged liquor, in order
to detain them. He drank but little, while his
comrade praised the liquor and took it freely.
They had not proceeded far before the young
man's legs gave out, and they were compelled
to stop at a strange house till next morning.
During the night, the young man was robbed
of all he had, and being destitute, Clark, as a
genuine sailor, and benevolent withal, divided
his purse with his unfortunate friend. And he
moralizes on it in this language : — " So here I
saw .the fruits of Sabbath-breaking and trifling
company." But on looking back on the events
of providence from the pinnacle of three score
and ten, he says : —
" I now find that it was the interposition of a particu-
lar providence of Him, who is loving and mindful of all
his creatures, that the forty guineas and forty gallons of
rum, and the French brandy made no impression on my
mind to induce me to alter my intentions, and especially
my promise to the best of mothers."
He learned at a later period, that though the
ship got to her place of rendezvous, yet before
the fleet was ready to sail to England, it was
overtaken by a most furious hurricane, arid the
A TERRIBLE HURRICANE. 29
ship he aided to load, was stranded, about a
quarter of a mile from the beach. The cargo
was lost, and the wicked Captain and every
sailor on board perished. Clark adds, " So
fatal was that storm on that ungodly people,
(the inhabitants of Savannah la Mar,) that
there was scarcely as many left, as would bury
the dead in proper season."
Mr. Clark traveled across the Island to find
his brother, and then went to work to obtain
money enough to purchase decent clothes,
before he would venture into the presence of
his brother, who lived in a decent family, and
was much respected. He earned money, but
Providence seemed to frown on him, for he lost
it, and all he had. So he says, " I resolved at
last to see my brother, just as I was in my tar-
paulin dress, as sinners ought to come to the
Saviour, without any righteousness of their
own."
After informing his brother of his career, he
blamed him much for leaving the navy ; for the
education he had and the position he attained
would have insured his promotion, and he
might have obtained wealth and dignity.
He soon found there was no employment he
could obtain at Montego bay, and be near his
30 TAKEN BY THE SPANIARDS.
brother, unless it was that of book-keeper on
some plantation, and that was an unprofitable
business. His brother had become addicted to
intemperance, and seemed to be following the
course of his unhappy father.
While waiting and undetermined what to do,
a Letter of Marque* belonging to Glasgow
came into Montego bay, and Mr. Clark engaged
as a hand, and set out for his native country.
All now seemed encouraging, and he felt
thankful to God that he should soon see his
parents and sisters again. But while sailing in
the Gulf of Mexico, the vessel was attacked and
taken by two Spanish frigates of superior force,
and the crew were carried prisoners to Havana,
in the Island of Cuba. Here Clark remained
a prisoner of war nineteen months. Formerly
the Spanish authorities treated their English
prisoners with great cruelty, but since the hu-
mane regimen of Admiral Kodney and the
orders of the King of Spain, already noticed,
their treatment was kind and humane. But to
be confined in a prison, though provided with
wholesome food and other necessaries, was by no
means pleasant ; and the time wore away slowly.
* A Letter of Marque is a merchant vessel, licensed to go
armed, and fight in defense in time of war.
RELEASED BY A CARTEL. 31
A cartel being arranged, Clark and other
prisoners were liberated and soon on shipboard.*
With gladsome hearts and active hands, they
heard the boatswain sing out, " heave 0 !" as
the anchor was raised and the sails unfurled to
the winds of heaven ; and soon they were
ploughing the rippling waves towards a land of
freedom. The wind proved favorable, and in a
few days they were at anchor off Charleston,
outside the bar. Here the good fortune of
Clark was again reversed. • The eye of an infi-
nite Providence was fixed on this man ; his
steps were mysteriously directed in all his wan-
derings, and it was needful he should pass
through other and more severe trials, until as
gold well-refined, he should be fitted for the
Master's use. Mr. Clark expected to be land-
ed in a maritime port, and have eight days
allowed him to choose a vessel and berth. But
an hour had not passed before a recruiting offi-
cer and press-gang were on board, and poor
Clark and several others were again pressed on
board another man-of-war by British authority.
Surely there is no condition of servitude so
galling to humanity, and so directly a violation
* A cartel is an agreement between nations at war, for ex-
change of prisoners. It is also used for the vessel that brings them
32 FORCED ON BOARD THE NARCISSUS.
of human rights, and so subversive of rational
liberty, as the infamous press-gang in the Bri-
tish navy. We rejoice that the just and
humane sentiments of the age, have mitigated,
though not entirely removed, this odious form
of despotism in the British government.
Through the operation of such oppression,
Mr. Clark found himself on board the Narcis-
sus, of twenty guns, and most unwillingly held
in the service of George III. Read his own re-
marks on the subject.
" Now, I was more determined than ever to obtain my
liberty. The love of liberty is implanted in our very
nature, and nothing can supply the lack of it. We fared
well on board the Narcissus ; we had the best of fresh
meat when it could be obtained, besides butter, cheese,
plum-pudding, and a pint of Madeira wine for each day,
but all that could not supply the lack of rational liberty.
" The people of the slaveholding States ought to con-
sider this well ; for the spirit of liberty is like a magazine
full of powder. If it takes fire, it will consume all with-
in its reach, and the danger increases daily. Many slave-
holders sincerely conclude that if they work their slaves
moderately, clothe and feed them well, the slaves ought
to be contented, but Scripture, sound philosophy, and ex-
perience— yes, my own experience — prove such arguments
to be sophistry. For although I fared on board the Nar-
cissus as well as I could reasonably desire, yet I was
more discontented than ever. So I found the old saying
verified, —
THOUGHTS ON LIBERTY. 33
' Feed me with ambrosia ;
Wash it down with Nectar ; •
And what will it avail, if liberty be wanting.'
My desires for liberty and peace were so great, that
death or liberty was t4ie constant language of my heart."
About this time the British evacuated
Savannah, and the Narcissus was appointed a
convoy to the transports that moved the refu-
gees from that city to St. Augustine. After
performing this duty, the ship returned and lay
oif Charleston again. Orders were issued to
sail to New York, and the night previous Clark
and his mess-mates were employed in making
preparations for the voyage.
After being discharged from duty, and while
at their mess, John Scott and John Clark were
invited to join another mess and take grog.
The proposal was then made to Clark and his
messmate, to obtain their liberty that night by
swimming to James' Island, it being from one
and a-half to two miles distant. The plan was
arranged by Clark to strip in the bow of the
ship, all but their trowsers, and swim at first
straight ahead in a quartering direction, until
they could no longer be seen from the ship, and
then turn in the course of the island. He was
chosen to take the lead, and he dashed ahead in
the direction he had chosen. The others made
34 HAZARDOUS ADVENTURE.
some delay, as Clark was to turn on his
back and wait for them. He found, on trial,
the salt water so dashed over his face, that he
was compelled to swim for his life. His situa-
tion became extremely perilous ; the rippling
waves dashed in his face and he began to despair
of life. And now he became alarmed at the
prospect of immediate death, and his sins rushed
on his conscience to that degree that even in
the perilous condition he was, he dared not to
pray for deliverance. The prayers of his mother
seemed to ring in his ears, and in his disturbed
imagination the spray that beat upon his face
were her scalding tears. Like flashes of light-
ning his sins pierced his conscience, and the
terrors of the law, like peals of thunder, rolled
over his sinking soul. Such were his views of
his sin and guilt, while swimming for his life,
that he dared not pray, lest his cries to heaven
for mercy should provoke the vengeance of an
angry Grod to sink him in the deep. But let
him tell his own experience from his journal at
this terrible crisis.
li I expected to launch into the presence of a frowning
and sin-avenging God. whose tender mercies for many
years I had trampled under my ungodly feet ; — I had
broken many promises of amendment ; — a yawning hell
Deemed moving from beneath, at the ocean's depth, to
AWFTJL CONVICTIONS. 35
meet me on my sinking. Human language cannot express
the agitation of my mind, and such was my perturbation
for a time, that my strength failed me to such a degree
that I could hardly keep myself from sinking. I would
willingly have sunk, but the thought of dying without the
hope of mercy, was so terrible that I resolved to swim as
long as I could keep my head above water, or until de-
prived of my senses, or till some greedy shark, of which
the harbor was never clear, should devour me. and put an
end to my struggling."
The impression of dying under the curse of
God's violated law, thrilled through his nerves
like an electric shock, and he felt in an instant
increased vigor, and swam with greater ease.
He could not see the land, and when despair-
ing of deliverance, he found a ship at anchor
about 200 yards from him, and two miles from
any other vessel, and hope inspired his heart
and nerved his arms to further effort, and he
resolved to board the vessel, knowing that some
of the sailors would give him clothes and help
him to land. But all was still. Both officers
and men were on shore, or in the city of Charles-
ton. He found an old, ragged, and greasy
shirt, and a small boat moored to the ship, but
conscience demurred : " How can you be guilty
of such iniquity, of taking other men's property,
when God has wrought such a deliverance ?"
But reason responded : " It is no more than I
36 DELIVERED AT LAST.
would cheerfully allow others to do to me under
a change of circumstances."
He got into the boat with the least noise
possible, cast her loose, and sculled toward the
land. A light breeze springing up he hoisted
his oar for a mast, the old shirt for a sail,
shipped the rudder and sailed for James" Island.
After tying the boat so that it might be found
by the owners, he crept into a hay-stack and
rested till morning. After waking, much re-
freshed from the fatigue and exposure of the
past night, Clark sought a position where, un-?
discovered, he might watch the movements of
the Narcissus. At sunrise her morning gun
boomed over the waters, and with joyful emo-
tions he saw the signal hoisted for her departure.
The wind was fair, and the dreaded ship was
soon under weigh, and was soon out of sight.
MR. CLARK ARRIVES AT CHARLESTON. 37
CHAPTER III.
Mr. Clark arrives at Charleston. — Meets with Friends. — Interview
with John Scott. — The Story and Fate of Duncan. — Alarmed, and
Relieved by an Old Shipmate. — Stationed on Cooper River. —
Returns to Charleston.— Protected by Three Scotch Tailors —
They all Escape. — Adventures in a Swamp. — Reach Gen. Marion's
Army. — Clark Proceeds to Georgetown. — Enters a Row-galley and
reaches Savannah. — Sails to St. Thomas. — Voyage to New York. —
Proclamation of Peace. — Returns to the West Indies. — Shipwreck.
— Various Voyages. — Distress of Mind. — Forsakes a Sea-faring
Life.
At that time transport ships were collect-
ing in the harbor, and waiting to carry
off the troops, for the British were about to
evacuate the town. This was in 1782. James
Island, where Mr. Clark got on land, is a large
island south-east and opposite Charleston,
across Ashley river, and is separated from the
ocean by Folly Island and a channel between ;
and has several other islands contiguous.
Clark says, after noticing the departure of the
ship : —
" The next thing that occupied my mind, was, how I
would get to Charleston, and what would I do there ? I
thought that with an old, greasy and torn shirt, and a pair
of trowsers as my only covering, every one would take
me for an idiot, or at least a worthless vagabond. Could
I have seen then as I now see, the hand of HIM who makes
38 TRUST IN GOD.
sparrows, ravens, lions and other creatures objects of his
care ; and that all his dispensations towards the children
of men are tokens of his paternal love, and means to in-
struct us ; — that without HIM we can do nothing ; — if I
had then seen these things as I now do, I might have en-
joyed peace with God, and been delivered from all tor-
menting fear. But I was blinded by unbelief, or I should
have known that what I had experienced the night before
of the goodness of God in my preservation would have in-
spired me with hope for the future."
He soon found a negro hut where he obtained
food, and was told he could get a passage to
Charleston in a fishing boat. All this time Mr.
Clark knew nothing of the fate of his four com-
rades, whom he was confident had followed him,
and who, he supposed, were in the ocean, or in
nautical language had " gone to Davy Jones'
locker." He was taken in a fishing boat across
the wide river, and landed at the upper wharf,
which he regarded as a providential favor, for
it gave him opportunity to keep out of the way
of the officers of the navy, and find amongst the
common sailors some old shipmate who might
aid him in his necessities. He found sailors, in
great numbers, at every wharf, and there were
many ships taking in lading for British ports,
expecting the war would soon close. The great
men of France, England, and the United States,
were then arranging terms of peace.
THE DEAD ALIVE. 39
Mr. Clark continued his tour along the
wharves until he almost despaired of seeing any
one who would hefriend him. When almost at
his wits' end, he espied three men putting to-
bacco into the hold of a vessel, and to his as-
tonishment and joy he knew them ; for many
months before, he and his mess-mate John Scott
had showed them what they thought was a
great favor. It is a peculiar trait of sailors to
be grateful, and never forget an act of kindness.
But let the interview be in his own language.
" I made towards them with quick steps, and a gladsome
heart. I found they were gentlemen indeed, though at
first they did not seem to know me. Their disinterested
generosity exceeded any thing of the kind I ever met with
before. They clothed me from head to foot, and gave me
refreshment.* I then went into the hold, to assist the
second mate to stow away tobacco. I was not long en-
gaged in that business before I heard the voice of John
Scott on deck — my mess-mate, who I supposed was
drowned. I concealed myself as long as I could, while lis-
tening to his conversation ; for he was narrating the tragi-
cal story of the death of John Duncan and myself to the
captain."
We will give John Scott a chance to tell his
own tale, as recorded from the memory of our
friend John Clark.
* They proved to be the captain and two mates of the vessel.
40 JOHN SCOTT'S STORY.
u The men who proposed the hazardous undertaking to
me and my mess-mate, John Clark, set out from the ship
after him, but in a contrary course from mine. One of
them, after swimming about one hundred yards, concluding
he could not hold out to reach the shore, returned and
got on board without being discovered. Another swam
about one hundred yards further, and found he would fail,
hailed the ship and was taken up by the boat. But I and
John Duncan held on our course about halfway to the land,
when Duncan began to fail ; and the last words I heard
him utter, were, ' Lord, have mercy on me.' I got to the
island, but entirely naked, except a silk handkerchief
around my waist. I then ran up and down the sand
beach to keep warm till day-light, when I walked on the
island and came to a large brick house, where a lady stood
in the door-way and directed me to the barn, where a Bri-
tish sergeant lay, who gave me a pair of trowsers, and the
lady sent me a fine, ruffled shirt, and a half- worn beav er
hat, and gave me a hearty breakfast."
Scott got a passage to Charleston on a fish-
ing boat, for which he paid two dollars ; so it
seems they weighed his purse by his fine clothes.
While John Scott was narrating the desperate
adventure, and how two of the number got back
to the Narcissus, and Duncan was drowned,
with sobs and tears he mentioned his dear mess-
mate, John Clark, who, he doubted not, had
perished, or been devoured by a shark, for
though an excellent swimmer, he could never
AFFECTIONATE MEETING. 41
reach land in that direction. " And here,"
said .the generous-hearted sailor, " is the purse
he knit and gave me, and I am determined to
keep it as long as two meshes will hold to-
gether ; for he was the "best friend I ever had."
Clark could listen no longer, but called out
JOHN SCOTT, while the tears like rain drops,
gushed from his eyes, as he sprang on deck, and
in a moment the two ship mates, each suppos-
ing the other dead, were in each others' arms !
They now pledged themselves to each other,
never to part, but to live together like brothers.
But it is not in man that walketh to direct his
steps.* They heard of a Captain Kelly, who
was fitting out a privateer and wanted hands.
On application for berths as privates, they
learned he wanted officers, and would take them
as lieutenants. Clark was deficient in practice,
and Scott lacked knowledge in the art of navi-
gation. After some further consideration they
went on board the privateer, and to their satis-
faction found one of their former fellow-prison-
ers engaged as surgeon. They now thought
they were provided for and should be contented,
but before they were ready to sail, a ship of war
came into the harbor, with a full description of
* Jer.z:23.
42 FEARS OF APPKEHENSION.
the deserters from the Narcissus, and orders to
search every vessel for them. This so alarmed
Clark and his mess-mate that they were at their
wits end. At this crisis Clark fell into the
company of an old shipmate by name of John
Stewart. They had been captured in company
by the Spanish frigates and were messmates
while in prison in Havana. Stewart advised
Clark to take a berth on an armed sloop, em-
ployed as a guard ship, and stationed in Cooper
river, a few miles above Charleston. What be-
came of his friend Scott we learn no more.
They separated and probably never met again
on earth.
Mr. Clark now felt his mind relieved from
the fear of recapture, but the respite did
not last long. For wages he had nineteen dol-
lars per month, and a complete asylum from
the dangers to which he had been exposed ;
plenty of good rations, and very little to do ;
so he had two-thirds of his time to improve his
mind, which he did not neglect. But God had
wise and gracious designs to accomplish by him,
and his measure of afflictions was not full. His
rest was of short duration, for the sloop was
ordered down to Charleston to undergo repairs.
There he was peculiarly exposed to apprehen-
FINDS SCOTCH FRIENDS. 43
sion as a deserter, and knew not how to escape
detection. But the Friend of mankind pro-
vided another asylum, as unexpected as his
former deliverances. Connected with the rem-
nant of the British army that still occupied
Charleston, were three Scotchmen, brothers,
who came from his native district. They were
tailor.s, and employed in altering and fitting the
military clothing, so as to suit each person.
With them he became acquainted, and they
concealed him until they were about to be
shipped off with the regiment to New Provi-
dence. They told him, in confidence, their
parents lived in North Carolina, that the time
of their enlistment had nearly expired, that
they disliked the army, and desired to escape to
a country that was now free. Finally, they
entreated Clark to procure a boat, and take
them across Ashley river ; and if he wished to
accompany them, to obtain a man to row the
boat back to Charleston. This was a providen-
tial opening for Clark to escape, and he engaged
his friend Stewart to help them off.
At eight o'clock at night, Clark, the three
tailors, and Stewart as boatman, were on the
water, and hailed by every ship they passed :
" Boat ahoy — what boat is that ?" Clark regu-
44 ESCAPE FROM CHARLESTON.
larly responded in the true marine accent,
" Guard-boat ;" and thus they escaped un-
molested. The last ship they passed ordered
them to stop and come on board, but they kept
on directly towards the margin of a large swamp
that lay close by the river. They intended to
turn up the river when on the border of the
swamp, and land on dry and firm ground above.
After considering themselves out of danger,
they leisurely plied two oars, while Clark sat in
the stern and steered. Not a word had been
spoken by the party, until one of the men broke
silence in a low but emphatic tone, " Lord, have
mercy on us — there's a boat close on us — put
ashore — put ashore !"
Clark instantly put the boat towards the
shore, struck the muddy bank, and all plunged
into the swamp but Stewart, who turned down
stream. A palmetto .swamp, when covered
with water, is a horrible place in day-light —
what must it have been to these wretched
wanderers in a dark night ! What the boat
was after that alarmed them, or who manned
it, they never learned. It might have been
sent from the last ship who suspected the
" guard-boat" was not its real character ; or it
might have contained a party of runaways like
TROUBLE IN THE SWAMP. 45
their own ; or some of the native inhabitants
might have made a stealthy visit to town.
Mr. Clark and his friends were frequently up
to their knees in mud and water, and tearing
their clothes and skins with the rough palmetto
leaves. The Scotch tailors were, excessively
frightened, quite panic struck, expecting every
moment to be made prisoners ; or perhaps shot
down in the swamp. The grass was higher
than their heads, and they could not see five
yards distant. Clark allayed their fears by
assuring them there was no danger from soldiers
or marines, for no person, unless insane, would
attempt to follow them in such a swamp. He
urged them to keep together while he led the
party. After a terrible struggle, they got
across the swamp about four oj clock in the
morning. Next day they secreted themselves
in a thicket and rested till night, and then
traveled on a south-western course by the
direction of the stars. They knew the camp
of General Marion was somewhere in the pine
barrens, and steered their course in that direc-
tion. Next day they were so far within the
American lines, they ventured to call on the
inhabitants and found them truly generous, and
were made welcome and comfortable. The day
46 CAMP OF GENERAL MARION.
following they reached Marion's camp, reported
themselves as deserters from the British in
Charleston, and were received by the heroic
General and his men with true politeness.
Next day the three Scotch tailors applied for
passports to. North Carolina, and Clark for one
to Georgetown in South Carolina, which were
readily granted. Though the war had practi-
cally ended, peace had not been proclaimed, and
every thing was in an unsettled state. Mr.
Clark reached Georgetown, sixty miles north
of Charleston, but found no employment there.
The British had evacuated the place, but the
inhabitants were left destitute, and subsisted on
rations furnished by the American army, and
every thing was in confusion. Being almost
destitute of clothes and money, Mr. Clark
engaged for a short voyage on a coasting vessel,
and came very near being captured by a British
whale-boat. It was only by a desperate effort
they escaped. Soon after returning from that
trip, an American row-galley, with thirty oars
when she had a full complement of seamen, came
into port. She was armed with swivels, mus-
kets and cutlasses, and bound on a cruise to
Savannah. As the boat wanted seamen, Clark
obtained a berth on board. On their voyage
MAN AMERICAN ROW-GALLEY. 47
they lay by one night at Bull's Island, and in
the morning found two British whale-boats
lying near, and all hands fast asleep. The
Americans fired a musket and halloed to arouse
them, but' as it was understood the war was
over, neither party was disposed for a fight. So
they parted in peace. The American boat staid
at Bull's Island another night, to see that the
British boats did no injury to the inhabitants,
and then went to Savannah.
By this time Mr. Clark had become heart-
ily tired 'of war on both sides, and his con-
science was reproaching him for engaging in
such exploits ; he was continually unhappy, for
God was calling him to enter his service, and
like Jonah he was trying to escape. But he
felt it to be his duty to obtain the means of
subsistence, and a Sweedish neutral vessel from
St. Thomas, being in Savannah, he shipped on
board and sailed for that island. As the vessel
belonged in that port, all hands were paid off
and discharged. The captain, who had taken a
fancy to Clark, offered him the post of mate if
he would sail with him, but the mate had
treated Clark with so much friendship, he would
not take his place. The mate, Clark, and sev-
eral hands, made arrangements to lodge on
48 TROUBLE IN ST. THOMAS.
shore with a Mr. Campbell. The town of St.
Thomas was a neutral port, and ships from five
nations, who had been at war some years, were
frequently in the harbor. To prevent collisions
among the sailors of these different nations,
especially when intoxicated, and to preserve
peace and good order, the town authorities re-
quired each seaman who lodged in the town,
to obtain a license from the officer who had
charge of that business. Mr. Campbell told
Clark and his comrades if they were in bed by
nine o'clock, they need not apply for a license.
But they found their host was mistaken, or else
he purposely deceived them. Though all were
in bed and perfectly quiet, they were aroused
up by the police, sent to the fort, and amongst
hosts of flees, and heaps of filth, were kept
until ten o'clock next morning. And then they
got released by paying fines and costs at the
rate of about twenty dollars per head, for a
most wretched night's lodging,
Next day .they went to Tortola, a small
island that belonged to Great Britain. Here
they shipped on the Peggy, a vessel bound to
the port of New York, and laden with rum and
sugar. Clark's friend was first mate, and he
was made second mate. His friend left the
A SHIPWRECK. 49
ship at New York, and our friend John Clark,
who was amply qualified, was advanced to the
post of chief mate. While they lay in the
harbor of New York, peace was proclaimed, and
Clark, though an officer on board a British
merchant vessel, on the day of public rejoicing
could not resist the impulse to unite with the
Americans in their shouts to Liberty. He felt
thankful to Grod that though he had been forced
sorely against his will and all his notions of the
rights of man as a creature of God, to perform
service on board of British war ships, he had
never been compelled to fight that people who
were contending for their just rights, and whose
banner was freedom. The truth is, Mr. Clark
was innately and by conviction, a true republi-
can, and an enemy to oppression in every form.
The vessel in which he was now second in
command, took in a cargo of lumber and sailed
for Tortola, where they loaded with a cargo of
wine and West India goods, and again sailed
for New York. A terrible storm drove them
ashore near Cape Hatteras, off the coast of
North Carolina, where the vessel was lost, but
the crew and cargo saved. Cape Hatteras is
the extreme point of a long bow island that
separates Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic
50 CONVICTIONS RENEWED.
ocean. From North Carolina he made a voyage
to Cape Francois, now Cape Haytien, in the
island of Hayti ; from thence to Charleston in
South Carolina, thence to Jamaica and back
to Charleston. Nothing special occurred in
these voyages in which Mr. Clark had the berth
of first mate. He now made some preparations
for a voyage to London, but he was a very un-
happy man, and had been, at times, since his
escape from the Narcissus. We will hear his
own story.
" 'TVas now the Spirit of HIM who died on the crossto
save sinners, that alarmed me continually with an assur-
ance that I should never see the face of God in peace un-
less I quit the sea-faring business. I resolved to go into
the country and teach a school, where I could have oppor-
tunity to read the Bible, meditate, and attend to the salva-
tion of my soul. My conviction and repentance increased
to despondency, and I now found no difficulty in refraining
from the use of ardent spirits, which had been growing by
long habit, until it had become truly alarming. Before I
met with this distressing but gracious and salutary change.
I was a willing slave to sin and Satan ; but now I was
still a slave, but a very unwilling one. I have believed
for many years that there is an important difference be-
tween being awakened and being penitent. A person who
is thoroughly awakened and doos not repent, is filled with
tormenting fear, which maybe the beginning of wisdom."*
* Job xxviii : 28.— Ps. cxi : 10.— Prov. i : 7 ; is : 10 ; xv : 33.—
Luke xii : 5.
LEAVES THE SEA. 51
CHAPTER IV.
Retires to tho Back Settlements in S. Carolina.— Teaches a School.—
Self-righteousness. — His Experience for Twelve Months. — Despon-
dency.— Reads Russell's Seven Sermons. — Conversion and firm
Hope. — Removes to Georgia and Becomes a Teacher there. — First
Methodist Preachers in that Quarter. — Mr. Clark joins the Society.
It was early in the month of March, 1785,
that Mr. Clark, after much struggling of mind
and conscience, came to the determination to
quit the seas and become a religious man. The
captain and hands were anxious he should re-
main, and make the voyage with them to Lon-
don. The only defect they perceived in his
character as a sailor and officer, was, his despon-
ding temper, and singular habit of being much
alone. None of his friends knew the nature of
his troubles ; none could sympathize with him ;
and had he known himself and the true nature
of the Christian religion, he might have ex-
claimed with the ancient patriarch, " Miserable
comforters are ye all."* But he then had no
clear views of gospel truth, nor how a holy and
righteous God could justify and save a sinner
consistent with his law which saith — " The soul
that sinneth, it shall die."f But he can best
* Job xvi : 2. f Ezek- xvffi : 20.
52 PROTRACTED EXPERIENCE.
describe his own case in the language he left in
the sketch before us.
" I have already mentioned being afflicted with that tor-
menting fear that precedes repentance, and which is un-
speakably great. Had I then known as much of the gospel
as I now do, I need not have made such mistakes as I did,
nor suffered the hundredth part I was made to suffer. For I
firmly believe that when an awakened sinner can say with
all his heart, ' God be merciful to me a sinner,' like the
publican,* ; or with Saul of Tarsus, ' Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do ?'f ; or in the language of one of our sweet-
est hymns,
c Here, Lord, I give myself away ;
'Tis all that I can do ;J '
he is then m a state of salvation, though he may not have
received the spirit of adoption.§
" I had been in great distress as a sinner, off and on for
more than two years. At times I would be in the great-
est distress, and have a horror of conscience beyond des-
cription, and then it would wear off and I would return to
my sinful courses. The first of my permanent conviction
was while in the port of Charleston in March, 1785, after
I had engaged to make a voyage to London, as second
mate, when I became continually alarmed, lest if I went
to sea another voyage I should never see land, nor the face
of God in peace ; my day of grace would be past. In
this awful distress of mind I obtained my discharge, and
under this salutary but distressing conviction, I set out
for the back settlement of South Carolina. On Saturday
* Luke xviii: 13. t Acts ix : 6.
J Psalmist, II. 472. § Rom. viii : 14-17.
INTERIOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 53
I came to a tavern house near the Eutaw Spring, and told
the family, 1 made it a matter of conscience not to travel
on the Sabbath, and wished to tarry with them till Mon-
day. But they misunderstood my case, and got some of
the neighbors to watch the house on Sunday night ; ima-
gining I was a robber, and had accomplices to aid in rob-
bing the house. But I did not blame them, for I felt
deeply my wickedness against God, and appeared to my-
self worse than any robber on earth.
" On Monday morning I fell in company with some
backwoods people, who had been to Charleston and were
going to Fishing river settlement on the frontiers. Both
parties soon became well suited ; for I wanted to teach
school, and they wanted a teacher. They treated me
kindly, and I went home with them, and in a few days a
school was made up, and I engaged to teach for them one
year. I now endeavored to abstain from every appear-
ance of evil, read the Scriptures, and prayed in secret
several times in a day. I was so far from knowing the
gospel method of salvation, that, notwithstanding the
instruction given me in childhood, from the Bible and the
Presbyterian catechism, I sincerely thought that true re-
ligion consisted only in outward reformation of conduct.
My moral and serious deportment* surprised my em-
ployers, who were irreligious and not over much righte-
ous. They thought it very singular that a man who had
followed a sea-faring life, should be so humble and relig-
ious, and often spoke of it. But they no more compre-
hended the state of my mind, nor understood my case
than they could lessons in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew.
" I spared no pains to attain to the highest degree of
self-righteousness, and really thought that would stand
by me in the great day of final accounts. Yet notwith-
54 CONTINUED DISTRESS.
standing all my efforts, my besetting sins would return
upon me with all their force. The more I strove to be
righteous, the stronger it seemed my sins grew ; and
what is always an inseparable companion, despair tor-
mented me to such a degree that my life became an in-
tolerable burthen. After hearing my classes read in the
Old and New Testament, I often went out of my school-
house to weep and pray. I would go into a thicket,
throw myself on the ground and cry for mercy ; yet for a
twelve month I was trying to prepare mj^self that I
might deserve mercy. No pen can describe the horrible
temptations that beset me, and the sore trials that I ex-
perienced. My whole life seemed to me to have been
a series of the vilest actions, words and thoughts imagin-
able. I had agreed to board round with the scholars, but
Mr. Andrew Love, a generous, kind-hearted gentleman,
offered to board me gratis. This gave me more time for
reading, and opportunity for retirement. At times, I
thought I was so bad the Almighty could not have
mercy on me ; and then it seemed as if a curse hung over
every thing I set my hand to do. It seemed to me at
times it was an imposition on the people for one so
wicked, as I regarded myself, to attempt to instruct the
youth. I could blame no person but myself. My life
was a burden, and I often wished I could be annihilat-ed.
" It is a most laudable custom with the pious Presby-
terians where I was brought up, for all the family that
can read, to spend the Sabbath, when not at Church, in
reading the Scriptures, and some good religious book.
But I even thought it wrong for such a sinful person as
I was to look into a good l\ook ; and such books were
very scarce in Fishing river settlement. I made inquiry
for such books, and one of my employers sent me ' Rus-
CONVERSION AND PRAISE. 55
sells's Seven Sermons.' I ventured to read the discourse
on the sin against the Holy Ghost, though with a very
trembling heart. But the happy change that came over
my mind tongue cannot express. It was the mere glim-
merings of hope that through Jesus Christ there was
mercy for me. I now felt a degree of reconciliation to
God that I cannot describe. I knew before my heart was
enmity against God, and at times. I felt angry that God
would not have mercy on me. I was now astonished be-
yond expression how I could have had such feelings, and
what had become of my sinful nature. My past sins,
which seemed to be unpardonable, were gone, and it
seemed that nothing but love to God and man had been
left in their place. Although I had been taught from my
infancy the doctrine of salvation through the merits of
Christ, yet I never before believed truly in his divine
merits and gracious intercession, but held on to my own
righteousness ; and yet I was rationally convinced I had
none, and I learned by bitter experience I could get none
by my own working."
Mr. Clark now enjoyed peace of conscience
and faith in the Lord Jesus, yet for some time
he did not know this was a state of salvation.
He had learned this lesson, that no man can
say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy
Ghost.* But it was several years after, as he
grew in knowledge and the grace of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ,f that he became
established in faith and hope, and for more
* 1 Cor. xii : 3. t 2 Peter iii : 18.
56 EVIDENCE OF A GRACIOUS STATE.
than forty years, he had no doubts of divine ac-
ceptance.
The inquiry was once made of a shrewd, old
Scots divine, " What is the lest evidence of a
gracious state ?" The prompt reply was,
" Forty years close walk with God." Our old
friend gave this evidence and something over.
According to his own narrative which we have
copied, his experience of a great and gracious
deliverance from the bondage of sin (which he
always ascribed to the mighty agency of the
Holy Ghost,) took place in March, 1786 ; just
one year after he left ship-board in Charleston.
He lived to the autumn of 1833 ; the period
of more than forty-seven years ; and during the
whole time, without any drawing back, he ex-
hibited daily living evidence of the wonderful
and gracious change he experienced. He was
remarkable for meekness, humility, and godly
fear, and yet he never expressed a doubt of his
adoption.
We do not find in his narrative any account
of religious meetings, or that he heard any one
preach for more than a yeat ; nor call we find
any evidence of any church having been or-
ganized in this remote settlement, by any de-
nomination. His school, which had been a
GOES TO GEORGIA. 57
large one, closed a few weeks after he met with
the change by which he passed from death to
life. About that period the country south of
the Savannah river, now in the middle part of
Georgia, was new, and attracted the attention
of a large immigration from Virginia, and Mr.
Clark supposed the work of surveyors would be
in demand. He thought he might obtain a
contract, and then look out and purchase land
for a farm and settle down for life. But he
piously observes, after nearly half a century had
past away, " The Author of all events had a
higher and more responsible calling than any
that occurred to my mind, and that was to
preach the gospel."
He went to Georgia, to the country on Broad
river, a branch of the Savannah, some where
in the region of the present counties of Elbert,
Wilkes, Oglethorpe and Madison, then all new,
and to which immigration was rapidly tending.
But he found no demand for surveying, and
again took up a school, near Colonel Wootten's
residence on Broad river. A school was raised
in the following manner. The teacher, after
consulting some of the heads of families, and
learning the probability that a sufficient num-
ber of pupils could be obtained to justify the
58 SCHOOL-TEACHING.
engagement, on his part, drew up an article in
the neatest style of penmanship he could, form-
ing a contract between himself and the signers ;
he engaging to teach the branches named, at a
certain rate per quarter, and they engaging to
pay him a specified sum at the close of each
term. The subscribers would put opposite
their names the number of scholars they en-
gaged to pay for, and if they sent more, the
expense would be in proportion ; if less, they
were still bound to pay their subscriptions. A
popular teacher would soon have a third more
scholars than at first subscribed. This mode
of contract for teaching the common English
branches has been almost universal through the
south-western States, and prevails to this day.
In some instances two or three persons will
make a contract with a teacher, and bind them-
selves to pay a salary, and then look to their
neighbors to aid in making up the school.
The school houses, if that term be applicable
to the most inferior of the whole race of " log-
cabins/' were constructed of rough, unhewn
logs, with a chimney of sticks and clay at one
ond ; the door- way in front, and the shutter, if
it had one, made of split slabs or boards. A
log cut out of one side left an aperture for a
JOINS THE METHODISTS. 59
window, and a slab placed under it, running the
length of the room answered the purpose of a
writing-desk. The floor was of earth and
seldom cleansed. The surrounding forest, in
the border of which this rough £abin was
located, furnished ample supplies of fuel, and a
spring of water near poured out the . refreshing
and primitive draught for the thirsty pupils.
About the time Mr. Clark began his school,
as he states,
<;Two Methodist preachers, by name of- John Major
and Thomas Humphries, formed a circuit in those parts,
and preached at Col. Wootten's house, where I boarded.
They pleased me so well that I joined them."
Turning to the Minutes of the Methodist
Conference, we find the names of these minis-
ters placed on the Georgia circuit for 1*786.*
* Looking into the History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by
Rev. Dr. Bangs, Vol. 1, p. 253, we find the following under 1786.
" At the Conference in Virginia, a proposal was made for somo
preachers to volunteer their services for the State of Georgia, and
several offered themselves for this new field of labor. Two of thoso
who offered themselves, namely, Thomas Humphries and John Major,
were accepted, and they went to work in the name of the Lord, and
were made a blessing to many. They formed a circuit along settle-
ments on the banks of the Savannah river, round by Little river, in-
cluding the town of Washington. During the year they formed
several societies, containing upwards of four hundred members — so
greatly did God bless their labors."
The preceding year (1785) Thomas Humphries was on Tar river
APPOINTED CLASS LEADER.
Their labors were abundant and efficient, and
several societies were formed in that part of
Georgia.
CHAPTER V.
Appointed Class Leader.— Desires to Visit his Native Country.—
Takes a Berth on the Royal George. — Singular Notions on Board.—
A Storm. — Interview with Tom Halyard. — His Conversion. — Ar-
rival in London. — Sabbath Morning. — Visits the Foundry and
hears Rev. John Wesley. — Parting with Halyard.— Sails for Inver-
We are unable to give anything very definite
about the religious employment of Mr. Clark
while he remained in Georgia. He was prompt
and gifted in prayer-meetings, and before many
months was appointed class-leader. We never
learned when he commenced regular preaching.
Without a license he gave exhortations in the
prayer-meetings ; but his private conversations
were probably the most effective means at that
period in bringing sinners to Christ.
Gradually, and with many misgivings, on his
part, his mind became impressed with the duty
of preaching the gospel to his fellow men. He
circuit, N. C., and John Major on Mecklenburg circuit in Virginia.
Very probably the emigration of Methodists from his circuit to Broad
river in Georgia, drew him there.
PAKTING WITH HIS FKIENDS. 61
was meek, modest, humble, and thought far less
of his gifts than others did. His sensitive con-
science shrunk at undertaking a work for which
he felt so poorly qualified, and we suppose he
did not appear before the public as a preacher
until after his return from his native country.
His amiable temper, courteous manners, and
kind feelings, without any effort on his part,
gained him the confidence and good will of all
with whom he held intercourse.
It was not more than one or two years after
he joined the Methodists that he resolved on a
visit to his native land. He had received the
avails of teaching for several terms ; his dress
was plain, cotton homespun, and cost but little ;
and his board had been gratuitously bestowed
by Colonel Wootten. It was a beautiful morn-
ing in April that he led for the last time, by the
solicitations of his host, in the family devotions,
and after breakfast, and again singing a favorite
song, he gave the parting hand to each of the
family, white and black.
" I'll go with you, brother Clark, to the forks
of the road," said the venerable Colonel. As
they walked along the lane, Clark thought,
though kindly repulsed before, he would again
tender payment for his board and several articles
62 RELIGIOUS GRATITUDE. — A SCENE.
of clothing he had received as gratuities, and
he mentioned the subject as they arrived at the
junction where they must part. " No, my
dear brother/' said the kind-hearted old
Methodist, " you have done a heap more for
my family than they can ever do for you. For
until you talk'd to that wayward boy, our
George, who was wild like, and had been after
cards and whiskey, I felt orfully afeared he
would be lost and ruined te-totally. But when
I know'd you'd tuk him in hand, and Fd he'rn
you pray so ail-graciously for him in the tobacco
house, I sort'r pluck'd up heart, and concluded
my poor prayers for him would'nt do no harm.
So I prayed too as hard as I could. An' now
he's so steady and cheerful, and sings so pretty
sin' he join'd Society. — 0, brother Clark, I hate
to part with you ; but do pray for me and
mine, when you're on the great ocean ; — and
should you ever get back ag'in to Georgia, re-
member my house 's your home, as long as I
live. And ef George lives and holds out as
he's begun, he'll never let you want, for I do
believe he loves you better nor his father and
mother."
The old Colonel was full and he could say no
more — his heart was gushing out of his eyes
TAKES A SAILOR'S BERTH. 63
like a snower of rain, as he gave the hand of
Mr. Clark such a parting squeeze as caused him
never to forget this old Methodist brother.
He might have paid his passage and gone in
the cabin of one of the slow sailing vessels of
that period, which were usually from two to
three months in crossing the ocean to Europe.
But though he never knew the feeling of
avarice ; — though he never hoarded up money
for its own sake, but believed steadfastly in the
same providence that clothes the lilies of the
field, and feeds the birds of the air, he went
aboard like a true-hearted sailor, before the
mast. Arriving at Charleston, he found the
Royal George, a trim, snug, merchant ship,
just fitting out for the port of London, and
shipped as a regular seaman.
The wind proved fair, and for some weeks the
weather was favorable ; — then a terrific storm
overtook them which lasted three days. Clark
manifested due courtesy with his shipmates, and
showed prompt obedience to the officers. The
Captain eyed him closely, but during the storm
he found him to be a prime sailor, and that he
understood both the theory and practice of
navigating a ship. The sailors in the forecastle
thought he had queer wings, but all concurred
64 SAILOR NOTIONS. — A. STRANGE FELLOW.
in the opinion of the Captain and mates that
he had smelt salt water before ; and yet he was
singular.
When he first came aboard, they spoke of
him as a " green 'un ;" " a land-lubber."
" He might do to punish grub, but he'd never
do in a storm."
The storm came on, and Jack Clark, as he
was called, was found to be the best hand in the
mess to work ship. He could run up the
shrouds and out on the yard arms, like a
monkey ; hold on with one hand and take in a
reef with the other in the quickest time. From
the captain, whose keen look was on him as he
walked the quarter-deck in sullen dignity, to
the cabin boy whose laughing eye watched the
new hand ; all perceived he was a regular
" old salt ;" and if he had commanded a ship,
as some one intimated, he had never crept into
the cabin window.
But he was a strange fellow, for when grog
time came John was seldom seen coming for his
allowance. When fair weather came, and the
sailors lay about the deck sunning themselves,
and spinning long yarns, John Clark was read-
ing in his berth. Thus days and weeks passed
JOHN CLARK PRAYS WITH A SICK SAILOR. 65
away, with the usual monotony of an old
fashioned sea voyage.
" What book is that Jack Clark reads' so
much ?" — said one old salt to another as several
hands lay basking on deck one day. " It's the
BIBLE/' was the reply from a pale looking
sailor, who had just got out from a sick-berth,
" for he read a long yarn out of it the other
day to me." " Hurrah," shouted a wicked and
witty fellow, who was listening ; — " Is — Jack
— what <T call 'em — a PARSON ?" " I don't
know about that," said pale face, " but I think
there are not many parsons about Lun-nun that
know more about the Bible than Jack Clark.
And I can tell ye more, shipmates, he can pray
too, and make his prayers as he goes along with-
out the book ; for I he'rn him not long sin'."
" You he'rn him pray !" shouted two or three
voices in quick succession. " A sailor pray,
and that without a book ? Well, that's more
than the parsons can do."
The sailor who had let out the secret of
John's praying, was in a serious mood. He had
taken a kind of sailor prejudice to Clark when
he first came aboard, and manifested no dispo-
sition to be on terms of intimacy. This sailor,
who we will call Tom Halyard, (having forgot-
66 HISTORY OF TOM HALYARD.
ten his real name) had been sick for several
days, and was neglected by his shipmates, —
even those of his own mess, except Clark, who
nursed him, obtained from the cook a little
nourishing soup, and showed so much sympathy
as to spoil all his prejudices and win his confi-
dence. There is nothing like sympathy and
kindness to work one's way into the heart's
core of a true sailor. Taking advantage of a
convenient interview in private, when he was
beginning to recover, Clark had a long conver-
sation with this man on personal religion, and
the way of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Thomas Halyard had a pious mother, who in
giving him some of the formal lessons prescribed
by the English church, talked to him about his
state by nature as a sinner in such a way as no
one but a mother can talk. Tom's mother died
when he was a little boy. His father was a
profane drunkard, and cared nothing for godli-
ness, and hated God-fearing people. His re-
peated acts of outrage and abuse of the poor
motherless boy, drove all filial feelings from his
heart, and made him disgusted with his father's
brutal manners. He ran away while quite a
youth, and went on board a ship. He soon
learned the habits of a sailor, and could swear
CLARK TELLING HIS EXPERIENCE. 67
as profanely and drink as full an allowance of
grog as the best of them in the ship. Yet
there were moments when the image of his
mother, and especially her dying words to him,
and prayer and praise to God, would come with
power on his memory. He had once heen sick
when he was a little child, and his kind mother
nursed him, placed her hand on his feverish
brow, and spoke words of kindness and love in
his ear, which he could never forget. The
kindness and conversation of Clark, during his
recent illness, had broken through the crust
that the world and a wicked life had encased
his softer nature, and unsealed the fountain.
Tom wept like a child as he lay in his hammock,
and listened to the simple teaching of his
brother sailor, and heard him read lessons of
instruction from the Book of God.
John Clark told him some thing of the his-
tory of his own life, how he left the man-of-
war and swam ashore, and how God mercifully
preserved his life in that perilous adventure.
But when he told him how the Lord brought
him to see his wretched state as a sinner, and
the wonderful deliverance and joys of pardon-
ing mercy in the interior of South Carolina,
and the new life he since lived ; — all was so
68 COURTEOUS MANNERS AND COMMON SENSE,
strange and wonderful, — so unlike any thing he
had heard before, and with all so touching, that
the tears rolled down the weather-heaten cheeks
of this tar ; he sobbed aloud, and before he was
aware of the scene he was enacting, John Clark
was on his knees beside his hammock, praying
in an audible, but low, musical voice for his
salvation. No wonder the sin-struck sailor
thought John could pray better than the par-
sons could with a book. True, he knew very
little about parsons, for he had followed the sea
more than twenty years, and during that time
had seen " divine service" performed on land
not half a dozen times. Sometimes he heard
the burial service read by a captain over the
mortal remains of some shipmate, who had been
sent to " Davy Jones' Locker,*' over the ship's
side.
From the time Mr. Halyard disclosed the
character of John Clark to the crew, he was
treated with particular respect. Wild and
wicked, and as little disposed to knock off
drinking and swearing, and put on religion, all
respected their ship-mate John Clark. The
officers found out the " cut of his jib/' and
treated him accordingly. Sailors find out the
peculiar traits of human nature quite as soon
ARRIVAL IN LONDON. 69
as any class. Had Clark put on a sour face
and assumed the airs of a religious man ; had
he heen unsocial and moody, and reproved them
in a harsh and unkind tone of voice, and in
presence of others for their drinking, swearing
and frolicking habits, and taken pains to appear
peculiarly righteous, he would have seen trouble.
They would have regarded him a graceless
hypocrite, and treated him with contempt and
persecution. He gave them no direct reproofs,
and yet his manners and intercourse, courteous,
kind and winning, impressed their consciences
more than a hundred moral lectures would have
done. They feared him, respected him and even
loved him.
The voyage finally wore away, and they were
in the port of London and safely moored, on
Saturday ; after sailing up the river Thames
from its mouth at the Norse, about forty-five
miles. At that period London was a great city,
though since that period, its population has
more than doubled ; its fine houses and long,
winding streets have extended, and its blocks
and squares, have gone far out into what was
then open country. Boarding-houses for sailors
were then a horrible " den of thieves/' and the
abodes of intoxication and other infamous vices.
70 SABBATrf MORNING.
And, even in this age of philanthropy and re-
form, there are numerous places in London and
all other large seaports where decoys are em-
ployed to entice the newly arrived mariner to
places where he can be filched of his money, his
senses and his life. But Christian philanthropy
has hoisted the Bethel flag, as the signal where
sailors can worship God in comfort and peace,
and hoarding-houses have been established as
places of virtue, good order, temperance and
comfort for this useful class of humanity. John
Clark had no inclination for accommodations in
houses of infamy, and Tom Halyard seemed
very much inclined to follow his example.
Sabbath morning came ; the sun shone dimly
through the smoke and haze of a London at-
mosphere, and the sailors generally were. making
preparations to desecrate the Lord's day by
their customary visits to rum shops and infa-
mous houses. Mr. Clark had risen early and
performed the service required of him as a sail-
or, put off his tarpaulin dress, and appeared on
deck with a smiling countenance, in a neat and
cleanly suit, having, as the sailors said, the
" cut and jib of a land-lubber/' One of his
shipnrates cried out, — " halloo, Jack, — whither
ahoy now ?" I'm going to find a place to wor-
FOLLOWING PROVIDENCE. 71
ship Grod, with his people." Clark lingered on
deck for a few moments on the Sabbath morn-
ing, when Thomas Halyard appeared in his Sun-
day suit, rigged out in real sailor trim.
" Where away now, Tom ?" enquired one of
the sailors, while he cocked his eye at another,
with the true sailor leer, and rolled his quid
from one cheek' to the other. "Only going a
short voyage on land with Jack Clark " — was
the response, in a serious tone.
" I'll be harpooned if Tom Halyard is not
a-going to turn parson/7 said one. " Not yet/'
replied another. " Tom was on the sick list not
long since, and thought he was bound for
kingdom come ; — and Jack Clark physicked the
old boy out of him, and he's now going to chapel
to pay off old scores." " And I'll tell you what,
shipmates," said another, " we've all been bad
enough to be keel-hauled, and John Clark and
Thomas Halyard are as good sailors as I ever
wish to mess with. 'Spose we follow them and
hear what the parson says to-day ?" a Agreed,"
said several voices, and away they went up the
street, headed by Clark and Halyard, who walk-
ed lovingly arm in arm.
It became a fixed principle in the mind of
Mr. Clark, at that early period of his religious
72 A METHOI>IST CHAPEL.
history to follow as Providence led ; or, which
was the same thing to him, after a season of
prayer for divine direction, to follow such im-
pressions of his own mind as appeared to spring
from a truthful and right source. Neither he,
nor his companion knew any chapel in London,
or where to go ; — but they walked on in a
friendly manner. Mr. Halyard asked questions
how they were to conduct themselves in church,
and Mr. Clark described how the meetings were
managed in Georgia.
They had passed through several streets,
when Mr. Clark saw a man walking in the same
direction, and ventured to inquire if he could
direct them to some chapel where the gospel
was preached. (C And it's being afther the gos-
pel ye would be axing ? Well, it's mesel' that
answer ye, for I'm a going there mesel7 — "Pis
to the Foundry ye'd like to go ?" Clark re-
plied they were strangers in London, just from
ship-board, and wished to find some church
where they could hear the gospel. The honest
Hibernian with whom they had come in contact,
was a zealous Methodist, then on his way to the
"Foundry," in'Moorfields, where the celebra-
ted John Wesley established his regular meet-
ings in 1739. This venerable patriarch of
MR. WESLEY. 73
Methodism was still there, and though four-
score years old, preached on the occasion of the
sailors' visit. Mr. Clark had heard of tho
achievements of Mr. Wesley, from the preach-
ers in Georgia, and it had been among his
warmest aspirations to see and hear this distin-
guished divine before his return to America. It
was a singular providence that guided him to
the Foundry chapel the first Sabbath he spent
in London. The scene was almost overpower-
ing, and he listened with rapt attention and
drank in every word the preacher uttered.
Halyard wept profusely, though on board
ship, and before his illness, and Clark's conver-
sation, he had been singularly hard-hearted.
No distress could bring a tear from his eyes.
The other sailors behaved with decorum. The
scene was new to all. None before, except Mr.
Clark, had ever known a " parson," as they
called all ministers, pray without a book, or
preach anything but a written or a printed dis-
course. Whether any lasting impressions were
made on their companions is not known ; but
Halyard was an altered man, and one of the
" first fruits " of John Clark's labors.
They spent the day at the Foundry ; some
of the generous-hearted, Christian brethren
74 PLEASANT AND PAINFUL EMOTIONS.
shared with them their lunch, and invited them
to attend class-meeting in the afternoon. The
next week they obtained their discharge from
the ship, and Thomas Halyard went into the
country to find some distant relatives, and John
Clark entered a coasting vessel and sailed along
the coast of England and Scotland, and up the
Moray Firth to Inverness, on his way to his na-
tive parish.
Mr. Clark had not heard from his surviving
friends for several years. He learned the news
of the decease of his father when he visited his
brother in Jamaica, but his mother and two sis-
ters were then alive and well. No mails were
then carried across the ocean, and it was a rare
thing that opportunity presented to send a let-
ter. He had written two or three letters while
in the sea-faring business, but he knew not
whether they ever reached their destination ;
and they were never received.
A mixture of the most pleasurable and pain-
ful emotions agitated his mind as the rough hills
and mountains of his native land hove in sight,
and the schooner on which he engaged to work
his passage, entered the estuary of Moray Firth.
And as they passed Nairn, where he attended
the boarding school and studied the sciences,
SCOTTISH SCENERY. 75
his feelings became overpowering. The scenes
and incidents of youth, and his airy visions of a
sea-faring life ; the wonderful providence of
God that led him in a way that he knew not,
preserved -him amid a thousand dangers, and
brought him back to his native hills, were so op-
pressive that he could no longer look on the hills
and vales around him, until he had retired,
wept heartily and offered a prayer of thanks-
giving to God for his mercies that endureth for-
*0
ever.
Coming again on deck as they slowly sailed
with a light breeze up the Firth, towards the
mouth of the river Ness, every feature of the
landscape appeared natural and familiar. There
in the distant perspective were the alpine
mountains of Scotland, as range on range ex-
hibited features of the wildest grandeur. Again,
as they approached the city, his eye caught the
aspect of the rich lowland country lying along
the Ness and Spey rivers. Here was a mari-
time landscape scarcely equalled in great Bri-
tain. Mr. Clark had a natural taste for the
beauties of nature. He delighted to gaze and
meditate on the works of God, as seen in the
natural scenery of the earth. But now he could
not keep his mind on these displays of divine
76 AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE.
power, wisdom and goodness around him. Other
and more powerful emotions controlled his
thoughts. More than a hundred times during
the last twenty-four hours had the question
arisen out of the depths of his heart, " Is my
dear mother alive ?" Alas ! the affectionate
son, whose longings to embrace his mother, and
pour into her bosom the story of his wanderings
and his conversion ; and pour out his soul to
God, and mingle his prayers with hers in
thanksgiving and praise, never enjoyed such a
happy meeting. His mother had been dead
two years and yet he knew it not.
The schooner was safely moored at one of the
docks in the harbor of Inverness, and Mr. Clark,
having obtained his discharge, and bid the kind
officers and crew a friendly farewell, proceeded
up the city towards his native parish. A fami-
liar name on the sign of a shop-keeper caught
his eye, and he stepped within, and instantly
recognized an old acquaintance. Mr. Clark in
youth, as in old age, was of very light complex-
ion, blue eyes, and light-colored hair, of mode-
rate height, and light, slender make. The man
who stood before the shop-keeper, was sun-
burnt, swarthy, robust, and dressed in sailor
trim. He could perceive some lineaments in
LEARNS THE DECEASE OF HIS MOTHER. 77
his countenance which seemed familiar, but
could not recollect when, or where, if ever, he
had seen the person that now stood before him,
while he leaned over the counter. Soon as
Clark gave his name and parentage, both hands
were seized with a friendly grasp, and a shower
of welcomes was poured out in genuine Gaelic ;
for though Mr. Makenzie spoke English like a
native, he never failed to resort to his Highland
tongue, when moved by strong emotions.
Upon inquiry Mr. Clark for the first time re-
alized he was an orphan. His mother was
dead ! The generous Highlander had the tact
to understand that under the pressure of such
intelligence, his guest would ,do best alone.
Again he bade him welcome in plain English,
and insisted his house should be his home while
he remained in Inverness ; at least he must not
leave that night ; — introduced him into a neat
parlor, and, pleading special business for ab-
sence, left him to his own thoughts. This re-
tirement exactly suited the feelings of Mr. Clark.
He pondered over the parting scene with his
father and mother ; counted up nine years and
some months since that time ; recollected his
mother was more than three-score and ten years
old ; that she was a true child of God, and died
78 FILIAL AFFECTION.
with a full hope of eternal life, and that the
only trouble she felt was about the uncertain
fate of her youngest son John. He learned also,
from the Highlander, that his father ceased his
intemperate hahits soon after their parting, and
appeared to have become a true penitent, and
died in peace. A married sister who lived near
Inverness had died in child-bed shortly after his
mother.
With a chastened spirit of submission he fell
on his knees, and with mingled feelings of thank-
fulness and grief, he found relief in commit-
ting himself and his surviving relatives to God.
Before he left Scotland he heard of the untimely
death of his brother Daniel in the island of Ja-
maica.
Next morning Mr. Clark left his hospitable
host, and directed his course to his birth-place,
the parish of Petty. He had learned that his
only surviving sister was there, in comfortable
circumstances, and managing the farm (held by
a lease-hold) with the aid of a laboring man and
his wife as domestics. He felt a desire to find
out if his sister knew him, before he gave any
intimations of relationship. He called at the
house as a stranger, asked for a cup of water
and the privilege to rest himself a short time,
AFFECTING INTERVIEW. 79
and entered into conversation on general topics,
but could perceive no evidence of recognition.
As if an entire stranger, he made inquiries about
the country and its inhabitants, and finally drew
her into conversation about the family, and ask-
ed many questions. The young woman appear-
ed cheerful and communicative, and answered
his questions truthfully and with frankness ;
told him of her father's death, without exposing
his frailties ; then of her mother, and a sister
who had followed her mother. Then she men-
tioned her brother Daniel in the West Indies,
who had been rich but lost his ships by being
captured in the late war. The family history
seemed closed, and no mention was made of any
other brother, until with a careless air he made
inquiry if these were all her immediate rela-
tions. His eyes being fixed on her countenance,
he perceived a change. Her chin quivered
slightly, her lips were compressed, and a tremor
was in her voice as she named another brother,
the youngest of the family, who went to sea be-
fore his father's death. But they had never
heard from him, only that he had been pressed
on board a war ship, and a vague rumor that he
had been taken prisoner by the Spaniards ; and
80 I AM YOUR BROTHER.
she supposed him dead, but would give any-
thing to know his fate.
John Clark had commanded his feelings
through all the conversation, hut he could stand
it no longer. Every fihre of his heart gave way,
and hardly conscious what he did, seized her
hand, and exclaimed, while the tears gushed out
like a fountain, — " I AM YOUR BROTHER JOHN."
We have heard him narrate this interview,
when old and grey-headed ; and he could not
refrain from sobbing and weeping. Many per-
sons are now living in Illinois and Missouri who
have heard the same tale and seen the outpour-
ing of fraternal affection, forty years after the
event. The interview between the brother and
sister, the only survivors of the family, was too
sacred to be exposed to profane eyes. Though
it failed not to work powerfully on his feelings,
he would rehearse the tale of the interview on
the request of his religious friends.
It was some hours before either party could
obtain self-command to attend to the avocations
of life. Each had a long story of trials and
deliverances to tell. Clark found his sister de-
voutly pious. Her countenance bore the image
of her mother at her age, and the mental and
moral features held a close resemblance. As
THE MOTHER'S GRAVE. 81
the evening approached they walked together
towards the parish church. Around its moss-
covered walls, was the parish cemetery, where
slept the congregated dead of many generations.
The sister led the way to a sacred spot she often
visited. Here were a row of grassy hillocks,
under an overspreading larch, with rough and
plain monuments. There lay his father,
mother, and sister, all buried since he left his
native parish. Mr. Clark gazed mournfully on
his mother's grave ; on the head stone with dim
eyes and quivering lips he read, " MARY
CLARK." Taking his sister gently by the hand,
he said, " Let us pray here" and as he knelt on
the grave, holding the hand of his sister, he
poured his heart out to the prayer-hearing God
in streams of thankfulness and humble devo-
tion. He praised the Lord for the gift of such
a mother, so pious, devout and affectionate ; —
and for entire submission to the will of heaven
in the loss sustained. He prayed for his sister,
in language affectionate, kind and spiritual ;
that they had been spared to meet again in
time ; arid that she was a child of grace, and
was walking in the footsteps of her mother to-
wards the heavenly Canaan.
]S or was the brother in a distant land forgot-
82 THE PROPER LANGUAGE OF PRAYER.
ten, if Tie was alive, and that God would have
mercy on him and turn his feet into the path-
way of righteousness. Alas ! That brother
had been dead many months, as the letter that
conveyed the mournful intelligence, testified,
that reached his sister a few days after their
first interview.
Mr. Clark had a gift of prayer quite uncom-
mon. His language was simple, chaste, solemn
and dignified, devoid of all cant, and peculiarly
expressive. He seemed to hold converse with
the Lord of heaven, as with a familiar friend.
His prayers were singularly fervent and
effectual, and remarkably adapted to the occa-
sion and circumstances. He used no repetition
of vain words, and * despised all high sounding
phrases and incongruous imagery, which some
persons of inflated minds and heated imagina-
tions employ in prayer.
Oppressive feelings were ever removed from
the heart of Father Clark, in seasons of prayer.
He arose from his knees with a smiling coun-
tenance, and wiped the tears that fell in streams
from the eyes of his beloved sister, and cheered
her heart by repeating the blessed promises of
the gospel with which he was familiar.
Next day his sister called him to her room,
THE MOTHER'S LEGACY 83
and told him she had a solemn duty to perform,
enjoined on her by their sainted mother, on her
dying bed. She then -presented him with a
purse of gold and silver, of more than sixty
dollars value. " This our mother made me
sacredly promise to give you, should you ever
return. It is your own ; — the avails of your
wages and prize money, the last you sent her,
when we heard from you the last time. We
managed by careful economy to do without it,
and it is her legacy/'
She then took from a drawer a set of silver
spoons, and divers other family relics, all of
which had been preserved for her lost son. The
scene was most affecting, and it was more than
an hour, and not until he had retired and held
communion with God, he could obtain control
over his feelings so as to reply : —
" My dear sister, the memory of our mother is exceed-
ingly precious, and her maternal love and kindness over- •
powers me. I need not those articles to keep her in re-
membrance. Like my blessed Master, I have no home in
this world, and I have really no use for these gifts. I feel
that God has called me to preach the Gospel, and in a few
days I must leave you again, and return to London, and
spend some time with that great and good man, Mr. Wes-
ley, and study with his ministers, and then go back to
America, and spend my days instructing the ignorant and
84 SCOTCH THEOLOGY.
preachia- the gospol of Christ to the destitute. We must
soon part, probably never to meet again on earth, but let
us so live that we may be united with our dear mother in
heaven."
After much urging, he consented to keep one
spoon, and two or three other little articles, and
told his sister to keep the rest, and to use the
money for her comfort, or to relieve the poor
and distressed. He had enough for present
wants, and his trust for the future was in the
same beneficent providence that covers the
earth with herbage and is kind and bountiful
to all his creatures.
Time fled away rapidly in their affectionate
intercourse. Mr. Clark visited such of his old
acquaintance as were living in the vicinity,
amongst whom were several distant relatives.
His habits of cheerfulness and his earnest re-
ligious conversation filled them with surprise.
They did not quite relish so much spirituality
and holy fervor. Some were eager for disputa-
tion on doctrinal points, and tenacious of their
metaphysical speculations. They could repeat
whole paragraphs from the larger and shorter
catechism, and numerous texts of Scripture ;
and as Clark thought, with frequent misappli-
cations. Not a few could talk eloquently about
THE PARTING HOUR. 85
the "Solemn League and Covenant," and
" David's psalms," while they condemned in the
strongest language the versification of the
pious Watts. But his story of his long and
pungent conviction of sin, the views he enter-
tained of the sinfulness of fallen, corrupt
human nature, and the sensations of the new
birth, and the joyful emotions of living in com-
munion with God daily, were matters too ab-
struse and incomprehensible for their concep-
tions.
The most of persons with whom he conversed
were very orthodox, according to the creed of
their forefathers and the catechism in which
hey had been taught from childhood. All
were church members and had been from infancy.
They believed in original sin, effectual calling,
divine decrees, fore-ordination, and final perse-
verance. They were quite clear in the doctrine
of justification, and redemption in Christ ; but
Mr. Clark could not find many who could nar-
rate what he called " an experience of grace ;"
his sister and a few others excepted.
The parting hour soon came, but the scene
was too sacred to be exposed to vulgar gaze.
On a pleasant morning, a modest looking man,
about thirty years of age, drest in a sailor's
86 MR. CLARK IN LONDON.
garb, with a change of clothes, tied up in a
parti-colored handkerchief, was seen walking
pensively along the highway towards the city
and port of Inverness. The Caledonian shop-
keeper was visited, but no persuasion could in-
duce the traveler to tarry. A coasting vessel
lay at the wharf ; and thither John Clark wended
his way. He had visited the port a few days
previous, engaged a berth as an ordinary sea-
man, and knew the day she was to sail for Lon-
don. In a few hours, the wind being fair, they
were moving down the channel of the Firth of
Moray.
CHAPTER VI
At Moorfield in London. — Returns to Georgia. — Received as a Preacher
on Trial. — Richmond Circuit. — Testimonials. — Character as a
Preacher.— Walked the Circuit.— Views on the Methodist Episcopal
Government. — Views on Slavery. — Blameless Habits. — Thoughts
on Marriage.— Love cured by Prayer. — Gradual change of Views.
— Contemplates a New Field. — Quarterly Conference. — Conscien-
tious Scruples. — Philanthropy to Negroes. — Withdraws from the
Conference. — Parting Scene.
In a few days Mr. Clark found himself in
London, and located at a cheap and retired
boarding house in a pious Methodist family.
He now sought acquaintance with several of the
more intelligent class of Mr. Wesley's preachers,
VIEWS OF BENGELIUS. 87
told them his trials and convictions of duty, and
solicited advice. He was directed to the publi-
cations of Mr. Wesley, and also those of Rev.
John Fletcher, of Madeley, and by reading and
conversations with the venerable John Wesley,
who treated him with great kindness, he ob-
tained full and clear views of the doctrines they
taught, the discipline they enforced, and their
reasons for separate action from the Church of
England.
We have no facts to narrate particulars of
the extent of Mr. Clark's studies, nor how long
he remained in the vicinity of Moorfields.
His interviews with the venerable founder of
Methodism, then in the 85th year of his age,
were frequent, and as he thought highly instruc-
tive. And though in a few years he found rea-
sons to withdraw from the society he founded
and the creed and discipline he adopted, he often
referred to him in his preaching and private
conversations as the " great and good Mr. Wes-
ley '" and he would state his views on various
points with accuracy and in kind and courteous
language. He also became acquainted with the
writings and peculiar views of the noted German
Bengel, or, as his name was given in Latin,
Benrjelius, and imbibed some of his peculiar
88 RETURNS TO AMERICA.
notions. Those especially relating to the mil-
lennium found in Bengel's exposition of the
Book of Kevelation, were often given by Father
Clark. Bengel figured up the periods, and
taught that the forty-two months, or twelve
hundred and sixty days, expired in 1810, and
the Millennium would commence in 1836. The
Millennium, in the sense Father Clark under-
stood it, was not the personal, but the more
gracious and glorious reign of Christ on earth
as Mediator and Saviour. On this topic he
would dwell with a holy ecstacy, while his great
modesty and humility led him to express him-
self as uttering the opinions of a man merely.
He never attempted to make proselytes to
speculations or opinions, but to Christ and
entire submission to him.
We have no knowledge whether Mr. Clark
commenced preaching in London, but as what
was called "lay-preaching" was customary by
persons not in " orders" in the church, or not
officially authorized by dissenters, we are of
opinion our friend did engage in this manner.
We are equally deficient in the particulars of
Lis return to America, but think it was in 1789 ;
and to his late residence on Broad river in
Georgia. No family received him \vith more
CLARK A CIRCUIT PREACHER. 89
tokens of Christian affection and joy than that
of Colonel Wootten. His mind was now deeply
impressed with the duty of devoting his life as
an instrument -of salvation to his fellow crea-
tures. It is supposed he commenced preaching
in company with the regular circuit preachers
soon after his arrival in Georgia. In 1791, his
name appears for the first time on the Con-
ference Minutes of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, when he was received on trial and
placed on Kichmond circuit*. This was in the
region of Augusta. The Conference was held
in February, and he went forth, as was eve£
afterward his custom, like his blessed Lord, with
staff in hand, and on foot to perform the work
whereunto he had been called. We find his
name on the Conference Minutes from 1791 to
1796, passing through the regular grades of
probationary service, until ordained as deacon
by bishop Asbury in the winter of I794f .
* Conference Minutes, vol. 1, pp. 39 and 41.
f Many of our readers require telling that Episcopal hierarchies
have what they call three " Orders" in the ministry, in ascending
grades ; as, deacons, presbyters or priests, and bishops. The last
named communicates the official gift to those below him, by " laying
on of hands." The Methodist Episcopal Church has the same orders,
though in a modified form. W,ith them the term Elder is used to
express the second grade.
90
FIELDS OF LABOR.
The circuits on which he labored, in most in-
stances, were new ones, and in that part of
Georgia which lies above Augusta and between
the Savannah and Oconee rivers.
TABULAR STATEMENT.
.-§
1 '
YEAR.
CIRCUIT.
*{
£1
3
?T
1791
Richmond,
500
72
1792
Oconee,
220
21
1793
Bush River,
555
30
1794
Broad River,
435
68
1795
Union,
376
39
As a Methodist preacher, he was faithful in
the ministry, and successful in the conversion
of sinners. We have seen persons who were
under his ministerial charge, and who spoke of
him in strong terms, as an interesting and
spiritually minded preacher. Of these we will
name one, Mr. Thomas Hatton, who resided in
1834 in the upper part of Boone county, Mo.,
an old man, whom we visited for the purpose of
learning the characteristics of the ministry of
Father Clark in Georgia. Mr. Hatton was a
class-leader and steward on the circuit of Mr.
Clark in 1794. His house was one of the
preaching stations, and he. was with him at the
quarterly conferences in the district, and spoke
WALKS THE CIRCUIT. 91
of him as a lively, spiritual preacher, greatly
beloved by the people, and his labors very suc-
cessful. He walked the circuit, and could not
be induced by his brethren to ride a horse.
When asked for the reasons of his objections to
traveling on horseback, he pleasantly remarked,
" The Saviour walked on his preaching excur-
sions in Judea." There were other reasons as-
signed, and to his intimate friends he would
say, " As long as my fellow creatures are made
beasts of burden, I cannot feel easy on horse-
back." The fact is, he had never been accus-
tomed to exercise on horseback, had no skill in
managing one, and was distressingly fearful he
should injure the horse, or the horse would
harm him. No animal exceeds a horse in
sagacity to find out the feelings and fears of his
rider, and his behavior corresponds. No man
felt more uncomfortable than Father Clark on
horseback, and hence preferred .walking, until
it became to him the least fatiguing mode of
traveling.
We have given a sketch of his strong feel-
ings and conscientious principles in favor of per-
sonal liberty when pressed on the man-of-war.
These feelings and principles increased and be-
came the more firmly established as he advanced
92 VIEWS OF THE METHODIST GOVERNMENT.
in life. He never disguised his sentiments ;
and never announced them in any public form,
without the clearest conviction of duty and in
the way of doing good. Mr. Hatton stated
that generally on his circuit he put up at
houses where there were no slaves, while his in-
tercourse and demeanor were such as to give no
offense, or excite suspicions of improper designs.
The same views of equality and freedom, led
him to investigate, prayerfully and scripturally,
the ecclesiastical government and code of dis-
cipline instituted "by Mr. Wesley, and intro-
duced into the American conferences. Person-
ally, and as a great reformer in the church of
England, Father Clark had great veneration for
John Wesley, but he was singularly scriptural
and conscientious in all his religious views, and
learned from the New Testament that a church
was a local society, with all its members on
terms of social equality ; that church fellow-
ship involves personal acquaintance ; and that
all discipline should begin and end in the local
society or church, in which the members are in
covenant relation. The more he considered the
form of government of the Methodist Episcopal
church, the more did he become conscientiously
opposed to giving it the sanction that a minister
ASPECTS OF SLAVERY. 93
and ruler necessarily implied. Yet he came to
no hasty conclusions, made no denunciations of
his brethren in authority, but continued calmly
to investigate the subject and offer up prayer
daily for divine illumination. He never set
himself forward as a leader in schism, nor is
there any evidence that he made the least at-
tempt to produce disaffection among his breth-
ren, or lead off a party, or even make a single
proselyte.
At the same time, his sympathies were
awakened and his humane feelings much afflict-
ed with the treatment of slaves around him.
That class of people wrere increasing, and their
well-being less an object of concern to their
masters, than the profits of their labor. Large
numbers were imported annually into Charles-
ton, by northern ships, and as the demand for
laborers increased, many natives of Africa in the
most abject condition were purchased and
brought within his circuits. These were igno-
rant and stupid, and seemed almost beyond the
reach of gospel ministrations. A single object
was the aim of all his labors ; to glorify the
Lord by promoting the salvation of sinners of
every nation, condition and color.
• Being perfectly frank, open, undisguised and
94 THOUGHTS OF MARRIAGE.
courteous in his intercourse with the planters,
he had freedom of access to their slaves for pur-
poses of religious instruction ; a privilege he
never abused, nor caused any one to doubt his
sincerity.
Still the customs and usages of the planters
were not congenial to the simplicity and humil-
ity of his nature, and it had been a matter of
anxious inquiry, and prayer for divine direction,
where the Lord would have him labor. He did
not expect any other revelation from heaven
than that contained in the Bible, yet he had
that degree of simple faith in the divine prom-
ises, and that unshaken confidence in God's
directing providence, as to believe in and look
for specific answers to prayer when in doubt and
difficulty. He expected, and received impres-
sions of mind, in answer to prayer, that to him
were satisfactory, and we are not aware in a
single instance in which he was misled by fol-
lowing these answers to prayer, as he called
them.
It was at some period of his labors as a circuit
preacher in Georgia, that his thoughts were
directed towards marriage ; and he became ac-
quainted with a pious and sensible young woman,
of excellent character and well brought up,
A CRISIS. 95
towards whom he thought he felt that attach-
ment as would justify a more intimate ac-
quaintance. Her society was agreeable and
pleasant, her conversation intelligent and
serious. He made no direct proposals, but
their intercourse had been such that she might
naturally look for a more explicit explanation
of his views. He found his heart was drawn
out after this young woman, and her parents
treated him with more than customary respect.
She became the object of his thoughts by day,
and her image flitted through his imagination
while in dream-land at night. He discovered
that when he ought to have been pondering
over the topics of his next discourse, as he was
slowly walking the pathway to his appointments,
he was meditating plans of future happiness in
the domestic relation. His spiritual intercourse
with heaven was less frequent, his devotional
feelings grew languid, and his sermons were
dull and unimpressive. Spiritual joys were
fled. It was now a crisis in his spiritual course.
He dare not forsake the calling to which God
had directed him, nor lessen his usefulness as a
minister of Christ, by any earthly associations,
or any schemes of domestic happiness. He had
one antidote for all his troubles ; one guide
96 PRAYER AN ANTIDOTE TO LOVE.
through every labyrinth of trial and duty ; that
was PRAYER, prolonged and repeated until he
was effectually humbled, and entirely willing to
know and do his duty. He could deny himself
of any lawful gratification, take up the cross
and follow Christ with resolute determination
and untiring perseverance. He had acquired
this power by growth in grace, and the know-
ledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The answer he obtained in deep and lasting
impressions of mind, was, never to marry and
thereby entangle himself with the affarirs of this
world. The conflict was over ; the victory was
won, and he went on his way preaching, with
renewed unction and great enlargement.
Though he had not mentioned marriage to
the young woman, much less gained her affec-
tions and raised hopes, by solemn protestations
and promises to be now blasted, he had that
nice sense of honor ; or shall we say Christian
duty, to make her a final visit and avow his
feelings, and the conclusion to which he had ar-
rived on a point of duty to God and the church.
He expressed the hope she would ever regard
him with Christian friendship. His age at this
period must have been about thirty-five years,
ANXIETY ABOUT LEAVING THE CHURCH. 97
and no one after ever heard him express a desire,
or a regret concerning the connubial relation.
His anxieties about leaving the Methodist
Episcopal church, and his feelings relative to
slavery, were at a culminating point in 1795.
His views of slaveholding were not discordant
with the expressions of the church he served.
This subject had been agitated in the Confer-
ences for several years. In the minutes for
1784, we find this rule, in the forms of question
and answer, and it remained in force during the
whole period of Mr. Clark's connection with the
Conference :
" Ques. 12. What shall we do with our friends that buy
and sell slaves ?
" Ans. If they buy with no other design than to hold
them as slaves, and have been previously warned, they
shall be expelled, and permitted to sell on no considera-
tion."*
In answer to his oft repeated prayer for
divine direction as to the field of his future
labors, he received the impression, and it be-
came a conviction of duty, that he must travel
in a north-western direction. Tennessee and
Kentucky were in that direction, and the Illi-
nois country, and the Spanish province of Upper
Louisiana far in the distance beyond ; but he
* Minutes, Vol. 1, p. 20.
98 WITHDRAWS FROM THE CONNEXION.
felt a calm confidence in Divine Providence,
and that the specific field of usefulness would
be pointed out in due season. All these ques-
tions were agitated and settled in his own judg-
ment and conscience, before he made known
his decision to his brethren.
The next Annual Conference would be in
Charleston, January 1st, 1796, but it was not
necessary for him to be present. His with-
drawal could be tendered by some of the
brethren. He attended the last Quarterly
Conference in the district, where he gave notice
of his intention of a withdrawal from the gov-
ernment and discipline of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. This he had a right to do
without any forfeiture or implication of his
ministerial character. His brethren respected
his feelings and scruples, and would give a fair
representation of his case to the Annual Con-
ference.
The schism caused by Rev. James O'Kelley,
in Virginia, had commenced in 1792, and at
one period threatened a formidable rupture in
the Methodist connexion throughout the South-
ern States. Mr. O'Kelley was troubled about
the appointing power of the bishop, and other
features of ecclesiastical authority. He was P
POINTS OF DIFFERENCE. 99
very popular preacher, and had the qualifica-
tions and desire for the leader of a party. He
made both personal and official attacks on
bishop Asbury, but the Conference sustained
the Bishop by a large majority. Doubtless Mr.
Clark accorded with the opinions of Mr.
O'Kelley in his views of the undue authority
conferred on the bishop by the constitution of
the Society, but he had none of his spirit as a'
partizan, was in both theory and practice a
peace-maker, and respected the views and feel-
ings of his brethren, though he conscientiously
differed from them. His views were deeper
and covered far more ground than those of
O'Kelley. All his notions of church govern-
ment and discipline were drawn from the New
Testament, and he regarded that as sole author-
ity in the case.
There were also points of doctrine wherein
he differed from his Methodist brethren. He
could not reconcile the dogma of " falling from
grace," with the entire dependence of the be-
liever on the righteousness and grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ ; nor of sinless perfection with
the universal fact of the moral infirmities and
soul-humbling confessions of the best of Chris-
tians. And he preached repentance in a more
100 HIS CIRCUIT LABORS.
evangelical form than many of his brethren, and
always made the distinction plain between the
awakened sinner, though under the most pun-
gent convictions, and the truly penitent.
Such being his moral temper, and course of
action, no unkind feelings took place when he
announced his intentions, and sent to the
Annual Conference the report of his circuit
and announcement of his withdrawal.
His field of labor for most of the years he had
been connected with the Conference, was on new
circuits. Though not in name, he was in fact,
the Conference missionary, and each year had
extended the appointments in his circuit. At
the Quarterly Conference to which we have
alluded, the steward's brought in the collections
for the preachers, and the deficiencies were
made up. It had caused some uneasiness to
the sensitive conscience of Father Clark that
much the largest contributions came from the
wealthy who were slaveholders, and he thought of
the perquisites bestowed as the proceeds of the
sweat and toils of servitude. He had heretofore
received his share in the collections with many
misgivings, and now as he was about to leave,
he hesitated about taking such proceeds with
him.
THE BLACKS BELIEVED. 101
The amount of salary then allowed a circuit
preacher, without family, was sixty-four dollars,
and he had received but a small amount of it.
The balance, about fifty dollars, was paid to him
by the stewards, all in silver coin. He took
the money, tied it in his handkerchief, and re-
, tired from the Conference room to a grove, his
feelings agitated with the question of duty
about receiving this money ; and sought for
direction in prayer, as he was wont to do in
every perplexity. Obtaining relief, he returned
to the Conference room, laid the money on the
table, and calmly said, " Brethren, I cannot
take it. You know my trials ; the Conference
may use it as the brethren please ;" and again
went out.
There was within the bounds of this district
a case that called for relief. A society of blacks,
of course slaves, had purchased a house and a
few acres of land for a burying-ground. They
had paid in .part, but their last instalment of
about seventy dollars would soon be due, and
if not met, the property would be forfeited ;
and they applied to the Conference for aid.
The case was called up during preacher Clark's
absence, and one of the brethren suggested that
the money returned by " brother Clark," still
102 THE LAST INTERVIEW.
lying on the table, be applied to this charitable
purpose. A smile oi? joy lighted up the features
of the Conference, when, on the suggestion that
there would be lacking some twenty dollars,
brother K. arose and proposed to be one of ten
to liquidate the debt. Mr. Clark having re-
turned from his place of prayer, and being told
by the president of the motion to dispose of his
money, and how that disposition would suit his
views, by relieving the black brethren, he re-
plied : " Brethren, I could not conscientiously
use the money myself, and I returned it to the
Conference ; it is theirs, to do as they please ;
but as they have kindly inquired about my
feelings in the case, it meets my hearty appro-
bation. It goes where it ought, to relieve those
who have produced it."
In this last interview with a brother, who
doubtless they pitied for his singular notions,
there was not an unkind word said, nor a sour,
unpleasant look seen. They understood he was
about to leave that part of the country, and
kindly inquired where he would direct his
course.
" Like the good old patriarch, I am going to
a country I never saw, and rejoice in the same
Lord to direct my steps."
CHANGING ONE'S RELIGION. 103
The business of the Conference being ended,
they engaged in the parting exercises. The
brother who presided gave a few words of part-
ing advice, and called on brother Clark to lead
in prayer, when with loud and tremulous voices,
and the tears streaming down their cheeks, they
sung the well-known hymn,
" Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love ;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above ;" etc. *
while hand was clasped in hand, and arms
thrown around each others necks, and loud
shouts of praise ascended to their common
Father. It was in this manner Father Clark
parted with his brethren in Georgia, and took
his leave of the Methodist Episcopal Church as
an ecclesiastical institution.
It is nothing new or strange for a man to
change his religion, or leave one sect and go
over to another. And nothing is more natural
when men are actuated by prejudices, piques,
or partizan feelings, to turn all these passions
against the party they have left. Not so did
the good man whose history we are surveying.
His religion was that of love ; and his natural
* Psalmist— Hymn 1068.
104 TREATMENT OF HIS BRETHREN.
temper, mild, placable, and forbearing, was so
much under the controlling influence of the
love of God as to sanctify and give a heavenlv
tinge to his natural disposition.
Though he differed from his brethren, and in
all honesty of intention thought their church
government and some of their doctrines and
practices unscriptural, he still loved them as
Christians, and knew they were performing a
great work in Georgia. Had he been denun-
ciatory, overbearing, ambitious of ruling, obsti-
nate, or petulent, their dislike of these offensive
traits of character, might soon have degenerated
into hatred of his person. We never knew a
man more nice and discriminating in the line
between his own rights and privileges, and those
of his brethren. They might have felt emo-
tions of pity and regret, for what they regarded
as singular notions, and fancied these notions
would hinder, if not destroy his usefulness.
Still they loved him and gave him their good
wishes.
His connexion was not formally dissolved un-
til .the Annual Conference met in January,
when the following entry was made on the
Minutes,
" Ques. 8. What preachers have withdrawn
JOURNIES TOWARDS KENTUCKY. 105
themselves this year from our order and con-
nexion ?
" Ans. William Ball and John Clark."
CHAPTER VII.
Clark Journies towards Kentucky. — His Dress and Appearance. — Col-
loquy.— Hospitality of Mr. Wells. — Recognized by a former Con*
vert.— Description of a "Big Meeting."— Persuaded to Stop and
Preach. — Effects Produced. — Mr. Wells Converted. — A Revival. —
Shouting. — Family Religion. — Departs. — The Wells Family turn
Baptists.
It was early in the month of February, and in
the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hun-
dred and ninety-six, that a stranger was seen
passing along the path-way that led down the
range of low bluffs toward the Savannah river.
He was on foot, with a small bundle of clothing
tied in a handkerchief which hung over his
shoulder, and was supported by a stout walk-
ing stick. His countenance was cheerful, as
he tripped lightly along, without seeming to be
wearied with the day's weary journey through
the forest, with seldom a house on the public
road. His dress was the ordinary ga.rb of the
country, coarse cotton and wool mixed, and of
a greyish or light blue color. The outside gar-
106 DRESS OF A MINISTER.
ment was a hunting-shirt ; an article then worn
by all classes on the frontiers. This was a loose
open frock that reached half-way down the
thighs, with large sleeves, and the body open
in front, unless fastened by a girdle or belt
around the breast ; the large cape fastened to
the collar, and the edges fringed with strips of
reddish cloth. The materials of all his garments
were cotton with a mixture of wool, and spun
and wove in the families where he had lived.
On his head was a low-crowned felt hat, and his
feet were shod with a kind of moccasins called
" shoe-packs." These were made of thick
leather, tanned by the farmers with oak bark
in a trough, and dressed with the oil or fat of the
raccoon, or opossum. The soles were fastened
to the upper-leather by a leathern thong, called
by backwoodsmen, a " whang."
" And is that strange-looking man a minister
of the Gospel ?"
" Yes ; that is our excellent friend, Father
Clark ; called by all the religious people of that
time, Brother Clark. Why do you ask ?"
" Because he is dressed so singular and
shabby."
" Why do you say ( shabby ?' I said no such
thing. His garments are not ragged, for that
COLLOQUY ABOUT DRESS. 107
is what you mean by shabby, if you understand
the English language. His hunting-shirt, jack-
et,* and trowsers were new, whole, and less
soiled than yours will be in a single day when
you run through the dusty streets, and play-
ground at school ; though he has traveled more
than fifty miles."
" But he looked so strange and odd in such
clothes, and he a minister of Jesus Christ ? I
never heard of a minister being dressed in such
a singular manner."
" Ministers of the Gospel certainly ought not
to be singular in their dress, lest the people
think they desire to be noticed for their gar-
ments. I told you before, his dress ' was in
the ordinary garb of the country/ Mr. Clark
wore such garments as the men did to whom he
preached, and therefore he appeared plain and
equal with them. And his loose garments,
especially in a warm climate, were far more
comfortable than to be yoked up in a modern
fashionable dress-coat, like the ministers in
these days."
" But I should laugh so to see a minister in
* We give old English names for these garments, purposely ; such
as they were called before finical and apish people changed them for
the unintelligible ones now used.
108 SIMPLICITY AND ECONOMY.
such a dress as Father Clark wore ; it would
look so funny."
" That would only prove you to be very
foolish ; or, to know very little. Suppose
preachers of the Gospel should appear in our
costly and fashionable church-houses, dressed
just as Jesus Christ and the Apostles did in
Judea ? Would you be silly enough to laugh
at them ?"
" How did they dress ?"
" Have you forgotten your lesson in the
Biblical Antiquities, from the Sunday- School
library, you read a few weeks since ? There you
learn about the dress worn in Judea."*
"Why don't our ministers dress as Jesus
Christ did ?"
" Because you would laugh at them. Nor
would Father Clark have worn the same dress
he did in Georgia and Illinois, had he been a
pastor in Boston, New York, or Philadelphia.
In such matters as were not religious and did
not pertain to the service of God, but were
earthly comforts, about which God has given no
revelation, but left every one to his own reason
and common sense, Father Clark, as did Paul,
* Bib. Antiq., vol. 1., Chap. V., pp. 115-129. Amer. S. S. Union.
THE BLACK-COATED PROFESSION. 109
would have become ' all things to all men/*
According to his notions of propriety, the dress
he wore in Georgia was convenient and com-
fortable. The women who loved and respected
him as a minister of Christ, made the cloth and
cut out the garments, and gave them to him in
the same form as they made for their husbands
and sons ; and he felt thankful and comfortable.
Besides, he preferred to live plain, and economi-
cal, and by that means had money to give away
to purchase the house and burying-ground for
the poor Africans.
"But had he received a large salary as your
ministers do, or possessed millions of property
as the rich merchants, speculators, bankers, and
railroad brokers now do, he would still have
dressed very plain, and lived in such a manner
as to have had the means of doing good amongst
men. I very much doubt if even the force of
custom would have induced him to appear be-
fore the people in a lugubrious garb of black,
as clergymen do."
"What causes ministers to dress in Hack
clothes ?"
" Doubtless because they like to be fashion-
able, and be noticed a little for their distinctive-
* 1 Cor. ix : 19-23.
110 WHY BLACK IS WORN.
dress. Some folks think black looks solemn,
and therefore suited to the clerical profession.
But, after all, a solemn, sour appearance is a
species of clerical trick, which Father Clark
never would perform. He was always pleasant
and cheerful, and was the more useful for it."
" But still I do not see why our ministers
should be so fond of black clothes."
" We will answer that question, and then
follow Father Clark. Black was introduced as
a clerical garb, after the church became apos-
tate, and was one color of the priestly garb.
Probably nine-tenths of those who have worn
it, both Catholics and Protestants, have been
any thing else than the true followers of Christ.
An eccentric writer of a former period, in a
satire on this fashion of an ungodly priesthood,
gives this reason why they wore black as an
official garb : — " That they might the more ex-
actly resemble their great master Beelzebub,
whose garments are all very dingy"
We left our old friend Clark, wending his
way down the range of low hills that looked
over the expansive bottom lands on the oppo-
site side of the Savannah. Near the river was
a house where lived a plain, rough frontier man,
who kept the ferry. The house was a double
A HOSPITABLE RECEPTION. Ill
cabin of hewn logs, and a space between the
rooms about ten feet in width. The owner was
sitting in this passage as Mr. Clark came to the
stile, or steps by which the door-yard fence was
passed. The sun was descending towards the
western hills, and its face would soon be hid-
den by the range of forest-land along the river.
" Good evening, friend. Can I stay with
you to-night ?"
" I reckon you can, if you will get along with
such fare as we have. Come in, stranger.
Kitty, run and get the gentleman a chair ;
that's a good gal."
A blue-eyed little girl, apparently about ten
years of age, brought from one of the rooms a
plain, country-made chair, and Mr. Clark was
soon seated. In the meantime the host eyed the'
stranger, as though he had seen him^somewhere,
but could not recollect. *./:V
" Sort'r pleasant weather, these days,
stranger ?"
" Yes : and we ought to be thankful to a
merciful Providence for good weather, and all
other good things in this life."
" Traveling far, stranger ?"
" Some distance. I'm bound for Kaintuck."
112 A DISCOVERY.
" Law me — 'way to that country ? And do
you calkelate to walk all the way there ?"
" Yes ; I prefer walking to riding."
" Now, stranger, I begin to s'pect you are
the preacher I he'rn tell of, who was at the big
meetin' on 'Coon Creek, a year or two sin'.
What mo ugh t your name be ?"
" John Clark."
" That's the very thing. Here, old 'oman ;
Patsey, come here ;" he called to his " better
half," who was in the kitchen in the rear of the
house, attending to her domestic concerns.
" What's wan tin', old man ? I'll be in soon."
Presently a decent looking female, appa-
rently about forty, with a sun-bonnet on her
head, and dressed in a short gown and petticoat
of the same stuff as her husband's garments —
cotton and wool mixed — came in. No sooner
did she cast her eyes on the preacher than she
knew him, and broke out —
" Dear me, if this ain't Brother Clark, sure
as I'm alive !" and she sprang forward and
shook hands with him, with as much rude, but
hearty simplicity, as if he had been her own
brother ; and bid him equally welcome.
This recognition of one who appeared as a
stranger needs a little explanation.
A SCRAP OF HISTORY. 113
More than two years before this period,
Preacher Clark, and two other Methodist min-
isters, held a meeting for several days in a
frontier settlement, some twelve or fifteen miles
from the ferry, and Mrs. Patsey Wells was
there. Mr. Wells had emigrated from Pitts-
sylvania county, Virginia, to Georgia, about
eight or nine years previous. He was not a
professor of religion, but accustomed to hear
the Baptists in his native State. His wife's
father and mother were Baptists, and she had
been in the habit of attending their meetings,
and at times was under serious impressions.
She thought she must wait the Lord's time,
when, if she was to be converted, she would be;
at least she understood the matter in this way
from what she heard the preachers say. In the
new region of Georgia, where they settled, there
was no preaching, or preacher of any kind. Her
husband got hold of a valuable tract of land
lying along the Savannah river, on the south,
or Georgia side, at a convenient crossing-place,
where he established a ferry. In the course of
a few years it became a thoroughfare on one of
the principal roads leading from the settlements
on the Upper Oconee and Broad river, across
114 A CARELESS, IRRELIGIOUS MAN.
the upper part of South Carolina towards Vir-
ginia.
Mrs. Wells felt unhappy that her chil-
dren were growing up without any religious
instruction, and she could hear no one preach.
But she had the care of a family to claim her
attention, and withal became quite worldly in
spirit, as their landed property rose in value,
and the comforts of life increased. She was
industrious, tidy, and kept on well after a
worldly sort, but still felt at times unhappy, as
if there was some great want unsupplied.
Mr. Wells was a good-natured, -hospitable
man, seldom got in debt, and then got out soon
as possible. He was reasonably industrious,
and with four stalwart sons, who were from
twelve to eighteen years of age, he had opened
a large farm and made some tobacco for the
Charleston market. The reason he gave why
he bought no negroes was, " he thought them
more .plague than profit," and he was de-
termined his sons should learn to work, and get
their living as he had done, by hard labor.
He really thought he was a good man,
though he never served the Lord, nor thought
of the high and responsible relation he sus-
tained to his Creator and Redeemer, and made
A VISIT WITH TWO OBJECTS. 115
no provision for another world. True he loved
a big dram, and the habit increased on him, but
he only got tipsy, and behaved very foolish
when he attended courts, elections, and horse-
races ; and mortified his wife Patsey by his silly
behavior when he came home late at night. He
was good-natured when drunk, boasted of his
wife, children, and property, and never abused
Patsey or the children ; and would laugh, and
tell jocular stories about himself, when he was
sober.
His wife Patsey, as he called her when
talking about her to others, heard of the
Methodist meeting and felt very much like
going. She had heard Methodist preachers in
Virginia, but did not like their ways, and would
have preferred to hear the Baptists ; but none
came into that settlement. One of her old
Virginia female acquaintances lived at the place
of the meeting, and she had intended for a long
time to make her a visit ; and now it would be
economical in time and expense to gain two
objects in one journey. So she left the " old
man" and younger boys to tend ferry and keep
house with the two little girls ; and she, and
her eldest son, went each on horseback to the
meeting.
116 MEETING ON COON CREEK.
It was a powerful time on the frontiers ;
there was a shaking among the dry bones ; and
many a stout-hearted sinner fell as if slain
before the Lord. There were three preachers
present, each with gifts differing from those of
his brethren. The first we shall describe, was
considered as a sort of Boanerges among his
brethren ; at least so far as lungs and voice were
concerned. And he used many " big words,"
quite beyond the comprehension of plain, illit-
erate people. Some supposed him to be a great
preacher, and very learned, because they could
not understand him. The second preacher was
what the people called " a powerful exhorter."
He could not work in the lead to any advantage,
but he could follow a clear-headed preacher,
and enforce the things said' on the consciences
of the people by persuasive language and apt
illustrations with great effect. Mr. Clark after
all did most of the real preaching, and every
one on the ground heard him with fixed atten-
tion.
The meeting was held in the shade of the
forest, where a " stand" had been prepared for
the purpose. This was an elevated platform of
split slabs, and a book board, breast high in
front of the preacher, on which he might lean.
PREACHING IN THE WOODS. 117
Seats were made of the halves of small timbers,
the ends of which were placed on logs, and
covered over a space of ground large enough to
accommodate several hundred hearers. In
front of the stand was an open space, with low
seats around, and called the altar, where the
"mourners," or persons who were seriously
impressed, were invited. At a late hour they
separated and went to the houses of the people
who lived within a convenient distance for re-
freshment and lodging. Prayer meetings were
held at the houses at night, until late bed-time.
Some families that came from a distance with
wagons, brought provisions and encamped on
the ground. Others, as did Mrs. Wells and
her son, were accommodated by the hospitality
of the people, and invitations were given
publicly each day, if any strangers had arrived,
they would find a welcome. This was not a
regular camp-meeting, for those religious
gatherings had not been instituted.
The husband of the woman whom Mrs.
Wells came to visit, was a Methodist, and per-
formed a principal part in getting up and sus-
taining this meeting. His wife had not joined
society, but was a seeker, and gave evidence of
conversion at an early stage of the proceedings.
118 MRS. WELLS IN TROUBLE.
1
Mr. Clark took his meals and lodged with
brother Lowe and family, where Mrs. Wells
stopped, and it was under his preaching and ex-
hortations that she became powerfully wrought
upon, and was in great distress. In kind and
sympathizing language Mr. Clark conversed
with her freely. She had heard persons narrate
their experience and conversion in the church
meetings where her father and mother belonged,
and had obtained some general knowledge of
the gracious change all true Christians must
experience before they are fit to join a church
of Jesus Christ ; — that a sinner must be under
conviction, and have a " law-work/' as the
preachers called it, and obtain a " hope/' as it
was termed. But she knew very little about
the nature of a real conversion, and the way of
salvation through the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. Her female friend told her she must
pray earnestly and strive powerfully " to get
religion ;" and Mr. Clark showed her from the
Scriptures the sinfulness and helplessness of
fallen, corrupt human nature, and the infinite
ability and gracious willingness of Jesus Christ
to save her, and the mighty agency of the Holy
Spirit in that work. He told her something of
his own experience in trying to make himself
A SUDDEN CONVERSION. 119
righteous, instead of receiving Christ in all his
fullness, and " who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption."*
This instruction had its due effect on her
mind. Very soon she despaired of making her-
self better, and felt her- dependence on the
Lord to that degree, as to beg the preacher to
pray to God to have mercy on her ; while with
an audible voice she cried out in agony, " Lord,
have mercy on me, a miserable sinner." We
have given some account already of the simpli-
city and effect of the prayers of Father Clark,
but in this, as in other cases of prayer for sin-
ners in distress, his whole heart seemed to go
out in strains of the most moving supplications,
as though he could .take no denial ; — as though
the eternal salvation of the deathless spirit
hung on the issue. Before he closed, Mrs.
Wells, who lay prostrate across her chair,
groaning and crying for mercy, as if wholly un-
conscious of what she said or did, sprang to her
feet, clapped her hands in a joyous ecstacy, and
at the top of her voice, in exultant tones ex-
claimed, "Glory to the Lord Jesus ! Glory to
* ICor.i: 30.
120 A SHOUTING SEASON.
the Lord Jesus ! — lie's pardoned my sins ; — he's
pardoned my sins !" — and with continuous
shoutings and exclamations, until nature was
exhausted, she sunk into the arms of Mrs.
Lowe, who placed her in the chair. Here she
sat, still rubbing her hands in ecstacy, and in a
subdued voice, nearly powerless, still cried,
" gloi7> glory."
" Well, I don't believe in such conversions
as that," says a sentimental lady ; — a church
member ; — though she spent the half of the
preceding night over a specimen of the yellow-
colored " light" literature that now fills all
our highways and by-ways ; — and sighing and
sentimentalizing over an unreal and mawkish
story of love and suicide.
" 'Tis all fox-fire," declares a grave and
reverend divine, whose intellect is as clear and
as cool as an iceberg, and who has not enough
of impulse to raise the slightest emotions in his
soul.
" What a lamentable thing it is to have igno-
rant persons carried away with such enthusiastic
notions," responds a metaphysical philosopher,
who can map out the whole field of the human
mind, and describe to the tenth part of a grain
RELIGION WITHOUT EMOTIONS. 121
the degree of emotion one ought to have under
all circumstances.
Those who weigh the impressions and emo-
tions of gospel truth in one metaphysical scale ;
who cannot endure any excitement in others
above their own passionless temperament ;—
who never had a muscle agitated nor a nerve
affected by the unseen workings of the inner
man, will have very orthodox notions about
such impulsive feelings as Mrs. Wells mani-
fested when she suddenly felt herself relieved
from the burden of her sins, and enjoyed the
gracious conviction of the power and mercy of
Jesus Christ in her salvation.
It is a very queer kind of philosophy that
admits persons to faint, fall, and even die under
the pressure of some sudden and overwhelming
calamity ; or from ecstacy from hearing joyful
news of an earthly kind, and yet account such
paroxysms as Mrs. Wells had "fox-fire," "en-
thusiasm," and the fruits of " ignorance."
Mrs. Wells was a woman of strong emotions,
easily excited, and never trained to disguise her
feelings under a cold, conventual exterior. She
behaved natural, and under the circumstances
quite decorous enough. No one was disturbed
or interrupted by her shouts, but every uncon-
122 A METHODIST SOCIETY GATHERED.
verted sinner in the room became most deeply
impressed, and the revival became general in
the congregation. The meeting continued and
the excitement kept up for more than a week ;
during which a large society was gathered,
chiefly of those who professed to be converted,
and Mrs. Wells joined. A new circuit was
formed, and a preaching station fixed in the
neighborhood of Wellsburgh ; as some waggish
traveler named the ferry farm.
It was not strange or singular that Mrs.
Patsey Wells greeted Father Clark so joyfully,
or that her husband, who had heard her describe
the preacher at the meeting on Coon Creek
should have guessed so readily. He not only
spent the night with this hospitable family, but
could not get away even had he desired, until
he had made an appointment, and word was
sent through the settlement for the people to
gather for preaching.
In all frontier settlements in the south-west-
ern States, it makes very little difference in
gathering a congregation, whether the preach-
ing is on the week day or the Sabbath. All
classes turned out in their ordinary working
dress, for which they had a change of clean
garments ready. They knew nothing and cared
ANOTHER BIG MEETING. 123
little to which Christian sect the strange
preacher belonged ; as all preached very much
alike, and iterated the same common place
truths of the Bible on such occasions. Men
wholly worldly, and not very moral ; who
fingered bits of spotted pasteboard, drank
whiskey, and attended horse-races and shooting
matches, would turn out to hear a strange
preacher, or go to a " big" meeting, as these
large convocations were called ; where several
preachers of diverse gifts were expected.
The youngsters of the family were on their
horses before the sun peered his bright face
over the hills of Georgia, and rode throughout
the settlements, and hallooed at every cabin to
give the inmates notice that " mother's
preacher" had come, and would preach at
' Squire Redman's that day. Of course every
body understood the hour for meeting would
be twelve o'clock. Though the people were
scattered over the hills and along the vallies for
many miles distant, the news spread, and by
eleven o'clock men, women and children, two
and three often on one horse, were approaching
'Squire Redman's plantation from every point of
the compass. A full complement of dogs to
every family were on foot, coursing along the
124 THE CHILDREN AND DOGS AT MEETING.
margin of the woods near the pathway, smell-
ing for game, and barking up hollow trees.
The children of course, large and small, had to
be taken, or the mothers could not go, and the
dogs, accustomed to follow their masters and
the horses would go, whether wanted or not.
And should the young children cry and the dogs
bark, both the preacher and hearers were used
to such trifling annoyances, and never went into
spasms, as we have seen a preacher, or a new
corner from a particular section of country.
In the vicinity of Mr. Kedman's house, and
near a large spring, was the " stand" for the
circuit preacher, when the weather was favor-
able ; and the dwelling house afforded shelter
in stormy weather, for which the owner had
provided rough moveable seats for the accom-
modation of his neighbors.
The preaching of Father Clark on this oc-
,casion was interesting, instructive, and impres-
sive. Several of the hearers, besides Mrs.
Wells and her son Jacob, had heard him at
Coon Creek meeting. Wet eyes were seen, and
sister Wells was in raptures ; alternately
praying with internal agony for her husband
and children, and then smiling in ecstasy, as
the preacher described, with an occasional inci-
MR. WELLS IN TROUBLE. 125
dent or anecdote, the amazing love, power and
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to save the lost.
Mr. Wells heard the text and the introduction
with reverent attention-; as the speaker ad-
vanced he was ohserved in an unusual position ;
his hody was bent forward, his eyes fixed, and
his mouth half open as^ though he would take
.in every word. Again, his posture was changed,
his elbows rested on his knees, his hands sup-
ported his head, and a tremor seemed to agitate
his whole frame. Those who sat near him saw
the tears dropping fast to the ground, and it
was evident he was unusually and powerfully
affected by the sermon. This did not escape
the notice of his wife, who was seated among
the females on the opposite side of the stand,
and every one could see she was exceedingly
agitated. Others were affected, amongst whom
were some rough looking, stout-hearted men,
who never before discovered any agitation under
preaching. Two of the youngsters of the
Wells' family were among the anxious. Jacob,
or Jake as he was familiarly called, who accom-
panied his mother to the great meeting on Coon
Creek, had been serious at times since ; while
at other times he seemed to be more thought-
126 ANOTHER PAROXYSM OF SHOUTING.
less, wayward and wicked than ever. He was
there, said nothing ; but held his head down.
Father Clark's sermon did not exceed an
hour, hut. there was singing, prayin g, and con-
versation with persons in distress. 'Squire Red-
man, who was class-leader, gave a warm and
feeling exhortation, prayed two or three times,
and finally held a private conversation with our
friend Wells, and pronounced him to he
" powerfully convicted/' and " not far from
the kingdom of God."
We hope our fastidious, cold-hearted, philo-
sophical readers will not get offended and throw
the hook aside because good Mrs. Wells had a
paroxysm of shouting on this occasion. Those
readers, whose emotions were never excited
until every fibre of the heart seemed ready to
give way for a husband and children, as she was,
who she knew by her own sad experience were
in the broad road that leads to the gates of
eternal death, may retain their cold, calculating
fire-side philosophy. But we shall permit this
impulsive, warm-hearted woman to shout, and
express her thankfulness to heaven in the
strongest manner, and to her heart's content.
A little too much heat and moisture are in-
finitely more fructifying in faith and holy living,
A DINNER PARTY. 127
than ice-bound cliffs and a region of perpetual
frost. She had been praying for more than two
years for her " old man, and little ones/' as
she called them, and now she had evidence that
Lord was at work with them. Under these cir-
cumstances it would not dp to stop the meeting,
and the appointment was given out for that
night at 'Squire Kednian's house, and next day
at the stand.
Father Clark, the Wells family, and several
others tarried for dinner, and a good opportu-
nity was presented to converse with Mr. Wells.
Mrs. Wells and two or three other women
turned into the kitchen with mother Eedman,
and by four o'clock, two or three tables were
filled in succession by hungry guests, the men
first served, the females next, and then the
children. Bountiful were the supplies of meat,
chickens, eggs, corn-dodgers, and sweet pota-
toes, with pickled beets, cucumbers, and divers
other condiments ; enough to supply a whole
settlement, including the dogs.
It would have been t'he season of winter in a
northern climate, but it was then the opening
of spring, in the early part of February ; the
weather was pleasant and not disagreeably
warm. After the first table was through, Mr.
128 EFFECTUAL, FERVENT PRAYER.
Clark gave our friend Wells a jog of the elbow,
and they walked together into the forest to a
retired place. Mrs. Wells saw the movement,
tried to partake of the refreshment at the
second table, but her appetite failed. She was
too deeply affected to speak, and with another
female who belonged to the same society, was
seen moving pensively in another direction, to-
wards the thick forest. We will not intrude.
Her husband, whom, under all the rough ex-
terior of unpolished nature, she truly loved, was
in a most critical situation. She had conversed
with him, kindly and affectionately, about his
eternal interests, when he seemed in a mood
to listen ; she had told him incidents of her own
experience ; her agony of distress and the
efficacy of Mr. Clark's prayers on her behalf.
He had offered no objection to her joining so-
ciety, though she knew he disliked the Metho-
dists before she joined, and seldom attended the
meetings since the circuit had been established.
For the first time within the period of their
acquaintance, he was anxious about his soul ; —
she knew it, felt it, and who will blame her if
she and her female companion prayed for him
audibly and fervently, while Father Clark had
him on his knees in another direction, where no
FAMILY REJOICING. 129
eye but the eye of God was upon them, and no
other ear was listening.
Towards the setting sun, and as the people
: began to collect for the night meeting, Mr.
Clark and his friend Wells were seen coming
out of the woods, arm in arm, engaged in con-
versation. Mr. Wells seemed cheerful, if not
happy, while the countenance of Mr. Clark was
lighted up with a heavenly smile. From that
day Samuel Wells was an altered man.
The meeting continued over the Sabbath,
during which several others gave evidence of a
change of heart and life, and when the newly
appointed preacher from the Conference made
his appearance at this remote station on the
circuit, the following week, he found a revival
in progress, and that his old acquaintance who
had left the " connexion," had been at work in
the Lord's harvest, and the Methodist society
had sustained no damage by his independent
labors.
Mr. Clark returned to the ferry with his
friends, the Wells family, but there was enough
of rejoicing and friendly conversation to occupy
him that day. Besides, he must not think of
departing on his journey before his clothes
130 A BIBLE WANTED.
were in order, and everything ready ; so mother
Wells argued.
And there was another duty to perform which
no itinerant, or faithful pastor, will neglect.
Keligious meditation, and especially prayer in
the hearing of others, was a new business to Mr.
Wells, and it required just such a man as
Father Clark to encourage, instruct and lead
him into the practice of household religion.
Though his speech was somewhat incoherent,
and a tremor shook his brawny limbs, in mak-
ing the first attempt in presence of the preacher,
his wife and children ; he had decision enough
to go forward, and soon acquired a gift that was
profitable in the society and class-meetings.
And now there was another serious difficulty.
He had no Bible in his house ; only a torn and
shattered Testament, which his wife had read
over and over, on the dreary Sabbaths she had
passed with her family. Her husband had pro-
mised on two occasions, when he visited Charles-
ton and sold his toba.cco, to buy one. But on
one journey he had made inquiry at several
stores and found none ; the other time "get-
ting a little overtaken," as he called it, he had
forgotten the business, though he did not fail
to bring his wife a new calico dress, and several
THE PARTING SCENE. 131
other luxuries she had not requested. The idea
of Bible Societies, and special efforts to supply
the destitute with the Word of God, had en-
tered into the mind of no one. Nor could such
books be found for sale in any of the interior
settlements of the South or West.
Father Clark had a neat pocket Bible, which
he obtained in London, and which was his daily
companion. He was now in a strait betwixt
the conflicting claims of duty. Generosity and
sympathy spoke loudly to his heart to give this
family his Bible. Conscience and reason seemed
to say, " You cannot spare this book. How
can a preacher do without a Bible. ?" After a
season of prayer on the subject, faith turned
the scale, " Leave the Bible, and trust in the
Lord for another ;". and so it was decided, and
he never regretted it.
The parting scene was affecting. Mr. Wells
and his wife both wept like children, and begged
him not to forget them in his prayers, and if he
ever came that way again to make their house
his home. The whole family walked with him
to the river bank, and Mr. Wells and his two
eldest sons worked the ferry-boat over the
river. As they turned into a slight bend in the
river, they could see mother Wells still sitting
132 THE EFFECT OF CONVERSION.
on the bank, with her handkerchief to her eyes,
deeply affected that she should see her preach-
er's face, and hear his voice no more ; yet de-
voutly thankful that the Lord had sent him
that way as the instrument of salvation to her
house.
The boat was tied to the shore, and the old
man and his two sons walked with the preacher
through the low bottom-land that lined the
bank of the Savannah river, to the bluffs and
up-lands of South Carolina. As they were
about to part, the preacher kneeled down and
prayed with them, and especially mentioned the
young lads, that they might be like young Tim-
othy, and serve the Lord from their youth. Mr.
Clark was now seen slowly but cheerfully
ascending the sloping hills, that led towards
Greenville district, while in silence the father
and sons returned to their home.
Leaving father Clark to pursue his journey
towards the mountain range in the northwest,
we will continue a while on the banks of the
Savannah, to learn a little of the future his-
tory of the Wells family.
The rule of the Saviour, to judge of religious
excitements and conversions, is, " By their
fruits shall ye know them." Our metaphysical
BAPTISTS IN GEORGIA, 133
and philosophical friends, with the class of c'old-
blooded, grave divines, who measure the charac-
ter of others by their own passionless natures ;
with the sentimental ladies who are dreadfully
shocked at religious ebullitions, may be assured
that the excitable Mrs. Wells, and her more
sluggish husband, never " fell from grace," as
our Methodist friends denominate the result of
spurious conversions. It is true they left the
Methodist society, and were baptized into the
fellowship of a Baptist church, but this was in
accordance with their original predilections and
previous training.
During the period of Mr. Clark's sojourn in
Georgia, Baptist churches and preachers were
more numerous than Methodists. In the region
south and east of Augusta, they were by far
the most numerous class of Christians. In
1792, there were about fifty-seven Baptist
churches, fifty-eight ordained preachers, twenty-
five candidates, and about 2,400 communicants
in Georgia. The Georgia Association had been
constituted in 1784, and in 1792 included about
twenty-five churches. The Hepzibah Associa-
tion was organized in 1794, and the churches
extended along the waters of the Ogeechee and
Oconee rivers. The ministers who itinerated
134 MOUNTAIN KANGE.
in upper settlements, on Oconee and Broad
rivers, after Mr. Clark left the country, were
Mr. John Cleveland, who crossed the Savannah
river from South Carolina, D. Thornton, Wil-
liam Davis, Thomas Johnson, and Thomas
Gilbert. Mr. Cleveland became acquainted
with the Wells family by crossing their ferry,
and they liked his style of preaching and that
of his brethren, and being taught the way of
the Lord more perfectly, with others, were bap-
tized, and a church was raised up near their
residence.
CHAPTER VIII.
Mountain Range. — Manners of an Itinerant. — Preaching in a Tavern-
house. — How to avoid Insults. — Hospitality. — Reaches Crab-
Orchard. — Preachers in Kentucky. — Baptists ; " Regulars" and
" Separatists." — Principles of Doctrine. — School-Teaching. — Master
O'Cafferty and His Qualities.
A range of high mountains are to be seen on
the map, running in a south-western direction,
and separating the State of Virginia from Ken-
tucky ; and then passing in a diagonal direction
across Tennessee into Georgia. This range
gives rise to the Sandy, Kentucky, and Cum-
berland rivers, on the north-western side, and
MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 135
the Clinch and Holston, the principal branches
of the Tennessee river, on the south-eastern
side. Through this range of mountains is a
singular depression, called the " Cumberland
Gap/' through which the first emigrants from
Virginia and North Carolina passed to Ken-
tucky. And through this " Pass" runs the
great highway that has been traveled for three-
score years, from the south-eastern to the north-
western States. The range of mountains is
from thirty to fifty miles in width, and in the
central part rises up in immense rocky ranges.
The " Gap" is at the south-western corner of
Virginia, and the south-eastern corner of Ken-
tucky, where the extreme points of these States
touch the northern boundary of Tennessee.
Mountains are piled on mountains through this
region. In the vicinity of the Gap is a ledge
of black rocks near the summit, which extends
thirty miles, with a perpendicular fall to the
south-east, of two hundred feet. The Pine
Mountain is on the border of Knox county, in
Kentucky, and presents to the eye of the trav-
eler a scene of sublimity and grandeur, not ex-
ceeded in mountain views. There is a view,
the wildest and most romantic, where the Cum-
berland river passes through a gorge, dashing
136 OUTLINE OF THE JOURNEY.
and foaming at a terrific rate. Here the lime-
stone cliffs rise to the height of thirteen hun-
dred feet.
Standing on a high precipice, from which the
eye could range over a vast extent of country,
on a clear and pleasant day in the month of
March, a traveler was seen gazing on the
scenery around him. Though his dress was
soiled by a long journey, every feature and
action were familiar to the observer. It is the
Itinerant preacher, whom we left near the
Savannah river a few weeks since ; and he has
ascended the mountain several hundred feet
above the Gap, to feast his eyes on the stupen-
dous works of Infinite wisdom and power. His
mind expands with the mountain scenery ; his
imagination has carried him back to his native
land ; his adoring thoughts ascend to the
Bestower of every good, for the protection he
has enjoyed ; hope burns bright in his eyes, for
in the direction he is now gazing are spread out
the fertile vales of Kentucky, to which he is
bound.
He has traveled through Greenville District,
in South Carolina, Buncombe County in North
Carolina, and across East Tennessee. He has
forded or swam the creeks and rivers on his
HOW ITINERANTS OUGHT TO BEHAVE. 137
route, but makes no complaint of fatigue, suf-
fering, or danger. He had a small sum of
money to pay his expenses, was never obtru-
sive, yet rarely did he fail of finding friends,
and frequently religious families, who delighted
to exercise their hospitality on so inoffensive
a traveler. Unless the weather proved stormy,
he traveled five days each week, and put up for
Saturday and Sabbath in the bounds of some
religious congregation, or in some destitute
settlement where he could preach the Gospel.
Some ministers, even while young, are very
annoying to families, by expecting personal at-
tentions, seeming not to think how much they
impose on hospitable families. Father Clark
was particularly careful never to give the least
trouble that he could avoid, and hence all who
knew him were the more ready to receive him.
He expected and desired no special attention as
a minister ; attended to his own personal affairs,
and put no family to any inconvenience. He
never assumed the ministerial character, put on
no airs of dignity, and if he led the conversation,
he could give it a religious turn without offence
;o any one ; and he would leave the best im-
pressions on the family without any apparent
effort. Again and again, he was solicited to
138 A TAVERN SCENE.
stay and preach with the people, with assurances
of every aid he might need. On two or three
occasions contributions were made privately and
handed to him, where he spent a Sabbath and
preached the Gospel, until it became painful to
his feelings to receive such gratuities, as he
needed nothing.
Two days before we found him on the moun-
tain summit, he had tarried at a noted tavern
at the foot of the long and steep mountain
called Clinch. Here were men with pack-
horses and peltry, on their way to the settle-
ments in the old States. Explorers to the new
countries of Tennessee and Kentucky, put up
at this tavern. There was drinking, gaming,
profane swearing, and all manner of vulgar and
blackguard language. Mr. Clark supposed the
time would pass very unpleasantly, but an
elderly gentleman, who was on his way to Ken-
tucky as an explorer, happened to fall into con-
versation, and found him to be a religious man,
and on putting the question direct, the fact was
acknowledged that he was a preacher. This
gentleman conferred with two or three other
persons of his acquaintance, and after consult-
ing the landlord, proposed they should have
religious worship before they retired. It met
HOW TO REFORM THE WICKED. 139
with general approbation. Every one present
knew it was a free country, and he might stay
or retire. Those' in the heat of gaming, and
half-sprung with whiskey, could have had a room
for their favorite amusements, but cards were
laid aside, and the landlord declared he never
heard 'one say they regretted having spent an
hour that night in hearing the stranger give a
lecture. His preaching and exhortations were
never in the form of denunciation, though
pointed and plain, and well adapted to touch
and arouse the slumbering consciences of sin-
ners. He never failed to give evidence that his
sympathies were awakened on their behalf ; that
he felt for guilty sinners, and desired to do them
good.
He did not rail against drunkards, gamblers,
and profane swearers, in his discourse, or mani-
fest the least annoyance in conversation with
any person ; and yet all these vicious indul-
gences ceased, and every swearing reprobate
seemed to put a double guard on his lips. All
the company rested quietly, and arose cheer-
fully in the morning. The gentleman who had
invited Mr. Clark to preach, approached the
landlord privately, and proposed to pay the
stranger's bill when he settled his own. " No,
140 HOUSES OF ENTERTAINMENT.
sir," said the landlord, "that gentleman has
been a welcome guest in my family, for they
have had comfortable rest, and if it had not been
for him, we should have had drinking, swearing,
and fighting through the night, to the annoy-
ance of all quiet people."
When Mr. Clark called for his bill after
breakfast, as he was about to depart on his jour-
ney, he received for answer, " Your bill, sir, is
more than paid. It is not customary to charge
preachers, though every one of that class who trav-
els this road don't keep the house in as good order
as you did last night. But you are welcome to
the best I have, every time you pass this way/'
Down the mountain range, towards Crab-
Orchard, the country was thinly settled. Every
eight or ten miles was a cluster of log-cabins,
with stabling of the same materials, a rack to
hitch horses at in front, and occasionally a
rudely daubed sign on a post, that on close in-
spection might indicate that "private enter-
tainment" could be had there. No public
houses existed in that region, unless in a town
or county seat, where lawyers and clients,
judges and jurymen, could purchase intoxicat-
ing liquors to wash down their corn-bread and
bacon on court days. Every farmer through
DRESS OF A KENTUCKY PREACHER. 141
the country, who lived on a great road, and
had a supply of " corn and fodder" for horses,
" and chicken fixin's," and " corn dodgers,"
with comfortable beds for travelers, kept " pri-
vate entertainment." No one thought of getting
a license and selling intoxicating drinks. The
bottle or jug of whiskey was always set on the
table at such houses of entertainment, with a
bowl of sugar, and a pitcher of water fresh from
the spring, and "help yourselves, strangers,"
was the courteous invitation. Whether the
traveler drank more or less, or none at all, made
not the least difference in his bill. Fifty cents
for horse-keeping, supper, and lodging, was the
uniform price for nearly half a century, at these
countiy houses of entertainment throughout
this valley. And if any one had charged Father
Clark, a quarter or three bits* was ample com-
pensation.
It was early in April when OUT Itinerant
reached the vicinity of Crab-Orchard, in Lin-
coln County. Hearing there was an appoint-
ment for preaching in the neighborhood, he
went with the family with whom he had put
up. The preacher was a plain frontier-looking
man, dressed in the costume of the country ; a
* 37 1-2 cents.
142 MB. CLARK TNVITED TO PREACH.
hunting-shirt of dressed deer-skins, and trow-
sers of ootton and wool mixed, of very coarse
texture, colored brown with the bark of a species
of the white walnut tree.* The house where
the people assembled was a double log cabin,
rough hewn, and when all had gathered, it con-
tained about seventy-five or eighty persons.
The name of the preacher was Jolliff ; and he
preached the Gospel to his neighbors and the
people generally, as opportunity offered, without
any thought about compensation in this life.
He was a plain, unlearned preacher, and en-
forced such truth as he understood on the minds
of his hearers. He had been, and perhaps was
still a Methodist preacher of the local order,
but he afterwards joined a class of Baptists
called Separates in Kentucky.
Mr. Clark's dress we have already described,
but it was in a style somewhat in advance of
the good people in Kentucky, who lived many
hundred miles distant from any market, and
were compelled to live in a plain, rough way.
Mr. Jolliff fell into conversation with the
stranger, while the people were gathering,
found out his business in the country, and in-
sisted he should preach. Apologies and ex-
* Butternut — Juglans alba oblonga.
PIONEER PREACHERS OF KENTUCKY. 143
cuses are useless on such occasions for those
ministers who keep their minds in habitual pre-
paration to say something to the people on any
sudden call, and Mr. Clark, though a modest
man, who never put himself forward, consented.
The people listened with attention, and spoke
of him as " a right smart preacher." Some
doubted what others affirmed, that he was a
learned man, for he was so plain and simple
his language, and his illustrations were from
things so common, that they understood every
word.
Mr. Jolliff, who lived several miles 'from the
place of meeting, was so much pleased with the
discourse, that he persuaded Mr. Clark to at-
tend the meeting in his neighborhood on the
following Saturday and Sabbath, and to come
to his house on Friday evening.
There were a number of preachers in Lincoln
and the adjacent counties, all Baptists, though
somewhat divided on certain points'of doctrine,
and not altogether friendly in ministerial inter-
course. Each possessed his share of the imper-
fections of human character ; each was more
or less selfish ; petty rivalries prevailed, and
small differences were magnified, as each party
looked at the other through the medium of pre-
144 REGULAR AND SEPARATE BAPTISTS.
judice. In a word, the pioneer preachers of
Kentucky, were very much like the ministers
of the G-ospel in every age, nation, and country;
no better, no worse ; only a little more frank,
and even blunt in their personal intercourse,
and did not conceal their thoughts and enac-
tions with the same ingenuity and tact as has
been done in some places. Hence, if there
were petty jealousies, rivalries, and surmisings,
of -which traits <are wrong and unchristian
every where,) they let their passions be seen,
and the want of union and mutual cooperation
was the natural result.
There were two principal divisions amongst
Baptists in Kentucky, which were brought with
them from Virginia and the Carolinas. The
parties were called " Regular" and " Sepa-
rate." These parties originated more than
forty years before the period of our history.
The Regular Baptists in the Middle States
originated from Wales ; and in several in-
stances, churches already organized came over
as colonists. They settled mostly in New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and a corner of Delaware
and Maryland, towards the close of the seven-
teenth, and during the eighteenth centuries,
previous to the American revolution. At a
CONFESSION OF FAITH." 145
later period, the descendants of these early
colonists removed south, and formed the nucleus
of churches in Virginia, and even in North and
South Carolina. The doctrines they taught, as
they interpreted the Scriptures, may be found
in- a little book commonly called the " Phila-
delphia Confession of Faith," because it was re-
vised, adopted and published by the Philadel-
phia Baptist Association in 1742. *
All true Baptists take the word of God, the
inspired writings, as their sole rule of faith and
practice. There were some diversities among
the Regular Baptists about certain doctrinal
* The edition before us is the seventh, and " printed by John Dun-
lap, at the newest printing office in Market street, Philadelphia,
MDCCLXXIIL" [1773.] The title page reads, " A Confession of
Faith, put forth by the Elders and Brethren of many Congregations
of Christians, (Baptized upon Profession of their Faith,) in London
and the Country."
Adopted by the Baptist Association, met in Philadelphia, Sept. 25,
1742. This " Confession" had its origin in fact from " seven congre-
gations gathered in London, 1643," and revised and adopted by
" Ministers and Messengers of upwards of one hundred baptized
congregations in England and Wales," in 1689. The "Confession"
of that year is signed by thirty-eight persons, as a committee, " in the
name and behalf of the whole assembly." The name of the re-
nowned Hanserd Knollys stands at the head of the committee. The
object of this Confession, was not to have a " standard," or rule of
faith, separate from or in addition to the Scriptures, in the churches,
but " for the satisfaction of all other Christians that differ from us in
the point of baptism."
146 ORIGIN OF SEPARATE BAPTISTS.
principles, as there were also among the Sepa-
rates. These diversities in some localities pre-
vented for a time cordial union, correspondence
and cooperation, chiefly because they misunder-
stood each other in their modes of explanation.
The differences in all the parties consisted in
the way each party reasoned on abstruse points.
Each put that construction on the language
employed by the other that accorded with the
peculiar technical meaning he attached to the
same words.
The " Separate- Baptists" originated in Vir-
ginia and the Carolinas from two leading minis-
ters who, with their adherents, came from New
England about 1*754. The leaders were Shubael
Stearns and Daniel Marshall. These men were
Congregationalists, and belonged to a party that
separated from the old Puritan Congregation-
alists of New England ; being less Calvinistic
in doctrine, and believing that such men as had
grace, gifts, and a " call of God" to the minis-
try, ought to preach the Gospel if they had no
collegiate education. This party were at first
Paedobaptists ; that is, they believed and prac-
ticed infant baptism on the faith and the coven-
ant relation of the parents ; but gradually they
gave up this practice, and in the end most of
147
the ministers and members of this party joined
the Baptist churches.
Elder Stearns became a Baptist, and was or-
dained in Connecticut, but led by impressions
of mind, with several relatives and brethren,
removed south to Virginia, where Mr. Marshall
joined him ; and then to Guilford county, N.
C., where they constituted a church. While
in New England, these Separates had acquired
a warm, pathetic style of preaching, and ex-
hibited intense feelings. They had a sing-song
tone, and their manner of preaching got hold
of the hearts of the people and produced much
preternatural excitement. Their hearers shed
tears, cried out under great distress, and
shouted in ecstacy on a revulsion of feelings.
In a few months they had baptized about six
hundred converts. Several warm-hearted, zeal-
ous preachers were raised up ; one of the most
gifted was James Bead, who was very success-
ful in Virginia.
At the first no distinctive names were at-
tached to these parties, but the Separates from
New England kept that name, which provoked
the other party to call themselves " Regular
Baptists." This name originated with Elder
David Thomas, of Virginia, who possessed
146 ORIGIN OF SEPARATE BAPTISTS.
principles, as there were also among the Sepa-
rates. These diversities in some localities pre-
vented for a time cordial union, correspondence
and cooperation, chiefly because they misunder-
stood each other in their modes of explanation.
The differences in all the parties consisted in
the way each party reasoned on abstruse points.
Each put that construction on the language
employed by the other that accorded with the
peculiar technical meaning he attached to the
same words.
The " Separate Baptists" originated in Vir-
ginia and the Carolinas from two leading minis-
ters who, with their adherents, came from New
England about 1754. The leaders were Shubael
Stearns and Daniel Marshall. These men were
Congregationalists, and belonged to a party that
separated from the old Puritan Congregation-
alists of New England ; being less Calvinistic
in doctrine, and believing that such men as had
grace, gifts, and a " call of G-od" to the minis-
try, ought to preach the Gospel if they had no
collegiate education. This party were at first
Paedobaptists ; that is, they believed and prac-
ticed infant baptism on the faith and the coven-
ant relation of the parents ; but gradually they
gave up this practice, and in the end most of
REGULAR BAPTISTS." 147
the ministers and members of this party joined
the Baptist churches.
Elder Stearns became a Baptist, and was or-
dained in Connecticut, hut led hy impressions
of mind, with several relatives and brethren,
removed south to Virginia, where Mr. Marshall
joined him ; and then to Guilford county, N.
C., where they constituted a church. While
in New England, these Separates had acquired
a warm, pathetic style of preaching, and ex-
hibited intense feelings. They had a sing-song
tone, and their manner of preaching got hold
of the hearts of the people and produced much
preternatural excitement. Their hearers shed
tears, cried out under great distress, and
shouted in ecstacy on a revulsion of feelings.
In a few months they had baptized about six
hundred converts. Several warm-hearted, zeal-
ous preachers were raised up ; one of the most
gifted was James Read, who was very success-
ful in Virginia.
At the first no distinctive names were at-
tached to these parties, but the Separates from
New England kept that name, which provoked
the other party to call themselves " Regular
Baptists." This name originated with Elder
David Thomas, of Virginia, who possessed
148 UNION OF BAPTISTS.
great influence, and was regarded by his breth-
ren as a leader. Occasionally, and especially
in seasons of revival, the ministers would co-
operate, but the parties remained distinct, with
the usual amount of shyness and non-inter-
course, common in such divisions.
From the position we now occupy,- it is easy
to perceive that both parties had mistaken
views, and employed inappropriate language to
express gospel truth. The things for which
they were the most tenacious were their
opinions, or speculations ; and many points
were discussed in their discourses that were of
no advantage to truth. On the disputed topics
both parties " darkened council by words with-
out knowledge."*
An extensive revival of religion in Virginia
brought about a union between the Regular
and Separate Baptists in 1787 ; a religious
platform expressing their views in common was
adopted, and the parties laid aside their dis-
tinctive names and took that of UNITED BAP-
TISTS.
The emigration of Baptists from Virginia to
Kentucky commenced near the close of the
revolutionary war, and the old lines of distinc-
* Job xxx viii : 2.
WANT OF SCHOOLS IN KENTUCKY. 149
tion were kept up there for about sixteen years
longer. South of the Kentucky river, a
majority of the churches were Separate Bap-
tists, at the period of the visit of Father
Clark.*
Mr. Clark attended the appointment on
Saturday and Sabbath with Mr. Jolliff, and
preached with his accustomed fervor and ability.
The people who heard him were much in-
terested, and urged him to stay amongst them.
He found the settlements very deficient in
schools ; young men and women could not read,
and very few books could be found. In many
instances the teachers were incompetent, and
in some instances too immoral to be trusted
with the training of youth. He saw around
him a wide field of usefulness. There were oc-
casional revivals, but in general a religious
dearth prevailed over the State. Kevivals had
* At that period (1796,) the Methodists had five circuits in Ken-
tucky, ten preachers in the traveling connection, and 1880 whites and
G4 blacks in their societies. Their preachers, learning that Mr. Clark
had left the Methodist connection, gave him no direct encouragement
as a preacher. Mr. Jolliff, Rev. J. Lillard, and two or three other
preachers were Independent Methodists, and affiliated with Clark.
According to Asplund's Register, there were 57 Baptist churches,
50 ordained ministers, 16 licentiates, and 3,453 members, in 1792.
Twenty per cent, increase at least should be added for their number
in 1796. This would give 4,150 communicants.
152 SCHOOLMASTERS EQUITY.
in the direction of " Holy Mother Church."
In this particular item his services were gratu-
itous ; but he was unsuccessful in all he under-
took, whether publicly or privately. He lacked
every qualification for a successful emissary in
the charitable designs of the good father. Mr.
O'Cafferty made slow progress in retailing
science and literature during the six months he
engaged to teach school on Flat Creek, and
such was the turmoil among his subjects, and
so much whiskey did he punish weekly, that he
found it economical to accept the compromise
proposed by his employers and be off, on half
pay for the last term.
CHAPTER IX.
Schoolmaster Equity in 1796. — New Customs introduced. — Mr. Birch
Discarded. — Enrolment. — Books Used — New ones Procured. — As-
tonishing Effects.— Colloquy with Uncle Jesse.— The New School-
House. — A Christmas Frolic. — Shocking Affair by the Irish Master.
— A Political Convention. — Young Democracy. — A Stump Speech.
— New Customs. — A True Missionary. — Trouble about Money. —
Mr. Clark leaves Kentucky.
The relation of the teacher and the pupils
heretofore in most instances had been that of
belligerents. It was his prerogative to rule and
compel obedience, and hence " fightings/' as
the customary whippings were called, was the
NEW CUSTOMS INTRODUCED. 153
order of the day. Those pupils who were from
fifteen to twenty years of age, and thought
themselves young men, their proud spirits
could be easily aroused to a state of rebellion.
They descended from a hardy race, and had
learned the tactics of warfare on the frontiers,
where their fathers and mothers had to contend
with untamed savages, and it would have been
a dangerous business for even a brawny Irish-
man to flog such spirits into submission with a
full supply of bone, sinew and muscle. Hence
the boys from eight to fourteen, who had no
brothers and cousins among these stout young-
sters, had to bear their own share of flaggella-
tion, and also the amount that in equity be-
longed to their older neighbors. The school
house had remained vacant for six or eight
months previous to Mr. Clark's entrance, and
the youngsters gathered around him as we have
narrated.
Instead of the expected order, in a surly
voice, and corrupt dialect that was any thing
else than the English language, Mr. Clark
opened school by a friendly conversation with
each scholar ; beginning with the eldest. Divers
questions were asked, in a pleasant, musical
tone of voice, as " How far have you made
154
progress in studies?" " What branches do you
wish to learn ?" etc. He addressed the young
men as though they were gentlemen, and as if
he was desirous of consulting their interests,
and do the best to serve them. Instead of their
usual boisterous manner of reply, their voices
were subdued, and they felt what they never
before realized, sentiments of reverence and
respect to a school master.
In his examination of the older female pupils,
there was some difficulty at first, to draw from
them the answers he desired. They had heard
him preach in the neighborhood, and were in-
spired with awe, and could scarcely speak above
their breath. The little ones, boys and girls, he
called to him, patted them on their heads,
spoke encouragingly, and soon had their confi-
dence and affection.
The next movement was to take down their
names, ages, and the number of quarters, or
terms, each had attended school. He told them
frankly, he could not endure a school where
mutiny and war were the order of the day ;
that his sole object in teaching, was to do them
good and not harm, and he regarded it as the
right and privilege of all who desired to learn,
and improve their minds and acquire useful
A YOUTHFUL DEMOCRACY. 155
knowledge, not to be interrupted by the im-
proper conduct of others ; that he compelled
no one to attend, and expected that all who
came to his school to conduct themselves in
such a manner, as to make the school comfort-
able and creditable to all. He read a few plain,
simple rules, and proposed them to the scholars/
for adoption, and even gave opportunity for
objections to be made, or alterations proposed.
This was another new feature in school-discipline
and called forth expressions of astonishment and
approbation from the older scholars. He was
not anxious to enforce these rules on them, but
to give every pupil time to consider their bear-
ing, and suggested they could be postponed
until next day, if all were not prepared to de-
cide. The code appeared so reasonable and
proper, that a large majority seemed anxious
for its adoption at once, and every one present
gave a hearty assent.
The next movement was to make inquiry
about books ; and here no small difficulty and
inconvenience appeared. Each pupil had
brought such an article for the reading lessons
as first came to hand. One had a mutilated
copy of Dil worth's " New Guide to the English
Tongue ;" another showed a volume of old ser-
156 COMMON-SCHOOL DEMOCRAOF.
mons ; a third had the " Eomance of the
Forest," an old novel, and a specimen of the
" yellow covered literature" of a former age.
A fourth, fifth, and sixth, could show Testa-
ments or pieces of Bibles, with the binding in
tatters, and the print dim, and paper brown,
such as were gotten up for sale to merchants in
that day. Some came without books or any aid
to learn the art and mystery of spelling and
reading. The Psalter that had descended from
some Virginia families whose ancestors belonged
to the Colonial English Church, was presented
by three or four more. The marvellous story
of "Valentine and Orson," answered for the
whole stock of literature for a family of three
children. What was now to be done ? Mr.
Clark neither scolded or ridiculed his pupils for
their deficiency in books. He knew they were
not to blame, and he surmised their parents
could, not readily remedy the evil. There was
not a book in the three little retail stores in
Lincoln County, for sale, and it was between
fifty and sixty miles to .Lexington where pur-
chases could be made. The world-renowned
..Noah Webster had commenced the great work
of providing his young countrymen with the
means of learning their mother tongue, about
NEW BOOKS OBTAINED. 157
thirteen years previous. His "First Part of a
Grammatical Institute of the English Lan-
guage," more popularly known as the "Ameri-
can Spelling-Book," was published for the first
time in 1783, but it had scarcely found its w^y
into the wilderness of Kentucky. Fathejr
Clark had obtained a copy in Charleston ; he
liked every thing American, and Webster's
Spelling Book struck his fancy, above all others,
from' which he would like
" To teach the young idea how to shoot."
None had been seen in Lincoln County.
Transylvania Seminary had been in operation
in Lexington, ten or twelve years, where some
of the higher branches of literature and science
were taught, and many of the young men who
became distinguished in law, politics, and medi-
cine, in that commonwealth, received their edu-
cation in that Seminary. After Mr. Clark had
left the State in 1798, a Grammar „ School was
opened in Lebanon, near the Royal Spring, in
Fayette County, where the elements of Latin,
Greek, and the sciences, were taught by Messrs.
Jones and Worley.
The old books had to be used until Mr.
Clark's new method of teaching became known,
and one of the employers visited Lexington on
158 THE FABLES EXAMINED.
business. He returned with two dozen of Web-
ster's Spelling-Book, and more other school-
books than ever before reached Lincoln County
at one time. It was a real holiday for the boys
and girls to look over these books.
The rude cuts, or coarse illustrations, as they
would now be called, over the fables in the
Spelling-Book, were examined and criticised,and
the stories read, until they were " gotten by
heart." There was the boy that stole apples,
then on the tree, and the farmer throwing tufts
of grass to bring him down, and threatening " to
try what virtue there was in stones." Then
came the country girl, with the pail of milk on
her head, calculating the value when exchanged
for eggs ; these hatched into chickens, and the
chickens sent to market at Christmas, and the
profits invested in a new silk gown, in which she
would eclipse all her female companions during
the holidays. Inflated with vanity in her bril-
liant prospects, she acted out her feelings with
a toss of the head, when down came her pail of
milk, and with it all her imaginary happiness.
And then there was the cat covered with meal,
in the bottom of the meal-tub, while the young
rats were about to enjoy themselves around the
heap, until warned by an old and experienced
INFLUENCE OF THE MASTER. 159
rat, who " did not like that white heap yonder."
" The hear and the two friends/' furnished
another fruitful source of mental speculation to
the pupils of Mr. Clark in the recess of school ;
while the fahle of the Farmer and Lawyer, and
the amazing difference "betwixt " your hull and
my ox/' caused hursts of laughter.
Thus the school went on, and the influence
of the master in controlling the feelings, the
minds and hahits of the pupils in school, or even
on the road-side, or at home, was overwhelming.
This was effected by an unusual commixture of
firmness and kindness, dignity and familiarity,
never known "before in a Kentucky school.
It was some weeks after the new hooks were
introduced, that Mr. Jesse Bush came into the
settlement from Old Virginia, to see the coun-
try and make a visit to his hrother, one of the
patrons of the school. Thonlas and Susan
Bush were two "bright eyed pupils of Father
Clark, and were discovered one evening hy their
uncle as he walked along the lane that led to
the house, gathering strips of loose, dry hark
from the fence rails for " lightwood." Such
comhustihle articles in the fire-place were an
excellent suhstitute for candles and lamps in
new and frontier settlements. Uncle Jesse had
160 UNCLE JESSE, THOMAS AND SUSAN.
taken quite a fancy to his nephew and niece.
They had left the old dominion with their
parents several years before this period, and
had grown so much that their affectionate uncle
would not have known them,, had he met them
any where else than at their parents' on his ar-
rival. Susan was now eleven and Thomas
thirteen years old, and delighted to play and
romp with him, no less than he did with them.
It was in the month of October — the days had
perceptibly grown shorter and the nights longer.
A fire was pleasant and comfortable, and the
lightwood threw up a cheerful blaze, while the
industrious scholars were getting their lessons
until interrupted by their uncle.
" Tommy, my boy, come here. You and I
have not had a frolic to-day. You are at that
new spelling-book every moment. What do
you find in that' book ?"
Thomas ran to his accustomed place between
the knees of uncle Jesse, and looking him in
the face, and catching hold of his beard of a
week's growth, responded : —
" I find a heap of things. Here are pretties.*
Jest look at that "ere boy in the tree. He's
stealing apples, and sez he won't come' down."
* Pictures.
A DIALOGUE ABOUT JOE SIKES. 161
" 0, pshaw, Tom, that's all a story. You
don't b'lieve a boy would get into an apple
tree in the day time, when he know'd the old
farmer would see him ?"
" Well, I don't know, but the master said
it's jest like bad boys, and he knows."
" Now, Tommy, tell me honestly, how do you
like the master ?"
" He's fust rate ; and all the boys say so."
" How many times has he whipped you ?"
" He duz no such thing. He says ef he can't
get along without fighting, he'll jest quit."
" Has Sis' got a flogging yet ?"
" No, sir-ee — Sis' and the Master are great
friends."
" Does Joe Sikes come to school yet ?"
" I recon he duz. Joe can't stay away, no
how he can fix it."
" But Joe Sikes in old Virginia, was the
hardest case in school. He had Mr. Birch hold
of him regularly as the day came round."
" So he did here. Mr. O'Cafferty gave him
some of the all-firedest thrashings I ever seed,
and he only got worser."
" How in the world does Mr. Clark contrive
to manage that fellow ?"
" He jest talks it into him. And I he'rn Joe
162 THE COLLOQUY CONTINUED.
say he'd no heart to insult so good a man as the
master."
" Now, Tom, tell me honestly which you'd
rather do — stay at home, play with the dogs,
and hunt coons at night, or go to that school ?"
"I'd go to school as long as I liv'd ef I
could have such a master as Mr. Clark."
" Well, Tom, I must give you up. Mr.
Clark's bought you, that's certain. You're a
gone coon for huntin."*
Calling up Susan, he said,
" Come, Sis', and tell uncle what you think
of the master ?"
" He's the best man in all Canetuck."
" But some of those big girls down the creek
don't like him."
" Yes, they duz," responded Susan, whose
whole soul had become enlisted in the myste-
ries of the new spelling book.
" Now, Susy, let me hear you read your lesson
for to-morrow."
* It will not be thought strange that such a boy as Thomas Bush
(which is a fictitious name for a real personage) became a graduate of
Transylvania University, studied law in Lexington, was elected to
Congress, and became a Judge of the Court. In all these stations he
was an honor to himself, and to those who trained him for usefulness
and respectability. He also became a Christian professor, lived a life
of faith in Jesus Christ, and died in the full hope of a blessed immor-
tality.
SCHOOL HOUSE WANTED. 163
Susan had just commenced the table for
" easy readings," and of course she had to pro-
ceed with great care. She took her station by
her uncle, with the new copy of Webster in
one hand, and pointing the fore-finger of the
other to the word as her eyes passed along the
line, she read slowly and distinctly, without
missing three worcls :
" No man may put off the law of God ;
My joy is in his law all the day.
I must not go in the way of sin.
Let me not go in the way of ill men."
"Well done, Susan ; — you are right smart,
and do your master much credit."
Time passed away ; — the school increased,
until the dirty old cabin was more than crowded.
During the warm season, those who studied
their lessons (and this was one of the new
fashions introduced), could retire to the shade
of the forest, and in groups of two, three and
four, might have been seen by passers by, in-
tently conning their lessons. But cold weather
approached, the people became quite spirited
in providing a new and better house for winter ;
and the whole settlement turned out with their
axes and teams. Large trees were felled in
the adjacent forest, and rough hewn on two
164 THE NEW SCHOOL EDIFICE.
sides to a suitable thickness. Clap boards,
four feet long, were split from a straight
grained oak for the roof ; the ends of the logs
were securely notched together and were placed
one on top of another, as the four sides of the
house were raised. In a few days a commo-
dious house, about twenty feet square, and
covered in, stood a few yards from the old log
cabin. The spaces between the logs were soon
" chinked and daubed ;" that is, filled with
small flat stones and chumps of wood, and mud
plastered over the cracks both within and with-
out.
For windows, a log was cut out from each
side at a suitable height for the light to shine
on the writing desks, which were slabs placed
under the windows. The apertures were a foot
wide and extended the length of the room,
over which paper saturated with coon oil was
placed as a substitute for glass. The chimney
was built in the end opposite the door, and ran
up outside of the wall. An aperture about
ten feet wide was made through the logs for the
fire-place. The chimney was built of rough
stones from the neighboring quarry. And as
quite an advancement in the style of frontier
school houses at that period, planks, as the
A NORMAL SCHOOL PROVIDED. 165
term was in Kentucky, or boards an inch and a
quarter thick, cut at a saw-mill on a branch of
Crab Orchard Creek, made a tight floor. It is
doubtful if out of Lexington, and a half-
dozen other towns, a school house existed in the
country settlements with any other floor than
the natural earth beaten hard, until this im-
provement was made both as an accommodation
and a compliment to their teacher.
Mr. Clark had two or three young men from
eighteen to twenty years of age, who had been
under his tuition from the openiog of the
school, and who desired to qualify themselves
for teachers. They were good tempered, affable,
constant in their studies, and made good pro-
gress. The school now promised to have a
greater number and variety of pupils than Mr.
Clark could attend to and do justice to all.
He proposed to these young men to assist him
in the smaller classes, and by that means they
would be qualified the sooner and the more
thoroughly to teach and govern a school.
Time sped on, and Christmas, the real holi-
day amongst Southern people, was approaching.
We are anxious to know how the tact and skill
of Mr. Clark in governing rude, thoughtless,
overgrown boys and precocious young men
166 TKAPTTIONARY LAW ENFORCED.
availed him on Christmas week ; and as hap-
pened with other teachers in those days, whether
he was " turned out" of the new school house
hy his mutinous subjects.
" To the time whereunto the memory of man
runneth not/' — so reads the law phrase, — a cus-
tom had prevailed amongst the southern young-
sters, that as Christmas approached, the author-
ity over the school house was reversed ; the
young folks seized the reins of government.
Judge Lynch held his court, and pronounced
the authority from ancient traditions, that the
pedagogue must resign all authority with the
school house itself, until the holiday season was
over, and make up the lost time at the close of
his term.
The reversal of authority was usually effected
the day before Christmas. This singular cus-
tom of turning out the master was brought
from old England into the South by the cava-
lier branch of that nation in contradistinc-
tion from the puritans who .settled New Eng-
land. It can be traced back to the feudal age,
and ranks among other frolics in which the
common people were permitted and encouraged
to indulge their passion for fun and riot, by
both the priests and magistrates. A mere ab-
A SHOCKING SCENE. 167
dication of the office for the time being did not
satisfy this ancient custom in all cases. If the
mutinous party took the notion into their heads,
and lawlessness and disorder were winked at by
the parents, as in some settlements, the master
must treat all the pupils to cherry bounce,**
whiskey sweetened with honey, peach brandy,
or some other equally pernicious liquor. The
same custom often prevailed at Easter.
The penalty of not complying with every ex-
action imposed by the rebellious scholars, was a
severe ducking in the river. On some occasion^
serious personal injury has been inflicted. This
feudal right had been claimed heretofore, and
the master compelled to abdicate, and make up
lost time in the school on Flat Creek. Mr.
O'Cafferty had done more than his pupils ex-
acted, for he had procured a supply of cherry
bounce, whiskey and honey, and was so gener-
ous in its distribution, and set such an impres-
sive example in favor of its qualities, that one
half of his pupils were dreadfully sick, some
had to be carried home to their parents, and
the master required a wide path, and made
tracts in a zigzag form, in reaching his lodging
place. This hospitable trait in his character
* Whiskey in which cherries have been steeped.
168 AN IMPORTANT CONVENTION.
was no small item in the list of complaints,
which induced his employers to get rid of him.
Indeed, a large majority of the people in this
settlement regarded this ancient custom more
honored in the breach than the observance.
On the morning preceding Christmas, as Mr.
Clark approached the new academy, he saw a
number of the older scholars in a group, talk-
ing very earnestly ; and he supposed mischief
was brewing. He entered the house, arranged
the benches and books, and gave the customary
signal for all to come in, and take their places,
preparatory to the morning's lesson. This con-
sisted in reading a portion of the Old or New
Testament, by each scholar who had advanced
that far in scholastic attainments. All came
to their places, when three of the company
arose, and approached the master in a respectful
attitude, as a committee on behalf of the
scholars, who had that morning held a meeting
on the due observation of the Christmas holi-
days.
We regret that at the period of which our
history pertaineth, no newspaper was published
in Lincoln county, and but one, the " Kentucky
Gazette" in the State. Hence we can find no
printed record of these important proceedings,
A RESPECTFUL ADDRESS. 169
and left for the benefit of posterity. Especially
do we lament the inability to give, literally, the
able and eloquent speech made before the
schoolmaster by the youthful chairman, who
spoke " without notes." As he is reported to
have made quite a noise at the "bar" and on
the " stump," after the era of newspapers,
the loss of a verbatim copy of this maiden
address is irreparable. The original copy in
manuscript (if one was ever made) cannot now
be found among the antiquarian documents of
Lincoln county. Our readers would like to
peruse it, but all we can give is the mere sub-
stance which tradition has preserved.
The speaker referred to the ancient and
honorable custom of turning out the master at
Christmas. He even expressed some doubts of
the real value of such a usage, though it might
be unfavorable to that manly independence that,
belonged to young Americans. He alluded to
the unfortunate issue of Mr. O'Cafferty's
liberality on a previous Christmas ; indeed the
last one the high minded young gentlemen of
Flat Creek had observed (himself having been
a sufferer on that memorable occasion ;) — that
the " old folks" at home disliked it ; — -that the
young gentlemen who loved a frolic, really
170 MR. CLARK'S RESPONSE.
" had no heart," (these were the very words)
to do any unpleasant thing to their present
schoolmaster. Him they all respected and
loved, and, therefore, the committee had heen
instructed to present a respectful petition, that
the master would please to adjourn the school
to the following Monday.
To which Mr. Clark responded to the com-
mittee in the hearing of the whole school in the
following speech.
" MY DEAR FRIENDS AND PUPILS : — I thank
you for your courteous and respectful treatment,
and the address through your chairman on this
occasion. I have labored to convince you that
good order, kindness to each other, and a due
regard to the wishes of your instructor are ne-
cessary to your own happiness. When we com-
menced our present relation as master and
pupils, you adopted rules for your behavior,
and you have enjoyed much happiness in obey-
ing them. One of the most useful and im-
portant lessons for you to acquire and practice
is that of self-government ; for if you are not
trained to govern yourselves, you will never be
qualified to perform the duties of American
citizens in this great and growing republic.
" It affords me pleasure to accord with your
ANOTHER RELIGIOUS MEETING. 171
wishes, and give you a vacation during the
Christmas holidays. I have been requested by
preacher Jolliff and the people to attend a
meeting with him in the settlement down Crab
Orchard, and it will be quite convenient to
dismiss the school this evening, until the first
Monday in January. Now please take your
books and go through the lessons of the morn-
ing."
Eyes shone bright, hearts beat joyfully, the
books were opened, and all parties felt happy.
The influence of Mr. Clark over his pupils re-
ceived additional force from the manner in
which the momentous question of observing
the Christmas holidays was settled.
The religious meeting was held during four
successive days and nights, about a dozen or
fifteen miles from the school house, and at-
tended by the people for several miles around.
Amongst others, there were seen several of the
students of Father Clark, who listened to his
discourses with serious attention, and tradition
testifies a number were converted.
But we must hasten forward with our story,
for we have a long series of years yet to travel
over, and many new and interesting scenes to
portray.
1*72 A REAL CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY.
The six months Mr. Clark at first proposed
to teach the school on Flat Creek turned out to
be a twelve month. A wonderful change had
been produced in the settlement ; indeed, we
may say truthfully, an entire revolution had
been made in public sentiment concerning
schools and teachers. At the close of the year,
he could have had one of the largest schools in
the new and growing State of Kentucky, on
any terms he had chosen to ask.
For more than two months, during the winter,
his mind was solemnly impressed with the para-
mount duty to preach the gospel in a more des-
titute region. If ever there was a true mis-
sionary in modern times, Father Clark was that
man, for he conferred not with flesh and blood,
made no calculations of ease or a support,
stopped not to see whether the churches, or
other ministers were prepared to move forward
according to the divine commission in preaching
the gospel to every creature. He had imitated
Paul the apostle in denying himself the com-
forts and happiness in the connubial relation,
that no earthly tie might hinder him from going
wherever Providence directed. He cast him-
self on that providence that so mysteriously
had preserved him in perils by land and by sea,
LEARNING THE PATHWAY OF DUTY. 173
and engaged in the work of a Christian mis-
sionary with his whole soul.
When he left Georgia, his thoughts ran to-
wards the Illinois country, where, as he had
learned American families had gone from the
south branch of the Potomac in Virginia, and
the new settlements of Kentucky. During
his residence in Lincoln county, he had seen
several men who had visited the Illinois country,
and even the " Far West/' which was then
the Spanish province of Upper Louisiana,
west of the Mississippi river. There the gospel
had never been preached ; and yet, allured by
the gift of uncultivated land for farms, and in-
spired by the daring enterprize of backwoods
and frontier people, many families had crossed
the Great Kiver.* The government of Spain
was very despotic, but the commandants, who
represented the crown of Spain in the province
of Louisiana, were liberal, and encouraged
Americans to migrate and settle there.
Of course with Father Clark, it was a subject
of daily prayer that God would direct him to
that field of labor HE desired him to occupy.
He expected and received satisfactory impres-
sions, or a full conviction of mind, after much
* This is the aboriginal meaning of Mississippi.
174 REGRET AMONG THE SCHOLARS.
prayer, examination of the field in Illinois and
the Spanish country so far as he could obtain
information, and watching the leadings of
providence. The pathway of duty became
plain, and to that country he must go, and see
what the Lord would have him do there. We
never knew a man who consulted his personal
convenience less, and the entire will of God
more. No man was more discriminating, looked
at secondary causes with a steadier eye, and
then trusted himself entirely to the Divine
guidance.
As the last quarter of the school drew to-
wards the close, there was evidently dissatisfac-
tion and regret among the scholars. They had
learned the intentions of the master, and they
trembled at the prospect of losing a teacher
who had treated them like reasonable creatures,
and who led them in such pleasant paths by
the strong cords of affection and respect.
They really dreaded lest some illiterate whiskey
drinking, brutal Irishman, like master O'Caf-
ferty with his shelalah, should be engaged to
tyrannize over them, and dry up every stream
of true happiness in the school. But their
fears were imaginary. Every parent and
i
A NEW SCHOOLMASTER PROVIDED. 175
guardian would now have protested against such
an imposition on the community.
• Before the close of the last term under mas-
ter Clark, it was whispered about that Joseph
Helm would take charge of the school. Joseph
was one of Mr. Clark's assistants, and showed
much interest in the employment. He was a
stout Kentuckian, six feet in his shoes, with a
commanding appearance, and seriously dis-
posed. The little ones had learned already to
call him master Helm ; and on the whole he
was worthy of the mantle of master Clark. -
The parting day came, and when about to
dismiss the school for the last time, the affec-
tionate master was so overpowered by his feel-
ings as to be incapable of making his farewell
address. He attempted to utter a few words,
but his voice choked, tears fell like heavy rain-
drops, convulsive sobs heaved his breast, and he
could only grasp their hands with nervous ener-
gy, as they passed him towards the door-way.
And now another trial came on. The women
in the settlement had provided him with more
articles of clothing than he could take with
him, of their own homely making. Every
house in the settlement had been open for him
176 BEAL TROUBLE ABOUT MONEY.
both as a visitor and a boarder, but the generous
hearted men were resolved he should not de-
part empty handed.
Bank bills at that period were wholly un-
known in Kentucky, silver coin was very scarce,
and much of the business among the people
was done by barter. The proclamation had
been made for the employers to meet at the
school house, and every one knew what was
wanting. No one held back, and two or three
who could not attend the meeting sent their
perquisites by their neighbors. With no small
sacrifice, about fifty dollars were collected by a
sort of average, according to the number of
scholars from each family, after excusing several
families on account of inability. A committee
of three gentlemen was appointed to wait on
Mr. Clark, explain why no larger amount had
been raised, and present the acknowledgments
of the whole settlement for his very useful ser-
vices, and their kind wishes for his welfare, and
should he ever return, how rejoiced would they
be to receive him again.
Mr. Clark had still a small sum left of his
resources in Georgia, including the gratuitous
offerings on the way from that country, and
really felt that he had no need of money. When
A DOUBTFUL COLLOQUY. 177
he heard of the meeting, he thought it had re-
ference solely to the future school ; but what
was his surprise, and even distress, when the
committee called on him that very evening, with
their report, and the fifty dollars all in silver
coin ! He desired to treat them courteously ;
he respected and loved their hospitable and gen-
erous motives, but told them again and again
that the people owed him nothing — that all he
asked when he commenced the school was his
board and clothing — that, in fact, he had no use
for the money, and finally, that he might be
robbed and murdered in the wilderness should
he carry such an amount of wealth about him.
This last objection struck the committee as hav-
ing at least some practical sense in it, and after
much parleying, he compromised the matter by
consenting with great reluctance to receive a
small gratuity as an expression of the friendship
of the people.
" What a strange sort o' man that Master
Clark is," said one committee-man to the others,
as they were returning homeward after night-
fall.
" Yes, he is sartin'ly mighty singular, not to
take money for his labors when he arn'd it, and
tis offered him."
>178 HIS MEMORY IN KENTUCKY.
"An't lie a leetle sort o' crack'd?" asked
another. " It looks like it," was the reply ;
"but, then a crack'd skull never could 'av'
managed the youngsters as he did."
" Well, I reckon he'll suffer for that money
yet, way in that Elenoy country, 'fore he'd find
a chance to get more. I b'lieve a man ought'r
get all the money he can honestly, 'specially
when he's arn'd it, as Master Clark done."
" I'm mind he'll yet die a poor man, and it
mought be he'd suffer a heap ef he lives long in
that new country, and gets no money to pay
'xpenses."
" Well, I an't sorry we raised it, no how ;
for he'd orter been paid ; for he's done the
childer a mighty heap of good."
" And he's a good man, that's sartin'," re-
plied the first speaker ; " and ef John Clark
don't get to the ' good country ' he talks of
when he preaches, I'm mighty fear'd nobody
else will."
And John Clark was net forgotten in Ken-
tucky for many a year, nor his singular ways,
neither. There are a few old people still living,
who attended school under his instruction, who,
as they express it, " never seed the like on't."
They do not believe, with all the "new fangled
JOURNEY TO ILLINOIS. 179
ways," and " heap o' larnin," and practical wis-
dom teachers now have, that thej can come up
with preacher Clark.
CHAPTER X.
Journey to Illinois. — Story of the Gilham family, captured by Indians,.
— Hard fare. — Mr. Gilham attempts to recover them. — Indian War.
— Peace made. — The Family Redeemed. — Removes to Illinois with
Mr. Clark. — Navigation of Western Rivers. — Story of Fort Massac.
— Terrible sickness. — Settlement of New Design. — An ungodly race.
— First Preacher in Illinois. — A Stranger hi meeting — First Bap-
tisms.— Other Preachers. — First Church Formed. — Manners and
customs of the French. — Indian Wat. — Stations or Forts Described.
— PIONEER BOOKS projected.
And now we find the pioneer preacher trudg-
ing along the obscure pathway that guided him
down the country in a western direction, towards
the Green river district. He made appoint-
ments and preached in all the principal settle-
ments as he journeyed, and was treated kindly
and hospitably by all classes of people. It was
in the Green river country he became acquainted
with James Gilham, who was then preparing to
remove his family and settle in the Illinois coun-
try, and wanted three or four able bodied men
to accompany him, and work the boat down the
Ohio and up the Mississippi. Mr. Clark had
180 STORY OF THE GILHAM FAMILY.
started from Lincoln County with the intention
of passing through the wilderness on foot, but
he had now a good opportunity of proceeding
in a keel boat, or French pirogue, by water.
They fitted out at the Ked-banks, on the Ohio.
While pursuing their journey of several hun-
dred miles, Mr. Clark, in accordance of a long
cherished wish, had a fine opportunity to learn
much of Indian character and habits from this
family. Mrs. Gilham and three children had
been redeemed from a long and distressing cap-
tivity but two years before, and the story of her
sufferings, privations, and wonderful preserva-
tion, as told to Mr. Clark, while sitting around
their camp fire at night, deserves a place in
our narrative,
Mr. James Gilham was a native of South
Carolina, where he married his wife Ann, and
commenced the battle of life as a frontier farm-
er. He removed his young family to Kentucky,
and pitched his station in the western frontier
settlements of that district. There he pur-
chased a claim to a tract of land, and cleared a
farm, cheered with the hopeful anticipations of
i peaceful and happy life ; but, like many
others, he and his wife were doomed to disap-
pointment. They had three sons and one
CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS. 181
daughter living, between the ages of four and
twelve.
It was in the month of June, 1790, that he
was ploughing in his corn field, some distance
from his house, from which he was hidden by a
skirt of timber, while his eldest son Isaac was
clearing the hills from weeds with the hoe. At
the same time several "braves" of the Kicka-
poo tribe of Indians, from the Illinois country,
were lurking in the woods near the house, where
Mrs. Gilham, the two little boys, Samuel and
Clement, and the daughter, were sheltered,
wholly unsuspicious of such visitors. The In-
dians, finding the door open, rushed in ; some
seized the woman and gagged her, to prevent
her giving the alarm ; others seized the children,
who could make no resistance. Mrs. Gilham
was so alarmed that she lost her senses, and
could not recollect any thing distinctly, until
aroused by the voice of Samuel, tc Mamma,
we're all prisoners." This excited her feelings,
and she looked around to find out whether the
other children were all alive. Indians never
walk abreast, as white people do. One leads
off on the trail, and the others follow in single
file, and are sometimes half a mile apart. One
stout, bold warrior, went forward as a guide,
182 DISTRESS IN THE WILDERNESS.
and another kept many yards behind as a spy,
watching cautiously to see if they were followed.
They kept in the thick forest, out of the way
of all the settlements, lest they should be dis-
covered.
Mrs. Gilham and the children were in great
distress. They were hurried forward by their
savage masters, whose fierce looks and threaten-
ing gestures alarmed them exceedingly. The
Indians had ripped open their beds, turned out
the feathers, and converted the ticking into
sacks, which they had filled with such articles
of clothing as they could conveniently carry
from the cabin, but were in too much haste to
be off with their captives, to lay in provisions.
They were used to periods of starvation, and
could go three or four days without food, but
the mother and her little ones suffered to an
extent beyond the conception of our readers.
But human nature can endure much in extreme
cases. The feet of the children soon became
sore and torn with briers ; and the poor woman
tore her clothes to obtain rags to wrap around
their feet. The savages, as they thought,
treated them kindly, — just as they would have
done to their own children, — and Mrs. Gilham
and the children had been familiar with the
A RACCOON FESTIVAL. 183
privations of frontier life, but they always had
enough of plain, coarse food to eat ; now they
were starving. The Indians had with them a
morsel of jerked venison, which they gave the
children, but for themselves and the suffering
mother there was not a particle of food to eat.
One day they encamped in an obscure place, and
sent out two of their best hunters, who crept
stealthily through the thick brush and cane,
and returned towards night with one poor rac-
coon. Mrs. Gilham afterwards told her friends
that the sight of that half-starved 'coon was
more gratification to her at that time than any
amount of wealth could have afforded. She
was in great distress lest her children should
perish with hunger, or the Indians kill them.
They dared not hunt rear the settlements, lest
they should be discovered.
The coon was dressed by singeing off the hair
over a blaze of fire, and after throwing away
the contents of the intestines, the animal was
chopped in pieces and boiled in a kettle with
the head, bones, skin and entrails, and made
into a kind of soup. When done, and partially
cooled, the children, mother, and Indians sat
around the kettle, «and with horn spoons, and
184 ROUTE TO THEIR VILLAGES.
sharpened sticks for forks, obtained a poor and
scanty relief from starvation.
They approached the Ohio river with caution,
lest white people might be passing in boats.
/They camped in the woods near the present
site of Hawesville, and made three rafts of dry
logs, with slender poles lashed across with
thongs of elm -bark, and placed them near the
river, that they might push them in and cross
over before they became soaked in water and
heavy. The wily Indians were too cunning to
cross by daylight lest they should be dis-
covered, and Mrs. Gilham was exceedingly ter-
rified at the danger of crossing by night. How-
ever they all got over safely.
The warriors considered it a great achieve-
ment to capture a white woman and three chil-
dren in Kentucky, and elude all pursuit, and
reach their own villages on Salt Creek, in the
Illinois country, without being discovered. And
they exercised all their cunning and sagacity to
accomplish this daring feat.
When they reached the wilderness south-
west of the Ohio river, they were in the Indian
country, and proceeded slowly. They hunted
with such success in the country between the
Ohio and White river that they had plenty of
MB. GILHAM AND HIS SON. 185
provisions. They kept to the right of the
white settlements near Vincennes, and along
the valley of White river, and crossed the
Wabash helow Terre Haute, and proceeded
through the present counties of Clark, Coles
and Macon to their towns in Logan bounty.*
There they held a season of feasting and
frolicing with their friends for their successful
enterprize. And here we will leave Mrs. Gril-
ham and her children, distributed as they were
among different Indian families, and suffering
all the hardships of Indian captives, until the
war was over in 1795.
We now return to the father and son in
Kentucky. They continued their labor in the
cornfield until dinner time, when the horse was
ungeared, and they returned to the house.
There every thing was in confusion. The
feathers from the beds were scattered over the
yard, the mother and children were gone ! The
"signs" were too plain to leave any doubt on
the mind of the husband and father of their
fate ! They were Indian captives, unless some
were killed. The first natural impression was
Their towns were situated about twenty miles a little east of
north from Springfield, and not far from where now the Chicago and
Mississippi railroad crosses Salt Creek, in Logan county. Kickapoo,
a branch of Salt Creek, may be seen on the sectional map of Illinois.
186 FOLLOWS THE INDIANS.
that in attempting to flee they were butchered
by these monsters of the woods. Isaac began
to cry and call loudly for his mother, until he
was peremptorily told by his father to hold his
tongue and make no noise, as some of the,
Indians might lie concealed, watching for him
and his son. He knew the character and habits
of these cunning sons of the forest, and
stealthily examined in every direction for further
signs. He soon fell on their trail, as they left
the clearing and entered the woods, and saw in
one or two places the tracks of his wife and
little ones. He now felt encouraged, for he
knew that Indians more generally kill persons
on their first attack, and that when they take
possession of women and children they take
them to their towns that they may adopt them
in the place of those they have lost, and train
them up in Indian ways, and thus increase the
number and strength of the tribe. White
children who are trained by Indians make the
smartest and often the most ferocious savages.
The country where Mr. Gilham resided was
very thinly settled, and it was not until the
next day he could raise a party strong enough
to pursue them with any prospect of success.
He and his neighbors followed the trail for some
DISTRESS OF MR. GILHAM. 187
distance, but Indians when they expect pursuit
are very cunning and skillful in concealing their
tracts, and turning their pursuers in the wrong
direction. When a large number are together,
they divide into small parties, and make as
many separate trails as they can. They will
step with singular caution, so as to leave no
marks, and they will wander in opposite direc-
tions and make their trails cross each other.
When they come to a stream of water they will
wade a long distance in the water, and fre-
quently in a contrary direction to that of their
journey, and unless their pursuers understand
all their tricks, they will not fail in deceiving
them. Mr. Gilham and his friends understood
their strategy, but could not find their trail
after they once lost it. It is probable they
struck the Ohio river some distance from the
crossing place of the Indians.
No one who has never experienced the same
affliction, can fully realize the distress of poor
Mr. Gilham, when, after a long search, he was
obliged to yield to the advice of his neighbors,
turn back, and leave his wife and children in
savage hands. But hope did not desert him-
He knew they must be alive, and he hoped the
time was not far distant when he might hear of
188 INDIAN HOSTILITIES.
them. He sold his farm in Kentucky, put
Isaac in the family and charge of a friend, fully
determined to reclaim his lost family, or perish
in the effort. He visited post Vincent (now
Vincennes) and Kaskaskia, and enlisted the
French traders, who held personal intercourse
with the Indian tribes of the north-west, to
make inquiries and redeem them if they could
be found. He visited General St. Clair at Fort
Washington, now Cincinnati, who was governor
of the north-western territory, and who had
just returned from tne Illinois country. He
learned that the Indians, stimulated by British
agents and traders in the north, were medi-
tating hostilities. Anthony Gamelin, an intel-
ligent French trader, had been sent out by
Major Hamtramck, with instructions irom Gov.
St. Clair, on an exploring mission to the
Indians along the Wabash and Maumee, to
learn their designs, and he had just returned
with abundant evidence of their hostile inten-
tions. General Harmar had commenced his
unfortunate campaign, and the prospect was
dark and discouraging. It was the intention
of Mr. Gilham to penetrate the Indian country,
and go from tribe to tribe until he found his
lost family, but Governor St. Clair and all
I
THE CAPTIVES FOUND. 189
others acquainted with the state of things in
the north-west dissuaded him from such a hope-
less attempt. After a lapse of five years of
doubt, trial, and disappointment, he learned
from some French traders they were alive, and
among the Kickapoos of Illinois. At the treaty
of Greenville, the chiefs of the Indian tribes
promised to give up all American captives, but
a French trader had made arrangements for
ransoming them ; the goods having been fur-
nished by an Irish trader at Capokia, by the
name of Atcheson. With two Frenchmen for
interpreter and guides, Mr. Gilham visited the
Indian towns on Salt Creek, and found his wife
and children all alive, but the youngest,
Clement, could not speak a word of English,
and it was some time before he knew and would
own his father, or could be persuaded to leave
the Indian country, and he was left for a time
among the savages.
Mr. Gilham had become enamored of the
Illinois country, and after he had gathered his
family together in Kentucky, resolved to re-
move them to the delightful prairies he had
visited. As an honorable testimonial of the
hardships and sufferings of her captivity, Mrs.
Ann Gilham, in 1815, received from the
190 NAVIGATING WESTERN RIVERS.
national government, one hundred and sixty
acres of choice land in the county of Madison,
where they lived. Mr. Gilharn died about
1812, like a Christian. His widow and most of
the children professed religion, and some joined
the Methodists and others the Baptists. A
large number of the Gilham connection followed
this pioneer to Illinois, where their descendants
are yet living.
Mr. Clark and the Gilham family met with
no difficulty on their voyage. They floated
down the Ohio with the current, aided by the
oars and setting poles, but to stem the strong
current of the Mississippi, they used the cor-
delle and setting-poles, and occasionally crept
along the shore by "bush- whacking."*
* The cordelle is a long rope attached to the bow of the boat, and
drawn over the shoulders of the men, who walk along the bank. The
setting-pole is about ten or twelve feet long, with the lower end shod
with iron, and the upper end terminating in a knob, which is pressed
against the shoulder, and the men who use them walk forwards on the
narrow gunwale, in a very stooping posture, with their faces towards
the stern. This shoves the boat against a strong current. When the
hands on the gunwale next the shore drop their poles and catch hold
of limbs and bushes that overhang the river and pull the boat forward,
it is called " bush-whacking." Oars are used in crossing the river
from one shore to the other. A long heavy oar with a wide blade is
attached to the stern so as to move on a pivot, and the steersman, who
is commandant for the occasion, directs the boatmen. This was the
mode of ascending western rivers before the " Age of Steam."
THEY REACH KASKASKIA. 191
Mr. Clark made a capital hand on the
boat, and cheerfully engaged in the labor and
toil of the voyage. His experience in seafaring
business made him an acquisition to the com-
pany, and laid the foundation for friendship in
this family and with all of the name until
death parted them. Many of the Gilham con-
nection became Methodists in Illinois, but
Father Clark was the most welcome guest who
entered their houses.
When night came on, they tied their boat to
a tree at the shore, made a fire, and camped in
the woods, where they provided their two meals
for the day. They moved up the strong and
turbid current of the Mississippi at the rate of
twelve miles each day. Indians occasionally
hailed them from the shore, but they were
friendly, and only desired to barter venison for
whiskey, tobacco, corn-meal, knives and trin-
kets.
When the company reached Kaskaskia, Mr.
Gilham disposed of his boat to some French voy-
ageurSj and made his first location in the Amer-
ican bottom, about twenty-five or thirty miles
above the town. Both him and his family were
hospitably received by the settlers, for they knew
their trials and the history of their captivity.
192 ORIGIN OF MASSAC.
Mr. Clark soon formed religious friends, and was
ready to preach the gospel on these remote
frontiers.
The Indians of tne northwest had been so
severely chastised by " Mad Anthony," (as the
soldiers call General Wayne,) that they were
glad to make peace ; and now, after many years
of distress, and the massacre of many families
in the Illinois country, the people had opportu-
nity to cultivate their little farms, and provide
the necessaries to enable them to live comfort-
ably. The people then travelled from the older
settlements to this frontier country, and even
caravans of moving families went down the
Ohio in flat boats, with their horses, cattle,
provisions, and clothing, to a place called Mas-
sac by the French, from whence they followed a
trail through the wilderness, with their wagons
or pack horses, to Kaskaskia, and to the settle-
ment of New Design, and the American bottom,
thirty miles further. Massac was a contracted
form of speech for Massacre, in the French
mode of abbreviating proper names. It is on
the Ohio river, near where the town of Me-
tropolis is now situated, which is the seat of
justice for Massac County. Its name is a me-
mento of a fearful calamity in the early part of
INDIANS DISGUISED AS BEARS. 193
the last century. The French established a
trading post and a missionary station on the
right bank of the Ohio, then called Oudbache.
The southern Indians, then hostile to these
Europeans, laid a stratagem to obtain posses-
sion of the fort. A number of them appeared
in the day-time on the sand-bar of the opposite
side of the river, each covered with the skin of
a bear, and walking on all fours. They had
disguised themselves so completely, and played
pantomime so successfully with each other, that
the French people did not doubt they were
really wild bears from the forest who came there
to drink. A party crossed the river in pursuit
of them, while the rest left the fort and stood
on the bank to see the sport. They did not
discover the deception until they found them-
selves cut off from returning within the fort.
They were soon massacred by the tomahawk
and scalping knife of the savages. The French
built another fort on the same spot, afterwards,
and called it Massacre, or, as they taught the
American pioneers to call it, MASSAC.
Early in the same season that Mr. Clark
came with the Q-ilhani family, a colony of one
hundred and twenty -six emigrants from the
south branch of the Potomac in Virginia, set
194
A TERRIBLE SICKNESS.
out for Illinois, At Bedstone, on the Monon-
gahela, (now Brownsville,) they fitted out
several flat boats, on which, with their horses
and wagons, they floated down the current
to Pittsburgh, and thence down the Ohio
to Massac, where they landed and went across
the country to the settlement of New Design.
That season, and especially after they left the
Ohio, was unusually rainy and hot. The
streams overflowed their banks, and covered the
alluvial, or bottom lands on their borders ; and
the low ground in the woods and prairies were
covered with water. They were twenty-one
days traveling through this wilderness, the dis-
tance of about one hundred miles, and much
of it through dreary forests. The old settlers
had been so long harassed with Indian warfare,
that farming business had been neglected, their
cattle were few in number, and bread corn was
scarce. Their cabins usually contained each a sin-
gle room for all domestic purposes ; and though
hospitality to strangers is a universal trait in
frontier character, it was entirely beyond the
ability of the inhabitants to provide accommo-
dations for these "new comers, who arrived in
a deplorably famishing and sickly condition.
They did all they could ; a single cabin fre-
SETTLEMENT OF NEW DESIGN. 195
quently contained four or five families. Their
rifles could provide venison from the woods, but
the weather that followed the severe rains in
midsummer was so unusually . hot and sultry,
that their fresh meat spoiled before they could
pack it from the hunting grounds ; and they
were destitute of salt to preserve and season it.
Medical aid could be procured only from a great
distance, and that very seldom. Under such
circumstances, no one need be surprised that
of the colony, who left Virginia in the Spring,
only one-half of their number were alive in
autumn. A ridge in the western part of the
settlement, adjacent to the bluffs, was covered
with the newly formed graves. They were
swept off by a putrid fever, unusually malig-
nant, and which, in some instances, did its work
in a few hours. The old settlers were as healthy
as usual. No disease like this ever appeared in
the country before or since. Mr. Clark had
good health, and found work enough among
these suffering families in nursing, instructing,
and praying with the sick, and consoling the
dying. The settlement of New Design had
been commenced by American families about
a dozen years previous. Its situation was on
the elevated plateau, about thirty miles north
196 AN UNGODLY RACE.
of the town of Kaskaskia, and from ten to
twelve miles from the Mississippi, and from
three to six miles east of the American bottom
and contiguous bluffs. Along the wide alluvial
tract, or bottom, there were American families
settled at intervals from Prairie du Bocher to
the vicinity of Cahokia. The character of the
American families was various. Some were
religious people, both Baptists and Methodists ;
some were moral, and respected the Sabbath ;
others were infidels, or at least skeptical of all
revealed truth. They paid no regard to reli-
gious meetings, and permitted their children to
grow up without any moral restraint. They
were fond of frolics, dances, horse-racing,
card playing, and other vices, in which they
were joined by many of the French population
from the villages. They drank tafia* and
when fruit became plenty, peach brandy was
made, and rye whiskey obtained from the Mon-
ongahela country.
There has been a very marked difference be-
tween these two classes of pioneers, down to
the third and fourth generation. But a very
few of the descendants of the immoral and irre-
ligious class are to be found amongst the present
* A species of New England rum, brought from New Orleans.
•rflE FIRST PREACHER IN ILLINOIS. 197
generation of the religious, moral, industrious
and enterprising class. They followed the foot-
steps of their fathers, and have wasted away.
Even the names of a number of these pioneer
families have been blotted out, while the chil-
dren's children, of the virtuous class, are nu-
merous and respected.
There were several families in the very com-
mencement of these settlements, before a
preacher of the Gospel brought the glad tid-
ings here, or a single person had made a pro-
fession of religion, that held meetings on the
Sabbath, read portions of the Scriptures, or a
sermon, and sang hymns, and thus set a good
example to the others. They and their descend-
ants have been favored of the Lord.'
The first preacher who visited the Illinois
country, was James Smith, from Lincoln Coun-
ty, Ky. He was a " Separate Baptist," and
came on business, in 1787, but preached to the
people repeatedly, and many of those who had
kept up the meetings just noticed, professed
conversion under his preaching. Of these the
Hon. Shadrach Bond, Captain Joseph Ogle,
James Lemen, Sen., his son-in-law, were con-
spicuous persons. He made another visit to
the country in 1790, after the Indians had be-
198 A STRANGER APPEARS.
come troublesome, and preached with similar
effect. While riding to the meeting place, on
a week day, in company with another man, and
a Mrs. Huff, they were fired at by a party of
Kickapoos in ambuscade, near the present site
of Waterloo, in Monroe county. Mrs. Huff
was killed and scalped. The other man was
wounded, but escaped with his horse, and Mr.
Smith taken prisoner. The Indians took him
through the prairies to their town on the Wa-
bash, but he was afterwards ransomed through
the agency of a French trader. After the
visits and preaching of Mr. Smith, there were
persons who could pray in these social meetings,
and when it was safe to live out of forts, they
met at each others houses, and Judge Bond,
James Piggott, James Lemen, and some others,
conducted the worship.
It was in January, 1794, while Judge Bond
was officiating in this informal manner on the
Sabbath, that a stranger came into the log cabin,
where the people had assembled. He was a
large, portly man, with dark hair, a florid com-
plexion, and regular features. His dress was in
advance of the deer-skin hunting shirts and In-
dian moccasins of the settlers ; his countenance
was grave and dignified, and his aspect so serious,
AMEN AT A WENTURE. 199
that the reader was impressed with the thought
that he was a professor of religion ; perhaps a
preacher, and an invitation was given him " to
close the exercises, if he was a praying man."
The stranger kneeled, and made an impressive,
fluent, and solemn prayer.
There was a man in the congregation, of
small talents, and rather narrow views, who,
from his national origin, bore the soubriquet of
Dutch Pete among the people ; or Peter Smith,
as his name appears in the land documents.
Pete was a zealous Methodist, and when his own
preachers prayed, he felt moved by the Spirit
to utter Amen, at the close of every sentence.
While the people were on their knees, or with
their heads bowed low on their seats, Pete mani-
fested much uneasiness at the prayer of the
stranger. He fidgetted one way and then ano-
ther, uttered a low, but audible groan, and to
those near him seemed to be in trouble. The
very impressive and earnest prayer of the speak-
er excited his feelings beyond suppression. He
might not be a Methodist ; but Pete could hold
in no longer, and bawled out, at the top of his
voice, "Amen, at a wenture !"
The stranger proved to be Kev. Josiah
Dodge, from Nelson county, Kentucky. Ho
200 REV. JOSEPH LILLARD.
had been to St. Genevieve on a visit to his
brother, Doctor Israel Dodge, and hearing of
these religious people being entirely destitute
of ministerial instruction, he had arrived op-
portunely to preach to them.
Mr. Dodge spent some time in the settle-
ment, preaching daily, and visiting from house
to house, and in February, the ice was cut in
Fountain Creek ; all the people for many miles
around were present, and there he baptized
James Lemen, Sen., and Catharine his wife ;
John Gibbons and Isaac Enochs, who were the
first persons ever baptized in this territory.*
During the next two years, the people re-
mained without preachers ; but both Baptists
and Methodists, without organized societies,
united in holding prayer-meetings, in which, as
formerly, the Scriptures and sermon books were
read, prayers offered and hymns sung in praise
to God.
The year previous to the visit of Mr. Dodge,
Kev. Joseph Lillard made an excursion to the
Illinois country. He was a Methodist, and in
1790-'91, was in the traveling connection in
* James Lemen, Sen., became a Baptist preacher, and died Janu-
ary 8th, 1823. He left four sons in the ministry, all of whom, vene-
rable men, are still living in 1854.
REV. JOSEPH CHANCE. 201
Kentucky, but he withdrew from that connec-
tion from objections to the government and dis-
cipline, and like Mr. Clark occupied an inde-
pendent position. He preached to the people
and organized a class, the first ever formed in
this country, and appointed Captain Joseph
Ogle the leader. Mr. Lillard was esteemed by
all who knew him, as a pious and exemplary
man ; but while in Illinois he became tempora-
rily deranged, made his escape from his friends
and outran them, and followed the trail towards
Kaskaskia. On the route he came across the
body of a man by the name of Sipp, whom the
Indians had killed and scalped. While gazing
at this horrid sight, he became calm; his reason
and consciousness were restored, and he re-
turned to his friends at New Design, and made
report of the discovery. The people made up
a party who visited the place and buried the
unfortunate man.
From time to time, Baptists came into these
settlements, so that by May, 1796, there were
ten or a dozen men and women in the country
who had been members of churches in Virginia
or Kentucky, from whence they came. Among
these was Joseph Chance, who was an exhorter,
and also a lay -elder, from Shelby county,
202 REV. DAVID BADGLEY.
Kentucky. This office, now unknown in Bap-
tist churches, was regarded in Virginia and
afterwards for a time in Kentucky, as an ap-
pendage to the pastoral office. Lay-elders had
no authority in government and discipline, as in
a Presbyterian church, but aided the pastor in
conducting religious meetings by exhortation
and prayer, visiting the sick, instructing the
ignorant, and confirming the wavering. Mr.
Chance afterwards became an ordained minister.
He did not possess great talents as a preacher,
but was faithful in the exercise of the gifts be-
stowed on him, loved religious meetings, de-
voted much time in preaching and visiting des-
titute settlements, and died while on a preach-
ing tour in 1840, aged seventy-five years.
The Baptists in Illinois did not appear to
know they could have formed themselves into a
church, and chose such gifts as they had amongst
them as leaders ; and kept up the worship of
God without the authority of an ordained min-
ister. In the spring of 1796, Kev. David
Badgley, of Hardy county, Va., made a visit to
the Illinois country. He arrived in the settle-
ment of New Design on the 4th of May, and
preached night and day until the 30th, during
which time he baptized fifteen persons on a pro-
/RENCIJ MANNERS AND CtJSTOMS. 203
fession of faith in Christ, and with the aid of
Mr. Chance organized the first Baptist church
ever formed in this country, of twenty- eight
members. He returned to Virginia the same
season, and the next spring (1797,) carae hack
with his family and several others to settle this
new country.
At that period the white population of the
Illinois country, numbered about 2,700, of
which about two-thirds were of French descent,
spoke that language, and followed the customs
of the Canadians, from whence most of their
forefathers originated. They were a contented
race of people, patient under hardships, with-
out ambition, and ignorant of the prolific re-
sources of the country. They never troubled
themselves with political matters, engaged in
no schemes of aggrandizement, and showed no
inclination for political domination. They were
a frank, open-hearted, joyous people, and care-
less about the acquisition of property. Their
houses were small, built of logs set upright,
like palisades, with the spaces filled in, plas-
tered, and neatly white-washed inside and out.
They cultivated fruits and flowers, and in this
respect showed taste and refinement beyond the
Americans. In religion they were nominally
204 REV. HOSE A. BIGGS.,
Eoman Catholics ; in the morning of the Sab-
bath they attended mass, and in the afternoon
visited, played the violin, danced, or engaged in
other recreations and ruder sports out of doors.
Another pioneer who was an exhorter in the
Methodist connection, and came to the country
in 1796, was the late Eev. Hosea Riggs, and at
first settled in the American bottom. Mr.
Kiggs was born in Western Pennsylvania in
1760, became a soldier in the revolutionary
war ; and when twenty-two years of age, he en-
listed in the army of Jesus Christ and joined
the Methodist Episcopal church, became an ex-
horter, and proved himself a diligent and faith-
ful soldier of the cross. When he arrived in the
Illinois country with his family he found Capt.
Joseph Ogle and family, Peter Casterline and
family, and William Murray from Ireland, the
remains of the class formed by Mr. Lillard.
These he re-organized into a class at Captain
Ogle's house, and at a subsequent period formed
another class of immigrant Methodists, in
G-oshen settlement. This was in Madison
county, between Edwardsville and the American
bottom. Mr. Biggs, though then only a licensed
exhorter, attended these Methodist classes, and
made appointments for meetings for six years,
FKONTIER LIFE. 205
He attended the " Western Conference" in
Kentucky, 1803, raised a Macedonian cry, and
the Conference sent Rev. Benjamin Young as a
missionary, who was the first preacher of the
Methodist Episcopal church who traveled the
circuit in Illinois. Mr. Biggs was tenacious for
the Methodist government and discipline, and
hence did not so readily cooperate with Father
Clark. He was a good man, a faithful preacher,
lived a Christian life, and died a Christian
death, in St. Clair county, in 1841, at the age
of eighty-one years.
We have now brought up the religious his-
tory of Illinois to the period of the arrival of
Mr. Clark. But to give our young readers a
fuller picture of frontier life, and of the people
with whom he lived and labored, and their de-
privations, we must again look back on their
condition for a few years past.
From 1786, to 1795, the American settle-
ments in the Illinois country, as was the case
throughout the north-western territory, were
harrassed by hostile Indians. A part of the
time the families were compelled to live in
forts, or as they were called, " stations.""
A square was marked out, in proportion to
the number of families. On two sides log
206 SAVAGE BARBARITY.
cabins were erected in rows, with the roof
sloping to the inner side of the enclosure.
Block houses were put up at the corners, and so
constructed that in the upper part which jut-
ted over the lower story, the guard could watch
the approach of the enemy and attack them
successfully. The spaces not occupied by cabins
were filled up with palisades. Strong doors
made of thick slabs, or split timbers protected
the places of ingress and egress. These stations
were a sufficient protection against the small
marauding parties, that came stealthily into the
settlements. When no signs of hostile Indians
were seen for some months, the people, tired of
living in these stations, would remove to their
cabins and attempt to raise a crop, when the
first alarm would be by some family being mas-
sacred, or individual killed, in attempting to
pass from one settlement to another. We
could give many thrilling instances of savage
barbarity, but our space is limited. They shall
all be told, if we are successful in getting out
our projected series of PIONEER BOOKS.
While the women and children were com-
pelled to stay in forts, the men cultivated a
field in common within sight of the station, and
one party with their trusty rifles scouted around
THE KASKASKIA INDIANS. 207
as a guard, while another party plowed and
planted corn. No schools nor regular religious
meetings could be held during these Indian in-
vasions.
When they ventured out of the forts, and
resided on their farms, in the absence of the
men, pious mothers barricaded the door lest
Indians might come on them suddenly, and
gathered the little children around the huge
fire place, for the light that shone down the
large chimneys, and taught them the rudiments
of learning. No log cabin had any glass
windows, and if apertures were cut in the logs,
it was not safe to leave them open when Indians
were about.
The Americans in these early settlements in
Illinois did not trespass on Indian rights, by
taking their country. The Kaskaskia Indians
and their allies sold this part of the Illinois
country, and gave possession to the French
nearly a century before the period of these
depredations, and the Kickapoos, Shawanoes
and other Indians, whose country was from one
hundred and fifty to five hundred miles distant,
committed all the murders and robberies. The
Kaskaskias remained peaceable during the war,
lived within the range of these settlements, in
208 RELIGIOUS FAMILIES NOTICED.
the American bottom, a few miles above the
town of Kaskaskia, cultivated corn, beans, and
other vegetables, and hunted in the vicinity of
the white settlements.
Savage Indians have astonishing propensities
for war and plunder. Before the European
race came to this continent, the different
nations and tribes were fighting and plundering
each other, and they still keep up the practice,
unless prevented by the strong arm of our na-
tional government. Nothing short of the in-
fluence of the gospel on their hearts can cure
these diabolical passions.
The Indians who were hostile to the Ameri-
cans did not attack the French inhabitants, for
they had been accustomed to trade with them,
and had been on friendly terms for half a cen-
tury.
CHAPTER XL
Religious families noticed. — Capt. Joseph Ogle. — James Lemen, Sen.
— The three associates. — Upper Louisiana. — Attack on St. Louis. —
The Governor a Traitor — The assailants retire. — American immi-
gration encouraged. — Baptists and Methodists go there.
With the religious families we have named,
both Baptists and Methodists, Mr. Clark found
A PIONEER CAPTAIN. 209
himself at home. All were hospitable, kind
and generous ; no one begrudged him the com-
forts of life, in their frontier mode of living.
As he studiously avoided making any trouble,
and never appeared in the character of a
preaching lounger, each family made him wel
come to their homely fare. As he was more
frequently the inmate of the families of Capt.
Joseph Ogle, the Methodist class leader, and
, James Lemen, a leading Baptist in the com-
munity, it will be entertaining to our readers
to have a sketch of these two pioneers.
CAPTAIN JOSEPH OGLE migrated with the
Messrs. Zanes and other families, from the
south branch of the Potomac to the vicinity of
Wheeling in 1769, where he distinguished him-
self in the siege of Fort Henry, in 1777. In
the summer of 1785, he moved down the Ohio
river to the Illinois country, and at first settled
in the American bottom, in the present county
of Monroe. Being well qualified, he was chosen
for a leader of the little band of pioneers, who
had to defend themselves from Indian assaults.
Indeed he was just such a man as the people
in all exposed and frontier settlements look to
as their counsellor, guide and commander. He
possessed uncommon firmness and self-posses-
210 CAPTAIN OGLE.
sion, had great energy, and yet was mild, peace-
able, and kind-hearted in social intercourse ;
always striving for the maintenance of peace,
good order and justice in the social relations.
From the spring of 1784 to 1790, there was in
fact no organized government in the Illinois
country. Some of the forms of law were kept
up, but in a truthful sense the people were " a
law unto themselves," and Captain Ogle, whom
every body respected, was exactly the kind of
man to preserve order. Other pioneers, who
had talents and influence, occupied the same
position. And this too was the period of Indian
alarms, and the people had to do their own
fighting. What the poet says of the fictitious
Kolla, applied with much pertinence to Captain
Ogle-
" In war, a tiger chafed by the hunter's spear ;
In peace, more gentle than the unwean'd lamb."
He was scrupulously honest, punctual and
strict in the fulfillment of all his engagements,
and expected from all his neighbors the same
degree of honesty and punctuality. The fol-
lowing anecdote will furnish an illustration of
his true character.
A neighbor, by the name of Sullivan, who
was not quite as punctual in performing prom-
BORROWED HOUSE-LOGS. 211
ises as he ought to have been, borrowed some
house-logs of Mr. Ogle to finish his cabin,
promising to cut and return as many on a
certain day. Capt. Ogle had arranged to raise
his own cabin the day after the logs became
due, but they were not returned. He went
with several men to Sullivan's cabin, told the
family to remove any articles that might be in
the house on the side he was about to pall
down, and with handspikes proceeded with
great coolness and deliberation to raise the
corners and take the logs from the cabin.
The owner alarmed, came out and exclaimed,
" Why, Mr. Ogle, what do you mean ? Do
you intend to pull down my house over my
head ?" " By no means, neighbor Sullivan, I
am only getting out my own logs." " Now,
Captain Ogle, do stop, and I will go right off
to the woods and get you the logs." " Very
well, Mr. Sullivan, if you will have the logs at
my place to-morrow morning at sunrise, which
you promised to have done to-day, I will forbear,
else I shall take these logs for my cabin to-
morrow." This was said with the most impas-
sive coolness and deliberation, and Mr. Sullivan
was obliged to perform a most unpleasant
night's labor for slackness in his promises.
212 JAMES LEMEN, SEN.
With uncommon firmness and energy, he
united kindness and gentleness, and ruled the
people by a happy blending of fear and love.
He was always a moral man, but became a de-
vout Christian professor from the first visit of
James Smith to the time of his death, in Feb-
ruary, 1821, at fourscore years of age. For
twenty years he had resided in St. Glair county,
about eight miles north of Belleville, »and to
this day he is spoken of by the old pioneers in
the vicinity with the endearing epithet of
"Grandfather Ogle/' This man's house was
one of the homes of Father Clark for several
years.
JAMES LEMEN, Sen., who married the eldest
daughter of Capt. Ogle, was another home for
the pioneer preacher. There is a pleasant tra-
dition among their descendants, relative to their
earliest acquaintance. Both were young, moral
persons, religiously educated, and at first sight
both were impressed with the idea they were
destined for each other. They were soon mar-
ried, and their mutual attachment was strong,
steady, and lasted through life. Not a discord-
ant feeling, or an unpleasant word ever passed
between them. His grandfather was an emi-
grant from the north of Ireland to Virginia, and
A KESOLUTE PIONEER. 213
he was born in Berkeley county in the autumn
of 1760. His father belonged to the church of
England (a branch of which existed in Virginia,
before the revolutionary war,) but died when he
was only a year old. His mother married again,
and he was brought up by a strict Presbyterian.
James Lemen was rigidly honest, humane, kind-
hearted, and benevolent, independent in judg-
ment, very firm and conscientious in whatever
he believed to be right, and showed strong traits
of decision. Though he served two years in
the revolutionary army, under General Wash-
ington, he was opposed to war as an aggressive
measure, never combative or cruel ; yet he
would fight like a hero, when impelled by a
sense of duty in defending the settlement from
Indian aggressions.
He followed his father-in-law to the Illinois
country in the spring of 1786, by descending
the Ohio river in a flat boat. The second night
after he left Wheeling, the river fell while they
were tied to the shore, and his boat lodged on a
stump, careened and sunk, by which accident
he lost all his provisions and chattels. His
eldest son Robert, then a boy of three years,
floated on the bed where he lay, which his father
caught by the corner of the ticking, and saved
214 A PIONEER ACCIDENT.
his life. That boy is now a hale old man, with
silvered locks, and past the age of threescore
and ten, honored and beloved by all who know
him.
Though left destitute of provisions and other
necessaries, James Lemen was not the man to
be discouraged. He had energy and persever-
ance, and got to the mouth of the Ohio, and
from thence up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia,
where he arrived on the tenth of July. His
family was one of the first to form the settle-
ment of New Design, on the old hill trace be-
tween Kaskaskia and St. Louis, and his house
became the half-way stopping place for many
years. No travelers were turned away.
He had been the subject of religious impres-
sions from childhood, but was not clear in his
mind to make a profession of faith in Christ,
until Rev. Mr. Dodge came to the country and
preached, as already stated, when he and his
wife, with two other persons, were baptized.
He was generous and hospitable, and often
divided his corn with the destitute. He ob-
served the Sabbath strictly, kept good order in
his family, yet was never harsh or severe with
his children.
In the same settlement, and frequently for
A THREE-FOLD CORD. 215
weeks in succession, at the cabin of Mr. Lemen,
there was an Irish Methodist by the name of
William Murray. His name indicates Scots
descent, and he and Mr. Clark were quite inti-
mate. Indeed, these three men claimed national
affinity, for, as we have shown, Mr. Lemen's an-
cestors were from the north of Ireland, where col-
onies from Scotland had taken possession in the
seventeenth century. There was just enough
diversity in their opinions, to invite controversy,
and enough Christian virtue as a controlling prin-
ciple to keep them within the bounds of modera-
tion and fraternal intercourse. They attended
each others meetings, and Mr. Clarjk preached,
and exerted an influence on the young men in
the settlement that has never been lost.
We will now pass over a few months, till
some time in the spring or summer of 1798,
when Mr. Clark carried out his long cherished
project of visiting the Spanish country west of
the Mississippi river, and which made him in a
peculiar sense the pioneer preacher.
LOUISIANA was discovered, settled, and held
in possession by France until 1762, when, by a
secret treaty, it was sold to Spain by that infa-
mous king, Louis XV, and his more infamous
mistress, Madame Pompadour, and his corrupt
216 ST. LOUIS FOUNDED.
ministry. The first permanent settlement in
Upper Louisiana was commenced ' with the
founding of St. Louis as a trading post in 1764.
In 1763, an enterprising trader by the name of
Pierre Ligueste Laclede, obtained a grant from
the Director General of Louisiana, with the
"necessary powers to trade with the Indians
of the Missouri, and those west of the Missis-
sippi, above the Missouri river, as far north as
the St. Peters," now Minnesota. A small ham-
let had been previously established by a few
French families, and called St. Genevieve, west
of the Great River, and a few miles below the
town of Kaskaskia, and some temporary sta-
tions made in the lead mine country, west of
St. Genevieve.
The Spanish authority became regularly es-"
tablished in Upper Louisiana, in November,
1770. Piernas, the Spanish commandant, ar-
rived in St. Louis at that date, but there is no
official document or record to show that he
exercised the functions of his office previous to
February, 1771. Other towns or villages were
settled in the vicinity from 1769, the date of
St. Charles, to the period of 1780.
On the transfer of the Illinois country from
France to Great Britian in 1765, many of the
THE GOVERNOR A TRAITOR. 217
French inhabitants removed from that side of
the river to St. Louis and St. Charles, and many
more went down the river to the lower province.
After Colonel George Rogers Clark had taken
possession of the Illinois country, under Vir-
ginia, in 1778, he became personally acquainted
and held frequent interviews with French citi-
zens of St. Louis, and the official authorities.
While at Cahokia, in 1779, only five miles
distant, holding treaties with the Indians, and
from confidential agents he sent into the Indian
country northward, he learned that British
agents from Canada, with a large force of north-
ern Indians, were projecting an invasion of St.
Louis. Being on terms of friendly intercourse
with Governor Leyba, the Spanish commandant,
he gave him intimation of these treacherous
designs, as he did to several French gentlemen,
and tendered his services with the forces he
commanded, in case of an attack. St. Louis
then was enclosed with short palisades, and
gates opened in the pathways that led to the
common field, and to the country without. The
sequel gave proof that the governor was a
traitor, purchased, doubtless, with British gold.
In the month of May, 1780, a large band of
warriors from different tribes of Indians from
218 THE INDIANS ATTACK ST. LOUIS.
the Upper Mississippi and the northern lakes,
with a number of Canadians, amounting in all
to twelve or fourteen hundred armed men, ap-
peared in the forest east of the Mississippi,
above St. Louis. The 25th of May was the fes-
tival of Corpus Christi, a day highly venerated
by the inhabitants who were Catholics. Had
the assault been made on that day it would
have been fatal to the town ; for after the ser-
vice in the church, nearly all the inhabitants,
men, women and children, flocked to the prairie
to gather strawberries, which were abundant,
and delicious at that season. A few Indians
had crossed the river as spies, and secreted
themselves in the thickets near where the people
Ne"xt day the main body crossed the river,
and attacked the town. A few persons who
had gone to the field, were attacked from an
ambuscade ; some were killed ; others fled to
the town and gave the alarm. The soldiers
under the command of the Governor, and his
subalterns, either from fear or treachery, hid
themselves, and the citizens alone had to defend
the place. They found some government can-
non, and fired grape shot as the invaders ap-
proached the gates. ^A few days previous the
A MARVELOUS ESCAPE. 219
treacherous governor sold all the public ammu-
nition to some traders, but the people supplied
themselves with eight kegs of powder they
found in a trader's house.
The governor kept within his house, but
hearing the firing, and learning the citizens were
making a manful resistance, he came out, or-
dered the firing to cease, and the cannon to be
spiked and filled with sand by some of his
minions. Fortunately the men at the lower
gate did not hear the peremptory order, and
continued the firing. The governor, perceiving
this, ordered a cannon to be fired at them. They
threw themselves on the ground, and the mur-
derous volley of grape shot passed over their
heads. This horrible procedure, with his
general conduct, fixed the indelible brand of
traitor on his name, and such the French
citizens reported him to have been, to the im-
mediate representative of the crown of Spain
in New Orleans.
The inhabitants of St. Louis were in a criti-
cal situation. With evidence of treachery
among the officers, who were Spanish ; the
place invaded by a force nearly double to the
whole population, men, women and children ;
and these invaders infuriated with the spirit of
220 MISSTATEMENTS CORRECTED.
war and plunder, what could they expect but a
general massacre ! But after killing and scalp-
ing twenty persons in the field and prairie, and
meeting with such determined resistance at the
gates, the Indians retired suddenly, and refused
to cooperate with their Canadian allies, who
kept themselves at a safe distance.
The cause of this sudden and unexpected re-
treat has been a mystery. The most probable
solution is the tradition among the French in-
habitants, that the Indians were told they were
going on a war party to fight the Spaniards ;
but when they discovered the defenders of the
town were all Frenchmen, and recognized
amongst them some of their personal friends,
who had lived and traded in their villages ; and
that they had been deceived by British agents,
they withdrew in ill-humor with their em-
ployers.
Divers misstatements of this assault have
been handed down by writers and oral tradition.
A popular error has been propagated, that
Colonel Clark was at Cahokia, (some say Kas-
kaskia) and suddenly appeared on the bank of
the Mississippi, opposite the town with a strong
force. Colonel Clark left the Illinois country
with all the men whom he could persuade to re-
FATE OF GOVERNOR LEYBA 221
enlist, the preceding February, went down the
Mississippi, and at the date of the attack was
establishing fort Jefferson, below the mouth of
the Ohio. From thence he traveled on foot
with a single companion through the wilderness
to Harrodsburg in Kentucky.
The traditional fact of his giving information
to Governor Leyba, in 1779, of the projected
invasion, and the offer of aid, has caused this
error. The register of the old Catholic church
in St. Louis of the funeral obsequies of the
persons massacred, furnish incontestable evi-
dence that the attack was on May 26th, 1780.
Aware that a report of his treasonable con-
duct had been forwarded to the Governor Gene-
ral at New Orleans, fearful of the consequences,
and unable to sustain the scorn and indignation
heaped upon him, Governor Leyba died shortly
after the attack ; having poisoned himself, as
the creditable report was. Cartabona, his
deputy, performed the functions of the office
until the next year, when Don Francisco
Cruzat, the predecessor of Leyba, and who had
been supplanted by him in 1778, returned and
assumed the command a second time.
In a few years after an important change was
made in the government of Upper Louisiana,
222 EMIGRATION ENCOURAGED.
by the appointment of a commandant-general,
or governor for that province, and a command-
ant, or lieutenant-governor for each district.
The commandant-general was Don Carlos
Dehault Delassus, and the lieut. governor of
St. Louis district was an intelligent French
gentleman of liberal principles, M. Zenon Tru-
deau.
We have given these facts of St. Louis his-
tory to explain why so many Americans had
settled in the province before Father Clark
made his first visit.
The attack on St. Louis from Canada, the
detection of the meditated invasion by Colonel
Clark, and the friendly intercourse between the
French citizens of St. Louis and those of Illi-
nois, induced the authorities of Louisiana to en-
courage the immigration of Americans from
the United States to the Upper province. To
this intent a movement was made by Don
Guardoqui, Spanish minister to the government
of the United States at Philadelphia, as early
as 1787, when he proposed a plan of emigra-
tion from the western settlements to the coun-
try from Arkansas to the settlements on the
Misssouri.* Instructions were given to the
* Judge Martin's History of Louisiana, vol. ii, p. 90.
RELIGIOUS RESTRICTIONS. 223
commandants regulating the grants of land,
and the conditions of admitting this class of
immigrants. Instructions were issued by
Gayoso, commandant-general, the first of Jan-
uary, 1798, from which we give an extract.*
No settler was to be admitted in the province
who was not a farmer or mechanic.
Of course practically, this included all who
came. The sixth article provided for a limited
degree of toleration to Protestants.
" Liberty of conscience is not to be extended beyond
the first generation ; the children of the emigrants must
be Catholics." [This of course required their baptism in
the Catholic form, but it was not enforced.] " Emigrants
not agreeing to this, must not be admitted, but removed,
even when they bring property with them. This is to be
explained to settlers, who do not profess the Catholic re-
ligion."
We shall see in the sequel, how the liberal
minded commandants interpreted this ordi-
nance.
The seventh regulation, " Expressly recom-
mended to the commandants to watch that no
preacher of any religion but the Catholic,
comes into the province."
After the attack on St. Louis of 1780, meas-
* Ibid, p. 153.
224 DEPENDENCE FOR PROTECTION.
ures were adopted to fortify the town more
effectually, and in 1794 the garrison on the hill
(now Third street, or Broadway) and the
Government house were completed. In 1797,
apprehensions were entertained of another in-
vasion from Canada, and four stone towers, at
equal distances, in a circular direction around
the town, and a wooden block-house near the
lower end, were erected. But their chief de-
pendence for protection was the American emi-
grants who had been invited into the province
by the liberal policy of grants of land, and the
indulgence shown by the commandants. They
were permitted to locate themselves in the
country, and make farms, whereas the French
families were required to live in villages, and
cultivate their farms near by under an en-
closure in common. At the transfer of the
country in 1804, more than three-fifths of the
inhabitants of Upper Louisiana were English
Americans from the United States.*
* Stoddard's Sketches of Louisiana, pp. 211-224. Annals of the
West; St. Louis Edition, 1850, p. 543. The aggregate population of
Upper Louisiana at the period of the cession, was about 10,120, of
which 3,760 were French, including a few Spanish families ; 5,090
were Anglo-Americans, who had come into the country after 1790 ; —
and 1,270 black people, who were slaves, with a few exceptions.
Indians were not counted, although several bands had their villages
within the bounds of the settlements.
EXAMINATION OF IMMIGRANTS. 225
The Koman Catholic faith was the estab-
lished religion of the province. American im-
migrants were examined by the commandants
as to their faith, but by the use of a pious
fiction on the part of the examiners, and the
provision in the ordinances already quoted,
large toleration actually existed.
The mode of examination gave great latitude
for Protestants to come in. A few general and
rather equivocal questions were asked, which
persons of almost any Christian sect could con-
sistently answer ; such as, " Do you believe in
Almighty God ?— In the Holy Trinity ?— In
the true, apostolical church ? — In Jesus Christ
our Saviour ? — In the holy evangelists ? etc.
An affirmative answer being given to these and
other questions of a general character, " Un Ion
Catholique" (a good Catholic) closed the cere-
mony.
Many Baptists, Methodists, and other Protes-
tant families, settled in the province, and re-
mained undisturbed in their religious principles.
Much the largest proportion of American Protes-
tants came into the country after 1794. They
held no religious meetings publicly, and had no
minister of the gospel among them. There were
about fifty persons who had been members of
226 THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD.
Protestant churches in the United States, in
the districts of St. Louis and St. Charles, at the
period of Mr. Clark's first visit, besides as many
more in the districts of St. Genevieve, and
Cape Girardeau.
The Catholic priests of Upper Louisiana re-
ceived from the Spanish treasury a stipend
rating from $350 to $400 a year, besides the
perquisites for mass, confessions, marriages, and
funerals. No tithes were levied in Louisiana,
and hence Protestants and free-thinkers felt no
burdens in pecuniary demands from the priest-
hood. There were three curates, one vicar,
and a few missionary priests who resided in the
upper province. The rite of marriage must be
performed by a Catholic priest ; and it is prob-
able the administration of baptism, or the Lord's
supper, by a Protestant, would have sent him
to prison, but no minister 'made the attempt.
The American settlers in general were peace-
able, industrious, moral and well disposed per-
sons, who, from various motives, had crossed
the "Great Kiver ;" some from love of adven-
ture— some from that spirit of restlessness that
animates a numerous class of Americans — but
a larger number went with the expectation of
obtaining grants of land, for the trifling expense
TREATY WITH SPAIN 227
of surveying and recording the plat. We have
been personally acquainted with many of these
emigrants, conversed with them freely, knew
their character well, and have heard so many of
them declare their expectation that in due time
the country would be annexed to the United
States, that we have no doubt such an impres-
sion did exist largely. Yet they projected no
filibustering enterprise ; no schemes of a revo-
lution-; nor were there amongst them any san-
guine spirits at work to excite such feelings.
From the time of the definitive treaty of
1783, the government of the United States
had been negociating with Spain for the free
navigation of the Mississippi river to the ocean,
secured, as was understood, by that treaty.
The inhabitants west of the Alleghany moun-
tains were deeply interested in such a meas-
ure. It was a topic of conversation in all
circles, and discussed freely in the newspa-
pers. It is not strange that the public mind
in this valley should entertain the conviction
that by some form of negociation the country
would be annexed to the American Union.
They did not realize that a removal to the west
of the great river would expatriate them and
their posterity, nor did they lose their attach-
228 THE PIONEER PREACHER AT HIS WORK.
ment to the Republic by a residence in the do-
minions of the crown of Spain.
Such was the character, and such were the
circumstances of the people to whom Mr. Clark
was the pioneer preacher. Certainly, no minis-
ter of the gospel, in the scriptural sense of that
term, ever passed the boundary before him. He
visited the American families from house to
house, in a quiet and peaceable manner, con-
versed and prayed with them, and was received
with great cordiality. There were men and
women, disciples of Christ, who had not heard
the precious gospel for a long period. A few
gathered, on the Sabbath, in some log cabin,
with fearful forebodings. They might be ar-
rested, and, with the preacher, sent to the
calabozof* or to the Mexican mines for their
heretical practices. A larger number came out
stealthily by night. Mr. Clark found the
American families dispersed over the country,
for some miles distant, and living in log cabins
of the most primitive sort. Of the Baptists
who were pioneers to this country before Mr.
Clark, we can call to recollection the names
of Abraham and Sarah Musick ; Abraham Mu-
sick, Jun., as he was called, to distinguish him
* The Spanish prison. Jail.
BAPTIST FAMILIES. 229
from his uncle, and Terrell, his wife ; Adam
and Lewis Martin, who were brothers, and their
wives ; Mr. Kichardson and wife ; Mrs. Jane
Sullens ; Sarah Williams, (who lived to see
her son and four grandsons ministers of the
Gospel) ; Mrs. Whitley, all in St. Louis dis-
trict ; and David Darst and wife, William
Hancock and wife, Mr. Brown and family, and
several others, who settled in the district of St.
Charles, north of the Missouri river. There
were three settlements in the district (now
county) of St. Louis, where, after two or three
casual visits, Mr. Clark made regular appoint-
ments, and crossed the river monthly. These
were the settlement near the Spanish pond,
north of St. Louis ; the settlement between
Owen's station (now Bridgton) and Florrissant ;
and the settlement called Feefe's creek.* He
was threatened repeatedly with the calabozo,
for violating the laws of the country. M. Tru-
deau, the lieutenant-governor of St. Louis dis-
trict, was a liberalist in principle, who, with his
parents, had been driven out of France by the
storm of the revolution, and their estate confis-
cated. He obtained the appointment of deputy
* This is Fife in French orthography, and the name of a French-
man who first settled on it.
230 A LIBERAL COMMANDANT.
commandant, through the influence of the prin-
cipal French citizens, as the means of sustain-
ing his aged parents, -who had suffered for their
loyalty. He ahhorred all kinds of persecution,
but, in his official station, in accordance with
the ordinances, he was compelled "to watch
that no preacher of any religion but the Catho-
lic came into the province."
Abraham Musick, Jun., who had formed a
friendly acquaintance with the lieut. governor,
and, in their social interviews, had given him
information of the distinctive principles of the
Baptists, as contradistinguished from the Cath-
olic and Protestant Paedo- Baptists, made appli-
cation to M. Trudeau for liberty to hold meet-
ings in his house. We give the colloquy in
substance as we received it from the pious and
intelligent widow of Mr. M , twenty-five
years after the interview.
M. "My friend, John Clark, is in the coun-
try, on a visit to his friends. He is a good man,
peaceably disposed, and will behave as a good
citizen should. The American people desire to
hear him preach at my house occasionally.
Will the commandant please give permission,
that we may not be molested ? We will hold
our meetings quietly, make no disturbance, and
AN AMUSING COLLOQUY. 231
say nothing against the king of Spain, nor the
Catholic religion."
The commandant was inclined to favor the
American settlers, but he was obliged to reject
all such petitions officially, and replied, with
seeming determination :
(7. "No, Monsieur Musick. I can not per-
mit no such ting ; 'tis against de law ; you
must all be bon CatJwlique in dis contree.
Very sorry, Mons. Musick, I cannot oblige you,
but I must follow de ' Regulacion.' "
Discouraged at this decision, in a tone so
magisterial, Mr. M. regarded any farther effort
hopeless, and arose to depart from the office,
when, with a gracious countenance, the com-
mandant said :
" Sit down, Mons. Musick ; please sit down ;
I soon get dis paper fix for dese gentlehomme
who wait ; and den we talk. You must eat
my dinner, and drink a glass of my bon vin.
You and I are good friend, though I cannot let
you make a church house."
After dispatching the business on hand, M.
Trudeau insisted on the company of Mr.
Musick to dinner. While discoursing with vol-
ubility in his imperfect English, the wily com-
232 A PERPLEXING QUESTION.
mandant adverted to the petition, so uncere-
moniously rejected in the office.
C. " You understand me, Monsieur Musick,
I presume. You must not put — what do you
call him — un colcher,* on your house and call
it a church ; — dat is all wrong, — you must
make no bell ring. And now hear me, Mons.
Musick, you must let no man baptize your en-
fant but de parish priest. But if your friend
come to see you — your neighbor come there, —
you conversez ; — you say prayer ; — you read
Bible — you sing song — dat is all right — you all
bon Catholique."
Mr. Clark from the time he left Georgia had
been reading the Scriptures, to find out the
character of a church, such as those congrega-
tions named in Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus,
Corinth, etc. He was then a Baptist so far as
infant baptism was concerned, and he doubted
much whether any uninspired human authority
could change the form approved by Christ,
without destroying the institution. And the
majority of the people, being Baptists, had no
use for the parish priest for that ceremony.
The interdiction of spire and bell was no incon-
venience in their simple form of worship. Un-
* Clo-shai—a steeple.
A THREATENING MESSAGE. 233
like the Catholic, their religion had no connec-
tion with bell-ringing.
While this disposition of a perplexing ques-
tion to the commandant accommodated the
American settlers, it gave no legal countenance
to the visits of a preacher from another nation,
and a different religion, — but the people came
out to the meetings with less fear of the prison.
Mr. Clark continued his visits nearly every
month, which did not escape the notice of the
commandant. He soon learned the period of
his visits, and some two or three days before his
return to Illinois, he never failed to send a
threatening message into the country that, " If
Mons. Clark did not leave the Spanish country
in three days, he would be put in the calabozo."
So regularly came this message that it became
a standing jest with his v friends to enquire,
" Well, brother Clark, when do you go to the
calabozo ?" " In three days," would be the
reply, which all understood to mean crossing the
river to the Illinois side.
In the autumn of 1801, Kev. Thomas K.
Musick, a relative of the Musick families, came
to the province on a visit. His residence then
was in the Green river district in Kentucky,
and he had been in a revival of religion for
234 ANOTHER PIONEER PREACHER.
several months, and about one hundred con-
verts had been baptized. His brother was the
one who petitioned the commandant for privi-
lege to hold meetings, and his uncle was one of
the residents in the Spanish country. Coming
from the midst of an extensive and powerful
revival of religion, he was in the spirit of
preaching, and cared little for the Spanish cal-
abozo. He visited every family, in which pro-
fessors of religion were to be found, in the dis-
tricts of St. Louis and St. Charles, and during
three weeks' sojourn, preached fifteen times to
congregations assembled in log cabins and in the
woods, on short notice to hear him. He was
threatened with the calabozo repeatedly. In .a
frontier settlement above St. Charles, he
preached the funeral sermon of a Baptist by
name of Brown, from Kentucky, who had died
there that season.
Mr. Musick left the province with the deter-
mination to return with his family and settle
there, soon as he could be permitted to remain
and preach the gospel ; and with this end in
view, he removed to the settlement of New
Design in Illinois.
Soon as the news of the cession of the coun-
try to the United States reached his ears, with-
FORMS A METHODIST CLASS. 235
out waiting for its confirmation by the govern-
ment, and the actual transfer, he went across
the great river in the autumn of 1803, and
made that country his home. Mr. Musick was
the first preacher of the gospel who, with his
family, settled in the country, became one of
the constituents of Fefee's Creek, and was its
pastor for more than thirty years.
CHAPTER XII.
Forms a Methodist Class in Illinois. — Gradual change of Views. —
Mode of Inquiry. — Circumstances of his Baptism. — Practical pro-
gress in Baptist Principles. — Zeal and influence in promoting educa-
tion.— Early Schools in the Illinois country. — A formidable ob-
struction to a pupil. — Three fellows in the way. — Want of books. —
A whiskey-loving teacher rightly served. — Effects of Father Clark's
teaching. — Visits Kentucky again. — Visits to West Florida. — In-
terview with a Sick man. — Efficacy of Prayer. — A Revolution.
We shall now confine our attention entirely
to Father Clark. Soon after he began his reg-
ular visits to the Spanish country, he gathered
into a society a small class of disciples, and
held regular meetings with them near Belle-
fontaine, some three or four miles north of New.
Design. He still regarded himself a Methodist,
though independent of that ecclesiastical con-
nection. He was scarcely conscious at that
236 RELIGIOUS CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.
period, that he was gradually diverging from
the peculiarities of Wesleyism and approaching
the fundamental principles of Baptist faith and
practice. He had held his intellect and con-
science open to conviction from the time he left
the conference in Georgia, by the prayerful re-
solve to follow the Scriptures, and bring all his
religious practice in strict conformity to that
divine rule. His habit of praying in every per-
plexity, until his mind became satisfied that he
was in the pathway of duty, continued and in-
creased with advancing years. At the same
time, as ever after, he was liberal to all other
Christians, and made no efforts to proselyte
them to his own peculiar views. Se explained
the Scriptures, and urged on all whom he- ad-
dressed in public, or conversed with in private,
the duty of studying the Word of God, and
follow wherever it led. Christ was ever held
up as sole law-giver in Zion. For several
years the conviction had increased that he was
unbaptized, and that by this ordinance more
than any other, the disciples of Christ made a
profession of faith in him. He had become
convinced that the ceremony performed in un-
conscious infancy, by virtue of some mystical
covenant relationship of his parents, and by the
A TWO-FOLD BAPTIST. 237
pastor of the church where he was born, was to
him no part of Christian obedience.
In the little society he had gathered was a
good man by the name of Talbot, who had
been a local Methodist preacher. Mr. Clark
and this man became quite intimate. Both had
about the same views of Christian ordinances
and a gospel church state. Mr. Talbot re-
garded himself unbaptized, and repeatedly re-
quested baptism from the hands of his brother.
We have repeatedly shown that Father Clark
was subject to very serious impressions of mind
concerning his duty, made it a subject of fervent
prayer, and was conscientious not to resist the
impressions he felt in answer to prayer. His
judgment had become clear on the scriptural
form of baptism, but who should baptize him
was with him a momentous question. After
another season of private prayer, the conviction
was felt that he must baptize Talbot, and
Talbot administer the same ordinance to him.
And so it happened. A meeting was appointed
at Fountain Creek, a small stream that still
meanders among the hills in Monroe county,
where a large congregation, compared to the
present population of the country, came out.
After preaching, and a relation of their religious
238 PROGRESS OF BAPTIST PRINCIPLES.
experience, views of the kingdom and ordi-
nances of Jesus Christ, they both went down
into the water, and Mr. Talbot baptized Father
Clark, and Clark baptized Talbot, and then bap-
tized several other persons.
If a regular and uninterrupted succession of
baptisms from the days of the apostles is indis-
pensable to qualify the administrator, and give
validity to the ordinance, then there was cer-
tainly a broken link in the chain here, as there
was in that of Koger Williams and Deacon
Holliman. He who thinks he is in possession
of such an unbroken chain is bound to show
every link. Assertions and imaginings are not
historical proofs.
At the next regular meeting, a month later,
Mr. Clark again baptized two or three others
of his society, one of whom, a venerable and
pious member of the Methodist society, yet
lives within the vicinity of the writer. Both
Mr. Clark and Mr. Talbot, were regular ad-
ministrators of religious ordinances according
to Paedobaptist usage, for they had been duly
authorized by the Methodist Episcopal church,
had left that connection in an orderly mode,
and still sustained the ministerial office. It
was ten or twelve years after this before he be-
FRONTIER SCHOOLS IN ILLINOIS. 239
came regularly connected with the Baptist de-
nomination.
Amongst his other services that implanted
him in the confidence and affections of the
people, was his ability, zeal and influence in the
cause of education. In this department of
labor, as in his gospel ministrations, he engaged
from no personal or pecuniary motives. His
services were offered to all who would come
under his tuition and behave properly. For
his board and clothing, he relied on the liberal-
ity of his patrons. He was in fact the pioneer
teacher in this country, for all before him were
unfit for that business.
In the French villages, common school educa-
tion was neglected. Some of the priests and
elderly females taught the children the elements
of their religion, and to read their native
language, but a large proportion of that class
of people grew up to manhood with little
knowledge of science and literature, and less
learning.
The first school ever taught among the
American settlers in the Illinois country, was
by Solomon Seely, in 1783. Francis Clark, an
intemperate man, came next, and had a small
school in Moore's settlement near Bellefontaine,
240 A LESSON IN DANIEL.
in 1785. He did quite as much harm as good.
Next after him for two or three years was an
insignificant Irishman by name of Halfpenny.
He possessed very little learning and less skill
in teaching. School "books were scarce and
more difficult of attainment than in Kentucky.
Each pupil carried such a hook from which to
say his lessons, as could he found in his father's
log cabin. One little fellow, whose memory was
not in the best order and his perceptive facul-
ties slow of development, had the Bible for his
book for " easy readings." Master Halfpenny
had no more schoolmaster sense than to give
out his lessons from the book of Daniel, and
third chapter. Partly by spelling out the
words, and partly by the aid of a school-fellow,
he had made tolerable progress in pronouncing
the " hard words" and proper names through
eleven verses. In the twelfth verse he met
the formidable obstruction of the three Hebrew
names,. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
which he could not surmount. The master was
petulent, surly, and uttered a series of strange
sounds, in jabbering Irish, which the poor
afflicted pupil could neither understand nor
imitate. He did his very best to pronounce
these names in the way the master ordered,
THREE FORMIDABLE FELLOWS. 241
and was dismissed with the formidable threat
of a striped jacket the next day if he forgot
them. Next day came, and the little fellow
was in his seat, toiling at his lesson, for he
really tried to learn. His turn came to " say
his lesson," and he stood beside the master in
a tremor that shook his little frame and the
perspiration streaming down his cheeks. His
lesson commenced with the thirteenth verse.
Nebuchadnezzar was one of those long words
that had gone round the school on divers occa-
sions, and little Tommy, as he was familiarly
called in the family circle, had mastered that
before the stupid master had put him into the
book of Daniel. He read two lines distinctly
with a tremulous voice, for the threat of a
'striped jacket had not escaped his memory,
when he stopped suddenly. " Th'read on,"
sounded in his ears like the crack of the hazle ;
— "why don't ye th'read on, ye spalpeen,"
came again with the expectation of the whip.
The trembling pupil, unable to recollect or
repeat any thing, burst into tears and sobs, and
made an effort to explain his inability — " Why
here are these three fellows again, and I don't
know them." Master Halfpenny for once was
disarmed. There was so much simplicity and
242 DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED.
honest effort in the boy that the master made
a kind effort to relieve his pupil. " Why, boy,
cannot ye mind th'em ? They ar' Mister Shad-
eracJc, Mes-hack, and Abed-ye-go. Now ye
mought go on with y'r lesson ; and don't ye
miss 'em agin/'
Spelling, reading, writing and the mere
elements of simple arithmetic were all that
these and many others pretended to teach. The
difficulties encountered in obtaining a small
amount of education by children in Illinois,
from the earliest American settlements to the
close of the last century were greater, and
books more difficult to be procured than when
Mr. Clark taught in Kentucky. The price of
a single copy of " Dilworth's New Guide to
the English Tongue," as the title page read, *
was one dollar. And none but old copies of
the coarsest paper, the refuse of old stores and
printing offices, sold at auction, were brought
to this remote frontier. No classes were organ-
ized, nor could there be any uniformity of books.
The masters ruled, not with " a rod of iron,"
but a wand of hickory, four feet long. The
teachers were turned out at Christmas, when
the king of misrule took the chair, and lawless-
ness prevailed. Not only were the scenes en-
WHISKEY-LOVING TEACHERS. 243
acted, we described in chapter ninth, in Ken-
tucky, but even more lamentable and ludicrous
ones.
A few years later, one of the whiskey-loving
sons of Erin attempted to teach in a settle-
ment known to the writer, who received the
tale from one of the employers. Our inform-
ant, who loved his dram, despised all meanness
and selfishness, and he regarded a man who
would " suck a jug;' in secret, as about the
meanest of the race. Hence he " abominated"
the school-master, and gloried in the tricks
some of the youngsters played him. The
master was observed by the shrewd young men
under his charge, to retire from the cabin to a
^ thicket during the hours for lessons, and in pro-
portion to these occasions of retirement, his
eyes grew dull, his tongue wagged heavily, and
his natural jabbering as an Irish pedagogue,
became more unintelligible.
A search warrant in a verbal form was issued
and served on the thicket by two smart young
men ; the whiskey bottle was found, and in
quite a private way received a full allowance of
tartar-emetic, and then carefully deposited in
its accustomed hiding place. Next day the
master was seized suddenly with an alarming
244 SKILL AND SUCCESS AS A TEACHER.
illness. It would have been called cholera,
but that disease was unknown on these fron-
tiers at that period. But, as our informant
expressed it, " he was orfully skeered, and glad
enough to have us let him off from his article."
Mr. Clark taught the youngsters about Belle-
fountaine, New Design, and the " Bottom," at
various intervals for eight or ten years. Though
other teachers met with the customary Christ-
mas frolic, and were dethroned, Mr. Clark was
an exception. Not one of the roguish young
men in the settlements would offer him such
an insult. Those pupils who were kept under
proper government at home, made no trouble
in the school. But there were wild and rude
young lads, who were devoid of self-respect,
and required the application of the hazel and
hickory. One of our old friends, now past the
age of threescore and ten, was a student of Mr.
Clark, at times, for several years, and received
ample qualifications under his tuition for the
official duties of marshall under the territorial
government, and who also has been a useful
teacher. Of him we have made special inquiry
how he managed these insubordinate youngsters,
and how their rebellious habits affected his tem-
per and patience. His response is, that on
TESTIMONIALS. 245
some occasions he thought him to be slightly
irritated, that occasionally he had to \ise the
rod, that he would have order in his school, and
that he always discriminated between crimi-
nality and dullness.* The modern contrivances
for teaching arithmetic and the elements of
mathematics were then unknown. The rules
were written out by the teacher, and the sums
when worked right were all copied in a book.
Not long since we looked over a book preserved
by another student, with the date of 1806, then
twenty-one, now verging to seventy years of
age.f A third, and one who for almost half a
century, has been esteemed as one of our ablest
and most successful ministers, (as has also his
brother just named,) acknowledges himself as
having received special aid from this pioneer
preacher in preparing him for the ministry.
This person in earlier life performed a promi-
nent part in the public affairs of the territorial
and state governments. In addition to minor
branches, he studied mathematics, logic, rhe-
toric, history and philosophy. This minister,
as several others have done, acknowledges his
indebtedness to Father Clark for his valuable
* Kobert Lemen, Esq., of St. Clair county, Illinois,
f Rev. Joseph Lemen, ibid.
246 ANOTHER VISIT TO KENTUCKY.
aid in those branches specially relating to the
profession of the ministry.* Many others who
shared the benefits of his instruction have long
since followed their beloved teacher to "that
bourne from whence no traveler returns."
Mr. Clark made a visit to Kentucky before
the period of his baptism, but what year we
find no one who can recollect. It was probably
about 1800, or 1801, during the period of the
great revivals there, for he had large congrega-
tions wherever he preached, and unusual suc-
cess followed. He was absent several months,
and his friends in Illinois were anxious for his
return, and sent William Murray as a messen-
ger through the wilderness to recall him. Mr.
Murray came into a crowded congregation soon
after Mr. Clark had commenced his sermon.
While his quick eyes were glancing over the
deeply affected congregation, they lit on the
well known form and features of the messenger,
and a suspicion of his errand flashed on his
mind.
" There's brother Murray, from the Illinois
country, and no doubt the Lord has sent him
for me to return there. I had an impression
this morning in prayer that I must go back to
*Rev. James Lemen, then junior, now senior.
A MESSENGER ARRIVES. 247
that destitute field. Try to get a seat, brother
Murray, and wait patiently, for I must finish
my sermon. It is probably the last time I shall
ever preach in Kentucky, and I can't leave
without warning poor sinners once more to flee
to the Saviour."
There was nothing extravagant in this style
of address. In that congregation, it would
have turned no one's thoughts from the subject.
It is no unusual thing for ministers, while
preaching, to throw out a parenthetical sentence
to individuals present, and receive responses.
It causes no interruption to persons who are
not tied up by forms, and restrained by conven-
tualities, as in older communities.
The meeting continued till a late hour that
day. Anxious persons desired instruction, and
Father Clark was called on repeatedly to offer
prayers for sinners in distress. Then the con-
gregation must sing some familiar songs, give
him the hand of fellowship, and beg him to
remember them in his prayers when far away.
Next morning Mr. Clark and his friend were
on the trail for the Illinois country.
It was about the year 1807 or '08, that Mr.
Clark, after a long season of prayer and impres-
sions, went down the Mississippi river on a mis-
248 VISIT TO WEST FLORIDA.
sion to West Florida.* The tract of country,
exclusive of the Island of Orleans, now belong-
ing to the State of Louisiana, and called West
Florida, was retained by the Spanish govern-
ment, after the cession of Louisiana, though
understood by both the French and American
governments to be included in that cession.
The laws of Spain and the Catholic religion
existed in that district. Baton Ronge. was the
site of a Spanish fort, in which a small garrison
was stationed. A large part of the population
were emigrants from the south-western States,
and claimed the right of transfer with the people
of Louisiana. They made an unsuccessful effort
to throw off the Spanish yoke in 1805. In this
district, and amongst these Americans, Mr.
Clark spent several months, preaching and
teaching. The towns of Baton Rongef and
Bayon Sara were on the river, and the settle-
ments in the country extended over the district
of East Feliciana. Mr. Clark made a second
visit to this country about 1810, or '11, and we
* For about twenty years, we depend wholly on the recollections of
his surviving friends, for the incidents of his life and labors. The
facts have been obtained, but after protracted and diligent search, we
cannot hi all cases accurately fix the dates. In no instance do we
vary from the exact period more than four or five years.
* Ked Staff, from the color of the flag-staff.
VOYAGE DOWN THE RIVER. 249
can give several incidents that occurred, but
cannot distinguish on which tour. On his first
voyage he started in a small canoe from the
Merimac river in St. Louis county, and Mr.
Baly, one of his friends, aided in fitting him
out. To balance the frail craft in which he
embarked, poles of light papaw wood were
lashed across the canoe. In this light vessel
thus trimmed he floated with the current, and
steered with a single paddle by day, and en-
camped in the dense forest that lined the shore
at night. The voyage of more than one thou-
sand miles, down this turbid, foaming river, was
made in safety. He was alone, and yet not
alone, for a deep conviction of the all-seeing
and everywhere-present God rested on his mind
wherSTer he traveled, by night and by day.
Through the Mediator and mercy seat he held
communion, habitually, with the Father of
spirits, and felt the most childlike confidence in
his gracious arm for protection.
It was while on one of his excursions to
Florida, that he heard of the illness of a Mr.
Todd, with whom he had some acquaintance in
the Illinois country. Mr. Todd had gone down
the river on a flat-boat with a load of produce,
which he had sold out, and with one of his
250 THE AFFLICTED INFIDEL.
companions, was making the long and perilous
journey on foot to the upper country. This
was the common mode of transportation down
the great rivers of this valley to market before
the period of steam navigation. Flat-boats
never return up the strong current, but are
sold and broken up for old lumber, and the men
return through the Indian country and inter-
vening forest on foot. This was a perilous busi-
ness, and caused great destruction of human
life. Many perished of whom their friends
never learned the particulars. Bands of rob-
bers roamed through this wilderness, and doubt-
less many a farmer from Tennessee, Kentucky,
and the country along the Ohio and Wabash
rivers, who never returned, was murdered for
the money he attempted to transport.
Mr. Todd belonged to a family in Illinois
who were infidels of the Paine creed. That is,
they believed in Almighty God, as the creator
and governor of the world, but disbelieved the
supernatural birth, divine nature and office-
work of Jesus Christ as a mediator, and the
divine authority of the Scriptures. Mr. Clark
found Mr. Todd very sick with the bilious fever,
nursed him, anil continued with him until he
thought himself able to travel. While at the
EFFECTUAL PRAYING 251
worst stage of the disease, the sick man was
given over, and thought himself he must die in
that dreary wilderness, and desired Mr. Clark
to pray for him. This was done repeatedly in
his presence, and the preacher "became unusually
exercised, and spent some time in secret prayer
for him, that God would spare his life, and en-
able him to reach his friends in the Illinois
country. As Mr. Todd was about to depart on
foot, with his traveling companion, for a long
journey through the wilderness and Indian
country, under great despondency, and with
faint hopes of reaching the end of his journey,
Father Clark again prayed with him, gave him
encouragement, and assured him that the GOOD
ONE, as he denominated our Heavenly Father,
would not leave him to perish in the wilderness.
He felt assured of a gracious answer to his
prayers on his behalf, and that he would reach
his friends, though a thousand miles lay between
them.
It was a terrible affair for a sick man to
travel through the swamps, cane-brakes and
pine forests, and cross the rivers and creeks that
lay in the route. On several occasions the sick
man, in despair of reaching the end of his
journey, lay down to die, when the recollection
252 HOW TO TREAT INFIDELS.
of the prayers of Father Clark, and the as-
surance he gave of seeing home, inspired him
with new vigor, and urged him onward. He
reached his brother's house in the American
bottom, under the firm conviction that his life
had been spared, and preternatural strength
given him in answer to the prayers of that
good man.
This man's constitution was broken down.
He lingered along in a feeble condition, and in
a year or two died of a pulmonary disease.
While on his death-bed at his brother's house,
(who, though he possessed some fine traits of
character, remained a hardened infidel,) he sent
for a minister of the gospel to visit and pray
with him.* He had previously told his friends
how he had experienced the efficacy of the
prayers of Mr. Clark, and he again repeated the
story to his visitor, and stated with great frank-
ness that he had serious doubts of the Bible
being a revelation from God, but he had no
doubt that God did hear and answer the prayers
of good men.
The visiting minister, as was his habit in all
such instances, conferred with the infidel
brother in whose house he was, and with whom
* Rev. James Lemen, who narrated the incident to the author.
MINISTERS SHOULD BE COURTEOUS. 253
he Lad been personally acquainted for many
years. " Mr. Todd, your brother appears to be
failing. He has not long to live with us. I
know your principles, that you do not believe
in the Scriptures as a revelation from God, nor
in Jesus Christ as a Saviour. This is your
house, and I desire to do nothing that appears
obtrusive. If I pray with your brother as he
requests, I must pray in the name of Jesus
Christ. This may be offensive to you." Mr.
Todd replied, " Mr. L., my brother wishes you
to pray for him. I desire you to exercise your
own privilege in my house as freely as if it were
your own. In every thing I desire my brother
to be gratified while he lives, and I think with
him that the prayers of good men are heard. I
know he cannot live long."
A portion of Scripture was read, a hymn
sung, and all the household kneeled around the
bed, and behaved with decorum, while the min-
ister made his petition to the throne of grace
for the dying sinner.
No good, but much injury has resulted from
the assumption of ministerial dignity and
authority, with such people as the Todd family.
Nothing is lost but much gained by courtesy
and condescension. Such were the lessons
254 FAITH IN PROVIDENCE.
taught and the example set by the successful
pioneer whose life we are tracing.
In one instance, if not in both, Mr. Clark re-
turned on foot from West Florida to the Illinois
country through the intervening wilderness.
His second tour was made by land, and on foot,
and he preached wherever settlements existed,
and left a series of appointments, which he
filled on his return. In the Arkansas country
he attempted to reach a settlement, but got
lost in the woods and cane-brakes, and wandered
for some hours without finding the signs of a
human habitation. He was a thorough woods-
man, bufc he despaired of finding the way out
by his own skill. Believing in the constant
protection of Divine providence, which he could
obtain by prayer, he knelt down by a large tree,
and continued to pray until his mind became
calm, and he felt relieved of all perturbation
and anxiety. Pursuing the direction to which
he was led by the impressions of mind he re-
ceived, he soon came to a path that led him to
a house on the border of the settlement he was
trying to find.
West Florida became revolutionized in 1810,
and if we rightly conjecture, at the time or just
before the second visit of Father Clark. That
A REVOLUTION. 255
portion of Florida that lay west of the Perdido
river, was originally a part of Louisiana, but
the Spanish government held possession, and
the government of the United States, desirous
of avoiding collision with Spain, did not take
forcible possession of this district. In the sum-
mer of 1810, the people of the territory, aided
by their friends from Mississippi, effected a suc-
cessful revolution, with very little bloodshed.
A party of French, headed % Captain George
Depassau, and a party of Americans, command-
ed by -Captain H. Thomas, made a bold and suc-
cessful attack on the fort at Baton Rouge,
which surrendered at discretion, and the civil
and military authorities of Spain were permit-
ted to retire to Pensacola. In October the dis-
trict was annexed to the United States, by the
proclamation of the President, announcing that
William C. C. Clairborne, governor of the ter-
ritory of Orleans, was empowered to take pos-
session of West Florida, in the name of the
United States, as a portion of the territory
under his jurisdiction.
While on a visit to this district in 1842, we
found persons who had heard Father Clark
preach, and remembered him as a pioneer
school teacher.
256 "FRIENDS TO HUMANITY/'
On his return from his second tour, he was
taken sick, and continued in a feeble condition
for some time. His friends in St. Louis county
hearing of his situation, went after him, and
there being no carriage roads, they hauled him
on a sled, dragged by a single horse, through
the wilderness to the settlements near St. Louis.
CHAPTER XIII.
Baptists, "Friends to Humanity."— Their Anti-slavery position.— '
Mr Clark joins them. — Manner of his reception. — His Views of
African Slavery — Views of African Colonization. — Made Life-mem-
ber of a Colonization Society. — Circulars on Slavery. — Personal
behavior. — Conversational Gifts. — Writes Family Records*.
A class of Baptists had commenced organ-
izing churches, first in Illinois and then in Mis-
souri, denominated, as a kind of distinction from
other Baptists, as " Friends to Humanity."
They were frequently called emancipators by
others. They were opposed to slavery, and
being desirous of operating in a quiet and
peaceful manner against the commerce in human
beings, this class adopted rules by which they
were to be governed in the admission of slave-
holders into the churches. The organization
originated in Kentucky, in 1807, and made a
PRINCIPLES OF " FRIENDS TO HUMANITY." 157
division in a small association in Illinois in 1809.
They would not receive persons to membership
"whose practice appeared friendly to perpetual
slavery ;" that is, those who justified the hold-
ing of human beings as property, on the same
grounds of right as they claimed their horses
or other kinds of property. They did admit
to membership in the churches of Christ slave-
holders under the following exceptions.
1. Persons holding young slaves, and recording a deed
of emancipation at such an age as the church should agreo
to.
2. Persons who had purchased slaves in their ignorance,
and who are willing the church should decide when they
shall be free.
3. Women who have no legal power to liberate slaves.
4. Those that held slaves who from age, debility, in-
sanity, or idiotcy were unfit for emancipation. And they
add, " some other cases which we would wish the churches
to judge of, agreeable to the principles of humanity."
These Baptists differed widely from modern
abolitionists of the Northern States and Eng-
land, at least in the following particulars.
1. They never adopted the dogma that slave-
holding is a " sin per se" — a sin in itself, irre-
spective of all the circumstances in which the
parties might be providentially placed. Hence
they could consistently buy slaves and prepare
258 NEGATIVE PRINCIPLES.
them for freedom ; or contribute funds to en-
able slaves to purchase themselves, with a clear
conscience.
2. They never aided fugitive slaves to escape
from their masters, or secreted them, in viola-
tion of the constitution and laws of the land.
3. They never interfered in any objectionable
way, with the legal and political rights of slave-
holders. They preached the gospel in an accept-
able and successful manner among slave-holders.
4. They aimed to do good both to master and
servant, in a quiet, lawful and peaceable mode.
5. They endeavored to consult the true in-
terests of all parties concerned.
6. They ever upheld the constitution and
laws of the country in a peaceful way. Some
of this class were chosen to official stations in
both the territory and state of Illinois, and
took the oath to support the constitution and
laws of the United States without quibbling
and evasion.
Their general faith and practice corresponded
with the principles of Baptists in general Union.
Mr. Clark had gradually become a Baptist in
all respects. For eight or ten years after he
had been baptized in the manner already
described, he remained in an independent posi-
JOINS THE " FRIENDS OF HUMANITY " 259
tion. Witli the exception of his visits to the
lower country, the larger portion of his time he
spent on the western side of the Mississippi,
with occasional visits to his Illinois friends.
The members that remained of the society he
organized near Bellefontaine in Illinois, had at-
tached themselves to other churches, — some to
the Baptists, and others to the Methodist Epis-
copal church. Those about the Spanish pond
and Coldwater settlements in St. Louis county
gradually became Baptists, and regarded him
as their pastor and spiritual guide. For some
years he watched the course of his old friends,
the Lemans' and others of that class. He felt
deeply interested in their anti-slavery position.
Their quiet, unobtrusive method of managing
the perplexing question of slavery corresponded
with his own views and experience. The
father, his old friend and associate, had become
an ordained minister, and two of his sons, who
had studied under Mr. Clark, were now heads
of families, and joint pastors of Cantine, (now
Bethel) church, and, with their compeers in
the ministry, were performing much itinerant
service in the destitute settlements. Benjamin,
the eldest son of Captain Joseph Ogle, was an
ordained minster in this connection of Baptists.
260 MANNER OF UNITING.
Father Clark and these brethren had always
enjoyed fraternal intercourse, though no formal
church connection had been formed. His man-
ners were so inoffensive, his labors in the minis-
try were so. disinterested and unremitting, his
views were so scriptural, and his daily conduct
so fully exemplified a life of faith on the Son
of God, that no one thought of calling in ques-
tion his regular standing in the ministry. He
might have lived and died without reproach,
and enjoyed the confidence of all good men in
the same isolated position he had occupied from
1796. But his sound judgment guided him, v
and the impressions received in prayer prompt-
ed him to unite with others in a formal associa-
tion. He was fearful he might set an example
for erratic preachers to follow.
The class of Baptists held an annual meeting
within the bounds of their churches on each re-
turning autumn, though they had not assumed
the form of a regular association. Such a
meeting Mr. Clark attended, with some of the
brethren from Coldwater, and proposed union
and co-operation. Not from any necessity of
knowing more of his character, but as a prece-
dent for subsequent cases he was examined on
his Christian experience, views of doctrine, and
VIEWS OF AFRICAN SLAVERY. 261
practice. The result being highly satisfactory,
lie was received by the hand of fellowship being
given by all the brethren present, while an ap-
propriate hymn was sung.
His views on African slavery gradually ac-
quired firmness and consistency. We have
traced his convictions on this subject to his ex-
quisite sense of human rights, his innate prin-
ciples of natural liberty, his sympathies with
afflicted and oppressed humanity, his own de-
privation of liberty by the British press-gang,
and his imprisonment for nineteen months by
the Spaniards in Havana. In a personal ac-
quaintance of fifteen years, and the examination
of various fugitive papers, we find no confusion
of thought, and no lack of just conceptions of
the subject. His intercourse with slave-holders
was ever courteous and kind. He never ob-
truded his opinions where no good impressions
could be made, nor in any way disguised his
sentiments before any person. His frankness
and candor were so well known, that all classes
had entire confidence in his motives and mode
of treating this subject.
When the subject of the colonization of free
colored persons in Africa was brought to his
mind by the formation of the American Coloni-
262 VIEWS OF AFKIOAN COLONIZATION.
zation Society, he hailed it as an omen of good.
He understood the strong objections -to the em-
ancipation of slaves and remaining amongst us.
He understood well the prejudices against the
peculiarities of the African race, as one of the
barriers to amalgamation with white people,
and amidst the gloom that surrounded the hope-
less bondage of that race, he saw one luminous
spot in the moral hemisphere. The star of
hope appeared to him to arise in Africa. The
finger of providence pointed in that direction,
and he abounded in faith and prayer for success
in the enterprise. He was not so visionary as
to imagine there would be no defects in its
management, or no drawbacks in the coloniza-
tion movement. He well understood it was an
object not to be accomplished in one generation,
and that its influence upon emancipation must
be gradual and indirect. He desired to have
an influence produced in the minds of slave-
holders towards the moral and religious interests
of the slaves.
So long known and so well understood were
his anti-slavery principles, and his interest in
the colonization scheme as the means of re-
moving one of the most formidable obstructions
to emancipation, that the ladies of Lofton's
HIS LIFE-MEMBERSHIP. 263
prairie, then in Greene, (now Jersey) county,
Illinois, one of his. monthly preaching stations,
paid him the compliment of making him a life
member of the county auxiliary society.'-'
* We extract the following correspondence from the WESTERN
PIONEER, of which the author was editor, of February 16, 1831.
" The following letter from Judge Brown to the editor will be read
with pleasure by many of our subscribers. The venerable Father
Clark has long been known in Illinois and Missouri as a prudent, but
uncompromising advocate of human freedom and the rights of man.
The ladies could not have paid the worthy father in the ministry a
happier compliment than making him a member of the Colonization
Society.
CARROLLTON, 111., December 25, 1830.
DEAR SIR : — The cause of Colonization is gaining ground in our
county, and many, both male and female, take a deep interest therein.
The Rev. John Clark was constituted a life member of the auxiliary
society of Greene County, on the 12th inst., by the patriotic ladies of
Lofton's prairie and its vicinity, who is the first person, so far as I
know, who has been constituted by the ladies a member of that most
benevolent institution. I hope for the honor of those ladies, and to
stimulate others to follow the example they have sef, you will publish
the following resolution, with such remarks as you may deem proper
to promote the cause of colonization, which I consider a most efficient
means that ever have been adopted to civilize and Christianize
the uncultivated and barbarous tribes of Africa, as well as to wipe
away a foul stain from our national character.
Respectfully .your obedient servant, JEHU BROWN.
CARROLLTON, 111., Dec. 25, 1830.
At a called meeting of the Auxiliary Colonization Society of Greene
county, it was
Resolved, That the thanks of this society be presented to the ladies
of Lofton's prairie and vicinity, for their generosity and benevolent
feelings in constituting Rev. John Clark a life member of this society.
By order of the President. MOSES 0. BLEDSOE, Secretary.
264 HOSPITALITY OF HIS FRIENDS.
Mr. Clark wrote several circulars for the an-
nual association of Baptists, to which he be-
longed, on the subject of Slavery, which were
published in their minutes. They were dicta-
ted by a courteous and christian-like spirit,
plain, pointed, impressive and efficacious.
After he joined the Baptists, his labors were
the same as before, except in a wider range of
traveling, and more extended Christian inter-
course. No time was wasted in idleness or friv-
olous pursuits. Always cheerful, always the
same devout, praying man. There were two or
three families in Missouri, as Upper Louisiana
was called from the period of the organization
of the territory in 1812, where he made his
home. All his earthly wants were cheerfully
provided for by his friends. Certain mothers
in Israel vied with each other in providing his
annual supply of clothing ; the domestic man-
ufacture of their own wheels and looms. The
cloth was the same as was then worn by the
farmers of the country, but was kept by the
wearer in a neat and tidy manner. He did not
live to enter on the era of this frontier, when
dress, equipages, furniture, and houses, as in
the old states, were used for the special benefit
of other people's eyes. Nor at that period would
PERSONAL BEHAVIOR, 265
rank, or social position be detected by the dress
a man or woman wore.
Mr. Clark was noted for refinement and sim-
plicity. His personal appearance and dress
were noticed for neatness. His habits, of which
he scarcely appeared conscious, were those of
the gentleman. Though he used tobacco, he
never acquired the filthy practice', still very
common in this country by rude and ill-manner-
ed young men, of spitting about the fire place,
stove, and furniture. If he had occasion to dis-
charge the saliva, he invariably stepped to the
door, though it might have been in a log cabin.
He used the bath frequently by resorting to
some retired spot in the creek or river. For
many years, and until the close of life, he bathed
his feet in cold water at all seasons of the year.
We have known him walk a quarter of a mile,
in extreme cold weather in the winter, to a
spring or creek that he might lave his feet and
wade in the cold water. Long practice made
this habit a luxury,*
* The author tried the practice of bathing the feel! ia cold water in
the morning, while traveling on these frontiers, and found it invaria-
bly injurious to him. The application of cold water to the feet and
body of more than one-fourth is positively injurious. To others it is
highly beneficial. This depends on the temperament. Mr. Clark had
a sanguine-nervous temperament, and received benefit. The writer
266 CONVERSATIONAL GIFTS.
In all his personal intercourse, and manner
of address, one could perceive not only good
breeding, but a nice sense of propriety. His
visits in families were no less effective in moral
cultivation, than his public preaching, though
that was impressive and interesting, and the in-
struction given highly scriptural and evangeli-
cal. He possessed a gift not very common, and
probably little cultivated by ministers, in intro-
ducing the subject of personal religion, in a
pleasant, conversational way.
A stranger, on witnessing his mode, would have
seen nothing ministerial, dignified, or profes-
sional. There was no change in the tones of
his voice, and effort made to introduce a sub-
ject not relished by the party. There was no
affectation of concern for others, no cant, noth-
ing in style or mode that differed from his conver-
sation on ordinary topics. Young persons, un-
used to be addressed on such a subject, soon
found themselves in the presence of a familiar
friend. No man could make a more touching
appeal to the mother of a young family, and
has a bilious-nervous temperament, and the circulation sluggish. To
such, the experience and observation of fifty years have taught that
the cold bath is injurious, while the hot bath is exhilarating. Careful
observation and experience are the only safe guides. It is sheer
quackery to prescribe the same treatment to all persons.
FAMILY RECORDS. 267
while lie awakened her maternal feelings to the
moral and eternal welfare of her offspring, he
scarcely failed impressing on her own conscience
concern for her personal salvation.
It was a pleasure to him, and a gratification
to the families he visited, to write out the fam-
ly record in his peculiarly neat and correct chi-
rography, in the household Bible. And when a
new Bible was purchased, its possessors waited
many weeks, and even months, until FATHER
CLARK, as every one familiarly called him, vis-
ited them and made the record. These Bibles
are preserved to this day, and may be found
among the descendants of the pioneer families,
dispersed as they are over a wide extent of ter-
ritory. The first immigrants to Iowa, and sev-
eral families who went to Oregon, carried these
copies as choice memorials of a much venerated
man.
For the last fifteen years of his life there was
so much uniformity in his labors, that were we
to follow out this period in detail, it would be
but a repetition of the same things from year
to year. Such incidents as are necessary to spin
out the thread of the narrative and finish the
portraiture of this good man, will bo crowded
into the concluding chapter.
268 CONCLUSION.
CHAPTER XIV.
His mode of Traveling. — Excursion in Missouri, 1820. — His monthly
circuit in Missouri and Illinois. — A night Adventure. — A Horseback
Excursion. — Origin of Carrollton Church. — Faith and Prayer. — In-
terview with Rev. J. Going. — A " Standard" Sermon. — An Affec-
iionate Embrace. — Comforts of Old Age. — Last Illness and Death.
One of the peculiar physical characteristics of
Father Clark, even to old age, was his habit of
walking. The ordinary mode of traveling for
ministers and all other persons who journeyed,
both men and women, was on horsback. Car-
riage roads were infrequent, and buggies, the
vehicle of modern times for traveling, were sel-
dom seen on these frontiers. Females rode on
horseback to Kentucky and Tennessee, to see
their friends, on journies from four to eight hun-
dred miles. But Father Clark had some singu-
lar scruples against using a beast of burden ;
and to one of his personal friends he intimated
a religious vow while on the circuit in Georgia,
that so long as man oppressed his fellow man,
he did not feel free to use a horse. He was
never accustomed to the management of a horse,
as every frontier man has been from childhood,
and he felt unhappy, if not in real fear, while
HIS PREACHING CIRCUIT. 269
riding one. Hence in nearly every tour he
made, he walked.
In the summer of 1820, he made a preach-
ing tour through the Boone's Lick country to
the extreme frontier settlement north side of
the Missouri river, to a place called Bluffton.
There was Dr. B. F. Edwards, a baptist, with
his young family from Kentucky, who received
him cordially. No preacher of the gospel had
then gone thus far in the vast west. Only a
few families had reached that remote position,
then on the border of the Indian country.
There he preached the gospel in a small log
cabin, and not even crowded with all the fam-
ilies within several miles.
In the Boone's Lick country, as the central
part of Missouri was then called, he found a
number of Baptist families, who claimed affini-
ty with the " Friends to Humanity," and aided
them in forming themselves into a church con-
nection. In going and returning, he preached
almost daily, as he passed from settlement to
settlement.
For ten years before his death, he made a
regular circuit, monthly, extending from Fox-
creek on the Merrimac, twenty miles, west-
south-west from St. Louis, round by Coldwater
270 LABOR AT THREE SCORE AND TEN.
ter, where was the church to which his mem-
bership was attached, and of which he was pas-
tor. There, and near the Spanish pond, a set-
tlement farther east, he held meetings for two,
and sometimes three days in succession. At
one period he crossed the Mississippi at a ferry
a short distance below the mouth of the Mis-
souri. That ferry being stopped, he turned
down the course of the river to St. Louis, and
passed over on the ferry-boat there. His route
then was through the Six-Mile prairie, where
he had a regular preaching station. From
thence he occasionally diverged to Edwardsville,
but more frequently went up the American
bottom to Upper Alton, thence to Lofton's
prairie, Judge Brown's, near the Maconpin,
Carrollton, and above Apple Creek to a settle-
ment called Henderson's Creek, where he col-
lected a small church. Keturning, he would
deviate from this route to visit other settle-
ments, on the right or left, as occasion called.
The whole distance on these routes and back to
Fox creek, was about two hundred and forty
miles, and in the excursion he preached from
thirty to forty times.
Some three or four times each year he visited
the churches and his friends in St. Clair, and
A NIGHT'S TRAVEL. 271
Monroe counties. At that period a congrega-
tion coull be gathered on any day of the week
by timely notice.
The ferry-boat already noticed below the
mouth of the Missouri, was destroyed in a flood,
and the ferry not again established. Without
knowing this, Mr. Clark started from the Spanish
pond, intending to cross at this upper ferry,
which would have been a gain of thirty miles. He
was obliged to turn down to St. Louis. His ap-
pointment next day was at Judge Lofton's, six-
teen miles above Alton. Eesolute on fulfilling
his engagements, though threescore and ten
years had brought on him the infirmities of
age, he made his way by St. Louis, and crossed
the ferry about dark. In traveling along the
muddy pathway, in thick darkness, twenty-four
miles to Upper Alton, through the dense forest
of the American bottom, he became fatigued,
and was repeatedly compelled to rest, by lean-
ing against a tree. He reached the hospitable
family of a Presbyterian friend at breakfast.
He was excessively fatigued, and on inquiry,
the family were astonished to learn he had trav-
eled the whole night and preceding day. Ke-
garding such an effort as an undue sacrifice
from a feeble old man, his hospitable friend
272 A LONG WALK.
ventured an admonition that he should not ex-
pose himself. He received a response in the
mildest language and intonations of voice, —
"0, my dear brother, souls are . precious, and
God sometimes uses very feeble and insignifi-
cant means for their salvation. The people ex-
pect me to fill my appointments, and the only
way was to reach here this morning. This is
nothing what our divine Master did for us."
Mr. L., in rehearsing this incident, stated he
felt humbled and rebuked at the patience, per-
severance, and ceaseless energy of this old min-
ister in the service of the Lord.*
He had walked eight miles to his customary
crossing place on the river, thence eighteen
miles to St Louis, twenty-four miles to Upper
Alton, and by two o'clock he was sixteen miles
further, preaching to the congregation in
Lofton's prairie. This made sixty-six miles
walking in a muddy path, without sleep, so con-
sciously strict was he to fulfill his engagements.
The spring and early summer of 1824, was
unusually wet, the rain poured down from the
clouds almost daily, the mud was deep in tne
paths, and it was exceedingly difficult and un-
pleasant on foot. His friends in Missouri fur-
* This was Enoch Long, Esq., now of Galena, 111.
WORKS OF USEFULNESS. 273
nished him a small, gentle horse, called a pony,
put on him a new saddle, bridle and saddle-
bags, and after much persuasion induced Mr.
Clark to mount, and ride his customary circuit.
He consented, and was placed on the ambling
pony, and, much to the gratification of his
friends, started on his journey. He was troubled
le_st the horse should hurt himself, or hurt him.
At every creek, pond and slough, he dismounted,
threw his saddle bags over his own shoulders,
took off his nether garments, as he was accus-
tomed to do when walking, and carefully led
the horse through mud and water, often three
feet deep. The care of the animal distracted
his thoughts, and, on his return, he begged his
friends to take back the horse and relieve him
from a burden that seriously interfered with his
religious and ministerial duties.
When Sunday schools, Bible societies, and
missions were brought before the people on
these frontiers, he entered at once into these
measures, and threw his influence in that direc-
tion. He carried a small Bible, or two or three
Testaments, in his little wallet to supply the
destitute families he visited. He took a deep
interest in the first seminary in these frontier
274 CARROLLTON CHURCH.
States, and encouraged his brethren to co-
operate in the good work."*
When the first periodical that advocated the
interests of religion, education, and social or-
ganizations for philanthropic purposes, was pub-
lished and circulated in his range, his influence
gave it impulse. He not only circulated
periodicals and tracts among the people, but
read such publications in the families he visited,
and impressed the subjects on the minds of his
listening auditors, by familiar conversation.
In the vicinity of Carrollton, 111., were a few
Baptists from Vermont, New York, and Ohio,
who were dissatisfied with the anti-mission, do-
nothing policy of a class of Baptists that had
a little church in that vicinity. Carrollton was
the seat of justice for Greene county, and situ-
ated in the centre of a large farming popula-
tion, and it was desirable to have a Baptist
church organized there, without being impeded
by the influence and prohibitions of the anti-
mission party. To this station Father Clark
devoted a portion of his labors. Meetings were
held in the court-house, an unfinished wooden
structure. Two males and five females having
* This was the seminary at Rock Spring, which proved the embryo
of Shurtleff College.
DISHEARTENING WEATHER. 275
entered into covenant relation in church-fellow-
ship, under the instruction and guidance of the
pioneer preacher, a call was made on three
preachers in St. Glair county, to visit the place,
preach to the people, and give the hand of fel-
lowship to these brethren as a church in gospel
order.*
These ministers left the north side of St.
Clair county on Friday morning, the 27th day
of April, 1827. The weather was unpleasant,
and a succession of showers continued through
the day. They had to ride forty miles to reach
Judge Lofton's, where they were to pass the
night. Their breakfast place was twelve miles
further on, at Judge Brown's residence. An-
other twelve miles would bring them to the
place of meeting, and the time to commence
was twelve o'clock on Saturday.
At night, when the party reached Judge
Lofton's residence, the weather was most un-
favorable. A thick, dark mantle covered the
sky, and sent down a steady chilling rain. So
* This is the usage amongst Baptists. No ecclesiastical authority is
required to constitute a church. Any number of the disciples of
Christ, when baptized on a profession of faith, can unite in church
fellowship. Ministers and other brethren, on invitation, meet with
them, and give them public recognition as being in union.
276 A GLORIOUS MORNING,
it was at nine o'clock. The road had "been
quite muddy and the traveling unpleasant.
The small streams that crossed their path began
to rise, and might be in swimming order by
morning. They lay down to rest with despond-
ing expectations of reaching the appointment
in season.
Next morning, as the first gleams of light
glanced over the prairies, the party was up and
on their horses. But what a change in the
aspects of nature ! The clouds were dispersed,
the air was soft and exhilarating ; and as the
sun rose, with healing in his beams, and threw
streams of light through the rain drops that
glistened on every shrub ; gold, emeralds,
rubies and diamonds reflected their mingled
hues on every side. Birds were celebrating
their matins in every spray. The path was
muddy, and the streams were at fording places
past the mid sides of their horses, but these in-
conveniences were of too small moment to
cause uneasiness. The party dashed on with
their high-spirited horses, and arrived at the
cabin of their hospitable friend, Judge B
just as the coffee, corn-cakes, chickens, and
other edibles, smoking hot, were ready for the
table. The party, both men and horses, were
A HAPPY MEETING. 277
soon refreshed, and being reinforced by a dozen
or more persons on their way to the meeting,
they proceeded. Just at the time of high noon
they entered the village of Carrollton, and
made their way across the open area, left for
the public buildings, to the house of a Baptist-
minister,* who lived for the time being in the
village where they knew the pioneer preacher
would be found. He was standing in the door-
way, and as his eye caught a glimpse of the
ministers, he stepped out ; his head was bare
and his silvered locks gently agitated by the
balmy breeze. The sun shone in meridian
splendor, and every thing in nature was a type
of the calm and joyous spirit that reigned with-
in. Seizing the hands of his three brethren in
the ministry, he exclaimed with the pious ejac-
ulation,— " Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and for-
get not all his benefits. I knew you would
come. I prayed for you all day yesterday until
I got an answer ; and I felt strong in the faith
the clouds would disperse, and we should have
fair weather and a good time."
The unexpected change of the weather had
been a topic of conversation by the party during
their morning's ride, and one remarked, "I
* Kev. Elijah Dodson.
278 PHILOSOPHICAL SPECULATIONS
should not be surprised to learn that Father
Clark has been praying for us."
We leave it to that class of speculatists, who
fancy that the Almighty does not concern him-
self with human affairs, to explain the philos-
ophy of this sudden and unexpected change.
Doubtless they can solve the mystery by re-
ferring to an occult female, without either in-
telligence, goodness, or power, called NATURE,
by whose LAWS every change is produced.
Their progenitoi s lived about 3;680 years ago,
and in their superabundant wisdom exclaimed,
" What is the Almighty that we should serve
him ; and what profit should we have if we
pray unto him"*
The little church in Carrollton received the
fellowship of the brethren, and was visited by
Father Clark nearly every month, while he was
able to travel, while Mr. Dodson, who lived in
that county several years, furnished occasional
aid. The mystical number of seven members
remained, but the fallow ground was broken up,
the seed was sown in the congregation, and the
year before his death, when he could no longer
walk the long circuit of two hundred and forty
miles, the spirit of the Lord was poured out,
Jobxxi: 15.
VISIT OF REV. DR. QOING. 279
and large accessions were made. He labored in
faith, prayer and feebleness, and other men
gathered in the harvest.
The year 1831 was signalized by the visit of
the late Rev. Jonathan Going to this valley.
He spent some time in Illinois, and Father
Clark heard of him, and so arranged as to meet
him at the first annual session of the Edwards-
ville Association. The writer had given Mr.
Going some outline ^f his character, labors and
peculiarities. Each was desirous to hear the
other preach. The congregation was unusually
large for that period, especially on Sabbath. It
was mid-summer, the weather hot, and the
people were provided with rough seats, under
the trees, adjacent to Upper Alton, and not
many yards from the present site of Shurtleff
College. Two and three discourses were then
listened to with interest and patience at one
sitting. The meeting continued without inter-
mission for about four hours. The people
gathered from fifteen and twenty miles distant,
and would return the same day. No one was
fastidious of the dining hour, or cared a straw
for the conventualities of a higher civilization.
Mr. Clark had several peculiar sermons, not on
paper, for he never used notes ; — but in his
280 THE STANDARDS OF EACH COHORT.
mind, one of which he would draw forth on
such occasions, and preach to large and Chris-
tian audiences. One had the text from one of
the prophets, and the imagery of the STANDARD,
or military ensign, under which the cohorts were
marshalled.
Allusion was had, prophetically, to the army
of Christ in the gospel day. In his illustra-
tions he referred to the order in the army of
Israel, as given in the first and second chapters
of Numbers, and their march, each tribe under
its own banner. The application of the figure
was made to the various denominational forms
of organic Christianity. Each standard had its
appropriate emblem.
The Protestant Episcopal cohort had in-
scribed on their liturgical standard, " Let all
things be done decently and in order."
The Presbyterians inscribed, " And ye,
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but
bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord."
The Methodists hoisted their banner, with
letters of fire, — " Work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling:'
The Baptists had on their flag, which they
held with great tenacity, — " To the law and to
CHARACTERISTICS OF HIS PREACHING. 281
the testimony ; if they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in
them."
Under each head he touched on the peculiar-
ities of each sect, and showed that each held a
portion of divine truth, and did valiant service
in the army of Prince. Emanuel.
There was just enough of quaintness and
eccentricity in this mode of preaching the gospel
to keep every one wide awake, and cause every
hearer to remember and " inwardly digest "
what he heard. Few men would crowd into a
sermon more evangelical thoughts, or make
more vivid and happy illustrations.
The old pioneer was not less interested in the
impressive sermon of Mr. Going on missions,
and the woiaderful progress made in the work of
translating and publishing the Scriptures, and
preaching the gospel to the heathen.
At the close of such exhilirating meetings, a
lively hymn is sung, and the friendly grasp of
the hand of Christian fellowship extended
through the highly excited congregation.
Brethren crowded towards the stand to reach
the hand of the " strange brother," who had so
opportunely appeared in the " Far- West."
<ome one called on him to come down from the
282 AN AFFECTIONATE EMBRACE.
platform, where all the people, could approach
him.
Father Clark, whose day of discharge every
one knew could not be far distant, approached
with light in his eyes and joy in his countenance.
He first seized one hand with a nervous grasp,
then the other ; then struck both palms on his
shoulders, and before there was time to reflect,
threw both arms around his body with an affec-
tionate embrace, and gave him the ancient
salutation on both cheeks. The vast congrega-
tion were melted, and many voices became so
tremulous that the singing almost ceased.
But " the end of all things is at hand." The
friends of Father Clark saw the infirmities of
age pressing on him. His walks were limited,
his preaching less frequent, and l»s visits to
families were fewer and at longer intervals.
He had gained a home in every family he
visited, and a place in every Christian heart.
There was no murmuring ; nor fretfulness ; no
complaining of the degeneracy of the age, which
is the common failing of old men.
His friends gave him money whenever he
needed it. He was seldom known to have a
larger sum than fifty cents at one time, and
then he felt uneasy until he found some deserv-
A PROJECTED MEMOIE. 283
ing object of charity to relieve him. He desired
nothing, sought nothing, and needed nothing of
this world's wealth. His wants were few and
promptly supplied by his friends. He had every
comfort he desired. He lived among a people
where hospitality is a cardinal virtue, and the
kind feelings of his friends were exhaustless.
Knowing his increasing infirmities, the author
made an effort to visit him at William Patter-
son's house on Cold water, but found he had gone
to another home on Fox Creek, and pressing
engagements prevented going there. The pen
was substituted for a personal interview, and a
sketch of his eventful life was commenced, but
failing strength prevented its completion. *
* COPT.— Coldwater, Mo., Sept. 20th, 18327"
DEAR FATHER IN THE GOSPEL:
I have come this way on my tour to the Missouri Association, with
the hope of seeing you, and having one more interview on the shore
of time. I imagine you have gotten to the banks of Jordan, and are
waiting for the boat to carry you safely across.
I have some special business with you, on behalf of your friends,
which I meant to have done by word of mouth, but now must do it
with the pen. During your long pilgrimage, you have been trying to
do good, and no doubt wish to keep trying the inch of time you may
remain with us. Some of your Christian friends are anxious you
should do some good on earth, after you have joined the ranks above.
Your friends think a memoir of your life, including your conversion,
experience, travels, and labors would be interesting and useful to the
living ; and they are not willing to part with you without having the
materials left.
Tour labors in this country are intimately connected with the roll-
284 HIS LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH.
He lingered along, growing more and more
feeble until the autumn of 1833. A letter from
one of his brethren, with whom he always found
a hospitable and comfortable home,* written to
his friends in Illinois after his decease, tells the
story of his decline in a few words.
" For two years before his death, he had been
in a bad state of health, but still traveled
through the settlements (St. Louis county) and
preached till the 22d of September., when he
preached his last sermon at the house of Mr.
Quick. He was seized with a severe bowel
complaintj which lasted several days, but from
which he partially recovered.
"As in health so in his sickness, he must be
traveling. We moved him four times in his
sickness. On Friday morning, he breathed his
last at the house of Elisha Patterson."
This we suppose to be the llth of October,
1833. Had he lived to the 29th of November,
he would have attained seventy-five years.
gious history of the country, and to have an accurate account of the
one, we must have a sketch of the other. We wish you to commence
•writing, the mere facts and dates, without regard to style, soon, and
continue as your strength permits Yours with due respect,
* Mr. William Patterson.
PLACE OF SEPULCHRE. 285
His funeral was attended the next day by a
large concourse of people. It is not known that
he had a relative on earth living, but the Chris-
tian people over the whole country where he
preached were his sincere mourners.
His mortal remains were deposited in a bury-
ing ground, on which the church, with which he
lived and died, had erected a house of worship
of hewn logs, and his friends placed at the head
and foot of his grave a pair of neat marble tomb-
stones, with a suitable inscription.
The place is now an obscure one, out of sight
from all public roads. A lot has been provided
by a liberal and philanthropic gentleman of St.
Louis for the special purpose of a resting place
for the Pioneer Preachers of Missouri. Thither
it is proposed to convey the remains of FATHER
CLARK, THE PIONEER PREACHER.
APPENDIX.
In the " Western Christian Advocate," Cincinnati,
of October, 1834, we found a communication from
Rev. John Glanville, the circuit preacher of the Me-
thodist Episcopal Church, in St. Louis county, dated
Sept. 25th, from which we give the following extract,
relating to Mr. Clark.
" The first preacher that brought the gospel, as un-
derstood and taught by the Methodists, across the
mighty Mississippi, was the Rev. John Clark. While
this country was unde* the Spanish Government, it
was an illegal act ; — but not in reference to that law
which makes the minister of God a debtor to the Jew
and to the Greek ; to the wise and the unwise.
Having received a commission to preach the gospel to
every creature, God sent him not on a warfare at his
own cost. Seals to his ministry yet remain in this
circuit.
" I saw him on his death-bed. He insisted on being
taken to the meeting place. It was done. He enjoyed
himself under preaching. Class meeting followed.
The old man seemed like a person returned to his
home and his friends like a long absence, exulting, re-
joicing, and declaring that for many years he had been
APPENDIX. 287
subject to. doubts about his acceptance with God ; but
that for fours years past, he had not a doubt, and was
calmly waiting for his departure. The next time I
came to the place, I laid him in the tomb. He had
returned to the same house to be at meeting, but on
the preceding day was called to the great assembly
above."
FUNERAL DISCOURSES.
It has been customary throughout the south and
west to preach funeral discourses, after interment, at
such time as may accommodate the largest number of
friends or relatives. Rev. Messrs. James and Joseph
Lemen had been selected by Mr. Clark for this pur-
pose. After conferring with those more directly con-
cerned, the following places were selected, and due
notice given in the papers.
Bethel meeting-house in St. Clair county, the first
Sabbath in February ; — New Design, in Monroe coun-
ty, second Sabbath • — Judge Arrowsby, in Greene
county, on the third Sabbath; — and Coldwater,in
Missouri, at William Patterson's, the fourth Sabbath
in February. It was stated in the notice, — " The
object in preaching at these several places, is to afford
opportunity to the friends of our deceased Father to
join in paying this last tribute of respect to his worthy
memory. These places furnish central localities in the
great moral vineyard, where his labors were ordinarily
bestowed." Immense congregations attended these
appointments
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA
FATHER CLARK, OR, THE PIONEER PREACHER