Sketches of western Methodism: biographical, historical, and miscellaneous : illustrative of pioneer life

SlibrarQ
HmtJ^ratttj nf Ptttabitrglj

"Darlington Memorial Library
(ElaBH ^.X..S.1!^..:^.6.

I

Digitized by tine Internet Archive

in 2009 witii funding from

University of Pittsburgh Library System

http://www.archive.org/details/sketchesofwesterOOinfinl

momUATT . G ONFERBI^J G^.

E C.MiddUt/tP.J'nnttr. CuU>yO.

SKETCHES

r
*,

WESTERN METHODISM: ' ■ "
togi'a||rtaI, listorital, aub PisdlaiuoHS.

ILLUSTRATIVE OF PIONEER LIFE.',

*

•f

0

J i IS

.',_

EEV.

JAMES i. FINLEY.\nSV*'4^

> >
J >

EDITED BY

.,,

*

w.

p. STEICKLAND, D. B. ;•;•;

-:

, >

CiJttinna;ti:

PRINTED AT THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN,
FOR THE AUTHOR.

». P. THOMPSON, PEISTTKB.

1857.

O «} «> •■»

I )•! „-;

n '"• f)

o '" Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854,

" ■' • . ^ BY JA^tES B. FINLEY,

,,,:' Jn tli« Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for tli«
. ' District of Ohio,

•i.i

-V

."^;^i

.V : :r

PREFACE.

Our book explains itself, so far as the object we
had in view in getting it up is concerned. To sup-
ply a desideratum in the history of western Method-
ism, at least, so far as taking the incipient steps in
that work is concerned, has prompted our endeavors.
AVe have been at a great deal of labor in furnishing
our readers with memorials of the past, connected
with the lives of our early itinerant preachers, and
collateral incidents in the history of the west, and
we hope our labor has not been in vain.

Our readers will here find, as they turn over these
pages, much, we trust, that is interesting and valu-
able in reference to olden time ; and while they shall
trace the life and labors of the pioneer Methodist
preachers, in planting the standard of the cross in
these western wilds before many of them were born,
we hope they may be induced to engage with like
zeal and devotion, to sustain the interests of the
Church, and hand down to posterity, unimpaired and
unadulterated, what our fathers have so nobly con-
tended for in the well-fought field of itinerant life.

The noble examples furnished in these sketches,
of untiring labor and self-sacrificing devotion of
those who cheerfully gave up all for Christ and the
advancement of his cause, should stir up every
impulse of our nature to emulate their virtues and
strive to imitate their truly-heroic deeds. We

■I

PREFACE.

would that onr materials had been more ample for
the work we had undertaken, that the sketches we
have given of the pioneers might have been more
satisfactory. Much had already perished, and the
waves of oblivion were rapidly washing out the few
traces that remained; but we have gathered up
what we could, and have presented them in a form,
not only sufficiently reliable for all purposes of
reference for the future historian, but, w^e flatter our-
selves, sufficiently attractive to render the book one
of interest to all.

Should oar life be spared, we intend to prose-
cute this work still further; and as the materials
will prove more abundant as we advance to the
preachers of the present day, we hope to give
increasing interest to our memorials of western
Methodism. We have already promises from breth-
ren in various conferences, spread over what was,
in the da^^s of our fathers, the Western conference,
to warrant the expectation that a full and reliable
history of our Church, and the many interesting
incidents connected with its rise and progress in
the great valley of the west, can be gathered up,
that will prove a source of instruction and deep,
powerful interest in rousing to higher activity, in
promoting the advancement of the Redeemer's king-
dom. . r , .> . .

J. B. FlNLET.

Cincinnati^ May 1, 1854.

) ^;7nf^

CONTENTS.

• CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM INTO THE WEST.

Condition of the country in the early days of Methodism — History of
Methodism unwritten — Privations of pioneer backwoodsmen — Pioneer
preachers — Fathers of Methodism — Examples of heroism — Reminiscen-
ces— Introduction Page 17

CHAPTER II.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF REV. WILLIAM BURKE.

His birth and ancestry — His baptism — Hears the first Methodist ser-
mon— Fashions of that day — Philip Cox — Francis Poythress — Thomas Va-
sey — Education in those days — Conversion — Begins to exhort — Travels a
circuit — Returns home — Preaches during the week — Admitted on trial
and starts for the west, and travels West New River circuit — First preach-
ers in the west — Remarkable circumstance — Alarm on account of the
•war — Inhabitants fled from their homes — First General conference in the
Uniced States — Start to the annual conference — Mr. Asbury's plan of
travel in the wilderness — Indians discovered — Preachers at conference —
Danville circuit — Crossing the wilderness — Conference — Hinkston circuit —
Wayne's campaign — Bethel Academy — Limestone circuit. — Conference at
Earnest's — Cumberland district — O'Kelly — Controversy — Mairies — Bishop
Asbury's opinion — Attends second General conference — Chartered fund — •
Simon Carlisle — Holston circuit — J. A. Grenade — Hard times— Controversy
with the Baptists — Change of preachers ■ 22

CHAPTER III.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.

A new era in the history of Methodism — Description of the men and
means employed in the establishment and progress of Methodism — Local
preachers — Talented young preachers — Settlement of Kentucky — First
preachers — State of religion — Great revival — Account of by James Haw —
Western conference — Beginning of the great revival at Cane Ridge — De-
scription of— Revival in Tennessee — Attends the Legislature of Ken-
tucky— Builds a cabin— Sent to Ohio to form a new district — Labors in
Ohio — Number of circuits in the Western conference — Sickness — Salt River
district — Salary — End of his labors 57

5

6 * " CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

MICHAEL ELLIS.

His place of birth unknown — Converted through the instrumentality of
Wesley's missionaries — Commences to preach — Appointed to the city of
Baltimore — Fairfax, Virginia — Obliged, from want of support, to locate —
Duty of the Church — Trials of a preacher — Removes to Belmont county,
Ohio — Re-enters the itinerant field — Appointed to West Vv' heeling circuit —
His popularity as a preacher — Character of many preachers — Bishop As-
bury's advice to young preachers — His style of preaching — Refutation of
Arianism — Our colleague — Hard circuit — Father Walker — Pickaway cir-
cuit— Superannuated — His death — Personal appearance Page 93

CHAPTER V.

ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF METHODISM IN CINCINNATI.

Early settlement of Cincinnati — Presbyterian Church — First meeting-
house — Baptist Church — John Kobler visits Fort Washington— His de-
scription— Rev. John Collins — Preaching at Mr. Carter's house, on Front-
street — Class formed — Rev. John Sale — Accessions from abroad — Character
of Methodism in those days— An incident — First love-feast — Old Stone —
Old Brick — Wesley Chapel — Ninth-street — Morris Chapel — Asbury Chapel—
Christie — York-street — M'Kendree — Bethel — Walnut Hills — Mount Au-
burn— Union Chapel — Methodist enterprise — Other Methodist churches — •
German Methodism — Wesleyan Female College — Preliminary meetings —
Organization — The Wesleyan Cemetery 102

CHAPTER VI.

FRANCIS POYTHRESS.

Early life not known — Received on trial 1776 — Conversations with Mr.
Wesley — Appointed to Carolina circuit — Organization of the Methodist
Episcopal Church — Presiding elder of a district — Supernumerary — Again
made effective — Presiding elder — Mind aflected — Desists from preaching,
and returns home — An account written by Rev. T. Scott for the Western
Christian Advocate— Notes by Samuel Williams, Esq., of Mt. Auburn • • 129

CHAPTER VII.

BARNABAS M ' H E N R Y .

Among the first Methodist preachers in the Avest — Contempt for the
Church — Caricatures — Specimen — Admitted into the traveling connection,
and appointed to Yadkin circuit — No missionary society at that time —
Bascom's description — Thanksgiving sermon — ()[»position from the Bap-
tists on Danville circuit — Persecution— Methodist jDi-eacher goes every-
Trhere — Success of his labors — Exclusive devotion— Presiding elder of
Holston district— Labors increase — Active in the Cane Ridge revival —
Took a local relation — Re-entered the traveling connection — Attacked witU
cholera— Dies— His character as a preacher— Worthy of imitation 113

CONTENTS. • t

i CHAPTER VIII. ,

TH03IAS SCOTT.

The oldest living preacher now in the west — His birth and ancestry-
Conversion — Enters the traveling connection at sixteen years of age —
Appointed to Gloucester circuit — Ohio circuit — Sent to the Kentucky con-
ference— Dangers — Danville circuit — Located — Lexington circuit — Studies
law — Enters upon the practice — Appointed prosecuting attorney — Removes
to Chilicothe — Clerk in the territorial Legislature — Justice of the Peace — ■
Secretary of the senate — One of the Judges of the Supreme Court — Rep-
resentative of Ross county in the Legislature of Ohio — Register of the
Land-Office — His legal and ministerial qualifications Page 154:

1 CHAPTER IX.

JOHN KOBLER.

Preached the first Methodist sermon in the state of Ohio — His birth and
early religious training — Conversion and call to the ministry — Pioneer iu
the North- Western territory — Remarkable account of a lady captured by
the Indians — Her sufterings — Escape — Kobler crosses the Ohio, and enters
the north-western wilderness — His account written for the Historical So-
ciety— The present compared with the past — His abilities as a preacher —
Locates — Superannuated — Removed to Fredericksburg, Virginia — His
spirit. — Dignified bearing — His labors — Powerful revival — Sickness — Happy

state of mind — ^Death 163

CHAPTER X.

BENJAillN LAKIN.

His birth and early training— Seeks and obtains religion— Call to the
ministry — Life of an itinerant — Thoughts upon the ministry — Character
of early preachers — Qualifications necessary — Lakin enters the itiner-
ancy— Marries — Locates — No provision made for the wife — Free Gospel —
Re-enters the traveling connection — Our acquaintance with Lakin — His
mode of traveling — Travels various circuits — Becomes superniunerary —
Superannuated — Preaches regularly every Sabbath — Sickness — Sudden
death 178

CHAPTER XI.

JOHN SALE.

The philosophy of history — Interest attaching to narratives of human
life— Birth of Sale — His early life and religious training — Temptations —
His integrity— His call to the ministry— His first circuit— A difficult
field of labor— North-Westeru territory— Organizes the first Methodist
society in Cincinnati— Extent of the fields of labor— Preachers— Miami
district — Our first license to preach — Camp meeting on Paint creek — Rec-
ollections of the past— Kentucky— Ohio— Superannuates— Re-enters the

8 CONTENTS.

traveling connection — Enjojonents — Last sufferings — Death — ^His personaJ
appearance — His preaching talents — Ability as an administrator of Disci-
pline— His descendants Page 185

CHAPTER XII.

THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCHES IN OHIO.

Associations connected with the first churches — Sketch from the pen
of Rev. Henry Smith — Sketch from the pen of Rev. John Meek — Hopewell
log meeting-house — Holmes meeting house — Log meeting-house at Odle's—
Pioneers of Miami 193

CHAPTER XIII.

SAMUEIi PARKER.

Born in the state of New Jersey — Parents religious — Basis of moral
character — His conversion to God — Society — A general favorite — Fine
singer — Abandoned his wicked associates — Private member of the Church-
Exercises about a call to the ministry — Obeys the call, and is admitted
into the local connection — His studies preparatory to entering the itiner-
ancy— Enters the Western conference — Appointed to Lexington circuit—
His success in the ministry — His musical talent — An incident — His elo-
quence as a preacher — The surprise of the Dutchman — Large district iu
the west — Meeting at the Lower Market Space in Cincinnati — Great camp
meeting — Miami district — Sent by the bishops to the Mississippi confer-
ence— Separation — Sickness — Death — The personal appearance of Par-
ker 202

CHAPTER XIV.

LEARNER BLACK MAN.

Boi-n in New Jersey — The date of our acquaintance — Brother-in-law of
Rev. John Collins — Personal appearance^ — Different classes of Methodist
preachers — Style of the present day — Blaekman enters the itinerant field —
Sent to Kent circuit — Sent a missionary to Natchez — Travels through a
wilderness — Character of the inhabitants — An incident— Stranger in a
strange land — Presiding elder of the Mississippi district — Holston — Mar-
ries— Visits his relatives in Ohio — Returns as far as Cincinnati — Attempt
ing to cross the river he is drowned 215

CHAPTER XV.

LOST child; or, THE CAMP OF LYDIA.

Lost children in the city — Lost in the woods — The Osborn family, north-
east of Cincinnati — Little girls sent out in search of the cows — Lydia
lost — Alarm and excitement — Neighbous start out in every direction — No
tidings — Night S2)ent in fruitless search — Her tracks discovered — Wash-
burn— Large collection of people — Divided into companies — Washburn
discovers where she had slept — Great excitement — Sixteen days pass

CONTENTS. ^

away in fruitless search — A thousand persons on the search — Fourteenth
day tracks found — A little cabin built by the child fouud near a black-
berry patch— Excitement produced by the sight of it — Her bonnet found — •
Tracks of horses — An Indian camp— Company disband — Father continued
the searcJi as long as he lived Page 223

CHAPTER XVI.

JAMES AXLET.

Meager materials for a biography of Methodist preachers — Bishop Mor-
ris's personal recollections — Axley's early fields of labor — Bishop Morris's
first interview with — A natural genius — Colloquy — His power of song — •
Pleasantry about voting — His personal appearance — Well versed in human
nature — An incident — His courtship and marriage — Opposition to slavery
and whisky — Quaint sermon — An incident in the pulpit — The opinion of a
judge — A preacher for the times 231

CHAPTER XVII.

JOSEPH OGLESBY.

The first pioneer preacher of Illinois — Jesse Walker — His labors in Ten-
nessee and Indiana — Location — Engages in the practice of medicine —
His zeal and industry — Re-enters the traveling connection — Superannu-
ates— Lidiana conference memoir 2i7

■. •^^"*'** CHAPTER XVIII. .

WILLIAM BEAUCHAMP.

Early life and education — Literary attainments — Essays on the Truth
of the Christian Religion — Editor of a religious periodical — Sketch of
Beauchamp, written by Rev. T. S. Hinde — Removal to Mount Carmel—
Occupation and labors at — School teaching — Anecdote of a preacher who
went to teaching — Beauchamp retires to a farm — Loss of his son — Re-
enters the itinerant ranks — Travels Indiana district — Member of General
conference — Sickness and death — Description of his personal appearance —
Character as a preacher 250

CHAPTER XIX. . , , . .

GOVERNOR TIFFIN.

His birth and education — Studies medicine — Hears Rev. Thomas Scott
preach — Joins the Church — Call to the ministry — His trials — Is made a
deacon <it sight by Bishop Asburj' — Practice of his profession— Elected a
member of the territorial Legislature — Mr. Sibley — Debates — Delegate
to the convention to form the Constitution of the state — First Governor
of Ohio — Letter to President Jefi'erson — Reply — Senator in Congress — •
Representative in state Legislature — Scene in the Capitol of the state —
Resumes the practice of his profession — His skill as a surgeon — Commis*

10 CONTENTS.

Bioner of the General Land-Office at Washington — Eesidence in "Washing-
ton — War in 1814 — Surveyor-Grcneral of public lands — Sickness — Death—
Obituai-y — His wife and children Tage 260

CHAPTER XX.

JOHN A. GRENADE.

Sketch of Grenade by Kev. Dr. Baker — Preliminary remarks — Descrip-
tion of early preachers in the south-west — Grenade a sou of thunder —
Nothing known of his parentage and early life — His person — A physician
and poet — Despondency of mind — The exercises of his mind — Poetry—
Returns to the ministry — His labors in different fields — His great zeal-
Incident — His character as a poet 288

CHAPTER XXI.

* WESTERN METHODIST BOOK CONCERN. "i

Concern first established in Philadelphia — Branch in Cincinnati — Dr.
Ruter first Agent — Wholesale establishment — First book published — Agent
ineligible to re-election — Rev. C. HoUiday — Removal — Rev. J. F. Wright —
Demand for books — Western Christian Advocate — Discipline changed iu
regard to election of Agents — Purchase of a lot of ground, and erection
of buildings — First original publication — Subsequent works — German pub-
lications— Charter— Ladies' Repository — Authority to publish certain
books — German A^wlogist — Other buildings — Description of the establish-
ment— The Editors — The Agents — Amount of business 297

CHAPTER XXII.

JOHN COLLINS.

Our first acquaintance with Rev. John Collins— Prepossessing in his
manners— Preaching in Hillsboro— Preached the first Methodist sermon
in Cincinnati— Admitted into the traveling connection— Appointed to Mi-
ami circuit— Extent of his field of labor— Other appointments— White
Brown's camp-ground— Story of the lost child— Effects of his eloquence—
His peculiarities— Incident at camp meeting— Conversion of a young
man— Another incident— Personal appearance— Revival at Lebanon, Ohio-
Dayton, Ohio— Delegate to General conference— Great desire to hear him
preach — Incident at camp meeting — Close of itinerant career 317

CHAPTER XXIII.

NATHAN EMERY. • ' .,-. - • , ■'- ^ '>?

Memories of our fathers passing away— Birth and early training of
Nathan Emery — Leads a class — Licensed to preach — First circuits — Hi3
pious and devoted consort — Excessive labors — Location— Removes to the
■v\'est--Sent as a supply on Columbus circuit — Re-enters the itinerancy-
Stationed in Zanesville— Radical controversy— Opposition— Revival— Inci-
dent—Strange things— Sent to Cincinnati— Chaplain to the Ohio Peniten-
tiary— Delaware circuit — Declining health — Last sickness — Death •• • 33G

ti

• CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE CONVERSIOX OF A FAMILY.

Quarterly meeting on Knox circuit — Sermon on duties of husbands and
fathers — Conviction — Fashion of the world — Incident — Interview of the
father with his family — Affecting scene — Family prayer — Family join the
Church Page 339

CHAPTER XXV.

JOHN CRANE.

Place of his birth — Savage wilderness — Early Methodist preachers —
Importance of early religious training — Incidents — Crane admitted into
the traveling connection — Sent to the Holstou circuit — Hardships — Mis-
souri— Vast extent of field of labor — Broken down with excessive labors —
Peace and joy in believing — Happy death 347

CHAPTER XXVI.

WILLIA3I YOUNG.

Brother of Rev. David Young — Xative of Virginia — Called to preach —
Sent to Mad River circuit — Cincinnati circuit — Means of travel — Personal
appearance of Young — His manners — Exposure in riding to North Bend —
Attacked with consumption — Visit to camp-ground — Early dead 356

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE CONVERSION OF AN INFIDEL.

"Wonderful manifestation of divine grace — Infidel of the French school —
Influence — Sophistical reasoning — Universalist — Representative in the
Legislature of Ohio — Family of the infidel — The daughter — Her educa-
tion— Goes to Methodist meeting — Surprise — First sermon — Mother's re-
proof—Tr'al — Conversion — Banished from home— Awakening and conver-
sion of the father — Eliza's return— Conversion of the mother 3G0

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ALEXANDER CUMMINS.

Preaches in the beginning of the nineteenth century — His birth and
education — Conversion — Call to the ministry — Admitted on trial, and sent
to Brush Creek circuit — A man of one work — Privations and hardships-
Left without an appointment on account of ill-health — The drudgery of
teaching school — Again effective — Stationed at Cincinnati — Kentucky dis=
trict — Returns to Ohio — Sketch of his life and labors, written by Rev.
Russel Bigelow 373

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE CONVERSION OF A CRUEL MASTER.

A kind master — Relations existing between master and slave — Cuff a
valuable servant — Professor of religion — Exhortation — Wicked masters—

12 CONTENTS.

A change — CufF sold — Whipped for going to meeting — Intercession of the
mistress — Master convicted — Sends for Cuff to pray for him — Is converted —
Cuff freed and made chaplain of the plantation Page 379

CHAPTER XXX.

MARCUS LINDSEY.

Born in Ireland — Protestant parents — ^Young Lindsey comes to thie
country — Hears Methodist preaching — Conversion and call to the min-
istry— Sent to Kentucky to travel a circuit — Big Sandy — Neutral ground-
Marietta circuit — John Stewart, the colored preacher — His conversion —
Goes to the Wyandott Indians as a missionary — His success — Further
labors of Lindsey — Attacked with cholera — Decease — His character as a
preacher 386

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE Dutchman's experience.

German character — Effect of religion on the German mind — Love-
feast — Experience 395

CHAPTER XXXII.

JOHN STRANGE.

A native of Virginia — Emigrated to Ohio — Embraced religion — Called to
enter the ministry — His first circuit — Cincinnati — Faithful and eloquent
preacher — False view of a preacher's life — Fare of Methodist preachers —
Beautiful tribute 399

CHAPTER XXXIII.

W I L L I A M P . F I N L E Y. >

Third son of Rev. Robert W. Finley — Childhood and youth of— Active
mind — Circumstances connected with his conversion — Wonderful change
in his habits and disposition — Call to the ministry — Ways of Providence —
Enters the itinerancy — Meets with an accident — Great affliction — Surgi-
cal operation — Restored to reason — Fatal termination — His character as a
preacher — Death of one of his daughters — Reflections 406

CHAPTER XXXIV.

RUSSEL BIGELOW.

History of his early life — Conversion — Travels Hinkston circuit — A
marked character — Early associations — Successive fields of labor — Mission
among the Wyandotts — Superannuated — Appointed chaplain of the Ohio
Penitentiary — Success of his labors — Visits Ridgeville — Melancholy state
of mind — Incident — Work done — Last sickness and death — Sketch of his
life and labors by Dr. Thomson 411

CHAPTER XXXV.

HENRY B. BASCOM.

A western man — Early life — Master spirits in Church and state — Re-
markable youth — Quarterly meeting at Franklin — Excites the wonder of

CONTENTS. ' IS

the people — His father removes to Ohio — His manual labor — ^Licensed to
preach — Talents early developed — Saying of a grave divine — Father Tay-
lor, of Boston — Extraordinary powers — Sources of eloquence — Blessings
of poverty — First circuits — Scenes with panthers — Fame of the youngf
preacher — Description of his power as an orator — Incident with boatmen—
Uinuion of Bascom — Etiect of his preaching — Colleges and books — Irish
orator — Traits of character — Independence — Force of character — A slight
tribute Page 4^8

CHAPTER XXXVI.

SAMUELHA MILTON.

Diversity of character among ministers of the Gospel — The father of
Samuel Hamilton — The conversion — His call to the ministry — Brush Col-
leges— An adventure of a Methodist preacher — Hamilton's first lessons —
His peculiar talents as a preacher — Ludicrous anecdote — Sketch written
by him of Methodism in Washington county — Traits of character — Adapt-
ation to circumstances — Personal appearance — Last sickness — Closing
scene 4A5

CHAPTER XXXVII.

WILLIAM H. KAPEE.

Bom in troublous times — His father and mother — Removed to Ohio in
early life — Enlisted in the army — Promoted to office — Battle of the
Thames — Change of prisoners — Mutiny — A fearful crisis — Delivered the
prisoners at the Newport Barracks — Utfered a commission in the regu-
lar army — Reply of his mother — Is converted and joins the Church —
Enters the traveling connection — Meets one of the prisoners, then a Meth-
odist— Exposed to danger — Hardships and privations — A mother's pray-
ers— His abilities as a preacher — Last scenes in his life 466

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

JOHN ULIN.

Bom and reared in the wilds of Virginia — Ulin's leap — John's eai-ly
life — Conversion — Enters the traveling connection — First appointment-
Description of his preaching — Gallipolis — Piketon and Waverly — Last
field of labor — Cholera — Affecting scene — Triumphant death — Care for the
children — The ways of Providence inscrutable 476

CHAPTER XXXIX.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS.

His birth and parentage — Early training — Spends his evenings in liter-
ary exercises — His poetry — " The hypocrite unmasked " — Poetic satire on
hog-stealing — Poem entitled "Alexander the Great; or, The Learned
Camel " — Specimen of political life — Reads infidel books — Is awakened by
the question of his little son— Seeks religion, and joins the Church— En-
ters the traveling connection — His labors — Appointed Assistant Editor of
the Western Christian Advocate — A serial entitled " Campbellism Ex-
posed*'— Character of that work— Sketch of his life and labors by the Edi-
tors of the Advocate — His personal appearance 483

14 ' CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XL.

THE INTREPID MISSIONARY.

Daniel Poe— Converted under the ministry of Rev. Abner Goff— Attended
an academy at Worthington — Goes to Augusta — Licensed to preach, and
enters the conference — First labors — Sent as a missionary to the Indians —
Perilous adventure on the ice — Brothertown Indians — Mrs. Ingram — Visits
the Illinois conference — Volunteers as a missionar-y to Texas — Labors-
Returns to the Ohio conference — Receives a letter from his wife — Conver-
sion of an infidel— Founds an institution of learning in Texas— Preaches
and teaches — Is taken sick — Dies, and he and his faithful wife are buried
in the same grave Page i'JS

CHAPTER XLI.

THOMAS DRUMMOND. >

Born in Manchester, England — Father emigrates to the west — Youth —
Early piety — Enters the work of the ministry — His first appointment —
Sent to Pittsburg — Gifts — Talents — Morgantown — His labors and useful
ness — Volunteers for Missouri, and is stationed at St. Louis — Attacked
with cholera — Closing scene — Last words — Touching and beautiful lines —
Rev. William Hunter's sketch — Pleasant reminiscences 510

^' . ' \- CHAPTER XLII. "."''''

INDIAN CAMP 3IEETING.

Christian Indians of the Wyandott mission — Indian characteristics —
Chiefs and queens — Faith of the Indian — Religious exercises — Cruel hus-
band— Conversion of the wife — Inhuman conduct — Visits the camp — Is
awakened and converted — His confession — Speech of Mononcue — Other
incidents 517

CHAPTER XLIII.

CONVERSION OF AN I N S PE C T 0 R-GENER AIi.

A Christian lady — Her relation to the Indians — Her husband — Inspector-
General — His character — Short history of Mrs. Long — Other members of
the family — Death of a beautiful girl — General Long at camp meeting-
State of his mind — Leaves for the muster-field — Is convicted — Returns to
the encampment — His conversion — Mononcue — Leaves again for the mus-
ter-field— Plot of the officers — Unyielding firmness — Result of — Converts
at the camp meeting. 523

CHAPTER XLIV. . , -

PIONEERWOMEN.

Patriotic women of olden time — Heroism of pioneer mothers of the
•west — An incident related by the Rev. B. Maxey — Two devoted Christian
females — Their meetings in the woods — Surprised by a hunter — Hold meet-
ings on Sabbath — Large congregations — Conversions through their instru-
mentality— Arrival of the preacher — Result of the revival — Reflections—

CONTENTS. 15

Another incident — The old log meeting-house — Pious old lady — ^Visits the
old church every Sabbath — Two wicked young men — Their awakening
and conversion — Waste-places of Zion restored, Page 531

CHAPTER XLV.

RHON-YAlf-KESS.

The oldest chief in the Wyandott nation — Among the first to make a
profession of Christianity — Great hunter and brave man — The encounter
of Adam Poe with Big Foot Indian and his brother — Loss sustained by the
Wyandott nation — Determination of revenge — lihou-yan-ness selected for
this purpose — His visit to the cabin of Poe — Ivind reception — Purpose
changed — Leaves Poe in peace and safety — His awakening and conver-
sion— Burning and shining light among his nation — Relation of Christian
experience — Triumphant death. 540

^?^

SKETCHES

WESTERN METHODISM.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM INTO THE WEST,

Many years ago, during the Revolutionary struggle,
and before the bloody scenes of Lexington or Bunker
Hill -were enacted ; before these states were declared
independent, and before there was a President in the
chair of the Union ; when all the western country was a
waste, howling wilderness, untenanted except by the sav-
age who roamed over its broad prairies, or through its
dense forests, or sped his light canoe over the surface of
its mighty rivers, the pioneer Methodist preacher might
have been seen urging his way along the war-path of the
Indian, the trail of the hunter, or the blazed track of
the backwoodsman, seeking the lost sheep of the house
of Israel in these far-off, distant wilds. Before the sun
of civilization shone upon these mountains or in these
vales, or over these prairies, or on these rivers, the
herald of the cross, with his messages of mercy, was
seen wending his way to the desolate haunts of savage
man. To pursue such in their godlike journey and
labors of benevolence, will be the object of our work.
History may record the deeds and achievements of
mighty warriors of oldeu time, clfected by the sword : be
2.

18 SKETCHES OF

it ours to follow tlie Christian pilgrim warrior over the
fields of his labor, and toil, and sacrifice, and recount
the victories achieved by the cross.

The history of Methodism in the western country is,
to a great extent, an unwritten history. With the
exception of a few biographies and historical sketches,
and a few detached and scattered fragments, gleaned
from time to time by historical societies, from the pio-
neers who yet linger among us, but little has been made
a matter of permanent record. A thousand hallowed
associations start up in the mind at the mention of
venerable names whose voices, as embassadors of Jesus,
waked the echoes of these dense and extended forests
fifty years ago. What mind is not thrilled and delighted
with the adventures and incidents of pioneer life in the
wilds of the west ? When we hear them we seem to be
listening to the tales of fiction wrought out from a
fervid imagination, designed only to please for the while,
and then to pass away and leave the mind to the contem-
plation of life's sober realities; but instead of being the
fanciful, overwrought productions of that wonderfully
inventive faculty, they are graphic descriptions of a real
life, in which the simple narration of truth becomes
more strange than the most glowing fiction.

But what, we ask, were the privation and heroic deeds
of daring of the pioneer backwoodsman, leveling the
forest, or roaming the woods in search of game, when
compared with the toils, hardships, and privations of the
pioneer preacher of the Gospel ? If the lives of the one
are an example to their descendants of an energy and an
enterprise which danger and the greatest difficulties could
not intimidate or destroy, the self-sacrificing devotion of
the other, urged on by a spirit of benevolence as bound'
less as the wants and woes of humanity, has left to the
Church and the world an example of heroism abounding

WESTERN METHODISM. 19

in every thing morally sublime. Their heroic deeds, in
bringing to the cabins of the sturdy pioneer, as well aa
the wigwams of the savage, the blessings and benefits of
religion, will be treasured up in memory, if not recorded
upon the page of history, and will live as long as one ia
found to recount them to the generations yet to come.
The names of Ellis, Tiffin, M'Henry, and Burke; of
M'Cormick, Scott, Kobler, Lakin, Gatch, Sale, Collins,
Parker, Axley, and a host of others who planted Method-
ism in the west, will ever have a place in our memory,
and be handed down to future generations as those whose
arduous and abundant labors have produced what we so
richly enjoy; and though no splendid monuments of
brass, or marble, or even rude, simple stones may tell
where their ashes rest, yet in the faithful urn of a thou-
sand hearts their memories shall live forever fresh, and
the fair fame which they achieved on the well-fought
field will be better than the precious ointment which
loses its fragrance and departs with the dead. In the
language of one, " It is a homage due to departed worth,
whenever it rises to such a hight as to render its possessor
an object of general attention, to endeavor to rescue it
from oblivion, that, when it is removed from the observa-
tion of men, it may still live in their memory, and trans-
mit through the shades of the sepulcher some reflection,
however faint, of its living luster. By enlarging the
cloud of witnesses with which we are encompassed, it is
calculated to give a fresh impulse to the desire of imita-
tion ; and even the despair of reaching it is not without
its use, by checking the levity and correcting the pride
and presumption of the human heart." A few of these
early pioneers yet linger among us ; but every year their
number grows less, and with their departure perishes to a
great extent the history of early Methodism. They came
here when all was a wilderness; when the ''Queen of the

20 SKETCHES OF

"West " — where we now live to sketch their history — and
its sister cities, consisted of a few block-houses, to pro-
tect theni from the savages, and a few rude hamlets.
They have seen the mighty west grow up around them,
with its towns, and cities, and teeming population ; and
their lives are identified with its very history. While
they yet remain we will sit by them and listen to their
eventful history, gathering instruction from the past, and
hope and encouragement for the future, that we may
thereby grow wiser and better.

As autobiographies are more interesting and satisfac-
tory than any sketches, however graphically or faithfully
written, we shall avail ourselves of such, whenever wo
can obtain them; and where this is impossible, we shall
leave no means untried to obtain the most reliable infor-
mation from living coteraporaries. If our object were
simply to make a book, we need not travel beyond the
precincts of our own library or personal knowledge — the
latter of which alone would furnish us materials of a his-
torical and biographical character sufficient to fill volumes.

"VVe shall begin with the oldest pioneer preacher now
living in the west, an octogenarian, bending with the
weight of years, but yet engaged in active life, and
enjoying a green old age, with health and fncultics alike
unimpaired by the ravages of time. We shall introduce
him to our readers, and he shall speak for himself; not,
however, with that tongue which, in the days of his
prime, possessed an eloquence and a power that few could
rival and none surpass; but v/ith the pen, the silent pen,
which he yet wields almost as vigorously as in the days of
his youth. The venerable Burke, bending beneath the
weight of more than *^ threescore years and ten" — the
first Secretary of an annual conference in America — shall
tell you, in his own quaint but nervous style, the history
of his life and times.

WESTERN METHODISM. 21

The very presence of tliis venerable man, who entered
the ministry within a year or two of the time when
Washington ascended the chair of state — upward of
sixty-four years ago — not only brings around us the
heroes and patriots of the Kevolution, but the very
fathers of Methodism, and we seem to talk with Asbury,
and Coke, and M'Kendree; Watters, Gatch, Everett,
and Vasey, and a host of other cotemporaries, who have
long since passed away. This history will connect us
with the first Methodist missionaries to America; will
take us back to the days of Embury, and Webb, and
Pillmore, and Boardman ; when the only home of 3Ieth-
odism was a rigging-loft, in an obsure quarter of New
York city, and a small, despised band constituted all of a
Church that was destined to spread over this vast conti-
nent, from the lakes to the everglades of Florida, and
from Maine to Oregon and California. It will record, ia
part, the history of a society which, in a period of eighty-
six years — within two years of the age of our venerable
friend and father — has increased from a little company
of ten or twelve to upward of a million, and which has
more ministers, more churches, and more persons attend-
ing its ministry, than any other denomination in the
world. We shall, in his autobiography, see him when
but a mere youth, the foremost of a pioneer band, en-
countering the perils of the wilderness, which he crossed
eleven times during the Indian war, braving its dangers.
and submitting to its hardships and privations with a
zeal and devotion worthy of the high and holy calling in
which he was engaged, and which would damp the ardor
and check the zeal of many of the aspirants of the
present day. But we must not anticipate, and shall
introduce our readers at once to the narrative.

SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER II. ...

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF REV. WILLIAM BURKE

I WAS born in Loudon county^ state of Virginia, on
tlie loth day of January, in the year of our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and seventy. My ancestors by
my father were from Ireland, and settled in St. Marys,
Maryland, about the commencement of the settling of
that colony. My grandmother on my mother's side was
born in Wales, brought up in London, emigrated to
America about 1750, and settled in Fairfax county, Vir-
ginia, in the neighborhood of Mount Vernon; was an
inmate of the family of General Washington, and mar-
ried a gentleman by the name of Compton, and settled in
a place called Clifton's Neck, in sight of Mount Vernon.
My grandfather died before my recollection, and left
two sons and three daughters, all of whom married and
settled in Fairfax county. They all became wealthy, and
lived to a good old age. My grandmother lived to the
advanced age of one hundred and ten, and died a mem-
ber of the Church of England. My grandfiither on my
father's side had two children by his first wife, who also
lived in Fairfax county. After the death of my grand-
mother he moved to Albemarle county, where he had, by
a second wife, several children; and while engaged in
opening a farm, in the early settlement of that country,
was killed by the falling of a tree. With that branch of
the fiimily I had no acquaintance. However, in 1810 I
became acquainted with some branches of the family
who were settled in Cumberland county, Kentucky, and

TTESTEKN METHODISM. S3

who had lost the original name, and wrote their name
Burks. They were settled on the Cumberland river, at a
town called Burksville.

My father, after his marriage to Rhoda Compton,
moved to Loudon county, at that time a frontier county,
and was engaged with Washington in what was termed
Braddock's war. My father, John Burke, had three
sons and one daughter, John, Mary, Anson, and William.
John and Mary died when young. My brother Anson is
now living in Williamson county, Tenn., at the advanced
age of eighty-six. He had four sons and one daugh-
ter, all living around him, except William Wesley, who
came to Cincinnati, Ohio, and died here in 1849. My
father, at the commencement of the Revolution, took the
side of liberty, and was among the first who enrolled his
name under Colonel Leven Powell, as a minute man, and
was in that service one year at Hampton, Virginia, and
again at Yorktown, at the taking of Cornwallis, where
he suflfered every thing but death. During the summer
of 1775, while my father was at Hampton, the first Meth-
odist preacher visited Loudon county; namely, Joseph
Everett. My mother went some considerable distance to
hear him, in hopes to meet with some intelligence from
my father. I have no recollection of hearing any more
of the Methodists till 1780, when Philip Cox commenced
preaching at Bacon Fort old church, the parish in which
my father then lived, and in which I was baptized.
There being no parson at that time, the Methodists were
allowed to preach in the church. I was then ten years
old, and can recollect many circumstances that transpired
during that year. It was the fashion at that day for the
ladies to wear enormous high rolls on the head, and a
report had been in circulation for some time that a calf
had been born near Alexandria with one of those rolls
on its head. P. Cox gave out that the next time he came

24: SKETCHES OF

round, in four weeks, lie would show them a wonder.
The whole country was in expectation that he would
exhibit the calf, and a great concourse of people assem-
bled. The preacher arrived, but instead of the calf he
commenced by giving out his text: ''And there appeared
a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun,"
etc. This gained the attention of the multitude : and from
that time Methodism took root in that section of country.

In 1781 Francis Poythress and Michael Ellis were
Btationed on the circuit; and in the winter of 1781 and
1782, under the preaching of Mr. Ellis, I was strangely
and deeply affected; but it wore off by degrees; for at
that time I was going to school, where we had but little
of religion taught. My father and mother joined the
society at Royell's, Bacon Fort old church, in the early
part of 1780. Nothing very special occurred that waked
up my attention till the summer of 1781, when it was
given out that Thomas Vasey, one of the newly-ordained
preachers, was to preach in Leesburg. He preached in
the court-house to a very large concourse of people; and
numbers who had been in the habit of hearing the Meth-
odists preach, were astonished to hear him perform the
morning service as laid down in the Methodist prayer-
book. The practice and the book have long since been
laid aside. The means of education were very limited in
those days, and in that part of the country; consequently,
I was limited to what was then called an English educa-
tion, all of which I completed in the years 1785 and 1786.

In the spring of 1787 my father determined to remove
to the state of Georgia. We accordingly set out early in
the spring. The preceding year had been very unfavora-
ble for crops in the south; and having arrived in North
Carolina, not far from Gruilford court-house, we fell into
a neighborhood of Virginians, from Fairfax county, and
with whom my father and mother had been acquainted.

WESTERN METHODISM. 25

ard they persuaded us to spend the summer with them.
We did so, with the intention of going to Georgia the
next spring ; but my father being pleased with the coun-
try, determined to settle himself in North Carolina, and
accordingly purchased a tract of land in one mile of the
high ford. Haw river. In the neighborhood I formed
new associations, became very profligate and vain, and
entered fully into all the amusements of the diiy. My
dear mother was very pious, and I was her darling boy.
The course I was then pursuing gave her much pain and
affliction. She used every means in her power to dis-
suade me from it, and used to pray for me day and night.
In the latter part of the year 1790 I was awakened under
the preaching of Isaac Lowe. In the fall of that year
the society established a weekly prayer meeting, and I
was a constant attendant, and had formed the resolution
never to stop short of obtaining experimental religion.

The practice then among the Methodists was to call
upon all the seekers of religion to pray in public at the
prayer meeting. I was called upon, and took up my
cross, and continued to pray at every prayer meeting. In
the month of February, 1791, after the preacher con-
cluded, he opened the door to receive members. I went
forward alone and gave my name, and there was great joy
manifested at the return of so great a prodigal, and I
was the first-fruits of a great revival. In the month of
March I attended a quarterly meeting at Smith's meeting-
house, on Guilford circuit. On Saturday and Saturday
night I was in great distress, and slept but little. On
Sunday morning early I betook myself to the woods and
wandered about and prayed earnestly for deliverance.
At nine o'clock the love-feast began. I can not recollect
much that was done. I fell senseless to the floor, and
the first I can recollect I was on my feet giving glory to
God in loudest strains, to the astonishment of many.

3

26 SKETCHES OF

After my ecstasy was over, and I came to reflect, my load
of sin was gone. I felt no more condemnation, but could
not say tliat I was born again. In this situation I
remained for eight days; and on tlie next Sunday even-
ing, after having returned from meeting, I betook myself
to the woods, and at the root of a large whiteoak-tree,
while engaged in prayer, Grod gave me the witness of the
Spirit, and from that moment I went on my way rejoicing.
We continued our prayer meeting with increasing inter-
est, and very soon one and another would get converted,
and our meetings would sometimes continue all night.
The class-leader, who in those days would open and con-
duct the prayer meeting, put me forward to open the
meetings, and I commenced after prayer to give an
exhortation. The heavenly flame spread through the
neighborhood, and" the neighboring classes caught the
holy fire, and in a short time hundreds attended our
night meetings. I have often walked five and six miles
to a night meeting, and spent the whole night, while the
mourners were down in the house and all over the yard,
crying mightily to God for mercy. That year George
M'Kinney, a son of thunder, was sent to Guilford circuit,
who entered fully into the work, and great numbers were
added to the Church. In the month of June of this
year, I made my first attempt at preaching from a text.
The words were, ^^Let the wicked forsake his way, and
the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return
to the Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and to our
God, who will abundantly pardon. '^ I had great liberty,
and found favor in the eyes of the people. I continued
to exercise my gift in exhortation and preaching when-
ever opportunity presented. In the month of August I
attended a quarterly meeting at the Hawfield, New Hope
circuit, at the Tartemele. There was a great collection
of people on Sunday. Thomas Ware was elder; but

WESTERN METHODISM. WW

Thomas Bowen was at the quarterly meeting on a tour
south, and preached the first sermon on Sunday; and at
the close of the sermon they set me up to exhort. I had
a voice like thunder, and it seemed as though there was
a fire in my bones. The dry bones began to tremble,
and sinners began to leave the house; the fire was too
warm for them. Upon the whole, we had a good time.
Many in that quarter had never seen the like before.
Brother Isaac Lowe was then traveling on New Hope
circuit. He was a married man, and his family lived in
the neighborhood of my father's, and we returned in com-
pany home. In the fall, at the beginning of October,
brother Lowe insisted that I should accompaay him
round New Hope circuit. Accordingly, I arranged my
business so as to make the tour of six weeks. We went
on together, preaching time about, till he was taken
sick and returned home, and left me to complete the
round. I did so, and then returned home, where I
found him recovered from his illness. One of the
preachers had left Guilford circuit and gone home. I
was requested to take his place. I did so, and traveled
that winter on that circuit. On one of my rounds I fell
in with Thomas Anderson, the presiding elder. He
inquired if I had any permit to exhort or preach. I told
him I had not, and before we parted he gave me a license,
which was the only license I ever had, till my name was
on the minutes of the annual conference. The annual
conference for that year was at M'Knight's, on the Yad-
kin river, on the second of April. There was no formal
application made by me to travel, and no vacancy ofi"erin<?,
1 returned home, and had thoughts of settling myself for
life, and began to make preparations for building a house
and opening a farm ; but my mind was not at rest. Dur-
ing the summer and fall I used to preach three, four, and
five times a week, and ride forty and fifty miles. The

28 SKETCHES OF

conference for this year was held at Green Hills, at which
conference I was admitted on trial, and appointed to West
New River circuit, on the head waters of the Kanawha
river, in the state of Virginia. On my way to my ap-
pointment I stopped at home a few days, and having fur
nished myself with several suits of clothes, I started al,
alone for the west, crossed the Blue Ridge at the Flowei
Gap, entered the circuit at brother Forbes's, on what was
called the Glades, lying between the Blue Ridge and New
river. This was about the first of February, 1792. This
was a four weeks' circuit, and between four and five hun-
dred miles round. It extended in length from the three
forks of New river, over the Alleghany Mountains, on the
waters of Roanoke; and from north to south from Walk-
er's creek to the Glades, near the Blue Ridge. The
country is very mountainous, high and cold; and in
Montgomery, AVythc; and Grayson counties it is too cold
to produce Indian corn with any degree of certainty.
Rye was produced in great abundance.

The first preachers that visited that country was in the
year 1783. It was then called the Holston country.
The head waters of the South Fork of the Holston ex-
tended as far east as Wythe and the borders of Grayson
counties, extending west as far as the Three Islands. In
this tract of country the first preachers began their opera-
tions. They were Jeremiah Lambert, Henry Willis, Mark
Whitaker, Mark More, and Reuben Ellis, the elder
The district included Salisbury and Yadkin circuits, ip
North Carolina, and Holston in the west. In 1787 the
Holston circuit was divided into two circuits, HolstoK
and Nolachucky, and Philip Bruce appointed elder.
Two new preachers were sent — Jeremiah Masten and
Thomas Ware — in 1788. Two new circuits were made
out of the old ones this year; the Holston circuit, em-
bracing all the settlements on the East and North Forks of

WESTERN METHODISM. 29

Holston, and all the settlements on the Clinch river,
including the counties of Washington and Kussell, in
Virginia, and Blount county, in the Western territory.
French Broad included all the settlements west and south
of the main Holston to the frontiers bordering on the
Cherokee nation. West New river was this year made a
circuit, and Greenbriar added, which was composed of
the new settlements on Greenbriar river, and part of
the head waters of the James river; Edward Morris
elder

In 1789 John Tunel was presiding elder and Bottetourt
circuit added. In 1790 two districts were formed; one was
composed of West New River, Russell, Holston, and Green
circuits — Charles Hardy presiding elder. This year John
M'Gee and John West were on Green circuit; John West
is still living in the bounds of the Pittsburg conference.
Bottetourt, Greenbriar, and Kanawha circuits — Jeremiah
Able presiding elder. This year the Little Kanawha cir-
cuit was formed, and Jacob Lurton was the preacher in
chargo. In 1793 he was on Salt River circuit, Kentucky,
and married a Miss Tooley, on Bear Grass, Jefferson
county, and located, and for many years lived on Floyd's
Fork of Salt river. He was an original genius, and a use-
ful preacher. In 1791 3Iark Whitaker was presiding
elder, and Charles Hardy and John West were on the
West New River circuit. Charles Hardy located this
year, and the latter part of the year I succeeded him.
John West remained with me on the circuit till the Hol-
ston conference, on the 15th of May, 1792. Nothing
material transpired while on this circuit. The state of
religion was at a low ebb in all the circuits. Most of the
preachers had not been much in the work for several
years, and Discipline had been much neglected. Mr.
Asbury, on his return from the Kentucky conference, met
the conference at Huffaker's, Rich Valley of Holston, on

so SKETCHES OF

the 15tli April, 1702. Hope Hull, who had accompanied
him from Georgia, and AVilson Lee, who was now return-
ing from Kentucky, and accompanying the Bishop on to
the east, were with him. Both preached at this confer-
ence with great success. General William Bussell, who
had married the widow of General Camphell, and sister
of Patrick Henry, who had embraced religion, together
with his amiable lady, and who lived at the salt-works, on
the North Fork of Holston, attended this conference
and accommodated a number of the preachers. Upon
the whole, we had a good time for those days. Stephen
Brooks, from the Kentucky conference, was appointed to
Green circuit, in charge, and I was appointed with him.
and Barnabas M'Henry, who came also with the Bishop
from Kentucky, was the presiding elder. We had an
entire set of new preachers for the whole district — Sala-
thiel Weeks and James Ward on the Holston circuit,
both from Virginia; David Haggard, Daniel Lockett,
and Jeremiah Norman, from North Carolina. Brother
Norman was on Bussell, and brothers Haggard and
Lockett on West New Biver. The presiding elder and
all the preachers entered into a covenant to attend
strictly to the Discipline. When brother Brooks and
myself arrived at our charge, which was in a few days
after the conference rose, we mutually agreed to enforce
the rules of the society; and by midsummer we had the
satisfaction of seeing a gracious work in many places on
the circuit.

A very peculiar circumstance took place some time in
July. On Nolachucky there was a rich and thickly-
settled neighborhood, which afterward went by the name
of Earnest's neighborhood. There was but one Methodist
in the neighborhood, the wife of Felix Earnest, who
attended preaching when she could, being about five or
six miles distant from the appointment. Felix was a

WESTERN METHODISM. 31

rery wicked man. Being one day at a distillery, and
partially intoxicated, the Spirit of God arrested liiin.
He immediately went home, and inquired of his wife if
she knew of any Methodist meeting any where on that
day. It happened to be the day that brother Brooks
preached, in the adjoining neighborhood, and he imme-
diately put oif for the meeting. He arrived there after
meeting had begun, and stood in the door, with his shirt-
collar open, and his face red, and the tears streaming
down his cheeks. He invited brother Brooks to bring
preaching into the neighborhood. He did so, and in two
weeks I came round and preached to a good congregation.
The word of God had free course, and was glorified.
The whole family of the Earnests was brought into the
Church, with many others, and by the first of Sep-
tember we had a large society formed, I left the circuit
in September, but the work continued. In a short time
they built a meeting-house; and in the spring of 1795 the
Western conference had their annual sitting at the meet-
ing-house, and Felix was a local preacher. Our second
quarterly meeting was in the beginning of August, at the
Pine Chapel, south of the French Broad river, and below
the mouth of Little Pigeon river. It was a good time.
It was given up by all that it was the best love-feast that
they had ever seen. On my next round, which was in
September, the Cherokee war was just breaking out.
After I crossed the French Broad and Little rivers, and
arrived at the extreme point of the settlement, I found
the inhabitants in a state of alarm on account of the war
I preached that day, and at night the whole neighbor-
hood collected, bringing intelligence that the Indians
were in the settlement. In the morning I started for nry
next appointment, on the south bank of Little river,
having a guard of two brothers, who piloted me through
the woods part of the way; but becoming alarmed for

32 SKETCHES OF

the safety of their families, left me to make the best of
my way. I arrived a little before noon, but found it
would be impossible to collect a congregation. The peo-
ple were moving in and concentrating at a certain point,
for the purpose of fortifying, and by night we were the
frontier house. After dark the lights were all put out,
and each one sat down with his gun on his lap. One of
the company started about nine o'clock to go where the
Indians were collected for fortifying; but soon returned,
and said the Indians were plenty in the neighborhood.
I immediately determined to make my journey to the
next preaching-place, which was about ten miles, and I
was obliged to travel under cover of the night ; but I had
one diihculty to encounter, having nothing but a small
path, and the river to cross, and an island to reach in the
river. The night was dark, and the timber very thick on
the island, and I could not prevail on any of them to
leave the house or give me any assistance; however, I
put my trust in God and set off. After having passed
the first part of the river I alighted from my horse, and
undertook to keep the path on foot. I succeeded beyond
my expectation, reached the shore at the proper point,
and proceeded without meeting with any difficulty.
About two o'clock I arrived at the house, where my
appointment was for that day, proceeded to the door, and
sought admittance; but found no inmates. I knew there
were cabins on the opposite side of a marsh, and I com-
menced hallooing as loud as I could. I soon brought
some of them out, who wished to know who I was, and
what I wanted. They suspected that the Indians wished
to decoy them, and were preparing to give me a warm re-
ct^ption of nowder and lead, when the lady, at whose house
we preached, came out and knew my voice. They then
came over and conducted me to the place where the whole
neighborhood was collected, and the next day I recrossed

WESTEKN METHODISM. SS

the French Broad river, which placed me beyond the
reach of danger. I passed up through the circuit, leav-
ing the frontier appointments on the south side of the
river, which were Pine Chapel, Little and Big Pigeon.
The first intelligence I had from that quarter was, that
all the inhabitants in the neighborhood of the Pine
Chapel were massacred in one night by the Indians.

The first General conference in the United States met
late in the fall of this year. The presiding elder and S.
Weeks, from the Holston circuit, both left for the Gen-
eral conference; and the presiding eider moved me from
Green circuit and put me in charge of the Holston, and
gent brother J. "Ward to fill my place. Brother Ward
had but moderate talents, but was a devoted and good
man; and through his instrumentality good was done on
the Holston circuit. In the neighborhood of the Salt-
Works a number had been added to the Church. Among
the number was the heiress, Miss Sally Campbell, daugh-
ter of General Campbell, who distinguished himself at
the battle of King's Mountain. Her mother, Mrs. Ptus-
sell, had, for some time, been a member of the Church,
and was among the most excellent ones of the earth.
Late in the fall of this year General Russell and family
made a visit to the eastern part of Virginia, among their
old friends and relations. The General was taken sick
and died. His daughter, Chloe Bussell, had just married
a circuit preacher by the name of Hubbard Saunders.
During their visit Miss Sarah Campbell was married to
Francis Preston, Esq., of Virginia, whose son is now
senator in Congress from South Carolina. The surviving
part of the family did not return during my stay on the
circuit. We had some good times on our field of labor,
at Baker's, near the Three Islands, and at Acuflfs. 1
remained on the circuit till Christmas, when, by the
direction of the presiding elder, brother Norman and

34 SKETCHES OF

myself changed, and I was on Clincli circuit. This was a
frontier circuit, the whole north side of it being exposed
to the savages. On this circuit I first began to eat bear-
meat, and buffalo tongues. I entered this circuit with a
determination, by the help of God, to have a revival of
religion, and in some degree succeeded. It was a three
weeks' circuit, and I was alone, without even a local
preacher to help me. Through the winter we had a con-
siderable revival at Elk Garden, head of Clinch river, at
Bickley's Station, and at several other preaching-places.
On the last Saturday and Sunday in March, 1793, we
held our quarterly meeting at Bickley's Station. We had
a good time. During the past year we had many conflicts,
a new country Indian warfare going on all the winter on
our southern borders. The preachers had received about
enough quarterage to keep soul and body together. On
Monday morning, after the quarterly meeting, I started
for the annual conference, which met on the third day of
April. We met Bishop Asbury and William Spencer,
from the Virginia conference, and Henry Hill, from
North Carolina. The conference business concluded on
Saturday; Sunday was taken up in preaching; and on
Monday morning we started for Kentucky. Several of
our friends volunteered to guide us through the wilder-
ness. Francis Asbury, Barnabas M'Henry, Henry Hill,
James Ward, and William Burke were all the preachers.
These, together with some who met us at Bean's Station,
on Holston, made our company up to sixteen. We were
all pretty well armed except the Bishop. It was about
one hundred and thirty miles through the wilderness,
with but one house in Powell's Valley, where we staid
the first night. Next morning, by sunrise, we crossed
Cumberland Mountain, and entered into the bosom of the
wilderness.

I will here introduce a plan that Mr. Asbury suggested

WESTERN METHODISM. 35

before we left the settlements. It was to make a rope
long enough to tie to the trees all around the camp when
we stopped at night, except a small passage for us to
retreat, should the Indians surprise us ; the rope to be so
fixed as to strike the Indians below the knee, in which
case they would fall forward, and we would retreat into
the dark and pour in a fire upon them from our rifles.
We accordingly prepared ourselves with the rope, and
placed it on our pack-horse. AVe had to pack on the
horses we rode corn sufiicient to feed them for three days,
and our own provisions, beside our saddle-bags of clothes.
Through the course of the day nothing material transpired
till very late in the afternoon, say less than an hour before
sunset, when passing up a stony hollow from Kichland
creek, at the head of which was the war-path from the
northern Indians to the southern tribes, we heard, just
over the point of a hill, a noise like a child crying in
great distress. We soon discovered there were Indians
there, and the reason why they used that stratagem to
decoy us was, that a few days before they had defeated a
company, known for a long time as M'Farland's defeat, and
a number were killed, and several children supposed to be
lost in the woods. We immediately put whip to our horses,
and in a few minutes crossed the ridge and descended to
Camp creek about sunset, when we called a halt to con-
sult on what was best to be done; and on putting it to
vote whether we proceed on our journey, every one was
for proceeding but one of the preachers, who said it
would kill hisiiorse to travel that night. The Bishop all
this time was sitting on his horse in silence, and on the
vote being taken he reined up his steed and said, " Kill
man kill horse, kill horse first;" and in a few minutes we
made our arrangements for the night. The night being
dark, and nothing but a narrow path, we appointed two to
proceed in front, to lead the way and keep the path, and

6b SKETCHES OF

two as a rear guard, to keep some distance behind and
bring intelligence every half hour, that we might know
whether they were in pursuit of us; for we could not go
faster than a walk. They reported that they were follow-
ing us till near twelve o'clock. We were then on the
Big Laurel river. We agreed to proceed, and alighted
from our horses and continued on foot till daybreak, when
we arrived at the Hazel Patch, where we stopped and
fed our horses, and took some refreshment. We were
mounted, and on our journey by the rising of the sun;
but by this time we were all very much fatigued, and we
yet had at least between forty and fifty miles before us for
that day. That night about dark we arrived at our good
friend Willis Green's, near Stanford, Lincoln court-house,
having been on horseback nearly forty hours, and having
traveled about one hundred and ten miles in that time.
I perfectly recollect that at supper I handed my cup for
a second cup of tea, and before it reached me I was fast
asleep, and had to be waked up to receive it. Part of us
remained at Mr. Green's over Sunday, and preached at
several places in the neighborhood. The Bishop and
brother M'Henry proceeded on next morning to attend a
quarterly meeting at brother Francis Clark's, on the
waters of Salt river, six miles west of Danville.

On the 15th of April, 1793, the conference met at
Masterson's Station. Preachers present, Francis Asbury,
bishop; Francis Poythress, Henry Burchet, Jacob Lur-
ton, James Ward, John Page, John Ball, llichard Bird,
Benjamin Northcott, and William Burke. Barnabas
M'Henry, from the Holston district, and Henry Hill,
who traveled with Bishop Asbury, were also present.
Nine preachers in all for Kentucky and Cumberland
included, Nashville and the three counties of Davidson,
Sumner, and Ilobinson, including a few settlements in
Kentucky, in the neighborhood where Pvusselville is now

WESTERN METHODISM. 37

situated. We received our appointments at tlie close of
the conference, and separated in love and liarmony. I
was this year appointed to Danville circuit, in charge^
and John Page as helper. We entered upon our work
with a determination to use our best endeavors to pro-
mote the Redeemer's kingdom. The circuit was in but a
poor condition. Discipline had been very much neg-
lected, and numbers had their names on the class-papers
who had not met their class for months. We applied
ourselves to the discharge of our duty and enforced the
Discipline, and, during the course of the summer, dis-
posed of upward of one hundred. We had some few ad-
ditions, but, under God, laid the foundation for a glorious
revival, the next and following j^ears. The bounds and
extent of this circuit were large, including the counties of
Mercer, Lincoln, Garrard, and Madison ; the west part of
the circuit included the head waters of Salt river, and
Chaplin on the north, bounded by Kentucky river south
and east, and extended as far as the settlements — taking
four weeks to perform the round. There were three log
meeting-houses in the circuit; one in Madison county,
called Proctor's Chapel; one in the forks of Dix river,
Garrett's meeting-house; and one on Shoenea run, called
Shoney run. Not far from Harrod's Station, in Mercer
county, during the course of this year, a new meeting-
house was erected in Garrard county, considered the best
meeting-house in the countrj^, and they named it Burke's
Chapel. I remained on Danville circuit till the first of
April, 1794, and on the fifteenth our conference com-
menced at Louis's Chapel, in Jessamine county, in the
bounds of Lexington.

Previous to the meeting of the conference we raised a
company of twelve persons to proceed to the seat of the
conference, for the purpose of guarding Bishop Asbury
through the wilderness We met a company at the

38 SKETCHES OF

Crab Orcliard, tlie place where we usually met by adver*
tisement, circulated for the purpose of collecting a suffi-
cient number for mutual protection against the Indians.
The company, when assembled, consisted of about sixty,
all well armed. We organized that night, and I was ap-
pointed commander. In the morning, all things being
in readiness for our departure, we proceeded through the
wilderness. The day previous there had started a large
company, and among the number there were four preach-
ers, two Baptist and two Dunkards. The company, with
whom they traveled, had treated them in such an ungen-
tlemanly and unchristian manner during the first day and
night, that on the morning of the second day they all
four started in advance, and had not proceeded more than
one mile before they were surprised by a party of Indi-
ans, and all four killed and scalped, and their horses and
all they had taken off by the Indians. We camped the
first night not far from Big Laurel river, and next morn-
ing passed the place where the dead bodies of the preach-
ers were thrown into a sink-hole and covered in part with
some logs, and the wild beasts had torn and mangled
them in the most shocking manner. That day we crossed
the Cumberland river, and passed up the narrows to Tur-
key creek, and camped on the bank. I had not slept on
any of the two preceding nights, and that night I intended
to take a good sleep. Accordingly, after placing out the
sentinels and securing my horse, I spread my saddle-
blanket and my saddle and saddle-bags for my pillow, and
laid me down close to my horse, and was, in a few min-
utes, sound asleep. It was not an hour before the com-
pany was alarmed. Some said they heard Indians, others
affirmed that they heard them when cutting cane for their
horses, and heard their dogs barking at their camp up
the creek; and before they awakened me the greater part
of the company were on their horses and had left tho

WESTERN METHODISM. 39

sentinels at their posts. Sucli was the panic that I im-
mediately harnessed up my horse and mounted him, and
had the guards brought in. The night was very dark,
and we had to cross the creek immediately. The bank
was very steep, and we had to cross in Indian file; and
before all passed over the bank became very slippery, and
the horses would get nearly to the top and slide back
into the creek again. I was in front, and the word would
pass along the line, "Halt in front." At length all got
safely over, and we proceeded about four miles to Cannon
creek. The night being very dark, and finding great
difficulty to keep the path, I ordered a halt, and directed
every man to turn out to the left and alight and hold his
horse by the bridle. They accordingly did so, and I threw
the reins of my bridle over my arm and laid down at the
root of a beech-tree, and was soon asleep. I had previ-
ously given orders that we should form one hour before
daybreak and be on the road, in order to elude the Indi-
ans, should they be in pursuit of us. We did so, and
crossed the Cumberland Mountains early in the morning,
and that night arrived at Bean's Station, near the Hol-
ston river, where we met the intelligence that Bishop
Asbury, in consequence of ill health, could not attend
the conference in Kentucky.

A large collection of emigrants was already met for the
purpose of crossing the wilderness. The number was
about one hundred and twenty, together with a great
number of pack-horses. On the next morning we started
in Indian file, pack-horses and all, making a line about a
mile in length. It was determined by the company that
the guard which had come through to meet the Bishop
should bring up the rear. Nothing transpired through
the course of the first day or night worthy of notice.
Early on the second day we came to the ford of the Cum-
berland river; it was very much swollen, and when the

40 SKETCHES OF

front of the company arrived at the bank of the river, a
party of Indians being on the opposite shore fired upon
them; but the distance was such that no injury was done.
None had courage to attempt crossing over, and when we,
who were in the rear, came up, the whole company was
crowded together, and many, both men and women, were
as pale as death, and some weeping, not knowing what
course to take. I immediately called out for volunteers,
who would venture to cross the river. Out of the whole
company we could only get eleven to undertake the haz-
ardous duty. On our arriving at the opposite bank we
alighted from our horses and took trees and awaited the
approach of the Indians. None appearing we proceeded
to the top of the bank; finding the course clear we beck-
oned them to proceed crossing, while we stood guard.
No accident occurred through the remainder of that day.
At night we encamped in an unfavorable position — a
heavy thunder-shower passing over us forced us to stop.
In that situation, after we had tied up our horses and
built up our fires, we proceeded to place out the guards,
when many who had not been used to such fatigue made
themselves as comfortable as the nature of things would
admit, and laid down to rest. I found from the manner
in which the horses behaved that Indians were about
with the intention of stealing some of our horses. Con-
sequently, I kept on my feet the whole night, passing
round and through the camp. The night passed off with-
out any interruption. The third day at night we arrived
at the Crab Orchard, and on the fourth day I proceeded
to the conference at Louis's Chapel. We had at this an
increase of two preachers — John Metcalf, who had come
through the wilderness with us from the Virginia confer-
ence, and Thomas Scott, now Judge Scott, of Chilicothe,
from the Baltimore conference. The presiding elder, F.
Poythress, presided in the conference. The business

WESTERN METHODIS:\t. 41

having been gone through, I was dispatched to the Vir-
ginia conference with the proceedings of our conference,
and to receive deacon's orders. The conference met at
Joseph Mitchel's, on James river. Here we met Mr.
Asbury, who had partly recovered from his sickness.

At this conference, which was held on the 2Gth May, I
received my appointment on Hinkston circuit, Kentucky.
This circuit included Clark county, Bourbon, and Mont-
gomery; bounded on the north and east by the frontier
settlements, on the south by the Kentucky river, and on
the west by Lexington circuit. It was a three weeks' cir-
cuit, that had been taken off from Lexington ', here I was
alone. At my first quarterly meeting I was removed to
Salt E-iver circuit — the preacher having left — and put in
charge. Here I remained two quarters under very em-
barrassed circumstances, it being the summer of Wayne's
campaign, and great numbers were out in the service.
This was the most difficult circuit in the bounds of the
conference. It was a four weeks' circuit, and between
four and five hundred miles round. It included AVash-
ington, Nelson, Jefi'erson, Shelby, and Green counties;
bounded on the north by the Kentucky river, on the east
by Danville circuit, on the south by the frontier settle-
ments on Green river, including where Greensburg and
Elizabethtown are now situated, and on the west by the
Ohio river. Nothing worthy of record occurred, except
hard times. I was reduced to the last pinch. My
clothes were nearly all gone. I had patch upon patch
and patch by patch, and I received only money suffi-
cient to buy a waistcoat, and not enough of that to pay
for the making, during the two quarters I remained on
the circuit. After the second quarterly meeting I was
changed, by the presiding elder, to Lexington circuit.
This was the best circuit in the bounds of the conference,
both for numbers and liberality. In this circuit I met

4

42 S K E T C H E S O F

with many good friends, and they supplied all my wants
Nothing special occurred during the year. Wayne's ex-
pedition having ended, the people returned to their
homes and became more settled, and we had a gradual
increase in the societies. Lexington was a four weeks'
circuit, and tolerably compact. It contained the counties
of Fayette, Jessamine, AVoodford, Franklin, Scott, and
Harrison; bounded on the east and north by Hinkston
circuit, on the west by the frontiers. Frankfort, now the
seat of government, was then a frontier station. The
southern boundary was the Kentucky river, which is
peculiar for the high cliffs of limestone rocks, which pre-
sent a wild and grand appearance^ in many j)laces from
four to five hundred feet high.

In the county of Jessamine, situated on the cliffs, was
Bethel Academy, built entirely by subscriptions raised on
the circuits. One hundred acres of land was given by
Mr. Lewis, as the site for the Academy, The project
originated with Mr. Asbury, Francis Poythress, Isaac
Hite, of Jefferson; Colonel Hinde, of Nelson; Willis
Green, of Lincoln; Richard Masterson, of Fayette; and
Mr. Lewis, of Jessamine. A spacious building was
erected, I think eighty by forty feet, three stories high.
The design was to accommodate the students in the house
with boarding, etc. The first and second stories were
principally finished and a spacious hall in the center.
The building of this house rendered the pecuniary means
of the preachers very uncertain; for they were contin-
ually employed in begging for Bethel. The people were
very liberal, but they could not do more than they did.
The country was new, and the unsettled state of the peo-
ple, in consequence of the Indian wars and depredations,
kept the country in a continual state of agitation. The
I^eaislaiure, at an early period, made a donation of six
thousand acres of land to Bethel Academy. The land

WESTERN METHODISM. ft

was located in Christian county, south of Green river,
and remained a long time unproductive; and while I con-
tinued a trustee, till 1804, it remained rather a hill of
expense than otherwise. In 1803 I was appointed hy the
AYestern conference to attend the Legislature and obtain
an act of incorporation. I performed that duty, and
Bethel was incorporated, with all the powers and privi-
leges of 2 literary institution. From that time I was
removed to such a distance that my connection with the
Academy ceased. Rev. Valentine Cook was the first that
organized the academical department; and at first the
prospect was flattering. A number of students were in
attendance; but difficulties occurred which it would be
needless to mention, as all the parties concerned have
gone to give an account at a higher tribunal; but such
was the effect that the school soon declined, and brother
Cook abandoned the project.

The Rev. John Metcalf, who had married and located,
was next introduced, and kept a common school for some
time. On his leaving the place vacant, Rev. Nathaniel
Harris moved, with his family, and occupied the building
as a dwelling, and kept a school for the neighborhood.
On his leaving the premises, it was soon in a dilapidated
state. The land on which it was built fell into the hands
of Mr. Lewis's heirs, the house was taken down, so that
not one stone was left upon another, and the whole was
transferred to Nicholasville, and incorporated into a
county academy, which is still in operation; but the
Methodist Church have no more interest in it than other
citizens of Jessamine county.

In the spring of 1795 I had traveled all the circuits in
Kentucky except Limestone. This circuit lay on the
north side of Licking river — a considerable wilderness
intervening between Hinkston and Limestone circuits.
It included Mason and Fleming counties. It was a smalj

44 SKETCHES OF

circuit ; bounded on the east, south, and west by the
frontier settlements, and on the north by the Ohio river.
Taking it all in all; these were days, in the west, that
tried men's souls. From the time that the first Method-
ist missionaries entered this new field of labor up to thia
spring, there had been one continued Indian war, while
the whole frontier, east, west, north, and south, had been
exposed to the inroads and cruel depredations of the
merciless savages. This spring — 1795 — was the noted
Nickajack expedition, which terminated the Cherokee
war; and Wayne's treaty at Greenville, Ohio, put an end
to the Indian wars, and the whole western country, foi
once, had peace. There is one thing worthy of notice,
and that is, that notwithstanding the constant exposure
the traveling preachers were subjected to, but two of them
fell by the hands of the savages, and both of them by
the name of Tucker. One was a young man, descending
the Ohio on a flatboat, in company with several other
boats — all were family boats, moving to Kentucky. They
were attacked by the Indians near the mouth of Brush
creek, now Adams county, Ohio. Several boats were
taken possession of by the Indians, the inmates massa-
cred, and the property taken by them. Every man in
the boat with Tucker was killed, and Tucker wounded
mortally. The Indians made attempts to board the boat,
but, notwithstanding he was wounded, the women loaded
the guns and Tucker kept up a constant fire upon them,
and brought off the boat safe; but before they landed at
Limestone he expired, and his remains quietly repose
somewhere in that place. Brother James O'Cull assisted
in burying him, and is the only man now living who
could designate the spot. I think the Kentucky confer-
ence should erect a monument to his memory. The other
was shot near a station south of Green river, not far from
the present town of Grecnsburg=

WESTEBJsr METHODISM. 45

The conference for the year 1795 met at Ebenezcr
l^arnest's neighborhood, on Nolachucky, the last week in
April. We passed through the wilderness this year
without much apprehension of danger. The most of the
preachers from Kentucky met their brethren on Holston
district. This was the largest annual conference we had
ever seen in the west. Bishop Asbury attended, and it
was a conference of considerable interest. At this con-
ference I was ordained to the office of an elder. My
parchment bears date 30th April, 1795, Western terri-
tory. At this conference I was requested by the Bishop
to preach the ordination sermon for the deacons. I did
so, from the words of Paul to Timothy : '• Study to shew
thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. '^ We
had a most harmonious and blessed time. I received
my appointment this year to Cumberland, 31ero district,
Western territory. The circuit included Davidson, Sum-
ner, and Robinson counties, in the territory, and part of
Logan county, Kentucky, lying on the waters of Red
river, and extending out to the neighborhood w^iere Rus-
selville now stands; in a word, it included all the settle-
ments in that region of country. In order to reach my
destination I had to return through Kentucky, and to
take my colleague, who was a young man, received at this
conference, by the name of Peter Guthrie. He was a
man of deep piety, but of slender preaching abilities.
We made the best of our way for Cumberland, passed on
from Lexington through Dauville circuit and Salt River:
and on the first night after we left the bounds of Salt
River circuit, we stopped at the last house, on the edge
of the barrens, on the south side of Green river, at Side-
:)ottom's ferry. After we had put our horses up circum-
itances made it necessary, by an occurrence in the fam-
Jy; that we should camp out; and we accordingly made

4:6 SKETCHES OF

our fire in the woods and laid us down to rest ; and, all
things considered, we had a comfortable night's rest. We
now had a vast barren track to pass through of between
eighty and ninety mileSj with but one house — -M'Fadden's
Station, on Big Barren river, not far from where Bowling
Green is now situated. The next day we arrived in the
settlement, on the waters of Bed river. On the follow-
ing day we arrived at Nashville, and in the evening at
James llockett's, about two miles west of town. He was
a rich planter, and had formerly resided in the Choctaw
nation. At this time he was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and his house was a home for the trav-
eling preachers. In this neighborhood I staid several
days, and collected what information I could about the
state of the circuit. Moses Speer, one of the preachers
that traveled the circuit the preceding year, and had
married in the neighborhood of Nashville, and a young
man by the name of Joseph Dunn, were traveling on the
circuit when we arrived.

On inquiry I found that James Haw, who was one of
the first preachers that came to Kentucky, had located
and settled in Cumberland, and embraced the views of
0' Kelly, and by his influence and address had brought
over the traveling and every local preacher but one in
the country to his views, and considerable dissatisfaction
had obtained in many of the societies. Under these
circumstances I was greatly perplexed to know what
course to take — a stranger to every body in the country,
a young preacher, and Haw an old and experienced
preacher, well known, a popular man, and looked up to as
one of the fathers of the Church, and one who had suf-
fered much in planting Methodism in Kentucky and
Cumberland. After much reflection and prayer to God
for direction, I finally settled upon the following plan;
namely, to take the Discipline and examine it thoroughly,

WESTEEN METHODISM. 47

selecting all that was objected to bj 0' Kelly, and those
who adhered to him, and then undertake an explanation
and defense of the same. I accordingly met brother
Speer at Nashville, and after preaching requested the
society to remain, aud commenced my work. When I
concluded my defense, I took the vote of the society,
and they unanimously sustained the positions I had
taken. Brother Speer also asked the privilege of mak-
ing a few remarks. He stated to the society that he
would consider the Church as a house that he lived in ;
and notwithstanding the door was not exactly in the
place he should like it, or the chimney in the end that
best pleased him, yet he could not throw away or pull
down his house on that account ; and, therefore, he
concluded that he would not throw away the Church,
although some things, he thought, could be improved
in the Discipline. In consequence of this victory on my
first attempt, I took courage, and proceeded with my
work in every society; and, to my utter astonishment, I
succeeded in every place, and saved every society but one
small class on Red river, where a local preacher lived by
the name of Jonathan Stevenson, who had traveled the
circuit two years before, and located in that neighbor-
hood. Haw and Stevenson appointed a meeting on Red
river, and invited the Methodists all over the circuit to
attend the meeting, for the purpose of organizing the
new Church. The result was, that only ten or twelve
members offered themselves, and the most of them had
formerly belonged to the Baptist Church. Having failed
in every attempt to break up the societies, the next step
was to call me to a public debate. I accepted his chal-
lenge, and the day was appointed to meet at Station Cap,
one of the luost popular neighborhoods, and convenient
to a number of large societies. Notwithstanding I ac-
cepted the challenge, I trembled for the cause. I was

48 SKETCHES OF

young in the ministry, and inexperienced in that Ivind
of debate. He was an old minister, of long experience,
and of high standing in the community. I summoned
up all my courage, and, like young David with his sling,
I went forth to meet the Goliah. The day arrived, and a
great concourse of people attended. The preliminaries
were settled, and I had the opening of the debate. The
Lord stood by me. I had uncommon liberty, and before
I concluded many voices were heard in the congregation,
saying, ''Give us the old way!" Mr, Haw arose to make
his reply very much agitated, and exhibited a very bad
temper, being very much confused. He made some state-
ment that called from me a denial, and the people rose
up to sustain me, which was no sooner done than he was
so confused that he picked up his saddle-bags and walked
off, and made no reply. This left me in possession of the
whole field, and from that hour he lost his influence
among the Methodists, and his usefulness as a preacher.
In this situation he remained till 1801 ; and when the
great revival began in Tennessee among the Preobyte-
rians and Methodists, he connected himself with the
former, and ended his days among them as a preacher,
Benjamin Ogden, the colleague of Haw when they first
came to Kentucky, married a Miss Easland, on Danville
circuit, and located; in 1792 or 1793 joined O'Kelly.
He resided in Hardin county, Kentucky. He remained
many years unconnected with any Church ; but several
years before his death became again connected with the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and ended his days among
the Methodists. After the difficulties with Haw sub-
sided, we had a considerable revival on the circuit, and
some additions to the societies, and every thing moved on
harmoniously. On the ninth day of January, 1796, I was
married to Rachel Cooper, in Sumner county, Tennessee.
1 lost but one single appointment in consequence of my

WESTERN METHODISM. 49

marriage, but pursued the even tenor of my way. The
presiding elder never once visited the country during the
whole year. A few weeks after I was married, the pre-
siding elder sent down a preacher to relieve me, with
directions for me to return to Kentucky. I immediately
started, and visited the circuits where I had traveled in
Kentucky, and remained between five and six weeks, and
then returned to Tennessee, where I remained till we
started for conference, about the tenth of April.

The conference this year was at Nelson's, in the
neighborhood of Jonesboro, Western territory. In order
to reach this conference we had a long and tedious jour-
ney through the wilderness of upward of one hundred
miles, without a house. We had to pack on our horses
the provisions necessary for ourselves and horses for three
days and nights, and to camp out in the open air. The
company consisted of James Campbell and Joseph Dunn,
preachers, myself and wife, and a nephew of my wife.
The last night we encamped we were very apprehensive
that the Indians would rob us; consequently, some of us
kept awake through the night; but we had no interrup-
tion, and the next day we reached the settlement in the
neighborhood of where Knoxville is now situated. The
day after we entered the bounds of Green circuit, where
I had traveled in the year 1792, and were now among our
old friends. We arrived at Nelson's the day before the
conference commenced, and met Bishop Asbury. The
business of the conference was done in peace and har-
mony. I shall always remember what Mr. Asbury said
while my character was under examination before the con-
ference and before I withdrew. He stated to the conl'er-
ence that brother Burke had accomplished two important
things the past year — "the defeat of the O'Kellyites, and
he had married a wife." It was well known to the
preachers in those days that Mr. Asbury did not approve

5

'>•-.">]

50 SKETCHES OF

of tbeir marrying, and if they did marry, that it was
necessary to locate; but notwithstanding the opposition
of the preachers and people, I felt it my duty to travel
as long as Providence opened my way. Accordingly, I
received my appointment that year on Guilford circuit,
North Carolina. I immediately proceeded for my ap-
pointment, my wife accompanying me.

We arrived in the bounds of the circuit about the first
of May. I made my home at my father's, near the High
.... Kock ford, on Haw river, Rockingham county. It was a
_ year of great distress in that section of country. For the
\^ want of breadstuffs numbers perished from want. As
<)' soon as the fruit could be eaten the people resorted to
*■^ 'that as a means of subsistence, which brought on the
flux and other complaints, that hurried many off the stage
of action. During the summer and fall we had some con-
siderable move among the people in different parts of the
%• •>.;' circuit, and some additions to the societies.
■':^^'> In the beginning of October I left the circuit to attend
'"•'"* the second Greneral conference, which assembled at Balti-
'*'*'^'';'more on the 20th of October. Dr. Coke and Bishop
■'!.*;!'!., Asbury presided. The business of the conference was
/'••■'ovJ conducted with great harmony. At this conference the
^:^->Q Chartered Fund for the relief of the superannuated preach-
^.,,>') "ers, and the widows and orphans of preachers, was estab-
'"-■' lished by a rule of the General conference. It is, per-
\\4''-. haps, not known to many of the preachers now living
''^T how the funds were made up at the beginning to set the
institution on foot. We had for many years previous a
preachers' fund for the same purpose. This fund was
created by a payment by each traveling preacher, when
received into full connection, of twenty shillings, and
every year after, at the annual conference, two dollars.
The fund, which at this time was pretty considerable, was
used by John Dickens, the first Book Steward, for printing

WESTERN METHODISM. 51

books for tlie connection in America. The process wag
as follows : The money was used to pay for the printing.
The books were sold by the preachers, and the principal
was returned to the preachers' fund, and the profits re-
tained to lay the foundation for a book fund. At this Gen-
3ral conference the preachers' fund was merged into the
Chartered Fund, and the residue was raised by subscrip-
tions and donations from the members. In this way orig-
inated the Charter Fund and the Book Concern of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in these United States; and
this was brought about when the preacher's allowance
was only sixty-four dollars, including all his presents and
marriage fees.

There were several important events which transpired
this year in the bounds of Guilford circuit that require
a passing notice. A few years previous brother Simon
Carlisle, quite a talented young man, was stationed on
Caswell circuit, the circuit adjoining Guilford. He had
been acceptable and useful, and completed his year to
the satisfaction of all. In those days it was the custom
for the preacher to select some place in the circuit which
he considered his home, where he deposited for safe-
keeping his surplus books and clothes, etc. He had
made his home at a brother Harrison's, not far from Dunn
river; and on the morning he was about to leave the cir-
cuit for the annual conference, he packed up his things in
his saddle-bags, and left them in his room unlocked, and
went out to see something about his horse. In his
absence a wicked young man, son of brother Harrison,
put a pocket pistol into his saddle-bags. On his return
to the room, without making any examination, he locked
his saddle-bags, and left for conference. When he ar-
rived at his mother's, on the way to conference, on taking
his things out of his saddle-bags he found a pocket pistol.
He could not account for its being there; but leaving it

IWl SKETCHES OF

he proceeded on to conference. During the year the
pistol was taken to a shop on the road to have some re-
pairs done to it, and a person passing challenged the same
as being the pistol of young Harrison, and the same was
traced to brother Carlisle. At the next annual confer-
ence, in 1794, he was charged with the fact of taking
the pistol, and excommunicated from the Church, and
so returned on the Minutes of that year. During the
summer of 1796 young Harrison was taken sick and
died; but just before his death he made a full confession
of his having put the pistol into the saddle-bags of
brother Carlisle, with the intention of injuring him; and
I had the pleasure of restoring brother Carlisle again to
the bosom of the Church, to his great joy. He has re-
mained a minister in good standing ever since, and has
been living for many years in Middle Tennessee, and
has in old age connected himself with the traveling con-
nection in the Tennessee conference.

On the 4th day of March, 1797, I set out for the west-
ern country, and met the conference on Holston. Mr.
Asbury was at the conference. I received my appoint-
ment on the Holston circuit again, having been absent
for five years. Brother William Duzan traveled with me
that year. Nothing of importance transpired during that
conference year. We had a gradual increase in the soci-
eties. I visited Clinch and Green circuits in the course
of the year, and attended several quarterly meetings,
which in those days of Methodism were the only popular
meetings where the preachers, when they could leave
their circuits, met to help forward the good cause. In
the spring of 1798 Bishop Asbury met the conference on
Holston, and I was appointed to Cumberland again, hav-
ing been absent two years. I traveled this year alone,
and had not the pleasure of seeing the face of a travel-
ing preacher through the entire year. The circuit had

WESTEliN METHODISM. 53

become very large; the country was settling very fast;
and many additions to the Church made by certificate.
During this year many local preachers emigrated, and
settled in the bounds of the circuit. Rev. John M'Gee
settled at Dickson's Spring; Kev. Jesse Walker settled
on White's Creek. This year 1 became acquainted with
J. A. G-rcnade, who moved from the lower part of the
state of North Carolina. He had in Carolina professed
religion; but on coming to Tennessee he had fallen into
a strange state of mind. He was in constant fear of hell,
and despaired of ever being restored to the favor of God
again. I did every thing in my power for his recovery.
He traveled with me considerably, and sometimes he
would have lucid intervals — seasons when he appeared
perfectly rational, and expressed a hope ; but suddenly
lie would relapse into melancholy and despair again.

During this year I had to pay nearly a hundred dollars
for a horse, and I found it hard to raise the money, and
support myself, and pay the board of my wife; however,
I economized in every way. I borrowed a blanket, and
wore it instead of a great-coat through the winter, and
by that means paid my debts. Upon the whole, I spent
this year very agreeably, and with some success. I left
the circuit in the spring of 1799 for conference in Ken-
tucky, at Bethel Academy. This year I received my
appointment on Danville circuit for the second time, hav-
ing been absent for seven years. Part of this year I had
Henry Smith for my colleague, who, I believe, is yet liv-
ing in Maryland. I had many difficulties to contend
with, being the first married preacher that Lad ever
attempted to travel with what the people and preachers
called the incumbrance of a wife; and every thing was
thrown in my way to discourage me. The presiding
elder thought I had better locate ; for, he said, the peo-
ple would not support a married man. But I determined

54 SKETCHES OF

to hold on my way, and my wife encouraged me SLa
wrought with her own hands, and paid her boaid, and
clothed herself; and I divided equally with my colleague,
and by this means kept every thing quiet.

This year began my war with the Baptists. Having
had some small revival, the Baptists did all they could
to draw off our members and get them into the water;
and I began with lecturing every time I baptized an
infant, which greatly roused up the Baptists, so much
go that I received a challenge from the Bev. Thomas
Shelton, the champion of the whole Baptist denomina-
tion. I accepted the challenge, and the day was ap-
pointed at Irvin's Lick, in Madison county. We met
according to appointment, and settled the preliminaries
of debate, each to speak fifteen minutes. Brother John
Watson was appointed by me to keep time and call to
order, and a Baptist preacher appointed by Mr. Shelton
for the same purpose. We proceeded about four hours
to debate the subject. I had the close, when Shelton
observed to the immense congregation that he believed I
was an honest but a mistaken man. I proceeded to ad-
minister the ordinance of baptism on the spot, and Mr.
Shelton stood by and witnessed the same. From that
day the tug of war began, which continued till 1811,
when I left the state. At that meeting Elisha W. Bow-
man was present, and a young speaker in the Methodist
Episcopal Church, who immediately entered upon the
study of the subject and became a warm auxiliary in the
cause. William J. Thompson also took up the subject.
He was a strong man and rendered efficient service. Af-
ter 1800 John Sale and William M'Kendree engaged
with me in the contest. We kept up a constant fire upon
the Baptists, and the Methodists began to gain confi-
dence and to make a respectable stand among the denom-
inations of Christians.

WESTERN METHODISM. 55

The year 1799 I expected would terminate my labors
in the western country. At the request of Bishop As-
Dury, all the preachers that had been in the west for any
considerable time were to leave the country and attend
the General conference at Baltimore, on the sixth day of
May, 1800, and to receive their appointments in the old
states, and a new set to be sent to the west. We all
accordingly set out early in April. The following were
the preachers that left: Francis Poythress, Thomas Wil-
kerson, John Page, John Watson, John Buxton, Henry
Smith, John Kobler, and William Burke. Bishop Asbury
had formed the intended plan of appointing a presiding
elder to take charge of all the west in one district;
namely, Kentucky, Tennessee, and all that part of Vir-
ginia west of New river and the North-Western territory,
including the 31iami and Scioto Valleys. He used his
utmost endeavors, during the General conference, to
engage a man for that purpose, but failed; for when they
understood the extent of the territory they would have to
travel over, they uniformly declined to undertake it.
Before the close of the conference he applied to me to
know if I would consent to return to Kentucky and take
with me all the papers appertaining to the annual confer-
ence and Bethel Academy, and do the best I could f^r
the work in that part of the field. I consented, and he
appointed to go with me John Sale, Hezekiah Harraman.
William Algood, and Henry Smith; for the Holston coun-
try, James Hunter, John Watson, and John Page; and
for Cumberland, AVilliam Lambeth. John Sale and H.
Harraman proceeded with me immediately for Kentucky.
Hezekiah Harraman was appointed to Danville circuit,
John Sale to Salt River and Shelby, William Algood tc
Limestone. I was appointed to Hinkston, and to super-
intend the quarterly meetings where there was no elder.
William Algood never came to his appointment. I pre*

Mm SKETCHES OF 5'^ W

vailed on Jeremiah Lawson to supply his place on Lime-
stone circuit, and I placed Lewis Hunt on Hinkston, and
spent the most of my time on Lexington, Hinkston, and
Limestone circuits. My labors, during that summer,
were very arduous, and to accomplish my work I rode
down two good horses.

During that year the annual conference was changed
from the spring to the fall; and on the first of October,
1800, the conference met at Bethel Academy. Bishops
Asbury and Whatcoat attended, and they brought with
them AVilliam M'Kendree, from the center district of
Virginia, to take charge of the whole of the western
country. Mr. Asbury wished me to go and take charge
of the district that M'Kendree had left, but I told him
it was out of the question; that I had returned to Ken-
tucky, at his request, from Baltimore, in the spring; that
I had rode down my horses; that I had worn out my
clothes; that I was ragged and tattered; and last and not
least, I had not a cent in my pocket, and, therefore,
could not go. He yielded to the necessity of the case.
At that conference Benjamin Lakin was readmitted and
William Marsh admitted. I was appointed on Lexington
and Hinkston united, with Thomas Wilkerson and Lewis
Hunt. "Wilkerson did not come on from Baltimore cir-
cuit till late in the spring of 1801.

■ JT
A.

'ir.ir.'j 7?;JYtf:i

WESTERN METHODISM. ■ W

CHAPTER III.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY CONTINUED.

I NOW enter upon a new era in the history of west-
ern Methodism. I consider this the proper place to
give a description of the men and means employed in
the establishment and progress of Methodism in this
western country, and the difficulties and hardships en-
countered in the work. As early as the year 1785 the
first traveling preachers visited the Holston country;
their names were Richard Swift and Michael Gilbert.
The country at this time was new and thinly settled.
They met with many privations and sufferings, and made
but little progress. The most of the country through
which they traveled was very mountainous and rough,
and the people ignorant and uncultivated, and the greater
part a frontier exposed to Indian depredations. They
were followed by Mark Whitaker and Mark Moore, who
were zealous, plain, old-fashioned Methodist preachers,
and calculated to make an impression. Their labors were
successful, and they were instrumental in raising up
many societies. Mark Whitaker in particular was a
strong man, and maintained Methodist doctrine in oppo-
sition to Calvinism, which was the prevailing doctrine of
that time. He laid a good foundation for his successors,
and was followed by Jeremiah Matson and Thomas Ware,
and after them in succession Joseph Doddridge, Jeremiah
Able, John Tunnell, John Baldwin, Charles Hardy, John
M'Gee, and John West. Under God these men planted
the standard of the cross in the frontier settlements of

68 SKETCHES OF

the French Broad, and numerous societies were raised up,
so that in 1791 the societies numbered upward of one
thousand. About this time I arrived in the Holston
country. These fathers of Methodism, most of whom
have gone to their reward, will be long had in grateful
remembrance. But two of them are lingering on the
shores of mortality — Charles Hardy and John West.
The most of them died in connection with the Church,
and are now reaping the reward of their labors and suf-
ferings. Joseph Doddridge received orders in the Epis-
copal Church of England, and settled in the Monongahela
country, and there died. Jeremiah Able joined the
Presbyterians, and lived and died in the Green river
country, not far from Greensburg, Green county, Ken-
tucky.

The pioneers of Methodism in that part of western
Virginia and the Western territory suffered many priva-
tions, and underwent much toil and labor, preaching in
forts and cabins, sleeping on straw, bear and buffalo
skins, living on bear meat, venison, and wild turkeys,
traveling over mountains and through solitary valleys,
and, sometimes, lying on the cold ground; receiving but
a scanty support, barely enough to keep soul and body
too-ether, with coarse home-made apparel; but the best
of all was, their labors were owned and blessed of God,
and they were like a band of brothers, having one pur-
pose and end in view — the glory of God and the salva-
tion of immortal souls. When the preachers met from
their different and distant fields of labor, they had a feast
of love and friendship; and when they parted, they wept
and embraced each other as brothers beloved. Such was
the spirit of primitive Methodist preachers.

There were but few local preachers at that time in that
part of the western country, and they were like angels'
visits, few and far between — one local preacher on West

WESTERN METHODISM. 59

New River circuit, a brother Morgan, whose labors were
confined principally to a small circle; but one on Holston.
old father Ragen, in the Rich Valley, not far from the
Salt-Works. He was a man much respected, and, in
some degree, useful in his neighborhood, but circum-
Bcribed in his operations as a preacher. At an early time
brother Benjamin Vanpelt, a local preacher of consider-
able talents and usefulness, moved from Alexandria, Vir-
ginia, and settled on Lick creek. Green county. Western
territory. He labored extensively, was very useful, and
was made an instrument, under God, of doing much
good. Several societies were formed by his ministry, and
he may be considered one of the fathers of the Church.
His memory will be long had in remembrance by the peo-
ple of the French Broad country. He was the old and
particular friend of Bishop Asbury, and one of the first
meeting-houses built in that country was Vanpelt's meet-
ing-house. I have been in company with the Bishop at
his house, and heard him preach in the meeting-house as
early as 1792. Brother Stilwell, another local preacher
from Virginia, settled in the same neighborhood and
united with brother Vanpelt, and they labored harmoni-
ously in the good work. After the conclusion of the
Indian war, in the spring of 1795, there was a great in-
flux by immigration. Some of the traveling preachers
married and settled in the country. James O'Conner
settled on Watauga, Mark Whitaker near Jonesboro, Ste-
phen Brooks in Green county, and many others, both
preachers and members, settled in diJGferent sections, and
some new preachers were raised up, and the work was
enlarged; new circuits were formed, and some useful and
talented young men entered into the traveling connection.
Among the first was Francis Acufi", of precious memory,
who, at an early period, fell a victim to disease, and died
in the triumphs of faith on Danville circuit, Kentucky.

60 SKETCHES OF

Nathaniel Massie^ David Young, Henager, and Porter,
in succession were raised up in that section of country,
whose labors and usefulness are known among the thou-
sands of Israel; and the few who remain to witness the
ijpread and triumph of the Redeemer's kingdom aie ready
to exclaim, ^' The Lord hath done great things for us,
whereof we are glad.''

We now turn our attention to Kentucky. This country
began to be settled by adventurers soon after the com-
mencement of the Revolutionary war. It was completely
insulated, being a vast wilderness to the south from the
frontiers of Virginia and the Western territory, of one
hundred and thirty miles on the eastern boundary; an
uninhabited country till you arrived on the frontiers of
Virginia and Pennsylvania; a few settlements being scat-
tered through Brook county, Virginia, and on the Monon-
eahela, and on Greenbriar river, and the head waters of
James river, and on the north by the Ohio river; and the
whole country extending to the lakes without inhabitants,
except the Indians, who were the friends of the British,
and under their influence, and kept up a constant warfare
on the whole of the settlements in Kentucky. The first
families that emigrated to Kentucky was in the year
1773, and the first station established was Boonsboro, on
the Kentucky river, situated in what was afterward
called Madison county. The next stations were Harrod's
and Bryant's. Harrod's Station was situated on the south
side of the Kentucky river, below the mouth of Dick's
river; and as the settlements spread the stations were
multiplied. Every new settlement had a station; one at
Ruddell's Mills, at Georgetown, Millersburg, Mays Lick,
Vvashington, Frankfort, Louisville, Middletown, Master-
son's Station, Burnt Station, and numerous others formed
as the country settled. The frontier settlements kept up
the stations and block-houses till the treaty of Greenville,

WESTERN METHODISM. ^

in the spring of 1795. In the first settlement of Ken-
tucky the denomination of Baptists were the most numer-
ous. Among the first preachers of that order were the
Craigs, the Bledsoes, and Bailey, etc. There were a few
Presbyterian ministers that settled in different sections
of the country. Old father Rankin, of Lexington, llev.
Mr. Bice, from Virginia, settled in the forks of Dick's
river, and the Rev. Robt. W. Finley at Cane Ridge. After
the conclusion of the Revolutionary war the emigration
was very great to Kentucky; and the Presbyterians sent
out numbers of missionaries, who traveled and preached
through the country, and settled down wherever they
could establish a congregation. Among the first was the
Rev. Messrs. James Blythe, Lyle, Welch, M'Namer,
Stone, Reynolds, Stewart, and several others not recol-
lected.

They established congregations in Fayette, Clark, Bour-
bon, Scott, and Woodford, and M'Clelland, in Mercer, and
Washington. The Baptists still continued the most nu-
merous; but at an early period, say about 1789, or 1790,
they had a division in the Church. A numerous party
arose among them calling themselves Separate, or by some
denominated Free-Will Baptists. The Free-Will Baptists
held in common the doctrines of the Methodists, except
the unconditional final perseverance of the saints, and
baptism by immersion as the only mode, while the
Regulars held to the doctrine of predestination, as set
forth in the Philadelphia Confession of Faith; but they
were subject to another division. Rev. John Bailey
and Bledso embraced the doctrines of Winchester, and
were denominated Universalists. They were popular
preachers among the Baptists, and made great inroads in
many of their Churches; and the controversy was carried
to great lengths, and conducted with much acrimony.
At this period the Separatists took the lead. They sue-

62 SKETCHES OF

cessfully preached against the doctrine of predestination
and decrees, enforced experimental and practical religion,
formed Churches, and established separate associations,
and became very numerous ; but thej have long since
ceased to exist as a separate denomination. They gradu-
ally united with the Regular associations, and are now
known as Baptists generally. At the commencement of
these controversies the Methodists were few and far
between.

Soon after the conclusion of the war with Great Brit-
ain, Francis Clark, a local preacher from old Virginia,
settled in the neighborhood of Danville, Mercer county,
and was among the first Methodists that emigrated to the
country. He was a man of sound judgment, and well
instructed in the doctrines of the Methodist Church. As
a preacher he was successful, and was made the instru-
ment of forming several societies, and lived many years
to rejoice in the success of the cause that he had been
the instrument, under God, of commencing in the wilder-
ness. He died at his own domicile, in the fall of 1799,
in great peace, and in hope of a blessed immortality. I
attended his funeral in connection with the Rev. Francis
Poythress, and at his request I preached from these
words: " For to me to live is Christ, but to die is gain."
The Rev. William J. Thompson emigrated at an early
day from Stokes county, North Carolina, and settled in
the same neighborhood. He became also a useful auxil-
iary, and preached with acceptance and success. He
afterward joined the traveling connection in the West-
ern conference; and when he moved to the state of Ohio
became connected with the Ohio conference, where his
labors and usefulness are held in remembrance by many.
He still lives in good old age, in Clermont county, Ohio.
The next local preachers that came to the country were
Nathaniel Harris, from Virginia, Gabriel and Daniel

WESTEKN METHODISM. 63

Woodfield, from the Redstone country. Harris settled in
Jessamine county, and the Woodfields in Fayette county;
and not long after Philip Taylor, from Virginia, settled
in Jessamine county. These were considered a great
acquisition to the infant societies. Nathaniel Harris and
Gabriel Woodfield were among the first order of local
preachers, and they were highly esteemed, and labored
with success. They have been connected with the itin-
erancy, and labored in that relation with acceptance.
Gabriel Woodfield afterward settled in Henry county; but
before his death removed to Indiana, in the neighborhood
of Madison, where he lived to a good old age, and died
in peace among his friends and connections. Brother
Nathaniel Harris still lives, at the age of nearly four-
score years. He is still actively engaged in the good
cause, and lives in the midst of his friends, highly es-
teemed and useful. Joseph Ferguson, a local preacher
from Fairfax county, Virginia, moved to Kentucky at an
early time, and settled in Nelson count}^, and was among
the first preachers that settled in that section of the
country. He was an amiable man, possessed good
preaching talents, and was rendered very useful. He
was highly esteemed, blessed with an amiable family, and
his house was a home for the traveling preachers, who
were at all times welcome guests. Brother Ferguson was
subject at times to great depression of mind; but when
in the company of the traveling preachers he was always
cheerful and happy. He lived to a good old age, at the
place where he first settled, and died in peace and in the
triumphs of that Gospel which he had proclaimed for
many years. Ferguson's meeting-house was one of the
first that was built in that part of the country; and at
one time there was a large society at that meeting-house,
and when I was last in the neighborhood, in the fall of
1811, they still maintained a respectable standing.

64: SKETCHES OF

One of the oldest meeting-houses in Madison county
was Proctor's Chapel, not far from Boonsboro. That part
of the countr}' shared largely in the blessings of the
Gospel, and Methodism flourished to a very great extent
in that county. There were a number of respectable
local preachers, whose labors were extensive and success-
ful. Charles Kavanaugh, John Cook, R. Baker, and J.
Proctor, were all early emigrants to that part of the
country. Charles Kavanaugh was a preacher of splendid
talents and great usefulness. He was an able defender
of the doctrines of the Methodist Church, and was
highly respected by all denominations. There were sev
era! families of that connection. Williams Kavanaugh
was raised ia that neighborhood, and was a cousin to
Charles. Williams Kavanaugh and Lewis Garrett were
both raised on Danville circuit, and both entered the
traveling connection in the spring of 1794, and traveled
that conference year together on Green circuit, now East
Tennessee, then the Western territory. Of these two
young men we shall hereafter have something more to
say. Charles Kavanaugh, after having made full proof
of his ministry in Kentucky, removed, in 1796 or 1797,
to the neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee, where I
found him settled in 1798. He there commenced the
practice of medicine, and was celebrated as a cancer doc-
tor. Of his labors and usefulness in that country, and
the manner in which he closed his life and labors, we
hope some friend will furnish the account.

We must now turn our attention to the introduction of
the traveling missionaries into the state of Kentucky.
The first traveling Methodist preachers that ever set foot
on Kentucky soil was James Haw and Benjamin Ogden.
They were stationed in Kentucky, 1786 — James Haw
elder; and at the end of the year they returned ninety
in society. This was the commencement of Methodism

^m

WESTERN METHODISM. 65

in the great west. In order to show the progress of
Methodism, and the means and instruments employed,
1 shall give jou the numbers of increase of members and
traveling preachers in 1788. Number, 539. Circuits:
Lexington, Thomas Williamson, Peter Massie, Benjamin
Snelling; Danville, Wilson Lee; Cumberland, David
Coombs, Barnabas M'Henrj. In 1789 : Number, 1,088.
This year Francis Poythress was appointed presiding
elder, and a regular district was formed. Lexington,
James Haw, Wilson Lee, Stephen Brooks 3 Danville, Bar-
nabas M'Henry, Peter Massie ; Cumberland, Thomas
Williamson, Joshua Hartley. In 1790 : Number, 1,366.
Francis Poythress presiding elder. Danville, Thomas
Williamson, Stephen Brooks; Cumberland, James Haw,
Wilson Lee, Peter Massie; Madison, Barnabas M'Henry,
Benjamin Snelling, Samuel Tucker, Joseph Lillard ; Lex-
ington, Henry Burchet, David Haggard. In 1791 :
Number, 1,969. Francis Poythress presiding elder.
Limestone, Peter Massie; Danville, Thomas Williamson,
J. Tatman; Salt Paver, Wilson Lee, Joseph Lillard;
Lexington, Henry Burchet, David Haggard; Cumber-
land, Barnabas M'Henry, James O'Cull. In 1792 : Num-
ber, 2,235. Francis Poythress presiding elder. Lime-
stone, John Bay; Lexington, John Sewell, Benjamin
Northcott, John Page ; Danville, Wilson Lee, Bicbard
Bird; Cumberland, John Ball, J. Stephenson; Henry
Burchet, Isaac Hammer, Salt Kiver.

We shall now notice the state of religion. The first
two years were principally taken up in seeking the lost
sheep that had been scattered in the wilderness. In
1798 there was a new recruit of preachers sent out.
Thomas Williamson, Wilson Lee, and David Coombs
came from the Redstone country, which at that time was
connected with the Baltimore conference as missionary
ground; but soon afterward, as early as 1791, Bishop

6

06 SKETCHES OF

Asbury held a conference at Uniontown, not far from tlie
foot of Laurel Hill^ in Pennsylvania. This new recruit
consisted of young men, and all well qualified for the
work of missionaries. They had no other object in view
but to push forward the Redeemer's kingdom, and to
enlarge the borders of Zion.

The same year Barnabas M'Henry, then quite a youth,
and one of the early fruits of Methodism in the Holston
country, came out into the field. His parents resided in
the Rich Valley not far from the Salt-Works, Washington
county, Virginia. He also penetrated the wilderness,
and came to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
This band of young, resolute soldiers of the cross united
under two old and experienced veterans — Francis Poy-
thress and James Haw. Providence opened their way,
and they began to make some favorable impressions upon
the minds and hearts of the people. They occupied the
whole ground, and, with the assistance of the few local
men who had been there before them, they carried the
war into the camp of the enemy, and in a short time a
powerful and extensive revival took place. Hundreds
were added to the Church ', and considering the situation
of the country, surrounded by a wilderness, and the Lidi-
ans continually making depredations on the frontiers, and
the people constantly harassed and penned up in forts
and stations, it may be considered among the greatest
revivals that was ever known. In this revival a number
of wealthy and respectable citizens were added to the
Church — the Hardins, Thomases, Hites, Lewises, Easlands,
Mastersons, Kavanaughs, Tuckers, Richardsons, Letemors,
Browns, Garretts, Churchfields, JefFerses, Hoards, and
numbers of others of respectable standing in society;
and out of this revival was raised up some useful and
promising young men, who entered the traveling con-
nection, and many of them made full proof of their

WESTERN METHODISM. 67

ministry, and lived many years to ornament the Churcli
of God. I will name a few of tliem. Peter Massie; who
was termed the weeping prophet, was among the first-
fruits. He was made an instrument of great good wher-
ever he went, scattering the holy fire. His labors were
so great that his race was but short. He literally wore
himself out in a few years. The zeal of God's cause
literally consumed him. He was great and mighty in
prayer, and always wished that he might die suddenly,
and without lingering in pain. He labored faithfully
for three years; and on the 18th of December, 1791, he
was sitting in his chair at brother Hodge's, a station sis
miles south of Nashville, Tennessee, where he suddenly
expired, in the morning about nine o'clock. So ended
the labors of brother Massie. His remains lie near the
Old Station, unhonored by a single stone, and to the
present generation entirely unknown ; but he rests from
his labors in hope of a resurrection, while his immortal
spirit is in the world of bliss and of glory. Others well
known to the present generation of Methodists were also
thrust out into the vineyard — John Ray, Benjamin
Northcott, Joseph Lillard, and Joseph Tattman. In the
year 1791 Henry Burchet and David Haggard, from the
Virginia conference, and James O'Cull, from the Red-
stone country, were sent out as a reinforcement, and
united in carrying on the work, which was still in prog-
ress, notwithstanding the campaigns that were carried on
against the Indians; for during this time Harmar and
St. Clair had both been defeated on the north of the
Ohio river, and the country constantly kept in a state of
agitation. Still Methodism held up her head, and pre-
sented a bold front. The societies maintained their
ground. In 1792 the number was 2,2.35, and the num-
ber of traveling preachers eleven — about two hundred
members to one preacher. The reader may have some

68 SKETCHES OF

kind of an idea what kind of pecuniary support they had.
Traveling and preaching, night and day, in weariness and
want; many days without the necessaries of life, and
always without those comforts that are now enjoyed by
travelino; preachers; with worn and tattered garments,
but happy and united like a band of brothers. The
quarterly meetings and annual conferences were high
times. When the pilgrims met they never met without
embracing each other, and never parted at those seasons
without weeping. Those were days that tried men's
souls.

Thomas ^yilIiamson was a very successful and laborious
preacher. He literally wore himself out in traveling and
preaching, but ended his days in peace in the state of
Kentucky, not far from Lexington. Wilson Lee was one
of the most successful preachers among those early ad-
venturers. He was a man of fine talents, meek and hum-
ble, of a sweet disposition, and not only a Christian and
Christian minister, but much of a gentleman. During
his stay in Kentucky, from 1787 to 1792, he traveled
over all the settlements of Kentucky and Cumberland,
much admired and beloved by saint and sinner. In the
spring of 1792, in company with Bishop Asbury, he
crossed the wilderness from Kentucky to Virginia, where
I met him at conference on Holston, and from thence to
the eastward, and attended the first General conference
at Baltimore, November 1, 1792, and remained in the
bounds of the New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore
conferences till he departed this life, in 1804, at Walter
Worthington's, Ann Arundel county, Maryland. The
last time I had the pleasure of seeing him was in George-
town, District of Columbia, on my way to the General
conference of May 1, 1804. He was then in a very feeble
condition. His affliction was hemorrhage of the lungs,
of which he died. During the time he traveled in Ken-

WESTERN METHODISM. 69

tucky he passed through many sufferings and privations,
in weariness and want, in hunger and nakedness; travel-
ing from fort to fort, sometimes with a guard and some-
times alone; often exposing his life; for the savages
were constantly in quest of plunder and of life; and
scarcely a week passed without hearing of some one fall-
ing a prey to them; and what we say of brother Lee may
be said of all the traveling preachers, as it respects their
exposure and suffering, till the year 1794 — the year of
Wayne's campaign — when the northern Indians were
held in fear and finally subdued.

In 1791 Henry Burchet was sent from the Virginia
conference and stationed on Lexington circuit; in 1792
on Salt River. On both those circuits he was eminently
useful. He was very zealous, and declined no labor or
suffering, but offered himself a willing sacrifice to the
cause of his Redeemer. He was among the first preach-
ers in the west who took a deep interest in the rising
generation. In every neighborhood where it was practi-
cable he formed the children into classes, sang and prayed
with them, catechised them, and exhorted them. For
this work he had a peculiar turn, and was successful in
carrying out his plan of instruction. Many years after I
have heard the young people in Kentucky and Cumber-
land speak in the highest terms of Henry Burchet. At
the conference held at Masterson's Station, in May, 1793,
our beloved brother Burchet was in a poor state of health.
He had labored the preceding year on Salt River circuit,
the most extensive in the district, requiring more labor
and suffering than any other in the country. Before the
close of the year he felt a great weakness in his breast
and spitting of blood. At the conference it appeared
that Cumberland must be left to be provided for hereaf-
ter. Brother Burchet said, ''Here am I, send me." His
friends remonstrated against his going; the distance was

IP SKETCHES OF

great; considerable clanger from Indians; tlie sniall-pox
prevailing in the country— all was urged against his
going; but after asking the consent of Bishop Asbury
and the conference^ he said^ ''If I perish who can doubt
of my eternal rest, or fail to say. Let me die the death of
the righteous, and let my last end be like his V He
labored with great success in Cumberland. Though weak
and much afflicted in his breast, he held on his way till
late in the fall, when he was obliged to stop traveling.
He was a welcome guest at the house of a rich planter,
two miles west of Nashville, by the name of James Hock-
ett. where he remained, enjoying the hospitality of the
family and the visits of his numerous friends, till the
month of February, 1794, when he departed this life, in
hope of eternal blessedness in the kingdom of God. At
his request he was wrapped in white flannel and commit-
ted to the silent grave. I often visited his grave in 1795
and 1798; but I suppose since that day strangers are in
the possession of the premises, and every vestige of the
spot where he lies is obliterated, and, with the exception
of a few, his name is forgotten. It is now forty-five
years since Henry Burchet ceased to labor and to live.
"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from hence-
forth, saith the Spirit; for they rest from their labors, and
their works follow them.^'

James Haw must next claim our attention. He was
the first traveling Methodist preacher that entered on the
field in Kentucky in 1786. He was an able and success-
ful laborer in the Lord's vineyard. Numerous were the
sufferings and hardships that he underwent in planting
the standard of the cross in that wild and uncultivated
region, surrounded with savages, and traveling from fort
to fort, and every day exposing his life; and, notwith-
standing every difficulty and embarrassment, the good
work progressed. In the years 1787, 1788, and 1789 the

WESTERN METHODISM. 71

holy flame spread all over Kentucky and Cumberland.
Haw, Poythress^ Wilson Lee, and Williamson were the
chief instruments in carrying on this great work. We
may gather something from a letter written by James
Haw to Bishop Asbury in the beginning of the year
1789.

It reads: ^^Good news from Zion; the work of God is
going on rapidly in the new world; a glorious victory the
Son of God has gained, and he is still going on conquer-
ing and to conquer. Shout, ye angels ! Hell trembles
and heaven rejoices daily over sinners that repent. At a
quarterly meeting held in Bourbon county, Kentucky,
July 19th and 20th, 1788, the Lord poured out his Spirit
in a wonderful manner, first on the Christians, and sanc-
tified several of them powerfully and gloriously, and, as I
charitably hope, wholly. The seekers also felt the power
and presence of God, and cried for mercy as at the point
of death. We prayed with and for them, till we had
reason to believe that the Lord converted seventeen or
eighteen precious souls. Halleluiah, praise ye the Lord !

"As I went from that through the circuit to another
quarterly meeting, the Lord converted two or three more.
The Saturday and Sunday following the Lord poured out
his Spirit again. The work of sanctification among the
believers broke out again at the Lord's table, and the
Spirit of the Lord went through the assembly like a
mighty rushing wind. Some fell; many cried for mercy.
Sighs and groans proceeded from their hearts; tears of
sorrow for sin ran streaming down their eyes. Their
prayers reached to heaven, and the Spirit of the Lord
entered into them and filled fourteen or fifteen with peace
and joy in believing. ^Salvation, 0 the joyful sound;
how the echo flies!' A few days after brother Poythress
came and went with me to another quarterly meeting,
We had another gracious season round the Lord's table.

^ii SKETCHES OF

but no remarkable stir till after preaching; when under
several exhortations some bursted out into tears, others
trembled, an i some fell. I sprang in among the people,
and the Lord converted one more very powerfully, who
praised the Lord with such acclamation of joy as I trust
will never be forgotten. The Sunday following 1 preached
my farewell sermon and met the class, and the Lord con-
verted three more. Glory be to his holy name forever!

*'The first round I went on Cumberland the Lord con-
verted six precious souls, and I joined three gracious
Baptists to our Church; and every round, I have reason
to believe, some sinners are awakened, some seekers
joined to society, and some penitents converted to God.
At our Cumberland quarterly meeting the Lord converted
six souls the first day, and one the next. Glory, honor,
praise, and power be unto God forever! The work still
goes on. I have joined two more serious Baptists since
the quarterly meeting. The Lord has converted several
more precious souls in various parts of the circuit, and
some more have joined the society, so that we have one
hundred and twelve disciples now in Cumberland — forty-
seven of whom, I trust, have received the gift of the
Holy Ghost since they believed; and I hope these are but
the first of a universal harvest which God will give us in
this country. Brother Massie is with me, going on
weeping over sinners, and the Lord blesses his labors. A
letter from brother Williamson, dated November 10th,
1788, informs me that the work is still going on rapidly
in Kentucky; that at two quarterly meetings since I
came away, the Lord poured out his Spirit, and converted
ten penitents and sanctified five believers, at the first, and
twenty more were converted at the second; indeed, the
wilderness and solitary places are glad, and the desert
rejoices and blossoms as the rose, and, I trust, will soon
become beautiful as Tif^a and comely as Jerimilcm.

WESTERN METHODISM. 73

'^What shall I more say? Time would fail to tell j'ou
all the Lord's doings among us. It is marvelous in our
eyes. To him be the glory, honor, praise, power, might,
majesty, and dominion, both now and forever, amen and
amen I

^'P. S. Some of our responsible members of Cumber-
land have formerly lived at a place called Natchez, on the
Mississippi river, then under the British, now under the
Government of Spain. There are, they say, six or seven
hundred American families there who have no Protestant
minister of any kind, and I fear are perishing for want
of the bread of life. I expect to know by the spring if
there be free and full toleration for the Protestant relig-
ion there, and if there be to make the report to the con-
ference."

The conference year of 1789 closed the labors of James
Haw in Kentucky. The superintendence of the work was
now altogether under the direction of F. Poythress, both
in Kentucky and Cumberland. The circuits were well
supplied in 1790 : Danville, Thomas Williamson, Stephen
Brooks; Cumberland, Wilson Lee, James Haw, Peter
Massie; Madison, Barnabas M'Henry, Benjamin Snelling;
Limestone, Samuel Tucker, Joseph Lillard; Lexington,
Henry Burchet, David Haggard. Methodism still found
favor in the eyes of the people, and the good work pro-
gressed, and numbers were added to the societies ; and the
circuits were enlarged in proportion as the immigration
increased and new settlements were formed. In the
course of three years the increase was rising one thou-
sand. In 1794, the year of Wayne's campaign, the work
declined very much, and many turned aside from the
right way. Discipline was strictly attended to, and many
expelled from the societies. The Indian war having
terminated the people began to scatter in every direction.
New settlements were formed, and Ohio and Indiana
T

74: SKETCHES OF

began to settle rapidly, and the societies many of them
were broken up, and we had not preachers sufficient to
follow the tide of emigration to their new settlements;
consequently, we had a considerable decrease of members
in the year 1795 and till 1801, when the great revival
commenced and spread throughout all the western coun-
try; so that at the end of the conference year 1802, we
had doubled our numbers from that of 1795. The revival
also produced a great increase of local and traveling
preachers.

The conference year of 1801 commenced a new era in
the west. Mr. Asbury changed the name of the confer-
ence from that of Kentucky to that of the Western con-
ference, which embraced all the western country then
occupied by the Methodists; and William M'Kendree
was appointed presiding elder. The circuits that com-
posed the conference, and the preachers stationed this
year, were as follows: Scioto and Miami, Henry Smith;
Limestone, Benjamin Lakin ; Hinkston and Lexington,
William Burke, Thomas Wilkerson, and Lewis Hunt,
Danville, Hezekiah Harraman; Salt Kiver and Shelby,
John Sale and William Marsh; Cumberland, John Page,
Benjamin Young; Green, Samuel Douthel, Ezekiel Bur-
dine ; Holston and Russell, James Hunter ; New Biver,
John Watson. In the commencement of this year the
appearance was rather gloomy in different sections of the
work. The district was very large, and the presiding
elder could not perform his round in less than six months.

The spring of 1801 the quarterly meetings in Ken-
tucky were held without the presiding elder. The quar-
terly meeting for Hinkston circuit was held early in June,
at Owens's meeting-house. Four-mile creek, commencing
on Friday and breaking up on Monday morning. At this
meeting was the first appearance of that astonishing
revival to which we have alluded. Several professed to

WESTERN METHODISM. Y5

get religion, and many were under deep conviction for
sin, and the meeting continued from Sunday morning till
Monday morning, with but little intermission. From
thence brother Lakin and myself proceeded in company,
on Monday morning, to a Presbyterian sacrament, at
Salem meeting-house, in the neighborhood of Col. John
Martin's. The Rev. Mr. Lyle was pastor of that Church.
There had been during the occasion more than ordinary
attention and seriousness manifested. I arrived on the
ground before the first sermon was concluded, and during
the interval they insisted on my preaching the next ser-
mon; and, notwithstanding I was much fatigued from the
labors of the quarterly meeting, I at length consented,
and commenced about two o'clock, P. M. I took for my
text, "To you is the word of this salvation sent;'' and
before I concluded there was a great trembling among
the dry bones. Great numbers fell to the ground and
cried for mercy, old and young. Brother Lakin followed
with one of his then powerful exhortations, and the work
increased. The Presbyterian ministers stood astonished,
not knowing what to make of such a tumult. Brother
Lakin and myself proceeded to exhort and pray with
them. Some obtained peace with God before the meet-
ing broke up. This was the first appearance of the revi-
val in the Presbyterian Church. From these two meet-
ings the heavenly flame spread in every direction.
Preachers and people, when they assembled for meeting,
always expected the Lord to meet with them. Our next
quarterly meeting was for Lexington circuit, at Jesse
Griffith's, Scott county. On Saturday we had some indi-
cations of a good work. On Saturday night we had
preaching in difi"erent parts of the neighborhood, which
at that time was the custom ; so that every local preacher
and exhorter was employed in the work. Success at-
tended the meetings, and on Sunday morning they came

76 SKETCHES OF r

in companies singing and shouting on the road. Love-
feast was opened on Sunday morning at eight o'clock,
and such was the power and presence of God that the
doors were thrown open, and the work became general^
and continued till Monday afternoon, during which time
numbers experienced justification by faith in the name
of Jesus Christ. The work spread now into the several
circuits. Salt Eiver and Shelby were visited, and Dan-
ville shared in the blessing • also the Presbyterian
Church caught the fire. Congregations were universally
wakened up: M'Xamer's congregation on Cabin creek;
Barton Stone's at Cane Kidge; Reynolds's near Ruddell's
Station and in Paris; Rev. Mr. Lisle at Salem; Mr.
Rankin, Walnut Hills ; Mr. Blythe at Lexington and
Woodford; and Rev. Mr. Walsh at Cane run; likewise
in Madison county, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr.
Houston. The work extended to Ohio at Lower Spring-
field, Hamilton county; Rev. Mr. Thompson's congrega-
tion and Eagle creek; Rev. Mr. Dunlavey's congregation,
Adams county. The Methodist local preachers and
exhorters, and the members generally, united with them
in carrying on the work, for they were at home wher-
ever God was pleased to manifest his power; and having
had some experience in such a school, were able to teach
others. The Presbyterian ministers saw the advantage
of such auxiliaries, and were pressing in their invita-
tions, both for the traveling and local preachers, to
attend their sacraments through the months of July and
August. The Rev. Barton Stone was pastor of the
Church at Cane Ridge. I had been formerly acquainted
with him when he traveled as a missionary in the Hol-
ston and Cumberland country, previous to his settling at
Cane Ridge; and we agreed to have a united sacrament
of the Presbyterians and Methodists at Cane Ridge meet-
ing-house, in August. The meeting was published,

WESTERN METHODISM. 77

througliout the length and breadth of the country, tc
commence on Friday. On the first day I arrived in the
neighborhood; but it was a rainy day, and I did not
attend on the ground. On Saturday morning I attended.
On Friday and Friday night they held meeting in the
meeting house; and such was the power and presence of
God on Friday night that the meeting continued all
night; and next morning, Saturday, they repaired to a
stand erected in the woods, the work still going on in the
house, which continued there till Wednesday, without
intermission. On Saturday the congregation was very
numerous. The Presbyterians continued to occupy the
stand during Saturday and Saturday night, whenever
they could get a chance to be heard ; but never invited
any 3Iethodist preacher to preach. On Sunday morning
Mr. Stone, with some of the elders of the session, waited
upon me to have a conference on the subject of the
approaching sacrament, which was to be administered in
the afternoon. The object in calling on me was, that I
should make from the stand a public declaration how
the Methodists held certain doctrines, etc. I told them
we preached every day, and that our doctrines wore pub-
lished to the world through the press. Come and hear,
go and read; and if that was the condition on which we
were to unite in the sacrament, "Every man to his tent,

0 Israel;" for I should require of him to make a public
declaration of their belief in certain doctrines. He then
replied that we had better drop the subject; that he was
perfectly satisfied, but that some of his elders were not.

1 observed that they might do as they thought best ; but
the subject got out among the Methodists, and a number
did not partake of the sacrament, as none of our preach-
ers were invited to assist in administering.

There is a mistaken opinion with regard to this meet-
ing. Some writers of late represent it as having been a

YS SKETCHES OF

camp meeting. It is true there were a number of wag-
ons and carriages^ wliicli remained on the ground night
and day; but not a single tent was to be found, neither
was any such thing as camp meetings heard of at that
time. Preaching in the woods was a common thing at
popular meetings, as meeting-houses in the west were not
sufficient to hold the large number of people that at-
tended on such occasions. This was the case at Cane
Rido;e.

On Sunday morning, when I came on the ground, I was
met by my friends, to know if I was going to preach for
them on that day. I told them I had not been invited;
if T was, I should certainly do so. The morning passed
off, but no invitation. Between ten and eleven I found a
convenient place on the body of a ftillen tree, about fif-
teen feet from the ground, where I fixed my stand in the
open sun, with an umbrella affixed to a long pole and held
over my head by brother Hugh Barnes. I commenced
reading a hymn with an audible voice, and by the time
we concluded singing and praying we had around us,
standing on their feet, by fair calculation ten thousand
people. I gave out my text in the following words : " For
we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ/'
and before I concluded my voice was not to be heard for
the groans of the distressed and the shouts of triumph.
Hundreds fell prostrate to the ground, and the work con-
tinued on that spot till Wednesday afternoon. It was
estimated by some that not less than five hundred were at
one time lying on the ground in the deepest agonies of
distress, and every few minutes rising in shouts of tri-
umph. Toward the evening I pitched the only tent on
the ground. Having been accustomed to travel the wil-
derness, I soon had a tent constructed out of poles and
papaw bushes. Here I remained Sunday night, and
Monday and Monday night ; and during that time there

WESTEEN METHODISM. 79

was not a single moment's cessation, but the ^ork went
on, and old and young, men, women, and children, v/ere
converted to God. It was estimated that on Sunday and
Sunday night there were twenty thousand people on the
ground. They had come far and near from all parts of
Kentucky; some from Tennessee, and from north of the
Ohio river; so that tidings of Cane Ridge meeting was
carried to almost every corner of the country, and the
holy fire spread in all directions.

Immediately after this meeting the last round of quar-
terly meetings commenced for that conference year, and
they were appointed for four days, to commence on Fri-
day. The work continued, and quarterly meetings were
attended by thousands, and generally continued night
and day with but little intermission ; and during the
week, at appointments in different parts of the country,
we had to preach in the groves to thousands of people.
We gave invitations to all the Presbyterian ministers to
unite with us at our quarterly meetings; but they gener-
ally pleaded as an excuse that they had appointments to
attend, and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday would pass off
without any aid from them ; but on Monday we generally
saw some of their ministers in the congregation, but hav-
ing our plans filled up for that day we consequently paid
no attention to them; for we were fully satisfied that
they only wanted the Methodists to shake the bush, and
they would catch the birds. My advice to our official
members in quarterly meeting conference was, to quietly
withdraw from their meetings, and mind our own busi-
ness. They did so, and no difficulty occurred in any of
our societies. This conference year ended with the
greatest prospects that had ever visited the far west.

In the year 1801 the Presbyterians had some gracious
revivals in Sumner county, Tennessee, and Logan county,
Kentucky. The two M'Gees, John — an old traveling

80 SKETCHES OF

preacher, who liad located and settled on the Cumberland
river — and his brother William, a Presbyterian minister,
with two other Presbyterians, Messrs. Rankin and Hodges,
in connection with brothers Page and Wilkerson, were
united in carrying on the work both among the Methodists
and Presbyterians; but the conference of 1802 opened with
greater prospects, and the work became universal in Ten-
nessee. The Presbyterians appeared to have forgotten
that they had any Confession of Faith or discipline, and
the Methodists had laid aside their Discipline, and
seemed to forget that they were bound to observe the
rules contained therein, and as established from time to
time by the General conference.

I visited the old stamping-ground, Sumner and David-
son counties, where I had labored in 1795, and again in
1798, and found a great change. The class meetings
were free to all ; the love-feasts open to all ; and they
were mixed up in such confusion that it was impossible
to tell to what Church or denomination they belonged.
The Western annual conference for the year sat at Strau-
ther's, in Sumner county, Tennessee. Bishop Asbury
presided. There was a general attendance of the preach-
ers, and the conference sat in the house of brother
Strauther, and the public exercises were in the woods at
a stand in hearing of the house. The conference and
the public exercises were of the same mixed charac-
ter. To my astonishment, on the first day of the con-
ference several of the Presbyterian clergymen were intro-
duced into the conference, and remained during that
day. When the conference adjourned I took brother
M'Kendree aside, and stated to him my views on the
impropriety of the course pursued in breaking down all
our rules and regulations as Methodists ] but especially
in our annual conference, I observed to him, that many
of our local brethren, and some who had been traveling

WESTERN METHODISM. 81

preachers for years, were excluded a seat among us, while
those ministers of another denomination were admitted
and not objected to. I insisted on him, as the presiding
elder, to enter his objection when we met the next morn-
ing. He admitted it was wrong, but said he could not
broach the subject, as Mr. Asbury appeared to entertain
such favorable notions of the union that then prevailed.
I observed that I was no enemy to union and communion
with any denomination upon proper principles, and if he
declined I would bring the subject before the conference,
and accordingly did so on the sitting of the conference
next morning. I stated my objections at length, and
cited our Discipline, and insisted that our rules estab-
lished class meetings and love-feasts as wise and pruden-
tial means, and that they were peculiar to the Methodist
Church. Other denominations did not consider them
either wise or prudential, or they would introduce them
into their Churches; and why should they wish to in-
trude on our privileges, while they, by their own show-
ing, considered them no privilege ? and in regard to the
annual conference, the Discipline clearly pointed out who
had the right to a place in their sittings, etc. Mr. As-
bury decidedly opposed my views, and stated to the con-
ference that I was but a young man, and referred the
conference to some of Mr. Wesley's views and conduct
on like occasions. No member of the conference took
sides with me, but all remained silent; and when Mr.
Asbury concluded his remarks, I made my rejoinder, and
acknowledged that I was but a junior, but thought I
understood Methodist Discipline, and that as a Church
we were not to be governed by Mr. Wesley's views or the
views of any other man, however aged, but by the rules
laid down by the General conference ; and if the Presby-
terians, or any other denomination, had a desire to enjoy
what we esteemed privileges, let them adopt them in

82 SKETCHES OF

their Churches, and then we would reciprocate, and not
till then. When I concluded my observations I requested
Mr. Asbury to give me my appointment in this country,
and I assured him I would soon put a stop to the present
mode of doing business. He observed that I was too
cold for that climate; that I should go further north.
And here our controversy ended; but we had no more
Presbyterian ministers during the sitting of conference.
Mr. Asbury was at that time not able to walk alone, from
a rheumatic affection in his feet, and brother M'Kendree
had to accompany him to the Holston country; and after
they arrived in the settlement in the neighborhood of
Knoxville, the subject of what I had said at conference
was brought up, and Mr. Asbury acknowledged that I had
taken the proper ground, and wrote me on the subject,
stating that reciprocity was the true doctrine. He also
wrote to Mr. Kankin and Mr. Hodges his views, and at
the next conference at Mount Gerizim, 1803, he preached
that doctrine to the conference.

From the conference at Strauther's, October, 1802, I
received my appointment on Limestone circuit alone. I
was appointed at the conference to attend the Legislature
of Kentucky and obtain an act of incorporation for
Bethel Academy. I performed that duty and arrived on
my circuit late in November. I took with me Adjet
M'Guire, a young man that had been lately licensed to
preach, and employed him as a helper, which was after-
ward sanctioned by the presiding elder. When I entered
upon my circuit, I found that, to a very great extent, the
people were prejudiced against a married preacher, and I
could find no house open at which I could board my
wife, either for love or money. In this state of affairs I
was brought to a stand. I had some little money, and
found a few friends; and in those days I considered my-
self equal to any emergency, and immediately set about

WESTERN METHODISM. 88

cutting logs for a cabin, and a few friends assisted me in
getting them together, and I purchased some plank and
brick, and in the course of a few weeks had a snug little
room fitted up adjoining brother L. Fitch's, about three
miles from Flemingsburg. During the time I was build-
ing my cabin I attended my Sunday appointments, and
through the week attended to my work and collecting
materials to fit out my cabin ; and having accomplished
that business, I entered regularly upon my work. The
circuit had been much neglected the past year, and relig-
ion was at a low ebb, and we commenced in good earnest.
The winter was severe and the congregations but small.
On the opening of spring I commenced two days' meet-
ings, and called together the local preachers to my aid.
Early in June we had a two days' meeting at Union meet-
ing-house, not far from German town; and on that occa-
sion it pleased God to manifest his power in a very singu-
lar manner on Sunday, and the first-fruits was the con-
version of brother Petticord's oldest daughter. Brother
Petticord was one of the first race of Methodists from
Frederick county, Maryland, and a relative of Caleb B.
Petticord, who was admitted on trial as a traveling
preacher in 1777. This meeting continued on Sunday
night and part of Monday, and numbers were seriously
aflPected. From this meeting the holy flame spread in
every direction, and the work became general throughout
the circuit, at Bracken meeting-house, and Shannon, and
Flemingsburg, and Locust meeting-house, and at private
houses, and our congregations became crowded night and
day.

In August we had a four days' meeting at Shannon
meeting-house. This was a time that numbers still liv-
ing well remember. This meeting continued night and
day, without intermission. I was employed night and
day without sleeping for three nights. Brother M'Ken-

84 SKETCHES OF

dree preached on Monday morning, and while he was
preaching the power of God rested on the congregation;
and about the middle of his sermon it came down upon
him in such a manner that he sank down into my arms
while sitting behind him in the pulpit. His silence
called every eye to the pulpit. I instantly raised him up
to his feet, and the congregation said his face beamed
with glory. He shouted out the praise of God, and it
appeared like an electric shock in the congregation
Many fell to the floor like men slain in the field of battle.
The meeting continued till late in the afternoon, and wit-
nesses were raised up to declare that God had power on
earth to forgive sin, and many did say he could cleanse
from all unrighteousness. From this meeting the work
went on with astonishing power; hundreds were con-
verted to God; and one of the most pleasing features of
this revival was, that almost all the children of the old,
faithful Methodists were the subjects of the work.

Our last quarterly meeting was at Flemingsburg, at
which brother Nicholas Snethen and brother M'Kendree
attended, and preached in the power and demonstration
of the Spirit. It was a time long to be remembered.
There was one peculiar circumstance which I will relate.
Old father Duzan, who had raised a numerous family of
sons and daughters, and then had a son in the traveling
connection, was surrounded by his family and engaged m
prayer on the ground. Presently he was seen supporting
his youngest son, and proclaiming aloud to those around,
''Glory to God, he has converted my last child. Now let
me, thy servant, depart in peace; for my eyes have seen
thy salvation.'^ This conference year closed with an
increase for Limestone circuit of about five hundred.
The people were anxious for my return for the next year.
There were now houses enough open to receive me to live
iu and cost me nothing. The preachers who united in

WESTERN METHODISM. 85

carrying on this work, were Benjamin Northcott, James
O'Cull, Jarvis Taylor, Joshua Sargent, Jeremiah Lawson.
Hugh Barnes, and Richard Tilton, together with many
exhorters and leaders, who entered heartily into the work.
This year ended the happiest days of my itinerant life;
for the happiest days of a Methodist preacher is to be on
a circuit where he can pursue a regular course and preach
every day. I had the honor of lodging the Bishop one
night, in the log-cabin I had built, while on his way to
conference.

The conference this year was at Mount Gerizim, Octo-
ber 2, 1803. At this conference Mr. Asbury insisted that
I should cross the Ohio and take upon me the formation
of a new district in that new and wilderness country, and
act as presiding elder. I took several days to think on
the subject, and gave him for answer, that I considered
myself not sufficiently qualified for such a responsible un-
dertaking; but he would not take no for an answer, but
appointed me presiding elder of Ohio district, which
included all the settlements from the Big Miami up to
the neighborhood of Steubenville, which was then called
West Wheeling circuit, running down the Ohio, includ-
ing Little Kanawha and Guyandotte circuits, in Virginia,
and some settlements on Licking, in the state of Ken-
tucky.

I entered upon my work about the last of October,
1803. The first quarterly meeting was at Ward's meet-
ing-house— a new house built of rough beech logs — on
Duck creek, Hamilton county, near where Madisonville is
now situated — John Sale and Joseph Oglesby were the
circuit preachers. This was then called the Miami cir-
cuit, and included all the settlements between the Mi-
amis and as far north including the settlements on Mad
river, as high up as the neighborhood where Urbana now
stands, and east of the Little Miami as high up as the

86 • *- SKETCHES OF

settlements on Bullskin, and all the settlements on tlie
East Fork of the Little Miami, and a few settlements in
Campbell county, Kentucky. This route the preachers
accomplished in six weeks. We organized two quarterly
meetings in the bounds, so that the presiding elder was
two weeks in the bounds of the circuit, preaching nearly
every day. The most easterly appointment was at brother
Boggs's, on the Little Miami, a few miles from the Yellow
Springs. From that point we generally started at day-
light for the settlements on the Scioto, having between
forty and fifty miles, without a house, to the first inhabit-
ants at old Chilicothe. The Scioto circuit included all
that tract of country inhabited on Paint creek out to
New Market, Brush creek, Eagle creek, and Ohio Brush
creek, and up the Ohio to the mouth of Scioto, and then
up the Scioto to the Pickaway Plains, including Chili-
cothe and the settlements on White's creek, a four weeks'
circuit. From thence one day's ride to the settlements
in Hocking Valley, which was called Hocking circuit,
which laid principally on that river and its tributaries,
and a few settlements on the waters of Walnut creek.
From New Lancaster we generally took two days and a
half to reach the bounds of West Wheeling circuit, in
the neighborhood where St. Clairsville is now located.
This was a four weeks' circuit, including the settlements
on the Ohio river, and extending back to the frontier set-
tlements on the West Wheeling and Short creeks, etc.
From this point we returned by the same route to New
Lancaster, and then down the Hocking to Sunday creek
and Monday creek, and then over to Marietta circuit.
This circuit was up and down the Ohio from Marietta as
low down as the settlements were formed, and up to tho
head of Long Reach, and up the Muskingum river as
far as Clover Bottom and Wolf creek, and so down to the
neighborhood of Marietta, and over the Ohio into Vir-

WESTERN METHODISM. 87

ginia on the waters of the Little Kanawha. This was
called the Muskingum and Little Kanawha circuits. It
was but a three weeks' circuit, and had one preacher.
From the neighborhood of Marietta we started down the
Ohio river by way of Graham's Station to the mouth of
the Great Kanawha, and down to Green Bottom — brother
Spurlock's — which was the first appointment on Guyan-
dotte circuit. This circuit contained all the territory
south and west of the Great Kanawha, and down to the
mouth of Big Sandy and the settlements back from the
Ohio river. This was a field of labor that required about
eleven weeks to accomplish, and many privations. The
Methodists were, in those days, like angels' visits, few
and far between, and we were half our time obliged to
put up in taverns and places of entertainment, subject to
the disorder and abuse of the unprincipled and half-civ-
ilized inmates, suJffering with hunger and cold, and sleep-
ing in open cabins on the floor, sometimes without bed or
covering, and but little prospect of any support from the
people among whom we labored, and none from any other
source ; for there was no provision in those days for mis-
sionaries. But, notwithstanding all the privations and
sufferings that we endured, we had the consolation that
our labor was not in vain in the Lord. We were gratified
in having souls for our hire, and rejoiced to see the wil-
derness blossom as the rose. New societies sprang up in
various places, the circuits were enlarged, immigration
increased, and the forest was subdued, and comforts mul-
tiplied. In the fall of 1805 I was removed from tbe
Ohio district to the Kentucky district, and brother John
Sale was appointed my successor. The Western confer-
ence for this year was held at brother Houstin's, in Scott
county, Kentucky, October 2d. Bishops Asbury and
Whatcoat attended at this conference. Our borders be-
came greatly enlarged. We now included in the Western

88 SKETCHES OF

conference five districts, stretching from the Musliingum,
in Ohio, to the Opelousas, in Louisiana.

The two years that I presided in the Ohio district laid
the foundation for the future success of Methodism. We
had been successful in introducing our doctrines into
almost every neighborhood, and this formed a nucleus for
the immigrants that were constantly arriving in the coun-
try. Numbers of Methodists from Virginia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the eastern states, settled
in the Miami, Scioto, Hocking, and Muskingum Valleys,
and a goodly number of valuable local preachers settled
among them, and united with us in carrying on the
good work of God, under the superintendence of divine
Providence. Numbers of young men were raised up in
different sections of the western country, and entered
the missionary field full of zeal, and eminently pious,
and by this means we were enabled to follow immigration
and the wide-spread settlements.

In 1804 the number of circuits in the AVestern confer-
ence was twenty-six, and the number of preachers sta-
tioned was thirty-seven, and but one district in Ohio. In
1810, which included brother Sale's four years on Ohio
district, the work had extended, and there were three
districts north-west of the Ohio river, and twenty-one
circuits; number of preachers, thirty-one. The number
of circuits for this year in the Western conference was
fifty-nine, and the number of preachers stationed was
eighty-one. In 1804 the number of members in the Ohio
district was one thousand, two hundred and fifteen, and in
the bounds of the Western conference, nine thousand,
seven hundred and eighty. In 1810 the number in Ohio
was eight thousand, seven hundred and eighty-one; and
in the bounds of the Western conference, twenty-two
thousand, nine hundred and four. Compare this with
1798. Number of preachers in Ohio, John Kobler;

WESTERN METHODISM. 89

number of members, ninety-nine. Number of preacbera
in tbe bounds of the Western conference, fourteen; and
the number of members, two thousand, five hundred and
ninety-five. To compare the present number in the bounds
of Ohio, in fifty-six years they increased from ninety-nine
to at least one hundred and fifty thousand. Surely this is
the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. In
1798 was the first introduction of itinerancy north-west
of the Ohio; and one solitary pilgrim passed over the
brook hunting up the lost sheep of the house of Israel;
and now behold them spread into bands, not only in Ohio,
but Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Mis-
souri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Minnesota,
Nebraska, Salt Lake, Oregon, and California, all of which
at that time was comparatively a vast howling wilderness !
The exposure and labor incident to my appointment
brought on severe attacks of bilious fever. At one time
my life was despaired of; and in the fall of 1805 Mr.
Asbury thought best to remove me to the Kentucky dis-
trict. Here I was among my old friends with whom I
had fought many a battle sore, and dried up Enon, near to
Salem, and caused the doctrines of unconditional election
and reprobation to become a stench in the nostrils of
those who calmly investigated the subject. I spent four
years in that district with great satisfaction to myself, and
also to the people whom I was sent to serve. There were
but a few things that interrupted our harmony and peace.
One was, that in consequence of my illness I could not
attend a meeting where the sacrament was to be admin-
istered. I sent a deacon with instructions to administer,
which was called in question by some, and complaint
entered against me; but I sustained the position I had
taken, on the ground that the deacon was directed to
assist the elder in such cases, and I succeeded in my jus-
tification. The other was, the part I took with the local
8

90 SKETCHES OF

preachers in advociting their right to elder's orders, which
was hnally successiul. In 1807 there was a meeting of
the local deacons at my house, at which Bishop Asbury
was present; and favored the plan. The agitation after
this meeting settled down quietly^ and my opponents
remained quiet.

I was next appointed to the Salt River district, where
I remained two years, during which time another diffi-
culty arose. A traveling elder was accused of immo-
rality; and among the charges and specifications were
some of improper words. I examined the charges, and
for improper words I, as his presiding elder, acted upon
them officially, and did not submit them to the commit-
tee, for which they charged me at conference with mal-
administration ', but the conference sustained me. We
had in general very good times throughout the district;
but the field was a large one, including a very extensive
territory; consequently, at the end of two years I was
willing to have some better situation, and received my
appointment to the Cincinnati circuit. Here I had for
my helper John Strange. We passed an agreeable year;
and at the conference held at Chilicothe, in the fall of
1811, I was appointed to Cincinnati station, it being the
first station in the state of Ohio. I organized the sta-
tion, and many of the rules and regulations that I estab-
lished are still in use. We had but one church in the
city, and it went under the name of the Stone Church. I
preached three times every Sunday, and on Wednesday
night; and while stationed in that house my voice failed
me. The Methodists being too poor to buy a stove to
warm the house in winter, and on Sunday morning it
being generally crowded, their breath would condense on
the walls, and the water would run down and across the
floor. The next conference I did not attend, but was ap-
pointed supernumerary on the Cincinnati circuit, I was

WESTERN METHODISM. 91

not able to do mucli, but to give advice in certain cases.
This year I closed my itinerancy, and sold my horse,
bridle, saddle-bags, and saddle, and gathered up the
fragments, and the fortune that I had made from twenty-
six years' labor amounted to three hundred dollars.
From the 9th of Januar}^, 1796, I traveled as a married
man, no allowance being made for the wife. Part of the
time sixty-four dollars was allowed a traveling preacher,
and he must find his own horse and fixins, his own ward-
robe and that of his wife, together with her board ; and
the other part of the time it was eighty dollars, still
nothing for wife. I was the first married preacher in the
west who traveled after marrying. I met with every dis-
couragement that could be thrown in my way. Preachers
and people said, " You had better locate." I shared
equally with the single men when they were on the cir-
cuit with me, in order to keep peace. I bore all the mur-
murings and complainings from every quarter, and ap-
peared at conference every year ready for work. One win-
ter I had to use a borrowed blanket instead of a cloak or
overcoat. That year my wife was among her relations, and
well taken care of. Now a man is no preacher except he
has a wife and family, whose allowance is one hundred
dollars, and wife the same, and children provided for;
house rent, fuel, and table expenses; the bishops' sala-
ries to the full secured, and for presiding elders so much
is apportioned among the circuits and stations. The
allowance to many of the preachers of the present day
varies from eight hundred to fifteen hundred dollars per
year, while the poor suj^erannuate must find his own
house, pay his rent, furnish his own table, etc., and
receive from the conference steward sometimes fourteen
and twenty dollars, and sometimes as high as forty dol-
lars; and how can a superannuate keep soul and body
together on that dividend ? I am superannuate in the

92 SKETCHES OF

Southern division, and know not how I shall make out to
live. My labors and sufferings to cultivate and prepare
the way for my brethren in the Kentucky, Tennessee,
and Ohio conferences, are all known to God and the
Church, and my testimony is in heaven. None seem to
care for my circumstances now. I am at present in my
eighty-fifth year, and can not stay much longer in the
tabernacle; but, through riches of grace in Christ Jesus,
I have for me prepared "a building of God, a house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.^'

,■>. .■ ■'. ^ ••i..-v-^

WESTERN METHODISM

CHAPTER IV. . ^ - .

MICHAELELLIS.

In sketching tlie life of this great and good man — we
say great, because all true greatness must have goodness
for its basis, and this he possessed in an eminent degree —
•we regret that history furnishes us no record of the date
and place of his birth, except that he was born in the
state of Maryland. He was among the first that em-
braced religion in that state through the instrumentality
of Wesley's missionaries. The field was then white unto
harvest, and laborers were much needed to gather that
harvest; hence, they were thrust out in the order of God's
providence, in a way that the wisdom of the men of the
present day would hardly allow to be proper. But God's
ways are not our ways, neither are God's thoughts our
thoughts. He who with "a worm can thrash the mount-
ains," can make the feeblest instrumentality and agency
accomplish the mightiest results. Thus, in the early
days of Methodism, men were called to preach the Gos-
pel, and thrust out into the field, that even the Methodist
Church at the present day would object to as not possess-
ing the necessary qualifications for such a work. Young
Ellis was thus called; and feeling that woe was him
if he did not preach the Gospel, he commenced soon
after his conversion to call sinners to repentance. In
the year 1784 he was admitted on trial as a traveling
preacher; and the first appointment which appears on
the Minutes was the city of Baltimore. He may have
been traveling under the elder some time previous to the

94 SKETCHES OF

above date, as that was the time of his appointment to
Baltimore, but of this we have no information. At the
same conference where Bishop Asbury was ordained to
the episcopal office, he was ordained a deacon. This was
in the year 1785, and the presumption is, that he was ad-
mitted in the year 1783.

The next year, which was 1786, he was appointed to
Frederick circuit, and the following year to Fairfax, in
the state of Virginia, where he was instrumental, under
God, of accomplishing much good in the enlargement of
the Redeemer's kingdom. In the year 1788, for want
of that support for his family which the Church could
not or would not give, he was obliged either, according
to apostolic instruction, to "deny the faith and become
worse than an infidel in not providing for his own," or to
leave the ministry and serve tables to keep his family
from starvation. One duty can never crowd out another;
and his first duty being to feed and clothe his wife and
children, he could not have been either called of God to
preach and travel to their neglect, nor would God have
blessed his ministrations while thus engaged. A great
many zealous and efficient ministers of the Gospel have
been compelled to close their mission on this account,
throwing the responsibility upon the Church, where it
properly belongs. If they that preach the Gospel shall
live of the Gospel, according to the ordination of heaven,
that Church which will muzzle the ox, or, in other words,
withhold its support from the minister, will be held ac-
countable in the day of eternity, if not in time, for its
gross neglect and dereliction. In the providence of God,
however, such Churches are usually visited in time like
those of Asia, as Churches like nations are judged in
time. Does it not meet the observation of every one,
that those individual Churches who supply most liberally
the wants of their pastors, and engage most heartily in

WESTEKN METHODISM. 05

all beneYolent enterprises, are the most blessed with spir-
itual prosperity? With what heart, let us ask, can a
minister of the Gospel dispense the word of life and dis-
tribute spiritual things to a Church fall of riches and
increased in goods, when his heart is borne down with
care and anxiety about the next meal for his poor wife
and children? It would take a faith greater than Abra-
ham's to enable him to pour forth bright, glad streams
from such a troubled fountain. We know it is said, " Let
him trust in God. He ous-ht not to be anxious about

o

what he shall eat or wear. His treasure is in heaven;
and, beside all this, his great Master had not where to
lay his head." All this is well enough, but God will not
send the ravens to feed him, nor command the stones to
bo made bread, when there is a Church abundantly able
to supply his wants, and God has commanded that Church
to give the laborer his hire.

Thus it was with Michael Ellis, and thus it has been
Trith hundreds in the ministry of the Methodist Church.
Finding that he must look out for himself, he removed,
with his family, to Ohio, and settled in Belmont county.
Here he went to work with his own hands, toiling hard
all week and going out on the Sabbath to preach the
Gospel to the destitute in his neighborhood. By his own
industry he was enabled to rear a large and interesting
family; and one of his sons is now, and has been for the
last twenty years, a traveling preacher in the Ohio con-
ference.

It was not till the year 1809 that we became acquainted
with this father in Israel. His influence for God and
religion, like that of the patriarch Abraham in Mamre,
spread all over the country where he resided, and is felt
even to this day. His family having grown up, so that
by his oversight and the industrious, frugal management
of his amiable and pious wife he could see his way again

96 SKETCHES OF

opened to enter the itinerant field, lie accordingly, on the
first of November, 1810, was readmitted into the travel-
ing connection, and appointed to West Wheeling circuit,
in the bounds of which he had labored for many years as
a local preachei with great acceptability and usefulness.
The next year ho was returned to the same circuit, and
such was his increasing popularity, even in the vicinity
of home, that he would have been gladly received another
year but for disciplinary restrictions. Some preachers
soon wear out in their fields of labor, and their sermons
become stale and tiresome to their hearers. Under such
circumstances the congregations look with anxiety for the
close of the year, when their appointments will terminate
and they can have a change. Though some are disposed
to think — and it may be rightly enough — that our econ-
omy, in removing preachers every two years, is calculated
to produce a restlessness in the minds of the people and
a desire for frequent changes, yet we know, as a general
thing, that no minister who devotes himself to study, that
his profiting may appear to all, being thus enabled to
bring out of the well-stored treasury of his mind that
rich variety which the themes of the Gospel so abund-
antly furnish, will be at all likely to wear out, or cause
his congregation to wish for his removal at the expiration
of two years. Instead of this, they become increasingly
interesting, and are enabled the more effectually to adapt
their discourses to their audiences, so as to give to saint
and sinner their portion in due season. The desire for a
change may arise, however, from other causes beside want
of devotion to study. The preacher may render himself
unpopular from an uncouthness or unpleasantness, not to
say boorishness, of manner, or from a want of sociality
or common sense in his judgment of men and things;
that, though he possessed the learning of a Clarke, or the
eloquence of a Whitefield, he could not, without that

WESTERN METHODISM. dl

aecessary combination of requisites in a preacher, make
himself useful to the people of his charge. Every min-
ister should study the character of his hearers; and thus,
while in his ministrations he would ''study to show him-
self approved unto God a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, giving to all their portion,'^ he would gain
favor in sight of all the people. Alas! with too many
preachers all the ambition they seem to have in preparing
for the pulpit, is to commit to writing or memory a few
skeletons or sketches that they have taken from Simeon
or Hanam, which are as likely to be as full of Calvinism
as any thing else; and thus, as mere parrots, they -^ mount
the pulpit with a skip," repeat their memoriter ha-
rangues, and then ''skip" down again. The hungry
sheep look up and are not fed. Instead of taking their
Bibles and going into their study, if they have one, and
if not, to the woods, and there, by prayer and close, labo-
rious thought, after finding a subject adapted to their
hearers, study it out in all its connections and bearings,
filling their minds and hearts full of the theme, and then
going, baptized with the Holy Ghost, into their pulpits,
or school-houses, or log-cabins, and pouring out the gar-
nered truths with their full hearts, alas! how many have
not a sirgU thought of their own, and are the mere au-
tomata through which others speak ! But, again, there
are others who are so wonderfully enraptured with any
thing of a metaphysical or transcendental cast, that the
plain, home, heart-searching truths of the Gospel are lost
sight of, and, consequently, the hearers who wait upon
such a ministry do not ^' taste the good word of God."
It is so festooned with the flowers of rhetoric, or scented
with the phrases of metaphysics, or incased with the
technicalities of logic, that the mind neither compre-
hends, appreciates, nor enjoys the preaching, if it may so
be called. We once heard Bishop Asbury say to a class

9

98 SKETCHES OF

of young candidates for orders, "When yon go into the
pulpit, go from your closets. Leave all your vain specula-
tions and metaphysical reasonings behind. Take with
you your hearts full of fresh spring water from heaven,
and preach Christ crucified and the resurrection, and that
will conquer the world/'

Although brother Ellis could not be called a learned
man in the sciences, yet he was a Bible student, deeply
versed in the science of salvation, and one of the sound-
est, clearest doctrinal preachers we ever heard. He
studied divinity in the school of Christ, and was trained
under the professorship of Wesley and Fletcher. His
heart was deeply imbued with the grace of God; and
having attained the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel
of Christ, the perfect love that swelled his heart rolled
out to bless mankind. We doubt whether he ever
preached a sermon in which he did not introduce the
doctrine of Christian perfection as taught in the Bible,
and preached by Wesley and Fletcher. It was the plain,
old-fashioned, unvarnished doctrine of entire sanctifica-
tion, without any reference whatever to the philosophy of
the intellect, the emotions, and volitions; a simple faith
that brought into the soul the life and love of God. One
of his favorite texts, in the latter days of his ministry,
was, "Jesus Christ, who is made unto us wisdom and
righteousness, sanctification and redemption." His mode
of treating it was, if we recollect rightly, something after
this sort. After explaining how Christ is made to the
believer wisdom, he would divide his subject into three
parts; namely, justification, sanctification, and eternal
redemption. These doctrines he compared to a ladder,
the foot of which rested on earth, and the top of which
entered heaven : justification, sanctification, and redemp-
tion were the three successive rounds of this ladder, over
whiuh the soul passes in its course to heaven. He would

WESTERN METHODISM. 99

clearly describe the doctrine of justification by showing
the nature and condition thereof, and its attestation by
the Holy Spirit. Then he would describe the nature and
condition of sanctification, and finally what the Bible
teaches in regard to redemption and glorification in
heaven. He seemed to be the living impersonation of
his theme, passing through all the progressive stages of
his subject till its close, when he would give a shouting
peroration that would make every heart feel that the
preacher knew and felt whereof he spoke.

Such preaching would not be likely to tire a congrega-
tion hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and
such a preacher would not be likely to wear out. His
heart was full of the love of God, and when he would
pour out that heart, it was refreshing and fructifying as
the "dews of heaven that descended upon the mountains
of Zion, where the Lord commanded his blessing, even
life for evermore."

In the year 1812 he was appointed to Knox circuit,
and it was a year of great labor and comfort to the old
veteran of the cross. His predecessor had sown the
seeds of Arianism broadcast all over the circuit, and they
had taken deep root and were springing up, choking the
plants of evangelical piety. Six of the local preachers
had embraced the error, and some of the most active and
influential members had been beguiled from the faith as
it is in Jesus. Such was the confusion and division oc-
casioned by this heresy, that it seemed as if the whole
circuit would be broken up unless it were speedily ar-
rested. Ellis went to work with the sword of the Spirit^
and, proclaiming the ti-uth in love with its two-edged
power, it soon separated falsehood from the pure Gospel,
and soon all were enabled to discern the fallacy of Ari-
anism and cling to the divine doctrine. In the year ISIS
we were appointed to Barnesville circuit, and had the

100 SKETCHES OF

pleasure of having this eminent servant of God for oui
colleague. This was a year of great prosperity and bless-
ing to the Church. The circuit, like all circuits of thai
day, was large, embracing part of Virginia, and lying on
the waters of Duck creek, north-east of Marietta. On it
there was no leading road, and nothing by which we
could reach the settlements but a bridle path. The in-
habitants, like all backwoods people in those days, lived
by the chase; yet we have often seen in their rude log-
cabins as powerful exhibitions of the power of Christian-
ity as ever we witnessed in the more refined circles of
society. The fare on a great portion of this circuit was
too rough for an aged man like father Ellis, and we chose
to do all the work during the winter, and let him attend
the appointments where the fare was better and the trav-
eling more easy. In the spring he greatly desired to go
into this wilderness portion, and to gratify him we con-
sented. At breakfast we said, '^Eat hearty, father
Ellis; we fear you are going into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil. You must prepare to eat raccoon,
opossum, or bear meat, and, indeed, in some places you
may not be able to get that.'^ Nothing intimidated, the
old soldier penetrated the wilderness, and, ere he re-
turned, won many trophies for the cross of Jesus.

In the year 1814 he was appointed to the West Wheel-
ing circuit, and the year following to Fairfield, where he
continued to do the work of an evangelist, preaching a
full and free salvation to all. On this circuit lived old
father AValker, the father of Rev. George W. Walker, of
the Cincinnati conference; and under the labors of Ellis
and his colleague — Samuel Brown — the family were con-
verted to God and joined the Church. The old gentle-
man was a stanch Roman Catholic, and raised his chil-
dren in that faith; but there was a power in the pure,
unadulterated Gospel, as preached by this venerable her-

WESfEEN METHODISM. 101

aid of tlie cross, that cut its way tlirough the supersti-
tions and dead forms of that corrupt Church, and brought
the soul away from all priestly mediation and absolution
directly to Jesus Christ, the great high-priest, for pardon
and salvation. In the year 1816 he was appointed to
Pickaway, and the following year reappointed. In this
and all the fields of his toil, he was in labors more abund-
ant, and many souls were gathered into the fold of Christ,
being made the happy partakers of saving grace. But
his work, as an itinerant, was done. In the year 1819 he
received from the conference a superannuated relation,
and continued therein, preaching whenever he was able,
till his Master summoned him away from the field of his
toil and conflict, to that eternal glor}^ and reward he had
so often described. He had taken up his abode in the
town of Rehoboth, Perry county, Ohio, and there, full of
faith and the Holy Grhost, he breathed out his soul into
the hands of that Savior whom living he loved, and whom
dying he went to embrace forever.

Brother Ellis was a man of fine personal appearance,
dignified and courteous in his manners. He was a pleas-
ant speaker, and there was an unction attended his ser-
mons which commended them to every man's conscience
in the sight of God. His example and influence will be
felt in the Church for many years to come.

102 SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER V.

ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF METHODISM IN
CINCINNATI.

Though Methodism is evidently a pioneer religion, ad-
mirably adapted in its economy to the early settlements
of the country, and is generally found far enough in ad-
vance of all other religious denominations, yet, as it
regards the early settlement of Cincinnati, the Presbyte-
rian Cburch takes precedence. This may be accounted
for by the fact that the original proprietors of the town
were Presbyterians. In laying out the town they appro-
priated the south half of the square bounded by Main
and Walnut, Fourth and Fifth streets, for the use of said
society. In the autumn of 1790 the Rev. James Kem-
per organized a Presbyterian society, and the congrega-
tions met regularly every Sabbath on this square, under
the shade of the trees with which it was covered, to lis-
ten to the word of God. After a few years on this spot
the society erected a stout frame building, forty feet by
thirty in dimensions. It was inclosed with clapboards,
but neither lathed, plastered, nor ceiled. The floor was
made of boat plank, laid loosely on sleepers. The seats
were constructed of the same material, supported by
blocks of wood. They were, of course, without backs;
and here our forefather pioneers worshiped, with their
trusty rifles between their knees. On one side of the
house a breast-work of unplaned cherry boards was con-
structed, which was styled the pulpit, behind which the
preacher stood on a piece of boat plank, supported by two
blocks of wood.

WESTERN METHODISM. 103

In 1792 the Presbytery of Transylvania was held in
this church, and it was the first ecclesiastical body ever
held in the place. No other Church was organized in
Cincinnati till seven years after the organization of the
Presbyterian Church. The next Church was probably
the Baptist, which was organized in the town of Colum-
bia, about six miles above Cincinnati, and now forming
the eastern suburb. We have seen a sketch of the old
house as it stood a few years ago, and as it stands yet,
for aught we know, with its clapboards falling off, win-
dows broken, and dilapidated walls and chimney. Here
the Baptist denomination, in early times, gathered to-
gether, from all parts of the Miami Valley and the
adjoining state of Kentucky, to listen to the word of life
and witness the celebration of their beloved ordinance
in the waters of their western Jordan. For days their
solemn associations have been held on this spot ; and
though the old sanctuary has gone to decay, and the
adjoining grove has given place to streets and squares,
occupied with dwelling-houses, still it is a green and
sunny spot in the memory of every Baptist of the olden
time.

In the year 1798 the Bev. John Kobler, a Methodist
preacher, and one of the early pioneers, visited Fort
Washington. He quaintly describes his first visit to the
town of Cincinnati. Vie are indebted to the Western
Historical Society for this description, as it is a reply
to said Society in regard to the question, ^'When and by
whom was the first class formed at Fort Washington ?"
Yv'ithout giving any information in regard to the point
from whence he started, he says, "I rode down the
Miami river thirty-six miles to explore this region of
country. I found settlements very sparse indeed, only
now and then a solitary family. About four o'clock in
the afternoon I came to an old garrison called Fort Wash-

104 SKETCHES OF

ington, situated on tlic bank of the big river, [Oliio/J
which bore very much the appearance of a declining,
time-stricken, God-forsaken place. Here are a few log
buildings extra of the fortress, and a few families resid-
ing together, witb a small printing-office just put in oper-
ation, and a small store, opened by a gentleman named
Snodgrass. This, I was told, was the great place of ren-
dezvous of olden time for the Federal troops when going
to war with the Indians. Here, alas ! General St. Clair
made his last encampment with his troops before he met
his lamentable defeat ) here I wished very much to
preach, but could find no opening or reception of any
kind whatever. I left the old garrison to pursue my
enterprise, with a full intention to visit it again, and
make another effort with them on my next round; but
this I did not do for the following reasons; namely,
when I had gone a second round on my appointment, and
further explored the settlements and circumstances of
the country, there were some places where the opening
prospects appeared much more promising than what I
had seen in Fort Washington ; and I was eager to take
every advantage of time and things, by collecting what
fruit was already apparent, by forming societies and
building up those already formed; so that in a few rounds I
had nearly lost sight of old Fort Washington, and finally
concluded that it would be most proper for me, under
existing circumstances, at least for the present, to omit
it altogether; so that in this statement I am sorry to say
it is not in my power to lay before the honorable Histor-
ical Society that information for which they have inquired
with so much solicitude. When and hy wliom urns the first
class formed at Fort Washwgtonf The immediate suc-
cessors of Kobler, the Eevs. Lewis Hunt and Elisha
Bowman, did venture to visit the old Fort and preach
occasionally; with what success, however, history does

WESTERN METHODISM. 105

not inform us^ and no living man can tell. But these
were not the only Methodist sermons that were preached
at Fort Washington in that early day by wandering itin-
erants, who ventured to lift up their voice to the inhabit-
ants. It was visited by a man who is still living, and
sits by my side in his parlor, on Longworth-street, who
preached in the court-house as presiding elder of the dis-
trict in 1804, and preached in the house of Mr. New-
come, a Methodist, on Sycamore-street, but a short time
after the society was formed.

Thus it will be seen that fifty-six years ago there were
no Methodists known in Cincinnati, though our Presbyte-
rian brethren had a congregation and a place of worship.
Cincinnati was then a country village, containing a few
hundred inhabitants, and they of that class which usually
congregate around military encampments. Those who
were in any way interested on the subject of religion
would not, in consequence of belonging to the Presbyte-
rian or Baptist Churches — both of which were strongly
Calvinistic — be likely to invite a Methodist preacher to
come into their midst, especially in those early times.

At that time the name of Methodist was not known in
the place, though the sequel will show that shortly after
there were some residing within the limits of the town
who were not only sympathetically inclined to Methodism,
but had been members of the Church elsewhere. An
opportunity was soon after afforded to develop the Meth-
odist element that slumbered in the heterogeneous mass
of which the society at Fort Washington was composed.

Away up on the East Fork of the Little Miami, in the
wilderness, there lived a young and sprightly farmer.
His place of residence, or, rather, the neighborhood, had
proven a genial soil for Methodism; and here it took root
and flourished like the vines and cedars of Lebanon.
Here was a stronghold for Methodism; and from this point

106 SKETCHES OF

as a center went out Methodist influence over the land.
Here were congregated together, at quarterly and camp
meeting occasions, the thousands of our Methodist Israel
scattered abroad. On the occasion of these holy convo-
cations many a young and zealous member of the Church
was called to exercise his gifts as an exhorter, while many
an exhorter has, on the ground of gifts, grace, and use-
fulness, been raised to the more exalted and responsible
station of a local preacher. The young farmer of whom
we have made mention was a local preacher of more than
ordinary talents. It became necessary for Mr. Collins — ■
for that was his name — to visit Cincinnati, for the pur-
pose of purchasing some salt. Being in the store of Mr.
Carter, he asked that gentleman if there were any Meth-
odists in the place. To this the storekeeper responded,
^'Yos, sir; I am a Methodist." The local preacher was
taken by surprise at the joyful intelligence, and, throwing
his arms around his neck, he wept. He then asked him
if there were any more Methodists in the place. The
response to this was equally full of joyous intelligence :
" 0 yes, brother, there are several." This caused the
heart of the sympathetic Collins to leap for joy. '' 0,"
said the zealous young preacher, 'Uhat I could have
ihem all together, that I might open to them my heart !"
*< In this you shall be gratified, my brother, as I will open
my house, and call together the people, if you will
preach."

The upper room of brother Carter's house was fitted
up by the introduction of temporary benches, while every
effort possible was made to give the appointment an ex-
tensive circulation. What was the astonishment of all
when night came to find that there were only twelve per-
sons present ! It seemed that Methodism could neither
awaken opposition nor contempt. At other times and
places it has been regarded either as a stern and stubborn

WESTERN METHODISM. 107

error that must be put down by fair and lusty argument,
or when in the event reason failed, and it must be plied
with ridicule, it has been called ^' the wildest vagary that
ever sickened the imagination of a fool;" but the first
sermon that was preached in Cincinnati by a Methodist
preacher became neither the butt of reason nor of ridicule.
One of that number was our beloved and lamented sis-
ter Dennison, the daughter of brother Carter, at whose
house the first sermon was preached. She recollected
distinctly the meeting and all the incidents connected
with it, and related to the writer of this many interesting
facts a short time previous to her death. Though she was
then but ([uite young, she was a professor of religion, and
was with the little band assembled in that upper room on
Front-street, between Walnut and Vine. She realized
the good word of God, and the powers of the world to
come. It was a memorable time for Methodism in Cin-
cinnati. It was as the planting of a handful of corn on
the tops of the mountains, the increasing and ever-mul-
tiplying products of which were to shake with the fruit-
age of Lebanon. It was the first time the Gospel, unfet-
tered by decrees, sounded its clear notes in this then
rising village. A small class was formed, which consti
tuted the nucleus of the Church, as the few houses
scattered here and there constituted the nucleus of a
mighty city — the Queen City of the West, The forma-
tion of that first Methodist society was the introduction
of a new element — not as it was in the old country, to
rouse the stagnant forms of religion, and stir them into
life, but the introduction of an element into a new and
active state of society, growing up under the cold and
stereotyped forms of a religion from which all animal
feeling was excluded, thus destined to rouse or control, and
adapting itself, without changing its principles, to all the
phases of social life.

SKETCHES OF

The young preacher being greatly refreshed by the
interview he had with the Methodists of Cincinnati, re-
turned home; and some short time after he was reguhirly
admitted into the traveling connection, and for many long
years of hard service in the itinerant field he proved him-
self one of the most eloquent, talented, and successful
ministers of the Grospel the west has ever known. Were
it not that a biography of this distinguished and eloquent
divine has already been written, and that by a gifted pen,
we would feel constrained to record some touching, un-
written incidents of his life.

The next sermon preached to this infant Church was
in a house on Main-street, between First and Second
streets. The preacher was the Rev. John Sale, at that
time traveling on the Miami circuit. This sermon^ how-
ever, was preached under different circumstances from
the first, and the congregation was increased to thirty or
forty persons. After preaching a proposition was made
to organize a society in the usual way, and according to
the Discipline of the Church. Accordingly, a chapter
was read from the Bible; then followed singing, prayer,
and the reading of the General Rules of the society. All
then, who felt desirous of becoming members of the
society, and were willing to abide by the General Rules as
they had been read, came forward and gave in their
names. The number who came forward on that occasion
was only eight, consisting of the following; namely, Mr.
and Mrs. Carter, their son and daughter; Mr. and Mrs.
Gibson, and Mr. and Mrs. St. Clair. Mr. Gibson was
appointed the leader.

A regular Church being organized, arrangements were
made to have preaching regularly every two weeks by the
circuit preachers. The society received an accession in
the ensuing spring by the arrival in town of two Meth-
odist families; namely, those of Messrs. Richardson,

"VTESTERN METHODISM. 109

and Lyons, and subsequently by the arrival of Messrs.
Nelson and Hall, and their families. This little band of
Christians were closely attached to each other, and were
one in opinion, sentiment, and action. The cords of
brotherly-love bound them together so strongly, and the
natural afl&nities growing out of their relationship to each
other as Methodists were such, that no spirit of discord
was ever allowed to break in upon the harmony of their
society, or for a moment interrupt the even tenor of its
joyous way. With Christian charity they bore each
other's burdens, and with Christian zeal and fidelity they
watched over each other for good. Each one seemed to
be the insurer of the other's reputation, and felt himself
as responsible for his upright character as though he was
his special guardian : hence, every thing that indicated,
in the slightest degree, a departure from the path of holy
rectitude, would at once awaken the liveliest apprehen-
sions and interest on the part of the rest. If any one
of the members was absent from class meetings, they
were immediately inquired after, and as much care and
solicitude manifested as if it had been the unexpected
absence of some member of a family.

This mutual interest in the spiritual welfare of each
member of the Church was what constituted the true
secret of the early character of Methodism ; and the great
success which marked its progress in every country where
it has been established, is to be attributed more to the
recognition of this wholesome, social regulation than to
any other peculiarity of doctrine or Church government.

Meetings were held in the little old log school-house
below the hill, and not far from the old Fort. The loca-
tion of this school-house was such as to accommodate the
villagers; and as its site was somewhere not far from the
intersection of Lawrence and Congress streets, it is pre-
sumed that this portion of the town was the most thickly

110 SKETCHES OF

inhabited. Sometimes the rowdies would stone the
house; and on one occasion Ezekiel Hall, a zealous Meth-
odist, and one who always was present to lead the singing,
was takeu by the rowdies, after meeting, and carried to
his home on Main-street, where, after giving him three
hearty cheers for his zeal and fortitude, they left hira.
The rioters were followed by two very strong young men,
who were members of the Church, and had determined,
at all hazards, to protect their feeble brother. The
young men were Benjamin Stewart, now living near Car-
thage, in this county, and Robert Richardson, now living
on Broadway in this city. Mr. Hall was the father of
our late postmaster, and his wife is still living, an esti-
mable member of the Methodist Church.

The first love-feast ever held by the Methodists in Cin-
cinnati, was during a quarterly meeting in 1805. It was
held in the court-house. There being no permanent
place for holding meetings, and the society being greatly
annoyed by many changes, it was at length resolved that
efforts should be made to build a church, that Methodism
might not only have a name but a local habitation. Ac-
cordingly, a lot was procured between Sycamore and
Broadway, on Fifth-street. This was a large lot, and the
rear part of it was appropriated, like that in the rear of
the Presbyterian Church, for a cemetery — a very injudi-
cious arrangement; but no one at that time would, for a
moment, have entertained the idea that the crowding,
pressing, teeming thousands of the city would make
such encroachments as have been made upon the resting-
places of the dead. The idea of burial in the city,
whether judicious or not, is not so much the question as
the fact, the broad, staring, standing fact, of man's ava-
riciousness, and the disposition to appropriate to his
interest even what belongs to the dead.

The society having procured the lot, commenced, in

WESTERN METHODISM. Ill

the year 1805, to erect a stone cliureli. This church was
finished and dedicated to the worship of God the follow-
ing year. From this point the society increased rapidlj^,
and it was not long till the native eloquence of the back-
woods preachers and the zeal of the membership attracted
large congregations, and the church was too small to hold
the crowds that collected there to hear the word of life.
The building, however, was but small, only being about
twenty feet wide and forty long. To accommodate the
increasing masses who crowded to the "Old Stone," the
rear end was taken out and twenty feet of brick added to
it. Notwithstanding this enlargement, still there was
not a sufficient room, and it was resolved to make ar-
ranfrements for other enlargements. It was concluded to
take out the sides of the brick part and extend the build-
ing out each way twenty feet, thus giving the church the
form of a cross. After some time this last improvement
was made; and though the congregations still continued
gradually to increase with the ever-increasing population,
yet it was many years before any movement was contem-
plated to meet these wants. At length, however, it was
resolved to tear down and build on the site of the Old
Stone a mammoth church, which would not only be the
parent Methodist church in Cincinnati, but which would
be sufficiently large for all occasions.

Colonies had already gone out from the old parent
church, and had located preaching-places in several parts
of the city. One of these was located on the corner of
Plum and Fourth streets. Here the brethren erected a
plain, substantial brick church, which, in process of time,
was called the '^Old Brick/' to distinguish it from the
"Old Stone/' and it was also designated by a certain class
as "Brimstone Corner." This was doubtless in allusion
to the fact, that here the sinner was visited with the ter-
rors of the law, and Sinai's thunders were made to plaj

112 SKETCHES OF 1'

upon liis guilty ears. The Methodist preachers of those
days preached the law as well as the Gospel, and they
aimed, in every discourse, to give to saint and sinner
their portion in due season, even if, in doing so, they
should violate the unity of the subject. Indeed, it mat-
tered but little what were the subjects selected, they
usually had enough of repentance, and faith, and earnest
invitation to Christ in their sermons to save a soul. An-
other charge was formed in the northern portion of the
city, which was called Asbury, and also one in Fulton^
denominated M'Kendree Chapel.

The time had at length come for the erection of a
large central church, and the arrangements being made,
the ''Old Stone," with its brick appendages, was torn
down, and from its ruins rose a mighty structure, denom-
inated Wesley Chapel. It was dedicated in 1831; at that
time the largest church in the place, and at the present
time capable of holding a larger congregation than any
building in the city. On account of its capacity as well
as its location in the very heart of the city, it is selected
on all great occasions. The address of the Hon. John
Quincy Adams, on the occasion of laying the corner-stone
of the Astronomical Observatory, was delivered here.
Here the various large benevolent societies hold their an-
niversaries. It was here to listening thousands the elo-
quent Bascom delivered his lectures on the evidences of
Christianity; and it was in this old cradle of Methodism
the logical and earnest Rice delivered his course on the
subject of Romanism. Here the Wesleyan Female Col-
lege holds its Commencements, and annually crowds every
seat, and aisle, and avenue, and gallery with eager listen-
ing thousands. But the time would fail to tell of all the
associations that have met and mingled in old Wesley.
Many have been the joyous shouts that have echoed from
its venerable walls, and many have been the seasons of

WESTERN METHODISM. 113

refreshing here enjoyed by God's people during the years
of its existence. Here the General conference has held
its sessions, the Parent Missionary Society and the Sun-
day School Union their anniversaries; and here the tribes
of our Israel may repair from the east and the west, the
north and the south, in all time to come.

The '^Old Brick/' of which we have already spoken,
was built in 1822; but after several years, during which
it became a place of hallowed memories, on account of
the numerous conversions which had been witnessed at
its altars, it was necessary to enlarge the borders of our
western Zion in this place, and hence preparations were
made to erect a new church. In the mean time, how-
ever, a colony had gone out from Fourth-street and had
built a fine church edifice on Ninth-street. Instead
of tearing down and rebuilding, it was determined to
purchase a lot on Western Row, between Fourth and
Fifth streets. Here the congregation built a very neat
and commodious church, which was denominated "Mor-
ris Chapel," in honor of our beloved western Bishop.
No congregation in the city has enjoyed more uninter-
rupted prosperity than this enterprising charge. Its
leading members are men of energy and activity; and
whatever good work their hands find to do, they do it
with all their might. The Sabbath school and mission-
ary causes have claimed their undivided and earnest at-
tention; and, perhaps, no charge in our whole connection
more vigorously or systematically engages in carrying out
all the benevolent enterprises of the Church. The Sab-
bath school connected with this charge sent out, several
years ago, a missionary to Germany, from whom regular
communications were received, from year to year, which
were read to the school, and had a great tendency to fos-
ter and increase the missionary spirit among Ihe teachers
and scholars of the school. For the present it is engaged

114 SKETCHES OF

in supporting a missionary among the Waldenses, under
the direction of the Rev. Dr. Cooke, of the French con-
ference.

But Methodist enterprise did not stop here. Asbury
Chapel, in the northern part of the city, was consumed
by fire, but the zealous brotherhood erected near its
ruins a new and handsome edifice. Colonies from Morris
Chapel and Ninth-Street went out, having among their
number some of the most zealous and efiicient of their
membership, and founded Christie Chapel, and Salem,
York-Street, and Park-Street Chapels, all having now
energetic and active memberships; and last, not least, in
that direction, from these, in their turn, was formed Clin-
ton-Street Chapel, a young but vigorous branch of Meth-
odism. In the mean time Bethel Chapel was founded by
a colony from old Wesley and M'Kendree, and the trus-
tees are now engaged in erecting a new and beautiful
church on Ellen-street. Nor do we stop here; colonies
from the different charges have founded societies and
erected churches on Walnut Hills, the Mears neighbor-
hood, and Mount Auburn.

We must not omit to mention, in our short sketch of
the Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Union Chapel, the
only pewed Methodist church in the city. It was origin-
ally composed of a few members of difi'erent charges,
who, preferring family sittings to the old mode of sepa-
rate sittings, associated together and purchased Grace
Church, on Seventh-street, formerly belonging to the
Episcopalians. They asked for recognition by the author-
ities of the Church, and for a pastor to supply them with
preaching; and this being denied them they employed a
local preacher, organized a Sabbath school, and set up a
provisional government. They continued to make appli-
cation for recognition, from time to time, to the bishops
a;nd the annual conference, but were denied, on the

WESTERN METHODISM. 115

ground that it was contrary to Discipline, though it was
arged that the same rights and privileges were enjoyed
by numerous Methodist Churches elsewhere. Their case
was finally submitted to the General conference, and that
body struck out of the Discipline all portions pertaining
to the advisory regulation, ''let the men and women sit
apart, without exception, in all our churches/^ So soon
as this action was had Union Chapel was recognized, and
a preacher sent to organize the congregation into a regu-
lar society. This Church has gone on gradually increas-
ing in numbers and prosperity. The trustees have en-
larged and remodeled their house of worship, and it now
presents one of the most chaste and beautiful Gothic
fronts in the city. Its interior is also elaborately and
beautifully finished. The society deserves all praise for
the enterprise manifested, not only in securing a church
which is an honor to Methodism in the city, but for the
zeal which it has shown in the Sabbath school and mis-
sionary cause; having, according to the showing of the
Society of Religious Inquiry, the largest Sabbath school
in the city, and having pledged itself to sustain a mission-
ary to Rome, whenever the way shall be opened by the
grant of a toleration from the Pope equivalent to that so
liberally enjoyed by his subjects in this country.

While we speak thus of Union Chapel, we would not
pass in silence other charges. They have all done well and
deserve praise. We have already spoken of "Morris,'^
and we might say the same of Ninth-Street, Bethel, As-
bury, Christie, and Park-Street, and the sister charges, and,
indeed, we doubt whether any denomination in the city.
in proportion to ability, has done more than the Method-
ist Church in supporting the various benevolent institu-
tions of the day. If we despise any body, it is the
croaker who is ceaselessly howling about the Church hav-
ing lost her primitive simplicity, and power, and influence

116 SKETCHES OF

in tlie world. We believe this day, under God, she is
doing more for the conversion of the world than she ever
did; and while there is quite as much zeal as was mani-
fested in olden time^ there is a thousand-fold more liber-
ality. We have every thing to say favorably of Method-
ism in Cincinnati; and thou2;h she has not made that
advancement she should have made, and might have
made, yet she has far outstripped, in this respect, all
other Protestant denominations, and those, too, who oc-
cupied all the ground before her.

We are not yet done with Methodism in Cincinnati.
There are other Churches bearing the name which, though
not exactly under the same ecclesiastical government, are,
nevertheless, branches from the old stock, vigorous and
healthy, and partaking of the nature and fatness of the
root from whence they sprang. The Protestant Method-
ist Church, on Sixth-street, is a large, intelligent, and en-
terprising society, supporting one or two mission Churches
in the city. The Methodist Episcopal Church South has
also a large and flourishing congregation. This society
is composed of some who were originally the stanchest
friends of the old Church — intelligent, benevolent, and
enterprising, and ready for every good word and work;
and though we exceedingly regret the occasion which
prompted them to a separate organization, still we look
upon them as members of the family, having one grand
patronymic, and we shall ever hold them as brethren be-
loved. Grod forbid that the time should ever come when
we shall be so cramped by a headless and heartless big-
otry, destitute alike of thought and feeling, that we can
8oe no good beyond our narrow domicile, and have no
emotions of brotherly kindness for those of another fold.

There is another interesting item connected with the
history of Methodism in Cincinnati which, although we
have not yet alluded to it, constitutes, if we judge cor-

WESTERN METHODISM. 117

rectly, the crowning glory of Methodism in the city, if
not in the entire west. The establishment of a mission
to the German population in our midst, among the thou-
sands of infidel Rationalists and semi-infidel Roman Cath-
olics from Grermany, was the beginning of an enterprise
which has been attended with the most grand and glori-
ous results.

As commenced Methodism in Cincinnati, in an upper
room, with but twelve hearers, fifty years ago, so com-
menced the German mission eighteen years ago, in
the upper room of a shanty in a dark alley. The
preacher was a professor of Greek and oriental litera-
ture, from the halls of Tubingen, a fellow-student of the
infidel Strauss ; but who, in the wilds of the west, amonoj
the Methodists, found salvation in the name of Jesus, and
leaving his professor's chair, in the halls of Kenyon,
went out the called of God to preach the Gospel of sal-
vation to his dying fellow-countrymen. Though, like his
divine Master, he came to his own, and his own received
him not, but persecuted him, and cast out his name as
evil, he still persisted, and with a zeal and perseverance
characteristic of the German, when once convinced that
he is right, he labored on, and God blessed the word to
the awakening and conversion of his countrymen. The
mission from time to time received reinforcements from
the number of the converted, and one after another, as
time progressed, God called the Germans into the field.
One of the early converts, who was a learned infidel, be-
came a bright and shining light, and carried the Gospel
from Cincinnati to his brethren in Missouri, where mul-
titudes were converted ; and that same minister is now at
the head of a successful mission in Germany. Others
went every-where preaching the word, as the disciples
went out from Jerusalem; and first in the large cities,
then in the villages und country places of the west and

118 SKETCHES OF

south, wherever there were Germans, these messengers
carried the glad tidings of salvation. Nor did the mis-
sion stop in the west; it went back to the east and the
large cities and towns, as far as Boston; had missionaries
sent to them, and societies were organized all over the
land from Maine to Louisiana. From this mere handful
of corn what a mighty harvest has already been gathered 1
In Cincinnati there are four churches, some quite large ;
and in almost every large town where there are Germans,
churches have been erected. No mission was ever estab-
lished since the days of Pentecost that has been attended
with greater success There are now in the United States
and Germany upward of one hundred ministers, and
twelve thousand members — a larger number of ministers
and members than was embraced in the entire west fifty
years ago. In connection with the operations of the Ger-
man Church, through the indefatigable labors of Doctor
Nast, a German Methodist literature has been gotten up,
consisting of translations of standard works on theology,
Christian experience, biography, etc. ; and the Doctor is
now employed in writing a Commentary on the Bible,
adapted to Methodist theology, for the use of the minis-
try and membership. For many years the Doctor has
been editor of the Christliche Apologete, which has a
large circulation. Doctor Jacoby, of Bremen, also edits
and publishes a religious sheet in that city. But as we
propose only a sketch — a mere outline, we must close.

The next thing of a denominational character to which
we invite attention, as serving to show the enterprise of
Methodism in Cincinnati, is the establishment of a
female college. In the fall of 1840 Doctor Elliott gave
an account of his travels in the east, in the Advocate, in
which he called the attention of the Church to the im-
portance of female education, and continued to urge the
Babjcct till the year 1812, when, at his suggestion, a

WESTERN METHODISM. 119

meeting was called for the purpose of devisiug ways and
means for establishing a female collegiate institute. The
following are the official proceedings of the meetings held
on the subject :

*' At a special meeting of the preachers of Cincinnati,
held in the editors' office of the Western Christian Advo-
cate, May 4th, 1842, the following persons were present :
L. L. Hamline, C. Elliott, J. L. Grover, Q. C. Crum, W.
II. Lawdcr, A. Miller, W. Nast, T. Harrison, L. Sworm-
stedt, J. P. Kilbreth, and W. Herr. The meeting was
organized by calling L. L. Hamline to the chair, and ap-
pointing W. Herr Secretary. At the request of the Chair
the object of the meeting was explained by C. Elliott;
namely, to consult on the expediency of taking measures
to establish in this city a female institute of the highest
possible grade. The following resolutions were presented
and adopted.

" Rf solved, That in the opinion of the meeting it is
deemed advisable to call a public meeting to consider
the practicability of establishing in Cincinnati a female
institute.

'' Resolved, That a committee, consisting of Messrs. El-
liott, Hamline, Herr, Kilbreth, Wright, Grover, Crum,
Lawder, Miller, Neff, H. Decamp, Thomas, Williams, and
Nast, report a plan of the institute to be laid before the
general meeting.

''On motion, it was agreed that the committee on the
plan meet on next Wednesday, at 4 o'clock, P. M., at the
editors' office.

"On motion, the meeting adjourned.

"L. L. Hamline, Chairman.

"W. Herr, Secretary.

''May 11, 1842.

"The committee on the plan met pursuant to adjourn,
ment: present, S. Williams, C. Elliott, J. L. Grover, T
Harrison, and W. Herr.

120

SKETCHES OF

" S. Williams was called to the chair. The report of
the committee was called for, which being read by C
Elliott, Chairman, was unanimously adopted.

^'Resolved, That W. Herr and J. L. Grover be a com-
mittee to fix on the time and place for a public meeting,
in order to submit the plan of a female institute in Cin-
cinnati, and give due notice of the same.

^* There being no further business, on motion the com-
mittee adjourned.

^^S. Williams, Chairman,

^^W. Herr, Secretary.

^'Pursuant to public notice given, a meeting was held in
Wesley Chapel, May 20th, 1842, in order to consult on
the practicability of establishing in Cincinnati a female
collegiate institute. L. Swormstedt was called to the
chair, and W. Herr was appointed Secretary. After
prayer, C. Elliott, Chairman of the committee, appointed
in the primary meeting to report on the subject of a
female institution, presented the following plan, detailing
the general principles of the institute :

"At a meeting of the undersigned persons, held May
11, 1842, the following proceedings were had :

"Whereas, There is great need for improvement in
the system of female education, as it respects the extent
and accuracy of the course; and whereas, the members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Cincinnati, both
need and are able to maintain a female literary institute
of the first order, of the following description, with such
other marks of excellency as time, experience, and cir-
cumstances will point out ; it is, therefore, important that
such be established as soon as possible.

" The contemplated institution should embrace all the
branches of female education, from the highest to the
lowest, to such a degree as not to be exceeded, if possi-
ble-, by any similar institution in the whole world.

WESTERN METHODISM. 121

^^It should compreliend the following departments : 1
The common English department, embracing all those
branches comprised in a thorough course of primary in-
struction.

'^2. The collegiate department, which should comprise
a good collegiate course of instruction adapted particu-
larly for females.

3. "The Normal department, in which pupils will
be prepared to become efficient teachers for schools of
every grade, particularly the common schools, and female
academies.

" 4. The department of extras, in which those various
branches, not necessary for all, yet useful for some, should
be taught.

"The following branches, in connection with such
others as are (^nnected with a thorough course of in-
struction, should be taught :

"Keading; AVriting; Arithmetic; Geography; History;
Grammar ; Hhetoric ; Logic ; Book-Keeping ; Needle-
Work in all its branches; Drawing and Painting; Music,
vocal and instrumental; Mathematics, Natural Philoso-
phy, Astronomy; the Natural Sciences, embracing Zool-
ogy, Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, Chemistry; Langua-
ges, as English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, French
etc.; Mental Philosophy; Moral Philosophy; Biblical
Studies, such as the Chronology, History, Geography,
Antiquities, Evidences, etc., of Christianity. Other
branches, not mentioned, will be arranged with the fore-
going, in systematic order, so as to form a most complete
course when put together.

"The following are some of the general principles, or
characters, which should designate the institution :

" It should be a Methodist institution tc all intents and
purposes, so that the principles of Christianity, as taught
by the Methodist Episcopal Church, would be constantly
11

122 SKETCHES OF

inculcated; and a full course of sound Biblical instruc*
tion should be learned by all; and all Metbodist children
should, without exception, go through this course thor-
oughly, in view of their becoming good Sabbath school
teachers after they leave the institution, and as far as
their services are needed while they continue in it. Yet
children whose parents do not approve it, need not com-
mit our catechisms, nor receive our peculiar views ; but
they must conform to our mode of worship and general
regulations.

''The ornamental branches, as Music, Painting, etc., will
be pursued in reference to utility and the practical pur-
poses of life; and in accordance with just but enlight-
ened views of the pure religion of Christ.

" It will be desirable that the institution should furnish
all the aid in its power toward the education of poor
female children and girls, both for their individual ben-
efit, and the good of the public, in preparing them to be
efiicient teachers.

" A boarding-house would be necessary for the purpose
of accommodating those pupils who would come from a
distance; while the children of the citizens would be
taught both as day scholars and as pursuing any one
branch of study taught in the institution, yet under
proper and salutary regulations.

''The city of Cincinnati possesses peculiar advantages
for such an institution. By the public conveyances cen-
tering or touching here, the intercourse from any point is
easy. The advantages of city institutions would be
esteemed by many. Important aids could be derived
from literary gentlemen in filling up some of the profess-
orships.

"It might be sufficient public endowment to furnish the
necessary buildings and literary apparatus, leaving the
tuition to support the teachers, if possible ; except that

WESTERN METHODISM. 123

room be left to make provision for ^^oor female children
and girls.

" The undersigned believe that the members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in Cincinnati need such an
institution, both for the literary and religious improve-
ment of their children. It is also confidently believed
that they are abundantly able to undergo the expense
both of tuitionj building, and apparatus. And though
the present times are unfavorable in reference to the
erection of buildings, the remedy to this would be to
rent for the present, and afterward to purchase a lot and
build at a time more favorable for procuring funds than
the present.

*' Entertaining the views stated above, we whose names
are annexed, deem it advisable to call a meeting of the
members and friends of our Church, for the purpose of
examining the subject more thoroughly, in such way as
they may think proper, for the purpose of adopting im-
mediate measures toward the speedy and complete estab-
lishment of a high female literary institute.
Charles Elliott, Wm. H. Lawder,

L. L. Hamline, Adam Miller,

Wm. Herr, "Wm. Neff,

J. P. KiLBRETH, Harvey Decamp,

J. F. Wright, N. W. Thomas,

J. L. Grover, S. Williams,

G-. C. Crum, W. Nast.

Cincinnati, May 11, 1842.

"Whereupon it was moved that the report just read be
adopted.

''On motion a committee of twenty-three was appointed,
with instructions to proceed forthwith to establish, as
soon as practicable, an institution according to the plan.
The following persons composed the committee : Bishop
Morris, Chairman; J. L. G-rover, W. Nefi", J. Lawrence-

124 SKETCHES OF

Wesley Chapel charge ; W. Herr, J. Gr. Rust, H. Decamp,
Fourth-street do. ; Gr. C. Crum, W. Woodruff, A. Riddle,
Ninth-street do.; W. H. Lawder, S. Williams, Gr. W.
Townley, Asburj do.; M. Gr. Perkiser, Burton Hazen, Mr.
Litherberry, Fulton do. ; W. H. Raper, J. F. Wright, L.
Swormstedt, C. Elliott, L. L. Hamline, W. Nast, and A.
Miller.

^^It was moved that the proceedings of the several meet-
ings, properly signed, be forwarded for publication in the
Western Christian Advocate.

^' On motion, the meeting adjourned with benediction.
^'L. Swormstedt, Chairman. \

^^W. Herr, Secretary.^'

A house was rented on Ninth-street, from Mr. Wood-
ruff, for the beginning of the school; but being found
too small, the committee the following year procured the
large and beautiful residence of Mr. John Reeves, on
Seventh-street, for the rent of which ten brethren became
individually responsible. In a short time the committee,
through Dr. Elliott, procured the services of the Rev. P.
B. Wilber and lady, from Virginia, and the Institute was
commenced under favorable auspices. In November, of
the same year, the committee published the course of
study in the Preparatory and Collegiate Departments,
embracing a thorough literary and classical course, requir-
ing six years to complete it. The next month the Advo-
cate announced the names of the Board of Instruction,
as follows : Rev. P. B. Wilber, Principal ; Mrs. C. Wil
ber. Governess ; Miss Mary De Forest, Assistant ; Miss
Emeline Tompkins, Assistant in the Primary Department;
W. Nixon, Professor of Music. A building had been
erected on the grounds of the Reeves mansion for the
accommodation of the pupils, and the school was repre-
sented as in a flourishing condition.

In the month of February, 1843, it was announced,

WESTERN METHODISM. 125

through the columns of the Advocate, that the second
session of the Institute would commence in the new and
elegant college building, on Seventh-street, with a large
increase of students. The following spring session was
opened with a still greater accession of pupils; and dur-
ing the preceding winter the Legislature of Ohio granted
an act of incorporation, conferring all the powers and
privileges necessary for an institution of the highest
grade. To the faculty were added two additional assist-
ants; namely, Miss Stagg and Miss Harmon. Arrange-
ments were also made for procuring a philosophical and
chemical apparatus. At the close of the session lengthy
and highly-commendatory articles, relating to the exam-
ination of the classes, appeared in the Cincinnati Gazette
and Cincinnati Chronicle. The next session commenced
with still an increase of boarding and day scholars, and
at its close the number amounted to one hundred and
fifty. The Cincinnati Chronicle contained the reports of
the several Examining Committees, consisting of E. P.
Langdon, A. N. Riddle, S. Lewis, W. Green, 0. M.
Mitchell, S. Williams, J. Stille, R. S. Foster, S. A. Latta,
J. P. Kilbreth, S. Morrison, and Thomas Biggs, all of
whom expressed their entire satisfaction of the thorough-
ness of the young ladies in their respective studies. At
the same time a letter appeared from the pen of Profes-
sor Merrick, commending the Institute to the patronage
of the public. The Commencement exercises of 1845
constituted a brilliant era in the history of the institu-
tion. They were held in the Ninth-Street Methodist
Episcopal Church, which was crowded in every part. B.
Storer, Esq., delivered an eloquent address before the
Young Ladies' Lyceum, after which the graduates read
their compositions, and received their degrees as Mis-
tresses of English and Classical Literature. The plan cf
the original proprietors was now no longer an experiment.

126 SKETCHES OF

and the Female College from this point started out on its
high and glorious career.

The boarding-house and college edifice, notwithstand-
ing enlargements had been made, being inadequate to
accommodate the numerous pupils that flocked to the
institution from various parts of the country, it was re-
solved by the Board to purchase the large mansion owned
by Henry Starr, Esq., on Vine-street. This property
extended from Vine to College-street, and the grounds
around it being large and tastefully ornamented, it was
considered the most desirable location in the city. The
purchase was in due time made, and a large college edifice
erected on College-street sufficient to accommodate five
hundred pupils. From year to year the college has sent
out scores of graduates to all parts of the country; and
the numbers enrolled on the catalogue have gradually
increased, till now there are nearly five hundred. Large
as are the preparations which were made to accommodate
the pupils, yet during the past year the Board found it
necessary to put up an additional building, and to pur-
chase additional grounds. Under the superintendence
of Mr. Wilber and his lady, the institution, from the
beginning, has gone on prospering, and its patronage ia
greater than all other institutions of a similar character
in the city combined. From a small school, with two or
three teachers, the Wesleyan College has now nearly five
hundred pupils, and nineteen teachers in the various
departments of study.

It may not be improper to notice in this connection the
Wesleyan Cemetery, located on an eligible and beaut ilul
tract of ground, about four miles from the city, up the
Millcreek Valley. The old cemetery in the city, belong-
ing to the Church, having been filled, or nearly so, with
the remains of the dead, it was not only deemed advisa
ble, but necessary, to seek a burial-place elsewhere.

WESTERN METUODISM. 127

Accordingly, the selection above alluded to was made; and
in the year 1842 the ground was laid out and dedicated
to the purposes for which it was designed — a peaceful
resting-place for the dead. Many tasteful improvements
have been made on this rural spot since it was laid out
into burial-lots. In the center, on an elevation, which
commands a fine view, is the Cemetery vault, surrounded
by a circular, graveled carriage-way, with roads leading
in every direction through the grounds. The numerous
monuments, family-vaults, and inclosures of this Cemetery
present a fine appearance ; and when we gaze upon these
quiet and beautiful resting-places the grave is robbed of
half its terrors. To have a lot in this city of the dead,
removed from the din and strife of business, and the
avaricious hand of man, which would even invade the
sacred precincts of the grave itself to gratify its lust for
gain, is a pleasant reflection. Here afi"ection and friend-
ship in quietude may drop their tears and plant their
flowers over the graves of their beloved.

To show the reader the improvements which have been
made on the grounds, as well as those which are contem-
plated, we subjoin an extract from the report of the Di-
rectors of the Cemetery, recently presented. It is as
follows :

" The carriage-ways have been, wherever practicable,
widened from being only twelve to twenty feet, and well
graded and graveled. The grounds have been cleared of
weeds and bushes, and smoothed, so as to show a neat,
pleasant, grassy surface. At the rear, in the western
part of the grounds, a romantic grove of natural growth,
of stately beeches, overshadows some secluded dells.
Through these dells wind well-graded and, where neces-
sary, paved roads, inviting to pensive walks. A new
preachers' lot, thirty-two feet square, has been beautifully
located, and is to be well inclosed and adorned. Treea

128 SKETCHES OF

and shrubbery have been set along the ways, and it
is intended to have and keep all the footwalks of the
Cemetery well graded and sodded, and skirted with
shrubs and flowers. A provision has been made to have
a nursery at the ground, for a variety of trees and shrub-
bery and flowering plants, to readily supply persons using
the Cemetery for interment. This is done by leasing an
acre, to the right of the main entrance, for such purpose,
and under contract to furnish such supply, A new, two-
story brick sexton's house has been erected, and is now
occupied, at the left of the main entrance. This house
is built in a rural style, which has so pleased the eye that
at least one model of it has been already taken for imita-
tion. It is also in negotiation to have a new brick Meth-
odist Episcopal chapel erected, at the right of the nursery
before mentioned, on low ground rather unfit for inter-
ments, one hundred feet in front, by one hundred and
fifty feet deep from the center of the turnpike, or high-
way, to be exchanged for the present high grounds of
the chapel, of very good quality for interments, and from
which there is an extensive and beautiful landscape view,
at the north-west corner of the Cemetery tract. A com-
mittee is appointed to examine the project of such ex-
change, and, if feasible, efi"ect it. It is also intended
further to grade and smooth the Cemetery tract, and to
set and cultivate entirely around it a hedge of Osage
orange; and, in fine, completely to improve and embellish
the grounds, as much as the best taste and the funds of
the Directors will admit.''

WESTEEIT METHODISM. 120

CHAPTER VI.

FRANCIS POYTHRESS.

We have no means of ascertaining the time, or the
place of the birth of the above-named pioneer preacher.
From the Minutes we learn that he was received on trial,
in the traveling connection, at the conference held in
Baltimore in May, 1776. The conference was at that
time in ecclesiastical connection with the British confer-
ence, and the preachers were all bound to yield implicit
obedience to Mr. Wesley's authority, taking the doctrines
and Discipline, as contained in the Minutes, for the sole
rule of their conduct. The preachers were forbidden to
administer any of the ordinances, and the people were
required, with their pastors, to attend the Episcopal
Church and receive the ordinances there, particularly
those who resided in Maryland and Virginia. No
preacher was allowed to reprint any of Mr. Wesley's
books without his consent.

Some of the conversations which occurred at the con-
ferences, and are recorded in the Minutes, are worthy of
observation. Among others were the following: No
preacher, who sustained the relation of a helper or assist-
ant, was allowed to make any alterations in the circuit, or
take in any new preaching-places, without consulting his
superior. Every exhorter was prohibited from going to
any place to exercise his gifts, except where directed.
The preachers were required to meet the children once a
fortnight, and examine the parents with regard to their
conduct toward them. No local preacher was allowed to

1.30 SKETCHES OF

preach without having a written permit every quarter.
All preachers were required to rise at four o'clock — at
the latest five o'clock. They were required to continue
in close connection with the Church; that is, the Church
of England, and request the clergy to administer the
ordinances to their people. Traveling preachers who
held slaves were required to give promise of freedom
All members who distilled grain into liquor were dis-
owned. In regard to singing, all the preachers who had
any knowledge of the notes were required to improve it
b}^ learning to sing true themselves, and keeping close to
Mr. Wesley's tunes and hymns.

After his admission, young Poythress was appointed to
Carolina circuit. In 1778 he was appointed to Hanover
circuit, and the succeeding years, up to 1784, to Sussex,
New Hope, Fairfax, Talbot, and Alleghany, In 1785,
which was the year following the conference at which a
separate ecclesiastical organization was agreed upon, and
the societies assumed the name of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, he was stationed in the city of Baltimore.
In the year 1786 he was appointed presiding elder of a
district composed of the following circuits; namely,
Brunswick, Sussex, Amelia, Williamsburg, Orange, Bed-
ford, and Hanover. The succeeding year he was presid-
ing elder of a district composed of Guilford, Fairfax,
New Hope, and Caswell circuits. In 1788 he was asso-
ciated with James Haw as elder of a district embracing
Lexington, Danville, and Cumberland. The following
year he was alone on the above district, and continued
from year to year, the district being enlarged from time
to time by the addition of new circuits, till the year
1797, when, from excessive labors, occasioned by the
most fatiguing travel and hardships, such as would break
down any man of the present day, he was placed in a
supernumerary relation, and John Kobler succeeded him

WESTERN METHODISM. 131

on the district. In 1797 lie again entered the eficctive
ranks, and was appointed elder of a district composed of
New River, Russell, Holston, and Green. We give the
names of the circuits composing the districts at that early
day, because the districts had no name by which they
could be otherwise designated. The practice of naming
the districts was not adopted till the year 1801.

The next year he was sent back to his old district. In
the year 1800 he was sent to a district in North Carolina,
embracing fifteen circuits. His removal to a new field,
among strangers, and the subjection, if possible, to greater
hardships than he had endured on his former fields, alone
and friendless, without a companion, save the companion-
ship which he found at diflFerent and distant points among
his brethren, preyed heavily upon his s^'stem, shattering
his nerves, and making fearful inroads upon a mind natu-
rally of a too contemplative, if not somber cast; and
seasons of gloom and darkness gathered around him.
He should at once have desisted, and sought that rest and
society for which he so much longed, among the friends
and companions of his youth; but, alas! the necessity
that rested in those days upon a Methodist preacher,
stern as fate, kept him at his post, and he toiled on till
his shattered frame, like the broken strings of a harp,
could only sigh to the winds that swept through it; and
his mind, in deep sympathy with his brain, became alike
shattered and deranged. The next year he came back to
Kentucky, but the light of the temple was gone, and the
eye which shot the fires of genius and intelligence, now
wildly stared upon the face of old, loving, long-tried
friends as though they were strangers. Here he re-
mained till death released him and sent his spirit home.
Poor Poythress ! Bravely didst thou toil and endure
hardness on the well-fought field. A campaign of twen-
ty-four years of incessant toil in the gloomy wilds of the

132 SKETCHES OF

west, away from friends and loved ones at home, proved
too much for thy nature to bear. But thou art gone
^' where the wicked cease to trouble, and the weary are at
rest/'

The Eev. Thomas Scott, a personal friend of the de-
ceased, and himself one of the early pioneers of western
Methodism, has furnished, among other interesting bio-
graphical and historical sketches, an account of some
personal reminiscences connected with the melancholy
fate of this zealous and indefatigable itinerant, which we
subjoin :

"Our acquaintance with him commenced in April,
1794, and continued without much interruption for about
six years, during which period we learned from him the
following particulars : On the death of his father he in-
herited a handsome personal and real estate; and being,
in early life, thus left, without any one to control his ac-
tions, he yielded to the impulses of his passions, which
were violent, and rushed into all the follies and vices of
youth. The circumstance which brought him to review
his past life, was the reproof of a lady of elevated stand-
ing in society. Her reproof carried conviction to his
heart. He left her house in confusion, and on his way
home resolved to mend his ways. He commenced read-
ing the Scriptures and praying in secret — soon saw and
felt the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and groaned to be
released from its galling chain. That led him to inquire
after those persons whom he supposed capable of instruct-
ing him in the right way; but for a long time he sought
in vain. At length he heard of the Rev. Deveraur Janet,
an Episcopalian clergyman of learning and deep piety,
then residing in a remote part of Virginia, wnom he vis-
ited, and with whom he remained a considerable time,
hearing and receiving instruction. Having at length ob-
tained redemption in the blood of Jesus, he soon became

WESTERN METHODISM. 133

sensible of his call to the ministry. He conferred not
with flesh and blood, but immediately commenced his
itinerant career, preaching the Gospel of the grace of
God to all who would hear. This was prior to the time
in which our 3Iethodist preachers reached that part of
Virginia in which he lived. On one of his preaching
excursions through the southern parts of Virginia and
North Carolina, he fell in with one of our traveling
preachers — whose name we have forgotten — with whom
he formed an acquaintance, who furnished him with the
doctrines and Discipline of our Church, as drawn up by
Mr. Wesley. These he read and attentively considered,
and being convinced they were based on the Scriptures
of divine revelation, he applied for admission, and was
received into union and fellowship in the Church.

"The Minutes of the several annual conferences show
all the circuits he traveled, except one, and districts over
which he presided. They are as follows: 1776, Carolina.
We are unable to name the circuit he traveled the follow-
ing year; but from the facts that in 1778 he was received
into full connection, and appointed to the charge of
Hanover circuit, we infer that he traveled some circuit in
1777. In 1779, Sussex; 1780, New Hope; 1781, Fairfax;
1782, Talbot; and 1783, Alleghany. In that year, we
believe, he extended his ministerial labors across the
Alleghany Mountains on to the waters of the Little
Youghiogheny. In 1784, Colvert; and 1785, Baltimore.
In 1786 he was ordained an elder in the Church, and pre-
sided over the district composed of Brunswick, Sussex,
and Amelia circuits. From the fact that in 1786 he was
ordained an elder, we infer that in 1785 he was ordained
a deacon; and if so, he was among the first of our Amer-
ican preachers who were ordained to that office. In 1787
he presided over the district composed of the circuits of
Guilford, Halifax, New Hope, and Caswell, and in 1788

134 SKETCHES OF

he was transferred to Kentucky; and, in conjunction with
the Kev. James Haw, appointed to preside over the dis-
trict composed of the Lexington, Danville, and Cumber-
land circuits. Haw, we believe, presided over the latter,
and Poythress over the two former of these circuits. In
1799 Haw's functions as presiding elder ceased, and
Poythress presided over the entire district. In 1790
Madison and Limestone circuits were formed, and added
to his district. In 1791 the circuits south of the Ken-
tucky river were reformed, the name of Madison being
dropped, and that of Salt River substituted; and brother
Poythress continued to preside over the district. In

1792 the following circuits were added to his district:
Greenbrier, Cowpasture, Bottetourt, and Bedford. In

1793 the four circuits last named were taken from his
district, but Hinkston circuit, then formed, was added to
it. There was no other change made in the bounds of
his district during the years 1794, 1795, and 1796, ex-
cept that in this last-named year Shelby circuit was
formed, and, together with Logan and Guilford, added
to it. In 1797 Shelby circuit was dropped, and the
Bev. John Kobler was appointed presiding elder, and the
Bev. Francis Poythress supernumerary, over the district.
In the fall of that year brother Kobler crossed over on
the north-west side of the Ohio river, and formed the
Miami circuit, and brother Poythress resumed his station
on the district, over which he continued to preside till
the end of that year. In 1798 the Bev. Francis Poy-
thress and Jonathan Bird were appointed presiding elders
of the district composed of New Biver, Bussell, Holston,
and Green circuits, and Bev. Valentine Cook was ap-
pointed presiding elder over the Kentucky district.
Shortly after brother Cook's arrival in Kentucky — and
we feel quite sure it was before he had completed one
round on his district — he received instructions from

WESTERN METHODISM. 135

Bishop Asbury to take charge of Bethel Academy, then
on the decline for want of u suitable teacher, and brother
Poythress was instructed to take charge of the district.
Cook, therefore, took charge of the Academy, Poythress
of the district, and Bird remained on the station to which
he had been appointed. In 1799 New River, Holston,
and Russell, Green and Miami circuits were added to the
Kentucky district, and brother Poythress was appointed
presiding elder over it. Late in the fall of that year his
bodily and mental powers gave way and fell into ruins.
In 1800 he was, however, appointed presiding elder of
the district composed of Morganton and Swanino, Yad-
kin, Salisbury, Haw River, Guilford, Franklin, Caswell,
Tar River, Newbern, Goshen, Wilmington, Contentney,
Pamlico, Roanoke, Matamuskeet, and Banks, but his
affliction rendered it impracticable for him to take the
station assigned him.

"Upon inspecting the bound Minutes, page 245, it will
be seen that the Rev. William M'Kendree was, in that
year, appointed presiding elder of the district composed
of Greenbrier, Bottetourt, Bedford, Orange, Amherst,
Williamsburg and Hanover, and Gloucester circuits, and
that no presiding elder is named for the Kentucky dis-
trict. So soon as Bishop Asbury received information of
the malady under which brother Poythress was suffering,
he gave instructions to brother M'Kendree to proceed to
Kentucky and take charge of the district- and about the
latter end of the summer of that year brother M'Kendree
came on to the district. In 1802 and 1803 the name
of brother Poythress stands recorded in the Minutes
among the elders, but without any station being as-
signed him; after which we anxiously sought for his
name, but it was not there. We have heard that he died .
many years since, but when and how he died we are un- .
informed. ,

136 SKETCHES OF

^^ Bishop Asbury visited Kentucky for the first time In
1790, after which he never visited that state — if we
rightly remember — till subsequent to the year 1800; and
during these periods brother Poythress presided over each
annual conference which sat in Kentucky, and the sta-
tioning of the preachers and government of the societies
within his district were almost exclusively confided to
him by the Bishop.

^'Bishop Asbury was an excellent judge of men. He
was intimately acquainted with brother Poythress; and
the stations to which he appointed him furnishes conclu-
sive evidence of the estimate he set upon him as a man
and Christian minister.

"Brother Poythress was grave in his deportment, and
chaste in his conversation, constant in his private devo-
tions, and faithful in the discharge of his ministerial
duties. We have no recollection of his having ever dis-
appointed a congregation, unless prevented by sickness or
disease. As often as practicable he visited from house to
house, instructed and prayed in the family. Among the
preachers he, like most other men, may have had his par-
ticular favorites, but all were treated by him with due
benevolence and Christian respect. He was unwearied
in his efforts to unite the traveling and local ministry as
a band of brothers, so that their united efi"orts might be
exerted in furthering the cause of God. As the weight
of all the Churches in his district rested upon him, he
sensibly felt the responsibility of his station, and put
forth his utmost efforts to discharge, with fidelity, these
important trusts which had been confided to him. The
education of the rising generation he deemed to be
intimately connected with the interests of the Church,
and the result of that conviction was the erection of
Bethel Academy. The erection of that institution, we
are quite certain, met the approbation of Mr. Asbury,

WESTERN METHODISM. 137

and a majority of the traveling and local preachers of
that day.

''The conversational powers of brother Poythress were
not of a high order; yet when he did engage in general
conversation, he maintained his part with propriety, evin-
cive of an extensive knowledge of men and things. His
rank as a preacher was not much above mediocrity. He
was, however, sound in the faith, in doctrine, in purity.
There are many words in common use which he could not
pronounce correctly; this we attributed to the loss of his
teeth.

" He was — if we rightly remember — about five feet
eight or nine inches in hight, and heavily built. His
muscles were large, and when in the prime of life, we
presume, he was a man of more than ordinary muscular
strength. Pie dressed plain and neat. When we first
saw him, we suppose, he had passed his sixtieth year.
His muscles were quite flaccid, eyes sunken in his head,
hair gray — turned back, hanging down on his shoul-
ders— complexion dark, and countenance grave, inclining
to melancholy. His step was, however, firm, and general
appearance such as to command the respectful consider-
ation of others. He possessed high, honorable feelings,
and a deep sense of moral obligation. In general, he
was an excellent disciplinarian. He endeavored to probe
to the bottom each wound in the Church, in order that a
radical cure might be effected ; but would never consent to
expel from the bosom of the Church those who evidenced
contrition and amendment. And when free from the
morbid action of his system, to which it becomes our
painful duty to refer, we esteemed him to be a man of
sound discriminating judgment. We, however, claim
not for him exemption from error, the common frailty of
man, and therefore concede to our excellent friend Da-
vietis, of Kentucky, that he may have inflicted a wound

12

138 SKETCHES OF

on the character of the Rev. Benjamin Ogden. But y/q
can not concede it as a fact that brother Poythress was
influenced, in his conduct, by an impure or wicked mo-
tive. We were too lono- and intimately acquainted with
him to harbor, for one moment, an idea so uncharitable
and derogatory to his Christian character.

''We never had the pleasure of personal acquaintance
with brother Ogden, but having heard him preach his
last sermon cast of the Mountains, in 1786, when on his
journey, as a missionary to Kentucky, we read, with great
satisfaction, Mr. Daviess's vindication of his character.
We, however, thought there were, in that vindication,
some expressions a little too harsh, and calculated to lead
others to an erroneous conclusion respecting the character
of brother Poythress.

'' Symptoms of insanity were, at times, discoverable in
brother Poythress several years prior to the time he
ceased to travel and to preach, and such may have been
his situation at the time the unpleasant circumstance
occurred to which brother Daviess refers. We, therefore,
put it to him to say whether the vail of Christian charity
ought to be drawn over actions induced by a morbid ex-
citement of the system, materially affecting, at the time,
his intellectual faculties.

"During the latter part of the summer, fall, and win-
ter of 1794 and 1795, brother Poythress, at times, exhib-
ited the appearance of a man whose mind was drawn off
from surrounding objects; and in that situation he would
remain for one or more hours, when his system appeared
to react, and he would engage in conversation as usual.
At other times he complained of giddiness and pain in
his head, and his stomach and bowels appeared to be
affected with flatulency and acrid eructations. A general
listlessness, irksomencss, and disgust seemed to overwhelm
him. His countenance appeared sad and sullen, and he

WESTERN METHODISM. 189

evinced an utter aversion and inability to engage in busi-
ness of importance. At sucb times, he usually betook
himself to bed, but did not appear to sleep soundly.
These symptoms became more frequent during the fore-
part of the year 1795, and would sometimes last for
hours. Near the close of the summer of 1795 the Eev.
Aquilla Sugg, who traveled the Lexington circuit, in
consequence of bad health was rendered incapable of
performing effective service ; and, at the request of
brother Poythress, we took charge of the circuit till the
ensuing spring. Our first quarterly meeting was held in
a small log meeting-house, not far from Versailles, "Wood-
ford county. On Saturday brother Poythress arrived just
before the time for commencing the public exercises —
complained of being exceedingly unwell, and went to
bed. In a few minutes he called, and said, 'Brother
Scott, you must conduct the quarterly meeting, I can take
no part in the public exercises.' On returning from
meeting we found him still in bed, but finally prevailed
on him to get up. We then walked out together, but
had not proceeded far out of the hearing of others, when
he suddenly stopped, and said, 'Brother Scott, I am a
ruined man ; a conspiracy has been formed against me by
my sister Prior, Mr. Willis Green, and brother Simon
Adams. My sister Prior charges me with having kept
back part of the price of some negroes I sold for her
several years since; Mr. Willis Green accuses me with
having embezzled part of the money I collected for
Bethel Academy; and brother Adams accuses me with
having taken advantage of him in the purchase of a
horse; the officers of justice are now in pursuit of me.
I shall soon be incarcerated in prison, my character
ruined, and the Church disgraced.' I assured him I
knew each of those individuals to be his fast, adhering
friend; and incapable of harboring a suspicion injurious

140 SKETCHES OF

to his character, and that he might rest assured that
the} had not formed a conspiracy against him. But all
I said had no effect, and he pertinaciously insisted that
what he had said was true, and said, ' they were then
engaged in drawing others into their conspiracy/ Dur-
ing that conversation his countenance exhibited a ghastly
appearance, and his whole frame trembled. On return-
ing to the house he again retired to bed, where he re-
mained— if we rightly remember — with his head generally
covered, till the next Monday morning, when he was
again prevailed on to get out of bed. After he had taken
some refreshments, we again walked out together, and I
urged him to return home to his sister's, assured him no
conspiracy had been formed against him, and that if all
lie imagined were true, it was far better for him promptly
to meet the danger than to attempt to flee from it like a
coward. That advice seemed to strike the right chord,
it immediately vibrated, and after a few minutes he
answered, 'It is^ perhaps, best promptly to meet the
danger, but I can not do so, unless you attend and con-
duct the quarterly meeting for me at Browder's meeting-
house, near Bardstown, on next Saturday and Sunday.
That meeting must not be neglected.' We promised to
comply with his request, and he returned to his sister's.
That was the first clear and unequivocal evidence of par-
tial insanity which we recollect of having noticed in
brother Poythress — insanity as it respected three most
intimate friends; for the conspiracy, and the causes lead-
ing to it, which he supposed to exist, had no existence
except in his own heated imagination, and, for the time
being, it was found to be impracticable to remove those
delusive ideas from his mind.

''We were confident no conspiracy had been formed
against him, as he imagined, and still we entertained
fears that; in the particular cases named, he had yioldod

WESTERN METHODISM. 141

to the temptations of the archenemy of souls; and that
a conTiction of his crimes, and fear of detection had
produced the effects we witnessed. Having, however,
since that time, acquired some little knowledge of the
symptoms which often exhibit themselves in partial
insanity, the fears we then entertained have entirely
vanished. We mention this, in order to show how ex-
tremely careful we ought to be, not to suffer suspicions
injurious to the character of another to make a lodg-
ment in our minds.

^^ Agreeably to promise, we attended the quarterly
meeting, and in meeting brother Pojthress he exclaimed,
^Why, upon earth, did you suffer me to leave you? It
was all delusion. My sister met me as usual.' Early in
the year 1797 he was confined by affliction; but whether
his mind was affected during his affliction we are entirelv
uninformed. The last time we saw him was in the fore-
part of the winter of 1800. The balance of his mind
was lost, and his body lay a complete wreck. His labors
in the Church militant were at an end, but the fruits of
his labors still remain.

"We are not aware that any hereditary taint existed,
which, in its ultimate range, dethroned his reason; but
we can readily imagine that the seeds of that dreadful
malady were sown in his system by the constant expo-
sures and sufferings during the war of the Revolution,
and the twelve years he traveled and preached in the
then almost wilderness of the west. Among the eight
pioneers of Methodism in Kentucky and Tennessee in
the year 1788, the name of Francis Poythress stands pre-
eminent. By those intrepid heroes of the cross the foun-
dation of Methodism was laid in those states, on which
others have since built, and others are now building.
Their names ought to be held in grateful remembrance
by all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in giucerity and

142

SKETCHES OF

truth; but among all, we are inclined to the opinion,
there is not one of them to whom the members of our
Church, in those states, owe a greater debt of gratitude
than to Francis Poythress."

In some notes appended by Samuel Williams, Esq.,
making a few alterations in the above narrative in regard
to some dates and places, we have an item or two relat-
ing to the close of his life, which it may be proper to
give. At times, we. learn from these notes, he would con-
verse rationally upon many subjects, while on other sub-
jects he was hopelessly deranged. He was taken to his
sister's, who lived twelve miles south of Lexington, Ky.,
where he remained till he died. He has gone, we trust,
to that world where, in bright, unclouded intellect, he
now gazes upon the scenes of eternal life.

WESTEKN METHODISM. 14.3

CHAPTER YII.

BARNABAS 3I'hENRY.

The Rev. Barnabas M'Henry was among the first apos-
tles of Methodism in the western country. He entered
the itinerant connection in the year 1787. He was then
but a youth, scarcely having reached his majority. Con-
sidering the dangers and hardships to which wandering
itinerants were exposed at that early day in the west, the
leaving all the endearments of a happy home, must be
considered as an act of moral heroism of which but few
would be capable at the present day. But as Grod raises
up the men for the times in which they live, we must not
be too exact in running our parallels or contrasting the
past with the present. If we have not the men for
scenes of toil, and hardship, and danger, it may be a
comfortable reflection, at least, to know that they are not
wanted, and the circumstances of the times do not de-
mand them. "\Ye believe there is as much genuine zeal
and devotion in the Church now as there ever was, even
in the days of the apostles and primitive Christians,
though not as generally diffused among the membership.
If Methodist preachers in those days had, in the language
of President Harrison, to live just as though they had
taken the vows of poverty upon them, and had to face
the dangers and difficulties that beset their path alone
and unattended, we should rejoice that though the offense
of the cross has not ceased, yet the times have been so
wonderfully changed by the mild, humanizing, and ever
progressive spirit of Christianity, that none are called to

l^i SKETCHES OF

pass througli the same trials and persecutions for Christ's
sake. Ifx those early days Methodism was a thing of
contempt, and a Methodist preacher was considered as a
special object of ridicule. Every conceivable method
was resorted to for the purpose of caricaturing the preach-
ers and their doctrines. Songs were written and sung,
while specimens of Methodist sermons, perverted and dis-
torted, were published broadcast, to bring odium upon
the society. Grave preachers and pious deacons and
elders were found, who would engage unscrupulously in
this work. We knew ourselves a reverend divine who, at
parties, would amuse his flock by getting up a mimic
class meeting, interspersing it with occasional ditties and
a shout. We do not say this because we wish to revive
unpleasant memories, or to show up the conduct of those
who claimed all the religion, and learning, and decency
of the land; but simply as a specimen of the general
contempt which prevailed in certain quarters for these
^'rude, uneducated circuit riders.'' Sometimes the very
almanacs would be filled with songs and caricatures of
Methodist preachers; and they were in as great demand
as Davy Crockett almanacs were a few years ago. We
were taught to believe that Methodism was of the devil,
and no better than witchcraft. Here is a specimen of
the sermons preached by Methodist preachers, and be-
lieved by many to be genuine. We found it in the
almanac :

" Breathren, breathren, breathren ! The word breath-
ren comes from the tabernacle, because we dwell therein.
If you are drowsy I will arouse you. I will beat a tattoo
on the parchment cases of your consciences, and will
whip the devil about like a whirligig among you.''

It cost something in those days to be a Methodist, and
especially to be a Methodist preacher. Young M'Henry,
however, counted the coat, and joined the despised pco

WESTERN METHODISM. 145

pie. In process of time lie was licensed to preach, and,
being admitted into the traveling connection, was ap-
pointed to Yadkin circuit, North Carolina. In the year
1788 he was appointed to the Cumberland circuit, on the
very borders of the white population. Here we find him,
in company with a few others, occupying the entire field,
and following the tides of immigration to their most dis-
tant homes for the purpose of preaching to them the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, Traveling, in those days, was
attended with great danger as well as difiiculty. The In-
dians, on seeing their hunting grounds invaded by the
pale faces, were wrought up to the greatest fury, and
"would, in revenge, mercilessly attack their invaders.
The missionary band was obliged to take their lives in
their hands and risk all in the great enterprise in which
they were engaged. They had no missionary society,
with its funds and sympathies, to support and cheer them
in their toilsome work; but the best of all was, God was
with them, and hundreds of those wanderers from civili-
zation were happily converted to God, while the cabin
and block-house were made to resound with the praises
of the Almighty, and the wilderness and solitary places
often resounded with the shouts of the converted.

Speaking of this band the eloquent Bascom once said,
in reference to a narrative of their deeds: ''To give
the story an intense and thrilling interest, it need only
be told true to nature and to the actual developments of
experience. There is something so fresh, so racy, so
charming in calling up the historical reminiscences of
by-gone days, that in whatever form or garb I meet the
facts, it is only to wonder and admire. How little is
known of the courage and heroism of the early apostles
of Methodism in the western world ! What a mere titho
of information has even the Church respecting her worthi-
est sons ! The modern methods of missionary toil throw

13

146 SKETCHES OF

very little light upon this subject. More is said now an^
less done. We report to the full amount of our achieve
ments, and facts are often anticipated by a detail of
hopes. Not so with these early pioneers; they labored
suffered, and triumphed in obscurity and want. No ad-
miring populace cheered them on. No feverish commu-
nity gazetted them into fame. Principle alone sustained
them, and their glory was that of action. Many of thesi?
men had minds of no common mold, and richly stored
with varied knowledge. Even a century in a single com-
munity produces few such men as Barnabas M' Henry and
Valentine Cook. They were men by themselves, and
their memory would adorn the history of any Church in
any age. The same is true of others; and I am anxious
that the recollections, as far as practicable, concerning
them, may be saved from oblivion. How much worthless
stuff is now recorded, while incidents of so much interest
are looked upon as unworthy of record or inquiry ! Do
not too many prefer the shallow and the meager, if it be
modern, to the deep and lofty traits of character belong-
ing to an era anterior to ours? Is there much hope that
really great men will multiply among us, unless we duly
appreciate and study the character and elements of great-
ness in those by whom we have been preceded? If I
have been of any service to the Church, or to the world,
much of the result is owing to the study of character in
early life. Providentially thrown into the pulpit and
upon the field of ministerial action at the age of sixteen —
the mere dawn of manhood — I taught myself to learn the
formation of character, in view both of goodness and
greatness, by observing closely the striking characteristics
both of the living and the dead claiming these attributes.'*
The father of the writer of this sketch once preached
a thanksgiving sermon, in which he said, "We backwoods
people ought to thank God most heartily for two things;

WESTERN METHODISM. 147

i>amely, tlie Indians and the Metliodist preacliers ; for in
the settlement of this great country the Indians kept the
white popuhition from scattering into clans and taking
possession of certain districts of country, claiming it, and
forming a government of their own, and finally going to
war with each other, thus confining them to the govern-
ment of the country. While the waves of population
rolled out westward the Indians rolled them back again,
and kept them together. Then the itinerant Methodist
preachers, in the true spirit of their Master, followed up
the emigrant from block-house to block-house, and from
station to cabin and camp, and the voice of mercy and
salvation was heard, and the Sabbath regarded." To this
work M' Henry addressed himself with a zeal and devo-
tion worthy of so great a cause.

In the year 1789 he was appointed to the Danville
circuit, in company with Peter Massie as a colleague.
While on this circuit he encountered much opposition
from the Baptists, who verily thought they were doing
God's service in making the most extraordinary efi'orts to
hedge up the way of Methodist preachers. The preach-
ers of that denomination published, from their pulpits
and elsewhere, the most exaggerated and ridiculous
statements imaginable about Methodist doctrines and
usages, and every means was resorted to to prevent the
people from going out to hear the preachers; but the very
course they took only excited their curiosity to hear, and
thus brought them into notice. Thus the foolishness, if
not the wrath of man, was made the means by which
hundreds were brought to hear the Gospel of a free sal-
vation, and multitudes embraced its provisions and were
saved. Persecution always has failed, and ever will fail,
to put down the truth. The history of Paganism and
Romanism is abundant proof of this. The apostle says,
"We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth/'

148 SKETCHES OP

and we have often known systems of error themselves
dragged into notice, and made an object of sympathy^
solely on account of a mad, misguided opposition. The
best way in the world to put down error is to preach up
the truth. The fire that a crazy zealot would call down
from heaven to consume the adversaries of his peculiar
faith or practice, will be as likely to consume himself as
his opposers.

So it was, all the opposition these ^^ free-grace preach-
ers,'' as they were termed, met with, only served for the
furtherance of the Gospel j and like the persecutions
against Paul, which carried the Gospel to Rome, and
introduced it to the palace of Cesar himself, so were the
persecutions of the early Methodist preachers made the
instrument, in the Divine hand, of bringing the doctrines
of repentance, and faith, and salvation, to many who
would not, in all probability, have heard them as dis-
pensed by itinerants.

In the year 1790 M' Henry was sent to the Madison
circuit. This field of labor was at that time said to be
the most stubborn and unpromising, occupying, as it did,
the most uncivilized portion of Kentucky. It seemed to
be a place of grand rendezvous for fugitives from justice
from the older states. The whole district of country was
missionary ground, as this was the first time it was found
upon the Minutes. In this field the laborious itinerant
did the work of an evangelist. Though men may b©
guilty of crimes which may send them abroad from the
haunts of justice and civilized society, yet it would be
difiicult for them to flee to any place where the Meth-
odist preacher would not find them, and in their dark
retreats ofi"er to them the blessings of pardon and sal-
vation. They might escape from the law and the rigors
of justice, but the Gospel, with its ofi"ers of pardon,
would find them out, and their sin-burdened souls would

WESTERN METHODISM. 14:'B

De invited to partake of its full and glorious provisions.
Those upon whom others were disposed to look as repro<
bates, shut out from the pale of God's mercy, and doomed
by an irreversible decree to death and hell, were regarded
by these heralds of the cross as redeemed by the Son of
God ; and though their crimes were of the deepest dye,
even unto "scarlet and crimson,^' yet the blood of Jesus
could wash them white as mountain snow. It was, doubt-
less, on account of this indiscriminate offer of salvation
that their preaching was so obnoxious to the reigning
orthodoxy of that day. Many a dark, unrighteous heart
was changed through the instrumentality of such preach-
ing, from nature and sin to grace and holiness, and law-
less men were made obedient subjects of government
and respectable members of society, who otherwise might
have continued the enemies of God and man. As the
result of his labors this year, there were left on the cir-
cuit at its close two hundred and twelve white members
and eight colored.

The following year the subject of our sketch was ap-
pointed to the Cumberland circuit. Here he labored
with great success and usefulness. The population was
quite sparse, and the rides long and fatiguing. Not-
withstanding all this, however, he girded himself for the
work, and labored on in faith and hope. The Methodist
preacher then had but one work, and he devoted himself
exclusively to that. Being fully impressed with his call
to preach the Gospel, he could not turn aside to engage
in land and stock speculations, or enter into the noisy,
wrangling field of politics, nor even sit down to the more
honorable and useful employment of teaching school or
taking a professorship or presidency in a college, or
an editorship or agency, however important; the Holy
Ghost had moved him to call sinners to repentance, and
the great work of saving souls was all in all to him. Nor

150 SKETCHES OF

had he any time for writing books, and precious little for
reading any but his Bible and Discipline. Being shut
up to these to a great extent, as John Bunyan, in Bedford
jail, was confined to an old Bible and a Concordance, like
that man of Grod, he could map out the path of life, and
picture the glories of heaven and the glooms of hell with
a vividness and a power that made all hearts feel their
reality. The preachers of those days did not suffer
themselves to be carried away into the endless mazes of
metaphysical speculation, or to be lost in the fogs of an
occult philosophy J but bathing their vision in the eter-
nal sunshine of God's truth, they came down, like Moses
from the burning mountain, full of love and radiant with
glory.

In the year 1792 M'llenry was appointed presiding
elder of the Holston district, including Green River,
New Pdver, and Russell circuits, embracing an extent
of country that would now cover a half dozen confer-
ences. Here he was exposed to the savages and all the
difficulties of traveling, without roads, bridges, or fer-
ries to cross the streams j yet he would, with the most
indomitable zeal, urge his way through the tangled
thicket and dense forest, and across the rapid rivers and
over the craggy mountains, preaching Christ and him
crucified to the dwellers in the log-cabins of the most
desolate regions. Burning with a love to save souls for
whom his Master died, he was borne onward in his glo-
rious career, and many precious seals to his ministry will
hail him on the shores of immortality as the instrument
of their conversion to God. The succeeding year he was
appointed to the charge of a yet larger district, including
Bedford, Bottetourt, Greenbrier, and Cowpasture circuits.
It is almost incredible, at this day, for one to be told the
labors and hardships of the early pioneers of Methodism.
We fear that the zeal of the preachers of the present

WESTERN METHODISM. 151

day would be severely tested, if they were required to
cultivate similar fields ; and yet such is our faith in the
power of Methodism, under God, that we believe if the
field were here there are men of Grod who would say to
the bishop, '^ Here am I, send me.'' They labored, and
we have entered into their labors. Grod be praised that
the Church had such men for such times ! The two suc-
ceeding years find him on Salt Creek circuit, the latter
of which he was the third man, giving a strong indica-
tion that, through his excessive toils and hardships, his
vigorous constitution had been impaired, and he was,
from overtaxed exertions, declining in strength. Such
was the fact; for in the following year he was obliged to
cease from his labors as an itinerant, and take a local
relation. During the years in which he continued in
this relation his zeal for the cause of Christ did not in
the least abate, as he continued to preach whenever op-
portunity would present itself, and his health would per-
mit. In the great revival of 1800 he took an active part,
and was very efficient in leading on the sacramental hosts
of Grod's elect to glorious war.

In 1819 he re-entered the traveling connection, and
again took rank with his brethren in the itinerant field.
He was appointed presiding elder of the Salt River dis-
trict, Tennessee conference, where he labored with great
success through the year, and at its close was reappointed.
His constitution, however, was too much broken down to
enable him to continue long in his much-loved employ as
an itinerant. Like an old soldier, he only felt at home
on the field; and it was with the greatest reluctance that
he was obliged, at the close of the year, to lay down his
charge, and retire from the itinerant ranks ; yet he did
not cease to preach. With trembling frame and falter-
ing tongue he would, like the beloved John, gather
around him the disciples of Jesus, and exhort them as

152 SKETCHES OF

dear cliildren to love one another. But the day of hia
departure at length came. That dreadful scourge, the
cholera, which spread lamentation and mourning through-
out the length and breadth of our land, visited the region
where he lived, and was made God's messenger to open
to him the gates of life. On the 16th of June, 1833,
alter this man of God had preached the Gospel for half
a century, he was called from labor to reward. The full
salvation which he preached to others, and so richly
enjoyed in his own soul, sustained him in the dying hour,
and fitted by grace he was admitted to heaven. He spent
a laborious but happy life, and died a blessed death. He
fought his last battle, and finished his course.

"Life's labor done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the sijirit flies,
i While heaven and earth conspire to say,

How blest the righteous when he dies!"

Brother M^Henry possessed a high order of intellect,
and for the opportunities enjoyed in those days he had
acquired a good share of learning. As a pioneer Meth-
odist preacher, he thoroughly understood the doctrines
of the Church, and took great pleasure in their exposition
to all with whom he was brought in contact. He also
loved the spiritual and temporal economy of the Church,
and labored for their defense. To our young brethren in
the ministry, who may read this rapid and imperfect
sketch, sufi'er us to exhort you to study the character,
and endeavor to imitate the virtues, and zeal, and self-
sacrificing devotion of this faithful itinerant. You have
entered into his labors. For God's sake, suffer not the
work so well begun, and successfully carried on by the
pioneers of Methodism, to die in your hands. To carry on
this glorious work no self-induls-ence can be tolerated for
a moment. Let a zeal for God and a love for souls burn
in your heart and urge you onward. Courage, and zeal,

WESTEKN METHODISM. 153

and perseverance are as much demanded now, and per-
haps more so, than at any former period in the Church's
history. Study, therefore, to show yourselves approved
of God, workmen that need not to be ashamed; then you
wiU truly share in their labors on earth and their rewards
itt heaven.

154 Sketches 6t

CHAPTER VIII.

THOMAS SCOTT.

The sketches of Western Methodism would be incom-
plete, at least so far as pioneer preachers are concerned,
without a biography of Judge Scott, who is the oldest
living preacher now in the west, being one or two years
the senior of the venerable Burke in the itinerant ranks.
This aged minister is now engaged in writing a history
of his life and times in the Western Christian Advocate,
which will serve as a valuable monument of the past, and
be read with interest by present and future generations.
We are happy in being able to furnish our readers with
an interesting sketch, drawn up by Samuel Williams,
Esq., of Mount Auburn, an old and intimate friend of the
Judge. In the sketch the young reader will see vividly
portrayed the trials and struggles which young men had
to encounter in the early settlement of the west; and
young men of the present day may draw from these
scenes of trial and discouragement incident to border
life, courage and hope from the example furnished, that
•' labor et perseverantia omnia vincetJ^ But to the sketch.

'^ Thomas Scott, familiarly called Judge Scott, from hav-
ing been several years a judge of the Supreme Court of
Ohio, has been a resident of Cliillicothe more than fifty-
one years, where he still resides, enjoying a green old age,
having just completed the eightieth year of his earthly
pilgrimage. He was born at Skypton, near the junction of
the north and south branches of the Potomac river, Alle-
ghany county, Maryland, October 31, 1772. His father's
parents were Scotch-Irish, and emigrated from Ireland

WESTERN METHODISM. 155

and settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania, shortly after
the battle of the Boyne, in 1690. They were Protest-
ants, and had sustained heavy losses by the Catholics
previous to that battle.

"Before the age of fourteen years Mr. Scott embraced
religion, and became a member of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, when there were only a little over twenty
thousand members in its communion, and about one hun-
dred and seventeen preachers. He has, therefore, been a
member of the Church more than sixty-six years. At
the conference at Leesburg, Virginia, in April, 1789,
when only sixteen and a half years old, he was admitted
on trial in the traveling connection, and appointed to
Gloucester circuit, Virginia, together with those distin-
guished ministers, Lewis Chasteen and Valentine Cook
The following year he was appointed to Berkely circuit,
with Lewis Chasteen preacher in charge. Soon after
they commenced their labors, 31r. Chasteen was seized
with the small-pox, which injured one of his eyes so
much that he could labor but little till near the close of
the year. This devolved nearly the entire labor, as well
as the administration of discipline, upon the youthful
Scott, yet only eighteen years old. At the conference in
May, 1791, he was received into full connection, and or-
dained deacon by Bishop Asbury, who appointed him in
charge of Stafford circuit, Virginia, with Samuel Hitt,
late of Champaign county, Ohio, as his helper. In 1792
he was appointed to Frederic circuit, Virginia, with
Thomas Lyell as his helper.

''Mr. Lyell, although young, and only in the second
year of his ministry, had already acquired great fame as
a very eloquent and popular preacher. This, together
with his amiable disposition, his polished manners, his
fascinating conversation, and his fine personal figure, con-
spired to make him a great favorite, both with the preach-

156 SKETCHES OF

ers and people. For many successive years he was
stacioDed in the most populous cities, and caressed, and,
perhaps, flattered wherever he went. In 1804 he located,
and afterward took orders in the Protestant Episcopal
Church, and was settled in the city of New York as rec-
tor of a populous and wealthy parish, which he served
with great acceptance till his death, at an advanced age,
a few years since. It is said that he preserved, to the
last, a friendly attachment to the Methodist Episcopal.
Church and her ministry. But to return from this di-
gression.

^'At the conference held at the place of Mr. Scott's
nativity, in June, 1793, he was ordained elder by Bishop
Asbury, and appointed to the Ohio circuit, in charge,
with the Bev. Bobert Bonham as his helper. This cir-
cuit was of great extent, and much of which lay along
the frontier settlements on the Ohio river, in Western
Virginia and Pennsylvania, and exposed to the attacks of
the Indians.

" In the spring of 1794, in pursuance of instructions
from Bishop Asbury, Mr. Scott descended the Ohio river
to join the Kentucky conference, which convened on the-
15th of April. Embarking at Wheeling, on a flat-bot-
tomed boat, ladened with provisions for General Wayne's
army, he descended the Ohio river to Brook's landing,,
above the mouth of Limestone creek, where Maysville now
stands. The settlements along the Ohio river, at that pe-
riod, were few and far between, and the intervening wil-
derness was occupied by hostile tribes of Indians, to
whose attacks descending boats were continually exposed.
Floating with the current, the voyage was necessarily
tedious, and the boat often passing along very near to the
shore, those on board were in great danger from the
unerring rifle of the Indian. But Mr. Scott, unconscious
of his danger, was accustomed daily to sit, for hours

WESTERN METHODISM. 157

toget"her, on the top of the boat, reading, even while the
boat was floating along close to the shore covered with
bushes, from which the savage tomahawk of the practiced
Indian might have been hurled to his destruction. He
has oftentimes since reflected with surprise upon his own
imprudence, and ascribed his preservation to a merciful
and overruling Providence. Having sent his horse on to
Kentucky a few days ahead, Mr. Scott, on landing there
himself, immediately proceeded to the home of his par-
ents, on the head waters of Bracken creek, Mason county,
with whom he spent a few days, and then repaired to the
seat of the Kentucky conference, near Bethel Academy,
Jessamine county, where he received an appointment to
Danville circuit, on which he continued to labor during
the conference year. At the conference in May, 1795,
he located for the purpose of attending to important tem-
poral business in Pennsylvania. But sickness and othei
circumstances prevented his going to Pennsylvania. To
accustom himself to hard labor, he turned in to cut down
and strip the bark from large trees for his brother James,
who was a tanner. When the season for this work was
over, he went to school about a month to acquire a better
knowledge of arithmetic. Every Thursday afternoon he
walked three miles to meet a class, of which he was
leader, and had his appointments to preach on Sabbath,
one of which places was in Maysville, and it is probable
he was the first Methodist minister who ever preached
the Gospel in that town. In the latter part of the sum-
mer, at the request of the Rev. F. Poythress, the presid-
ing elder, Mr. Scott took charge of the Lexington cir-
cuit, in place of the Rev. Aquilla Sugg, whose health
had failed, and he continued on that circuit till the meet-
ing of the Kentucky conference in the spring of 1796,
from which time his labors as an itinerant minister in
the Church ceased. w-- — -•

158 SKETCHES OF

"On tlie lOtli of May, 1796, Mr. Scott married Miss
Catharine Wood, a pious young lady, whose parents had
long been Methodists, and soon after settled in Washing-
ton, Mason county, Ky., where he obtained employment
as a clerk in a dry goods store. In a few months the
merchant failed in business, and Mr. Scott thereby lost
nearly half his earnings. After this he devoted a small
portion of his time to reading the elementary principles
of law, and copying and memorizing the forms of entries
in civil and criminal proceedings in the courts. This he,
did in expectation of being appointed clerk of the courts
in a new county about to be set off from Mason ; but
which office, although his superior fitness for it was ad-
mitted by all, was, through the treachery of pretended
friends, given to another. He now determined upon the
study of law, with the view of practicing at the bar, and,
therefore, declined several very favorable offers of eastern
merchants to engage in the mercantile business. But ia
what way he was to support himself and family, while pur-
suing his legal studies, was now the question. Various
plans were considered; and as 'necessity is the mother
of invention,' he finally resolved upon opening a tailor's-
shop in Washington, so soon as he could gain sufficient
practical knowledge of the business to follow it. His
father was a tailor, and when a boy he had often assisted
him on long winter nights, and wet or stormy days, and
was expert in the use of the needle, but was ignorant of
the art of cutting, and of joining the parts of garments
together. To acquire this knowledge, he worked awhile
as a journeyman in an extensive shop in Washington.
But the proprietor, aware of Mr. Scott's intention to com-
mence business himself, never allowed him to be present
when he took the measure for garments or cut them.
Be was obliged, therefore, to get the requisite knowledge
from a tailor in the country

WESTERN METHODISM. 159

'^He had never yet had any practice in measuring, or
cutting, or fitting garments, and might well have been
deterred, by his fears, from attempting to open shop and
commence. But relying upon his own native genius, and
his patient, untiring perseverance in whatever he under-
took, he did open a shop and commence business. He
spoiled the first coat he attempted to cut. But, nothing
daunted, he tried again and succeeded. His neighbors
kindly encouraged him, and work soon came in so fast
that he had to employ journeymen. The late Mr. John
Watson, well known in Chillicothe and elsewhere as an
able hotel-keeper, worked some time for 31r. Scott as a
journeyman.

'* Anxious to proceed in his legal studies, and yet hav-
ing no time that he could devote to it, he adopted an ex-
pedient which none but an indomitable spirit, like his,
would have thought of resorting to. Mrs. Scott was an
excellent reader^ and as she had a hired woman to do the
domestic work, she devoted her leisure time to reading to
Mr. Scott, while at work on his shop-board, Blackstone's
Commentaries, and other law books; and as she read, he
treasured up in memory, and reflected on the contents
read. The reading was often succeeded by singing, as
they were both good singers; and while both were busily
engaged in plying the needle, they would beguile the
time by singing some of the sweet songs of Zion, and
thus they cheerily passed the day.

''In the fall of 1798 Mr. Scott removed, with his fam-
ily, to Lexington, where he commenced a regular course
of law-reading under the late honorable James Brown,
deceased. In the winter of 1800, before he had com-
pleted the extensive course of legal studies which he haa
anxiously desired, he was obliged, from pecuniary neces-
sity, to desist; and having obtained license to practice
law, he removed to and settled in Flemingsburg, Fleming

160 SKETCHES OF

county, where lie was appointed prosecuting-attorney.
Here, and in the counties of Mason and Bracken, he ob-
tained some little practice, but did not succeed well in
either of those cour.':ies. Although well versed in the
principles of law, he had never yet read any book which
treated of practice either in courts of law or equity.
While at Flemingsburg he commenced a course of math-
ematical studies.

"In March, 1801, he visited Chillicothe, by advice of
the late General Nathaniel Massie and other friends, and
upon consultation with his old friend, Dr. Edward Tiffin —
whom he had known and taken into the Church eleven
years prior to that time, in Virginia — he concluded to
remove to and settle in that town, which he did the fol-
lowing month, and has continued to reside there to the
present time — a period of over fifty-one years. Before
leaving Kentucky he went to Cincinnati and was exam-
ined before the General Court of the North-Western Ter-
ritory— Judge Burnett, Mr. M'Millen, and Attorney-Gen-'
eral St. Clair examiners — and admitted to the degree of
counselor at law. During the summer of 1801 he wrote
in the clerk's office for Doctor Tiffin, and engaged in such
other business as he could to obtain a scanty subsistence,
as he could not practice as counselor at law till he had
resided two years in the territory. The succeeding win-
ter he was employed as engrossing and enrolling clerk
during the session of the Territorial Legislature. On
the assembling of the convention for forming a constitu-
tion for the state, Mr. Scott was elected Secretary to that
body. Dr. Tiffin being a candidate for governor, under
the new constitution, he resigned the clerkship of the
several courts which he then held, and Mr. Scott was ap-
pointed in his place by the acting governor. At the first
township election in Chillicothe, under the constitution,
ho was elected a justice of the peace, and was the first

WESTERN METHODISM. 161

one commissioned under the state government. At the
session of the first General Assembly, under the constitu-
tion, Mr. Scott was elected Secretary of the senate, to
which oflSce he was annually appointed till 1809, in Feb-
ruary of which year he was elected, by the Legislature,
one of the judges of the Supreme Court, and the year
following was re-elected and commissioned chief judge
of that Court. This office he held till July, 1815, when,
finding the salary insufficient for the support of himself
and family, he resigned his seat on the bench and re-
sumed the practice of law.

"In October, 1815, Judge Scott was elected one of the
representatives of Ross county, in the Legislature, and
in 1822, he and the late Judge Francis Dunlevy and
Thomas Ewing, Esq., were commissioned by Governor
Morrow, under a law of the state, as a board of revision,
to revise the general laws of the state, and to report the
same to the General Assembly at its ensuing session.
The Board had not quite completed their work when the
Legislature met; and one of the first things done by that
body was to dissolve the Board, so that no report was
made. In March, 1829, he was appointed, by the Presi-
dent and senate. Register of the Land-Office at Chilli-
cothe, which office he held, by successive appointments,
till March, 1845, when he was removed by President
Polk.

''The foregoing sketch of our old friend and neighbor
is condensed from a more extended one recently drawn
uj by himself, and kindly furnished to us. We have de-
voted more space to it than we can well spare, and yet
have beei obliged to omit many incidents and facts which
would have lent additional interest to the narrative.
Many of his friends have, with us, regretted that the
Judge ever exchanged his high and holy calling of an
embassador of Christ for the bar, or the bench, or polit*

162 SKETCHES OF

ical life, witli its turmoil and strife. 'Tis true, he pos-
sessed superior qualifications for the bar, and the bench,
and the various other offices he has held. But his fitness
for the ministry was of a still higher order. And had he
remained at his post therein, he would, doubtless, long
since have ranked with the most talented and distin-
guished ministers in the Church; nay, might possibly
now be filling the dignified office of its senior superin-
tendent. It is but justice, however, to add, that he con-
sidered himself forced, by 'dire necessity,' to take the
course he did. 'For,' said he, 'had the Church at that
period been able to support myself and family, I would
have spent my whole life in the ministry. But the
Church was then too poor to do it.' It is much to be
lamented that many others of the ablest and most useful
ministers in the Church, in former times, were, from the
samt cause, compelled to retire from the work."

WESTERN METHODISM. 163

CHAPTER IX.

JOHN KOBLER

If we were to tear of a minister of Jesus who had
preached the first sermon in what is now the state of
Ohio, and spread the first table of the Lord that was
ever spread in this wilderness, would it not awaken a
thrilling emotion in our hearts and create a romantic
interest to hear something of his wonderful history?
What adventure could be connected with more stirring
incident than the adventures of such a man in braving
the perils of the wilderness, and preaching the Gospel,
and administering its ordinances in these wilds more than
fifty years ago? We have his histor}'-, gentle reader, and
the incidents connected with his heroic Christian life.

The subject of our sketch was born in Culpepper
county, Virginia, on the 29th of August, in the year
1768. He was blessed with pious parents, and particu-
larly a pious mother — one of the greatest blessings to
mortals; for to the mother more than to any other, and,
in fact, all other influences combined, apart from the
grace of God, is the child indebted for its character. A
mother's smile, and gentle word, and kind hand do
more to mold the character and fix the destiny of the
child than all other agencies combined. "Give me,"
said Madame de Stael, "the first seven years of a child's
life, and I care not who afterward shall have its training."
This, as a general principle, will hold good, as the period
alluded to constitutes, to a great extent, the forming
stage of human character. During that time it receives

164

SKETCHES OF

its bent and direction for time and eternity. Having a
mother whose mind and heart were thoroughly imbued
with the principles and graces of religion, young Kobler
was early trained in the path of virtue, and fortilJcd
against the assaults of vice and sin. The example and
teachings of that godly mother were accompanied by
ardent prayer and the impressive and awakening influ-
ence of the Holy Spirit. Thus, at a very early period in
his life, he was led to feel the importance of religion.
Drawn by the Spirit, and yielding up his young heart to
its genial influences, he was led away from the noisy
sports of life to the place of retirement, where he would
read his Bible and pour out his young aff'ections to the
great Father in heaven. Under the influence of such
agencies, human and divine, as were at work on his heart,
he was soon led into the possession of that regenerating
grace which filled his heart with the joys of salvation.

In the nineteenth year of his age we find him a pro-
fessor of religion, and happy in the love of God. This
profession he maintained by a consistency of conduct
which would do honor to a mature Christian, He was,
however, evidently designed for a higher service than
that of exemplifying the Gospel of Jesus in the private
walks of life; and it could be seen by his peculiar fer-
vency and the train of his thoughts, that the Spirit was
calling him to the work of the ministry. Moved by that
Spirit in a way he could not mistake for the motions of
his own heart, he obeyed the Divine call, and in the
twenty-first year of his age he gave up home, and friends,
and earthly comforts and prospects, and entered the
rough and rugged field of itinerant life. Shortly after
his entrance upon the work of an itinerant, there being
a loud call for preachers in the far west, he enlisted as a
volunteer and went out as a pioneer to the North-West-
ena territory. Here, in these wildsj he encountered toilS;

WESTERN METHODISM. 165

privations, and hardships incident to the life of a pioneer
preacher. He lived and labored in this region amid
scenes of danger, and was personally acquainted with
many an adventure, and could relate sufferings which had
been endured by the early settlers which would seem
almost incredible at this day. In Powell's Valley he be-
came acquainted with a lady who had been captured by
the Indians, and who related to him her sufferings, an
account of which he gave to Bishop Asbury when on a
visit to his circuit. The maiden name of the lady was
Dickenson, She had married a gentleman by the name
of Scott, and was living in the vallej'. On a certain
evening, her husband and children being in bed, eight or
nine Indians rushed into the house full of threatening
and slaughter. Startled by their terrific yells, Mr. Scott
sprang from the bed and instantly every gun they had
was fired at him. Although badly wounded he broke
through them all, and ran out of the house into the
woods. Several of them immediately started in pursuit,
and soon overtaking him, being faint from loss of blood,
they butchered him and took off his scalp. The mother
gathered her helpless children in her arms, and, convulsed
with fear, awaited the result. Soon they returned, and,
wresting her children from her grasp, they cruelly mur-
dered them before her eyes. They then plundered the
house and took her prisoner. From the cabin they went
out into the depths of the forest, and, kindling a fire,
they spent the night in drinking, shouting, and dancing.
The next day they divided the plunder among themselves
as equally as possible. Among the number of articles
taken was one of Mr. Wesley's hymn-books. For this
they had no use, and, no one seeming to care for it, the
distracted woman, by signs, desired that it might be given
to her. To this they assented, and taking the book, from
whose appropriate hymns she had often derived courage

166 SKETCHES OF

and comfort, she opened its pages and began to r^a*.
When the Indians saw this they were greatly displeased,
and snatching it from her, they gave her to understand
that they believed her a conjurer. After this thej
started in the direction of the Indian towns, and traveled
several days through the wilderness. The grief and sor-
row of this afflicted woman were so great that she could
scarcely realize the horrid scenes through which she had
passed, and thought she was dreaming. To aggravate
that grief, if possible, these fiends took the scalps of her
husband and children and hung them around her neck.
Thus she walked along through tangled thickets and over
rugged mountains, almost fainting from fatigue, and worn
down with anguish. When they saw her panting for
breath, and almost ready to sink from exhaustion in her
weary marches, they would laugh at her calamity and
mock her feebleness. Every spark of humanity, how-
ever, was not extinct in this savage band. There was
one Indian who, in the hour of her extremity, procured
for her some water to quench her burning thirst, and
when she was ready to sink made the remainder stop for
her to rest. For eleven days they traveled on, and when
almost famished with hunger they called a halt, and com-
mitting her to the care of an old Indian they started off
to hunt for food. After resting awhile the old Indian
went to work to dress a deer-skin. Mrs. Scott observing
that his mind was wholly absorbed in his employment,
walked about from place to place, and watching her op-
portunity she fled, and was soon out of sight in the forest
After running for some time she came to a cane-brake,
and entering it was securely hidden. The Indians, on
returning at night and finding their prisoner gone, started
out in pursuit of her. It seems that they had taken the
direction in which she had gone; for during the night
Bhe frequently heard them searching for her, and answer-

WESTERN METHODISM. 167

ine: one another with an owl-like hoot. In the darkness
of the night, alone in the wilderness, and hunted by the
savages like a beast of prey, this poor woman fell upon
her knees, and poured out her soul in supplication to her
Father, God. She spent the night in prayer, and the sav-
ages not bexUg able to find her hiding-place, left for other
parts. In the morning she started in the direction, as
she supposed, of Kentucky, almost despairing of ever
being permitted to look upon a white face again. One
day, while wandering in the wilderness, not knowing
whither she was going, almost ready to sink from want
of food and rest, having nothing to subsist upon but
roots, young grape-vines, and sweet cane, she heard, not
far from her, a loud yell and a tremendous noise, like the
furious tramping of many horses. She instantly secreted
herself in a thicket close by, and in a few moments, from
her hiding-place, she saw a large company of Indians
rush by with a drove of horses, which they had stolen
from the whites. When the sound had died away, and
all was still, she left her retreat, and journeyed on.
After traveling a short distance, she came in sight of a
huge bear, who was devouring a deer, and so pressed was
she with hunger, that she drew near in hopes of getting
some. At her approach the bear looked up and growled
hideously. Fearing an attack she hastened away. At
length night came on and she laid down, and all through
its gloomy hours she dreamed of eating; but morning
came, and she was sick and faint with hunger. As she
pursued her journey she came to a rocky region, and
finding a cave, in which there were some leaves, she con-
cluded, as all hope had nearly deserted her, to go in and
lie down, and resign herself to her fate. For several
hours she occupied this den of wild beasts, and wept and
prayed for deliverance from her pain and sorrow. Her
whole system was racked with pain, so much so that she

IBS SKETCHES OF

could not rest, and she was obliged to rise and pursue her
journey. She thought of home, and the dear ones whc
had been rudely snatched from her embrace, and the
fountains of her grief were opened afresh, while her
moans and lamentations waked the echoes of the wilder-
ness, and reached the ears of her Father in heaven.

Day aftaj: day she traveled on, and she finally came to
the spot where the Cumberland river breaks through the
mountains. She crawled down the clifi"s a considerable
distance, till the darkening defiles around her filled her
with dismay. Far down below her rolled the rapid river.
Around her were craggy rocks, and above her the steep,
precipitous cliiFs, which her insensibility to fear had ena-
bled her to descend, but which her strength would never
allow her to scale. She was now on the edge of a fright-
ful precipice, formed by a rock which rose up perpendicu-
larly from the bank of the river. To go back she could
not, and to descend that precipice would crush her by the
fall. But it was the only alternative; and falling upon
her knees she prayed most fervently, and commended
her soul to (lod. Then rising, she seized a bush which
grew out of the fissures of the rock, on the very edge,
and letting herself down as far as it would reach, she let
go, and fell to the bottom on the jagged rocks. Wonder-
ful as it was, she was not killed ; but bruised and man-
gled, she lay in a state of insensibility for several hours.
When she revived she considered that her end was near,
and soon her sufferings would end with her life. But
her time had not yet come, and she was immortal till
that hour. A sensation of thirst came on her that was
insupportable. The waters were before her, dashing their
spray almost at her feet, but in her wounded and helpless
condition how could she reach them? Feeling that she
must drink or die, she made an effort, and by slow and
painful progress she at last crawled to the brink, and

WESTERN METHODISM. ' 169

quenched her burning thirst. This greatly revived her,
and after a short time she was able to get up and walk
Following along the bank of the river, she came to a
path, and, entering it, she pursued it a short distance,
when it branched off in two directions. One direction
of this path led back into the wilderness; the other to
the settlements. Which path to take she knew not.
She, however, unfortunately determined to take the one
leading to the wilderness. Before proceeding many
steps, a little bird, of a dove color, flew close by her face,
and fluttered along into the other path. She stopped,
and gazed upon it, when it flew toward her, and then re-
turned to the path a second time. Taking this to be a
Providential interference, she took the path of the bird,
which flew on before her, and was at length among the
abodes of humanity and civilization.

Soon after, under the preaching of the Gospel pioneer,
she embraced religion, led a consistent life, and died in
the triumphs of the Christian faith. Brother Kobler
preached her funeral discourse, in which he related the
wonderful trials and deliverances of this pioneer mother.
There being a field open in the region north-west of
the Ohio, and laborers being wanted, Kobler went over
to travel the wilderness where we now live, and preached
the Gospel of Jesus to the scattered inhabitants. A
sketch, furnished by him for the Western Historical
Society, in August, 1841, we will insert, as it will servo
to show, in his own language, what was the state and
condition of the country upward of fifty years ago. It
begins as follows :

'' In the year 1798, the writer of this article was sent
by Bishop Asbury, as a missionary to this region of
country, then called the North-Western territory, now
Ohio state, to form a new circuit, and to plant the first
principles of the Gospel. In passing through the coun-

15

170 SKETCHES OF

try lie found it almost in its native, rude, and unculti-
vated state. The inhabitants were settled in small
neighborhoods, and few and far between; and little or
no improvement about them. No sound of the everlast-
ing Gospel had as yet broken upon their ears, or glad-
dened their hearts; no house of worship was erected
wherein Jehovah's name was recorded; no joining the
assembly of the saints, or those who keep the holy day ;
but the whole might, with strict propriety, be called
'a land of darkness, and the shadow of death,^

'Where the sound of a cburch-going bell,

Those vales and rocks never heard
Ne'er sighed at the sound of a knell,
Nor smiled when a Sabbath appeared.'

"The site on which Cincinnati now stands, was nearly a
dense and uncultivated forest. No improvement was to
be seen but Fort Washington, which was built on the
brow of the hill, and extended down to the margin of
the river; around which was built a number of cabins,
in which resided the first settlers of the place. This
fortress was then under the command of General Har-
rison, and was the great place of rendezvous for the fed-
eral troops, which were sent by the government to guard
the frontiers, or to go forth to war with the Indians. In
this state of things the writer left this country forty
years ago, and never saw or visited the state of Ohio till
the third day of July last, at which time he came from
aboard the steamboat Bristol, and walked through a con-
siderable part of the city of Cincinnati; but he has no
language to express his reflections, and the peculiarity of
thoughts which rushed upon his mind, while comparing
the past state of things with the present. After passing
from street to street, and from square to square for more
than half a mile, he came to the conclusion that no city
in the Union could vie with it in beauty and magnitude,

WESTERN METHODISM. 171

considering its short growtli. Having, since arriving in
Cincinnati, traveled over many parts of his old mission-
ary ground, he tinds a most astonishing change and im-
provement has taken place. Where formerly there were
indistinct paths, sometimes only trees being blazed to
direct our course from one house or settlement to another,
now there are highly-improved roads, and turnpikes, and
and every facility for public conveyance. And where
there stood unbroken forests, now there are numerous
villages and large towns, numbering their thousands.
The farms and farm-houses are equal in convenience,
beauty, and taste to any in the Union. But the best and
most encouraging of all is, to see a large proportion of
the inhabitants of the country, both in villages and
cities, truly religious ; men and women who fear God,
and work righteousness. The writer of this article can
not help here adverting to the time when he spread the
first table for the sacrament of the Lord's supper, that
was spread north-west of the Ohio. When the commu-
nicants were called to approach the table, the number did
not exceed twenty-five or thirty; this was the sum total
of all that were in the country. Now the Minutes of
the annual conferences of Ohio return one hundred thou-
sand regular Church members; so mightily hath the
word of God run and prevailed ! Where we once
preached in log-cabins, we now see stately churches
erected, whose spires point toward heaven, and whose
solemn bells announce the arrival of the Christian Sab-
bath, and call the attention of the multitude to the house
of God. This is indeed the Lord's doing, and a circum-
Btance of the deepest regard to its original founder; and
he would pray that this land may continue to be greatly
blessed of the Lord, and continue to be a people with
whom God may delight to dwell. I should judge from
the locality of the country, the richness of the soil,

172 SKETCHES OF

salubrity of climate; and tlie industry of the inhabit
antS; that in a few years this state will be equal in wealth
and number, if not superior to any of the eastern states.
The Church, in her present onward course, is spreading
a divine influence which deeply affects all states and
conditions, sects and orders of men. Look in any direc-
tion and you will see her rising up in all the power and
majesty of divine grace, the righteousness thereof going
forth with brightness, and the salvation thereof like unto a
lamp that burnetii. Our Congress and legislative halls
have in them their Obadiahs — a number who are not
ashamed to confess Hhat they fear the Lord greatly;' and
while they sit at the helm of government, and guide the
destinies of our wide-spreading republic, we see them fully
awake to the interests of the Church, under the convic-
tion that ^ righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a
reproach to any people.' But whence is this divine
knowledge derived ? Certainly from the Bible ; that
book which is sending forth a flood of divine light and
truth into every department of Church and state. While
we as ministers and members of the Church enjoy those
invaluable privileges, it is our duty to lay them deeply to
heart, that we may duly appreciate and wisely improve
them. Your aged servant, the writer of this article, has
been standing on the walls of our Zion for fifty-five years;
and while, with unwearied vigilance, he has been guard-
ing and laboring for the interests of the Church, he has
been making strict observations on circumstances and
things connected with the Church ; and from long obser-
vation he has been fully convinced, and, of late, more so
than ever, that it is the doctrine which we preach, the
discipline which we have exercised, and the system by
which, as a Church, we are regulated, that have pro-
duced those happy results, in the conversion and sanctifi-
cation of so many thousands. Our doctrines are : First x

WESTERN METHODISM. 1^3

free salvation; so that wherever the minister meets his
congregation^ be they many or few, he feels no hesitancy
in offering salvation to every soul present, and accord-
ingly tells them, ^ that Jesus Christ, by the grace of God,
tasted death for every man/ Secondly, we preach a
present salvation ; which is salvation by faith alone, as
the condition, and the only condition, of our justification
before God. Thirdly, the doctrine of holiness, as the
Christian's highest privilege, and most indispensable
duty. St. Paul terms it, ^The mark and prize of our
high calling, which is of God in Christ Jesus,' and ex-
horts all believers to press to its attainment. To the
doctrines of the everlasting Gospel we owe all our spir-
itual achievements ; and, as a people, all that we have
and are. Our system of doctrine and discipline has
been well and long tried. It has stood the fiery ordeal
of one century, and has come forth as gold and as ^silver
tried in a furnace of earth, and purified seven times.'
Here, then, I would say to our ministers and to the
Church, whereunto we have already attained, let us
walk by the same rule; let us mind the same things;
never lose sight of the spirit and practice of Gospel
holiness in all its hights and depths, as the leading and
essential qualification for the Christian ministry. The
herald of mercy and grace may speak with the tongue of
angelic eloquence rather than men; but if he lacks
love — the constraining principle, 2 Cor. v, 14 — he will
be only as ' sounding brass, or as a tinkling cymbal.' St.
Paul saith, ' The love of Christ constraineth us.' 0, who
can tell the force, the power, and the eloquence of con-
straining love ! This alone can carry fire to frozen hearts,
and make the terrified sinner to cry, ^ What must I do to
be saved?' When one of those master-spirits, from the
sacred desk, draws the Gospel bow at a venture, his arm
is nerved with an almighty energy; the arrows of the

•^^ SKETCHES OF

Almighty will be sliarp and powerful in the hearts of the
King's enemies^ whereby the people will fiill under Him.
Dear brethren in the ministry, let us press on to a higher
state of holiness ; let us be ^ men of one Book/ studying
closely the Bible — men mighty in prayer, having deep
communion with God ; let us go from our knees into the
pulpit, and there, with enlarged hearts and open mouths,
and losing all sight of self, and every shadow of self,
preach as a dying man to dying men, holding up the
Lord Jesus Christ as the Great Expedient for a lost and
ruined world. Let holiness be in every composition, and
make a part of every sermon. Blessed is that minister
that shall be found so doing. Though his preaching
abilities may be small and lightly esteemed by a misjudg-
ing world, yet, clad in Gospel panoply complete, and hav-
ing on the armor of righteousness, on the right hand and
on the left, he will 'turn many to righteousness,' and
shine as the stars forever and ever. Let us not only
teach our Church publicly, but from house to house, vis-
iting their families, and encouraging and praying with
them; by which means they will be strengthened, and
made to walk in the fear of God, and in the comforts of
the Holy Ghost. By this means you will be instruments
in 'strengthening the weak, binding up that which was
broken, and bringing back that which was driven away.'
Meet the class, if possible, after preaching. In the early
stage of Methodism the class meeting was our bond of
union. 0, with what warm hearts did the dear people
go to the class-room ; and there, with sobbing hearts and
flowing eyes, would tell over their trials, and what God
had done for their souls ; and all this in such a melting
strain that the hardest heart could not remain unmoved.
0, let us take heed to ourselves, and to all the flock over
which the Holy Ghost hath made us overseers, to feed
the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his

WESTERN METHODISM. 1Y5

own blood. As the dew upon Mount Hermon, and as the
dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, so may
the Lord command his blessing upon his people, even
life for evermore."

Though Kobler was possessed of a constitution natu-
rally of more than ordinary strength, the privation and
toil, accompanied with the necessary exposure of a Meth-
odist missionary at that early day in the history of our
country and the Church, gave to that constitution a shock
from which it never recovered. Endowed with abilities,
as a preacher, above mediocrity, and fired with a zeal
worthy his high vocation, for a period of eighteen years
he labored with great success in the itinerant field, and
many souls were converted through his instrumentality.
Being completely prostrated by disease, in the year 1809
he was induced to locate, and settled in the neighborhood
in which he was born.

Unsought by himself, in the year 1836 the Baltimore
annual conference placed his name on the list of its
superannuated ministers. Fond of meeting with the
redeemed of the Lord, as age grew upon him, and as he
was unable to visit distant circuit appointments, he sought
for a residence in a place where he could assemble with
the people of Grod, and be useful; and hence he removed
to Fredericksburg, Virginia. In that place his saint-like
spirit, exhibited in Christian conversation, his dignified
ministerial bearing, and his untiring labors in preaching,
exhorting, praying, visiting the sick and imprisoned, did
more, under God, to give character and permanency to
Methodism in that place than any other human agency.
The Church in Fredericksburg was small and poor, and
the house in which the members worshiped was dilapi-
dated and situated in an out-of-the-way place. The mem
bership resolved to better their condition, and thereby
increase their facilities for doing good by building a new

IW

SKETCHES OF

chureli. To aid them in this undertaking, father Kobler
was not only one of the most liberal subscribers, but he
started out, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, on an
excursion, appealing to the Churches of the west, the
early field of his itinerant toil, for assistance. During
this tour he visited the Ohio conference, and met with
success in his undertaking. He seemed, like good old
Simeon, to wait for the completion and dedication of this
house of the Lord ; and when the day at length arrived,
and the Lord was invoked to take possession of the
newly-erected temple, while all the lovers of Methodism
were joyful, the old patriarch was transported. The
object for which he had ardently prayed and labored was
accomplished, and he was ready to say, "Now, Lord, let-
test thou thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation." His days, however, were length
ened, and he was permitted to witness one of the most
interesting and powerful revivals in that church. The
glorious work had hardly abated ere disease laid its de-
stroying hand upon him. During his affliction he was
perfectly happy, and the light of heaven beamed on his
happy countenance. Without a murmur he suffered the
will of his Master. Often was he heard to say, '^Living
or dying, I am the Lord's.^' On his friends asking him
if he had any thing he desired them to pray for, he
replied, "Pray for the Church, that God would abund-
antly pour out his Spirit upon it, and take it into close
keeping with himself." On one occasion he said, ''I
have dug deep, and brought all the evidence to bear, and
I find I have a strong confidence, which nothing can
shake; but all is through the infinite merits of my Lord
and Savior. I wish it to be known to all, that the prin-
ciples which I have believed, and taught, and practiced
in life, I cling to in death, and find they sustain me. I
have tried all my life to make my ministry and life con-

WESTEEN METHODISM. 177

sistent." About half an liour before he died he was
asked, ^^Is Jesus precious?" ^' 0, yes, very precious!"
and then he uttered, as his last words on earth, " Come,
Lord Jesus; come in power, come quickly!" In a few
minutes he was no more; the spirit had gone to heaven.
Having left the tabernacle which it had occupied foi
three quarters of a century, it went to its building of
God above.

fB

SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER X.

BENJAMIN LAKIN.

This western pioneer was born in the state of Mary-
land. Wlien quite young his parents removed to the
state of Pennsylvania; but not being satisfied with the
country, they continued their peregrinations westward till
they arrived at the state of Kentucky. It was in the
early settlement of that country that they made their
home among its cane-brakes. Young Lakin, sharing the
fortunes of his father, amid the scenes of the dark and
bloody ground, could not be expected to have received
much literary or religious training. In that day there
were few who knew any thing about experimental relig-
ion, what there was consisting more of a mere form than
any thing else. Indeed, there was precious little even of
that. Still the country was not wholly destitute for a
wandering Methodist preacher, whose circuit, like the
track of a comet, swept over the whole space of the
country, would touch at the different and distant neigh-
borhoods, and pour from his heart, richly filled with the
treasures of experimental religion, the soul-saving truths
of the Gospel. Under the influence of such preaching,
young Lakin was brought to feel his need of a Savior j
and, after seeking with great earnestness for the blessing
of pardon and salvation, he at length was enabled, through
faith, to behold and embrace the ^'Lamb of God, who
taketh away the sin of the world.^' It was not long after
his conversion that he felt called to take up his cross and
follow his Savior, in bearing the messages of mercy to his

WESTERN METHODISM. 179

dying fellow-men. There was nothing in those days to
render an itinerant life in the least degree inviting.
Every step of such a mission was connected with danger
and toil; and it was not likely that any would enter the
ministry except from the firmest convictions of a duty
the most pressing and imperative in its nature. It seems
to us, though we may be wrong — if so, God forgive us —
that such has been the change wrought upon the face of
the country and society in general, making the post of a
Gospel minister rather desirable than otherwise, that
many do not feel that awful sense of responsibility con-
nected with the calling which it is just as important to
feel now as then, and that we find young men entering
upon this work about in the same way, and with no greater
anxiety or interest than they would enter upon any learned
or business profession for the purpose of honor and emol-
ument; and the danger of mistaking the call is increased,
from the fact that so much stress is laid upon mere lit-
erary training and scholastic attainments connected v/ith
the wonderfully-restless desire the present generation has
for learned ministers. AYe know of nothing that would
tend more effectually to bring back the dark ages upon
the Church than such a disposition to exalt learning at
the expense of the zeal and wisdom of our fathers in the
ministry. They perhaps knew little about Latin, Greek,
and Hebrew, or Biblical literature, in the critical sense
of that term, but they were thoroughly versed in the
Bible; and hence, in the language of Luther, ^^ Bonus
texfuarms, bonus theologus" — he is always the best divine
who is best acquainted with the Scriptures. They were
men of the Bible; men of faith and men of prayer; and
coming to their congregations with an unction from the
holy One, the word of God was like "a fire and a ham-
mer, which broke the rock in pieces." We would not
decry knowledge; God forbid! Let the minister of the

ISO SKETCHES OF

present day study all the branches of theological litera-
ture, and all collateral sciences, posting himself up thor-
oughly in all departments; but above all, let him, when
he comes to feed the flock of Grod, come from the deep
fountains of eternal Truth, and from the foot of the
cross. Let his visits be frequent to Tabor and Olivet, as
well as Gethsemane and Calvary, and, filled with the Spirit
of Jesus, he will be mighty, through God, to the pulling
down of the strongholds of infidelity and sin. We do
not believe, now that the days of miracles and inspiration
are passed, that God will prepare sermons for drones, oi
that he will convert a dull and stupid intellect into a
bright one. Such extraordinary manifestations we are
not to look for; and hence we judge with the Church,
that with "grace" must be connected '^ gifts." We
recollect distinctly when, if a father had three sons and
was able to give then an education, he selected the bright-
est for a lawyer, the next for a doctor, and the dullest of
all for a preacher. We would reverse this arrangement,
and judge that the last should be first and the first last.
But to our sketch.

Young Lakin was called to preach, and, conferring not
with flesh and blood, he entered the itinerant ranks in
the year 1794, and traveled under the presiding elder,
Francis Poythress. In the following spring he was ad-
mitted on trial and appointed to Green River circuit. In
1796 he was appointed to Danville circuit, and in 1797
he was admitted into full connection, ordained a deacon,
and appointed to Lexington circuit. During this year he
married an excellent wife and located. Such was the
prejudice that existed in the Church, at that day, against
married preachers, that it was almost out of the question
for any man to continue in the work if he had a wife.
They were not exactly obliged to take the Popish vow of
celibacy, but it almost amounted to the same thing; and

WESTERN METHODISM. 181

there being sucli a higli example for single life, as exhib-
ited in the cases of the bishops, if a preacher married
he was looked upon almost as a heretic who had denied
the faith. Besides, no provision was made for the wife,
and she was regarded, on all hands, as an incumbrance.
Whether this opposition arose from the poverty or parsi-
moniousness of the Church, or from the belief that a
man with a wife was not sufficiently disentangled from
the world, and hence unfit for the work of an itinerant,
or, perhaps, from all combined, we know not; but such
was the fact, that but only one or two had courage and
endurance enough to travel when married. We recollect
that within the last twenty years, in the Ohio conference,
young men have been discontinued who married within
two years, though there was nothing else against them.

Under such a state of things Lakin located, and labor-
ing with his own hands during the week, to support his
family, he preached from place to place on Sabbath with
zeal and power. Having to support himself there was no
objection to his preaching; for of all denominations of
Christians we ever knew, the Methodists, in general, are
most attached to a/z-ee Gospel; that is, one that costs them
nothing; and, humiliating as it may seem, we have heard
some thank God for it. The time came, however, when
brother Lakin, being able, after some sort, to support his
family, re-entered the traveling connection, and was ap-
pointed to Limestone circuit. In the year 1802 he was
appointed to travel Scioto and Miami circuits combined.
AVe request our reader to look at the map and see the ex-
tent of the field of this one man's labor — a tract of coun-
try including all southern Ohio. It was during this year
we became acquainted with this pioneer. We met him
as he was moving from Kentucky to the field of his labor.
The point where we met him was on the eastern side of
the Little Miami, the track of the railroad now occupy-

182 SKETCHES OF

ing the spot. Then there was nothing that deserved the
na^ie of a road — a kind of a trace. We were surprised to
see a man and woman in a cart drawn by one horse — sur-
prised, because this was a superior way of traveling, not
known to the settlers, who traveled and carried their
movables on pack-horses. As we came up we halted to
look at his vehicle. As we stopped he inquired how far
it was to the next house. This we were unable to tell,
for the road was uninhabited. We then had the curios-
ity to ask him who he was, where he was going, and what
was his business? He quickly and kindly replied, ''My
name is Lakin; I am a Methodist preacher, and am going
to preach the Gospel to lost sinners in the Miami and
Scioto country.'^ Filled with strange imaginings we
parted, and the preacher drove on.

What would the young preacher of the present day
think of taking his wife in a cart and starting out with-
out money, home, or friends and traveling through the
wilderness seeking for the lost? Yet such trials and
hardships your fathers endured. God be praised that
the times have changed, and that you are not subjected
to the same toils and sujfferings! After filling up this
year brother Lakin was sent to Salt River circuit, in
Kentucky, and in all probability returned with his family
and all in that little cart. In 1804 he was appointed to
Danville, and in 1805 to Salt River and Shelby united.
In 1806 and 1807 he was sent back to Miami, and trav-
eled successively the following circuits; namely. Deer
Creek, Hockhocking, Cincinnati, Whiteoak, Union, Lime-
stone, Lexington, and Hinkston. At the close of his
year on this circuit, his health failing, he was returned
supernumerary, and the next year — 1819 — continuing to
decline, he was placed on the superannuated list, where
he remained till the day of his death.

We have thus given a brief and rapid outline of the

WESTERN METHODISM. 183

labors of tliis faithful and devoted servant of Jesus. He
was one of tlie ministers of tliose days who stood side by
side and guided the Cliurcli through that most remark-
able revival of religion, which swept like a tornado over
the western world. In the greatest excitement the clear
and penetrating voice of Lakin might be heard amid the
din and roar of the Lord's battle, directing the wounded
to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the
world. Day and night he was upon the watchtower, and
in the class and praying circles his place was never
empty — leading the blind by the right way, carrying the
lambs in his bosom, urging on the laggard professor, and
warning the sinner in tones of thunder to flee the wrath
to come. While he was in the relation of a worn-out
preacher he never had a dumb Sabbath, always having
his appointments ahead, except when quarterly or camp
meetings would intervene. He was always on hand at
these, and would preach and labor with all his remaining
strength. Great success attended his labors, and he was
universally accepted and beloved as a minister of Jesus.
We knew him well, and loved him as a father in the Gos-
pel with a pure heart fervently. His visits to our family,
once a year, were looked for with great solicitude, and he
was made a blessing to all the children. Father Lakin
did not suffer his calm, benignant features, in his last
days, to be wrinkled with a sour godliness. There was
no howling or whining about every thing going wrong in
the Church and among the preachers. He had a con-
tempt for croakers, and would look up and thank God for
a good conservative progress in all the departments of
Methodism. Quiet, and peaceful, and glorious, as when
the descending sun throws his last rays on a receding
world, tinging the trees and mountains with his mellow
light, did this venerable servant of the cross pass down
to the grave. He preached his last sermon in M'Kendree

SKETCHES OF

Cliapel, Brown county, Ohio, on the 28th day of January,
1848. On Tuesday he returned home to Point Pleasant.
The next two days he complained some of indisposition,
but on Friday he started on horseback — his usual mode
of traveling — to quarterly meeting, at Felicity, 0. After
riding six miles he reached the house of sister Richards
in usual health, and enjoying a very happy frame of
mind. He conversed freely and cheerfully with the fam-
ily till about seven o'clock, when looking at his watch he
stepped out of the room door and fell. The family, sup-
posing he had fainted, used all the means in their power
to revive him; but his work was done, and his happy
spirit had fled to the mansions above. Thus, in the
eighty-second year of his age, and the fifty-fourth of his
ministry, this devoted, self-sacrificing preacher of the
G ospel

- "Ceased at once to work and live."

WESTERN METHODISM. 185

CHAPTER XL

JOHN SALE. ' ' '• '■ "'■'

If, as one has said, ^^ history is philosophy teaching by
examples," we may add, with equal propriety, biography
furnishes the examples which history records. No de-
partment of literature can be more interesting than truth-
ful narratives of human life — certainly none can be more
instructive; and hence it is that we grasp with eagerness
and read with avidity sketches of the life and times of
those who have gained notoriety by worthy or adventur-
ous deeds.

The subject of our narrative was a western man. He
was born in the state of Virginia, on the 24th of April,
1769. History furnishes us no account of the precise
place of his birth, or of his parentage. In early life he
was awakened and converted to Grod, through the instru-
mentality of Methodist preachers who visited the neigh-
borhood where he resided. He soon joined the Church,
and, for a youth, became a devoted and exemplary
Christian.

It is worthy of remark, that so many of the early
preachers were converted in their youth. It seems to
have been the order of Providence, since the days of
Samuel, who was called when a child to the service of
the sanctuary, to take the young and susceptible mind
and early train it, by grace, for the great work of the
ministry. If the reader will look over the biographical
sketches which we have written, he will find that nearly
all who were called to preach the Gospel were, in early
life, made the subjects of converting grace.

16

186 SKETCHES OF

When young Sale became religious he was surrounded
by worldly and wicked associations, and it cost him an
effort, such as those only can make who have firmly re-
solved, by God's grace, to break up all unhallowed asso-
ciations, and start out, at all hazards, in the path of life,
who, putting their hand to the plow and counting the
cost, have crossed the chasm that separated them from
the world of sin, and cut away the communication. To
become a Methodist at that time, which of all the forms
of Christianity was most despised by the wicked, was to
enter upon a profession which would insure the contempt
and scorn of the ungodly, and, not unfrequently, of many
professors of another faith. The most opprobrious terms
were heaped upon Methodists in that day, and they were
called ''fanatics, swaddlers," etc. Young Sale, however,
had Christian courage and nerve enough to breast the
storm of ridicule which he met, and bravely stood his
ground, fully identifying himself with the despised num-
ber of God's children. With zeal and courage he took
up the cross, despised the shame, and boldly espoused the
cause of his divine Master. He passed through many
and severe conflicts of mind in regard to his call to
preach the Gospel; but after much prayer and profound
consideration in regard to what was his duty, he finally
yielded to the movings of the Spirit and was licensed to
preach, and in due time received on trial in the traveling
connection, at the conference held at Salem Chapel, in
the state of Virginia, on the 24th of November, 1795.
The first circuit to which he was sent was Swanino, in
the wilds of Virginia, where he had his courage and
fidelity tested in breasting the dangers and hardships of
a pioneer preacher. His next circuit was the Mattamus-
keet, in the lowlands of the above state. Added to the
necessary hardships connected with traveling this circuit,
it was a very sickly region and much dreaded by the itin-

WESTERN METHODISM. 187

erarit; but as no scenes could disgust or dangers deter
the preachers of those days, wherever, in the providence
of Godj their lot was cast, Sale went, in the name of his
Master, and entered upon the work assigned him ready
to do or die.

After finishing his labors on this field, he was sent over
the mountains to the Holston circuit. Here, in the west,
he had the same hard fare; but he had, as a good and
faithful soldier, enlisted ^'during the war,'' and felt no
disposition to lay down his arms till the great Captain of
his salvation should grant him a final release from con-
flict and saflfering below. In the year 1799 he traveled
the Russell circuit, and the two succeeding years he
labored on Salt River and Shelby circuits. The next
year he traveled the Danville circuit, where, as on all the
circuits named, he was made a blessing to multitudes.
Many will hail him on the shores of immortality as the
honored instrument of their conversion to God.

In the year 1803 he was sent to the North-Western
territory, and stationed on Scioto circuit, which embraced
a large extent of country. The following year he was
appointed to Miami circuit. These two circuits then
embraced all the south and west portions of the now state
of Ohio. It was while traveling this circuit that he
organized the first society of Methodists in Cincinnati,
mention of which the reader will find in the chapter
which relates to the origin and progress of Methodism in
Cincinnati. The conference which had been held at Mt.
Gerizim the preceding year, organized the Ohio district,
which was the first in the state, and the Rev. William
Burke was appointed the presiding elder, as his auto-
biography will show. For the purpose of giving the
preachers of the present day some idea of the extent of
the fields of labor, and the manner in which they were
supplied, we will give a list of appointments : Muskingum

188 SKETCHES OF

and Little Kanawha, George Askins; Hockhocking, James
Quinn, John Meek; Scioto, William Patterson, Nathan
Barnes; Miami, John Sale, J. Oglesby; Guyandotte, Asa
Shinn. When we take into the account the sparseness
of the population, the distance between the appoint-
ments without roads, rivers to be crossed without bridges,
it must be obvious that none but such as felt a necessity
laid upon them to preach the Gospel would be likely to
engage in such a work. In the year 1805 he returned to
Kentucky and was appointed to the Lexington circuit.
Here he labored with success in cultivating the vineyard
of the Lord, and at the expiration of the year was sent
to the Ohio district, where he labored with untiring zeal
for two years. At this time the district was divided, and
he was appointed to the Miami district. It was during
his labors on this district that we first became acquainted
with him, and from his hand in 1809 we received our
first license to preach the Gospel. He had employed us
to travel on the circuit four months previous to the date
of our license, and with his permit we endeavored to
preach Christ and his salvation around the circuit. From
the camp meeting on Paint creek, where we received
license to preach, without any recommendation from a
class meeting or quarterly conference we were recom-
mended to the annual conference for admission, and ac-
cordingly received. A short time since we visited this
consecrated spot. But the grand old woods were gone.
The trees, which spread their giant branches and screened
us from the sun, afi'ording the most refreshing shade,
have been leveled by the axman's stroke, and there, in
that cornfield where we stood, had been gathered thou-
sands of men and women, from all parts of the country,
to listen to the words of life. A thousand recollections
rushed upon us as we stood there and wept to think how
many of that assembled throng had passed away. Here

WESTERN METHODISM. 189

stood the Kev. Dr. Tiffin, and the eloquent Monett, and
the zealous Collins, of the Baltimore conference — fathei
of the late Rev. John Collins — the presiding elder, and
the aged father of the writer of this sketch, and with
full and fervent hearts proclaimed God's love to perish-
ing sinners, many of whom tremblingly fled to Christ for
mercy, and found pardon and salvation. But preachers
and people have alike gone to that bourne from whence
no traveler returns, these to answer for the manner in
which they discharged their duty as ministers of the
Gospel, and those to render an account for the manner in
which they received that Gospel from their lips. What
a solemn reflection, that in a few years all the old pio-
neers who preached the Gospel in the west will be gone,
and nothing left to tell of their toils and sufi"erings but a
few hasty sketches !

In this field of labor brother Sale was quite successful,
and prosperity attended his labors in all parts of the dis-
trict. The next four years he labored on the Kentucky
district, and the two following he was back again on the
Miami district. In 1817 he traveled Union circuit, and
the following year Mad River; and in 1819 he is again
on the Miami district. The year following, in conse-
quence of loss of health, he was obliged to take a super-
annuated relation, in which he remained for five years, at
the expiration of which time, his health improving, he
was made effective, and appointed to the Wilmington cir-
cuit. The next year he traveled Union circuit, and the
following Piqua, where he closed his labors with his
life.

How rapidly have we passed over the labors of the last
ten years of his life, all summed up in a few lines ; and
how meager the whole of our sketch of this pioneer
preacher ! And yet how can it be otherwise, where noth-
ing is left, not even a page, from which to gather a his-

190 SKETCHES OF

tory of his labors ? Indeed, were it not for tlie printed
MinuteS; which contain his appointments from year to
year, not even this much could be saved from oblivion
If '' blessings brighten as they take their flight/' and we
are not disposed to appreciate them till they are removed
from us, how assiduously should we labor to gather up
the reminiscences of our aged brethren, and how fondly
should we cherish those recollections of their heroic
achievements in the cause of their Lord, which endear
them to us 1

On the 15th of January, 1827, while on the Piqua cir-
cuit, at the house of his friend and brother, Mr. French,
he was called to yield up his spirit into the hands of
God. We visited him a day or two before his death, and
although his sufferings were intense, yet he had great
peace in believing. His faith enabled him to behold the
land that was afar off, and to rejoice in the sight of his
distant heavenly home. He was frequently heard to say,
^'I am nearing my home. My last battle is fought, and
the victory sure I Halleluiah ! My Savior reign eth over
heaven and earth most glorious I Praise the Lord \" On
my second visit we were accompanied by Colonel William
M'Lean, one of his warm, personal friends. We found
him very happy, just on the verge of heaven. When
on rising to leave, we took his hand, and bade him
farewell. He said, ^' My son, be faithful, and you shall
have a crown of life." We left the dying herald of the
cross strong in faith, giving glory to God for a relig-
ion that

" Can make a dying bed
Feel soft as downy pillows are,
While on his breast he leaned his head,
And breathed his life out sweetly there."

Worn down with the toils and sufferings, as the neces-
sary and always concomitant attendants of an itinerant

WESTERN METHODISM. 191

life, he was ready and prepared to enter into tlio rest of

heaven.

" Servant of God, well done,
Rest from thy loved employ ;
The battle's fought, the vict'ry won,
Enter thy Master's joy."

Brother Sale was about five feet ten inches high, of
great symmetry of form, dignified and courteous in his
manners. He had a dark eye, which, when lighted up
with the Gospel themes, would flash its fires of holy pas-
sion, and melt at the recital of a Savior's love. But he
has gone where anxiety, and toil, and tears come not.

Brother Sale was not a very vehement speaker, and yet
he was far from being dry or uninteresting. He indulged
very little in declamation, his chief aim being to preach
the doctrines of the Gospel, and enforcing the practice
thereof; so that while his hearers were thoroughly indoc-
trinated in regard to all matters of belief, they were
urged to the performance of all duties, and thus a life in
the soul was produced which fitted them for heaven. No
one excelled him in the judicious administration of dis-
cipline and the government of the Church. We never
knew a better manager. He seemed to govern without
design, and so thoroughly did he acquaint himself with
the disposition and temperament of men, that all yielded
to his advice and direction without feeling themselves
under any constraint. He was a great favorite of Bishop
Asbury, and was, when able to attend, elected, from time
to time, as a delegate to the General conference. After
marrying he settled in the neighborhood of Xenia, at a
place called Union, one of the early strongholds of our
western Zion. His family of sons and daughters em-
braced religion in early life. One of his sons is now a
traveling preacher in Indiana, and we trust is following
in the footsteps of his father. His pious and venerable

192

SKETCHES OF

consort still lives, full of faith and good works, waiting
with patience for the hour to arrive when her divine Lord
shall call her to mingle with the departed in the world of

bliss.

tf .y...;: .^r-^-}..

M

WESTERN METHODISM. 193

CHAPTER XII.

THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCHES IN OHIO.

We have already given a description of tlie ''Old
Stone/' in Cincinnati; but before its day there were here
ana tl^ere scattered over the state, in different places,
round and hewed-log, and frame churches, which had
been elected and dedicated to the worship of God.
Though ruae ^.hey answered the purpose for which they
were erected, and were suited to the times. Some of
these yet stana as mementos of the past; and though
they may be unoectipie(2, or devoted to other purposes, or
have fallen into decay, and no longer resound with the
clear, full voice of t^io early pioneer itinerant, or echo
the sound of praise and player, still their memory is pre-
cious, and a thousand hallowed associations gather around
their fallen timbers and cTikpidated walls. Could histo-
ries of all these early churcne:* 6e written by some master
hand, what thrilling memories ^ould come up from the
forgotten past, as the hallowed scenes of other days would
crowd upon the vision. Our fathers are gone. Only
here and there, like the rude churches they occupied,
are they left. As the trees of the mighty forest they
have fallen around us, and every year witnesses their
departure from our midst.

In the Advocate of 1840 the reader will find the fol-
lowing from the pen of the Rev. H. Smith, a western
pioneer, whose letter to the Historical Society is not only
descriptive of early times in Ohio^ but shows the difficul-
17

194 SKETCHES OF

ties the first preacliers had to encounter in getting con-
gregations and places to preach. It was written to Mr.
Samuel Williams, the Secretary of said Society; and
among the interesting items which it contains the reader
will find an allusion to a log meeting-house, on Scioto
Brush creek, supposed by him to have been the first
Methodist church in the North-Western territory:

^' As I have been solicited by several of my brethren,
in the west, to write something for your society, I ven-
tured to make a beginning in a letter to my old friend,
the Rev. William Burke, about the first of August. 1
do not know whether it was received, or how disposed of,
if received, as I have had no Western Christian Advo-
cate from the 17th of July to the 28th of August. What
I do in this way I must do quickly. I am the more en-
couraged to write as your Society gives great latitude, and
seems to be disposed to exercise indulgence.

'^ Lewis Hunt, a young man, traveled Miami circuit in
1799 ', but we had heard that he was broken down, and I
was sent to take his place. On the 15th of September I
set out, in company with brother Francis M'Cormick, to
meet brother Hunt, on Mad river. We met him at
brother Hamer's, and found him so far recovered as to be
able to go on in his work. My instructions were, that if
he should be able to continue in the work, to go up the
Scioto, and form a circuit there. We consulted our
friends, and formed a plan, uniting Scioto to Miami,
making a six weeks' circuit. This plan was, however,
abandoned, on account of the great distance between the
two circuits, and the dismal swamp we would have to pass
through every round.

''On the 18th of September I left brother Hunt, and
returned to brother M'Cormick's, and on Sunday, the
22d, I, for the first time, heard the Bev. Philip Gatch
preach. He was truly a very fine sample of primitive

WESTERN METHODISM. 195

Methodist preachers, simple, plain, and powerful ; his
reliance for success appeared to be wholly upon power
from above. I found him a meek-spirited, agreeable old
man, always willing to give counsel when asked, but never
intruding. But the old veteran has gone to his reward,
and I trust his praise is still in the Churches in the west.
I had the pleasure of giving an exhortation after the
good old man, and the Lord was with us indeed, in pub-
lic and in class meeting. Some were much refreshed^
and my own soul among the rest.

" Monday, 23d. I was unwell, but rode about ten
miles toward my new field of labor, and lodged with a
poor but pious Methodist famii .

'' Tuesday, 24th. I pursued my journey up the Ohio
river, and put up with James Sargent, an old Methodist
friend from Maryland, who received and treated me with
all the kindness of an old Maryland Methodist. Here I
left two appointments for my next round.

" Wednesday, 25th. I still pursued my course up the
Ohio river, but had a very intricate path, and, indeed,
sometimes none at all; but by the good hand of the Lord
upon me, the evening brought me to the house of a kind
Presbyterian family. We spent the evening in conversa-
tion on religious subjects. The old gentleman asked me
to pray with them in the evening, and again in the morn-
ing, and pressingly invited me to call again whenever I
came that way. I thanked them for their hospitality, but
never had another opportunity of calling upon them.

"Thursday, 26th. I left this kind family at the mouth
of Red Oak, and started for Eagle creek, and began to
inquire for Methodists, but could hear of none. I took
up Eagle creek, and being directed to a family where 1
could get some information, I rode up to the house, and
asked the good man of the house if he could tell me
where any of the people called Methodists lived. He

196 SKETCHES OF

said lie could give me no information. But his wife
formerly belonged to the society, and invited me to alight
and come in. I did so; and while my horse was eating,
I told them who I was, and my business. I entered into
conversation about spiritual things, and requested the
man to call his family together, and I prayed with and
for them, and was much drawn out. I gave them a short
exhortation, and left them all in tears. I rode about
eight or nine miles, and inquired for Methodists again,
and was directed to a poor man's cabin. I found him
and his wife Jane in the cornfield. I called to him, and
inquired if he could tell me where I could find any of
the people called Methodists. He leaped over the fence,
ran to me, and took me by the hand with all the cordial-
ity of a true Irishman. I told him my name and busi-
ness, and he received me with every expression of joy,
called to Jane, and conducted me in triumph to the
cabin. Jane came out of the field in cornfield habili-
ments, it is true ; but she soon washed and changed her
dress, and appeared to make me as welcome to their cabin
as her husband. Such a reception was worth a day's
ride. If I was but poorly qualified for a missionary in
every other respect, I was not in one thing; for I had
long since conquered my foolish prejudice and delicacy
about eating, drinking, and lodging. I could submit to
any kind of inconvenience where I had an opportunity
of doing good, for I thought myself honored in being
permitted to labor in any part of the Lord's vineyard.
My call was among the poor, and among them I could
feel myself at home. Jane gave me something to eat,
and we ate our morsel with gladness, and talked about
Jesus. In time of family prayer the melting power of
God came down and filled the place with glory. The
merciful people had taken their poor horse in with them
the previous winter, and of course it could not be very

WESTERN METHODISM. 197

agreeable; but poor Jane brought out of ber cbest as
clean wbite sheets as ever came from Ireland, and spread
them on my bed, and I slept sweetly, and arose refreshed.
Here I was informed there were four or five Methodist
families still higher up the creek, who had formed them-
selves into a society, and met on Sundays for prayer and
class meeting.

^'Friday, 27th. I rode to old brother John Foster's,
and the dear family received me with open arms, and
sent out word to their neighbors, and I preached on Sat-
urday the 28th, to about eighteen or twenty persons with
a degree of life, and the word seemed to find way to their
hearts.

"Sunday, 29th. I preached at Peter Rankin's, four
miles down the creek, to a small but very attentive con-
gregation— this was the place where the small society
met — and the poor starving sheep fed freely upon the
word of life.

Monday, oOth. I rode to a brother Wormsley's, on
Ohio Brush creek. With this family I had been
acquainted in Kentucky, and we had an unexpected but
jo}^ul meeting. In family worship the Lord was present
in power, the dear family were melted into tears, and the
room appeared to be filled with glory and with God. We
sang and talked about Jesus, and shouted aloud for joy.
And who would not shout for such an unexpected, but
seasonable visitation of mercy ? Word was sent out, and
preaching appointed at William Bushill's.

Tuesday, 31st. I attended, our congregation was small,
the country was sparsely settled, and the notice short. 1
stood up among them, and cried, 'I Am hath sent me
unto you.' Some poor sinners were deeply affected, and
seemed to feel as if the Lord had sent me to them, and
the Lord's poor mourning children had no doubt of it.
0, it was worth while to sufi'er a little to meet with such

T&B SKETCHES OF

a scene, and sucli a reception ! Here a society was al<
ready formed by Joseph Moore, from Scioto Brush creek;
and Simon Frilds was their leader.

" Wednesday, October 1st. I rode to Joseph Moore's,
Scioto Brush creek. Here I found a considerable so-
ciety already organized by brother Moore. Here I had
some success, and the society increased, so that on the
sixth of August, 1800, we proposed building a meeting-
house; for no private house would hold our week-day con-
gregation. But we met with some opposition, for some
wanted a free house. But as no one seemed to care ' for
their souls' but the Methodists, it appeared to me like
foolishness to build a house for other denominations, be-
fore they came and wanted a house. We, however,
succeeded in building a small log-house, but then
large enough for the neighborhood, the first Methodist
meeting-house on the circuit, and perhaps the first in the
North-Western territory. I did not stop to preach here
on my first visit, but left an appointment for my next,
and pressed onward toward Pee Pee, on the Scioto.

^'Friday morning, 4tli. I rode through a heavy rain
to Pee Pee, and called at the house of Snowden Sargent,
a kind-hearted old Methodist from Maryland. I was wet,
lungry, and brought plenty of company with me, from a
bear-skin, my bed the night before. I introduced my-
self, and met with a cordial reception by a very kind
family.

"Saturday, 5th. I rested and refitted; and truly rest
was needful, as well as desirable. Here I met with sev-
eral friends with whom I had been acquainted, and among
them the Kev. William Talbott, who had preached at my
father's when he first began to itinerate. But his zeal
and excessive labors soon broke him down, and he retired
from tie itinerancy, and tried to provide for himself and
rising family. He, however, preached occasionally. I

WESTERN METHODISM. 199

teard him preach afterward at our quarterly meeting, at
Pee Pee, with divine unction.

"Sunday, October 6th. I preached for the first time at
Pee Pee. All were very attentive, and some felt the
word. After preaching I called together a few who had
been in society in various places, and organized a class,
and the Lord was truly among us. One shouted aloud,
and the most of the professors appeared to be much
quickened. In those days I was always at home in a
class meeting, and if I did not succeed in public I was
almost sure to come out in class. I preached again at
night; the people were all attention. I lodged with my
friend Talbott. 0, how ought those to be esteemed who
have sacrificed their health, and almost their lives, in the
cause of God ! but this is not always the case, for some
end their days in obscurity and poverty."

We have before us also a communication from one of
the pioneers of Methodism in Ohio — the Rev. John
Meek — which will furnish the reader an account of some
of the first meeting-houses of his day. These reminis-
cences of olden time are not only interesting in them-
selves, but they serve to show how small and seemingly
insignificant were the beginnings of Methodism in this
western valley, and what astonishing progress has been
made in the increase of membership, and the building
of churches all over the land :

^'In the year 1805, when the Miami Valley, from Cin-
cinnati to the settlement two miles from the spot of
ground where the beautiful town of Urbana is built, ex-
tending and spreading from the Big Miami river to White-
oak creek, into what is now called Brown county, at brother
Davis's, near where Georgetown is now growing, I was
appointed to that circuit. The above territory was my
field of labor in that year — 1805 — which was the year
alluded to by brother Simmons, in which Hopewell meet-

200 SKETCHES OF

ing-house was built, at the dedication of which the small
Church in that part of the wilderness was blessed by the
labors of our beloved M'Kendree, of precious memory,
and brother William Burke, who was then presiding
elder of the Ohio district, together with brothers Amos
and Patterson. I believe brother Burke preached from
2 Corinthians iii, 18 : 'But we all with open face,' etc.;
and brother M'Kendree followed with, ' Now the Lord is
that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is
liberty' — 17th verse. The anointing of the Holy Spirit
appeared to be upon them; Hhe power of God was present
to heal;' the slain of the Lord were maay; the cry of
the wounded, and the shout of them that were made
whole ^ was heard afar off;' and, blessed be God ! I expect
to meet some in heaven that were converted to God at
that meeting. I will here say, those were the happiest
days of my life — log-cabins to preach in, puncheon floors
to sleep on, long rides, corn-bread and milk to eat, a con-
stant succession of kind friends to make welcome, and
the love of God in the soul, a home high up in heaven
in prospect, and the blessed promise of, ' Lo I am with
you aiways, even unto the end of the world,' gave the
mind a most pleasing variety, and caused our time to
move on most agreeably. But where have I wandered
from what I intended when I sat down to write? ^

" But to old Hopewell log meeting-house. I will say
to brother Simmons's inquiry, a log meeting-house was
erected in West Wheeling circuit, on Indian Short creek,
called Holmes's meeting-house, some time in the year
1803, in the immediate neighborhood of which there
followed one of the most powerful revivals of the work
of God, in the awakening and conversion of sinners to
God, that I recollect ever to have witnessed ; and I think
I will be safe in saying, that from the time that Holmes's
log meeting-house was erected, more than one hundred

WESTERN METHODISM. 201

souls were happily converted to God, and on their way to
heaven, ere Hopewell meeting-house, of which my be-
loved Simmons speaks, was ever thought of. And in the
year 1804 there was a log meeting-house commenced,
raised, and covered at old brother Thomas Odle's, a local
preacher, on Eagle creek, in Scioto circuit, though it was
never finished. So you see the pioneers of the Miami
were not the first in Ohio to build meeting-houses ''

SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XIII.

SAMUEL PARKER.

That eminent servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose
name stands at the head of this chapter, in consequence
of his rehition to the west and the labors and privations
he endured in planting the Gospel from the Muskingum
and Ohio to the Missouri and Mississippi, deserves a
prominent place in the annals of western Methodism.
To give our readers a sketch of his laborious and useful
life is the object of this chapter,

Samuel Parker was born in the state of New Jersey in
the year 1774. His parents were religious, and, of
course, respectable. Indeed, none need wish to trace
their genealogy to a higher or more honorable source; for
a Christian is emphatically "the highest style of man,"
and the only respect of persons with God himself is that
which has for its basis a religious character. Young
Parker was early put to a trade, that he might learn, by a
lawful and honorable employment, to gain a respectable
living in the world. It is said he possessed a remarkable
natural genius, and made great proficiency in the me-
chanic art in which he was employed.

The most remarkable event that transpired in relation
to him, in the days of his youth, was his conversion to
God, and the sudden abandonment consequent thereon
of his wicked practices and ungodly associates. Among
the 3'oung and frivolous, in scenes of mirth and revelry,
his presence was always the most agreeable, and his com-
pany was sought for on all occasions, being a general

WESTERN METHODISM. 203

favorite among all classes. He liad a voice of unusual
sweetness as well as of compass and power. Added to
this peculiar gift, as a child of song, was an urbanity of
manners and a suavity of disposition that prepossessed all
hearts in his favor. When he joined the Church and
broke up his old and wicked associations, of course his
former wicked friends forsook him. The line of demark-
ation was much more strongly marked between the
Church and the world then than at the present time, and
professors of religion were distinguished by peculiarities
which made them known and read of all men. One has
said, in speaking of the wonderful similarity between the
most of professors of religion at the present day and the
world, that it would take the eye of an angel to distin-
guish them; but it was not so then. A profession of
religion created a chasm between the professor and the
world, which, though not as broad and deep as that which
separated Abraham from Dives, yet was impassable to all
but those who would willingly take up their cross and,
despising the shame, enroll themselves under the banner
of the Prince of Life. Young Parker had deliberately
crossed over to the Lord's side, and was ready, having
counted the cost, to '^hail reproach and Welcome shame"
for the sake of Jesus and his cause. For twelve years he
continued a private member of the Church, faithfully de-
voted to all her interests, and ready to engage in any
work that his Master might assign him. There was one
work, however, concerning which he had much solicitude,
and that was the fearfully-responsible work of the minis-
try. During all this time he was greatly exercised in
mind in regard to his call. He would not rush suddenly
into a place where angels are not permitted to enter, nor
would he shrink from a responsibility clearly imposed,
however great. He wanted full proof that he was called
of God to proclaim salvation to his dying fellow-man, and

^04: SKETCHES OF

having ttat lie was ready to give up all for Christ, and
enter whatever field of labor might be assigned to him.

We are of the number of those who believe that there
are more who refuse to yield to this divine call to the
ministry than of those who presumptuously rush uncalled
into the holy place, and that the providence of God has
much to do, not only in preparing the way for the one
but in restraining the other. Fully impressed, after years
of conflict, that he had a call to preach the Gospel, and
that if he did not yield the Divine displeasure would rest
upon him, he at length gave himself up wholly to the
Lord in the work of the ministry, and in the year 1800
was duly licensed as a local preacher in the Methodist
Episcopal Church. While he continued in this relation
he exercised his gifts at every opportunity, and engaged
in a course of preparatory study, the more effectually to
prepare himself for usefulness, should Providence open
his way into the itinerant field. During this time he
made rapid progress in literary and theological knowl-
edge, and was thus enabled, in the year 1805, to enter
the itinerant ranks with advantages of literary and theo-
logical training vastly superior to many of his cotempo-
raries. His, however, was not that knowledge that puff-
eth up. He brought all his literature, and science, and
theology to the foot of the cross, and there had his
attainments and himself baptized with the meek and
holy spirit of his Master, He was received on trial, as a
traveling preacher, in the Western conference, held at
Mt. Gerizim, Kentucky, in the fall of the year above
specified, and was appointed to Hinkston circuit, where
he remained traveling from appointment to appointment,
doing the work of an evangelist and striving to make full
proof of his ministry. In the year 1806 he was ap-
pointed to the Lexington circuit, and the year following
to Limestone circuit, both in the state of Kentucky. In

WESTERN METHODISM. 205

1808 he was appointed to the Miami circuit, in the state
of Ohio, Cincinnati being one of the appointments. On
this circuit he was the messenger of glad tidings to many
a despairing sinner. Multitudes were awakened and con
verted to God through his instrumentality, and through-
out the Miami Valley there are many who were brought
into the kingdom of grace through his instrumentality,
and yet stand living witnesses for Christ and the power
of the Gospel to save.

We have already remarked that brother Parker pos-
sessed a voice of unusual melody, and was excelled by
few, if any, in the power of song. Many were attracted
to the Church to listen to the divine strains which he
would pour forth upon his enraptured and weeping au-
diences. He was not only gifted with a remarkable voice,
but he had brought it under a high state of cultivation,
and it was said he was a perfect master of music. We
were told by Bishop M'Kendree that when he was on the
Hinkston circuit, at one of brother Parker's quarterly
meetings, he mentioned to him a tune which he had
heard in the southern part of Kentucky that so interested
and thrilled him, that it had been sounding in his mind
ever since. The Bishop was deprived, like many others,
of the wonderful gift of song, though he had an exqui-
site ear for music, and was said to be a connoisseur.
Brother Parker told him he thought he could produce it,
and for this purpose they both retired to the woods. The
plan for its production, or, rather, reproduction, was this.
The preacher sounded the various notes, and the Bishop
would tell him when a note accorded with the tune.
Thus he continued till he had written every note of the
entire piece. The time for preaching having arrived
they went into the congregation, and to the utter aston-
ishment of the Bishop the tune was sung to appropriate
words, but with a melody and a power, which not only

206 SKETCHES OF

affected the Bisliop, but the whole congregation^ to
tears.

But his musical powers were not all, though to hear
him would remind one of the melody of heaven; he had
an eloquence and power in the pulpit that were irresisti-
ble, and wherever he went wondering and weeping audi-
ences crowded to hear him. Many came a great distance
to listen to him, so wide-spread was his fame as a pulpit
orator. On one occasion an aged and very pious German
brother came a considerable distance to hear him. When
he arrived the preacher had taken his text and was mak-
ing his introduction. The old brother took his seat and
listened to the slow and measured words of the preacher,
as he proceeded to advance his propositions. Not being
able to discover any thing extraordinary, either in the
matter or manner of the preacher, the honest old German
would drop his head, giving it a significant shake, and
say to himself, ''Dis bees not Barker: dis be not him
surely.'^ After he had progressed some time in his dis-
course, and began to warm up a little with his theme, and
occasionally flash out a bright and beautiful thought, the
Dutchman, with a meditative look, and head a little in-
clined, would say, "May be dis is Barker." The preacher
at length got fairly under way; his soul was on fire, and
impassioned strains of eloquence, like full bursts of glory
from the upper sanctuary, fell upon the rapt multitude.
The old German rose to his feet, and was moving uncon-
sciously forward, charmed with the eloquence of the
preacher. He was lost to all surrounding objects, and
lost to himself; for so intently was his attention fixed
that he dropped his hat. When the preacher closed, the
old man was at the altar, as near as he could get to the
pulpit, and, drawing a long breath, he turned round, ex-
claiming, in a loud voice, "Mine Got, vot an outcome dia
Barker has got !''

WESTERN METHODISM. 207

It is related of this old German brother, that being in
court one time when a young lawyer, a member of the
Methodist Church, was pleading most eloquently and feel-
ingly the case of a poor, unfortunate girl, so much so
that the judges and jury alike began to shed tears, he
rose from his seat and exclaimed, "Mine Got, send more
power; send more power to these sinners' hearts!" The
good old man imagined that they were awakened by the
exhortation of the Methodist lawyer, and that they would
soon all be at the mourner's bench crying for mercy.

At the conference which was held in the year 1809,
brother Parker was elected and ordained to the office of
an elder in the Church. Having used the office of a
deacon well, and having obtained a good degree and great
boldness in the cause of his Master, and having given
full proof of his efficiency as a minister, he was deemed
worthy of promotion to the more responsible, but yet
more arduous office of a presiding elder. His district
embraced the whole of the state of Indiana, and the
states of Illinois and Missouri. For vastness of territory,
and for the amount of labor required to travel it, we
think this must have been the banner district of those
times. Notwithstanding the extent of the field, the
amount of labor necessary to be expended in its cultiva-
tion, Parker's zeal and enterprise were adequate to the
great undertaking. Buckling on the harness, if possible,
with a steadier nerve and greater firmness of purpose, he
turned his face toward the setting sun, and was soon lost
to sight in the depths of the wilderness on the errand of
his Master. In traversing this vast wilderness of woods,
prairies, swamps, and rivers, inhabited principally by
savage men and beasts of prey, exposed to the northern
blasts of winter and the scorching heats of summer, God
was with him. In the rude log-cabins of the west he
found hard fare, but harder still when no cabin opened

208 SKETCHES OF

its friendly door, and lie had to lie down siipperless
among the leaves of the wood, or the grass of the prai-
ries, and not unfrequently upon the snow, with nothing
but heaven's canopy for his covering. From the White-
water, in Indiana, to the farthest settler in Missouri, did
this faithfil herald of the cross go to proclaim the glad
tidings of salvation in the name of Jesus. For four
years did the indefatigable Parker cultivate this vast
field, and with such success ''so mightily grew the word
of God and prevailed," that it was necessary, at the expi-
ration of this period, to divide the district, and call more
laborers into the vineyard of the Lord. When he en-
tered upon the field there were but three hundred and
eighty-two members in all its bounds; but at the expira-
tion of four years, under his superintendence, there were
upward of two thousand.

An incident occurred at the conference which was held
in Cincinnati, in 1813, which, in this connection, we will
relate. There being no church on Sabbath large enough
to hold the congregation, or rather the vast crowds which
attended upon the ministrations of the occasion, we ad-
journed to the Lower Market Space, on Lower Market-
street, between Sycamore and Broadway. The services
commenced at 11 o'clock. The Rev. Learner Blackman
preached from the third petition of the Lord's prayer :
''Thy kingdom come.'' He was followed by brother Par-
ker with a sermon on the fourth petition of the same
prayer : " Thy will be done.'' After he had concluded,
brother James Ward gave an exhortation after the man-
ner of olden time. Then followed brother John Collins,
who, from the same butcher's block whereon the preach-
ers had stood, commenced, with a soft and silvery voice,
to sell the shambles — as only John Collins could — in the
market These he made emblematic of a full salvation
without money and without price. It was not long till

WESTERN METHODISM. 209

the vast assembly were in tears at the melting, moving
strains of the eloquent preacher. On invitation a large
number came forward, and kneeled down for an interest in
the pi-ayers of God's people. We joined with them, and
other ministers who were present, heartily in the work,
and before that meeting closed in the market-house,
many souls were happily converted to God.

This year brother Parker was appointed to labor on the
Deer Creek circuit, which included all the settlements on
that stream, as well as those on Darby, Scioto, and the
North Fork of Paint creek, extending to Chillicothe, then
the metropolis of the state. In this less extensive but
still laborious field, his eiForts to advance the kingdom of
his Lord were wonderfully blessed. It was in the palmy
days of camp meetings, before such meetings had lost
their sheen and power, and the region where he labored
was blessed with these annual seasons of religious inter-
est. One of the most powerful camp meetings ever held
in the west was in the bounds of this circuit, at White
Brown's, on Deer creek. Here were collected the thou-
sands of our Israel from all parts of the country, while
the ministry was represented by the best talent in the
Western conference. Among the preachers present on
this occasion were John Collins, J. Quinn, Alexander
Cummins, R. W. Finley, Heliums, Strange, Crume, and
others. While one after another of these pioneer preach-
ers would hold forth the word of life to listening, atten-
tive thousands, the Spirit would apply the truth with
demonstrative power to the heart, and hundreds were
awakened and converted to God. Many that came out
of an idle curiosity had an interest awakened in their
hearts, to them before unknown, while many who came
to curse and oppose the cause of God, remained to pray
and unite with the faithful in carrying it on. It was a
time long to be remembered, and hundreds on earth and

IS

21.0 SKETCHES OF

in lieaven will call to remembrance, with grateful emo-
tions, the hallowed scenes and associations at the Deer
Creek camp meeting.

At the close of the year 1813 the conference was held
at Steubenville, Ohio. From this conference brother
Parker received his appointment to the Miami district,
which at that time embraced all the country lying be-
tween the Ohio river and the Olentangy, and the Scioto
and G-reat Miami. His labors on this field were arduous,
but successful. A zeal for the cause of God, fed with
an unquenchable fire from off Grod's altar, urged him on,
and nothing could stop him in his burning course around
his district. Many, in the day of eternity, will thank
Grod for sending the messages of mercy through so elo-
quent and faithful a herald.

The next year, which was 1815, he was removed from
the Miami district, and appointed presiding elder of the
Kentucky district. He remained in this field of labor
four consecutive years, during all which time he was in
labors more abundant. He was universally beloved on
the district, both by the preachers and people, and his
labors were crowned with great success. He had now
reached life's prime, being in the forty-fifth year of his
age ; and deeming it prudent to change his relation in
life by taking to himself a companion, he accordingly
sought and obtained the hand of Miss Alethia Tilton,
the daughter of a venerable and useful local preacher of
that name, who proved a most worthy and suitable part-
ner for a Methodist itinerant, in those days of privation
and hardship. This worthy lady enjoyed his society
long enough to be sensible of the melancholy fact that
there is no affliction incident to suffering humanity so
exquisite as the loss of a companion, who united all the
endearing qualities that nature and grace can combine in
the person of a husband.

WESTERN METHODISM. 211

We come now to the most interesting, because the
most trying, period in the history of our departed broth-
er's life; one which not only served to develop his
character even more fully than it yet had been developed^
but which presents the Church and the world an exam-
ple of moral heroism as worthy of imitation as it is of
praise.

At the conference which was held in Cincinnati in the
summer of 1819, the bishops felt the utmost solicitude in
regard to finding a man of the requisite qualifications to
fill a post of the greatest importance in the Mississippi
conference. Before them were ministers from all parts
of the great western field; and after scanning the whole,
they found in the person of Samuel Parker the one that,
in their judgment, was admirably adapted for the work.
His experience in the work, and above all his command-
ing talents, fitted him, in an eminent degree, for the
occupancy of that difficult and distant field. The only
thing they could conceive of as being in the way of his
appointment was, his delicate health, and that his wife
must be torn away from the embrace of her friends to
share the fate and fortunes of her husband — a stranger
in a strange land. Besides the greatness of the dis-
tance and his feeble health, the country embraced in the
field was regarded as quite sickly. When, however, the
bishops intimated the demands which the Church, in the
providence of Grod, seemed to have upon his labors and
sacrifices, in the true spirit of a witness for Jesus, if
need be, to the ends of the earth, he was ready to say, in
the language of Paul, ''I count not my life dear unto me,
that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the
Gospel of the grace of God.'' He had laid all upon the
altar of his Lord. He had endured hardness as a good
soldier, and it was no time now for him to take back

212 SKETCHES OF

the offering, or to hesitate in the further fulfillment of
the vows which he had made to please Him who had
called him to be a soldier. Ready for every position
which God^ in his providence, might assign him, he said
to the over-shepherds of the Church, " Here am I, send
me."

The conference closed, and when it was announced by
the presiding bishop that he was appointed presiding
elder of the Mississippi district, a wave of sympathy
rolled over the entire conference. We shall never forget
the parting scene. When we took our dear Parker by
the hand, and said, " Farewell, beloved brother, till we
meet again,'^ we felt that it would be in the commun-
ings of that world, '.';.;■'

*' Where no farewell words are spoken,
And no farewell tears are shed." .i

It seemed as though we were all engaged in the solemni-
ties of a sacrifice where the victim was one of the most
lovely and talented of our brotherhood.

The last days of summer were tinting with golden
hues the plains of the sunny south, as the sweet-spirited
Parker, with his lovely bride, was wending his way
thither in the name of his Master. He had left his
friends, and home, and kindred, and was going to a far-
distant land, among strangers, to labor and die. The
bishops fondly hoped that the genial winter-clime of the
south might prove beneficial to his health ; but, alas !
how often has it proven true, that where one invalid
passes the process of acclimation, and becomes convales-
cent, many die; and so it proved in this case. When he
arrived at his destination, enfeebled and worn down with
fatigue, his disease assumed, in a short time, a more ma-
lignant type, so that in November the most fearful appre-
hensions were excited that he would soon be called to
exchange worlds. He never performed any labor on hiiS

WESTERN METHODISM. 213

district, and the only advantage resulting from his emi-
gration to that distant and difficult post was the lesson
which his example afiforded, and the spirit and peace
in which a Christian can suffer and die.

Thus he lingered on till the session of the Missouri
conference, when he seemed to have slightly improved,
and hopes were entertained by some that he might re-
cover; but others, better acquainted with the nature of
his disease, and the climate to which it was subjected,
knew that they were as fallacious and transient as the
fading hues of evening, which serve only to light the
passage of departing day. Soon after conference he
relapsed into a worse state than before, and he was rap-
idly brought down to the verge of the grave. In all these
sufferings and changes through which he passed, this
servant of the Lord was enabled to say, in perfect resig-
nation, "Father, not my will but thine be done.'' On
the sixth of December, when a holy quiet was reigning
around, disturbed only by the sobs of an affectionate wife,
which alone prevented one from thinking that the cham-
ber where he lay was quite in the confines of heaven, the
talented, faithful, and devoted Parker passed away to the
bosom of his Savior and God.

Before his departure God had blessed him with an
infant son, but the little one did not long survive. It
was soon called to join its father in the blissful realms
of the blest. The Sabbath after his decease his funeral
sermon was preached, at Washington, Mississippi, by
the Rev. William Winans, to a large and weeping con-
gregation. The text was Revelations xiv, 13 : "Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord; yea, saith the Spirit,
that they may rest from their labors, and their works fol-
low them.''

The personal appearance of brother Parker was strik-
ingly prepossessing. He was about five feet ten or eleven

214 SKETCHES OF

inches liigh, a slender but well-made form. He had a
fine intellectual cast of countenancCj expansive fore-
head, and blackj piercing eye. He was one of the finest
speakers we ever listened to, his voice being exceedingly
musical, and capable of the softest, sweetest intonations.
But that fine, manly form is mingled with the dust, and
that voice, so entrancing, has been hushed upon earth
forever. A volume might be written upon the labors and
suff"erings, and excellences of his character; but as we
only design brief sketches, embracing important points
in the lives of some of our pioneer Methodist preachers,
to rescue them from oblivion, and hold up their example
to the light of the present generation, we must bring
our remarks, however reluctantly, to a close.

WESTERN METHODISM. 216

CHAPTER XIV.

LEARNER BLACK MAN.

The subject of our present sketch was born in the
state of New Jersey; but in regard to the exact date of
his birth we have no opportunity of knowing. He was
descended from pious parents, and many members of the
family, at different periods of life, became religious.
Our acquaintance with brother Blackman commenced in
the year 1808. He was a brother-in-law of the Rev.
John Collins, through whose instrumentality he was
brought into the kingdom of grace, and made an heir
of salvation. The personal appearance of Blackman was
prepossessing, and impressed one, in looking upon his
tall, slender form, and dark, flashing eye, that he had
genius and eloquence; but when engaged in conversa-
tion, the brilliance and fascination of his manners would
demonstrate that fact in a remarkable degree. To judge
of his eloquence, however, he must be heard; and none
who were permitted to listen to his silvery voice, when
engaged in description, or its impassioned strains when
in declamation, would go away without being impressed
with his power over the heart. He may have taken the
pathetic Collins for his model as a pulpit orator. Of
this, however, we can not speak assuredly ; but whoever
was his model, or whether he had any that he copied
after, one thing is certain, he was an eloquent divine.

We have been favored with a description of western
preachers by one who has lived to witness what he calls
the various phases through which the pulpit style has

216 SKETCHES OF

passed in his day. Among the first class of Methodist
preachers there was a marked, if not an exclusive atten-
tion and devotion to doctrinal preaching. In all their
sermons the distinctive doctrines of Methodism occupied
the chief place. Repentance, faith, justification, sancti-
fication, the possibility of falling from grace, with the
doctrine of the atonement as contradistinguished from
the Calvinian vi£W, and occasional brushes at Church
polity and ordinances as held by other denominations,
formed the staples of the sermons of these early preach-
ers. But not only was Calvinism attacked; Arianism,
Universalism, and other forms of error were made to feel
the lash of these sturdy pioneers of the faith of Wesley.

The next class which immediately succeeded these, in
a great measure lost sight of polemic theology, and turned
their attention to the graces of oratory. Their sermons
were profusely interlarded with poetry, and some of the
preachers possessed a peculiar penchant for blank verse.
We recollect to have heard it said of one of the preach-
ers of this class, that "he would break a square any time
to make a jingle." Nicely-rounded periods, beauty of
expression, and fine rhetorical flourishes, were regarded
as of more importance than orthodoxy itself. Still, how-
ever, there were exceptions to this general rule, as also in
regard to the first class.

This class had its day, and was followed by a third,
and succeeding one, whose characteristic consisted in a
didactic style of preaching. Their sermons, though not
elaborately ornamented with poetry and flights of fancy,
were, nevertheless, illustrated, from beginning to end,
with anecdotes and incidents, some of which were so ap-
propriate, that they are told by preachers of this class
with, thrilling efl"ect, even to this day. A well-authenti-
cated anecdote or incident, in the hands of a skillful
preacher, will frequently accomplish more in arresting

WESTERN METHODISM. 211

tho attention and stirring up the soul to action, than the
most powerful declamation itself. We shall have oc-
casion, in another part of this book, to relate some of
these.

This peculiar style of preaching, however, did not last
always. It served its allotted time and gave way, not to
a new class, but to the revival of an old one; and it
seems that it did not stop in a medium in regard to its
predecessors, but bounded back to the old stock, and re-
vived the good old doctrinal style, mixing it up, however,
with a little more of the historical and exegetical. How
far this applies to the Methodist pulpit of the present
day, your old friend will leave some graphic delineator of
the times to describe. We do not profess to wield such
a pen as would claim for us the qualification to enter upon
the task of describing the Methodist pulpit of the pres-
ent day, though were we to assume it we would not be
disposed to consider it as being marked by any one strik-
ing characteristic distinguishing it from the pulpits of
other denominations. We believe the Methodist pulpit
to have vastly more learning at the present time than at
any former period; but whether it possesses more zeal,
and devotion, and wisdom, such as is adequate to win
souls to Christ, is a question we shall not at present dis-
cuss, only so far as to say that our Church seems, in the
hands of the present ministry, to be enlarging her bor-
ders beyond all precedent, in every section of the
country.

But we ask pardon of our readers for having digressed
so far from our subject, and shall resume our sketch of
the young and talented Blackman. At the early age of
nineteen he commenced his itinerant life. He was ad-
mitted on trial in the year 1800, and sent to Kent cir-
cuit. After this he traveled in regular succession Dover,
Russell, New River, and Lexington circuits. Concerning

19

218 SKETCHES OF

his labors in tliese respective fields we have no informa-
tion. In the year 1805 he was sent as a missionary to
Natchez, thus passing rapidly over a vast extent of
country.

The new field of labor to which he was destined was
then the farthest west. To reach his appointment it was
necessary for him to travel through a wilderness seven or
eight hundred miles in extent, untenanted, except by
savages and beasts of prey. But no, there were worse
men than savages and beasts of prey — more cruel than
the panther. We allude to those Indian traders who, to
rob the red man of his skins and furs, would give them
ardent spirits to drink and make them drunk, so that they
would, in turn, rob and murder the traveler. It is the
example of the white man that gave to the Indian char-
acter its desperate savageness; and as an old soldier and
statesman, well acquainted with the history and policy of
the nation, the other day remarked in Congress, ''In
every treaty that has been violated by the Indians the
white man has been the aggressor.^'

Nothing daunted, our young hero missionary started
on his journey. For fourteen days and nights he trav-
eled alone and unattended through the wilderness. At
night he would hitch his horse, and taking his saddle-
bags for a pillow and his blanket for a covering, he would
lie down in the woods, commending hin^gelf to the keep-
ing of his God. At length he arrived at the place of his
destination. Methodism had scarcely gained an exist-
ence in the place. Yet there were a few who had been
awakened and converted to God through the labors of
Kev. Tobias Gibson, and they were struggling to keep
alive the spark of grace in the midst of the superabound-
ing wickedness. Notwithstanding there were some repu-
table persons friendly disposed to religion and morals, yet
it was a lamentable fact that the vast majority were totally

WESTERN METHODISM. 219

bankrupt in morals, and their proud hearts and vicioua
lives made them decided opponents of the Grospel of
Christ; but their opposition was more strictly arrayed
against those who preached it. At one time, when a
plain, unlettered man was preaching, the wicked portion
of the audience had great merriment on account of his
ignorance of correct language. It seems that they had
set themselves up to be judges, not hearers, of the word.
We have such hearers at the present day. They will
make a man offend for a word, and they will tax their
shallow brains so much to recollect that, such is their
anxiety to criticise, that if one should ask them about
the division of the subject, or even the text itself, their
feeble brains can not recall it. They are unable to
hold but one idea at a time. At one time the grammar
of this preacher was at fault, at another time his rhetoric,
and then his logic, besides his gestures were awkward,
etc. They did all they could to hedge up the poor man's
way, and said he was not competent to preach. How-
ever, he was not to be intimidated by the laugh and sneer
of his ungodly hearers. On one of his visits he took for
his text the following: ^'Ye serpents, ye generation of
vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell I" Then
said he, in tones of thunder, " Grentlemen, is that gram-
mar?" He was divinely assisted in his sermon, and hav-
ing greatly the advantage of his censors, who sat as if
taken by surprise, he kept it by pouring upon them pas-
sage after passage of divine denunciation upon the wicked,
frequently asking the annoying question, '^Gentlemen, is
that grammar?" So successful was that effort, that ever
afterward there was a studied silence in regard to the
preacher's defects, and his grammar never afterward was
called in question.

In the midst of such society young Blackman com
menced his labors in that distant region. He was a

220 SKETCHES OF

stranger in a strange land, far from home and kindred.
There were then no missionary funds to aid the itinerant
in planting the Gospel in destitute places, and all the sup-
port upon which he could rely was the naked promise,
"'^Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world."
He shared largely in the labors, privations, and reproaches
incident to his calling, as a minister; but he realized the
fulfillment of the promise in the presence of his Master,
and the consolations of his grace. Occasionally the
bright and happy scenes of home would flit across his
memory, and the temptation to return to the loved ones
he had left would be presented to his mind. ^'Surely,"
would the tempter say, ^'Your God is not a hard mas-
ter, and he does not require you to preach the Gospel to
those who will neither receive nor support it.'' But

"The vows of God were on him,
And he dare not turn aside to ' • •

Pluck terrestrial fruit, or play with .,•;

Earthly flowers."

What if they did not receive him; they also rejected his
Master, and the servant must not be greater than his
Lord; so in faith, and patience, and hope he labored on
in the service of his King and Savior.

In the year 1806 he was appointed presiding elder of
the Mississippi district. New laborers were brought into
the field, which, while it proved a source of mutual en-
couragement, enabled them to present a stronger front to
the enemy. The strongholds of sin and infidelity were
attacked; errors, incrusted by time and fortified by cus-
tom, were destroyed; prejudices, the most inveterate, were
driven away; and the light of the Gospel began to shed
its cheering beams upon the long night of darkness
which had reigned. Sinners were awakened and con-
verted to God, houses of worship were erected. Churches
organized, and the institutions of religion established; in

WESTERN METHODISM. 221

fine, ^Hhe wilderness and solitary places were made glad^
and the desert to rejoice and blossom as tlie rose/' through
the instrumentality of these faithful, self-denying heralds
of the cross. In all the bounds of his present field of
labor, when he first entered upon his work, there were
but seventy-four whites and sixty-two colored members;
and after three years' labor he was permitted to see em-
braced in the same field an entire district, with five cir-
cuits and a large increase in the membership.

But the itinerant system required him to cultivate
other fields, and he left the lowlands of Mississippi,
where he was beloved and respected by a numerous host
of friends, whom God had raised up as the fruits of his
labors, and went to Tennessee to preside on the Holston
district. Here he continued two years, and from thence
was removed to the Cumberland district, where he also
remained two years, and at the expiration of which time
he was placed, by the authorities of the Church, on the
Nashville district. On all these fields he was in labors
more abundant, and God crowned those labors with suc-
cess, by making them efi"ectual in bringing into the
Church a rich harvest of souls. Perhaps under the
labors of no one, in his day, were the borders of Zion
more enlarged in the lengthening of her cords and the
strengthening of her stakes. In the year 1815 he was
reappointed to the Cumberland district. In the mean
time he had married; and desirous of visiting his rela-
tions in Ohio, among whom was brother Collins, who had
married his sister, he took a few days of spare time for
that purpose.

He was again at his home and surrounded by the
scenes of his youth — surrounded by the friends of other
days, whose presence called up hallowed associations.
After enjoying their society for a short time — for he
could spare but a little while to turn aside and greet his

*fg§

SKETCHES OF

friends — lie bade them adieu and started for the field of
his labors. Many tears were shed at parting, but none
knew that they were the tears of a last farewell. None
knew that in a few hours that tall, graceful form would
be cold in death, and that dark but kindly eye, which
beamed with such happiness, would close its light on
earth forever. But the ways of God are inscrutable;

" Impervious shadows hide
The mystery of heaven."

The minister and his young, blooming bride, on their
return, reached Cincinnati. Here they must cross the
Ohio; but no proud steamer, as now, with its spacious
guards spread out to the beach, is waiting to receive the
passengers and ferry them over. A crazy craft, with sails
and paddles, in that olden time, was all the means pos-
sessed for keeping up a communication between Ohio and
Kentucky. Alighting from the carriage, the horses were
driven into the flat, and it was pushed from the shore.
Brother Blackman stood in front of his horses to hold
them. When all was clear, and the boat was a short dis-
tance from the shore, the ferryman commenced hoisting
his sails, the sight or flapping of which frightened the
horses. Blackman made every efi'ort to hold them, but
before assistance could be had they plunged overboard,
taking him with them. He had a strong arm and was a
good swimmer; but, alas! neither strength nor skill can
avail when the work of man is done. Till that hour he
was immortal, but the time had come for the termination
of his labors and his release from earth. He sank to
rise no more a living man, till Jesus shall wake his saints
from the sleep of death and call them up to heaven.
Thus ended the laborious life of the young and talented
Learner Blackman; and though the waters of the river,
which roll yonder, quenched his life and drowned his
dying words, yet we believe he sleeps in Jesus.

WESTERN METHODISM. 223

CHAPTER XV.
LOST child; or, "the camp of lydia.''

T3 a denizen of a large city the words which stand at
the head of this article produce but a faint impression
when compared with that produced upon the mind of the
villager. To the former it is a familiar sound, and he is
accustomed by day and by night to hear the bellman's
voice rising above the din of the city, or ringing out on
the clear night air, "Lost child!" But when these
words fall upon the ear of the dweller in the woods, or
the inhabitant of the wilderness, a thousand frightful
images at once rush upon the mind, rousing all to the
most intense excitement. Once, while returning home
about eleven o'clock on a cold winter's night, in a large
city, we heard, at the corner of a square, an alarm bell,
and we stopped to listen. Presently a despairing cry
arose, "Lost children," accompanied by a description of
their persons, and directions where to take them if found.
Knowing it was not the old bellman, whose voice had be-
come familiar to us in crying, "Lost child," we waited
till the crier came up. When he reached the corner
where we stood, he rung his bell and cried again. Just
as he concluded, a whiskered animal, dressed in gentle-
man's clothes, coming along, exclaimed, "Try it again,
old fellow!" "You heartless wretch!" said we, but he
passed without noticing us. We then asked the criei
whose children were lost. "Mine," said he, "and the
child of a poor widow living close by me. We are not
able to pay the bellman, and I started out myself to hunt

224 SKETCHES OF

the children." '^0, God." we thought, "what a heart-
less world ! Here is a poor man seeking his lost child at
the dead hour of night, in the streets and alleys of a
vast city, and not a soul to sympathize with or help him !"
But to our story.

In the year 1805, when all the region of country bor-
dering upon the Ohio river was a wilderness, and only
here and there were villages, which had sprung up in the
vicinity of forts — such, for instance, as Marietta, at Fort
flarmar, and Cincinnati, at Fort Washington — and the
savages roamed unmolested over the broad prairies and
through the dense forests of the west, a scene occurred
at a settlement about thirty miles north-east of Cincin-
nati, which produced the most astonishing excitement
throughout the whole surrounding country. There lived
at this settlement a family by the name of Osborn, which
consisted of the father, and mother, and two daughters,
the elder of whom was about eleven years of age, and the
younger about seven. In those days of backwoods life
every member of the family was employed, from neces-
sity, in farming pursuits, and almost as soon as a child
was able to walk it was taught to engage in some employ-
ment connected with rural life. While the father was
engaged in attending his small patch" of corn, and the
mother was attending her domestic concerns, of cooking,
knitting, spinning, or weaving, the children would be
employed, if sons, in assisting the father in the field or
barn ; and if daughters, in helping the mother in domes-
tic duties.

It was usually the duty of the younger boys to hunt
the cows, which were left to run in the woods, and some-
times were difficult to find. As there were no boys in this
family, it aevolved upon the girls to search the ranges of
the cattle, and drive home the cows. One afternoon in
the latter part of summer, the little girls of the Osborn

WESTERN METHODISM. 225

family started out on their accustomed pursuit. After
finding the cows, which they were enabled to do by the
tinkling of their bells, they started to drive them home.
The elder girl, haying become bewildered, supposed, from
the direction the cows took, that they were going from
instead of toward home. Fully impressed with this be-
lief, she requested her little sister to stay where she
was, and she would run and head them, and turn them
in the right direction. But the cows, intent on going
home, would not be diverted from their course. What
to do she knew not; and fearing that her sister would be
lost, she left the cattle, and started on hunt of her; but
alas ! how did her young heart ache when, after wander-
ing about for a long while, and crying out her name in
the woods, she could not find her! Sadly she started,
without her sister, in the direction of home, as she sup-
posed; but instead of this, the poor, bewildered child
took an opposite direction from her father's cabin. The
younger girl followed the sound of the cow-bells, and
arrived safely at home; but Lydia — for that was her
name — wandered on, and was lost in the wilderness.

Night came on, casting Hs darkened shadows over the
forest, but she came not to greet the anxious eyes of her
parents, which were growing sorrowful and dim with
watching. No time was to be lost; their child was in
the woods, exposed to the savages and wild beasts. The
neighborhood was roused with the alarm of ''Lost child !"
The cry became general, like the cry of fire at night in
a country village. Every heart was touched, and soon, in
every direction, torches were seen flashing their light
into the darkness of the forest. Bells were rung, horns
were blown, and guns were fired through the woods, if,
perchance, the sound might reach the ear of the lost one.
The whole night was spent in a fruitless search. The
news flew in every direction, and reached the settlement

226 SKETCHES OF

where we resided, and as many as could leave home
turned out to seek for the lost child. This day was also
spent in vain, though some signs of her tracks in cross-
ing branches and miry places were discovered, all, how-
ever, indicating that she was going farther into the wil-
derness. On the third day the famous backwoodsman
and hunter, Cornelius Washburn, arrived, with about five
hundred others. Washburn was accompanied by his
noted hunting-dog, of which it was said he would follow
any scent his master would put him upon. At length
the night of the third day arrived, but still no intelli-
gence of the lost child. We were now deep in the wil-
derness, and we all made preparations for camping out
that night. After lighting our fires, and taking some
refreshment, we retired to rest by lying down upon the
ground by our camp-fires. At daybreak we were up
again, and ready for our search ', but as the collection of
people was so numerous, we concluded it was best to form
ourselves into companies, and take diff"erent directions,
and meet at night at a place designated, and report in
relation to our discoveries. Money was collected and
sent to the settlements to buy provisions, to be brought
to the place of rendezvous. Every day we received ac-
cessions to our numbers, so that on the seventh day it
was supposed there were more than a thousand persons
gathered from all parts of the country, and many from
Kentucky. The seventh night was spent on the head
waters of the East Fork of the Little Miami. Washburn
reported that he had discovered where the little girl had
slept for several nights. The place she had selected was
where one tree had fallen across another, which was lying
down, and afi'orded a good protection. He also saw
where she had plucked and eaten some fox-grapes and
whortleberries. To this place the whole crowd hurried.
Nothing could have restrained them, so eager were they

WESTERN METHODISM. 227

to find the lost child, or some clue that would lead to her
discovery.

In all these journeyings the father was present, and so
absorbed in grief at the loss of his dear Lydia, that he
could neither eat nor sleep. Sorrow drank up his spirits,
and he refused to be comforted. When hope was kin-
dled in his heart that his child would be found, he
seemed like one frantic, and flew in every direction, call-
ing most piteously the name of his child; but she was
not there, her little feet had borne her to some othei
quarter of the wildwood. It was agreed the next morn-
ing that all the company should start out abreast, about
three rods apart, with a man in the middle, and one at
each end of the line, whose duty it was to blow horns at
certain intervals for the purpose of keeping the line
in order. It was an immense line, extending for several
miles. Each man was instructed to examine carefully
every branch and wet place, and every hollow log and
thicket, to see if any traces of her were discoverable.

Thus, day after day, and night after night, the search
went on, till sixteen days were passed away in the fruit-
less endeavor to find her. In the mean time, some of
the company having lost all hope of finding her, returned
home, but others came and filled their places, so that on
no day were there less than one thousand persons on
the search. On the fourteenth day, accompanied by two
others, we took across to the North Fork of Whiteoak,
and carefully searched the banks of that stream for
miles. On the morning of the fifteenth day we found
where she had crossed, by her footprints in the sand, at
the water's edge. These footprints appeared to be fresh,
and greatly revived our hopes. We were now distant
from the main body of men several miles; and while one
of our number was dispatched to communicate the intel-
ligencc; we proceeded to follow up a fork of the creek

SKETCHES OF

which puts in just where her footprints were found
Here there was an opening on the bottom land, where
there was a large blackberry patch nearly a quarter of a
mile in length. Near this patch we found a neat little
house, built of sticks, nicely adjusted. It was covered
with sticks, and over these were placed, in regular layers,
pieces of moss taken from the logs and sides of trees in
the neighborhood. The cracks were all neatly stopped
with moss. In the center, on one side, was a little door,
and in the interior was a bed made of leaves, covered with
moss, and decorated with wild flowers. All could see at
once that it was the work of a child ; and we may have
been childish while gazing upon it; for the tears stole
freely down our cheeks. Here, away in the wilderness,
far from human habitation, had this lost child constructed
this miniature house, and thus recalled the scenes of home,
and sister, and mother, and father.

The child must have been here several days ; for, from
her little house to the blackberry patch, she had beaten
quite a path, and some parts of the patch were picked
quite bare. We imagined that we had at last found the
place where the little wanderer had fixed her abode; but
now that we had got in reach of the prize, how to take it
was the question. To make a noise would frighten her
away to some hiding-place where she could not be found;
for children, when lost, become wild as the antelope in
his native forest, and if caught will make every possible
resistance, even looking upon their best friends as ene-
mies. Supposing that she was not far ofi", and would
return to her house, we removed to a short distance, where
we would be unobserved, and sat down to wait her com-
ing. But there were no signs of her returning, and fear-
ing lest we might be discovered by the lost child, we
stole softly under covert, from tree to tree, and cleared
the opening. Ascending an eminence, where we had a

WESTERN METHODISM. 229

full view of the blackberry patch, we carefully scanned
every part of it, and were satisfied that she was not
there. Returning again, and making a more thorough
examination, we could discover no fresh signs of her
presence, and we concluded to return to the main creek,
and wait for the company, and prevent, if possible, the
press of the eager crowd from rushing on and destroying
what signs might yet remain undiscovered. It is said
that there were more than a thousand men encamped
along the creek that night. The encampment extended
for half a mile.

Fearing the consequences of making a disclosure of
what we had seen at the blackberry patch, we kept it a
secret till morning, and then taking aside the best woods-
men in the company, we led them to the house of the
child. We then returned and formed the whole company
into military order, and marched them out into the open-
ing, where, flanking out right and left, they surrounded
the entire space, and formed a hollow square. At the
sight of the little cabin a scene occurred which it would
be impossible to describe. Here were brave, stalwart
men, who had been subjected to the perils of the wilder-
ness, contending for every inch with savages and wild
beasts, whose hearts were never known to quail with fear,
who, at sight of that little cabin, were melted into tears.
Some, as if deeming it unmanly to weep, or to be seen
manifesting so much human sympathy, turned aside,
while others left the ranks to give vent to their feelings
in solitude. But when the father came up to the little
dwelling his own dear child had built for herself, and
exclaimed, " 0, Lydia, Lydia, my dear child, are you yet
alive !" a thousand hearts broke forth in uncontrollable
grief.

The result of the investigation made by the hunters
was, that the signs were three or four days old. Horse-

230 SKETCHES OF

tracks were also found in the grass, supposed to be about
the same age. The conjecture was, that she had been
discovered and taken away by some hunters, or a party
of Indians. It was agreed, however, to make another
effort. The company was divided, and sent out in differ-
ent directions, to see if any further signs could be found
of hunters or Indians. Two miles from " Lydia's
camp'' — for so it is called to this day — her bonnet was
found hanging on a bush, and eight or ten miles further
off, an Indian camp was discovered, supposed to have
been vacated for five or six days. The conclusion was
that the child had been carried off by the Indians, none
knew where. Further pursuit being considered useless,
the company disbanded, and returned to their homes.
Not so, however, with the father. The love of his child
was to him sweeter than life. He never gave up the
search, but penetrated the wildest solitudes, and sought
for her among the Indians till the day of nis death.
The lost was never found.

'),; '^■>kii ^

WESTERN METHODISM. 231

CHAPTER XYI.

J A M E S A X L E Y .

The following graphic and stirring sketch of the Kev.
James Axley, the eccentric preacher, has been kindly
furnished for us by the Kev. Thomas A. Morris, D. D.,
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It consists
mostly of personal reminiscences of that remarkable
man, and such, indeed, in a majority of instances, is all
that we can gather of the fathers of Methodism in the
west. So far as a connected biography is concerned the
most that we can find is the bare announcement, on the
Minutes of the various fields of labor, occupied by the
preachers from year to year, and then, at the close of
their earthly labors, a short obituaiy, embracing but a
meager outline of their life and labors, and the circum-
stances connected with their death. But even this is
denied the toil-worn soldier, should he be found in the
local ranks, when death calls to take him home.

^'In 1804 the Western conference was reinforced by a
class of young men, some of whom became very distin-
guished Methodist preachers — among them were Samuel
Parker, Peter Cartwright, and James Axley. With the
last-named I never enjoyed but one week's personal ac-
quaintance, but that left on my memory an indelible
impression of his person and character, of which this
pen-portrait is but an imperfect reflection. He had min-
gled with scenes of excitement, toil, and peril, well cal-
culated to develop his physical and mental energies.

232 SKETCHES OF

Among his early fields of labor were Red river, Hock-
hocking, French Broad, Opelousas, and Powel's Yalley.
Subsequently he labored on Wabash, Holston, Green
Eiver, and French Broad districts as presiding elder.
These widely-separated points in the Lord's vineyard,
all included in the old Western conference, indicate that
he had a pretty thorough breaking into the Gospel har«
ness after the manner of our fathers, in the days of
Bishop Asbury, when itinerancy was what its name
imports.

"Long as I had been crossing the path of that notable
man, and much as I had heard of him among the people,
my first sight of him was not obtained till the autumn of
1837. That year the Holston conference met at Madi-
sonville, eastern part of Tennessee, some ten miles from
which brother Axley, then in a local relation, resided.
The first day of the session after adjournment I was
walking to my lodgings alone, when I heard a brother
some forty steps behind me say to another, 'Yonder
comes brother Axley.' Looking ahead, I observed a
man advancing toward me whose person was imposing.
He was perhaps five feet eight inches high; not corpu-
lent, but very broad and compactly built, formed for
strength ; his step was firm, his face was square, com-
plexion dark, eyebrows heavy, appearance rugged;
dressed in the costume of our fathers, with straight-
breasted coat, and broad-brimmed hat projecting over a
sedate countenance. His wide-spread fame as a natural
genius without any early education, and especially the
numerous incidents I had heard of him as a western
pioneer, had excited in me a greater desire for his per-
sonal acquaintance than that of any other living man I
had ever seen, except Jacob Gruber. The sound of his
name falling on my ear involuntarily quickened my pace,
and we were soon together. As I neared him I held out

WESTERN METHODISM. 233

my right hand and received his, when the following
salutations were exchanged:

" ' How are you, brother Axley?'

" ' Who are you ?'

'^ ' My name is Thomas A. Morris/

•'Then surveying me from head to foot, he replied,
* Upon my word, I think they were hard pushed for
Bishop-timber when they got hold of you.'

'' 'That is just what I thought myself, brother Axley/

" 'Why, you look too young for a Bishop.'

'^ * As to that, I am old enough to know more and do
better.'

"Turning back with me, we walked to our lodging,
being both quartered at the same place. Every hour
that I could redeem from conference and council busi-
ness was enlivened by his quaint but thrilling narratives
of his early travels, labors, and difficulties. Unaccus-
tomed to the free use of the pen, he kept all his records
in his tenacious memory, much strengthened by use, and
narrated with uncommon precision as to names, dates,
and the order in which facts transpired. This he did
leisurely and with perfect self-possession, but spiced the
whole with such apt remarks and consummate good-
humor that the attention of the company never faltered.
Never was I better entertained or more instructed with
the conversation of a fellow-sojourner in one week than
with his. It was decidedly rich.

"Next morning I observed him seated near the door,
remote from the business platform, and invited him for-
ward to conduct the openins; religious wservice of the con
fcrence. Then it was that some of his peculiarities wero
practically developed to mc for the first time. Hi-? read-
ing and prayer were brief and simple, yet quite impress-
ive; but his sinsring took me entirely by surprise. He
used no hymn-book, gave out no lines, but ied off ou a
20

SKETCHES OF

familiar hymn and tune in strains so exhilarating and
devotional that both appeared to be new and superex-
cellent. Whether he had ever paid any special attention
to tune-books is doubtful, as he was proverbial for his
opposition to choir-singing. However that may have
been, his voice embodied in itself more strength, more
volume, more melody, and certainly more devotional
influence, than that of an ordinary church-choir of a
dozen select singers. He was invited to a seat on the
platform.

'-'■ After the journal was read, an unimportant resolution
was offered, over which there was a little sharp shooting
by speech-makers. Our guest, though opposed to the
motion, did not interfere in the discussion. The breth-
ren, having fired their minute guns, came to a vote,
expressed in the usual way by raising their hands : two
hands were plainly visible, and another was partly ele-
vated and then suddenly drawn down. Before the Chair
had time to announce the decision, brother Axley vocif-
erated, in a very quaint manner, '■ Just two votes and a
half for that!' The effect upon the risibles of the body-
ecclesiastic was electrical; the gravest of the fathers
were convulsed with laughter. Only the author of it
seemed to be self-possessed.

"There were points of singular contrast in his char-
acter. His exterior was rough as a block of granite fresh
from the quarry, and his manner of reproving disorderly
persons at popular meetings over which he presided was
said to indicate severity; yet his conscience was so ten-
der and his moral sensibility so acute, that a mere sug
gestion from a friend that he had erred in any given case
would draw from him prompt acknowledgment with a
shower of tears. His dress and address indicated the
rustic, probably perpetuated by the force of early habit;
and yet in social intercourse he was both kind and

WESTERN METHODISM. 235

attractiye. His conversational talent was of a superior
order Without classical learning or much pretension to
book knowledge, he was such a master in practical, every-
day affairs that he could not only delight, but instruct
sages and divines. He could so present even a common-
place topic as to throw interest around it, and by his
musical powers he conquered some who could be reached
by no other means. I was informed that individuals who
were at first his enemies and persecutors because of his
profession as a Methodist preacher, on hearing him sing,
became his warm friends; and I do not doubt it. Indeed,
he told me of himself an instance in which he was relieved
from great embarrassment by singing, without saying any
thing as to the merit of the performance. It occurred
while he was laboring on the Opelousas mission, in Lou-
isiana, perhaps about the year 1807 or 1808. In order
to supply some destitute neighborhoods with the Gospel
by enlarging his mission, he went on a tour of explora-
tion where he was a stranger to ail. Some of his adven-
tures during that expedition would, by the ministers of
this generation, be regarded as specimens of moral hero-
ism. But omitting other incidents, I shall refer only to
the point in hand. One evening, after riding all day
without any dinner, he called at a house where the fam
ily consisted of a widow lady, a grown daughter, a num-
ber of children, and some servants, none of whom were
religious. The lady and her family regretted his coming,
would not grant his request to remain over night, and
clearly indicated, by looks and actions, that he was an
unwelcome guest. The reader may ask why he did not
leave immediately. The reason was, he knew, if de-
feated in obtaining lodging there, nothing remained for
him but a berth in the dark wood, without food or shel-
ter, at an inclement season of the year. As he lingered
a little to warm himself and consider how he should

236 SKETCHES OF

manage to pass that dreary night, the thought of his for-
lorn condition as a homeless stranger, without money or
friends, came like a dark cloud over his mind. His deep,
sad cogitations proceeded in silence. Then, as was natu-
ral in his extremity, he turned his thoughts toward his
heavenly Father's house above, where he hoped some day
to find a home free from the ills of mortal life. Being a
little cheered with the prospect, without leave, introduc-
tion, or ceremony, he began to sing one of the songs of
Zion in a strange land. As he proceeded his depressed
feelings became elevated; the vision of faith ranged
above and beyond the desolate wilderness he had just
been contemplating as the place of his night's sojourn;
the family were soon all melted into tears; he took fresh
courage, and sang on with the least possible pause, till he
had finished, perhaps, the third song, when the lady
called a servant, and ordered him to put the gentleman's
horse in the stable ; and the daughter added, ' Be sure to
feed him well.' Thus a few strains of sacred melody,
such as Axley could wield, removed all opposition and
relieved the case.

<' Brother Axley made every important interest of life a
subject of prayer, as all Christian people should. Towara
the close of our week's interview he incidentally alluded
to his courtship and marriage, which occurred, I believe,
after he had been a minister some years. He opened his
mind to his intended by letter, inclosed in another letter
to her brother, with whom she resided. To the brother
he wrote, if he had any objection to the correspondence
with his sister, to burn it, and that would end the matter.
The letter, however, was delivered into her hand, contain-
ing a proposition of marriage, and a notice that he would
be there on a given day to receive the answer. On the
day appointed he came, obtained an interview, and opened
the cause by stating he wished to talk over the subject

WESTERN METHODISM. 237

alluded to in his letter; ^but, first of all,' said he, 'we
must pray for direction.' They kneeled together, and he
led in prayer. After prayer he wished to know whether
she consented to the proposed union. She thought it
would not be amiss for her to have longer time in which
to decide; but he deemed that needless, as they were
well acquainted, and insisted on a present and direct
answer. The result was marriage.

''He was proverbial for his opposition to slavery and
whisky. After he located he supported his family by the
labor of his own hands as a farmer, and was wont to tes
tify, on all proper occasions, that his logs were rolled, his.
house raised, and his grain cut without whisky; and
though he had plentiful crops of corn, not the first track
of a negro's foot was ever seen in one of his fields. Such
was his version of facts, as I learned from some of his
friends.

"I never heard brother Axley preach; but, according to
popular fame, his pulpit performances were practical,
forcible, and left a deep and abiding impression on the
multitudes that thronged together to hear him. To this
day we occasionally hear allusion made to a sermon he
preached in the city of Baltimore, during the General
conference of 1820, of which he was a member. It must
have been a potent sermon to be remembered so dis-
tinctly for the third of a century. I have heard also
very frequent allusions to his pulpit performances in dif-
ferent parts of the western country, where he had opera-
ted to good purpose as a traveling preacher, more par-
ticularly in Kentucky and Tennessee. But perhaps the
effort which occasioned the most talk and obtained the
greatest notoriety was the one said to have been made in
his own section of country, and was commonly known as
Axley's temperance sermon, though not so designated by
any preannouncement. It should be known that east

238 SKETCHES OF

Tennessee in those days was regarded as a great country
for producing peach-brandy, and for a free use of it; also,
that the New Lights abounded there, familiarly called
Schismatics, and that Church members who rendered
themselves liable to a disciplinary process would occasion-
ally go over to them, as a city of refuge, where they felt
safe from its restraints. With this preliminary, I pro-
ceed to recite a passage from the sermon, reminding the
reader that my authority is not personal knowledge, but
the verbal statement of a highly-respectable Methodist
minister. Rev. Dr. Gr., of Tennessee. I write it substan-
tially as I heard it:

^'Text : ^Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil :
the Lord reward him according to his works,' 2 Timothy
iv, 14.

'^Paul was a traveling preacher, and a bishop, I presume,
or a presiding elder at least; for he traveled extensively,
and had much to do, not only in regulating the societies,
but also in sending the preachers here, there, and yonder.
He was zealous, laborious, would not build on another
man's foundation, but formed new circuits, where Christ
was not named, 'so that from Jerusalem, and round
about unto Illyricum, he had fully preached the Gospel
of Christ.' One new place that he visited was very
wicked — Sabbath-breaking, dancing, drinking, quarrel-
ing, fighting, swearing, etc., abounded; but the word of
the Lord took effect; there was a powerful stir among
the people, and many precious souls were converted.
Among the subjects of that work there was a certain
noted character, Alexander by name, and a still-maker by
trade; also, one Hymeneus, who was his partner in the
business. Paul formed a new society, and appointed
brother Alexander class-leader. There was a great change
in the place; the people left off their drinking, swearing,
fighting, horse-racing, dancing, and all their wicked

WESTERN METHODISM. 239

practices. The stills were worked up into bells and stew-
kettles, and thus applied to useful purposes. The settle-
ment was orderly, the meetings were prosperous, and
things went well among them for some time. But one
year they had a pleasant spring; there was no late frost,
and the peach crop hit exactly. I do suppose, my breth-
ren, that such a crop of peaches was never known before.
The old folks ate all they could eat, the children ate all
they could eat, the pigs ate all they could eat, and the sis-
ters preserved all they could preserve, and still the limbs
of the trees were bending and breaking. One Sunday,
when the brethren met for worship, they gathered round
outside of the meeting-house, and got to talking about
their worldly business — as you know people sometimes do,
and it is a mighty bad practice — and one said to another,

* Brother, how is the peach crop with you this year?' '0,'
said he, 'you never saw the like; they are rotting on the
ground under the trees; I don't know what to do with
them.' * How would it do,' said one, ' to still them ? The
peaches will go to waste, but the brandy will keep ; and
it is very good in certain cases, if not used to excess.'

* I should like to know,' said a cute brother, ' how you
could make brandy without stills ?' ' That's nothing,'
replied one, 'for our class-leader — brother Alexander —
is as good a still-maker as need be, and brother Hyme-
neus is another, and, rather than see the fruit wasted, no
doubt they would make us a few.' The next thing heard
on the subject was a hammering in the class-leader's
shop; and soon the stills in every brother's orchard were
smoking, and the liquid poison streaming. When one
called on another the bottle was brought out, with the
remark, 'I want you to taste my new brandy; I think
it is pretty good.' The guest, after tasting once, was
urged to repeat, when, smacking his lips, he would re-
ply, 'Well, it's tolerable; but I wish you would come

240 SKETCHES OF

over and taste minej I think mine is a little better.' S»
they tasted and tasted till many of them got about half
drunk, and I don't know but three-quarters. Then the
very devil was raised among them ; the society was all in
an uproar, and Paul was sent for to come and settle the
difficulty. At first it was difficult to find sober, disinter-
ested ones enough to try the guilty; but finally he got
his committee formed; and the first one he brought to
account was Alexander, who pleaded not guilty. He de-
clared that he had not tasted, bought, sold, or distilled a
drop of brandy. ^ But,' said Paul, 'you made the stills,
otherwise there could have been no liquor made; and if
no liquor, no one could have been intoxicated.' So they
expelled him first, then Hymeneus next, and went on for
compliment, till the society was relieved of all still-mak-
ers, distillers, dram-sellers, and dram-drinkers, and peace
was once more restored. Paul says, 'Holding faith and a
good conscience; which some having put away, concerning
faith have made shipwreck ; of whom is Hymeneus and
Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they
may learn not to blaspheme.'

"Of course they fiew ofi" the handle, and joined the
Schismatics.

" Now, in view of the peculiar structure of brother
Axley's mind, and his characteristic habits of thought
and expression, they who were best acquainted with him
will be most likely to admit that the above outline may
be substantially correct. I was anxious to have learned
more items of the history of that good man ; but at my
next visit to Holston conference, in 1840, I had left me
only the mournful pleasure of visiting his grave, in a
rural cemetery, which, at that time, was without inscrip-
tion or inclosure. If some one of our senior brethren,
better acquainted with the subject of this brief notice
than the writer, would favor the public with a reliable

WESTERN METHODISM. 241

biograplij, and thereby rescue tlie name of James Axley
from oblivion^ be would confer a lasting benefit on the
Church and the numerous friends of the deceased.
Whatever is to be rescued from oblivion concerning the
early pioneers of Methodism must be soon done."

To the personal reminiscences of the Bishop might be
added others by those who knew Axley, and were privi-
leged to wait on his ministry. In the autobiography
of Samuel Williams, Esq., we find the following :

^^The name of James Axley was rendered fiimiliar to
us by being carved by himself, during the sitting of the
conference of 1807, on the back of the seat in front of
the one in which we usually sat. in the little, old brick
chapel. Our recollection of his person is rather indis-
tinct; but we think he was tall and raw-boned, and a lit-
tle awkward in his manners and movements. In the
matter and delivery of his discourses there was a marked
originality, a vein of humor, and even drollery, which,
while it interested and frequently amused his hearers,
often gave severe point and directness to his rebukes.
He was, nevertheless, a preacher of very respectable tal-
ents and undoubted piety. And if he was not a 'polished
shaft ' in the quiver of the Almighty, yet the arrow was
none the less sharp and keen. We have heard many an-
ecdotes of his sayings and doings. The following, re-
lated to us about thirty years ago by the Rev. John
Collins, we give the reader as a specimen :

''In one of his discourses Mr. Axley was descanting
upon conformity to the world among Christians, particu-
larly in fashionable dress and manners. To meet the
pleas and excuses usually set up in behalf of these depart-
ures from the good old way, he held a sort of colloquy
with an imaginary apologist, seated at the further end of
the congregation, whose supposed pleas and excuses he
would state on behalf of his man of straw, in an altered
21

W9m • SKETCHES OF

tone ; then resuming his natural voice, he would replj
and demolish the arguments of his opponent. Aftei
thus discussing the subject for some time, the opponent
was made to say.

*''But, sir, some of your Methodist preachers them
selves dress in fashionable style, and in air and manne
enact the dandy.'

"^0 no, my friend, that can not be. Methodis
preachers know their calling better. They are men of
more sense than that, and would not stoop so low as to
disgrace themselves and the sacred office they hold by
such gross inconsistency of character.'

"^Well, sir, if you won't take my word for 'J jast
look at those young preachers in the pulpit, behind you.'

" Mr. Axley, turning immediately around, with seem-
ing surprise, and facing two or three rather fashionably-
dressed junior preachers seated in the rear of the pulpit,
he surveyed each of them from head to foot for two or
three minutes, while they quailed under the withering
glance of his keen and penetrating eye; then turning
again to the congregation, and leaning a little forward
over the front of the desk, with his arm extended, and
his eyes as if fixed on the apologist at the further end of
the church, he said, in a subdued tone, yet distinctly
enough to be heard by all present,

'' ^ If you please^ sir, ice' II drop the subject F

" Although the following additional anecdote of Mr.
Axley may be familiar to many of our readers, we hope
they will pardon us for inserting it, as it is worthy of a
more durable record than the columns of a newspaper,
from which we clip it. The late Judge Hugh L. White,
who relates it, was a learned and able jurist and distin-
guished statesman, and for many years a conspicuous
member of the United States senate from the state of
Tennessee

WESTERN METHODISM. 243

^^On a certain day a number of lawyers and literary
men were together in the town of Knoxville, Tennessee,
and the conversation turned on preachers and preaching.
One and another had expressed his opinion of the per-
formances of this and that pulpit orator, when at length
Judge White spoke up:

'' ^ Well, gentlemen, on this subject each man is, of
course, entitled to his own opinion ; but I must confess
that father Axley brought me to a sense of my evil
deeds, at least a portion of them, more effectually than
any preacher I ever heard.'

" At this, every eye and ear was turned, for Judge
White was never known to speak lightly on religious sub-
jects, and, moreover, was habitually cautious and respect-
ful in his remarks about religious men. The company
now expressed the most urgent desire that the Judge
should give the particulars, and expectation stood on
tiptoe.

^"I went up,' said the Judge, ^one evening to the
Methodist church. A sermon was preached by a clergy-
man with whom I was not acquainted, but father Axley
was in the pulpit. At the close of the sermon he arose
and said to the congregation, '^I am not going to detain
you by delivering an exhortation ; I have risen merely to
administer a rebuke for improper conduct, which I have
observed here to-night." This, of course, waked up the
entire assembly, and the stillness was profound, while
Axley stood and looked for several seconds over the con-
gregation. Then stretching out his large, long arm, and
pointing with his finger steadily in one direction, he said,
*' Now, I calculate that those two young men, who were
talking in that corner of the house while the brother was
preaching, think that I am going to talk about them.
Well, it is true, it looks very bad, when well-dressed
young men, who you would suppose, from their appear-

244 . SKETCHES OF

ance, belonged to some respectable family, come to tbo
house of God; and instead of reverencing the majesty of
Him that dwelleth therein, or attending to the message
of his everlasting love, get together in one corner of the
house ^' — his finger all the time pointing as steady and
straight as the aim of a rifleman — "and there, during
the whole solemn service, keep talking, tittering, laugh-
ing, and giggling, thus annoying the minister, disturbing
the congregation, and sinning against God. I'm sorry
for the young men. I'm sorry for their parents. I'm
sorry they have done so to-night. I hope they will never
do so again. But, however, that's not the thing I was
going to talk about. It is another matter, so important
that I thought it would be wrons; to suffer the cono-re^a-
tion to depart without administering a suitable rebuke.
Now," said he, stretching out his huge arm, and pointing
in another direction, " perhaps that man who was asleep
on the bench out there, while the brother was preaching,
thinks I am going to talk about him. Well, I must con-
fess it looks very bad for a man to tsome into a worship-
ing assembly, and, instead of taking a seat like others,
and listening to the blessed Gospel, carelessly stretching
himself out on a bench, and going to sleep. It is not
only a proof of great insensibility with regard to the ob-
ligations which we owe to our Creator and Redeemer, but
it shows a want of genteel breeding. It shows that the
poor man has been so unfortunate in his bringing up as
not to have been taught good manners. He don't know
what is polite and respectful in a worshiping assembly
among whom he comes to mingle. I'm sorry for the poor
man. I'm sorry for the family to which he belongs. I'm
sorry he did not know better. I hope he will never do
so again. But, however, this was not what I was going
to talk about." Thus father Axley went on, for some
time, ^'boxing the compass," hitting a number of persons

WESTERN METHODISM. 245

and things ttat lie was not going to talk about, and hit-
ting hard, till the attention and curiosity of the audience
were raised to their highest pitch, when finally he re-
marked :

u i <<The thing of which I was going to talk was chewing
tobacco. Now, I do hope, when any gentleman comes to
church who can't keep from using tobacco during the
hours of worship, that he will just take his hat and use
it for a spit-box. You all know we are Methodists. You
all know that our custom is to kneel when we pray. Now,
any gentleman may see, in a moment, how exceedingly
inconvenient it must be for a well-dressed Methodist lady
to be compelled to kneel down in a puddle of tobacco
spit.''

"^Now,' said Judge White, ^at this time I had in my
mouth an uncommonly large quid of tobacco. Axley's
singular manner and train of remark strongly arrested
my attention. While he was stirring to the right and
left, hitting those ^'things" that he was not going to
talk about, my curiosity was busy to find out what he
could be aiming at. I was chewing and spitting my large
quid with uncommon rapidity, and looking up at the
preacher to catch every word and every gesture — when at
last he pounced upon the tobacco, behold, there I had a
great puddle of tobacco spit! I quietly slipped the quid
out of my mouth, and dashed it as far as I could under
the seats, resolved never again to be found chewing to-
bacco in the Methodist church.' "

Axley must have been a thorough student of human
nature, as was generally the case with the Methodist
preachers of that day. Men whose profession calls them
to travel in all sections of the country, and mingle with
all classes of society, as Methodist preachers have to do,
must be dull students and stupid observers of men and
things, if they don't become thoroughly acquainted with

246 • SKETCHES OP * ,

men's hearts and lives. What the eccentric Axley
learned in the wide field of labor before him he put to
good account, and thus gave evidence that he was not like
the sage of olden time, who mingled with the world only
to learn its follies and then retired to his cell alone to
weep over them.

^■'--.

WESTERN METHODISM

247

CHAPTER XVII.

JOSEPH OGLESBY

In sketching the life of this pioneer preacher, who, for
fifty years, toiled in the wilds of the west; the first her-
ald of the cross that ever penetrated the wilderness of
Illinois and preached the Gospel to its scattered inhabit-
ants, we are at a loss for materials respecting his early
life and conversion. We find his name on the general
Minutes as a probationer in the year 1804, when, as we
have already seen, he traveled the Miami circuit with the
Rev. John Sale. The Minutes show the work on the
Ohio district as follows: W. Burke, presiding elder;
Muskingum, George Askin ; Hockhocking, James Quinn,
John Meek; Scioto, William Pattison, Nathan Barnes;
Miami, John Sale, Joseph Oglesby; Guyandotte, Asa
Shinn.

In the year following he was sent into the wilderness
in the then distant Illinois, almost beyond the reach of
the white population. Having preceded Jesse Walker, a
most interesting sketch of whose labors, in that distant
region, is given by Bishop Morris in his "Miscellany,"
the reader has only to refer to that work to see what
must have been the toils and hardships of Oglesby in
planting Methodism among the semi-civilized inhabit-
ants. The next year he was sent to Barren circuit, in
the Cumberland district; in the year following to Shelby,
in the Kentucky district. In 1808 he was sent to Nash-
ville circuit, with David Young for his colleague, and the
succeeding year to Maramack, in Indiana. At the close

248 SKETCHES OF

of this year he located. How long lie remained in a
local relation to the Church we are not able to say ex-
actly. In the mean time he was engaged as a practitioner
of medicine, in which profession, we are informed, he
•was quite successful. His zeal and industry were great,
both as it regarded his professional engagements in the
healing art, and his duties as a preacher, being ready at
all times to do good to the bodies and the souls of men.

In the year 1849 we find his name on the effective list
in the Indiana conference. That year he was stationed
on the Martinsville circuit. The next year his name
stands on the Minutes among the superannuated preach-
ers, and the presumption is that his age and feebleness
were such as to disqualify him from doing fully the work
of an itinerant, and rather than be in the way of an
effective man he would not insist on being regarded as
fully adequate for the work when he was not. The year
1851 also finds him among the superannuated. Still he
traveled extensively, and labored whenever opportunity
presented ', and frequently his pulpit ministrations were
characterized with the pathos and power of a former day.
In the Minutes of 1852, in answer to the question of the
South-Eastern Indiana conference, "Who have died this
year?'^ the name of Joseph Oglesby stands among the
number. The following is the conference memoir, and
though short, like the memoirs of the deceased preach-
ers as found in the early Minutes, still it is expressive of
his character and labors as a minister of the Lord Jesus,
and serves to show the estimate put upon him as a
member of the conference :

"Rev. Joseph Oglesby. — This venerable servant of
God departed this life April 9, 1852, in the city of Lou-
isville.

"We regret that the residence of his family, beyond
the bounds of this conference, has prevented us from

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 249

obtaining materials for as full a report as his meritorious
life demands. But what needs it ? His 'witness is in
heaven — his record is on high.' There dwell many seals
to his ministry, and there rests his happy spirit.

''He was a pioneer Methodist minister. Nearly fifty
years ago he began his arduous toils. Ohio, Kentucky,
Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, he traversed, preaching
every-where the ' Gospel of the kingdom ' — ' the word of
this salvation.' No history of Methodism in the vast
Mississippi Valley can be complete which does not speak
largely of the labors of Joseph Oglesby. Much of it
'he was.'

"In the days of his strength he stood among the strong
men of Methodism. 'He was an able minister of the
New Testament.' As old age pressed upon him his zeal
did not abate. He continued in his superannuated days
to preach Jesus, almost every Sabbath, and often through
the week.

" The last Sabbath before his short and fatal illness,
he preached with great power from '0 that thou hadst
hearkened to my commandments; then had thy peaco
been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of
the sea.'

" He died with his armor on, and fell in sight of glory.
Many shall rise up and call him blessed."

^Sd SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XVIII.

WILLIAM BEAU CHAM P.

Among the bright stars which shone in the galaxy of
Methodism in the close of the eighteenth century, was
the Rev. AVilliam Beauchamp. After filling several im-
portant stations, such as Pittsburg, New York, Boston,
etc., he removed to the west, and settled on the Little
Kanawha, in Western Virginia. Having, in early life,
received a good English and classical education, he de*
voted himself, in his local sphere, to literary pursuits.
With but few exceptions, there were not many literary
men in the itinerant ranks in those days. Those were
called, as a general thing, into the ministry, who be-
longed, like the early founders of Christianity, to the
toiling classes of community. They were taken from the
plow, the loom, the bench, and the anvil, and, with the
broad seal of heaven's commission written on their hearts,
they went forth to draw from their own experience, and
the uncommented word of God, those soul-saving truths
which brought the sinner to the dust, and raised the
fallen to the blessings of pardon and salvation.

Still, as it was in the days of the apostles and the Ref-
ormation, there were some who were distinguished for
profound literary attainments, and of this number was
William Beauchamp. In the wilds of Virginia, removed
from the toil of itinerant life, in which he had worn
himself down, he passed his time in the congenial pur-
suits of a literary life, while his Sabbaths were occupied
in preaching the Gospel to the scattered inhabitants in
all the region round about. As the fruit of his literary

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 251

toils, he published "Essays/' in Marietta, in the year
1811, "on the Truth of the Christian Religion, or Evi-
dences of Christianity." This work was written in a
graceful, flowing style, and would do honor to the head
and heart of any man. It gave evidence of genius and
piety of a high degree, and was extensively read and
deservedly popular. His production gained him a name
as a writer in the west, and it was not long till his serv-
ices were required as an editor of a religious periodical.
A correspondence was opened between him and the Rev.
Thomas S. Hinde, of Chillicothe, on this subject, an
account of which, together with other circumstances,
furnished by the latter, we will give in his own words :
" The writer of this memoir, with a number of his re-
ligious friends and acquaintances, had long lamented the
prevalency of Arian and Pelagian doctrines, with which
the Methodist societies at this time, in places, were much
infested. The Rev. Samuel Parker, in 1811, 1812, and
1813, had traveled through the interior of Ohio. The
distinguished talents of this minister of grace, connected
with the sweet temper and disposition of the man, had
enabled him to wield the scepter of the Gospel with such
signal success that those doctrines, wherever he went,
received a fatal blow; to make the victory full and com-
plete, a periodical publication was thought to be abso-
lutely necessary; through which medium the doctrines
of the Church might be disseminated. Our Methodist
Mao;azine had lonsr since been discontinued, and no dis-
position appeared to be manifested to revive it. These
circumstances had induced the writer, upon his own re-
sponsibility, to issue a prospectus for a periodical relig-
ious publication, to be published in Chillicothe, which was
designed to batter down those absurd notions, so preva-
lent at this period. Brother Beauchamp was solicited to
undertake it, and this, connected perhaps with other

252 SKETCHES OF

circumstances, induced him to remove to Cliillicothe,
Oiiio, some time in the year 1815. The year following —
1816 — that excellent periodical work, 'The Western
Christian Monitor,' was published monthly. Publica-
tions of this kind had sprung up in various parts of the
United States, and the name of this forestalled ; so that
'Western' was added by way of distinction. In this
publication brother Beauchamp was aided by the writer
of this memoir, but more by compilations and selections
than in original matter; and at his request brother Beau-
champ wrote a short commentary on the articles of relig-
ion of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was pub-
lished in numbers. The Monitor was extensively
circulated, has done much good, and the bound volumes
are now, and always will be, a valuable acquisition to any
library. The infant state of the western country, the
difficulties attending the distribution of the work, and,
worse than all, the very ill state of brother Beauchamp's
health at this time, all tended greatly to discourage him
in the prosecution of it; and from these and other cir-
cumstances, which it is now needless to mention, at the
end of the first year it was wholly discontinued.

" While brother Beauchamp resided in Chillicothe, he
became extensively known, and to the Church in that
place very useful; his persuasive eloquence and his solid
piety gained him many friends both among professors
and non-professors, who were so generally impressed with
a sense of his real worth, that his name is now, and will
long be had in remembrance; and but little doubt is
entertained that his labors in this place paved the way
for that great and glorious revival of religion, which
commenced soon after he left it to remove to Mount Car-
mel, in Illinois.

"Those lucid intervals during the ministry of the
writer's friends, Mr. Samuel Parker and Mr. William

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 253

/eauchamp — the one immediately succeeding the other
in Chillicothe — in his associations with them around the
country in different places, at various meetings, he now
retrospects as the happiest period of his life ! The
tremulous motions of the late calamitous war had sub-
sided, peace reigned, the Gospel spread most astonish-
ingly; and it was his delight to hear, at one time, Parker
as the Cicero, and at another Beauchamp as the Demos-
thenes, of the Church in the west. Pleasing, yet
melancholy thought ! their race is run, and these two
ministers of the Church have left us to mourn for our-
selves I One slumbers in the vaUey of the Mississippi,
the other sweetly — for the present — reposes on the higlits
of Peoli, in Indiana !

'Thus the men ■; ' .^

■ ■ . ' Whom nature's works instruct, with God himself ... '.•

, • Hold converse ; grow familiar ; act upon his plan ; . . , ^
And form to his the relish of their souls !' "

"We have already seen that the subject of our narrative
had closed his editorial labors and removed to Mount
Carmel, Illinois. Having undertaken the agency of the
new settlement, where a society was to be formed on the
principle of elective affinity, he commenced the work of
surveying the land, laying off the squares and streets,
and public places of the town. The lands belonging to
the company were exceedingly fertile, and the induce-
ments offered were such that in a short time large num-
bers sought this El Dorado of the west. All was a wil-
derness, but active preparations were made for clearing
and building. On the holy Sabbath the sound of a trum-
pet would bring the people together, and the eloquent
Beauchamp would charm his listening auditors with the
Gospel of Jesus. And they were a highly-favored con-
gregation; for no preacher in the splendid churches of
the large cities could discourse more eloquently. On

254 SKETCHES OF

winter evenings he would collect together the youth of
the neighborhood and instruct them in the various
branches of a solid education. His information was ex-
tensive and general, embracing all the useful departments
of knowledge, and his services were sought on almost
every subject involving the different professions, as well
as the mechanic arts. He labored to make himself use-
ful in all the departments of life, and his chief aim
seemed to be to advance the happiness of all. Added to
all, his services were gratuitous, and none could complain
of exorbitant professional fees when his opinion or serv-
ices were required. He literally preached and toiled for
nothing, finding himself.

We once knew a preacher who was sent to a poor cir-
cuit in Ohio, where, at the first quarterly meeting, there
was not money enough raised from all the classes to pay
the traveling expenses of one of the preachers. The
prospect was so gloomy, in regard to support, that the
presiding elder gave him a dispensation that he might
teach a school. He accordingly gathered together about
sixty scholars, ranging from A B C up to mineralogy and
Latin. From each scholar he received a small sum, to
be paid in store goods at an exorbitant price ; but as he
had no rent to pay, being permitted to occupy an old log-
cabin that was tenantless, he managed to get along. On
Sabbath he would preach to the people of the neighbor-
hood in the school-house. It happened that there came
along a Universalist preacher, who was anxious to en-
lighten the people on the subject of religion, and he
requested the privilege of preaching in the school-house,
which was granted. The burden of his discourse was to
expose the priestcraft of the orthodox clergy, and to con-
vince the dear people that they were terribly priest-rid-
den; that these fat, sleek Methodist preachers cared
more for the fleece than they did for the flock. On the

WESTERN METHODISM. 255

next Sabbath, after the school-teacher had preached, an
old local preacher, who lived in the neighborhood, and
had been a colleague of Bishop Hedding on a New Eng-
land circuit, was invited to close the exercises. He had
heard the Universalist the Sabbath before, and was mak-
ing a reply, at the Universalist's invitation, which would
have completely demolished him, had not the meeting
been broken up by a drunken man, who came in and
ordered him out of the pulpit. On rising to give out a
hymn, he said he wished to make a remark. "Last Sab-
bath," said he, "we heard much about priestcraft, and
about our being priest-ridden, and all that sort of thing.
Well, I don't think we have much reason to complain of
being priest-ridden, for our preacher teaches our children,
furnishes wood and candles, builds the fire, sweeps the
house, attends our sick, buries our dead, and preaches for
nothing — all for nothing — lives in a log-cabin and finds
himself."

Thus it was with Beauchamp. He was surveyor, law-
yer, physician, school-teacher, mechanic, and preacher;
and his services, like the blessings of the Gospel, were
without money and without price. His arduous labors
preyed heavily upon his delicate constitution, and he was
obliged, in 1821, to retire to his farm, about three miles
from Carmel. Shortly after this he was called to part
with his son — his only son — in the thirteenth year of his
age. He was a bright and beautiful boy, tender and
affectionate in his disposition, and beloved by all; but
Death, who loves a shining mark, claimed him as his
own, and he fell a blighted flower, and was gathered to
the tomb. After this deep affliction, brother Beauchamp
re-entered the itinerant ranks in the Missouri conference,
and was stationed in the city of St. Louis. In this sta-
tion he labored with great success for one year, at the
expiration of which time he was appointed presiding

256 SKETCHES OF

elder of the Indiana district. His district was large,
embracing eleven circuits, and covering a wide extent
of territory, where he labored with zeal untiring in
cultivating the vineyard of his Lord and Master. While
on this district he was elected a delegate to the General
conference. Such was the estimate put upon his talents
by the members of the General conference, that he came
within a few votes of being elected to the Episcopacy.
His journey to Baltimore and the severe labor connected
with the district, which embraced almost the entire state
of Indiana, were too great for his constitution to bear,
and the old complaint, under which he had suffered, re-
turned. In a very feeble state of health he was taken
to his fourth quarterly meeting, which was on the camp-
ground near Peoli. Here he became worse, but gave ad-
vice and attended to some business. From this place he
was removed to Mr. Craven's, and from thence to Mr.
Peek's, at Peoli, where he would be more convenient to
medical aid. All efforts that medical skill could make
were, however, unavailing, and he continued to sink
tinder the power of disease till, at the expiration of six
weeks from the time of the attack, he yielded up his
spirit into the hands of God. His death was tranquil,
and, with the bright hopes of a faithful Christian, he
passed over the swellings of Jordan. His funeral ser-
mon was preached by Bishop Boberts from the text,
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints." At the time of his death he was in the fifty-
third year of his age.

The following description of his person and address,
from the pen of his intimate friend, T. S. Hiude, will
give the reader a correct idea of the learned and talented
subject of our sketch:

*' He was a man of common stature, about five feet ten
iDches in hight, light form, dark; or auburn hair, rather

WESTERN METHODISM. 257

of a sallow complexion and thin visage. His features
were remarkably regular and round; his head, forehead,
and face were well proportioned ; there was nothing strik-
ing in the appearance either of his nose or mouth, both
exhibiting a quite common appearance, nor, at first view,
was there any thing remarkable in the cast of his eyej
like that of most geniuses it seemed to slumber in
thought, till roused to action. But a strict observer, par-
ticularly a discerning stranger, would discover an indica-
tion therefrom of deep thought and a reflecting mind;
and yet a reserve bordering on austerity. While his eye
was watchful and vigilant, a strict and rigid observer of
passing events, it was apparently hid and retired where
caution and prudence were deemed necessary. This was
its cast to a stranger; but to an acquaintance or a friend
he was free and open. His gait was generally slow, but
when in health his motions were more rapid. He was
very uniform in his conduct, and systematic in his de-
portment; yet no man was ever a more pleasant and
agreeable member of society, adapting his language and
conversation to the state and capacities of each, being
perfectly at home among the high or the low, the rich or
the poor. Though apparently pensive and reserved, yet
there was no man more pleasant, communicative, and
cheerful. In a company of select friends he was in his
element, and his soul then appeared expanded as at a
mental feast. His dark hazel eye would rise from its ap-
parent languor, and sparkle with beams of light. His
countenance, like the sun breaking forth from a parting
cloud, would assume a lovely sprightliness, as if to cheer
the spirits of those with whom he delighted to be asso-
ciated; for he took great pleasure in the society of his
friends.

^'Mr. Beaucharap in his friendship was steady and
uniform, on no occasion yielding his regard for one till

22

BS^ SKETCHES OP

he was well satisfied that his confidence was misplaced.
He had a little stoop of the shoulders, and when speaking
in public his gestures were natural and easy. His voice
was very uniform, remarkably soft in social conversation,
but in argument energetic. In his preaching, when
holding out the promises and the invitations of the Gros-
pel, there was a soft tenderness, a sweetness in his voice,
produced frequently by gentle breaks, as if the rising
sympathies of his soul obstructed, in some degree, his
utterance; when a gentle, thrilling sensation appeared to
move a listening multitude, all bending forward to catch
every sentence or word as it fell from his lips. This cir-
cumstance has frequently been admired. But when he
became argumentative, and discussed doctrinal points, oi
when false doctrines were attacked, the tone of his voice
was elevated, his whole system became nerved, and his
voice assumed a deep hollow tone, and then soon became
elevated to its highest key, and fell like peals of thunder
on the ears of a listening assembly. On one occasion the
force of his powerful eloquence was fillly demonstrated;
it was on a subject of controversy. His antagonist, who
had sat and listened for some length of time to argu-
ments too powerful for him to answer, began to look as if
the voice which he now heard came from another world,
through the shadow of a man; he rose, apparently with
a view to leave the house, but being so overcome he stag-
gered, caught by the railing, reeled, and fell to his seat,
and there sat, overwhelmed and confounded, till the dis-
course was concluded, when he quietly stepped from the
house. His manner of preaching was plain, seldom di-
viding his subject into different heads, but took the natu-
ral division of the text. He would indeed branch out on
his subject, but it was so natural and easy, and done in
such a way as appeared to unfold new beauties in tha
Gospel. His sermons were deep, and made a lasting im-

WESTERN METHODISM.

259

pression upon the mind, because they were both practical
and doctrinal. Holiness was his theme; there was sel-
dom a shout raised in the assembly under his preaching,
but always strict attention paid to his discourses, and
every eye fixed upon the speaker; and, frequently, the
people all bathed in tears.''

SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XIX.

GOVERNOR TIFFIN.

The following interesting sketcli of the life of Ed-
ward Tiffin, the first Governor of the state of Ohio,
has been kindly furnished us by Samuel Williams, Esq.,
to whose correct and graphic pen Methodism is largely
indebted for historical recollections.

"Edward Tiffin was born in the town of Carlisle, Cum-
berland county, England, a few miles south of the border
of Scotland, June 19, 1766. His education was limited
to the ordinary branches of a common English course, as
his parents were in moderate circumstances and unable
to educate him better. At an early age he commenced
the study of medicine; and in 1784, at the age of about
eighteen years, before he had completed his medical
course, he immigrated to the United States and settled in
Charlestown, Berkley — now Jefferson — county, Virginia,
whither his parents and all the family soon afterward
removed. Having finished the study of medicine, under
a distinguished physician, whose name I have forgotten,
Mr. Tiffin, while yet very young, commenced the practice;
and by his skill and success in his profession, he soon
acquired a high character and standing as a physician.

"His natural buoyancy of spirit and great vivacity, his
sprightliness of temperament and pleasing manners, to-
gether with his engaging conversational powers, and his
active and agile movements, made him the favorite in the
fashionable and gay circles around him, and the life and
soul of the company wherever he was present. In 1789,

WESTERN METHODISM. 261

when about twenty-three years old, lie united in marriage
with Miss Mary Worthington, daughter of Mr. Robert
Worthington, near Charlestown, and sister of the late
Governor Thomas Worthington, of Ohio. The year fol-
lowing Dr. Tiffin and his wife, were attracted by curiosity,
perhaps, to hear the Rev. Lewis Chastain and Rev.
Thomas Scott, the two Methodist preachers stationed that
year on Berkley circuit, and whose fame brought out large
congregations to hear them. Mr. Scott, by his preach-
ing, and especially by his youthfulness — being then only
eighteen years old — attracted particular notice. The
truth reached the heart and conscience of the Doctor,
and he was received into the Church as a probationer by
Mr. Scott, who thus notices the circumstance in his 'His-
torical Recollections/ in the Western Christian Advocate
of June 8, 1853 :

'''After preaching at Hite's Chapel, the first round I
took on the [Berkley] circuit, I was invited by Mr. John
Anderson, grandfather of the late Rev. Mr. Anderson, of
the Ohio conference, deceased, to preach in Charlestown,
situated about four miles distant, the next time I came
round. I consented and appointed to preach there on
the Sabbath. Mr. Anderson and his wife belonged to
the class at Kite's Chapel, but resided in Charlestown.
In the interval between that and the time appointed for
preaching, several prayer meetings were held at Mr. An-
derson's, during which they were greatly disturbed by
mobs.

" 'The day named for the purpose was beautiful, and I
preached to a large, attentive congregation, in a grove
near the town. When I had concluded, I notified the
congregation that it was my wish to form, on that day, a
Methodist society or class in that town, and invited all
who were determined to flee the wrath to come and be
saved from their sins, to meet me at the house of Mr

fW SKETCHES OF

A.nderson at an hour named. Before the hour had arrived
Dr. Edward Tiffin came into the room where I was sit-
ting and commenced a conversation with me. Being a
stranger to me, and not knowing but that he had been
one of those who had favored the mobs, I conversed with
him cautiously. He, however, remained, and several
others soon collected. After singing, prayer, and an ex-
hortation, I gave an invitation to those who wished to
become members to come forward and announce their
names. The Doctor was standing on the opposite side of
the room fronting me. I had not perceived that he was
affected; but the moment I gave the invitation he quickly
stepped forward, evidently under deep and pungent con-
viction, roaring almost with anguish, and asked for ad-
mission into our Church. He was admitted; and before
I had completed that round on the circuit, he had
preached several sermons.' In another place the Judge
writes: ^Immediately after I had received Dr. Tiffin into
the Church he became convinced of his call to the min-
istry. Conferring not with flesh and blood, and without
waiting for a license, he immediately commenced preach-
ing. One of the places selected by him for that purpose
was Bullskin. There his ministerial labors, as also the
labors of the Bevs. Lewis Chastain and Valentine Cook,
were greatly blessed. A very large class of lively, excel-
lent members was formed, who met at the house of old
Mr. Smith, father of the Bev. Henry Smith,' of Pilgrim's
Best, near Baltimore. Mr. Smith, in his ^Becollections,'
speaks of Dr. Tiffin's preaching as Apathetic and powerful.'
But although the Doctor commenced preaching before
receiving license for that purpose, it was evident that he
had not run before he was sent. Not only did the love
of Christ constrain him to proclaim the unsearchable
riches of his Grospel, but the divine call to the ministry
was so powerfully impressed upon his mind that he dared

WESTERN METHODISM. 263

not, at his peril, disobey it. Yet the cross was almost
insupportably heavy, and he had, at first, well nigh sunk
under it. The Doctor told me himself, more than thirty-
five years ago, that, attending at one of his appointments —
perhaps one of the first that had been made for him —
seeing the people flock in in multitudes, and knowing
that mere curiosity to hear him preach had brought most
of them out, his heart failed within him. He slipped
out some half an hour before the time appointed for com-
mencing the meeting, and hastily retired to a deep forest
near at hand, with the intention of hiding himself til
the congregation should become tired of waiting and dis-
perse. But it would not do. He could not flee from the
vivid conviction which seemed to sound in his ear like
thunder, and thrill like lightning through all his soul.
^A dispensation of the Gospel is committed to me, and
woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel.^ In his agony
the perspiration fell in large drops from his face, and his
garments were wet with its profuse flow. He felt almost
involuntarily impelled to return to the house, which was
now full to overflowing, and great numbers outside.
Scarcely able to stand, the Doctor — like one of his dis-
tinguished predecessors in the ministry, the first time he
preached at Corinth — commenced the service 'in weak-
ness, and in fear, and in much trembling.' But he soon
felt divinely aided, and threw off the incubus which
seemed to press him to the earth, and he preached with
great liberty; and if his ^speech and his preaching was
not with enticing words of man's wisdom,' yet it was 'in
demonstration of the Spirit, and of power;' for sinners
were cut to the heart, and God honored his servant in
the sight of all the people.

''About two years after Dr. Tiffin began to preach, ho
was admitted to the office of a deacon in the Methodist
Episcopal Church, by Bishop Asbury, by whom he was

§64 SKETCHES OF

ordained on the 19th of November, 1792, as appears by
the Bishop's parchment of ordination, of that date, now
before me. At that period the Discipline authorized the
Bishop to ordain local preachers to the order of deacons,
on a testimonial of the requisite qualifications, signed by
three elders, three deacons, and three traveling preach-
ers. But in the case of Dr. Tiffin — as I learned, either
from the Doctor himself, or one of his sisters — this for-
mality was dispensed with; and the good Bishop, who
greatly loved the Doctor, on the occasion of a visit at his
house, voluntarily and without the solicitation or sugges-
tion of any one, conferred upon him, impromptu, by reg-
ular ordination, the office of deacon.

"In 1796 Dr. Tiffin removed to and settled in the vil-
lage of Chillicothe, in the territory north-west of the Ohio
river. That village had been laid out but a short time
before by General Nathaniel Massie, and most of it was
yet covered with a dense forest. The Doctor selected a
four acre out-lot at the upper end of the town for his res-
idence, and built thereon the first house erected in town
which was graced with a shingle roof He continued the
practice of medicine in Chillicothe and the surrounding
country, attending promptly, as far as practicable, to all
calls for professional services, encountering often severe
sufferings from the inclemency of the weather, in long
and fatiguing rides on horseback, on dark nights over
wretched roads, or, rather, no roads at all, crossing swollen
streams with dangerous fords, and with the full knowl-
edge, frequently, that the patient was too poor to make
him any remuneration for his services and medicines. It
was his custom, whenever practicable, to pray with his
patients, and administer to them suitable religious coun-
sel and instruction; and these exercises were usually ac-
companied with good effect. In obstetric cases this was
especially his practice; and in protracted cases of this

WESTERN METHODISM. 265

mature, lie has been known to engage in fervent prayer
with and for the patient twice or thrice, or oftener.
His example of praying with his patients would be well
worthy of imitation by all pious physicians. This, wo
believe, a portion of them do.

'' Notwithstanding his extensive and laborious practice
as a physician, Doctor Tiffin found time to labor much
and zealously, and with great usefulness, in his Lord's
vine^'ard. He had his regular Sabbath appointments for
preaching in the country — for there was then no opening
for it in town — and his ministry was signally blest to his
congregations. One of his regular preaching-places was
at x\nthony Davenport's, on Deer creek, twelve miles
north of Chillicothe. Here he had a large congregation,
and organized a flourishing society long before any of the
traveling preachers had visited that part of the country.
The Rev. Henry Smith, in his 'Recollections of an old
itinerant' — p. 326 — who visited that society in October,
1799, speaks warmly of its prosperous condition. Mr.
Smith, in the same connection, adds : ^Monday, October
4th. I rode down the river to Chillicothe, and put up with
Doctor Tiffin, with whom I had been long acquainted,
[in Virginia.] The Doctor had often preached in our
neighborhood, and sometimes at my father's. He and
his excellent wife received me as a messenger of Christ,
and treated me with great kindness. Sister Tiffin was
one of the most conscientious and heavenly-minded women
I ever saw. She was a mother in our Israel indeed.
About that time a report was put in circulation that the
Doctor had given up his religion. He laughed at it, and
said, ''It would not do for me to backslide; for my wife
would let me have no peace." The Doctor, however,
refused to take any part in religious exercises in Chilli-
cothe out of his own family. He had his reasons for it.'
Those ' reasons,' it would seem, were considered by Mr.
23

266 SKETCHES OF

Smith valid. They probably grew out of the ^report'
mentioned by him, which, I suppose, 'was put in circu-
lation' by some narrow-minded and malicious persons,
through envy or jealousy, because of the Doctor's deserv-
edly great popularity.

''About the time Mr. Smith speaks of — autumn of
1799 — Dr. Tiffin was elected a member of the territorial
Legislature. The North-Western territory then embraced
all the country lying north-west of the Ohio river and
east of the Mississippi; and delegates were in attend-
ance from the isolated settlements of Kaskaskia, on the
Mississippi, at Vincennes, on the Wabash, and at De-
troit, in Michigan. Solomon Sibley represented the
latter in the territorial Legislature. Mr. Sibley and the
Doctor took prominent parts in the debates; and were
frequently on opposite sides in the discussions. The
former was cool, deliberate, and logical in debate; while
the latter, though not less logical and conclusive in his
argument, was exceedingly animated and ardent in his
feelings, and would sometimes, unguardedly, expose him-
self to the keen retorts of his philosophic opponent.
Some sixteen or eighteen years after this period, I was
present when Mr. Sibley, on his return from a session of
Congress, of which he was a member, paid a visit to Dr.
Tiffin, in Chillicothe. Their service together in the ter-
ritorial Legislature was alluded to, when the Doctor very
pleasantly remarked, 'In our debates, Mr. Sibley, I wished
a thousand times that I could have the same calm, philo-
sophic, and imperturbable spirit which you possessed. I
saw and felt the advantage which it gave you over me
when we happened to come into collision.' 'I hope. Doc-
tor,' replied Mr. Sibley, 'that I never said any thing,
when replying to you, that was in any way personally
offensive?' 'Not at all,' rejoined the Doctor; 'the
marked respect which you always showed toward those

WESTERN METHODISM. 267

opposed to you in debate, could not but command my ad-
miration, and often tilled me with keen regret at the
uniTuarded expressions which escaped me in the heat of
debate.' Mr. Sibley laughingly replied, 'I well remem-
ber, Doctor, how often I have wished that I could infuse
into my remarks on the floor the same ardor of feeling
which was displayed in your speeches.' The interview
was a very pleasant one to both these gentlemen.

" Mr. Sibley was one of the early pioneers of Michigan,
whither he emigrated from Massachusetts, his native
state. He was a prominent, useful, and influential citi-
zen, and held successively several important offices, both
under the territorial and state governments. He died at
Detroit some years since.

''In the autumn of 1802 an election was held to choose
delegates to the convention which adopted the first Con-
stitution, and formed a state government for Ohio. Dr.
Tiffin was elected one of the delegates from Ross county;
and on the meeting of the convention he was chosen its
President, the duties of which office he discharged with
much ability and great satisfaction. The members were
chosen for their honesty and capacity. They came to-
gether as business men, and without wasting their time
in speeches ' for Buncombe,' they went earnestly to
work, and in thirty days framed an excellent Constitution,
which served the state for nearly half a century, a mon-
ument of the wisdom of its founders.

"The next year, when the chief Executive of the state
was to be chosen under the new Constitution, the eyes of
the people were turned to Dr. Tiffin, and he was elected
their first Grovernor without opposition, I believe. Two
years afterward, when his term of service expired, he
wsiS re-elected to the same office.

" It was during Governor Tiffin's second term of office,
near the cl(^«e of 1806, that the conspiracy of Aaron

. I SKETCHES OF

Burr was developed. His object was either a severance
of the western states from the Union, or to seize upon
that portion embraced in Louisiana, lately ceded by
France to the United States. Burr had procured, at dif-
ferent points on the upper Ohio, a great number of flat-
boats, and secretly freighted them with a large quantity
of provisions and munitions of war. These boats were
to rendezvous, at a given time, at Blennerhassett's Island.
Governor TiflB.n, on obtaining information of Burr's move-
ments, promptly dispatched an express to the military
commandant at Marietta, with orders to call out a strong
militia force, armed and equipped for service, and post
them, with all expedition, at a given point below Blen-
nerhassett's Island, where the channel would oblige the
boats to pass very near to the Ohio side of the river. The
order was promptly executed ; and before Burr had any
knowledge of the movement, the armed force to intercept
his fleet was at the narrows, with a small battery of light
field artillery. To pass this battery was found impossible;
and Burr was obliged to abandon the expedition, and
make his escape to parts unknown. As an interesting
fragment of history pertaining to this afi"air, I insert the
following, clipped from the New York Standard, an old
newspaper :

'^'It is well known that Burr, defeated in his efl'orts to
divide and crush the republican party, planned a con-
spiracy, having for its object the severance of the Union,
and that in December, 1806, various parties of men col-
lected by him, and brought over to his views, embarked
upon the Ohio river, and were to rendezvous at Blenner-
hassett's Island, which was the great point of concentra-
tion and depot, whence the expedition was to go forth to
accomplish its nefarious project. But Mr. Jefi"erson, then
at the head of the Government, had not been an inactive
observer of these proceedings. He dispatched a messen-

WESTERN METHODISM. 269

ger, Mr. John Graham, into the western country, to put
himself in communication with the executives and leg-
islatures of the several states, and to urge the adoption
of such measures as might be necessary to arrest the con-
spiracy. The authorities of Ohio immediately put them-
selves in action. A law was passed unanimously, for
calling out the militia, and vesting all necessary powers
in the Governor, and an address was transmitted to 31r.
Jefferson, assuring him of the confidence of the people
of Ohio in his administration, and of their determina-
tion to put down all efforts to sever the Union. The
then Governor, Mr. Tiffin, acted with promptitude. The
people responded by one simultaneous expression against
the adventurer thus aiming a fatal blow at the liberties
of our country. The militia were called out, many of
the persons engaged in the enterprise were arrested, and
the whole project was defeated.

"'We have lately turned to the files of the National
Intelligencer, and found the following proceedings which
it may not be uninteresting to read. The admirable let-
ter to Mr. Jefferson can not fail to commend itself to the
country, as well for its beautiful tone as for its truly-
republican sentiments.

"'"Chillicothe, December 26, 1806.

" '"On Thursday last Mr. Lewis Cass introduced the fol
lowing resolution, which was agreed to, and passed both
houses without one dissenting voice:

" ' '^Eesolvcd, unanimously, by the General Assembly of
the state of Ohio, that the Governor be requested to
transmit to the President of the United States the fol-
lowing address :
"'"To Thomas Jefferson, Esq., President of the United

States :

"'"Sm, — At a time when the public mind throughout
the Union is agitated with alarming reports respecting

270 SKETCHES OF

the existence and designs of a party hostile to tlie wel-
fare and prosperity of our country, we deem it a duty
incumbent on us to express to the Executive of the
Union our attachment to the Grovernment of the United
States, and our confidence in its administration. What-
ever may be the intentions of desperate and abandoned
men respecting the destruction of that Constitution
which has raised us to our present elevated rank among
the nations of the world, and which is our only security
for the future, w^e trust they will find very few advocates
in the state of Ohio. We express the feelings and opin-
ions of our constituents, when we say that no arts of
intriguing men — no real or visionary prospects of advant-
age, will ever induce us to sever that bond of union,
wdiich is our only security against domestic violence and
foreign invasion.

'' ' "Believing that the fundamental maxims of rational
liberty have guided you in the administration of our Gov-
ernment, we hesitate not to express our full and entire
confidence in your councils and conduct. Enjoying every
blessing which, as men and citizens, we could desire, and
in a country fertile in nature's choicest gifts, we could
deem it presumptuous, indeed, to hazard, by intestine
dissensions, these incalculable advantages. We trust
that public rumor has magnified the danger; but should
the design in agitation be as destructive as represented,
we have no doubt that all fears will shortly be dissipated
before the ^indignation of our citizens. That you may
long live to enjoy the confidence and attachment of the
American people, is the sincere and unanimous wish of
the Legislature of Ohio.''
'^ Tteply of Mr. Jefferson to the Governor of Ohio:

"^"Washington, February 2, 1807.

"'"Sir, — The pressing business, during a session of
the Legislature, has rendered me more tardy in addressing

WESTERN METHODISM. 2T1

you than it was my wish to have been. That our fellow-
citizens of the west would need only to be informed of
criminal machinations against the public safety, to crush
them at once, I never entertained a doubt.

^^'^•I have seen, with the greatest satisfaction, that
among those who have distinguished themselves by their
fidelity to their country, on the occasion of the enterprise
of Mr. Burr, yourself and the Legislature of Ohio have been
the most eminent; the promptitude and energy displayed
by your state has been as honorable to itself, as salutary to
its sister states ; and in declaring that you have deserved
most of your country, I do but express the grateful senti-
ments of every fellow-citizen in it. The hand of the
people has given a mortal blow to a conspiracy which, in
other countries, would have called for an appeal to arms,
and has proved that government to be the strongest of
which every man feels himself a part. It is a happy
illustration, too, of the importance of preserving to the
state authorities all that vigor which the Constitution
foresaw would be necessary, not only for their own safety,
but for that of the whole.

^'^''In making these acknowledgments of the merit of
having set this illustrious example of exertion for the
common safety, I pray that they may be considered as
addressed to yourself and the Legislature particularly,
and generally to every citizen who has availed himself
of the opportunity given, of proving his devotion to his
country,

"'"Accept my salutations and assurances of great con-
sideration and esteem.

[Signed,] "'"Thomas Jefferson.

"'"His Excellency, Governor Tiffin."'

"At the session of the Legislature in 1806-7, Gov-
ernor Tiffin was chosen senator in Congress, in place of
Thomas Worthington, whose term expired the 4th of

272 SKETCHES OF

March following. Dr. Tiffin took his seat in the senate
in December, 1807. Early in the following year he suf-
fered a great bereavement in the death of his excellent
and pious wife. Mrs. Tiffin embraced religion, and united
herself to the Church at or about the same time with the
Doctor. She was a most devoted and deeply-experienced
Christian, loved and esteemed by all who knew her. She
was a great favorite of the venerated Bishop Asbury, who
speaks in the highest terms of her in his journal. This
event probably determined the Doctor to retire from pub-
lic life. Accordingly, after the close of the session of
the Congress, which terminated on the third of March,
1809, he resigned his seat in the senate, and returned
to the peaceful retirement of private life. Early in the
spring of this year, after his retirement from the senate,
he removed to his beautiful farm on Deer creek, about
eight miles north of Gliillicothe, where he enjoyed the
sweets of rural life in the cultivation of the rich alluvial
land on that stream. Soon after this he united in mar-
riage with Miss Mary Porter, of Twin township, in the
same — Ross — county; an amiable, pious, and highly-
respectable young lady, who, by her estimable qualities,
and sweetness of spirit, filled the measure of his domes-
tic happiness.

" The Doctor, however, was not permitted a long respite
from public life. At the general election in October fol-
lowing his retirement from the United States senate, his
fellow-citizens of Ross county called him to represent
them in the popular branch of the Legislature. The
session was opened on the first Monday in December fol-
lowing. Dr. Alexander Campbell, of Adams county, who
had been Speaker of the house of representatives for two
or three sessions previous, was re-elected to that post. As
Dr. Tiffin's seat in the United States senate was yet va-
cant, the two houses of the Legislature, soon after the

WESTERN METHODISM. 273

session commenced, met in joint session, in the hall of
the house of representatives, to elect a successor. Chilli-
cothe was yet the seat of government, and the old stone
court-house the capitol, in which the sessions were held.
The building was very illy adapted for the purpose. The
house occupied the court-room on the ground floor, a very
uncomfortable, badly-lighted, and roughly-finished room,
with a large fireplace at each end, and a wide, open stair-
way out of one corner, leading up to the second floor.
All the wood which could be piled on the fires failed to
heat the large room in winter. The senate occupied the
grand-jury room on the second floor. This was a low
room, with a platform for the Speaker's seat at one side,
and long, roughly-made tables on the floor, with plain,
Windsor chairs ranged behind them for the reverend
senators.

"The two houses, as above stated, met in joint session.
The senate, headed by their Speaker, Thomas Kirker,
Esq., and their Secretary, Rev. Thomas Scott, descended
the wide stairway before mentioned, and, on entering the
*bar/ were received by the members of the house, stand-
ing, and conducted to seats, the Speaker taking his seat
at the right of the Speaker of the house. When all
were seated and in readiness, the Speaker of the senate
arose and said : '■ Gentlemen of the senate, you will
please prepare your ballots for senator in the Congress of
the United States, to fill the vacancy caused by the resig-
nation of Edward Tiffin.'' The Speaker of the house
then called upon the ^ gentlemen of the house of repre-
sentatives' to prepare their ballots for the same purpose.
A teller from each house, named by their respective
Speakers, collected the ballots in hats, and read them at
the Clerk's table; each of the Clerks took down the votes
given, and handed the result to their Speakers, by which
it was shown that Doctor Alexander Campbell; Speaker

274 SKETCHES OF

of the house, was duly elected. This was, in due form,
announced bj Mr. Speaker Kirker to the 'gentlemen of
the senate,^ and was followed by the Speaker of the
house, who, undep evident embarrassment, but which he
succeeded very well in overcoming, announced in the
same form: ^Gentlemen of the house of representatives,
it appears that Alexander Campbell, of Adams county,
has been duly elected senator in the Congress of the
United States, to fill the vacancy created by the resigna-
tion of Edward Tiffin.' On the retirement of the senate
to their chamber, Dr. Campbell arose, and, after a few
very touching farewell remarks, handed to the Clerk, Mr.
Thomas S. Hinde, a written resignation of the Speaker-
ship of the house, and retired from the chair. The
Clerk immediately arose, and read the resignation to the
house, and, on motion, the house proceeded at once to
elect a Speaker to fill the vacancy. Dr. Tiffin was put in
nomination, and, I think, unanimously chosen Speaker;
and, on taking the chair, presented his thanks to the
house in a neat little speech.

"I was present during the whole of the proceedings
which I have here given in detail, and record them now
to show the reader of the present day how such things
were done in that early period of our state's history, while
yet in its primitive simplicity and purity. Let the reader
contrast these simple, honest, and dignified proceedings
with the disgraceful legislative caucusing, party drilling,
corrupting influences, and bacchanalian orgies of some
modern 'progressive' legislatures we wot of We are
strongly inclined to indulge in some further reflections
here ; but, lest it might give offense, we refrain.

"Doctor Tiffin was returned to the house of represent-
atives the following year also — 1810 — and again chosen
Speaker by that body. The seat of government having
been, in the mean time, by order of the previous session,

WESTERN METHODISM. 275

removed to Zanesville, the Legislature met and held its
session in that town. For this removal of the seat of
government, the town of Zanesville was indebted to the
efforts and influence of its member, George Jackson. It
remained there, however, but two or three years, and was
removed back to Chillicothe, and soon afterward to Colum-
bus, the permanent seat. Dr. Tiffin's intimate knowledge
of the duties of the chair, and his habitual promptness
and business tact, admirably fitted him to preside over a
deliberative assembly; and as presiding officer he was
deservedly popular, and gave great satisfaction.

" The Doctor's income from the rent of his house in
town, and the products of his mill and farm in the coun-
try, being inadequate to the support of his family, he
removed into town again, in the autumn of 1810, and
resumed his practice as a physician, to which he devoted
his whole attention ; and his well-known skill and popu-
larity in his profession brought him at once into an
extensive and lucrative practice. In surgical operations
he was equally successful. Some instances of important
cases might be mentioned ] but we will name but one or
two. On one occasion, when visiting the sick, some fif-
teen or twenty miles from Chillicothe, on Deer creek, he
was sent for to see a man who had cut his foot very badly
with a scythe, when mowing. The Doctor found the
patient's foot in a high state of inflammation, with mor-
tification commenced and rapidly advancing, requiring
immediate amputation. To have delayed till he could
get his surgical instruments would have been fatal to the
patient, as the weather was extremely sultry. In place
of a tourniquet he used a silk handkerchief, w^hich he
drew tightly around the leg. Then using his penknife
for a scalpel, and a common handsaw for sawing off the
bones, he soon had the diseased part of the limb severed,
the wound dressed, and thereby saved the man's life. At

276 SKETCHES OF

anotlier time he was sent for to visit a woman, a few
miles east of Chillicotlie, who had an inflammatory dis-
ease in one of her breasts. Mortification having set in,
the Doctor found it necessary, to save the woman's life,
to amputate the entire breast. This critical operation he
performed successfully, and the patient's life was saved.
"An act of Congress creating the General Land-Office
was passed, April 25, 1812. This act provided for the
appointment, by the President and senate, of a 'Com-
missioner of the General Land-Office,' with a salary of
three thousand dollars, under whose direction and man-
agement the business of the office was to be conducted.
In selecting a suitable man to take charge of this import-
ant office. President Madison, wholly unexpected and
unsolicited by either Dr. Tiffin or any of his friends, con-
ferred it upon him His nomination, when sent into the
senate, gave great satisfaction to that body, and elicited
an expression of warm approval from several members.
The nomination was immediately taken up and unani-
mously confirmed. The first intimation which the Doctor
had of his appointment, was the receipt, by the next
mail, of his commission, with a friendly private letter
from President Madison, and complimentary letters from
Mr. Worthington, then in the senate, and several other
members. The gratifying manner in which the office
was conferred determined the Doctor at once to accept
it. A few days thereafter, leaving his family in ChilU-
eothe, he mounted his horse — the only practicable mode
of traveling at that time — and, accompanied by the Rev,
Joseph S. Collins,* of Chillicothe, whom he took along
as a clerk in the office, he set out for Washington, which

* The father of the Rev. John A. Collins, of the Baltimore cou-
feroncc. He still survives, at the advanced age of seventy-five
years, and resides in Georgetown, District of Columbia.

WESTERN METHODISM. 277

he reacted in about two weeks of diligent and weary
travel. Here lie immediately set about organizing tlie
General Land-Office, and putting it in train for business.
This was a laborious work, as the books, documents,
papers, maps, etc., bad to be gathered out of the several
departments and bureaus of state, treasury, and war, and
appropriately arranged for business in the new office.
The Surveyor-General of the public lands, and the Reg-
isters and Receivers of the numerous land-offices in the
west, were placed under the direction and control of the
new Commissioner; and these were to be put in commu-
nication with him, and receive his instructions for their
government in performing their duties.

'^ Early in the following autumn the Doctor returned
to Chillicothe, for the purpose of settling up his aiFairs,
and to remove his family to Washington City, which he
did. He took a beautiful mansion on the summit of
Meridian Hill — as it is called, I believe — on the north-
west extremity of Washington, to which were attached
several acres of ground, including garden and an orchard
of choice fruit of various kinds. The Doctor devoted
unremitted attention to the duties of his office, where he
was always to be found during the hours of business.

''When the British army, in August, 1814, was on
the march upon Washington City, and the order was
given to remove the books, documents, and every thing
pertaining to the public offices, to places of safety, in
the country, he was the first officer to commence the
work. By his prompt and efficient measures for the
safety of his office, he succeeded in removing its entire
contents to a safe place in Loudon county, Virginia,
about ten miles from Washington; while several of the
other offices in the departments lost much of their valu-
able documents, all the public buildings, with their con-
tents, having been burned by the enemy.

278 SKETCHES OF

The Doctor, wlio never relished much a residence in
Washington City, where the technical formalities and
customs in fashionable life were unsuited to his taste,
had now a strong desire to return to the west. The
office of Surveyor-General of public lands north-west of
the Ohio river, was then held by Josiah Meigs, Esq.,
who kept the office at Cincinnati, and was paid a salary
by Government of two thousand dollars per year. The
Doctor conceived the project of eifecting an exchange of
offices with Mr. Meigs, provided the consent of the Pres-
ident and senate could be obtained. Early in the autumn
of 1814 he wrote to Mr. Meigs, confidentially, making
the proposition here named to him, who willingly con-
sented thereto. The Doctor next brought the subject
before the President privately, and satisfied him that the
proposed exchange was mutually desired by himself and
Mr. Meigs, and that the public interest would in no way
sufi"er thereby. Mr. Madison obligingly assented to
their wishes, and sent to the senate their nominations
for that purpose, which were confirmed by that body.

The way being now open for the Doctor's return to his
favored west, he lost no time in making his preparations
for that purpose. Sending on his household goods in
advance, he, with Mrs. Tiffin and their children and
nurse, performed the tedious journey in the family car-
riage. He immediately removed the Surveyor-General's
office from Cincinnati to Chillicothe, its location not being
fixed by law at any one place. Here he fitted up the
office in an old, one-story log building, which had been
erected in the early settlement of the town, and stood on
Water-street, in front of his dwelling-house, and, I be-
lieve, remains there yet, a relic of the olden time. The
Doctor now went to work, with his characteristic ardor
and assiduity, to acquaint himself minutely with the
routine of the duties devolving upon him, and to ge«

WESTERN METHODISM. 279

Ulie mn' — the history and present state of its business.
This was a laborious task, one in which he derived little
or no assistance from the only clerk whom he found in
the office, who had been himself but a short time in it;
Mr. Meigs having set out for Washington City about the
time that the Doctor left it for Ohio. At that time no
public surveys were being made, having been suspended by
the presence of hostile Indians on the territory to be sur-
veyed, and but little current business demanded attention.

"In the spring of 1814, before he had any thought of
returning to Ohio, Dr. Tiffin, without any solicitation
from me or my friends, had appointed me to a clerkship
in the General Land-Office. Wishing to have me in his
office at Chillicothe, the Doctor, in January following,
made the proposition to me, and offered me the post of
chief clerk therein. This offer I very willingly accepted,
and in the spring of 1815 moved back to Chillicothe, and
immediately entered upon the duties of my new employ-
ment. The business of this office being exactly suited
to my taste and inclinations, it will not, I hope, be con-
sidered out of place for me to say that I devoted, unre-
mittingly, what little energy and ardor I possessed to
make myself thoroughly acquainted with the whole rou-
tine of duties devolving upon me, as well as those per-
taining to the head of the office ; for these, likewise, as
the Doctor's health declined, he committed almost entirely
to my management. It was, I will add, gratifying to me
to know that the onerous duties, thus devolved by him
upon his chief clerk, were performed to the Doctor's
entire satisfaction, as well as that of the department at
AVashington, the head of which, in after years, spoke of
the manner in which the business of the office had been
conducted in very flattering terms.

"During the first three or four years after the Doctor's
return from Washington, he occasionally preached in

280 SKETCHES OF

town ; and, at one time, for several months, conducted
the religious services of the little society of the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church in Chillicothe, who had, as yet,
no pastor. Besides the morning service of that Church,
he usually read a sermon from some book, using for this
purpose, mostly, 'Burder's Village Sermons/ He was a
fine reader, and read from the pages of the book, which
lay on the desk before him, with all the appropriate em
phasis, cadence, intonation, and pathos of an extempora-
neous discourse. On one Sunday he did venture to
deliver one of his own extemporaneous sermons, and
with such warmth and power that his congregation was
thrown into great amazement. A committee appointed
by them waited upon the Doctor the next day, and ex-
pressed their disapprobation of extempore sermons, desir-
ing him, in future, to read only. Whether he ever
officiated for them afterward I do not now recollect, but
think he did not.

"The Doctor had long been subject to occasional par-
oxysms of severe nervous headache, which did not usually
continue beyond a few hours. As he advanced in years
these paroxysms became more frequent and severe, with
painful disturbance of the whole nervous system, and
great suffering. These afflictions gradually advanced
upon him to the end of his life; and during the last four
or five years of it most of his time was spent in his bed. I
usually went to his room every morning, to see him be-
fore opening the office; and often has he said to me, 'I
had a very bad night of it, and was in hopes that I would
have died before morning!' And on more than one
occasion he has added, '■ 0, how glad I would be if the
Lord would only send the messenger, and release me
from my sufferings ! I fancy that when my exulting
spirit would reach the ceiling it would turn a moment
and gaze upon the lifeless body, and triumphantly

WESTERN METHODISM. 281

exclaim, '^Ha, you old diseased carcass, I am liberated
from your loathsome prison at last I Farewell, till we
meet again, when the trumpet shall awaken you from
the tomb, and your mortal shall put on immortality!"'
When well enough to leave his room, he would attend to
some business in the office, or overlook the work in his
garden, or other matters about the house; and. as often as
practicable, he attended public worship and his class meet-
ings. He read much even when unable to sit up. Hun-
dreds of times have I found him on his bed with a book
in his hand, the pages of which he was poring over with
earnestness, although suffering much at the time. His
reading was generally confined to religious works.

^' The last few years of his life were but little diver-
sified with incident. Disease and suffering were gradu-
ally wearing him down to the grave. He was mostly
confined to his room and to his bed. And when his
health permitted him to be out; he was soon obliged to
return again to his room.

''Doctor Tiffin held the office of Surveyor-General for
nearly fifteen years^ enjoying the entire confidence of
Presidents Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams,
and the departments at Washington, in his capacity,
integrity, and faithfulness in office. On the accession
of General Jackson to the Presidency, the new doctrine
that 'to the victors belonged the spoils' was adopted,
and carried out, through all the numerous offices of the
Government, from the highest to the lowest, where the
incumbents were not known to be political adherents
and active partisans of the General and his administra-
tion. The Doctor had, for twenty years or more previous
to this time, laid politics aside. He concerned not him-
self with, nor took any part whatever in, the political
party movements of the day. He contented himself,
when able to attend, by going to the polls and depositing

24

282 . SKETCHES OF

his ballot, His name, of course, was enrolled liigh up on
the list of the proscribed, and he was early removed
from office by the new President. His successor was
General William Lytle, of Cincinnati, a gentleman every
way worthy of the appointment. On the 1st of July,
1829, General Lytle appeared, and laid before Dr. Tiffin,
then on his death-bed, his commission, and an order from
the department at Washington for the delivery of the
office to him, as his successor. This was done very po-
litely and promptly, and the office was at once removed
by General Lytle to Cincinnati.

^'The Doctor's health continued to decline, and he grad-
ually sunk till Sunday evening, the 9th of August, 1829,
a little over six weeks after his removal from office. He
had been long sensible of his approaching end, and con-
templated the solemn event not only with calm compla-
cency, but with joyful anticipations of a triumphant
admission into his heavenly Father's kingdom and to the
society of 'just men made perfect.^ This joyful confi-
dence he gave frequent expression to when visited by his
friends and brethren. He retained the full exercise of
his reason to the last, and gently and calmly sunk into
the embraces of death about sundown of the day above
mentioned, aged sixty-three years and two months. I
close this brief account of his death with the following
appropriate obituary notice, which I clip from the Chil-
licothe ' Scioto Gazette,' of August 12, 1829 :

"'Died, at his residence in this place, on Sunday
evening last, the 9th inst., Dr. Edward Tiffin, in the
sixty-fourth year of his age.

" ' The deceased was a native of England, but immi-
grated to America at an early period in life, and settled
in Berkly county, in the state of Virginia, as a prac-
ticing physician. Shortly after this state — then a part
of the North-West territory, so called — was opened for

WESTEEN METHODISM. 283

settlement, lie removed to this town, then in its infancy,
and erected the first house that was covered with a shin-
gle roof. In 1799 he was elected a member of the terri-
torial Legislature, in which capacity he continued to
serve till he was chosen a member of the convention
that formed the Constitution of Ohio, of which body he
was President. When, in 1803, the Constitution of the
state went into operation, he was called to the first execu-
tive office under it, by a very flattering vote of the
people. This mark of the public confidence was again
extended to him at the succeeding election of Grovernor.
But before he had completed his second gubernatorial
term, he was elected a senator in the Congress of the
United States. In this distinguished station, he served
the state till a heavy domestic misfortune compelled
him, temporarily, to retire from public life. In the
early part of the administration of President Madison,
the General Land-Office was formed into a distinct
bureau of the Treasury Department. In looking to the
west for a suitable person to be placed at its head, the
penetrating judgment of that great man selected the
subject of this notice as its first Commissioner. He
promptly repaired to the post, and faithfully devoted
himself to the organization and discharge of the various,
complicated, and arduous duties of the office, till he was
appointed Surveyor-General of the United States, in
which capacity he continued to act till the first of July
last, when he was removed by President Jackson for his
unbending honesty and independence as a politician;
thus filling a life of almost continued public usefulness
for upward of thirty years.

" ' In the various relations of a parent, husband,
Christian, neighbor, and private citizen, the deceased
has been but rarely equaled, and perhaps never excelled.

^"^^As a public man, he was inflexibly just, upright;

284 SKETCHES OF

independent, and firm. As a private citizen, he was em-
phatically an honest and conscientious man; and as a
Christian, he was catholic in his religious opinions, and
exemplary and practically pious.

^^ 'He has left, to deplore his loss, a widow, five chil-
dren, a number of other near relations, and an extensive
circle of public and private acquaintances. On the suc-
ceeding afternoon his mortal remains were committed to
the tomb, attended by a large concourse of the citizens
of the town and of the adjoining neighborhood.'

''In stature Dr. Tiffin was about five feet six inches,
with pretty full and heavy body, and light limbs. His
head was large, and his face full and round, with florid
complexion. Baldness had taken place long before he
had reached the meridian of life ; and, for the last fifteen
or twenty years of it, he was obliged to wear a wig. His
countenance was one of the most expressive I have ever
seen, especially when lighted up with animation. He
was remarkable for the activity and quickness of his
movements, and whatsoever he did, he did with prompt-
ness and with his might. Dr. Monett — a physician of
Chillicothe — used to say of him, that 'what he could
not do quickly, he could not do at all.' It was his rule
of action, 'never to put off till to-morrow that which
could be done to-day.' In company, his conversation
was generally animated, always engaging, and his manner
full of life and vivacity, which often made him, on such
occasions, the ' observed of all observers.'

" In his financial affairs — especially those in relation to
the office, where large expenditures were annually made
on account of the public surveys — he was particularly
exact, making it a point to keep his accounts posted up
every day, ready for settlement in case of his death.
And when removed from office, having no instructions
about paying over the balance of public money in his

WESTERN METHODISM. 2S5

hands — some four or five thousand dollars — he gave the
department at Washington no rest till he obtained an
order to pay it over to his successorj which he instantly
did.

"His benevolence to the poor and needy was bounded
only by his inability farther to relieve them. I have
known him to feel intensely when he had not the means
at hand, or to spare, to supply the wants of the needy
and destitute ; and his known charity to the poor brought
numerous calls from them for relief. In several in-
stances, where he did not wish the recipients to know
from whom the relief came, he has made me the almoner
of his charity, and very probably often availed himself
of similar services from others. The sufferings of the
sick and poor always awakened his sympathies, and

*' ' His pity gave ere charity began.'

"After his appointment as Surveyor-General, being no
longer engaged in the practice of physic, he kept always
on hand a supply of medicines in common use for the
use of the poor and those not well abl.e to pay, and to
all such who called on him, he distributed suitable
medicines, with professional advice and instructions, free
of charge. Calls of this description were numerous,
chiefly from the country; and I have known him to be
employed for hours together in attending to the cases
of the sick, in inquiring into the symptoms, in giving
advice, writing prescriptions and making up packages of
medicines, even when he was scarcely able to be out of
his bed, or actually confined to it.

"It should have been mentioned in its proper place,
in the early portion of the Doctor's life, his filial care
of his aged parents, for whom he provided a home in his
own house, after their children were all settled in the
world. He contributed in every way to their comfort
and happiness, nursed them himself, with all tenderness

286 SKETCHES OF

and affection, wlien tliey were sick, and, to tlie extent
of his power, smoothed their passage to the tomb. They
both died, I think, about the year 1807.

" As a preacher, the Doctor's talents were much above
mediocrity. He was methodical in the arrangement of
his discourses, and always ' stuck to his text,' and pre-
sented his subject with clearness and force. His lan-
guage was somewhat florid, but yet plain, and adapted to
the easy comprehension of all. His action in the pulpit
was highly impulsive, yet natural and graceful, and his
countenance lighted up with expression. His discourses
were delivered with great animation and with eloquence
and power, and his appeals to the hearts and consciences
of his hearers were pointed, forcible, and effective. In
the country around Chillicothe, where the Doctor had so
often preached, he was deservedly very popular, and his
labors in the pulpit much sought after, and at quarterly
and camp meetings he was always assigned one, at least,
of the chief appointments on the Sabbath. Three of
Dr. Tiffin's sermons, preached in 1817, have been given
in the 'Ohio Conference Offering,' a collection of ser-
mons published in 1851, by Kev. M. P. Gaddis. (See pp.
340-360.)

^'To the active labors and influence of Dr. Tiffin, the
Church is more indebted than to any other man for the
introduction and establishment of Methodism in Chilli-
cothe and the surrounding country.

" We may add, in conclusion, that the Doctor's excel-
lent lady, whom he left a widow, survived him but a few
years. His four daughters are still living. The eldest
is married to Mr. Joseph A. Reynolds, and resides near
TJrbana; another married M. Scott Cook, Esq., of Chil-
licothe; and the youngest is the wife of Dr. C. G. Come-
gys, a talented and skillful physician of Cincinnati. The
remaining daughter is unmarried. His only son, Edward

WESTERN METHODISM

287

Parker Tiffin, chose the profession of medicine, and,
after completing his studies and graduating, he spent
two years in Paris, France, to perfect his knowledge of
the healing art, and returned to the United States last
autumn, and took the cars at New York on his route
home. At one of the stopping-places on the way, where
the passengers breakfasted, the train started before he
had got on again, and in attempting to get on one of the
cars when in motion, his foot slipped off the step, and he
fell on the track, and was instantly run over by the
wheels, nearly cutting off one leg and one arm, both
near the body. He was taken back to New York, but
survived only a few hours.

''Dr. Tiffin, it is to be regretted, left no papers nor any
written memorial of his life. Most of the foregoing
memoir is drawn from memory, and relates to matters
occurring from twenty-five to almost fifty years ago. It
is also to be regretted that the only likeness left of the
Doctor is a small miniature, which bears but little resem-
blance to the original, and altogether fails to give the
striking features and fine expression of countenance of
the Doctor. I have been shown a portrait on some bank
notes, which is said to be copied from the miniature
above mentioned; but it fails to convey even what little
trace of likeness is found in the miniature."

^m

SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XX.

JOHN A. GRENADE.

A SHORT sketch of this wonderful man, written bj our
fiiend and brother, Dr. Baker, of the Cincinnati confer-
ence, containing some deeply-thrilling and interesting
incidents, will be found below. The Doctor's sketch is
prefaced by the following:

^'Dear Brother, — I am much gratified to learn that
you are engaged in rescuing from the shades of forget-
fulness the names, the labors, and privations of those
pious dead, who, in the early stages of the settlement
of the vast region of this now cultivated and truly ^ great
west/ went forth, bearing the precious seed of Gospel
truth, and scattering it broadcast over the extensive
field. They had, morally speaking, to fell the forest, to
clear, break up, and reclaim a soil, wild and luxuriant, of
a vitiated growth, and transform it into a fruitful field.
How did those men toil and suffer privation ! Surely
their names, their labors, their sufferings, and their suc-
cess should be stereotyped in the records of Methodism,
and of the nation, in all coming generations. But, alas !
even the names of some of them are almost forgotten.
We hope you will gather up many of the fragments that
yet remain. It is a work worthy of your pen; and the
book will be hailed with joy by hundreds of the pioneers
of Methodism who yet linger on earth, both in the north
and in the south, and by thousands of their descendants.

"I send you herewith a few reminiscences of llev.
John A. Grenade, known, in the days of his itinerancy,

WESTERN METHODISM. 289

as the ^wild man.' Some points in his character and
history I have learned from others, but the pastoral visit
I give from memory.

*' God, in his wisdom, for the accomplishment of his
purposes, has, in every age of the world, chosen such
instrumentalities as were adapted to the times, circum-
stances, and state of society. This is illustrated and
confirmed, as in numerous other instances, in the char-
acter of the early Methodist preachers of this country.
Moreover, times and circumstances tend to develop the
character, mold the habits, and shape the courses of
men. Hence, 'men for the times' are the instruments
God has provided to meet emergencies; and where they
are obedient to their call, and with fidelity attend to the
work to which they were destined, success ever has, and
ever will honor and crown their efi"orts; and if some dis-
obey, others will be called. Thus are the designs of God
accomplished. Such men always leave their impress
upon their age.

^' Of several of the Methodist preachers who labored
in the south-west in the da3's of my childhood, I have
recollections more or less distinct. Samuel Douthet was
hortatory and pathetic ; Ralph Lotspeich, a weeping
prophet; Thomas Wilkerson, a son of consolation, whose
speech dropped like the gentle dew; John Crane, a
warm, earnest, eloquent man. He, too, often wept in
preaching. Crane was a slender man, apparently feeble,
very zealous, and abundant in labors. He fell a martyr
to his work in 1812, on Duck river, Tennessee, where he
labored night and day, while God himself was warning
the terrified inhabitants by ' terribly shaking the earth.'
James Axley, droll, witty, argumentative, and often pow-
erful I heard him last at a camp meeting in Tennessee,
in 1819. There are others of whom I could speak.
Among them all, however. Grenade was the 'Son of Thun-

25

290 SKETCHES OF

der/ The visit to my father's family, when he traveled
the Holston circuit, impressed him upon my memory so
as never to be forgotten.

"Of the parentage, nativity, or early life of Mr. Gren-
ade I know nothing. When I saw him at my father's,
in 1803, he was, as I suppose, near thirty years of age.
He was about medium hight, but slender; of a quick and
elastic step ; formed for action. His voice was full and
musical; his eye keen, piercing ; and, when speaking, his
jesticulations were violent. He was a man of respecta-
ble education, a physician, and a poet. His temperament
was ardent, or, as Martin Luther said of himself, he was
^choleric by nature.^

"After his conversion, if my impressions are correct,
he lost his evidence of justification and all his religious
enjoyment, in consequence of refusing to preach. But
the Spirit of God pursued him, and, though he tried to
shake off his convictions of duty, he was brought to see
and feel his perilous condition so sensibly as to excite the
most fearful apprehensions and alarm. The enemy, tak-
ing advantage of his condition, suggested that his des-
tiny was now sealed; that he had 'grieved the Spirit of
God whereby he had been sealed;' that he had 'sinned
against the Holy Ghost;' that his case was hopeless, and
his doom unalterably sealed. He yielded to the tempta-
tion, and his spirit sank within him. Now it was he
'found trouble and sorrow;' yea, 'the pains of hell got
hold upon him,' and now for a season the billows of the
Divine wrath seemed to overwhelm him. He was brought
to the verge of despair, and here he struggled long and
hard. While thus drinking the 'cup of trembling,' the
wormwood and gall, he wandered in forests and mount-
ains, by day and by night, scarcely taking sufficient rest
or nourishment to sustain nature, bewailing his lost — as
he believed — his hopeless condition and fearful destiny.

WESTERN METHODISM. 291

It was in this state of mind he composed some of his
mournful and penitential poems, as he doubtless thought
and feared, the funeral dirges of all his hopes. But
though bordering on despair, he continued to pour out
his soul in prayer, still cherishing a faint hope that mercy
might possibly yet be extended to him, and the vials of
Divine wrath be turned aside. Often did he wrestle as
in an agony, pleading with Grod for merc}^ It was in
consequence of his thus wandering alone, bewailing his
condition, and refusing to be comforted, that he first
obtained the appellation of the 'wild man,' which cog-
nomen consorted equally well with his subsequent zeal
and the character of his efforts as a minister.

"When he obtained deliverance it was sudden — instan-
taneous as the lightning's flash. As he lay alone upon
the ground, looking up toward heaven with mingled hope
and despair, a light from heaven shone round about him,
dispelling his gloomy forebodings, and filling his soul with
unutterable peace and joy. It was a complete triumph.
The transition was so sudden, so great, that the morning
of rapturous joy was now as overwhelming as had been
the long, dark night of his sorrow. In the poem com-
memorative of this event, and which I heard him sing
with the deepest emotions, are the following stanzas:

' One evening, pensive as I lay
• Alone upon the ground,

<• As I to God began to pray,

A light shone all around.

Glory to God ! I loudly cried,

My sins are all forgiven ;
For me, for me the Savior died ;

My peace is made with heav'n.'

" Having been thus severely schooled by experience in
the evils of sin, and having tasted the joys of salvation,
he became exceedingly zealous for the honor of that God

292 SKETCHES OF

whose mercy had so marvelously saved hiin, and, deeply
concerned for the salvation of his perishing fellow-men;
he immediately engaged in calling sinners to repentance.
''Mr. Grenade entered the traveling connection in
1802, in the Western conference, and was appointed that
year to Green circuit, with Moses Floyd in charge. In
1803 he was appointed to Holston circuit, with Thomas
Milligan in charge; but Milligan was afterward sent to
Clinch, and Grenade was left in charge. The Holston
circuit then embraced a large extent of country in East
Tennessee, in the bounds of which my father then lived.
Whether Grenade was left with or without a colleague, I
know not; one thing is certain, however, he was abund-
ant in labors, insomuch that his career as an itinerant
was brief. His circuits were large, his rides long, and
much of the time he labored both day and night; for
where he had not regular appointments, his zeal and ex-
traordinary labors rendered him so notorious that the
people would throng him. Though often coy, shy, and
fearful of approaching too near, yet they flocked to see
and hear him ; and he was ever ready to speak for his
Master ; ever ready to warn, to instruct, to comfort, to
pray, or to sing, as opportunity offered or occasion re-
quired. He obeyed the injunction, 'Work while it is
called to-day.' Such was his zeal for God, and his con-
cern for the souls of men, that he seemed to have forgot-
ten himself, or to disregard the effects of his excessive
labors upon his own frail constitution ; and his success
may be learned from the official reports from the fields of
his toil.

"At this time my father resided on Koseberry creek,
a small tributary of the Holston river, in Knox county,
Tennessee. About two miles distant was a preaching-
place, where the family were in the habit of attending
preaching, and where my two eldest sisters, about this

WESTERN METHODISM. 293

time, joined the little society. It was during this year, I
think, in the month of June, and about two months before
my father's death, that Mr. Grenade made one of his
primitive pastoral visits to our family. Though I was
then but a child, I have a vivid recollection of this visit.
Some of the family had been to hear him preach, and he
came home with them. Soon after they returned from
meeting word was sent to my uncle's family, who lived
on an adjoining farm, and I think to some other near
neighbors, that Mr. Grenade was there, and would be
glad to see and converse with as many as could conven-
iently collect. Soon after dinner the family were col-
lected. My uncle's family, with others, came in. All
being seated in the largest room of the farm-house — we
had no parlors in the country in those days — the table
was set out a little distance from the wall, and the books
placed upon it. The preacher then came from his room,
was introduced to the company, and then took his sta-
tion by the table, my father sitting by his side. He first
read a portion of Scripture, sung a hymn, and prayed.
Well do I remember the earnestness, fervor, and unction
of his prayer. He then gave an exhortation, in which
he waxed quite warm, frequently moving the table for-
ward before him, till at the close of his exhortation it
stood near the center of the room. His hearers, except
my father and elder sisters, being unaccustomed to such
stentorian addresses, kept as respectful and non-committal
a distance as the dimensions of the domestic chapel
would permit. And as to my little self, being among
the youngest of his auditors, and extremely timid by
nature, I was partly hid in the bushes in the fireplace.
It was customary in those days, in the warm season of
the year, to clean out this recess, paint the hearth, and
adorn it with green bushes from the woods and flowers
from the garden. The exhortation over he sang again,

294: SKETCHES OF

and then proceeded to speak personally to eacli individual
present. Well do I remember what a chill ran over me
when, in passing round the room in his earnest manner,
rubbing his hands, he came opposite to where I sat,
reaching forth his hand, and laying it upon my head,
implored the blessing of *Him that dwelt in the bush'
to rest upon the child. At that moment my heart seemed
to sink within me; but ^coupled with fear' was a rever-
ence for the man. I wept, I loved him; for I really
believed he wished us all to be saved. After conversing
with, and earnestly exhorting all in the room, he came,
again to the place of beginning; and never shall I forget
the attitude in which he stood before my father. Rub-
bing his hands briskly, lifting his feet alternately, and
letting them down with no very slow or light tread,
breathing deep inspirations drawn through his teeth, he
almost literally danced, like David before the ark. After
indulging for some moments in this ebullition of feeling,
in which not a word was spoken, his full soul found
vent in an outburst of blessing and thanksgiving to God
that, though the harvest was large, and the laborers so
few in that region, he had found one who was laboring
faithfully in the wilderness to prepare the way of the
Lord. He then walked the room for some time, singing
hymns and spiritual songs, mostly of his own composing.
His earnest manner, the shrill and musical tones of his
voice, his speaking eye, now beaming with joy, and now
suffused with tears, alternating with the varied emotions
of his ardent soul, which seemed to be full of the mighty
thoughts that were struggling within and seeking an
utterance, made such an impression upon my heart at
the time, that the lapse of half a century, with all its
vicissitudes, has not erased. I even yet recollect some
of the stanzas he there sung, especially those relating
to his own experience, in which he so vividly portrays

WESTERN METHODISM. 295

■ his condition, as when, in the anguish of his soul, he
poured forth his wild and bitter wail of despair :

'0, tliat I were some bird or beast;
Some wolf, or stork, or owl !
Some lofty tree should bear my nest,
Or through the desert prowl.'

And then his joyful deliverance, as given above. This
stanza is, I think, nearly verhatim from his experience,
as originally versified by himself.

'^At the close of these services, which, to the best of
my recollection, lasted not less than two hours, the com-
pany retired with his blessing. This interview, I pre-
sume, was never forgotten by any who were then present.
Such pastoral visits were seldom in those days, and such
a one I have not witnessed since. The evening was
spent by Mr. Grenade and my father in conversation on
the all-important subject of their work — the work of sav-
ing souls. These were times that demanded and called
into requisition all the wisdom, the fortitude, and the
patient perseverance of the few and widely-scattered
laborers then in the field.

^' The next morning, after family worship and an early
breakfast, these servants of God, with renewed vows of
fidelity in their work, parted for the last time. In a few
weeks from this time my father died suddenly of apo-
plexy. Though he fell unexpectedly, in high health,
and in the strength of manhood, he fell with the trumpet
at his mouth. It was on the Sabbath. He had an ap-
pointment to preach at eleven o'clock that day, but his
work was done. About two o'clock in the morning he
was heard breathing in an unusual and laborious manner.
In a few moments a light was procured, and his family
gathered around his bed. But he spoke not; death was
doing its work in a summary manner; and he

'Ceased at once to work and live.'

296 SKETCHES OF

'^I have said Grenade was a poet. His poetry was
characteristic of the man, and his style as a preacher
bold, towering, often tinctured with the ^awfully sub-
lime/ yet flowing with ease and naturalness, and some-
times extremely tender and pathetic. In my childhood
I memorized many of his 'spiritual songs;' but have for-
gotten most of them. I have not seen any of them in
their original dress for many years, and fear they are ' out
of print.' Some vestiges of them, occasionally found in
compilations, are so mangled and distorted that the
author, if living, would hardly recognize them.

'* Mr. Grenade labored but three years as an itinerant.
His zeal carried him beyond his strength, and under his
indefatigable labors and exposures in the new settlements
his health failed, and he located. My last information
of him was, that he was practicing medicine somewhere
in south-western Tennessee.''

WESTERN METHODISM. 297

CHAPTER XXI.

THE WESTERN METHODIST BOOK CONCERN.

A SKETCH of the history of this institution, so inti-
mately connected with the interests of Methodism in the
west, should perhaps have been embraced in our sketch
of the origin and progress of Methodism in Cincinnati;
but as the Western Book Concern never has been, and
never was designed to be local in its operations, but to
embrace the entire west and south in the sphere of its
labors, we have thought it more appropriate to assign to
it a separate chapter.

The General conference of 1787, having founded a
Book Concern in Philadelphia, the proceeds of which
were appropriated mostly to the establishment of Cokes-
bury College and district schools, and which underwent
changes and modifications, from time to time, in its pol-
icy, till it was removed to New York in 1804, finally de-
termined to devote the most of the profits to the enlarge-
ment of the Concern and the increasing of the facilities
for the manufacture of books. Accordingly, in the year
1820, it was resolved that a branch should be located in
Cincinnati, for the purpose of supplying the conferences
west of the mountains with Methodist books. The books
from New York were at that time wagoned to Philadel-
phia, and from thence to Pittsburg, where they were
shipped on the Ohio river for Cincinnati.

If about the time of which we are writing, an individ-
ual had been passing along Elm-street, between, Fourth
and Fifth streets, he would have seen, on the corner

298 SKETCHES OF

of Elm and Fifth streets, a small office, over tlie door
of which be could have read, on a small, rude sign,
*^ Methodist Book Room." And it was a "room," sure
enough; for in its fifteen by twenty capacity great opera-
tions were performed. Like the log-cabins of our fath-
ers, in which the kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room,
chamber, and parlor were all in one, this ''Book Room"
comprised the depository, packing-room, counting-room,
and Agent's office. It was also, to some extent, like the
present Book Room, a kind of preacher's exchange.
But, as we were going to say, had the individual we have
supposed passing along been disposed to have looked
within, he would have found a plain but intelligent-
looking man behind the counter, or at the desk, or
bending over a box of books which he might have been
packing or unpacking, ready to receive and wait upon
him with words of kindness, proceeding from an open,
generous heart. That man was Martin Ruter, afterward
President of Alleghany College and the master spirit
of the Texas pioneers, where he labored, suffered, and
died, giving up his martyr spirit into the hands of the
great Savior, who called him away from the halls of
learning to traverse the wilds of Texas, and lay the foun-
dations of the Church in that infant republic. But to
return from our digression. In that small store, had the
inquiry been made, there might have been found the
M^orks of Wesley, Fletcher, Clarke, and Coke, together
with the Journals of Asbury and the Hymn-Book and
Discipline. There, also, he might have subscribed for
the Christian Advocate and Zion's Herald; and, had he
desired to have become more intimately acquainted with
the condition and prospects of the Church, he might
have obtained a copy of the General Minutes. But stay,
gentle reader, we are a little too fast. The oldest Book
Agent now living is here by our side, and he will correct

WESTERN METHODISM. 299

US by telling you that if you purchased any of these
books, you were obliged to do it on the wholesale prin-
ciple, as the idea of a retail sales-room was not thought
of in that day. Whenever an individual member of the
Church in the vicinity wished to obtain either of the
books named, he would call at or send a message to the
house of brother Ruter, close by the Book Room, where
it could be had.

Such was the Western Book Concern in the year 1820,
thirty-four years ago. What it has been since, and
through all the progressive stages of its development till
the present time, we shall endeavor briefly to describe.
At first it was a mere depository, not even regarded as a
branch of the parent Concern at New York, and, of
course, it was neither expected nor desired that it should
engage in the publication of any books. All that was
published by Dr. Ruter, during his connection with the
Concern, was a Scriptural Catechism and Primer; but
these were on his own individual responsibility. Under
all the embarrassing circumstances in which he was
called to carry on the business, the Doctor managed it
well; and, though the total receipts for the first year did
not amount to as much as is now received sometimes in a
few days, being little over four thousand dollars, yet, con-
sidering the times, it was a pretty good business.

At that time there was a specific rule in the Discipline
which rendered an Agent ineligible to re-election after
he had been serving in that omce eight years. Dr.
Ruter's term having expired by limitation in 1828, the
General conference, which was held at Pittsburg, elected
the Rev. Charles Holliday as Agent of the Concern iu
Cincinnati. As the successor of Dr. Ruter, he set him-
self to work to make himself acquainted with the busi-
ness, which, though at that time was not very intricate,
still required some knowledge of the book business.

300 SKETCHES OF

Besides, at that time there were no clerks who had grown
up in the establishment, like the Messrs. Kilbreth, Phil-
lips, and Doughty, and others, to whom the Agents could
look for information; and, hence, they had to begin with
the A B C of the Concern, and study out its policy and
operations as opportunity presented and as circumstances
might require. In process of time it became necessary
to remove the Book Boom to another place, and, accord-
ingly, brother Holliday rented a house on George-street,
between Race and Elm, and appropriated the front room
for the storage and package of books and every thing
else belonging to the establishment. After occupying
this location for upward of two years, it was thought best
to make another removal, and the Concern was accord-
ingly removed to the west side of Walnut, between Third
and Fourth streets, in a stone building, which is still
standing, on the north-west corner of Baker and Walnut
streets, Mr. Henry Shaffer, who is still living in Cin-
cinnati, being a clerk. Greater facilities were afforded
here for carrying on the operations, as it was in a more
business part of the city. The Concern occupied this
location till the General conference of 1832, when it was
determined that its operations should be enlarged by the
appointment of two Agents and the removal to a still
more conspicuous part of the city, and one more favorable
to business facilities. Accordingly, the Bev. C. Holliday
was re-elected Principal and the Bev. John F. Wright
Assistant Book Agent, and the establishment was again
removed, to the west side of Main-street, a few doors
above Sixth-street, in a storehouse owned by Josiah Law-
rence, Esq. Here the operations of the Concern were
greatly enlarged, and its efficiency in supplying the west-
ern and southern country with Methodist literature be-
came apparent to all. The demand for Hymn-Books and
Disciplines, particularly, having greatly increased, and it

TTESTEKN METHODISM. 301

being difficult at all times to supply this demand, in con-
sequence of the difficulty connected with the modes of
transportation, it was determined to publish these works
in the west, which, in due time, was done, the Hymn-
Book being the first book published by authority. In
the spring of the year 1834 the publication of the West-
ern Christian Advocate was commenced at the Concern,
and the Rev. Thomas A. Morris was appointed Editor.
This paper has been increasing its patronage subscription
list from that time, during all the periods of its history,
to the present day. No Church paper in the country has
been more popular, or received a more extensive patron-
age, and had a greater circulation, than the Western
Christian Advocate. But more of this anon. In the
year 1836 the General conference struck out of the Dis-
cipline the provision which limited the office of Book
Agent to eight years, and the Agents of the Western
Book Concern were not required to act any longer in a
subordinate capacity to the New York Concern, but to
'' co-operate with them.^' They were also authorized to
publish any book in the General Catalogue when, in their
judgment and that of the Book Committee, it would be
advantageous to the interests of the Church; provided
that they should not publish type editions of such books
as were stereotyped at New York. The conference also
appointed an Assistant Editor of the Western Christian
Advocate. The persons elected were Bev. Charles
Elliott, D. D., Principal, and Bev. William Phillips,
Assistant Editor. The Book Agents were also authorized,
with the advice and consent of the Book Committee,
to procure a lot of ground, and erect thereon suitable
buildings for a printing office, Book Room, and bindery:
and for that end they were allowed to appropriate such
moneys in their hands as they could spare from the Con-
cern, together with any donations that might be made for

302 SKETCHES OF

that purpose in tlie west. At this conference Rev. J. F.
Wright was elected Principal and E,ev. L. Swormstedt,
Assistant Agent. After much consultation, a lot on the
corner of Eighth and Main streets, known as the St.
Clair property, on which stood the mansion of General
St. Clair, surrounded by lofty trees, was selected as the
site. In its day this was regarded as a princely mansion,
and even yet it presents the appearance of a venerable
old pile. Around it, could its history be written, might
doubtless be gathered many thrilling recollections of
olden time. Here, doubtless, many a levee and soiree
has been held by the officers of old Fort Washington and
the army of General St. Clair. It stood back upward of
a hundred feet from Main-street, in the center of the lot,
and hence it was not necessary to remove it for the
buildings which were to be erected. But more of this
mansion hereafter. :U ■■ ' ^o' />, 'v '■;.

Preparations were made as soon as possible for putting
up the necessary buildings, and a printing office, in due
course of time, was erected, on the rear of the lot, four
stories high, and sufficiently large for all the purposes
of printing. The first book printed and published by
the Concern from manuscript was Phillips's Strictures,
the publication of which was ordered by the Ohio con-
ference. We have already made an allusion to this work
in our sketch of its author. The next work was the
Wyandott Mission, which was followed by Morris's Ser-
mons, Life of Ptoberts, Power on Universalism, Tomlin-
son's Millennium, Shaffer on Baptism, History of Ger-
man Missions, House's Sketches, Memoir of Mrs. Sears,
Anecdotes of Wesley, Prison Life, History of Methodist
Episcopal Missions, Ohio Conference Offering, Butler's
Analogy with Analysis, Objections to Calvinism, Carroll's
Exposition, Morris's Miscellany, Domestic Piety, Memoir
of Gurley, Life of Quinn, Larrabee's Evidences, Life of

WESTERN METHODISM. 303

Collins, American Slavery, Wesley and his Coadjutors,
Letters to School Girls, Lorrain's Sea-Sermons, Miley ou
Class Meetings, Life and Times of Wiley, Autobiog-
raphy of Finley, Positive Theology, Asbury and his
Coadjutors, Life of Gatch, etc. We may not have given
these in the exact order of time in which they were pub-
lished; but it is sufficient to answer all the purposes of a
sketch, and the reader can see what has been done since
1836 in the publication of original works. Besides these,
numerous reprints, both English and German, in the
latter of which are several original publications, and a
large number of pamphlets and tracts, too numerous to
mention, have been issued from time to time. For many
of the reprints duplicate stereotype plates were received
from the Concern in New York.

In the year 1839 a charter for the Western Book Con-
cern was obtained from the Legislature of Ohio. In the
year 1840 the Rev. J. F. Wright was re-elected, and Rev.
L. Swormstedt continued Assistant Agent, at which time
the Agents were authorized to publish a monthly period-
ical adapted to the ladies. This work was commenced in
January, 1841, with the title of '-Ladies' Repository and
Gatherings of the West;" and Rev. L. L. Hamline, As-
sistant Editor of the Advocate, was appointed its Editor.
The Agents also had authority to publish any book which
had not previously been published by the Agents at New
York, when in their judgment, and that of the Book
Committee, the demand for such publication would jus-
tify, and the interest of the Church required it. They
were, however, prohibited from reprinting any of the
larger works, such as the Commentaries, quarto Bibles,
etc. They were also authorized to publish such books
and tracts as were recommended by the General confer-
ence, and any new works which the editors should ap-
prove, and the Book Committee and annual conference

304 SKETCHES OF

recommend. This year a German paper, for the benefit
of the German Methodists, was established at Cincinnati,
entitled Der ChristUche Apologete, and the Eev. William
Nast was elected Editor. The Agents were also, by a rule
passed at this conference, required to remit to the Agents
at New York, as largely and frequently as their funds
would allow, and to the full amount of stock furnished,
if practicable. They were also required to remit all sur-
plus funds not required for carrying on the business, to
be added to the profits of the Concern at New York.

In process of time a lot adjoining the St. Clair man-
sion was purchased, and after the Book Concern proper
was erected, a large four-story building was placed upon
it, which is occupied by stores, the rent of which yields
a handsome income. The entire lot, on which stand
both of the buildings, is upward of one hundred feet,
fronting on Main-street, and runs entirely back to the
alley, inclosed on Eighth-street, from the Book Room to
the printing office, by a high brick wall. The main
building is upward of fifty feet front, and upward of a
hundred feet deep, six stories high, two having been
added the past year. The first floor in front is divided
into a large sales-room and clerks' offices, in the rear of
which is the office of the Agents. Immediately in the
rear of the sales-room is a private room, fitted up with
great neatness, for the Book Committee, or the transac-
tion of any business connected with the Concern. In
one side of this room has been built a substantial brick
vault, with iron doors, for the safe-keeping of the ac-
count-books, etc. In the rear of the front rooms is the
packing department, which extends the whole width of
the building. On the second floor, over the front rooms,
is the depository for the books of the General Catalogue,
and the Sunday school publications are in the rear, as
also the German publications and tracts. The roo>iis on

^ WESTERN METHODISM. dU5

tlie ttird floor are occupied by three embossing-presses,
■which are worked and heated by steam from the boiler
under the yard of the printing office. In this room there
are thirteen hands constantly employed. The fourth
story is also occupied with the bindery, in which there
are sixteen hands. The fifth story, which is exclusively
occupied by females, under the superintendence of Mr.
White, is devoted to those branches of the business in-
cluded in the bindery appropriate to females, such as
folding, sewing, stitching, gathering, collating, etc. In
this department there are thirty-six girls. The sixth
story is a general depository for stock. The whole estab-
lishment is heated with steam, which is conducted
through pipes from the boiler all through the building.
The first story is lighted with gas, which is often nec-
essary during dark days, of which there are many in Cin-
cinnati. The whole establishment has recently under-
gone a most complete and thorough repair and remodel-
ing, and every department is reduced to a system of
operations which would compare favorably with any simi-
lar establishment. The number of clerks employed at
present in the Book Room is eight, beside two or three
in the mailing department. The whole number of hands
in the bindery, exclusive of the foreman, Mr. Van de-
water, is sixty-four, of which twenty-eight are males and
thirty-six are females.

We now come to describe the printing office ; but
before doing so, as it is on our way, we will ask oui
reader to pass with us out of the Book Room, on Main-
street, and, turning to the right, enter with us an avenue
between the last-mentioned place and the building appro-
priated to stores, which will conduct us to the old man-
sion, alluded to above. A fire having recently occurred
in an adjoining building, which destroyed part of the
roof of the "mansion," the heavy and elaborately-wrought

2o

306 SKETCHES OF

cornice wliicli once ornamented this ancient buildi"tg has
been removed, and the walls run up, the better to pi-oteoi;
the building from such accidents in future. Befcre u»>'
is the spacious double doorway, in front of which is th./
massy door-stone, which has been pressed by the feet of
many who have long since been gathered to the tomb
At the left, on entering, you will discover over the door
*' Library." This room is nicely fitted up with cases for
books on all sides; and here may be found a large, and,
in some respects, rare and curious library. Many an
ancient tome of Latin and Greek, over which the " old
man learned" has pored, in the days when tied to the
linguistic chair in college, or searching for the doctrines
and rites of the Tridentine councils, that he might pre-
sent to the world a true delineation of the Mother of
Harlots or the Man of Sin. But this library is not rich
in patristic lore alone; it embraces the whole range of
Biblical literature, and a considerable of what may be
called general and polite. The rooms on the right are oc-
cupied by Mr. Boyd, a gentleman connected with the
Concern, while the rear below is occupied by the faithful
Charles, the messenger. Let us now ascend the ancient
stairway. Two flights and we reach the landing, in front
of which is the room occupied by the Editor of the
Ladies' Repository, Eev. D. W. Clark, D. D. To look
at the Doctor's case, which stands to the left there,
against the wall, with pigeon-boxes labeled to receive
exchange periodicals, such as quarterlies and monthlies,
and the most of which seem to be occupied, you would
think the organ of order was strongly developed; and it
may be for aught we know; but if you will cast a glance
at his table you would be led to infer almost any thing
else. Perhaps, like ourself, he is a great lover of order,
but can't take the time always to put his odds and ends
to rights. He is, however, quite good-natured, aud,

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 307

ttougli he don't like to be bored much, yet will not
become nervous and lose his balance at our prying looks.
You will perceive, however, that he has a sanguine tem-
perament, and it won't do to try him too much; so we will
pass into the next apartment. It would be well enough,
in passing, to say, that the Doctor is winning golden
honors for the Repository, as the increase in the subscrip-
tion list will abundantly show. This narrow room is
occupied by Dr. Nast, the Editor of the Apologist, and
the apostle of the Germans. There seems to be a Ger-
man air diffused all around this apartment. The Doctor
is at his desk writing an editorial, or perhaps translating,
or it may be poring over German and Latin Commenta-
ries, for the purpose of consulting authorities in making
his Exposition. He is a kind, good-natured man, a
fine scholar, and an earnest, evangelical preacher. His
books, his papers, his assistant, and his very stove and
table, all seem to be German ; and, as we don't under-
stand his language, let us go into the next room. On
the right there, sitting on that rocking-chair, with one
shoe off, and the other slip-shod, with a pile of old manu-
scripts and papers, and a stray old book or two, lying on
the table in glorious confusion, sits Dr. Elliott. See how
incessantly he nods and shakes his massy head as he
reads on, with his spectacles on the top of his head! He
is not angry nor excited, though he thus frowns and
shakes his head; for he is good-natured and clever, but
he is deeply engaged and interested. He is an intellect-
ual giant; and though he looks rough and unpolished in
regard to his personnel, yet, like the lumbering road-
wagon of olden time, he bears a precious freight — all
bullion.

Do you see on the left there, standing by a desk, with
several slips of paper with different headings lying before
him, and the latest papers, a foot or two thick, neatly

308 .' SKETCHES OF

piled up on the table beside him^ a pale, attenuated-look-
ing young man ? In one band is a pen, and in the other —
fearing some official will carry them off — is clutched with
nervous energy a pair of long, sharp-pointed scissors.
Well, that is the Assistant Editor, to whom you are in-
debted for all the news-items, general and local, in the
Advocate, appropriately arranged in the different depart-
ments. Poor House ! he goes frequently to the gymna-
sium, on Third-street, besides walking to the side of Mt.
Auburn twice a day, and preaching on Sabbath; but,
notwithstanding all this exercise, he looks cadaverous
and pale, as though he had been for years shut out from
the light of day, in some monastic cell, engaged day and
night with the pen. He bears it all, however, with great
patience; and there, in his long, office-gown, from Mon-
day morn till Saturday night, he stands like Patience on
a monument.

But we must leave these editors alone in their glory.
We will now go down the private stairway, and enter the
printing office in the yard of which you will see a brick
building for wetting and pressing paper. On the first
floor of the printing establishment are four Adams
presses and one cylinder press, on which are printed
the Advocate, Ladies' Repository, Apologist, Sunday
School Advocate, and the various books of the Concern.
These presses are fed mostly by girls. There are in this
room eight hands. In the room above the mailing of all
the Church periodicals is performed by seven hands. On
the left is the German composing-room, with three or four
hands. Above this, on the third floor, are the compos-
ing-rooms, in which, including the foreman of the estab-
lishment, Mr. R. P. Thompson, there are from twelve to
fifteen compositors. The fourth floor is the drying and
pressing department, in which there is one hydraulic and
one screw press. Here there are three hands. In one

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 309

corner of this room, partitioned off, is a smaller one,
occupied by Mr. Gale, the very correct proof-reader for
the Concern, to whom many a blunderer in orthography,
etymology, syntax, prosody, and punctuation is indebted
for making him appear respectable in the world of letters.
Adjoining the printing office is a building erected for the
carpenter, Mr. Hand, who is constantly employed in the
manufacture of boxes, and in making repairs about the
establishment. At the other end of the printing office
is a building containing two vaults, in which are depos-
ited the stereotype plates.

With your permission, gentle reader, we will pass out
on Eighth-street, and return to the Book Room. We are
not through yet. We wish to introduce you to the
Agents, which, perhaps, we ought to have done first ;
but we can do that just as well now as at any other time,
perhaps. They are, however, generally known, having
to travel pretty extensively over the continent, in vis-
iting the conferences for the purpose of collecting the
debts due the Concern. The Rev. L. Swormstedt, the
senior Agent, who has been so many years connected
with the Concern, we will find in his office at the desk,
looking over the letters received pertaining to all the
business connected with the establishment, and which
are quite numerous every day. So large a Concern re-
quires his unremitting attention. Before introducing
you, we will relate what was said of him by one of the
Commissioners who went with him to Pittsburg in 1853,
and furnished a description of his colleagues. Here
it is:

''Our other friend is, in fullness and rotundity of
person, somewhat like Falstaff. He seems to live in com-
fort; and so commanding is his person that he passes
almost every-where for a bishop. He preaches with
power; his enunciation is distinct; every word comes

310 SKETCHES OF

out like a dollar from the mint ; he often utters strong
though tj and never, I think, drops a foolish remark. He
has great energy of character; he perseveres through all
difficulties, and makes every thing bow before him.
When he commenced his ministerial career he was a
slender^ fair-haired youth, neat in his appearance and
gentlemanly in his manners. He had been a merchant
clerk. Early in his itinerancy he was placed upon a
circuit which did not pay the preacher. The amount
due was estimated and divided among the different
classes; the year rolled round, and the money was not
collected. At a certain appointment was a large class.
After preaching he detained it, and asked the leader
how much was collected ; and finding a large deficit, he
stationed the leader at the door, and ordered him to let
no one out till the whole amount due was paid. Taking
the class-book, he commenced calling the names, and
insisted on immediate payment of something from every
one. Excuses were made at first ; but the resolution of
the preacher was not to be resisted, and there was a won-
derful whispering and borrowing of change. Having
gone through, a deficit was still remaining, and the
names were called over again. Seeing the difficulty
of the operation, one of the bystanders who were out-
side the cabin school-house, put his hand through a pane
of glass, and offered the preacher fifty cents. ' That will
not do,' he cried; ^you can not pay the way of these
people to heaven.' Having gone through a second time,
there was still something due. The outsider again pre-
sented himself at the broken pane with his half dollar,
and so pressed the preacher that he took it, but observed
that he should put it in the collection — that it could not
be credited to the class — and then proceeded with the
third call, which was an effectual one. I need not say
that he was — as he deserved to be — -^aid. For many

WESTERN METHODISM. 311

years the Cliurcli has wisely availed herself of his abili-
ties as a collector and financier. With all his sternness
and strength of character, he is noted for his generosity
and kindness of heart. His house is the home of do-
mestic comfort, well-ordered children, and hearty wel-
comes; his purse is always open, his ear attentive to the
voice of distress, and his tongue ever ready to make con-
fession if he finds himself in error. He is one of the
^few men who, with great capacities and facilities to
enrich themselves, have chosen rather to serve the
Church."

From the above description, one would think he would
make an admirable Agent, at least so far as the collection
of money was concerned j and woe betide you if you happen
to find yourself at conference a delinquent to the Book
Concern, without the needful to meet the demands. He
seems to know no man after the flesh, but will ask you,
at the conference room, if you have not already been to
see him, and made payment or given your note, to walk
up to his room and settle your account accordingly. We
have more than once encountered him, and if we did not
know that beneath all this seemingly-rough and threat-
ening exterior, there was a kind and generous heart, we
should have set him down as one of the most stern and
unyielding men in the world. Still, we have very often
thought ho could get along quite as successfully if he
were to put on a little more of the suaviter in modo.
God has not constituted all men alike, however; and it
is a blessed thing that he has not, as it would not do
in nature to have no rough places. The overhanging,
craggy rock is relieved by the peaceful vale which smiles
in beauty at its base, and the storm-cloud, with its fierce
lightning and hoarse thunder, only makes more pleasant
and delightful the calm, when clouds and storms have
passed away.

312 SKETCHES OF

The Clmrcli could not well do without Swormstedt
Having been for so long a time engaged in the business
of the Book Concern, he has acquired a thorough knowl-
edge of all its departments and the general detail of bus-
iness connected with each. We think him admirably
qualified for the post which he occupies, and if it must
needs be that the agency be confined to the itinerant
ranks, we do not think the intereste of the Concern
could be better attended to or its business carried on by
a more efficient Agent than is the present incumbent.
We are of the opinion that the policy of removing
Agents just for the sake of rotation in office, is a very
questionable policy, to say the least of it, and especially
where such a responsible and complicated business is
concerned. No man, however great his business tact or
qualifications, can enter upon such an agency, and be-
come fully acquainted with its duties short of one term;
and when we consider that the habits of preachers are
such as to lead the mind away from the commerce of the
world, it can not be expected, in the very nature of the
case, that they could hope to be qualified for such a post
in so short a time. Hence, when integrity and ability
are found to exist in those who are already employed in
this department of the Church, it certainly is the most
safe and judicious to continue them in office, and not
remove them for any slight and transient causes, or
simply from the desire of promotion to office.

Before describing the Assistant, that gigantic ath-
lete who sits yonder by the desk in the packing-room,
making an entry of a bill of books, we will go back and
describe the old Agent, J. F. Wright, who is now the
presiding elder of the East Cincinnati district, and who
resides in a most lovely mansion on one of the beautiful
slopes of Mount Auburn, concerning which Dr. Dixon
remarked to us, on his visit here, that it reminded him

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 313

more of England than any thing he had seen since leav-
ing the favored isle. In the language of the friend who
described brother S., '^ he is a little above the medium
hight, stoutly built, a little stoop-shouldered, a silver-
haired, sweet-faced, neath^-dressed man, of good business
ability, sensible, safe. He has a fine sense of the ludi-
crous, and enjoys a joke as well as most men; but usu-
ally he is grave, and in his social intercourse engaging
and discreet, dropping every now and then some useful
remark. A smile generally plays upon his countenance;
he rarely offends; always seeks to oblige; but is firm
where principle is involved. He preaches plain, prac-
tical discourses; rarely declaims; and is to be ranked,
perhaps, with the weeping prophets or and loving evan-
gelists. He has written a book — a neat biography of one
of our earlier preachers. Notwithstanding his business
abilities, his extreme caution, and his forecast, he has
been overreached, and has recently lost $28,000. He
bears this with Christian resignation and calmness. He
is one of those cases which prove that the race is not to
the swift nor the battle to the strong. I am happy to
say that he will not be left poor, his good wife having
property which is not affected by his personal obliga-
tions.'^ We should rather be disposed to take him for a
bishop by far than the present senior incumbent of the
Book Room; and, if comparisons were not odious, we
might have something to say about his possession of
some peculiar qualifications which Le Roi, the king, does
not, in our judgment, possess, as well as some traits he
does possess, which would not be very desirable in a
Methodist bishop. And yet, if he were a bishop, lie
would, in our estimation, come as near to Wesley him-
self, and perhaps more so than Coke or Asbury. Certain
it is, that whatever he would do in the episcopal office
would be done in the fear of God and with the utmost

27

314 , SKETCHES OF

conscientiousness; and, though some might be disposed
to question his judgment, none would for a moment
arraign his motives; for in regard to honesty and sin-
cerity, he is one of God's noblest specimens.

It would be well enough, also, in this connection, to
say a few things about the other Agents. After the
resignation of Rev. J. F. Wright, in 1844, the Rev. L.
Swormstedt was elected Principal and the Rev. J. T.
Mitchell Assistant. Brother Mitchell had received a
good training in the itinerant ranks in the wilds of the
west, and, under the precepts and examples of his ven-
erable patriarch father, himself a Methodist preacher, he
came into the Concern having nothing to learn, either as
regarded the doctrines, economy, or usages of Method-
ism, Having a good education and a ready wit, it did
not take him long to make himself acquainted with the
general business of the Concern, and had he been allowed
to remain, he would, doubtless, have been a valuable ac-
quisition to the Concern. At the close of his term, he
took a transfer to the Ohio conference, and was stationed
four consecutive years in Cincinnati. He is now sta-
tioned in Urbana, and is the Secretary of the Cincinnati
conference, beloved and respected by all. His successor
in office was the Rev. John H. Power, an old and valued
member of the North Ohio conference, who has made
himself known and felt in the religious and literary
world as a preacher, polemic, and author. His works on
Universalism have had an extensive sale. As a Chris«
tian and a minister, his character is strongly marked.
His prejudices, if we may be allowed to use the word in
an accommodated sense, are strong; and what he believes
to be right, he will cling to with the utmost tenacity, if
not doggedness, of purpose. He has the sharp, hard
features of a Calvin; and yet we hardly think that ha
would consent to the burning of a Servetus, who might

WESTERN METHODISM. 315

differ from him in opinion. Like his predecessor, how-
ever, he had to go by the board at the expiration of four
years, and make way for the present incumbent. Since
his retiracy he has been appointed by the Ohio, North
Ohio, Cincinnati, and Kentucky conferences as Agent
of the Tract Society; and he has entered upon that work
with visor: for one of his characteristics is to eno-ao-e
with all his might in whatever he undertakes.

We now come to speak of the Rev. Adam Poe, the
present Assistant. As already intimated, he has a her-
culean frame, and none would doubt his being a descend-
ant of the conqueror of the Indian Big Foot. Brother
Poe is thoroughly a Methodist, and, though not yet be-
yond life's prime, has been a traveling preacher for many
years. A faithful and devoted servant of the Church,
he is no less faithful to the interests of the Book Con-
cern, ever ready to spring into the harness and work at
any post in the establishment. He seems determined to
understand all the details of business and do the work
assigned him by the General conference.

We have given the reader a rough and hasty sketch
of the Book Concern; but, before closing, we must not
omit to mention the extent of its present operations.
We are informed, by reliable authority, that the amount
of sales during the current year is greater than at any
former period, and greater than all the sales effected dur-
ing many of the first years of the existence of the Con-
cern. In addition to the sales, the Concern issues
twenty-six thousand copies of the Western Christian
Advocate, eighteen thousand copies of the Ladies' Re-
pository, thirty thousand copies of the Sunday School
Advocate, six thousand copies of the Missionary Advo-
cate, and five thousand of the G-erman Apologist. In
view of what has been accomplished during the thirty-
four years of its existence, commencing with a small

316 SKETCHES OF

Tbranch Depository, and gradually increasing to its pres-
ent giant proportions as a wholesale establishment, what
mind can calculate its future expansion, or the amount
of good yet to be accomplished in the great work of
spreading a pure literature and a Scriptural holiness over
all these lands ! ^ ;: • ■ ; : f !• ? : l-ii

'f;^■^*:\

WESTERN METHODISM. 3l7

CHAPTER XXII.

JOHN COLLINS.

We have been importuned by several of our brethren
to give a sketch of this eminent servant of the Lord
Jesus Christ, embracing such incidents connected with
his life, and such personal reminiscences as may serve, in
conjunction with the biography already written, to pre-
serve a memory of the man. The reader must allow us
our own free and easy way of describing the life, labors,
and character of this pioneer preacher.

Our first acquaintance with him was the result of an
accident, and one which frequently happened to the pio-
neers of early times in the western country. It came to
pass that soon after he had settled on the East Fork of
the Little Miami, and had built a cabin, and was making
preparations for farming, his horses strayed away, one of
which, after traveling a distance of thirty miles through
the wilderness, in a northerly direction, came to our
cabin. Knowing it to be an estray, we availed ourself of
all the facilities the country then afforded of giving it an
extensive publication, which was done by telling all our
neighbors, and requesting them to tell all their neighbors
and every body they saw, that we had in our possession an
estray horse, with such and such marks about him, which
the owner could have by proving property. Not many
days after a stranger rode up to our door, and asked us
if we had an estray horse in our possession. "We told
him we had, and invited him to alight, hitch his horse,
and walk in. Thanking us very politely, he did soj and,

318 SKETCHES OF

from tlie description lie gave of tlie horse, we were satis-
fied it was "his property. We were at once struck with
the blandness of his manners and his pleasant address.
He did not seem to have the roughness of the pioneer
farmer about him, and we never would have supposed
him engaged in such an occupation. He entered into a
very agreeable and pleasant conversation about the coun-
try, the habits of the people, and other matters of inter-
est. For the short acquaintance, we never met with any
individual in all our eventful life who was more prepos-
sessing in his manners. After having partaken of the
humble fare of our cabin, he made some inquiries in
regard to the religious privileges of the neighborhood;
and, finding that there were no meetings held in
that section, he expressed regret, and exhorted most
affectionately, with tears, ourself and wife to seek God in
the pardon of our sins, and embrace the Savior. When
he concluded, he said: '^I will preach in Hillsboro on
such a Sabbath; will you not come to meeting?" We
promised to do so. He then said, "My dear friend, if it
will be perfectly agreeable to you, I should like to pray
with you before leaving.'' '^ Certainly," said we, and the
man of God kneeled down, and with a fervency and ten-
derness which broke up the great deep of our heart, he
poured out his soul to God in our behalf. His prayer
was such as only John Collins could make. Our heart
was strangely and wonderfully drawn toward him, and we
were won by his sweetness and gentleness. From that
hour we loved him, and it continued unabated through a
long ministerial life. We love him still in that heavenly
world, where, by God's grace, we hope erelong to meet
him, and enjoy his society forever. He left us with many
a benediction upon his lips; and when the period arrived
for him to preach at Hillsboro we were there, and for the
first time heard him preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ

" WESTERN METHODISM. 310

to weeping: multitudes gathered from all parts of the
country. He had removed into the neighborhood where
he then resided in the year 1803, and having received
license to preach as a local preacher in New Jersey,
he improved his gifts in traveling all round the country,
as opportunity presented itself, preaching the Gospel of
the kingdom. It was during the time he sustained a
local relation to the Church that he preached the first
Methodist sermon ever preached in Cincinnati — as the
reader has already seen in our sketch of the rise and
progress of Methodism in this city. Not only in Cincin-
nati, but in many other places was he the pioneer of
Methodism. At Columbia, six miles above Cincinnati
proper, he organized a class; and while he would labor
with his hands during the week, he would start out on
Saturday afternoon to some appointment, where he
preached on the Sabbath ; and the day of eternity only
will disclose the amount of good accomplished through
his instrumentality in bringing sinners from darkness
to light, and building up the saints on the sure foun-
dation of their faith.

After laboring on his farm for four years, during which
time he had planted the Gospel in many settlements in
the Miami Valley, and being prospered by Providence,
he found himself in a condition, temporally considered,
which enabled him to take a wider field of labor. He was
admitted into the traveling connection in the year 1807.
His first appointment was the Miami circuit, which, at
that period, embraced nearly all the section of country
now included in the Cincinnati conference. Here was a
field of labor that might have made a soul of less courage
quail; but he never hesitated at hardships and danger,
and taking leave of his faithful, afi"ectionate wife and lit-
tle children, with the sword of the Spirit, relying upon
the strength of Israel's God, he went forth in his name

320 SKETCHES OF

and power to do the work of an evangelist, and make full
proof of his ministry. Encouraged by the promise, "Lo,
I am with you, even unto the end of the world," his glad
and courageous heart could sing,

*' On these mountains let me labor,
Li these valleys let me tell
How he died, the blessed Savior,
To redeem lost souls from hell.

Nor did the faithful herald labor in vain; hundreds
heard the glad sound of salvation from his lips, and were
converted to God through his instrumentality. His next
appointment was scarcely less extensive. Starting from
Snow Hill, in Clinton county, he traveled through High-
land and Ross counties, including all the settlements of
Paint creek and the Scioto river, down to the mouth,
thence down the Ohio to the mouth of Eagle creek, in-
cluding all the settlements on Sun-fish, Scioto Brush
creek, Ohio Brush creek, including \Vest Union and Man-
chester; thence across, by the Cherry Fork, to the place
of beginning. This year he achieved much for our Zion
in the wilderness, and multitudes were born into the king-
dom of God. Methodist preachers in those days were
no sinecures. They sought not ease, honor, or popularity;
and as for wealth, that was entirely out of the question.
Their hire was souls, and the hope of an eternal reward
impelled them onward in the great work in which they
were engaged. The next two years Collins traveled Deer
Creek circuit, which included the town of Chilicothe
and all the settlements west of Lancaster and on the
Darbys. On this circuit lived an old veteran Methodist
named White Brown, who immigrated to this western
country in an early day, and was denominated by the
Rev. J. Quinn the patriarch of the Scioto Valley. He
opened his house for the itinerant, and his wide, gener-
ous heart, as large as a continent, embraced the entire

WESTERN METHODISM. 321

Cburcli and all her interests. His house was the con-
stant home of Bishop Asburj, in his annual visits, and
on his farm was the great camp meeting ground, more
famous in those days than all other places of a similar
character, on account of the wonderful outpourings of
God's Spirit upon the listening thousands that would
annually congregate in its peaceful groves. White Brown
and his camp-ground were known throughout the entire
Methodist connection, and a narration of many of the
scenes which had occurred at this consecrated spot had
been communicated to other lands. Father Brown and
his devoted companion have long since gone to mingle
with the sainted Whatcoat, Asbury, George, M'Kendree,
and others, in that bright world, -

, r^ ^ *' Where congregations ne'er break up, .• ..

And Sabbaths never end."

The labors of Collins on this circuit were attended with
unexampled prosperity. The Gospel river widened and
deepened in its onward flow, and thousands stood upon
its banks rejoicing in its fullness. He attended camp
meetings far and near, and he was what might be called
emphatically a camp meeting man. No preacher had the
power of rousing the masses, and holding them by his
eloquence and power, to so great an extent as the meek
and sainted Collins. Often have we heard him relate the
story of the lost child, describing with inimitable tender-
ness the feelings of the mother, whom he tried to com-
fort, but who, like Rachel, '^ would not be comforted,
because her child was notj'' and then, when the child
was found, with the utmost pathos would he relate the
joyous emotions of the mother. No tragedian ever suc-
ceeded better in transferring the feelings of a character
to his audience in his impersonations, than did the inimit-
able Collins. So far was he from falling under the charge

B^ SKETCHES OF

made by a tragedian to a minister of tlie Gospel of rep-
resenting fact as if it were fiction, that he became the
living embodiment of his theme, and with a soul on fire
he poured out the living truth till every heart was moved.
Often have we seen thousands borne down by his impas-
sioned eloquence like the trees of the forest in a storm.
And it was irresistible. Steel your heart as you might;
summon all your philosophy and stoicism ; and nerve up
your soul to an iron insensibility and endurance, sur-
rounding it with a rampart of the strongest prejudices,
the lightning of his eloquence, accompanied by the deep-
toned, awfully-sublime thunder of his words, which came
burning from his soul, would melt down your hardness,
and break away every fortification in which you were
intrenched, while tears from the deep, unsealed fount-
ains of your soul would come unbidden, like the rain.
The only way to escape his power was to flee from his
presence and hearing; for a Boanerges as well as a son
of consolation was he. Perhaps no man ever combined
the two elements here alluded to — power and pathos —
more than Collins. But no pen is fully adequate to
describe the man, and we doubt if any mind is competent
to give an analysis of his character, as in it were blended
strange contrasts and peculiarities, which rendered it
altogether unique if not entirely sui generis.

Though apparently a compound of tenderness and
sympathy, there were times when he would be severe,
and use the rod. As an illustration of this we will
relate an incident which occurred in the year 1809, at a
camp meeting on the Scioto bottom, at Foster's. We
have abundant reason for recollecting well the time,
place, and circumstances. The Rev. Thomas S. Hinde
and ourself, both young preachers, and boiling over with
a zeal for the cause of God, impatient to see the work
go on and carry every thing before it, concluded to take

WESTERN METHODISM. 323

the matter pretty mucli into our own hands. Accordingly,
we went out into the woods, a short distance from the
encampment, and commenced singing, for the purpose of
collecting the sinners around us, whom we intended to
take by a storm of exhortation. It was not long till a
large crowd was collected, and many left their tents to
Bee what was the disturbance in the woods. The wicked
feeling that they were not under the restraints that they
would be were they on the encampment, listening to
exhortation and prayer, as might have been expected,
became noisy, and interrupted us exceedingly. We had
raised a storm sure enough, but how to guide it was what
had not entered into our calculations. There was no
telling what would have been the result, as there were
demons there in the form of men ready for every vile
thing. Just at this juncture intelligence of this state
of things reached the ears of brother Collins, and he
ordered us forthwith to the preachers' tent, where he
gave us such a trimming for our disorderly proceedings
as boys do not get every day. This was a chastisement
which, though severe, did not break our bones, and
proved of great service to us in after life.

At this meeting great opposition was manifested by
the wicked; but, notwithstanding, though it seemed all
the spirits of darkness had gathered there from the
knobs, the Sun-fish hills, and the Dividing Kidge, yet
many were converted to God ; and of this haj^py number
many were young people. After the meeting ended, a
party who were opposed to the revival, and were offended
at the loss of their young companions who had embraced
religion, got up a dance. A young man by the name of
•J . Fraley was the leader. The time at length came, and
youth and pleasure met to chase the hours with glowing
feet. But hark ! in the midst of the revelry a cry !
Some one has fallen in the dance, and he cries aloud,

824 SKETCHES OP

^^God be mereiful to me a sinner!" It is Fraley, tho
leader. Consternation is spread over every face; terror
fills every mind! Others join the cry, and then and there
was hurrying in every direction from the scene of that
gathered throng. Brother John Foster, a local preacher,
was sent for, and the sound of mirth and revelry gave
place to the sound of prayer, while the loud laugh was
exchanged to louder cries for mercy. Then began a glo-
rious work of God, and many in that ball-room were con-
verted, and filled with greater joy than ever earthly
pleasure could give. A joy and peace filled their souls,

"Which nothing earthly gives, or can desti'oy;
The soul's calm sunshine, and the heart-felt joy."

Young Fraley, when converted, gathered all that would
go with him, and marched round from house to house,
singing, shouting, and praying. We were then on the
circuit, and witnessed the fruits of this glorious revival.
We will relate an incident connected with another
camp meeting which we attended, in company with
brother Collins. This camp meeting was held the same
year of the one alluded to above. It was on Eagle creek.
A large concourse of people had collected together from
all parts of the country. The hour for preaching had
arrived, and after the congregation was collected by the
blast of a trumpet, brother Collins arose and gave out a
hymn. From the manner of his reading it all could tell
that his heart was filled with emotions too big for utter-
ance. It was sung as only the Methodists in early
times could sing at camp meetings. It seemed as if the
soul of the entire encampment was in the sound, and
went up to heaven as an ofi"ering of praise. When the
last strains died away upon the solitudes of the sur-
rounding forest, the man of God fell upon his knees,
and poured out his full heart to the God of heaven.

WESTERN METHODISM. 325

An awful stillness reigned, interrupted only by an occa-
sional sob or a suppressed amen. Presently the Holy
Spirit was poured out, and like a rushing, mighty wind
it came down upon the encampment. Five hundred fell
prostrate to the ground, either screaming for mercy or
shouting the high praises of Grod. The preacher's voice
was lost, and God was all in all.

There was something in the person of Collins that
would at once impress any beholder with the character
of the man. He was above the medium hight — of slen-
der form. His head was somewhat massy in its propor-
tions; one would think rather too much so for his slender
frame, as it generally was inclined upon his shoulder.
His eyes were small, but keen and penetrating, though
deeply sunken in his forehead beneath heavy, overhang-
ing brows. His cast of countenance was Grecian. His
motions were generally quick, but graceful, especially in
the pulpit; and to see him walk along the street with his
silver-headed cane, which he usually carried in his older
days, you would at once be impressed with the dignity
and refinement of his manners. It seemed that the God
of nature and grace had made him for the great work to
which he was called. His voice was the most musical
and penetrating we ever heard, and, as we have already
indicated, his manner was peculiar to himself. To those
who were familiar with him there were certain move-
ments about him which would indicate the state of his
mind, just as coming events in nature cast their shadows
before. When you would see his lips compress, and he
would throw his head aside, slightly elevating, with a
sort of shrug, his right shoulder, and the tear would
start from his eye like the rain-drop which falls from
the heat of the cloud, then you might know that the
Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and might expect with
certainty to witness displays of Divine power. .„

326 SKETCHES OF

In the year 1811 he was appointed to Union circuit
without a colleague. This circuit included the towns of
Dayton, Xenia, and Lebanon. At the latter place he
was instrumental, in the hands of God, in accomplishing
a great work. His preaching was attended with the
demonstration of the Spirit and power, and a great and
glorious revival attended his labors, which resulted in
numerous and permanent accessions to our beloved Zion.
It was the same year which we traveled Knox circuit;
and well do we recollect the cheering intelligence which
came to our ears of the wonderful work of God in that
town. During this revival John M'Lean, Esq., now one
of the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of the
-United States, and his brother. Colonel M'Lean, became
the subjects of converting grace, and joined the Church,
with many others, who became distinguished and influ-
ential members of the Church, some of whom still live
as the fruits of his ministry. Great good was effected
through his instrumentality, also, in the town of Xenia;
and in Dayton, if he did not preach the first Methodist
sermon, as in Cincinnati, he formed the first class, and
organized a society, which long ago was divided into bands,
there being two large and flourishing societies, occupying
spacious brick churches in diff"erent parts of the city,
besides an enterprising German Methodist Church. He
obtained a lot of ground in the very heart of the city
from Mr. Cooper, the proprietor of the town, and, with
the assistance of the sainted George Housten and others,
he built thereon a house of worship. ■.'■^Vff

In the year 1812 he traveled the Mad River and Xenia
circuit. Being a delegate to the General conference, on
his way he passed through Fairfield circuit, where we
then labored, and stopped over Sabbath at the house of
brother Thomas J. Ijams. That was a memorable Sab-
bath, and the scenes and associations connected with ib

WESTERN METHODISM. 327

will never be erased from our recollection, as we liope
to carry with us a remembrance of them, and many other
happy scenes and seasons which we have witnessed, to
the heavenly world. Such remembrances will, doubtless,
augment the happiness of heaven. It was a day of
spiritual "feasting, of fat things, full of marrow, of
wines on the lees well refined.^' The congregation was
large, and as the notice was extensively circulated, mul-
titudes came from a distance to hear the wonderful
preacher.

We don't know — perhaps it was the occasion and cir-
cumstances that made 3Iethodist preachers great in those
days; but one thing is certain, the arrival of Collins
in a neighborhood would excite a hundred-fold greater
interest then than the arrival of any of our presiding
elders or great men, or even bishops, can produce at the
present day. Upon the ears of that immense and deeply-
interested congregation this flaming herald of the cross
poured the full strains of the Gospel, and before he had
finished his discourse, his voice, clear, shrill, and power-
ful as it was, was drowned, in the louder, clearer, shriller
cries for mercy, which rent the heavens, mingled with
the loftiest shouts of praise.

No man was ever more thoroughly stored with incident
than was brother Collins. He possessed the faculty,
in an eminent degree, of weaving into his discourses
the every-day incidents of life, and of applying them
with the most admirable judgment to his hearers. He
was a profound student of human nature ; and possessing
the keenest perceptive faculties, united with his knowl-
edge of the secret springs of the human heart, he was
enabled to discriminate so nicely that every sinner felt
under his preaching as David under the pointed personal
reproof of the prophet Nathan.

Some time in the year 1833, when he was traveling

828 sketchp:s of

New Riclimond circuit, in the bounds of wliicli lif«
lived, lie attended a camp meeting near Batavia. It
having fallen to our lot, on one occasion, to preach,
and there being a large concourse on the ground, an
incident occurred which we will relate, as it was quite
singular, and we never heard of a similar one before
nor since. The Lord assisted us, and we had great lib-
erty in striving to preach Christ and offer his salvation
to our dying fellow-men. We had progressed about
two-thirds of the way through the discourse. It was a
melting, moving time, a mighty troubling of the waters,
and the excitement seemed to be increasing every mo-
ment. Right in the midst of our appeals father Collins
arose in the stand behind us, and touching us on the
shoulder, he said, "Now, brother, stop^ keep the rest for
another time, and throw out the Gospel net; it is now
wet, and we shall have a good haul.'' We obeyed the
directions, and sounded the invitation :

" Come all the world ; come sinner, thou,
All things in Christ are ready now."

Every sinner on the ground was moved; the old and
hardened trembled like aspen leaves stirred by the
breeze; every eye was suffused with tears. Presently
there was a move near the outskirts of the congregation.
There came a mother leading a prodigal son, and falling
in on each side of her way, by the hundreds, as she
advanced to the altar, the multitude came. It was a
time of unusual power, and the work of Grod, from that
moment, went on gloriously.

Two years before he closed his effective labors in the
itinerant field we had the pleasure of being his col-
league in Cincinnati, and to us it was a season of
great interest and profit. Here we lived and labored
lovingly together, threading the streets and alleys of

WESTERN METHODISM. 329

this great city in quest of the flock of Jesus, visiting
the sick, attending the dying, burying the dead, and
preaching Jesus and the resurrection. But he is gone
Father Collins is no more. The toils and hardships of
an itinerant life are ended. i ■. .

"He sleeps his last sleep; he has fought his last battle,
Ajid no sound shall awake hlni to labor again."

28

330 SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XXIII.

NATHAN EMERY.

With all the efforts we are making to prevent it, lio"n
rapidly are the precious memories of our fathers passing
away I Notwithstanding the numerous written memori
als, much of what is known of the eventful times in
which they lived and labored, dwells but in the recollec-
tions of a few revered survivors, and with them is fast
perishing, unrecorded and irretrievable.

Nathan Emery was born in the town of Minot, Cum-
berland county, Maine, on the 5th of August, 1780. He
was blessed with a pious mother, and, through her godly
admonitions and holy example, lasting religious impres-
sions were made upon his young and tender heart. In
the year 1794, the region of country where he lived was
visited by a Methodist preacher, and his father's house
became a preaching-place, a bethel in the wilderness,
where the man of God lifted up his voice in exhortation
and prayer. How many will thank God in the day of
eternity for that system of itinerancy which sent the feet
of messengers of glad tidings over the mountains and
through the vales, over the plains and along the rivers,
to visit the destitute regions and offer the inhabitants
the blessings of salvation ! Under the ministrations of
these Gospel heralds, young Emery became an early con-
vert to Christ, and enrolled himself among the people
of God. At the age of sixteen he was appointed leader
of a class, and in this capacity he served the Church
with all fidelity till he was called, in the providence of
God, to a more extended field of labor and usefulness.

WESTERN METHODISM. 331

Early in the year 1799 he was licensed to preach the
Oospelj and employed on a circuit by the presiding elder
till the ensuing conference, when he was admitted on
trial in the traveling connection, and stationed on Read-
field circuits Among the class of preachers admitted at
the same time, we find the names of Joshua Soule and
James Quinn, the latter of whom is gone to rest; but
the former still lives and is the senior "Bishop of the
Methodist Episcopal Church South. His next field of
labor was Needham. In the year 1801 he was appointed
to Union circuit, in the Province of Maine district. In
the following year he was stationed on the Norridgewock
circuit; and in the year 1803, at the conference held in
the city of Boston, he was ordained an elder and ap-
pointed to the Middletown circuit, where he remained
two years, and formed an acquaintance with that estima-
ble lady who afterward became his wife. The next year
he was removed to the New London circuit. During this
year he was married most happily to the woman of his
choice, and never did wandering itinerant make a more
judicious selection. Amiable, talented, and gentle as an
angel of light, did this most estimable woman follow her
husband from field to field of his labor; and united in
work, as they were one in heart, did she, with gentle
persuasion, assist her partner in leading souls to the
fountain of a Redeemer's blood. She shunned no cross,
despised no shame, for the sake of Jesus; but side by
side with her husband did she toil to cultivate Imman-
uel's land. For a period of nearly forty years they
journeyed on together over the rough and rugged path
of itinerant life, strangers and pilgrims, seeking the city
with foundations whose maker and builder is God. How
many souls in the morn of eternity will bless God for the
soft, persuasive eloquence of that mother in Israel, who,
at the altar of mercy, taught them to look away to the

asa

SKETCHES OF

Lamb of God that taketli away the sin of the world!
How many souls have been born into the kingdom while
listening to her instructions^ eternity alone can disclose.
But a few years before the decease of father Emery, her
sanctified spirit, released from earth, passed peacefully
away to the land of the blest.

" But again we hope to meet her,
When the day of life is fled,
Then in heaven with joy to greet her,
Where no farewell tears are shed."

For a period of more than twenty years Nathan Emery
labored with great acceptability and usefulness in the
itinerant field, filling several of the more important sta-
tions in the New England conference. Excessive labors,
however, broke down his constitution, and he became so
much enfeebled that it was necessary for him to superan-
nuate, which he did in the year 1821. Soon after he
removed to Ohio, and purchased a small farm at Blendon.
The next year, his health improving by the health-giving
and invigorating exercise connected with a farmer's life,
and being unwilling to be considered as a burden on the
conference, he asked for and obtained a location. He
remained in this relation to the Church for a period of
six years, during which time his Sabbaths were occupied,
as far as possible, in preaching at difi'erent points. In
the year 1828 he was employed by the presiding elder
of Lancaster district, Rev. David Young, to travel the
Columbus circuit as a supply, Samuel Hamilton being his
colleague. At the expiration of this year, finding that
he would be able to do effective service again in the itin-
erant ranks, he was readmitted as a member of the Ohio
conference, and stationed at Zanesville.

The appointment of father Emery, as he was familiarly
called, to Zanesville, was at a time when a crisis had
arrived in the history of the Church in that place which

WESTERN METHODISM. 333

seemed for a season almost to threaten its destruction.
That unhappy strife denominated the "Radical contro-
versy'' was then at its hight. Many had left the Church
under the impression that the government was an oligar-
chy, and that the membership were oppressed with a tyr-
anny from bishops, and elders, and preachers which they
were not able to bear, and ought not if they could;
through the overzealous labors of the new party, by
means of sermons, papers, and tracts, scattered broadcast
over the land, in which it was asserted that the clergy
had taken away all the rights of the laity, and that they
were 'Hording it over God's heritage." Among the num-
ber of those who left the Church in this excitement were
several of the more prominent, wealthy, and influential
members of the society; and when father Emery entered
upon his labors, every thing pertaining to the Church
wore a most gloomy aspect. He went, however, in the
spirit of his Master, and entered upon his work. It was
not the work of recrimination, however, in which he en-
gaged. To all the thrusts and taunts of his opponents,
he made no reply, except to turn his bland and open
face, wreathed with smiles, which indicated the forgive-
ness of his benevolent heart. He well knew that fire
could fight fire; but in the conflict all for which they
contended would be consumed; and, hence, he went
straightforward, preaching the blessed Gospel, and visit-
ing from house to house and from shop to shop, in the
streets and alleys, speaking a kind word to all he met on
the subject of their soul's salvation. The people soon
learned what manner of spirit he possessed, and were
won by his kindness and concern for their souls to crowd
to his ministry; and the little old frame church, which
stood in the rear of the new brick, the foundations of
which he laid, and over the elevation of the cap-stone
of which he shouted, would literally be packed with

iSl SKETCHES OF

anxious hearers. There, in that old-fashioned pulpit, in
hearing of the murmuring waters of the Muskingum,
rolling over their rocky bed, where a M'Kendree, an
Ellis, a Burke, a Young, a Morris, a Durbin, a Bascom,
and a Christie have stood and proclaimed the messages
of mercy and salvation, the old man eloquent, with his
face bathed in tears or covered with smiles, rocking from
side to side, proclaimed the Gospel of salvation and peace
*'in strains as soft as angels use,'^ or in thunder-tones
uttered the dread language of Sinai. It was not long
till the hearts of many were touched, and again the altar
was crowded and souls converted, and the old temple of
Zion was made to resound with shouts of praise. God
turned the captivity of the Church, and harps that had
been hanging unstrung on the willows were struck again
to loftiest notes of praise. The Lord rendered to Zion
more than double for all that she had suffered, in grant-
ing a most glorious revival, which swept over the town.

At that meeting strange things came to the ears of the
inhabitants of Zanesville. It was rumored that two stu-
dents from the Ohio University, one of whom was a son
of the then Governor of Ohio, had arrived, and would
preach in the Methodist Church. What was remarkable
in that day was, that they were Methodist preachers.
Who had heard, since the days of Wesley, of Methodist
preachers coming out fresh from a college to preach the
Gospel ? But it was even so : brothers Trimble and Herr —
for these were the young men — were found in that old-fash-
ioned pulpit, and multitudes who had never darkened the
threshold of the old church crowded to hear the stu-
dents. God was with them, and many heard from their
lips the first Methodist sermon. The revival spread with
power, and hundreds were awakened and happily con-
verted to God. Good '' old David " himself, with his
\fhitened locks and streaming eyes, as he would gaze

WESTEKN METHODISM. 835

upon the battle of the Lord from his seat in the altar,
seemed to saj, like old Simeon, "Now, Lord, lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace ; for mine eyes have seen thy
salvation." It was a great and glorious day for Method-
ism in Zanesville. From that revival went out almost a
half a score of young men to different and distant parts
of the country, to preach Christ and him crucified.

But wonders did not stop here. It was rumored that
the most eloquent divine thai ever addressed a Zanesville
audience had become a Methodist preacher, and was
coming back from the east, whither he had gone on a
visit, to identify himself with Methodism, in a place
where before he had wondered at the audacity of a
Methodist preacher in daring to ride along the main
street. He came, and listening, wondering thousands
hung upon his lips, if possible, with greater interest than
they had done before. Under these circumstances, Meth-
odism in Zanesville gained an influence and standing
which it has not lost to this day. There are now, in that
enterprising city, two large churches, both of which are
in a prosperous condition.

We must now resume our narrative. After father
Emery had finished his two years on the station, he was
sent to Cincinnati, in company with ourself, E. W. Sehon,
and S. A. Latta, where he labored with his accustomed
zeal and success.

The next year he was continued in the station, with
Thomas A. Morris, now Bishop, and William B. Christie.
In 1833 he was sent to Marietta, with W. Young as his
colleague, and the succeeding year to Chilicothe — in

1835 to Worthington, with W. Morrow. In the year

1836 he was, at the urs^ent solicitation of the Directors
of the Ohio Penitentiary, appointed as chaplain to said
institution. In this new field, all the sympathies of his
benevolent nature were taxed to their utmost. He was

336 SKETCHES OF

untiring in imparting instmction, admonition, and com-
fort to those who, by violation of the laws of the land,
had excluded themselves from society. His efforts to
reform hardened criminals was not without its effect.
Many an obdurate heart was made to feel the force of a
kindness and sympathy to which for years they had been
strangers, and many an eye, which had been as a sealed
fountain, was made, like the smitten rock in the desert,
to gush forth with penitential tears. All criminals incar-
cerated within the gloomy walls of a prison are not, as
some would suppose, lost to hope and heaven. Many
that we ourselves know have been truly converted, and
have given evidence thereof in the fruits of righteous-
ness, years after they have served out their time in the
penitentiary. No man, with a cold, unsympathetic heart,
should ever have any control in the instruction or gov-
ernment of a prison, as the discipline there is designed
to be, under the regulation of our laws, of a reformatory
character.

In the year 1837 he was appointed to Delaware circuit,
at the close of which, from old age and feebleness, he
was obliged to desist from labor, and take a superannu-
ated relation, in which he continued till the day of his
death. On all his fields of labor in the Ohio conference,
he was in toils more abundant, ever active and zealous in
his Master's service. No one ever knew father Emery
either unemployed or triflingly employed. He was fully
impressed with the idea that he had one great work to
perform, and he was straitened till that work was accom-
plished. His whole study seemed to be to finish the
work which had been assigned him, that in the end he
might testify rejoicingly the grace of God.

The period at last came which was to terminate his
labors in the kingdom and patience of Jesus. For some
time before his death he had been in feeble and declining

WESTEEN METHODISM. 337

health, yet lie still continued his labors both on the farm
and in the pulpit up to the very close of life. On Sab-
bath, May 20, 1849, he preached, and gave out an ap-
pointment for the succeeding Sabbath ; but it was his
last sermon. The following Tuesday he was suddenly
and violently attacked with inflammation of the bowels,
from which he suffered most intensely; but he was ena-
bled to '^ endure as seeing Him who is invisible.'^ Sab-
bath at length came, the day on which he had announced
to his congregation, Providence permitting, he would
preach; but instead of going into the sanctuary below to
warn sinners, and comfort mourners, and build up believ-
ers, just about the time he should have ascended the
pulpit he entered the sanctuary above, the building of
God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens, to wave that palm, and sing that song, and wear
that crown we have so often heard him glowingly describe
in his happiest hours.

He was disposed always to look upon death with some
degree of dread, and to speak of the last conflict with
the '^grim monster;" and as he saw the hour of dissolu-
tion approaching, he nerved himself for the dying strife.
He sought earnestly for dying grace, and that grace in
rich abundance was given. He realized that the God
of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob was with him, and all
was well. After taking leave of his friends, and espe-
cially his only daughter, Mary, to whom, in the most
affectionate manner, he spoke many precious words of
comfort and consolation, he calmly resigned himself to
die. Visions of glory, however, were reserved for this
dying herald of the cross, such as he had never witnessed
before. As he neared the Jordan, and the land of Beu-
lah spread out its bowers on either hand, like the dying
Payson he was enabled to see the celestial city on the
other shore, while he was fanned by its breezes, regaled

29

338

SKETCHES OF

by its odors, and enraptured by its transporting sounds.
When his pilgrim feet touched the dark, cold waters, he
exclaimed, "O, how gently my Savior leads me through!"

" Happy soul, thy days are ended —
All thy mourning days below ;
Go, by angel guards attended,
To the sight of Jesus, go l"

'I. i;

■.^-: -x.-^--.- li.r t..>: ;i

WESTERN METHODISM. 339

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE CONVERSION OP A FAMILY.

"When we were trayeling Knox circuit, at an appoint-
ment called Bowling-Green we were holding a quarterly
meeting. After the love-feast exercises in the morning
were ended, and many a soul had drank deeply from the
fountain of redeeming love, the doors were opened for
the admission of the congregation to preaching. As
usual, on such occasions, the chapel was crowded to its
utmost capacity. Many who never think of attending
the ordinary appointments of circuit preaching will come
out on such occasions, and it frequently happens that the
truth takes effect in hearts that were before wholly careless
and unconcerned in regard to their spiritual and eternal
interests. It having fallen to our lot to preach the eleven
o'clock sermon, we took occasion, in the course of our re-
marks, to address particularly parents, and, after pressing
upon them with as much earnestness as we were able, the
duties husbands owed to their wives, we presented, in as
forcible a light as possible, the duties of parents to their
children, but especially the duties of the husband as head
of the family. We alluded to the fearful responsibility
resting upon the husband and father, and the guilt in-
volved in the neglect of such to look after the salvation
of their families. In the presentation of motives to con-
tinued and unwearied exertion in behalf of the salvation
of those God had committed to their care, we referred to
the loss of such beloved ones to the society of heaven
and the despair and ruin that awaited them should they

34:0 SKETCHES OF

die in their sins. We endeavored to carry our audience
to the scenes of the judgment day, when wives will rise
up against their husbands and children against their par-
ents, and charge them with having been instrumental in
banishing them from heaven, and shutting them up in
the gloom of hell. While we preached, the Spirit ap-
plied the truth to many consciences. We noticed in the
congregation one man in particular, a rich and influential
citizen of the neighborhood, who grew pale and trembled
as we endeavored to pour the thunders of Sinai upon the
neglecters of salvation, and also labored to show the utter
impossibility of an escape from the fearful doom of a vio-
lated law. This man had a large and respectable family,
and he manifested no more concern for their salvation
than to secure for them an inheritance and make them
appear respectable in the world. No sum was considered
too great to be expended in fitting out his sons and
daughters for ''genteel society," and his greatest happi-
ness seemed to consist in seeing them figure highest on
the list of the roll of fashion and folly. He seemed to
have entertained the idea held by a certain gentleman in
one of our western towns, who took his daughter to a
fashionable boarding-school in the east, and who, on
being asked by the principal what he wished his daugh-
ter taught, replied, ''Teach her to shine." Alas! that
so many, and even, we fear, professors of religion, appear
to be governed by no higher views in the education of
their daughters! This worldliness might do among the
members of a certain Church we wot of, where, at a
Bible class, when the question for the evening's investi-
gation was introduced, " How shall we best teach our
children reverence for God V one of the gravest pillars
thereof rose and said, "Reverence is politeness; and,
therefore, if I wished to teach my children reverence for
God I would send them to a dancing-school." But Meth-

WESTERN METHODISM. 34.1

odist? have not learned in such a school nor in that other
•'school of morals" denominated the theater, the prin-
ciples of morality and the fear of God. We must be
pardoned for dwelling a little here. As there are many
professors who speak indulgently, if not encouragingly,
of the opera, the theater, and the dancing saloon, it is
time that a note of warning was sounded that would
break like Heaven's loudest thunder on the ears of such.

" 0, father," said a blooming girl of some eighteen
summers, gentle and lovely as a rose of spring, ''what
harm can there be in going to the theater just once, to
hear some of Shakspeare's best pieces rehearsed by star
performers? Besides, haven't you got the works of that
great author in your library ?"

"I will answer your question, my dear," said the
father, who was a minister, "by asking another. "What
harm would there be in letting this beautiful glass vase
fall on the stone hearth just once ?"

'' Ah, but the case is not a parallel one/^ said the
daughter.

"Why not? If it be true that, instead of being a
'school of morals,' it is a school of vice, and vice is con-
taminating to the soul, should it not be avoided? Can
one take coals in his bosom and not be burned ? Can one
walk amidst a shower of soot, such as often falls in our
city, and not have her garments soiled ? Besides, who
knows so well the nature and tendencies of such places
as those who have been behind the scenes ? And I tell
you the most eminent tragedian of the country would
never let his daughters enter the doors of a theater.
You know Emma, who joined the Church a few Sabbaths

since

V>

"Yes, I recollect that young lady."
" Well, she is one of the daughters of that tragedian,
and she never was inside of a theater. The very form

842 SKETCHES OF

in whicli you have put this question shows that you are
convinced of the impropriety of visiting such places,
because you speak of a single visit, and seem to think
that no harm can come of a single visit. You well know
by your education, and I pray God it may never become
part of 3^our experience, that

* Vice is a monster of sucli frightful mien,
That to be hated needs but to be seen ;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
She's first endured, then pitied, then embraced.' "

Since the above conversation the father has heard no
more from his daughter on the subject of going to the
theater.

But where have we wandered ? The gentleman above
alluded to was seized with strong convictions. He felt
that his whole life had been wrong, and all his sins and
delinquencies rose up before him. What to do he knew
not. On returning home he was met by his kind and
affectionate family, and some of them, with a laughing
sneer, asked about the shouting Methodists, whose preach-
ing and religious exercises frequently constituted the
theme of discourse. The father had but little to say.
At length the dinner hour arrived, and the Sabbath with
that family was a day of feasting; but the father, not
withstanding the many anxious entreaties, was too much
oppressed and sick at heart to eat. While the family sat
down he went into his parlor. We have already said it
was an affectionate family, and the absence of the parent
from the table seemed to have deprived the whole of an
appetite. Dinner was, therefore, soon dispatched, and
the wife and mother was not long in seeking the hus
band and father; for she was anxious to know what
trouble filled his mind. That which he might keep
from the children she knew he would communicate to
her. Scarcely had she entered the parlor where he was

WESTERN- METHODISM. 343

Bitting till his feelings, no longer to be repressed, over-
came him, and he burst into tears, exclaiming, in sobs
and broken accents, "0, Marj, I have sinned against
God and myself, and you and our children, and I feel
that I must change my course of life, or else we will
all be lost together. You have been my faithful and
devoted wife for twenty-five years, and I have never said
one word to you in all that time about your soul, nor
have I had any concern for the salvation of our chil-
dren. Can you forgive me? I have determined this
day to seek religion and lead a new life. Will you go
with me in that path of life in which there is no death
or sorrow T'

The wife was deeply affected, and, taking her husband
by the hand, she said, "My dear William, I have been
praying in my heart for years that you would take this
course of life. You thought, perhaps, I was altogether
careless and indifferent on the subject of religion. How
often have I desired to talk with you on the subject, but
my heart failed me ! Yes, William, I give you my heart
and my hand to journey with you to heaven. 0, bless
the Lord that I have lived to see this day V'

'' But, Mary, we must take our children with us. The
dear children that God has given to us must not be left
behind."

"Yes, William, it would be a sad and melancholy
thought to leave them in the broad road to destruction."
So saying she called them into the parlor. Soon they
were all in and seated — two sons, men grown, and three
daughters, the youngest of which being about eight years
of age.

The weeping, penitent father rose and addressed them:
^' My dear children, I have sinned against God in that, as
a father, I have never said any thing to you about your
salvation. You have never seen or heard me read a

344 SKETCHES OF

chapter in tlie Bible, nor have you ever heard a word of
prayer from my lips. I have constantly set before you a
bad example^ and all my influence has been to lead you
astray from the paths of religion. Now, God has smit-
ten me with conviction for my sins, and I stand before
him this day, and before your mother, and before you, a
guilty, condemned sinner, and if God does not forgive
me I must be eternally lost. 0, my dear children, will
you forgive your guilty father? Your mother and I have
entered into a solemn covenant with each other, before
God, that we will repent of our sins, and seek the Lord,
that we may be saved, and we can not enter into the
path of life without taking all our children with us that
we may make an unbroken family in heaven."

By this time all the children, from the oldest to the
youngest, were mingling their tears with those of their
parents. While they were weeping the father said,
''Now, if you will go along with us, come and give us
your hands." At this the elder son arose and said, " My
dear father and mother, if you go to heaven we will not
stay behind." Walking forward he gave his hand to
both, and was followed by the rest, who came weeping as
if their hearts would break. The youngest, not being
noticed in the midst of the excitement, which increased
every moment, came up and said, "Father, may not I go
too ?" At this the parents burst out into a loud expres-
sion of joy and grief, and the father, taking his lovely
child into his arms, thanked God that he had lived to
see that day. ''-^-^ ,fi<:0': '•' ^— -.; .^^ -

Such a Sabbath evening was never spent in that family
before. The father and mother bowed with their chil-
dren before God in supplications for mercy, was a sight
which caused joy in heaven among the angels. Monday
morning came, and when the hour arrived they all started
for meeting. Many were the expressions of surprise to

\

WESTERN METHODISM. 345

see Mr. and his family all enter the little chapel,

and take their seats in the congregation, which, on Mon-
day morning, is mostly composed of members of the
Church, and the immediate neighborhood. But how was
their surprise hightened when, on invitation being given
for persons to join the Church, the father, mother, and
all the children went forward and gave their hands to the
preacher! In the midst of the wave of feeling, which at
this time had risen high, the father asked liberty to say
a few words, which being granted he remarked, with
streaming eyes, as follows : " My neighbors and friends,
I have a word to say. I have not only sinned against
God, my wife and children, but I have sinned against
you. What influence I have had in this place has not
been exerted for good, but for evil. I have been a man
of the world, and sought only its pleasures, instead of
being religious and setting a good example. For this I
sincerely ask pardon of God and of you; and now, by
the assistance of Divine grace, me and my house will
serve the Lord. I ask you all to go with us, that we may
save ourselves and our families.'' At the conclusion of
this short speech the mourners were invited to the altar,
and soon almost every sinner in the house was on his
knees, pleading for pardon at the mercy-seat. From this
moment a great and glorious revival ensued, and more than
eighty persons were happily converted to God. Keader, if
thou art a husband or a father, and living without God and
without hope in the world, go and do likewise, and thou
shalt save thyself and family from sin and hell. Part of
the converted family has already passed over the ^'King's
highway," and entered the celestial city, and the remain-
der, like Christiana and her children, are following hard
after. 0, the blessed ones that have entered heaven !
No wonder good John Bunyan said, when in his dream,
heaven opened its gates to let in Christian and Faithful,

846 SKETCHES OF

and the heavenly multitude greeted their arrival, ^'which
when I saW; I wished myself among them/'

'^*'' ■ '■ " A few more days of sorrow,

And the Lord will call us home,
To walk the golden streets
Of the New Jerusalem."

i1^.v;i,

^V- v,7';->':

:A.'i..ri m^ii 'i>'\j':,-\,1^: U 'Xi S.;H i,>^ ■&:iril'Jl

WESTERN METHODISM. 347

CHAPTER XXV.

JOHN CRANE.

The subject of our present narrative was born at
station, about two miles below Nashville, Ten-
nessee, in the year 1787. Lewis Crane, his father, was
among the very first settlers in Cumberland, and was one
of those hardy pioneers who braved the dangers of the
wilderness, constantly exposed, with his family, to savage
depredations. At that early day there were but compar-
atively few means of grace enjoyed by the settlers. No
sound of the church-going bell waked the echoes of the
forests with its inviting tones; and it was only occasion-
ally that a Methodist itinerant, in one of his long and
weary circuits through the wilderness, following the emi-
grant population as they penetrated the western wilds,
would lift up his voice in the log-cabins, or by the camp-
fires of the almost homeless wanderers, and proclaim a
full and free salvation in the name of Jesus. Though
this class of ministers was often despised by black-gowned
and white-cravated clergymen, with the lore of a theolog-
ical seminary in their brains, and the powder and perfume
of the toilet on their hair, and, by way of derision, called
'^circuit riders,'' «r ^^swaddlers," yet, had it not been
for their self-sacrificing devotion, Christianity would not
have been kept alive in these western wilds. Often have
these men traveled from block-house to block-house, from
station to station, and from cabin to wigwam, bearing the
messages of mercy to their fellow-men, without any
means of support or any expectation of a pecuniary

348 SKETCHES OF

reward. But the history of one is, to a greater or less
extent, the history of all those early pioneers of Chris-
tianity.

Lewis was not only the first among the adventurers to
this western wilderness, but he was among the first that
became religious and joined the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Though Methodists at that time were few in
number, yet they lived to love God and one another, and
cheerfully bore the cross of Him who said, ''If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow me.^' Hence, we may readily infer
that young John, though born in a block-house, in the
most troublous times of border warfare, was early taught
the fear of God. At the early age of six he was brought
under religious influence, and impressions were made
upon his tender mind and heart that marked his charac-
ter forever. And here we might remark, nothing is more
important than giving the mind a proper training in the
soft and flexible season of youth. The softest breath
of summer may stir the stem of the delicate flower, while
the rudest blasts of winter may not move the giant oak.
In very early life the mind receives impressions that tell
upon its future destiny.

'* A pebble in the streamlet scant
:. . . Has turned the course of many a river;

„ ^ ;^ , ^^.? J ., '|, , A dew-drop on the baby plant

Has warped the giant oak forever."

The Prussian king, in urging reasons why the children
of the realm should be religiously educated, said, " The
youthful mind receives impressions with the flexibility
of wax, and retains them with the durability of bronze.^'
Said another individual, " Scratch the rind of the sap-
ling, and the gnarled oak will tell of it for centuries.'"

Whatever these pioneer Christians learned, they
learned the importance of giving their children a relig-

WESTERN METHODISM. 34:9

ions education. At the age of twelve John was made a
subject of converting grace, during the great revival
which prevailed in Cumberland and all over the west.
He was regarded as one of the most remarkable children
of his age; and during this early period of his life he
frequently exhorted his friends and acquaintances to seek
religion, with an effect that gave evidence of his wonder-
ful eloquence and zeal, few being able to resist the wis-
dom and power manifested in the preacher-boy. Many
of his young associates were brought under religious in-
fluence through his instrumentality; and had their par-
ents possessed the belief that young children could love
and serve God, and followed up the convictions received
by proper religious training, many would have become,
like John, burning and shining lights. We were well
acquainted with a traveling preacher who had a lovely
daughter, seven years of age, an only child, and she had
been taught to pray from her infancy. Once at a quar-
terly meeting, after all the professors in the house had
communed, this child, who was sitting by her mother
weeping, looked up into her face with streaming eyes,
and said, '' Mother, may I go and remember my Savior at
the sacrament?" The mother replied, "Go, ask your
father, my child.'' The father was sitting in the altar,
and the little girl approached him and said tremblingly,
"Father, may a child take the sacrament?" "Yes, my
dear," said the father, unable to restrain his feelings,
"you may come; for Jesus said, 'Suffer little children to
come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' "
She then went round on the outside of the railing, and
kneeled down, sobbing as if her little heart would break.
It was a moving scene, and the congregation was melted
into tears, while some cried out aloud. The presiding
elder, James Quinn, of blessed memory, in the full gush
of his benevolent heart, when he saw the weeping peni*

350 SKETCHES OF

tent, immediately took tlie bread and broke it, adminis-
tering to that lamb the body of Jesus. When he came
with the wine and said, ''The blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ, hereby represented, preserve your soul and body
unto everlasting life," his own feelings, as well as those
of the audience, were intense and almost insupportable.
He gave it to the child, and just as it touched her lips
the Spirit was applied,

•' Which with the blood
Doth Avash and seal the sons of God,"

and heaven sprung up in the heart of that happy child.
She was converted, and from that hour became a con-
sistent and devoted disciple of Jesus. We knew her
well, and after she had a large family of children; but
she kept the faith, and brought them all up in the nur-
ture and admonition of the Lord.

If it will not tire the reader, and be considered too
great a digression from the subject, we will relate another
incident illustrative of youthful piety, and tending to
show the negligence of Christians in regard to children.
At a camp meeting held on C. S. camp-ground, the ven-
erable Bishop M'Kendree was present and preached to
the children and young people. On this occasion the
Bishop noticed a little boy who was much affected.
Being intimately acquainted with the family, and know-
ing the child well, he invited him into his tent, and con-
versed and prayed with him, laying his hand upon his
little head and commending him to God.. That afternoon
the doors of the Church were opened, and this boy went
forward and presented himself as a probationer. He was
received, and continued to attend regularly to his relig-
ious duties, never absenting himself from prayer meet-
ing, or class meeting, or preaching when he could attend.
He was but a mere child, and as he would sit in class, no
one, either leader or preacher, would speak to him or pay

.^ WESTERN METHODISM. 351

him any attention. At this his young heart was ranch
aggrieved, and he was sometimes tempted to go no more;
but he concluded to hold on till his grandfather, whc
was a traveling preacher, would visit them, and he would
speak to him on the subject. At length the grandfather
came, and when he was sitting alone, one day, he came
to him, and said,

'^ Grandfather, I want to ask you a question."

"Well, my child," said the old man, "what is your
wish?"

"Well, it is this," said he; "do you think I am too
young to serve God and belong to the Church?"

"No, not at all, my child," said the venerable saint,
with emotion. "Your mother embraced religion when
she was only seven years of age, and we have many ex-
amples in the Bible where children became religious in
the dawn of life, such as Samuel, and Josiah, and Tim-
othy; and the Scriptures say, ^Out of the mouths of
babes and sucklings God has perfected praise.' But why
did you ask this question ?"

"At camp meeting," said the child, "when Bishop
M'Kendree preached to us children, I resolved I would
be a Christian, and when brother C. opened the doors
of the Church, I went forward and joined. I have been
to meeting every time since, and staid in class ; but no
person says a word to me about religion, and I thought
they considered me too young to be noticed."

"Well," said the grandfather, "I will go with you to
meeting next Sunday, and if the preacher does not speak
to you when he meets the class, do you rise up and ask
him the reason. Do you understand?"

" Yes, grandfather, I will."

The day came, and the grandfather and child were at
meeting. When the congregation was dismissed, the
preacher commenced leading his class, and all were

852 SKETCHES OF

spoken to as usual but the little boy. He made an effort
to rise, but liis heart failed him. The grandfather,
seeing this, said, ^^ Brother L., little J. has a question to
ask you?^' The child then rose, and, in a simple man-
ner, gave his experience, not forgetting to allude to his
not having been spoken to. At this the preacher
blushed, and the class-leader wept, one after the other
confessing their delinquency and promising to do better
for the future. That child has grown to manhood, and
has a family, and has been a useful and highly-acceptable
member of the Church. God forbid that we should
despise one of these little ones that believes in Jesus !

But we must resume our narrative. The astonishing
progress made by young Crane in gifts, grace, and use-
fulness, was such as to indicate to the Church most
clearly that he was called of Grod to preach the Gospel;
and, accordingly, he was recommended as a suitable per-
son to be received on trial in the traveling connection:
His bones had not yet hardened into manhood, and his
youthful appearance, and slender, delicate frame seemed
to forbid the hope that he would be able to breast the
storms and encounter the toils and hardships of an itin-
erant life. Nature and grace alike had fitted him for the
work ] and, though young, it was evidently the design of
Providence that he should enter the field of his Lord and
engage in gathering the harvest of souls. He was re-
ceived at the Western conference, held at Nolichuckie,
in Tennessee, in 1807, and sent to the Holston circuit,
which he traveled six months with great acceptability and
usefulness among the people. The remaining six months
were spent on the French Broad circuit. His extreme
youth as a preacher, his zeal and piety, together with his
remarkable native eloquence, called large crowds to hear
him wherever he went, and God owned his labors in
bringing, through his instrumentality, many a wayward

\

WESTERN METHODISM. 353

sinner, both old and young, from tlieir wanderings to the
knowledge of the truth and the salvation of God.

In 1808 he was removed from French Broad, and sent
to tho Deer Creek circuit, in Ohio, the colleague of that
eminent man of God, Benjamin Lakin. On this circuit
he had great influence, and the melting, moving strains
of the youthful herald found way to thousands of hearts.
Notwithstanding his great success, he had to encounter
many fierce and fiery trials ; but out of all the Lord de-
livered him and made him shine with greater brightness.
At the ensuing conference at Liberty Hill, he was admit-
ted into full connection and ordained to the office of a
deacon. Having thus taken upon himself more fully the
vows of God, and having consecrated himself more unre-
servedly to the service of his Master, he was ready for
any field, however rugged, or any work, however toilsome.
The wants of the great west were before him, and giving
himself up into the hands of the appointing power, he
was sent to the distant Mississippi. For a youth of his
age, having just passed his minority, it must have been
a bold and daring undertaking. It was a long and weary
journey through a wilderness, and, when reached, the
population was sparse, and that mostly Boman Catholic,
whose first principles of indoctrination are to hate Prot-
estants. Surely, nothing but an intense love for lost sin-
ners and an unshaken confidence in the promise of the
Savior, '' Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the
world," could have urged him on in this missionary work.
He went; and the God of Jacob, who sustained and com-
forted him as he lay upon his rock pillow, was with this
young soldier of the cross. He went as an evangelist,
and was successful in the work of planting Churches in
the wilderness, dedicated to a pure Christianity. Neither
swamps, nor forests dense and drear, nor broad rivers,
could shake him from his purpose or impede his way.

30

•wiP' '' SKETCHES OP

Onward, over craggy steeps, and throngli dells and dark
morasses, lie urged his course, and wherever he could
track the foot of man he pursued, to bear to him the
messages of mercy and salvation.

But his tour of hardship, which he had already borno
as a good soldier, was not yet ended. He served so well
and so bravely in this frontier field, on the outposts of
civilization, that, at the conference in 1811, he was sent
to Cold Water and Missouri united. In giving him this
appointment, it seemed like putting him in charge of
the whole far-western world. The circuit included both
sides of the Missouri river, and often was he obliged to
swim his horse across the great ^'father of waters.'^ Noth-
ing, however, stopped this bearer of heavenly dispatches.
He was charged with a high trust from the court of
heaven, and God had given him passports, which secured
his right of way over the whole continent, and to every
log-cabin and frontier wigwam he bore the messages of
Heaven. Multitudes believed his report, and to them
the arm of the Lord was revealed in mercy to save, and,
doubtless, while we write, many of those redeemed
through his instrumentality are rejoicing and praising
God in the upper sanctuary.

In the year 1812 he was appointed to the Duck Eiver
circuit. While here, large numbers flocked from all
parts of the country to hear the words of life. It was
the year of the memorable earthquake, which shook so
terribly the southern country. Thousands, by day and
by night, flocked to hear the Gospel from the lips of this
sainted youth; and such was his zeal and fervor, con-
joined with the burning desire that

" All the world miglit taste and see
The riches of God's grace,"

he literally, like a lambent flame, burned out in the serv-
ice of his Master. Wearied out with ceaseless labors hy

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 355

nig-ht and by day, and subjected to frequent exposures in
traveling from one distant appointment to another, lie
was attacked with inflammation of the lungs. AYhen his
disease assumed such a form as to disqualify him from
preaching, he was at the house of a Mr. Mitchell, where
all the attention that could be shown him was paid by
stranger hands. But all efforts were unavailing, and he
rapidly declined, till it was evident to all that death was
near, and he would never preach again. On one occa-
sion his symptoms were of such a nature as to induce
those who were present to believe that he was dying, and
it seemed, after a short struggle, that his breath had
ceased, and he was gone ; but in a short time he revived
again, and said to his friends, ''What hath brought me
back to earth again ? I have been on the very suburbs
of heaven and glory." It seemed as if his spirit had been
trying its wings for the mystic but glorious flight, and
had returned for some purpose. Shortly after this brief
trance his father came, and, embracing him in his arms,
he said, '^0 father, I love you; but I have a Father in
heaven whom I love more, and I shall soon be with him
in glory. 3Iy body will soon be consigned to the grave;
but my soul will put on immortality and eternal life."
His countenance, always winning and attractive, now
beamed with an unearthly brightness, and, like the glo-
ries of the setting sun, throwing back, on its departure,
the radiance of the better land on which it is rising, so
his spirit seemed to reflect the radiance of heaven. His
work was done for earth, his commission had expired^
and death was waiting to sound his release. With a
smile upon his lips, he bade his father and friends a last
adieu, and soared to companionship with angels and God-
Thus fell the youthful herald of the cross, at his post, in
the distant wilds of Missouri.

356 SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XXYI.

WILLIAM YOUNG.

The subject of our present narrative was the brother
of the Rev. David Young, a short sketch of whose life
the reader may find in the " Autobiography/' William
was a native of Virginia, born in Washington county,
on the 16th day of May, 1786. In the year 1805, when
he was in the nineteenth year of his age, he was awak-
ened to a sense of his lost condition, convinced of the
need of a Savior, and, through the instrumentality of
Methodist preaching, he was happily converted to God.
Two years after this he felt it his duty to exhort sin-
ners to repentance, and entered upon that work with zeal
and fidelity. Such were his gifts, grace, and usefulness
in this vocation, that he was adjudged by the Church as
called of God to the higher ofiice of preaching the Gos-
pel, and, accordingly, in 1808, he was licensed to preach.
In due time he was recommended to the annual confer-
ence as a proper person to be received on trial into the
traveling connection. He was received at the conference
held at Liberty Hill, October 7th, and was appointed to
travel Mad River circuit. In the year 1810 he was sent
to the Tennessee Valley, where his labors were arduous
and somewhat successful.

To show the wide extent of country over which the
early preachers traveled — we do not allude to the first
missionaries, such as Burke and Kobler, and others, but
those who were regular circuit preachers — all that ig
neeoBsary is to follow a sketch of their travels. The

WESTERN METHODISM. 357

next year — 1811 — we find our brother sent back to Ohio,
and appointed to the Cincinnati circuit. At that time
this was a large circuit, and many of the appointments
were difiicult to reach. Presiding elders then had whole
states in their districts; and at an earlier day several
states and their contiguous territories were included in
their field. There were then no public conveyances; but
from month to month, and year to year, elders, bishops,
and preachers pressed the saddle almost every day. Now
one western state sufl&ces to make two whole conferences
and parts of three others, while a single circuit of olden
time now makes several districts, and a presiding elder
can reach nearly all his appointments in a railroad car,
sitting on a velvet seat; and the idea of a bishop on
horseback is as novel as it would have been to have seen
one in a coach in the days of Asbury.

The person of brother Young was rather robust than
otherwise, and he possessed a strong constitution; but so
severely were his physical powers taxed in frequent,
laborious, vehement pulpit exercises, that they at length
gave way in some degree. He would preach till he was
frequently exhausted, carried on by a zeal which knew
no flagging. Every circuit that he traveled was blest
with a revival of religion. His whole soul was enlisted
to the utmost of its powers in laboring to save his fellow-
men. In visiting from house to house, and pouring out
his prayers and tears in personal effort for the conversion
of all within reach of his ministrations, added to his
regular circuit labors, he was a model of a hard-
working preacher and pastor, worthy the imitation of
some in the itinerant ranks at the present day. Though
not a very pleasant speaker, or agreeable in his manners
in the pulpit, he was, nevertheless, a burning and a shin-
ing light. He possessed a genial spirit; and such waa
bis urbanity in conversation and the social circle, that

358 SKETCHES OF

all who knew liinij whether saint or sinner, held him in
the highest esteem^ and courted rather than shunned his
society.

In the month of December, on an extremely cold day,
this devoted minister started out from Cincinnati to visit
his appointment at North Bend. The wind blew from
the river, in fierce and piercing blasts, directly in the
face of the itinerant all the way. From this exposure
he took a violent cold, which settled upon his previously-
injured lungs, producing a hectic fever, which resulted
in a settled consumption. He was now confined to his
room, and no longer permitted to engage in his much-
loved employ. While disease was consuming his system,
his soul burned with the all-consuming fire of a zeal for God
and his cause, which made it difficult for him to exercise
patience enough to keep from going out and warning
sinners to repent. Sometimes he would be greatly de-
jected in mind, and the adversary would assail him with
temptations; but the trial of his faith, being more pre-
cious than gold, he was enabled to realize would work out
for him, if faithful to the end, a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. He often expressed fears that
he lacked that degree of patience and resignation to the
will of God which it was his privilege to possess. He
sometimes lamented the absence of that full, overpower-
ing love of God which he had experienced when in full
health and vigor; but he knew not that his weak, ema-
ciated frame would have sunk under such a load of glory.
Prayer was his constant exercise, and sometimes it would
burst out in praise to God and the Lamb. So anxious
was he to be in the field doing battle for the Lord,
that on one occasion, in opposition to the advice of his
physician and the entreaties of his friends, but three
days before his death, he rode out to a camp-ground,
where the people were adjusting their tents, and waited

WESTERN METHODISM. 359

for the services to begin. He took his position in the
preachers' stand, looked round upon the tents of Israel,
and gazing upon the people, he burst into tears, saying,
'' 0, my brethren, I am done "with these things now. I
shall be at camp meeting no more, but we'll meet in
heaven. '' He returned home, and before that camp
meeting closed he left the world in the triumphs of faith,
and ascended to mansions on high. ^' For him to live
was Christ, but to die was gain.''

How often is the Church called to mourn the loss of
the most useful and talented young ministers ! A heathen
poet has said, ''Whom the gods love die early." The
Bible tells us, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints ;" and hence we infer it is more
blessed to die than to live, if we are the beloved of the
Lord. A Summerfield, a Cookman, a Blackman, and
others, have been called away early, even before they
reached life's prime; and as in nature the brightest
flowers soonest fade, so in the Church the loveliest types
of Christian character are soonest taken away to that
world where flowers never wither, and where loved ones
always stay. The providence may be mysterious which
removes these lights from the Church below ; but as
with individuals, so with the Church — all things, we are
assured, shall work together for her good; and though
God removes the most useful and skillful laborers, yet
the work goes on.

We had but a partial acquaintance with brother Young,
yet his praise was in all the Churches where he labored,
and he has left a name better than precious ointment, or
all the fragrance of Yemen and Guhl

3(30 .?A sketchp:s of

,;:> ;, ., CHAPTER XXYII. :i

THE CONVERSION OF AN INFIDEL.

When we were traveling tlie Cross Creek circuit, in
the year 1814, one of the most wonderful manifestations
of divine grace, in the awakening and conversion of an
infidel, occurred that we were ever permitted to witness
during our whole itinerant career. There lived in the
bounds of the circuit, not far from Steubenville, an infidel
of wealth and distinction. He belonged to the French
school of infidelity, which, in the Reign of Terror in
France, had, in consequence of its disgust at the crime?
and corruptions, and mummeries of Romanism, renounced
all religion, vetoing Christianity, deifying reason, and
writing over the cemeteries, ^' Death an eternal sleep."
He was a devoted student of Voltaire, and Rosseau, and
D'Alembert, and being educated and talented but few
were able or felt disposed to meet him in argument on
the subject of religion. Indeed, he was a terror to all
Christians in the neighborhood, and he never lost an
opportunity to instill his infidel principles into the minds
of all who would listen to his deceptive and dangerous
philosophy — falsely so called. He was a man of great
influence in the county, and all that influence wa^ thrown
into the scale of infidelity. His principles were not only
destructive of the general morals of the community, but
were insidiously working their way into the impressible
minds of the young and rising generation, poisoning
them with infidelity. When he met with one equally
well skilled in argument, and capable of showing the

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 361

sophistry of liis reasoning, and of tearing off the vail
from the hideous form of the monster infidelity, he never
would fail to fly to that last resort of infidels as their test
of truth, ridicule, well knowing how potent such a weapon
is in skillful hands. Where few can reason all can lauffh.
and as the depraved human heart is always on the infidel's
side, often has the multitude, which usually collected in
those days around disputants, been excited to laughter at
the sallies of wit and ridicule the infidel would bring to
bear upon his antagonist.

Where the majority were irreligious it was easy to see
how fearful would be the odds against the Christian,
though armed with the panoply of truth. What men
wish to be true they require but little evidence to con-
vince them of its truth; and, on the other hand, what
they do not wish to be true no amount of evidence is
sufficient to convince them of its falsehood. The sinner
would gladly believe, though there is a God, that the ter-
rible denunciations which he has made against sin are
the mere product of priestcraft, gotten up to frighten
people into a belief of Christianity, and any denial of
that fact, supported by the merest semblance of an argu-
ment, would be seized with the greatest avidity, even as
a drowning man would catch at a straw. As an illustra-
tion of this, we once heard a public speaker, in a court-
house, haranguing a large crowd on the subject of relig-
ion. He had much to say about the priestcraft of ortho-
dox preachers, and labored hard, and, as he thought,
successfully, to prove that there was no hell; that it was
all a mere bugbear to frighten the weak and credulous.
One of his audience, a wealthy planter, on a visit from
the far south, seemed to be in ecstasies at the preaching,
and could scarcely restrain himself from shouting aloud
his approbation. Good news from a far country, or cold
water to a thirsty soul, could not have been more refreshing
31

362 SKETCHES OF ^

to tlie southerner than the glad tidings of this discourse.
At length the speaker closed, and came down from the
judge's bench, where he had been standing. The crowd
gathered around him, but none were so eager to grasp his
hand as the planter. " Grod bless your dear soul,'' said
he, ^' I thank you a thousand times for that sermon. It's
all true, every word of it, and commends itself to the
reason of man." But, as he was turning to go away, a
new thought seemed to strike him, and returning to the
preacher, he said, '^Your sermon is true — true, no doubt
of it in the least, sir; but, by hell, I'll give you a hogs-
head of tobacco if you will insure it.'^ There is the
difficulty. Infidels fcor that religion is true. With the
best of them, in their brightest, happiest hours, there is
*'a fearful looking-for of judgment."

But we must resume our narrative. This infidel would
not attend any religious meetings, and paid a total disre-
gard to all the institutions of religion. Strange as it
may seem, with all his avowed infidelity and unblushing
opposition to religion, he was chosen to represent the
county in the Legislature of the state. God save us
when our liberties and rights are intrusted to the hands
of those who neither fear God nor regard man ; for,
though we could not make religion a test of qualification
nor require a profession thereof as indispensable to a legis-
lator, we would, nevertheless, require in the candidate for
public favor, a decent respect for the opinions and rights
of others. If it may be argued that men of infidel sen-
timents have been good statesmen and patriots, and have
served their country with fidelity, we reply, their states-
manship and patriotism were not the result of their infi-
delity, but they existed in spite of it. ' iKu''^-^ ^i''

The family of the subject of our narrative consisted
of a wife and one child — a lovely daughter, beautiful and
accomplished, having received what is termed a polite

WESTERN METHODISM. 363

and fashionable education. The mother was alike infidel
in sentiment with the father, and, of course, as it was
with the father and mother, so it was with the daughter.
Her youthful mind was made to take into its first impres-
sions the blank and cheerless doctrines of infidelity.
One has said, **0f all the melancholy sights that meet
the gaze of mortals, nothing is half so drear and desolate
as that of an infidel mother. For her there is no God
and Savior; no bright and cheering hopes of immortality
and eternal life beyond the grave. Home, with its en-
dearments and angel faces, was designed to remind us
constantly of the family of God in heaven; but where
the cold night of infidelity reigns, and no voices of
prayer and praise are heard, life is a dull, leaden dream,
and death an eternal sleep.'' This lovely girl, notwith-
standing the cold and dreary sphere in which she had
taken her existence and moved, was, nevertheless, of an
amiable disposition. She was the infidel's daughter, and
the child of a prayerless mother; but yet she possessed
a genial mind and a trusting heart. We have heard it
said of some, "they are naturally religious," and if it
were possible for any to have a native religious character
such might be ascribed to her. But, like the young ruler
whom Jesus loved for his amiability of disposition and
morality of conduct, she lacked one thing, and that was
the regenerating grace of God, without which all natural
graces will prove unavailing as requisites for heaven.

Not a very great distance from her father's residence
there was a preaching-place, where the Methodist itiner-
ants held meeting regularly every two weeks. A special
meeting had been appointed to continue several days,
and as the father was absent at the Legislature, she went
to the meeting without the knowledge of her mother.
Dressed, as she was, in fashionable style, when she
entered the rude cabin, and took her seat among the

364 ' .^ SKETCHES OF f

old-fasliioned Methodists, slie became an object of gen-
eral attention, quite as much so as an old-fashioned
Methodist now would be if she were to come into one of
our fashionable congregations with her plain gown and
Quaker bonnet. But she did not come out of mere idle
curiosity ; she was strangely drawn to the house of wor-
ship, and there was a power at work, in regard to the
nature of which she was unconscious. She had, as we
have already seen, been reared in utter ignorance of re-
ligion, and all that she was taught concerning it was,
that it was a system of priestcraft; and though there
might be some honest, deluded professors of religion, the
most of them were arrant hypocrites. She never read the
Bible ; for her father considered it too immoral a book to
put in his daughter's hands, preferring the writings of
French infidels, and even the blasphemous scurrility of
Paine himself, to that book. Beside this, she nevei
heard a Gospel sermon, being prevented from attending
all religious meetings. Of course to her every thing
was new; and though she could appear with ease and
grace in the drawing-room or gilded saloon, she felt
embarrassed in the midst of a worshiping assembly.
She composed herself, however, as well as she was able;
and when the preacher rose, and with solemn voice an-
nounced the text, ^' God so loved the world that he gave
his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life,'' her attention
was absorbed. This was the first and all of the Gospel
she had ever heard, and it sounded strangely in her ears.
She had read Rosseau's opinion of Jesus Christ, and was
disposed to look on him as an innocent, upright man, and
she coincided with him in opposition to other infidel wri-
ters who had asserted that he was an impostor. When
the preacher fully opened his theme, representing God's
love in sending his Son into the world to die for uS; and

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 365

the love of Christ in coming and taking upon himself
our load of guilt and shame, illustrated by scenes drawn
from real life, and enforced and applied to the listening
audience, the heart of the young girl was broken up, and
she wept aloud. Every eye was suffused in tears, and
many were the warm and ardent prayers that went up to
heaven in behalf of that weeping one.

When the meeting was ended she returned home ; but
so deeply was she affected by what she had heard that it
was impossible for her to conceal her feelings from her
mother, who, in a stern voice, asked her where she had
been, almost as soon as she entered the sitting-room. On
being informed that she had been to meeting, she became
very much excited, and said, in an angry tone, "If you
go again those ignorant fanatics will ruin you forever;
and if it comes to your father's ears that you have been
to Methodist meeting, he will banish you from the house;
besides, you ought to know better. The instructions you
have received should guard you against all such impropri-
eties, and I hope hereafter I shall never hear of your
being at such a place. ^'

Night came, and with it came the hour for meeting.
Now commenced a conflict in the mind of the daughter.
She had never disobeyed her mother, nor did she ever
feel disposed to act contrary to her wishes in any respect;
but her heart longed for the place of prayer, and she felt
strongly drawn to it by a secret, invisible agency she
could not resist. '' Shall I," said she to herself, " diso-
bey my mother, and incur the displeasure of my father,
and perhaps banishment from home ? But the preacher
said that 'the Savior of the world declared that "who-
soever loveth father or mother more than me is not wor-
thy of me; and whosoever will not forsake father and
mother for my sake and the Gospel's, shall not enter
heaven." ' I will forsake all for Christ." The crisis

SG6 SKETCHES OF ■ 'ff

had come; the gate was passed; and her joyous destiny
was sealed forever. She left her home and went to mect-
iiip;. An inviting sermon was preached, at the close of
which seekers of religion were invited to kneel at the
mourner's bench, and pray for pardon. No sooner was
the invitation given than she pressed her way through
the crowd, and fell upon the bench, crying for mercy.
Her full heart now poured forth its griefs in sobs and
fervent prayers. The whole congregation was taken by
surprise, and filled with utter astonishment at the scene,
knowing, as the most of them did, the utter contempt in
which her father and mother held religion and all relig-
ious exercises. Surely, thought they, this must be the
special interposition of God, and every heart was lifted
up in fervent prayer in her behalf. There, at that
mourner's bench, she struggled in agonizing prayer for
two hours. It was apparently the noon of night, and yet
she was not converted. Never was mourner more deeply
eno-asred. She had made the last resolve. One after
another of the faithful had poured out their hearts at the
mercy seat in her behalf; hymn after hymn was sung, as
only those can sing who sing with the spirit; but still
she came not through the dark valley. Faith began to
flag, and some thought the penitent must disrobe herself
of her hat, and plume, and flowers, and ruffles, ere the
Lord could bless. But God looks at the heart, and he
saw, down deep in its own recesses, a soul absorbed in
grief, conscious of nothing but its guilt and sin. At
length the last hymn was rolling up from swelling hearts
and tuneful voices to heaven. The last stanza was reached,

" Yet save a trembling sinner, Lord,
Whose hopes, still hovering round thy word,
Would light on some sweet promise there,
Some sure support against despair;"

and as the last strain sounded in the ear of the penitent,

\

WESTERN METHODISM. 367

she gently threw back her head, and opened her calm
blue eyes, yet sparkling with tears; but they were the
tears that told of sins forgiven. She had emerged from
the darkness, and the light of heaven was beaming upon
her happy countenance, and an unearthly radiance gleamed
like a glory on her brow. If before she was beautiful,
now that she was adorned with heavenly grace one might
think she could claim kindred with the skies. She arose.
and embraced in her arms the sisters who had prayed
with her, and pointed her to the Lamb of God, who
taketh away the sin of the world. She had passed the
noon of many a night in scenes of guilty mirth and rev-
elry, where she was the foremost of the band, the fairest
of the fair; but never did such joy and gladness come to
her soul as she experienced on that occasion. She re-
turned home, feeling now that she could gladly bear any
thing for the sake of her Lord and Master. When she
arrived she related to her mother what had occurred, and
exclaimed, '' 0, how precious is the Savior \" She would
have embraced her mother in her arms ; but she repulsed
her and reproached her, telling her that if she did not
cease her nonsense she would drive her away from the
house, and that she had disgraced the family and ruined
herself forever. She retired to her room, and spent the
remainder of the night in prayer and praise to God.

Soon it was noised abroad that the infidel's daughter
was converted; and some of his friends, supposing, doubt-
less, that they would render him great service, wrote to
him on the subject, giving him the most absurd and
ridiculous accounts of her exercises while at the mourn-
er's bench, and after she was converted. When Mr. P.
received this intelligence he was greatly enraged, and
swore that he would banish his daughter from his housCj
and she should be entirely disinherited and disowned.
All this moved not the converted daughter; for she real-

868 SKETCHES OF •' ^r#

ized tlie truth of the Divine declaration, ^^When my
father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take
me up." The day was at length fixed for his return
home, and Eliza — for that was the daughter's name —
placed herself at the window to watch his arrival. In
the afternoon he was seen approaching on horseback, and
Eliza hastened out to the gate to meet her father. When,
with a pale, sweet countenance, she stepped up to her
father to embrace and kiss him, he rudely seized her by
the arm, and, with his horsewhip, whipped her out of
the gate, telling her to begone, and, with many curses,
forbidding her return. Sadly she went weeping down
the lane; but she thought of what her Savior had suf-
fered for her, and her heart was staid up under the
mighty load which oppressed it. She realized then, to
its fullest extent, what it was to love the Lord Jesus
more than all else besides. Though she had lost natural
friends she had found spiritual friends. That "manifold
more in this life, and in the world to come life everlast-
ing/' is what only religion can give.

"Like snows that fall where waters glide, *

Earth's pleasures facie a,wAj ; . >

... .^'.j.^ f, They rest in time's resistless tide, , •. ,. „.,,?,.■?

And cold are while they stay.
But joys that from religion flow,

Like stars that gild the night, '

- ■-, . ' --'^ Amid the deepest gloom of woe,

Shine forth with sweetest light."

Not far from her father's residence lived a pious Meth-
odist— a poor widow — and she was apprised of the state
of things at the house of Mr. P. When she saw Eliza
coming to her house one evening, she was not at a loss
to conjecture the cause. The poor widow gave her a cor-
dial reception, and spoke to her words of kindness and
comfort. Eliza asked permission to go into the little
room, and be allowed to remain there undisturbed. No

WESTERN METHODISM. 369

sooner was she alone than she fell upon her knees, and
commenced pouring out her soul to Grod in prayer for her
■wicked father and mother.

But we must return to the father. As he gazed after
Eliza, who went sobbing down the lane, it seemed as
though a thousand fiends of darkness had taken posses-
sion of his soul. He went to the house, and met his
wife; but she was equally wretched, having witnessed
what was done. He sat down. They spoke not, except
in monosyllables. The supper-hour arrived, but he re-
fused to eat, though he had been riding all day. Now
and then a groan would escape his lips. He went to his
library, and turned over his books and papers -, but it was
in a hurried manner, and with a vacant look. At length
he retired to his chamber, but not to rest. Sleep had
forsaken his eyelids, and if he did close them, the sweet,
angel face of his banished Eliza would send daggers to
his soul. Thus he spent a sleepless night. Next day he
wandered about over the farm, and through the woods,
like one seeking, with the greatest anxiety, for something
that was lost. It was evident to all that there was some-
thing resting upon his mind that greatly troubled him.
The cause of that trouble his proud, infidel heart would
not allow him to disclose, even if the human heart were
disposed to lift the vail from the secret sanctuary of its
bitterness. Unable to find rest he again sought his
chamber; but, alas! his anguish increased, and he began
to see the shallowness of his infidelity, and also its dark,
horrid nature, in that it could prompt him to drive his
lovely, and otherwise obedient daughter from his house,
simply because she had become a Christian. From that
moment he was a changed man — not that he was con-
verted ; but from a hard, impenitent sinner he was
brought to relent and pray. There he prayed for hours;
but not one ray of hope penetrated his darkness. His

370 SKETCHES OF

abused and banislied Eliza would rise before liim, and bis
convictions increased, till be raved like tbe demoniac
among tbe tombs of Gadara. It seemed as if be would
not be able mucb longer to support tbe mountain weigbt
tbat was crusbing bim ; for tbe sorrows of hell got bold
upon bim, and be anticipated tbe pain of tbe second
deatb. Flying from bis room, be called bis servant-
boy, and ordering bim to saddle Eliza's borse and mount
anotber, be directed bim to go to every bouse in tbe
neigbborbood in quest of bis daugbter, and if he found
her to bring her home. Seeing that his orders were
immediately obeyed, he returned to his chamber; but
tbe load tbat pressed upon his heart was removed, and
tbe anguish that drank up his spirits was gone. He was
comforted, but not converted. The raging deep was
calmed, but the sun shone not upon its dark waters. He
walked out into tbe garden, and there, beneath Eliza's
favorite bower, he kneeled down, and again lifted up his
heart and commended himself to God. Scarcely had his
knees touched the ground till the Sun of righteousness
arose, with healing in its beams, upon bim, and per-
vading all the great deep of his mind, lighted it up
with tbe peace and calm of heaven.

For twenty-four hours, without eating or sleeping,
Eliza remained in that widow's room, engaged in earnest
supplication for her father. Tbe pious mother in Israel,
in looking out of her window, as tbe day was drawing to
a close, saw the servant coming with two horses, and she
ran immediately into tbe little room, exclaiming, ^' Eliza,
arise, your father has sent for you. I see John coming
with your horse and saddle." Tbe happy child arose,
and burst out in rapturous exclamations of praise to God
for bis goodness and mercy in touching her father's
heart. She was soon in her saddle, and the faithful
charger bore her fleetly to her home as if proud of bis

WESTERN METHODISM. 371

burden. "When in siglit of home she saw her weeping
father, standing at the same gate from whence, on the
evening before, he had driven her a fugitive abroad.
She sprang from her horse into his arms, and embracing
his child with a love he never experienced before, he
exclaimed, " My angel of mercy, I give you my heart and
my hand to travel with you to the heavenly inheritance.''
It was a happy family; for the mother was soon con-
verted, and joined with the father and daughter in the
service of God, and they all continued faithful disciples
of Christ till they were called from the Church militant
to the Church triumphant in heaven.

ji-i'-la

872 SKETCHES OF

■r-7f

i,,t,.^ ; H^ : ' CHAPTER XXVIII.

ALEXANDER CUMMINS.

Among that class of preachers, distinguished for zeal
and talents, who entered the itinerancy in the great
west in the beginning of the nineteenth century, wa,s
rhe Rev. Alexander Cummins, a short sketch of whose
life and labors we propose to give. He was born in Albe-
marle county, Virginia, September 5, 1787. His parents
sent him to school, and he received a liberal education
foi that day. In the twentieth year of his age, after
having removed to Ohio and settled in the Scioto Valley,
he was awakened to a sense of his lost condition as a
sinner, and, after a severe struggle against sin and tempt-
ation, he at length was soundly converted, and entered
the path of life. Being awakened and converted through
the instrumentality of the Methodist pioneers, he con-
nected himself with the Methodist Church as the one of
his choice. It was not long till he became deeply and
intensely exercised on the subject of calling sinners to
repentance, and offering the cup of salvation, whose life-
giving waters had so quickened and refreshed his own
soul, to the souls of his fellow-men. He saw the world
lying in wickedness, and guilty multitudes pressing on
the way to death and hell, and his spirit was stirred
within him to go out and warn them to flee the wrath to
come. The same mercy which had been manifested in
his own behalf, he was assured would be extended to
others. His feelings could not be concealed. The Lord
had called hinij and the Church was not lono; in discov-

WESTERN METHODISM. 373

ering that the concern of mind under which he labored,
associated, as it was, with grace and gifts of no ordinary
degree, united in constituting an indication of the will
of God that he should enter the ministry. While the
Church prayed "■ the Lord of the harvest that he would
send forth laborers,'' she was ever watchful of the result,
and waited for an answer, not by any miraculous interpo-
sition, but that God would, from their own number, raise
up, call out, and qualify, by his Spirit, faithful messen-
gers of salvation. Hence, the subject of this sketch was
goon recognized as the called of the Lord, and license
was given him as a local preacher.

At the conference held in Cincinnati in the year 1809,
between two and three years after his conversion, he was
admitted on trial in the traveling connection, and ap-
pointed to Brush Creek circuit. He went out in the
spirit of his Master, and labored with a zeal and devo-
tion which gave evidence that he felt the burden of souls
as a mountain pressure resting upon him. If he could
have had the time to turn aside from the roue-h and ruor-
ged toils of itinerant life and cultivate the flowers of lit-
erature, he had no disposition. He was '^a man of one
book" and one work, and, by night and by day, he ex-
horted sinners to flee the wrath to come. Filling out his
appointed time on Brush Creek, he was next year sent to
Pickaway circuit, where the same zeal and devotion char-
acterized his labors. The ensuing years he traveled sue
cessively Delaware and Deer Creek circuits, on the latter
of which he remained two years. During his labors he
suffered many hardships and privations; and such was his
burning, unconquerable zeal that his constitution gave
way. The sword proved too sharp for the scabbard, or,
in other words, his flaming spirit consumed the earthly
tabernacle in which it was lodged. Rest was inevitable,
as his overtaxed strength would not be able to stand

374 SKETCHES OF

another year of toil without it; and he must cease from
toil or cease to live. Accordingly, he was induced to be
left without an appointment for one year. But, alas ! is
there any rest for a Methodist preacher? Then they
were poor and almost friendless, and when they were
obliged, from want of health, to desist from preaching,
it was absolutely necessary that they should work, or
starvation would ensue. The Church then, and now, to
a very great extent, virtually says to its preachers as a
certain master once said to his servants on a holiday,
"Boys, you may quit work and go to piling boards for
the balance of the day, seeing it is Fourth of July."
Teaching school in those days was a drudgery and toil that
would not be likely to insure much rest to the body and
quiet to the mind. In this employment Cummins en-
gaged, and at the close of the year he became again
effective, and entered the itinerant ranks. He was ap-
pointed to the Miami circuit, which, at that time, em-
braced an extensive and laborious field. The two follow-
ing years he was stationed in Cincinnati, at the expiration
of which term he was sent to preside over the Kentucky
district. In that field he labored with his usual zeal and
fidelity in the cause of his Master, and thousands in the
day of eternity will thank God that they ever heard the
voice of Alexander Cummins. Having filled his mission
as the servant of the Church in Kentucky, he returned
to Ohio, and was appointed presiding elder of the Miami
district, where he labored two years, at the expiration of
which time "he ceased at once to work and live." The
following tribute of respect was paid to the memory of
this sainted man by the Bev. Russel Bigelow, one of his
cotemporaries, which we copy from the Methodist Maga-
zine, Vol. VII, being an extract from the funeral sermon,
delivered by that eloquent and powerful preacher:
: " Alexander Cummins was a man of a sound mind and

WESTERN METHODISM. 375

good jiidsrraent, particularly in spiritual matters. He took
considerable pains to improve Lis mind by reading and a
close application to study. As a man and acquaintance,
ne was kind, and agreeable, and very much respected.
As a husband, he was affectionate and provident. As a
parent, he was tender, yet strict and particular. As a
Christian, he was humble, pious, devout, sober, and
cheerful. As a minister, he was regular, zealous, accept-
able, and useful. His language was good; his sermons,
in the general, pointed and weighty. His talents were
not the most brilliant, but his greatness consisted in va-
riety and goodness And such was his zeal, variety, and
usefulness, that few, if any, were more acceptable or pop-
ular. His success has been more than ordinary. I have
been informed that many were converted during the first
years of his ministry. The first information 1 ever re-
ceived concerning him was just after he had left his
third circuit. I formed an acquaintance in several
neighborhoods in that circuit, in which his zeal and
usefulness were much spoken of; and when I traveled
that circuit nine years afterward, I found several of his
spiritual children, who were still pressing through diffi-
culties on their journey to the promised land. My ac-
quaintance with him commenced in the latter end of the
year 1815, at which time we were appointed to labor
together on the Miami circuit. I was young and incK-
perienced, but in him I found a father, an instructor,
and a firm friend. Long shall I remember the good ad-
vice and many instructions I received, and the pious ex-
amples set before me by the beloved minister whose
funeral sermon I preach. He labored that year with dil-
igence, zeal, and success. His zeal, piety, and useful-
ness, while stationed in Cincinnati the two following
years, I need scarcely mention ; you, my brethren, are
his record; you call to recollection his piety, his devo-

376 SKETCHES OF

tion, his fervor, liis diligence, his watchfuhiess, his anxi-
ety, his pathetic sermons, his fervent prayers. You call
to recollection the happy hours you enjoyed under his
ministry; and many of you, I presume, consider him as
the instrument of your conversion. You view him as
your spiritual parent under God, and will have cause to
praise God forever that you have had the privilege of sit-
ting under his ministry. The three years he labored as
a presiding elder in Kentucky, he was acceptable and
useful, highly esteemed by preachers and people. His
rides were long, and, in some parts, rough and mount-
ainous, and his labors so abundant as to exhaust his
debilitated system. The district he has traveled the two
past years is also large and very laborious. He, how-
ever, performed his duties acceptably and usefully, but
with great pain, often traveling and preaching when he
ought to have had rest, particularly the last six months.
I have already said considerable concerning our departed
brother; but I can not forbear mentioning his wisdom
and firmness as a governor in the Church. It was here
he excelled; here his true greatness appeared. He was
not one of those hasty, rash sort of men, but firm and
fixed. His weakly constitution, which was severely
racked with incessant labor, was often attacked with
wasting disease; but he bore all with Christian patience.
About six months before his death he was severely af-
flicted with the measles ; but, by the Divine blessing, he
partially recovered, and entered again upon his work.
And I think it probable that his exertion, before he was
fully restored to health, was one cause of bringing on the
disease which terminated his earthly career. He visited
the circuit of which I had charge but a short time before
he was taken with his last sickness, and seemed equally
diligent and fervent as formerly, though hardly able to
be about. He left our camp meeting on Sabbath evening,

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 377

and came home. On the following Friday, rode out to
Mechanicsburg, about eighteen miles from this place,
[Cincinnati,] to attend a quarterly meeting. On Satur-
day he preached his last sermon, with his usual zeal and
pathos, on 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one
that believeth.' That night he was attacked with the
disease which terminated in his death. He was brought
home in a wagon, and laid on his bed, where he remained
for eight weeks, a man of sufferings, racked with pain
and scorched with fever; but he bore all without murmur-
ing. He was grateful for every kindness shown him, and
appeared calm, resigned, and patient. He said, indeed,
but little about dying; nor did he praise God aloud as
some have done. It was not his usual way when in
health ; but what he did say was satisfactory. To one
friend he said that he had no anxiety about living, but
should be willing to live till he could settle up his tem-
poral business, if it was the will of the Lord, because he
could do it better than others, and thereby prevent trou-
ble after his death ; but he was, nevertheless, willing to
resign all into the hands of the Lord. I visited him one
week before his death for the first time, and several times
afterward. On one of my visits I talked to him respect-
ing the state of his mind. He seemed composed and
resigned, and said he felt that his peace was made with
God. The brother who attended on him asked him, a
few hours before his death, if he was sensible that he
would soon go. He said, 'Yes, I shall soon be in eter-
nity.' The brother asked him if he had any doubts or
fears. He said, ' Not any ; my way is clear.' His de-
parture was on the 27th day of September, 1823, a little
before seven o'clock in the evening. Thus lived and
thus died our beloved brother Cummins, a pattern of
piety, a waymark to heaven. We do not mean to say

32

^

SKETCHES OF

ttat he had no failings ; but we say they were compara-
tively few. He now rests from his labors and his works
follow him."

^ WESTERN METHODISM. 379

^ .^ - CHAPTER XXIX. . -■ - ^

THE CONVERSION OP A CRUEL MASTER.

In the state of Virginia, in an early day in the history
of Methodism in the western country, there lived a
wealthy and influential planter, who owned a large num-
ber of slaves. He was a kind master, and treated his
slaves with respect and affection, regarding them as mem-
bers of his own household. As an evidence of this he
procured for them every advantage of intellectual and
moral culture within his power. When the neighbor-
hood was visited by Methodist ministers, he invited
them to preach on his plantation, and not only gave all
his servants an opportunity to attend preaching, but was
particular in urging them to go. It was not long till the
Gospel, preached in simplicity and power, reached the
hearts of the colored people, and they embraced religion.
And not only were the servants brought to taste the joys
of pardoning mercy, and made happy in a Savior's
love, but the master and mistress were alike included
in the happy number of the converted. If before the
relation of master and servant was one of respect for
the rights, and concern for the happiness of the latter,
now that they had been baptized by the same Spirit, and
made one in Christ Jesus, there was a bond of union far
more powerful than could possibly grow out of any natural
or social relations.

Among the number of the servants who had obtained
religion and joined the Church, was one noted for his
piety. This servant, whose name was "Cuff/' was not

380 SXETCHES OF

particularly remarkable for any loud profession, though
he was always ready, in the spirit of meekness, to be a
witness for Jesus ; but for unbending integrity and
opeU; straightforward consistency of conduct, he had few
superiors any where. For one who enjoyed no greater
advantages, he possessed an order of intellect superior to
most of his colored brethren. All having the most un-
wavering faith in his piety, he was unanimously selected
by his brethren to lead in religious exercises at the meet-
ings when no preacher was present. Every thing went
on pleasantly and happily in this religious family for
years. The religion of Jesus, which is adapted to all,
and designed to bring the highest blessings to mankind
in general, proves of especial benefit to the slaves; and
that Church which is the most actively engaged in
preaching the Gospel to this portion of our fellow-beings
most certainly gives the strongest evidence of being the
true Church of Him who said, "The poor have the Gos-
pel preached to them.'' A Church having been estab-
lished on this plantation, through the influence of Meth-
odist preachers, meetings were kept up regularly, and
when the intervening Sabbaths would come, at which
time the preacher was absent at another appointment,
the voice of praise and prayer would ascend from the
humble chapel, and Cuff would pour out his full heart in
exhortations, with an eloquence and power none could
resist. Often have the hearts of proud and wicked mas-
ters, from adjoining plantations, who had been attracted
out of mere curiosity to attend the meetings, been made
to tremble, while the falling tear from proud and haughty
mistresses, who would wonder at the audacity of the
negro, would betray the emotions his eloquence had pro-
duced. Many a conscience had thus been smitten by
burning words which had been proof against the Gospel
in the fashionable Churches of the eity.

WESTERN METHODISM. 381

The happy seasons enjoyed at the little plantation
Church were fearfully broken in upon by a most melan-
choly event. The old master was called to pronounce
upon his faithful servants his parting blessing, and then
to pass away to that world where such relations are un-
known. Death came to the aged patriarch, and he was
followed by his weeping family and friends to his silent
home. This event, as is often the case, broke up the
family, and the servants were divided among the chil-
dren. Cuff fell into the hands of one of the sons. This
young man commenced the world as many do in similar
circumstances, whose parents are affluent. Having formed
no habits of industry, and wholly unfitted for business,
improvident and careless, believing that to-morrow would
be as to-day, and much more abundant of blessing, he was
not long in squandering the estate left him by his father;
and becoming hopelessly involved, an attachment was
sued out by his creditors on all his property, and the
servants, with the rest of the estate, were advertised at
public sale. In that neighborhood there lived a young
man, who had recently married, and was making prepara-
tions for keeping house. To complete these preparations
it was necessary for him to purchase a good servant; and
having knowledge of the sale, he accordingly attended.
He was by profession an infidel, and carefully avoided
going to any religious meetings, though his wife, previ-
ous to her marriage, had often attended, and had listened
with unusual interest to the eloquent negro. Having
gone round and inspected the slaves, as was customary
among buyers, he was struck most favorably with the
appearance of Cuff, and believing he would suit him, he
began to question his master in regard to his good and
bad qualities. The young master informed the infidel
that Cuff was the most honest and upright negro he
ever knew, and he could only think of one fault which

382 SKETCHES OF

lie had that might make him objectionable to the pur-
chaser, and that was, that ^^ he would pray and go to
meeting."

"Ah/' said the inlBdel, "is that all you have against
him? I can soon whip that out of him."

He made the purchase and took him home. Cuff,
with a sad heart, left the old homestead, and his breth-
ren, and the little chapel, where he had enjoyed so much
religious comfort. When he had performed the duties
of the day enjoined by his new master, he started out to
seek a place for private prayer. Adjoining the garden
was a nursery, and it being a secluded spot, he retired
amid the thicket of young trees with which it was filled,
and there alone he kneeled and poured out his burdened
spirit to Grod. While engaged in his devotions his young
mistress, who was walking in the garden, overheard him,
and, drawing nigh to listen, she soon recognized the elo-
quent voice that had thrilled her at the Woodland Chapel.
She was chained to the spot, as the low and melancholy
tones of the supplicant were breathed into the ears of the
Lord of Sabaoth ; and when, with fervor, he prayed for
the blessing of God to come down upon his new master
and mistress, the unsealed fountain of her heart poured
forth its tears.

On the ensuing Sabbath Cuff went to meeting, and
also at night, but returned so as to be ready for duty
early on Monday morning. He was not aware of the
infidel character of his master, though, from what he had
seen and heard, during the short time he had been with
him, he knew that he was a stranger to grace. Knowing,
also, that there are many irreligious people, who, never-
theless, have a great respect for religion and its institu-
tions, when Cuff was asked the next morning by his mas-
ter where he had been, he said, ^'I have been to meetin ;
and, bless de Lord, it was a good time, massa."

WESTERN METHODISM. 383

^^Cuff/' said the master^ in a gruff, angry voice, "you
must quit praying; I will have none of it about the
place. "^

" Massa, I do any thing you tell me dat I can do ; but
I can't quit praying. My Massa in heaven command me
to pray.'^

"But you shall quit it, and promise to do so or I will
whip you."

" I can not do one nor the other, massa. '^

" Follow me, then, you obstinate negro,'^ said the mas-
ter, greatly excited, " and we shall see whose authority is
to be obeyed in this matter.'^

The slave was led out, and, after being stripped of the
few tattered garments that covered his person, he was
tied to a tree in the yard. With a rawhide the master
inflicted twenty-five strokes upon his bare back. The
master then said, "Now, Cuff, will you quit praying?"

"No, massa," was the reply, "I will pray to Jesus as
long as I live."

He then gave the negro twenty-five more lashes, and
the blood ran down to the ground. At the close of this
horrid scene in the brutal tragedy, the master exclaimed,
" You will quit now, won't you ?"

Meekly as his divine Master bore the cruel scourge
before him, he replied, "No, my massa, I will pray to my
blessed God while I live."

This so enraged the infuriate fiend, that he flew at him
with all the rage of a tiger thirsting for blood, and plying
the bloody weapon with all his remaining strength, he
stopped not till he was obliged to give over from sheer
exhaustion.

" Will you stop your praying now, you infernal nigger,
you?"

The same meek voice replied, " No, massa, you may
kill me, but while I live I must pray."

384: . SKETCHES OF

'^ Then you shall be whipped this much every time you
pray or go to meeting/'

He was untied^ ordered to put on his clothes, and go
about his work. When out of sight and hearing of his
master, he sang, in a low and plaintive tone,

" My suffering time will soon be o'er,
:■ Then shall I sigh and weep no more ;

My ransomed soul shall soar away ••

To sing God's praise in endless day."

While this cruel scene was transpiring, the young mis-
tress was looking through the window weeping, and when

S. M came into the house, she said, " My dear

husband, why did you whip that poor negro so, just for
praying ? I am sure there can be no harm in that."

"Silence," shouted the enraged husband; "not an-
other word on the subject, or I will give you as much as
T gave him."

All that day S. M raved like a madman, curs-
ing the negro and all his race, and cursing God for having
created them. Night came. He retired to his chamber,
and fell upon his couch to rest. In vain he courted
sleep, if for nothing else than to shut out the horrid vis-
ions of his tempest-tossed mind. He turned from side to
side with unutterable groanings. Just before day he ex-
claimed, "I feel that I shall be damned! 0, God, have
iiiercy on me I" He then said to his wife — the first word
he had spoken to her since his threat — "Is there any
one about the house that can or will pray for me ?"

"None," said she, "that I know of but the poor negro
you whipped yesterday."

" 0, I am sure he will not, he can not pray for me !"
"Yes," said the weeping wife, "I think he will."
"Then, for God's sake, send some one to call him!"
A servant was soon dispatched; and when Cuff heard
that his master wanted him, expecting a renewal of the

WESTERN METHODISM. 385

iscenes of yesterday — for he had been praying all night —
fie went from his low, dingy cabin into the chamber of
his master. What was his astonishment, when he en-
tered, to find his master prostrate on the floor, crying for
mercy !

^'0," said he, at sight of his injured slave, ^^will you,
can you pray for me ? I feel that I shall be damned
before morning unless God have mercy upon me."

''Yes, massa, I bless God, I have been praying for you
and mistress all the night."

He then fell upon his knees, beside his prostrate mas-
ter and kneeling wife, and, with a fervor and a faith that
opened heaven, he wrestled hard with God for the guilty
man. Thus he continued in prayer and exhortation,
pointing the guilty to the guiltless one, till morning
light, when God, in mercy, stooped to answer prayer,
and set the dark, sin-chained soul of the infidel at lib-
erty, and wrote a pardon on his heart. Soon as the love
of God was shed abroad in the master's soul, he em-
braced his servant in his arms, exclaiming, *' Cuff, my
dear brother in Christ, from this moment you are a free
man."

Great was the joy and rejoicing in that house on that
day. The wife had also found the pearl of great price,
and now one in Christ, as they were before one in flesh,
their souls were dissolved in the bliss of heaven. The
slave was freed, and employed by his master as chaplain
at a good salary, and Cuff went every-where among his
scattered brethren preaching the word. The master him-
self became a zealous and successful minister of the Gos-
pel, and lived many years to preach that Jesus whose
name he had blasphemed, and whose disciple he had
scourged.

83

SKETCHES or

CHAPTER XXX.

MARCUSLINDSEY. *

The subject of our narrative was born in Ireland, and
brought to tbis country wben quite a boy. His parents
were Protestants, of which the "Emerald Isle'' has pro-
duced some of the stanchest. Well was it for Ireland
that the benevolent spirit of Methodism crossed the
British Channel, and bore the messages of mercy to a
spiritually-dead form of religion, on the one hand, and
an equally-corrupt form on the other. Neither the
Church of England nor the Church of Rome had done
much for poor, unhappy Ireland, in rousing its poor,
downtrodden masses from the sleep of death. The par-
ents belonged to the Church of England, and, of course,
young Marcus was trained up in the peculiarities of that
faith. Being of a naturally-reflective turn of mind he
was early impressed with religious thoughts, and con-
vinced of the depravity of his young heart, as its way-
wardness manifested itself in disobedience to God and
his parents. His convictions in regard to his sinful state
were greatly increased in being permitted occasionally to
hear Methodist preaching. The sermons that young
Lindsey heard from Wesley's missionaries resulted in his
awakening and conversion to God. It was not long after
this event that he felt deeply impressed with the belief
that it was his duty to exhort sinners to flee the wrath to
come, and be saved from their sins. After exercising
awhile in this relation, and his brethren being convinced,
by the gifts and grace which he possessed, and the fruits

WESTERN METHODISM. 387

wliich attended his labors, that he was called of God to
devote himself exclusively to the work of calling sinners
to repentance, he was recommended to the conference,
and accordingly received into the traveling connection
in 1810.

His first appointment was to the Hartford circuit, Ken-
tucky, on which he labored with great zeal and devotion
through the year, at the expiration of which time he was
ordained a deacon for the missionary work, and appointed
to Big Sandy river. This was a wild, mountainous, half-
civilized region of country, and remains so to some con-
siderable extent at the present day. The Big Sandy was
a kind of neutral ground between Kentucky and Vir-
ginia, and its deep glens, and mountain gorges, and dense,
unbroken forests, made it the home of a daring, reckless
race of individuals, and the horse-thief, and gambler, and
counterfeiter has often sought refuge in its dark defiles
from the pursuit of justice. We could describe many
scenes of terror and darkness that have transpired in that
region, but we must proceed to our sketch. The youthful
herald entered this field of labor, and braving every diffi-
culty and danger, he penetrated its wilds, and proclaimed
to its startled and scattered inhabitants, salvation in the
name of Jesus. Many heard the joyful sound, and
turned their feet from the ways of sin and wickedness to
the ways of righteousness and peace. We may talk
about the desolation that reigns in the jungles of India,
and on the wild and gloomy mountains of Africa, or the
solitudes of Oregon, but we have the heathen in the
form of half-civilized man, in some of the wild places
of the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia; ay,
they may be found in some of the garrets and cellars
of our dark alleys in the city full of Churches, where
thousands are contributed yearly to convert the Hottentot,
the Chinese, and the East Indian. We are not afraid,

888 SKETCHES OF

tliougli we thus speak, that the charity that begins at
home will end there; no, for those who care most for the
destitute around them are sure to feel deeply and care
largely for those who are abroad.

The next year he was appointed to Little Sandy, and
here his labors were crowned with the most abundant
success; and at the close of this year he was sent into
Ohio, and stationed on the Union circuit. Here success
attended his labors in the kingdom and patience of
Jesus. We have not time, however, nor space, to enter
into any detail in regard to the triumphs of the Gospel
which he witnessed in this field. In 1815 he was re-
moved to the Marietta circuit, where he was made the
instrument of much good. While on this circuit he was
instrumental, in the hands of God, in the conversion of
John Stewart, the colored man, who went out as the first
missionary among the Wyandott Indians. Stewart had
been a very dissipated man, and, in one of his drunken
fits of delirium tremens, he had started to the Ohio river
to drown himself On his way he had to pass by the
place where Lindsey was holding meeting. Being at-
tracted by the sound — for Methodist preachers generally
cry aloud, and spare not — he drew up, and stood by the
door, where he could distinctly hear all that was said.
The preacher was describing the lost sinner's condition,
his exposedness to death and hell; and then he pre-
sented the offers of mercy, showing that Jesus died for
all, and the worst of sinners might repent and find par-
don. It was a message of mercy to that poor, forlorn,
and ruined soul. It turned his feet from the way of
death to the path of life. He returned to his place, and
falling upon his knees, he cried for mercy. God heard
the poor Ethiopian's prayer. While piteously he pleaded
for mercy, salvation came to his heart. At the next
meeting he was found at the church, sitting in the back

WESTERN METHODISM. 389

corner, but clothed in his right mind. When the invi-
tation was given to persons to join the Church, he went
forward, and the preacher received him and instructed
him more perfectly in the way of the Lord. He had
received some education, and was enabled to read and
write. Like most of his brethren of the African race,
he was an admirable singer, possessing a voice of unusual
sweetness and power, and he took great delight in sing-
ing the hymns and spiritual songs of the Church. Some
time after his conversion he became greatly exercised on
the subject of preaching. So intense and all-absorbing
became his thoughts on the subject that he could neither
eat nor sleep. He was continually engaged in reading the
Bible and in prayer for weeks. His long fasting and
almost ceaseless vigils were broken by a vision which he
told us came to him one night. Whether awake or
asleep he could not say; but in the transition he heard
a voice distinctly saying, " You must go in a north-
westerly direction, to the Indian nation, and tell the
savage tribes of Christ, your Savior.^^ He had this vis-
ion for three successive nights.

It is said that dreams indicate the mind's anxieties,
and it is highly probable that the things which engross
the mind by day continue to occupy it by night — at least
so far as to give a bent and coloring to the thoughts
when the outward senses are locked up in sleep. This
being the case, then, from the fact that Stewart was
greatly exercised on the subject of preaching-, we may
be led to infer that his vision, or dream, was but a part
of his call to preach the Gospel. The only thing won-
derful and extraordinary in the dream, is the specific
nature of the call, designating, as Paul's vision of the
man of 3Iacedonia, the very place to which he should go.
Now that revelation is exhausted, and the Bible is to
be regarded as a finality on all subjects pertaining to

390 * SKETCHES OF

belief and duty, we have but little faith in dreams, oi
*'' spiritual communications,^' so called, as constituting
any part of the rule of faith or practice. The sure
^^word of prophecy,'^ which God has given us, will, if
understood and followed, guide us into all the ways of
truth and righteousness.

Stewart was poor, and destitute of friends, with the
exception of the Methodists, who received and treated
him as a brother; but, even among his brethren, who
could he get, by any possibility, to believe that he was
called to go on a mission to preach the Gospel to the
Indians? Firmly impressed, however, with the belief
that a dispensation of the Gospel had been committed
to him, he made all the preparation his circumstances
would allow, and, with his Bible and hymn-book, started
out, not knowing whither he was going, save that the
vision directed him to the north-west. Abraham, when
called from the Ur of the Chaldees, had, doubtless, much
greater faith when he entered upon his journey than this
sable son of Ham; but there was not less uncertainty in
regard to the unknown destination. Stewart continued
his travels; and hearing of the Delaware Indians, on the
Muskingum, he directed his course thitherward. When
he arrived among them he commenced singing, and pray-
ing, and exhorting, but it was in an unknown tongue.
The peaceful Indians gazed upon the dark stranger with
silent wonder, but were not moved by his tears and en-
treaties. Being impressed that this was not the tribe
to which he was called he hurried on. After a fatiguing
journey, he arrived at Pipetown, on the Sandusky river,
where he found a large concourse of Indians engaged in
feasting and dancing. They were in the very midst of
their wildest mirth and revelry when he appeared among
them. Being a dark mulatto, he attracted their atten-
tion, and they gathered around him, and asked him to

WESTERN METHODISM. 391

drink of their fire-\rater ; but lie too well knew the fatal
eflfects of the deadly draught to allow it to pass his lips.
At this refusal the Indians became angry, and were be-
ginning to manifest signs of hostility; but he commenced,
in a clear, melodious voice, singing one of the songs of
Zion. Its strains rose above the din and uproar of the
multitude. They were strangely enchanting, and, like
the voice of Jesus on stormy Galilee, they calmed the
tumult of passion which threatened his destruction.
The war-dance and song ceased. The multitude gath-
ered around him, and hung upon his lips in breathless
silence, as if enchanted by the sound. When he ceased
he fell upon his knees, and poured out his heart to God
in prayer for their salvation. There stood by him an
old chief, who understood his language, and as word
after word escaped his lips he interpreted it to the listen-
ing hundreds. When his prayer was ended, he arose
and exhorted them to turn away from their drunken
revelry, and Indian ceremonies, to the worship of the
true and living God, assuring them that if they con-
tinued in this course they would be forever lost. As the
earnest entreaties of the colored preacher were commu-
nicated by the old chief, many were deeply impressed
with the truths which he uttered, and the work of God
might have then and there at once commenced, but for
the interference of Captain Pipe, the head chief, who be-
came violently enraged, and, brandishing his tomahawk,
swore if he did not cease he would kill him on the spot.
John ceased his exhortation, and turned, with a sorrow-
ful heart, away. Being ordered to leave immediately,
on pain of death, he again started out upon his journey,
and, guided by an invisible hand, he went to Upper
Sandusky. Here he found another band of Indians, and
among them a black man named Jonathan Painter, who
had been taken prisoner by them at the mouth of the

392 SKETCHES OF

Big Kanawha, in Virginia, when a boy. He was a good
interpreter. With this man he soon became intimate,
and procuring his services, he went with him to attend
a great Indian festival. When he arrived he begged
permission to speak to the assembled multitude; but
thej paid little attention to his request. He still pleaded
for the privilege; for his heart burned to tell the wan-
dering savage of Jesus and his love. After much
entreaty, through his interpreter, they agreed to let him
speak to them the next day. The time and place of
meeting were fixed, and when Stewart, with his interpret-
er, appeared, how was his heart chilled and discouraged
only to find one old Indian, by the name of Big Tree,
and an old Indian woman, called Mary! To these, how-
ever, he preached Christ and the resurrection. God
attended his word; and though small and feeble was the
beginning, yet the labors of Stewart were blessed. He
continued to hold forth, as opportunity favored, the word
of life to the Wyandotts, and as the product of so feeble
an instrumentality, the mission to the Wyandotts was
established by the Church, an account of which may be
found in our History.

W"e now resume our sketch of brother Lindsey, through
whose instrumentality this remarkable man, in some
respects, was brought to God. After finishing his terra
on the Marietta circuit he was sent to the Salt Eiver
district, in Kentucky, where he continued for two years,
laboring with his accustomed zeal and usefulness. From
this district he was sent to the Green River district,
which he traveled three years; thence to the Kentucky
district, which he traveled four years. After this he
was returned to the Salt Kiver district, where he remained
three years, and at the expiration thereof he came over
to the Ohio district, which he traveled one year, when
ho was removed to the Cumberland district. Here he

WESTERN METHODISM. 393

continued for three years in labors more abundant. Ilia
next appointment was Shelbyville, and the Brick Chapel.
Thus we trace this indefatigable man from circuit to
district, from district to district and station, laboring on
with a tireless zeal in the service of his Master. Could
a history of the fourteen years, in which he traveled over
vast districts of country as presiding elder, be written
out, how full would it be of stirring adventures and
thrilling incidents; but the memory of them has per-
ished with the departure of the man, and we can only
give a rapid outline of the fields which he has succes-
sively and successfully cultivated.

We have already brought our readers down to the
last appointment, and it only remains for us to say,
that while actively engaged in this field of labor he
was arrested by that fell disease, the cholera, which
garnered such precious fruits for the tomb from among
the ministry, and which, in July, 1833, terminated his
career on earth, and ushered hiai to heaven. He was
a man of stout, athletic frame, black hair, a keen, dark
eye, overarched by heavy brows. He was much given
to despondency, which would occasionally cast a gloom
upon his countenance, that at times would make his
appearance rather forbidding; but under all there was
a large heart full of tender sympathies. When his
mind was not overcast, and in heaviness through mani-
fold temptations, his bright, happy spirit would make
sunshine all around him. Some men can never be fully
known in this life, however transparent their character.
There is a deep, inner life that lies far down beyond the
ken of mortals, which the tongue, if it could, will not
reveal. That life can only be known hereafter. Till
then we must wait for the solution of difficulties, incon-
sistencies, and mysteries, which here we shall never
know. Lindsey was a powerful preacher, a faithful

1^#4 ' . SKETCHES OF

pastor, and a great terror to evil-doers. He abounded
in zeal and good works, and thousands will bless God
in the day of eternity, that to him was committed a
dispensation of the Gospel.

WESTERN METHODISM

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE DUTCHMAN'S EXPERIENCE.

When we were traveling the Cross Creek circuit, in
1815, in a region of country which was mostly settled by
German Lutherans, and not much regard paid to the Sab-
bath, or any kind of religion, there lived a German by
the name of Gost. He was one of the principal men of
the neighborhood, and had great influence among his
German friends. At one of our love-feasts we heard him
relate his experience, and though it was in very broken
English, yet it was told with an unction and a power
which melted all hearts, and which thrilled and interested
us so much that we have not forgotten it to this day.

There is something peculiar in the German mind and
character which shows itself, perhaps, more strikingly in
regard to the subject of religion than anything else. It
seems that in whatever enterprise a German embarks, it
engrosses his entire energies, and when once fully com-
mitted on any subject, he adheres to it with an energy,
zeal, and perseverance worthy of all praise. Staid and
sober as he may appear, he nevertheless has the excita-
bility of a Frenchman without his mercurial nature.
Luther was a noble type of the Teutonic mind, and ex-
hibited the different characteristics of which we have
spoken, when he said he would go to the Diet of Worms
if there were as many devils in his way as there were
tiles on the roofs of the houses; and when, in his ex-
cited imagination, he saw the devil before him in his
study, and threw his inkstand at him; and, also, when

396 ,• SKETCHES OF vyr • '

on another occasion, he was arraigned before an ecclesi-
astical council fur heresy, and threatened with punish-
ment if he did not retract, he said, ''Here I stand, God
help !'' One has said, '' Get a German once converted,
and there is little danger of his refusing to take up his
cross, or turning back to the beggarly elements of the
world." They seem to carry out more fully Mr. Wesley's
idea of Methodism than even the English brethren them-
selves. When they sing, "they sing lustily;" when
they pray, they pray with all their might; when they
speak in class meeting or love-feast, they come right to
the point of Christian experience without any circumlo-
cution. Such was the case with our good German brother
whose experience we are going to relate.

Shortly after the speaking exercises commenced, he
arose and said, "Mine dear bruders, ven I comes to dis
blace dare vas nobody here. Den after, mine freins dey
comes too, and ve did comes along very goot, as ve dot,
Ye did drink viskey, and frolic, and dance, and ve all dot
it vas wery nice; but binebys der comes along into de
neighborhoot a Metodis breacher by de name of Jo.
Shackelford, and he breaches and breaches, and brays and
brays, as you never see de like in all your lives. He says,
•You beeples all goes to hell unless you git conwerted. and
be saved from your zins.' Now, veil den, de beeples be-
gins to dink zeriously on dis matter, and dey say ve must
do better, or, sure enough, de devil vill git us shust as he
says. Den dey gits Christen, and begins to bray; and
dey vails down, and brays, and croans, and hollers, and I
says to my beeples, Dis is de devil; and it goes on till it
comes to my neighbor Honnes. Yell, I does not go, and
my vife and gals does not go, because I said it vas de
devil. Veil, however, it gomes so near by mine house, I
says I vill go and see vat is dis ting vat makes de beeples
so crazy. So von night I goes to Honnes' s to see de

WESTERN METHODISM. 397

brayer meeting, and I sets down and sees de beeples come
in, and dey all looks sliust like dey used to do, and 1 dot
it vas all veil ', but dey soon begins to zing and bray, and
I dot dis is all rigbt. Den some pegins to croan, and
valls down; and I says, 'Dis is de devil, and I vill sbust
go bome f but ven I vent to rise up I could not, vor I vas
fast to de bench. Den I vas skeered, and I said, 'Dis
is de devil sure enough/ I looked round, and I dot de
door vas growed up, and I vas fast enough. Veil, veil,
den I say, ' Mine Got, de devil vill git me now, by sure I'
I looked more for de door, and bresently I sees him, and
I makes von spring and out I goes headforemost. Den I
gits up, and runs mit all my might till I comes to mine
fenc^; and ven I goes to git over I comes down smack
upon my pack, and now I says, 'De devil vill git me, py
sure!' I lays dare for some time; den I gits up, and
climes de fence, and goes to mine house, and dot I would
shust go to bed mitout making any noise; but shust as 1
vas gittin in ped smack down I comes on mine pack upon
de floor; and Madalana, mine vife, did shump out of de
ped, and did schream; and Petts and Kate — dat ish
my two gals — dey did shump up and schream and holler,
and dare I lays, and I says, '0, mine Got, tis ish te
devil !' Madalana says, ' No matter for you ; it shust
serves you right; you vould go, and now you prings de
devil home mit you to your own house.' Petts and Kate
dey both cries, and mine vife she scolds, and de devil
he shakes me over de hells, and all my sins shust comes
up to mine eyes, and I says, '0, mine Got, save me!'
After a vile I goes to ped, but I not sleeps. I says, ' 0
mine Got, mine Got, vat vill become of me!' Shust at
daylight I gits up and goes down to my parn, and gits
under de boss-trough, and smack I comes on mine pack
again. Den I cries, mit all my might, '0, mine Got,
mine Got, have mercy upon me !' I dot I vas goin to da

398 SKETCHES OF ;•

hells. Shust den someting say to me, 'Di sins pe all vor-
gifen/ Den someting comes down all over me at my
head, shust like honey, and I opens mine mout shust so
vide ash I can; hut it filled so full it run over, and den
0, I vas so happy as never I vas before in all my life ! I
did shump like a deer, and I hollered, ^ Glory, glory to
mine Got !' mit all my might. Mine hosses dey did veel
round and shnorted, and I did veel round too, and hol-
lered glory, and I did not know dem, and dey did not
know me. Presently I saw my gray hoss, Pob, and I
snatched him round de neck, and he did veel round, and
I hollered, ^ Glory, glory, and bless de LortT I love dish
hoss unto dis day so petter than any. I now ish on mine
vay to de himmels, and dare I vill bless Got for his pring-
ing me down on mine pack, and for mine vife and mine
gals; for dey now goes mit me to glory; so, mine brud-
ers, ve vill all bineby meet in dat goot vorld, to braise de
Lort forever and ever."

WESTERN METHODISM. 399

CHAPTER XXXII.

JOHN STRANGE.

This talented and useful preacher was a native of Vir-
ginia. He was born on the 15th day of November, 1789,
and when quite a boy emigrated to the wilds of Ohio.
Here, under the ministrations of the early pioneer fath-
ers of Methodism, he embraced the religion of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and united with the Methodist Episcopal
Church. It was not long after his conversion that his
talents and piety were exhibited to such a degree as to
convince the Church, in connection with his own deep
and powerful impressions, that he was called of God to
enter the ministry. In the year 1810 he commenced his
itinerant career under the venerable Quinn. His first
circuit was Wills Creek, in the wilds of Muskingum,
where he labored, with all the zeal and fire of youth, in
proclaiming the Gospel to sinners. The next appoint-
ment which he received was Cincinnati, as the colleague
of the venerable Burke. He traveled successively White-
water, Oxford, Lawrenceburg, Whiteoak, Mad River, and
Union circuits, and Charlestown and Indianapolis dis-
tricts. His excessive labors, however, proved too much
for his constitution, and during his whole ministerial life,
with but slight intervals of rest, he was in abundant
labors ;

•'For Jesus day and night employed,
His heritage he toiled to clear."

He was regarded, both in Ohio and Indiana — in the
latter of which states he spent the close of his life — aa a

400 . SKETCHES OF

faithful, eloquent, and beloved minister of Jesus Clirist.
Numerous seals to his ministry, which will, doubtless, be
stars in the crown of his rejoicing in the day of eternity,
are to be found all over the west. On the second of De-
cember, 1834, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and the
twenty-third of his ministry, he was called away by the
gentle summons of his Master, to that world where labor
is exchanged for rest, and prayer is lost in praise.

One who was entirely ignorant of the life of a preacher
wrote the following : " How full of beauty, how desirable
and picturesque, is the life of a preacher, especially in
the country ! Religion and poetry dwell with him like
twin sisters, and his thoughts, when turned aside from
heaven, rest on all that is most beautiful on earth. '^ The
truth is, the enjoyment of a faithful minister does not
consist in his repose. When but a single glance upon
the exhausting demands which are made upon his mind
and body — demands under which many sink to an un-
timely grave; when we think of his exposure to wounds
upon his feelings through all his every-day duties — wounds
which he must bear in silence, or be liable to be charged
with having a wrong spirit — his being cut off from the
common resources of men, and made dependent for a
support upon those for whom he labors, and thereby the
selfishness of men is armed against him ; add to all this
that the sorrows of others lay a tax upon his sympathies,
and compel him to bear a part; when all these are con-
sidered, this picture will be regarded as extremely fanci-
ful. Whoever enters the ministry for the poetry of i<
will find the thorn with the rose. A thistle, when seen
in the far-off distance, may contribute as much as tho
lily to beautify the landscape ; but when it is approached
and grasped its thorns are felt. So it is with the preach-
er's life to those who look at it from a distance. His
position may be regarded as the abode of poetry and

WESTERN METHODISM. 401

Elyslan sweets ; but an experience of short duration -will
soon correct the error, and show how toilsome, and
often unthankful, is his profession. To the Methodist
preacher it is hard service and poor fare, so far as this
world is concerned; and were it not for the comfortable
reflection that the faithful shall be crowned with life,
very few would enter the ranks of the itinerancy for the
poetry connected with it.

A beautiful tribute from the pen of one of Indiana's
most gifted daughters, with which we shall finish our
sketch, will give the reader a better idea of the talents
and character of the beloved Strange than any thing we
could say :

"Among the heralds of salvation to a dying world, who
have now sat down in our Father's kingdom, there is no
name that comes up from the dim remembrance of the
past, with a holier and more endearing thrill, than that
of John Strange. In the morning of life he heeded not
the siren voice that would have lured him to the flower-
wreathed paths of pleasure, or pointed out to him the
high seats of what men call honorable renown ; but
trampling on the bright hopes of earthly greatness,
which are ever busy in the heart of youth, he took up
and bore to the end of his course the cross of the meek
and lowly Savior. He was one of those men whom the
Lord saw fit, in his wisdom, to endow with every Chris-
tian grace, and set apart to carry the glad tidings of sal-
vation to the humble homes of the western pioneers; and
through many a night, in the dark and lonely wilderness,
he pillowed his weary head on the green earth without a
covering, save the blue canopy of heaven. There was no
privation, discouragement, or danger that could induce him
to forsake his Master's work ; for he was truly a man that
bore about with him, in his own body, the marks of the
Lord Jesus.

U

402 SKETCHES OF

"When lie came to Indiana it was comparatively a ml-
derness, and there were many parts where the story of
the cross was but seldom told. His fervent piety, supe-
rior talents, and zeal for the souls of dying men, soon
made him a home at every hearth, and the sound of his
name brought a thrill to every heart that loved the cause
of the Redeemer; and 0, it is a glorious thought, that
while his immortal part is worshiping with the blood-
washed throng around the eternal throne, his name is
treasured up

'Amid fond Memory's sacred things/
in many hearts that will one day be stars in his crown of
rejoicing.

* He, mixing with the brilliant hosts above,
p - Recounts the wonders of redeeming love;

r While list'ning angels hear with sweet surprise,

And gusts of alleluiahs ring the skies.'

^^ Perhaps I can not better give an idea of his manner
of preaching than by giving an instance. It was under-
stood, in a remote part of Indiana, where the Gospel was
but seldom heard, that on a certain day John Strange
would preach. It was at once set down as an era among
the people; and, on the day appointed, they, with almost
one accord, assembled at the place, which was the temple
of God's own building, the green, unbroken forest. Of
the hundreds there collected, some had come ta worship
that God whom they had learned to love in the far-ofl
land of their nativity, which they had exchanged for the
wilderness, where the sound of the church-going bell
might never salute them again ; and some were there
through mere curiosity, many of whom, perhaps, had
never heard a sermon in their lives. Expectation was on
tiptoe ; and it was evident, from the restless movements
and anxious whisperings of the groups collected apart
from the crowd, that something out of the common order

WESTERN METHODISM. 403

was about to take place. All eyes were turned in one
direction for a moment — the whispered words, 'The
preacher's come/ were heard, and all was silent as the
day dawn of creation. He ascended the rude stand pre-
pared for him, and sang a hymn, in a voice whose deep
pathos went down into the heart, and seldom failed to
cause some chord to vibrate there; then, as he kneeled
beneath the bright blue sky, and poured his spirit out
before the God that gave it, in behalf of those to whom
he was sent with the words of everlasting life, the smoth-
ered sobs and flowing tears of the assembly, evinced the
faith and fervor of that prayer. He then pointed out
clearly the way of salvation through the blood of a cruci-
fied Redeemer, and besought those who had found the
pearl of great price to hold fast their confidence, till they
had conquered death, their last enemy, and meet Him all
glorious within the light of eternity, where they should
enter upon that inheritance prepared for them from the
foundation of the world. 'But my friends,' said he,
*when the angel shall stand with one foot upon the s«a
and the other upon the land, and shall swear by Him
that liveth forever and ever that time shall be no more ;
when the earth shall pass away and the heavens be rolled
up as a scroll ; when the thrones are set, and the dead,
small and great, shall stand before the Lord, is there one
here whose name shall not be found written in the Lamb's
book of life ? Forbid it. Lord ! If there is one here
who has never tasted of the joys of salvation, I warn him
by the terrors of that day to flee the wrath to come, and
to do it now; for now is the accepted time; behold ! now
is the day of salvation ; choose ye this day whom ye will
serve ; and 0, be careful to make a wise choice ! Jesus
has paid your debt, and now stands ready to receive you.
Will you believe it, and enlist under the blood-stained
banner of the cross, or will you put it off to a more con-

404 SKETCHES OF

venient season ? Will you spend a never-ending eternity
in the dark caverns of irremediable woe, or be ushered
into the New Jerusalem with songs and everlasting joy
upon your heads, when the Lord shall come to make up
his jewels ?' His manner and shrill, soul-searching voice
had raised with his feelings till they seemed to have
reached their climax, and with his pale, upturned face
and streaming eyes, he stood for a moment as if wrapped
in the presence of the Lord ; and then, as if the heavens
were opened to his steadfast gaze, he exclaimed, with
startling energy, 'Glory, glory, glory be to God, who
giveth us the victory!' It seemed as if the enchained
attention of the audience was broken up by an electric
shock, and the Spirit of the Lord seemed to fasten on
every heart like cloven tongues of fire, and glory, glory,
glory was echoed back from every part of that worshiping
assembly. Till the tale of time is told on the morning
of eternity the effect of that sermon can never be known.
^'I saw him shortly before he died, some ten years
since, and never did I feel more sensibly the force of
those beautiful lines of Dr. Young,

Tlie chamber where the good man meets his fate,
, Is privileged beyond the common walk

Of virtuous life — quite on the verge of heaven.'

He was weak and very pale ; but there was a serenity in
his countenance that evinced to the beholder how easy it
was for the Christian to die; and when he spoke of his
departure hence, there was a gleam of glory upon his
face that told there was a heaven in his heart. He had
an interesting family, and when he spoke to them he
remarked, 'I love my children, and would be glad to
leave them in better circumstances ', for I have made no
provision for them ; but that God into whose hands I
resign them has promised to provide. I have not labored
for earthly treasure ; but I have an inheritance up yonder^

WESTERN METHODISM. 405

and I expect to meet them all at God's right hand.' Soon
after this he entered upon that rest prepared for those
that love and serve the Lord. His remains were depos-
ited in the graveyard at Indianapolis by hundreds of
mourning friends, who had known him long and loved
him well; and often are the bright flowers and green
grass above that hallowed spot wet with the tears of
those he was instrumental in bringing from nature's
darkness to the marvelous light of God's dear children.
There are few men who were more devoted, or spent their
lives with an eye more single to the glory of God ; few
there certainly are who have done more good, were more
revered, or will be longer remembered than John Strange.''

^lA':^.:;::

>; >■■ : . ■' >.?i<i

406 SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XXXIII.

WILLIAM P. PINLEY.

William P. was the third .son of the Kev. Robert W.
Finley. He was born in South Carolina, in the year 1785,
and emigrated with his parents to Kentucky. From
childhood he was remarkably inquisitive and talkative,
possessing in a high degree those social qualities which
rendered him companionable, as well as a nature full of
wit and humor, which would gather around him all the
young people of the neighborhood. He was rapid in
thought and quick at repartee, yet full of benevolence
and kindness. In addition to his genial nature and
humorous disposition, he possessed a remarkable aptitude
for learning. While at school studying Latin, Greek,
Mathematics, and other branches of learning, he seemed
to get his lessons almost by intuition. While others of
his class would labor and grow weary over a hard sen-
tence, or a difficult proposition, with him it seemed that
it was only to look and receive. He always led his class,
being perfect in all his recitations. What he received so
readily he was disposed as lavishingly to bestow upon
others; and hence, when other young men, during the
winter seasons, would be out hunting and sporting, he
would gather together a group of the neighbors' children
in some lonesome log school-house, and there impart to
them the rudiments of an education. Thus he spent his
years till he arrived at manhood, when he married a
most estimable woman, with whom he lived most happily
till the day of his death.

WESTERN METHODISM. 407

Nothing very remarkable occurred in his history, till
the year 1808, when, with his wife, on their way to a
Christmas frolic, he stopped at the house of the writer of
this sketch and heard a recital of his conversion, con-
nected with an earnest exhortation and appeal, which
awakened both to a sense of their lost condition; and in-
stead of going to join in the scenes of mirth and revelry,
they remained to weep and pray. They returned home
and commenced seeking the Lord with penitential hearts,
and God heard their prayer. One night, in the deep soli-
tude of the forest, while William was prostrate on the
ground crying for mercy, the blessing of pardon and sal-
vation came to his soul with such power, that his soul
was set at perfect liberty, and the peace of heaven flowed
into his heart like a river.

His conversion wrought the most wonderful change,
not only in his habits of life, but in his disposition. He
seemed to have lost all that conviviality of mind and flow
of spirits which so strongly characterized him, and be-
came one of the most sedate and sober men we ever
knew. Great trials awaited him. He was constantly
impressed with the conviction that God had called him
to preach the Gospel, and he was strongly impressed with
the belief that if he did not yield to the call he must
perish, notwithstanding all the Lord had done for his
soul. Such were the deep, agonizing struggles of his soul,
that his mind gave evidence to all of the storm within.
Thus he continued almost distracted, till the Church of
God, which is the best judge of Heaven's designs in this
respect, saw that the burden of the Lord was upon him,
and, accordingly, he was called out and duly authorized to
preach the Gospel of salvation to perishing sinners.

How mysterious are the ways of Providence! The
father of William, burning with a missionary zeal, left his
home and friends for the then distant Carolinas and

■41^8 SKETCHES OF

Georgia, and the far-off cane-brakes of Kentucky; and
when disposed to settle, having purchased a large tract
of land, was turned out of house and home by land pirates,
and driven out in the wilds of the North-western terri-
tory. Here he made another purchase of land, which
was taken from him ; and still another, but his plans were
all frustrated, and he kept wandering. God at length
converts his three sons, and sends them out into the waste
places, tc follow the fortunes of their father in calling
sinners to repentance.

William having proved himself in the local ranks, en-
tered the itinerancy at the conference held in Cincinnati,
in 1814. His first appointment was Paint Creek circuit,
which he was to travel alone. It was a four weeks' circuit,
but he labored with zeal and fidelity; and at the expira-
tion of the year he reported an accession of one hundred
precious souls. His next appointment was Brush Creek
circuit, where he labored with the same untiring zeal in
proclaiming salvation to the lost. The succeeding years
he traveled Miami, Scioto, and Paint Creek circuits. His
last appointment was Strait Creek circuit, in the year
1820. He was obliged to take a location at the close of
this year, from the following lamentable circumstances :
On returning to his circuit from a visit to his family, his
horse became frightened and threw him, his head striking
violently against the bridge which he was crossing, frac-
turing his skull just above the left ear. This wound was
of such a nature as to disqualify him from preaching.
He suffered much from j)ain in the head, and was admon-
ished that his work as an itinerant was done. Judging
that he had not been sufficiently long in the itinerancy to
entitle him to a superannuated relation, he chose to locate,
and, with his wife and helpless children, trust to Provi-
dence. He bore his painful affliction for more than a
year, and he continued to grow worse and worse, till at

WESTERN METHODISM. 409

length his mind gave way, and he became at times a
raving maniac. He was not disposed to do any harm. In
his ravings he would pray, and sing, and preach, as if
still in his beloved employ of winning souls to Christ;
and many who heard the deep pathos of his soul, as it
sent out its pathetic wail like the strings of a broken
harp, were melted to tears. At other times his mania
would assume a different form, and it was almost impos-
sible to control him. After suffering thus for seventeen
months, his physician finally concluded to trepan him as
the only hope of giving him relief. When it was com-
municated to him, and the doctor told him he must con-
sent to be bound, he firmly replied, "No; I can stand
any thing," and laying himself down, without moving a
limb or a muscle, he endured the operation. The moment
the pressure was removed from the brain his mind at
once resumed its healthy functions, and he commenced
praising God for his deliverance. He lived in the full,
bright, unclouded exercise of all his faculties for about
three weeks after the operation was performed, and in
the full, glorious triumphs of faith he went to that world
where no derangement of human organization could ob-
struct the soul in its glorious exercise.

The pulpit exercises of William were of the tender and
pathetic kind. None ever heard him preach that he did
not, with his sympathetic Master, weep over his congre-
gation, and beseech the sinner in tenderest strains to be
reconciled to God, not ceasing till all were melted into
tears. How often have we thought of the saying of the
classic orator, in regard to the secret of producing feeling
in the hearts of an audience :

"If you would have me weep, begin the strain;
Then I shall feel your sorrows, feel your pain !''

By many he was called Jeremiah, or the weeping
prophet. He was not a Boanerges, but a son of consolation ;

36

410 SKETCHES OF

and tliougli there was nothing very brilliant or showy in
his talents as a preacher, yet he was enabled, through the
Spirit, to find way to the hearts of saints and sinners.
Christ and him crucified was the theme that melted his
heart and flowed from his tongue. His devoted wife is
still coasting the Jordan, waiting to cross over. The
most of his children have already gone to join their
sainted father in the better land. We stood by the
dying bed of one of his lovely daughters, and never did
saints or angels witness a more happy and triumphant
death. In her last moments she said, ^'Dear mother,
weep not for me. Angels are waiting to take me to Jesus
and my home in heaven ; there I shall see my dear father,
and brothers, and sisters, and there I shall wait your arri-
val.'^ Sweetest music filled our ears as she plumed her
wings and flew from time's retiring shores to that bright
world above. 0, what a happy death ! While we write
it seems as if our precious kindred are hovering around.
Our soul swells with glory as we contemplate the hour,
not far distant, when we shall hail them on that sun-
bright shore. ., ♦ '! rf*

;,> ♦'')« «:

WESTERN METHODISM. 411

CHAPTER XXXIY.

RUSSEL BIGELOW.

Among tlie number of tlie gifted, devoted, and zealous
preachers of his day stands the name of Eussel Bigclow.
He was received on trial in the Ohio conference in the
year 1815, and appointed to the Hinkston circuit, in the
bounds of the Kentucky district, the Rev. Samuel Parker
being his presiding elder. He was at this time in the
twenty-third year of his age. The history of his early
life, and the circumstances connected with his conver-
sion, are not known; and however interesting their detail
might, and, doubtless, would be, we are sorry that our
readers can not be gratified. So marked a character as
was Bigelow's during his ministerial career, must have
been distinguished in early life by some striking pecu-
liarities.

In the year 1816 he was removed from Kentucky to
Ohio, and stationed on the Miami circuit as the colleague
of the Rev. Alexander Cummins. His early association
with the master spirits of the Church doubtless had a
happy effect upon his character, in developing those
traits which distinguished him in the maturer periods
of his ministry. The succeeding year he was sent to the
adjoining circuit of Lawrenceburg, where he continued
till the next conference, at which he was sent to Oxford,
"where he remained two years. In 1820 he traveled Mad
River circuit, and the following two years Columbus. At
the expiration of this period he went to Whitewater, and
from thence he came to Cincinnati, which place he occu-

4:12 SKETCHES OF

pied with tlie Eev. Truman Bishop. Here he remained
one year^ and from hence went to Union circuit. The
next two years he traveled the Scioto district, and at the
expiration of this time was sent to the mission at San-
dusky. Here he engaged in the work of preaching to
the Wyandott Indians, superintending the farm and mis-
sion school. The tedious process, however, of preaching
through an interpreter was wholly unsuited to his nature,
and at the expiration of the year he retired from the
work to seek a more congenial sphere. The four succeed-
ing years he was sent to preside over the Portland district,
and in the year 1833 he was stationed in Columbus,
where he remained two years, giving full proof of his
ministry, beloved and respected by all both in and out of
the Church. Indeed, such was the esteem in which he
was held that, during the next year, in which it was nec-
essary for him, on account of his feeble health, to take a
superannuated relation, he was appointed by the Board
of Directors of the Ohio Penitentiary, as chaplain to that
institution.

He entered upon his labors in the Penitentiary with a
zeal and devotion characteristic of his truly-benevolent
heart. He visited every cell, and conversed with every
prisoner, and his prayers and exhortations were not lost
upon the hearts of the convicts. Many an obdurate and
sin-steeled conscience was touched by the eloquence of
his tears and entreaties to win them from the ways of sin.
The fruits of his labors in this field eternity can alone
disclose. He might have avoided much labor, and incur-
red no charge on the ground of non-attendance of duty;
but the worth of souls un cared for, as is usually the case
with the inmates of a prison, pressed heavily upon his
heart, and awakened all his sympathies. Under these
labors he broke down, and before the year had expired it
was necessary for him to resign his post.

WESTEKN METHODISM. 413

About this time he visited our house on his way to
Indiana. He had rigged up a jumper, there being snow
on the ground, and in that backwoods conveyance he came
into Ridgeville, the place where we resided. He seemed
to be laboring under a melancholy, which had, for some
time, been settling upon him, and his friends were some-
what apprehensive of the consequences. He was evi-
dently passing through one of those severe trials with
which God purifies his saints and fits them for heaven.
There was a cause, however, for his despondency. He
had given all to the Church — his time, his talents, and
all — and while he was able to preach all was well. Bright
faces and open hands greeted him in all his walks; but,
alas! when disease preyed upon his system, and he was
no longer able to preach the Gospel, faces were hidden
and hands were turned away. A man must have had
more faith than mortal can exercise under such circum-
stances, not to feel depressed. Before his enfeebled
mind rose his helpless family — a wife and seven chil-
dren— and they, in all probability, soon to be left without
any to provide for their wants. His sad experience too
thoroughly convinced him how cheerless would be their
condition when he was gone; and to the Rev. J. C.
Brooke he opened freely his mind upon the subject.
Never did we feel more intensely for a poor itinerant
than we then felt for Bigelow.

After remaining with us a week on his return, he made
ready for his departure. The snow had melted, and there
being no further need for a jumper, Mr. Brooke furnished
him a saddle and fitted him up. He was loth to leave,
and lingered about; and when with tears we bade him
farewell, never to see him again in this world, Mr. Brooke
gave him all the money he had. After riding off some
distance on the road he returned, and taking his horse-
collar and hames he threw them into the yard, all he had

414: SKETCHES OF

to leave as a memento^ the remains of wliich we liavc on
tlic farm to this day.

His work was done, and that devoted, self-sacrificing
missionary went home to die. For more than twenty
years he had toiled in the hard field of itinerant life,
filling, with a zeal and fidelity characteristic of a faithful
soldier of the cross, every post assigned him by the au-
thorities of the Church. For a period of nineteen years
it was said of him, that he had not missed a single ap-
pointment. Frequent exposures in traveling the hard
circuits and districts of those days made heavy drafts
upon his constitution, and ere he had scarcely reached
''manhood's middle day" he was called from the field of
his toil and conflict on earth to the scenes of his reward
and triumph in heaven. In the midst of his sufferings
he realized a perfect resignation to the will of God, and
in the language of faith and joy he was enabled to shout
the praises of his heavenly King. While a brother in
the ministry was pouring out his heart in prayer to God
in his behalf, the responses of the dying man illustrated
the truth that

" The chamber where he met his fate,
-' • ' Was privileged beyond the common walks
Of life — quite on the verge of heaven."

Our sketch would be entirely too meager and unsatis-
factory did it end here; and such, unfortunately, would
have been the case, to a very great extent, had it not
been for the very graphic and faithful pen of Dr. Thom-
son, who has given a most truthful and beautiful analysis
of the sainted Bigelow's character. To this description
we invite the attention of our readers.

" liussel Bigelow was an extraordinary man, and his
merits were never fully appreciated even by the Church.
Of his early history the writer has no knowledge, further
than that he emigrated, at an early age, from New Eng-

WESTERN METHODISM. 415

land tc the west, and that, from his youth, being accus-
tomed to read the Bible upon his knees, he soon became
remarkable for piety. It is probable that he was favored
with no more than a good common school education, be-
fore he entered the itinerancy, of which he was so con-
spicuous an ornament, I was a student in the beautiful
village of W. when I first heard of him. Opposite our
office was a coppersmith, a man of remarkable mind and
character. He had been reared without any education,
and had been unfortunate in his business relations; but
having spent his leisure in reading and in conversation
with persons of better attainments, he had acquired a
stock of valuable knowledge, which his grappling intel-
lect well knew how to use. He was an active politician.
In times of excitement he gathered the multitude around
him, and often arrested our studies by his stentorian
voice, which could drown the clatter of his hammers and
the confusion even of Bedlam. I think I may safely say
that for many years he wielded the political destinies of
his county. Never in office himself, his will determined
who should be. This man had imbibed skeptical senti-
ments, which he often inculcated with terrific energy.
He rarely went to the house of God, and when he did,
I supposed he might as well stay at home ; for I should
have thought it as easy to melt a rock with a fagot, as
to subdue his heart by the ^foolishness of preaching.'

"One Saturday evening he came into our office with a
peculiar expression of countenance — the tear started from
his eye as he said, 'I have been to meeting, and by the
grace of God I will continue on as long as it lasts. Come,
young gentlemen, come and hear Bigelow. He will show
you the world, and the human heart, and the Bible, and
tiie cross in such a light as you have never before seen
them.' I trembled beneath the announcement; for if
the preacher had prostrated a fainting multitude at his

416 SKETCHES OF

feet, lie would not have given me as convincing a proof
of his power as that which stood before me. This was
the first account I ever heard of Bigelow; and from that
time I avoided the Methodist church, till he left the
village.

" One morning of the ensuing summer, my preceptor
came in and said, ' T., come, mount old black, and go
with me to camp meeting.'

'^ T. ' Excuse me, sir, I have no desire to go to such a
nursery of vice and enthusiasm.'

"P. '0, you are too bigoted. Presbyterian, as I am,
I confess I like camp meetings. There man can forget
the business of life, and listen to the truth without dis-
traction, and then ponder on it, and pray over it, and feel
it. Good impressions are made every Sabbath; but they
rarely bring forth fruit; they are worn away by the busi-
ness of the week. At camp meeting the heart can first
be heated, and then, while yet warm, placed upon the
anvil and beaten into shape.'

"7^. 'I was once at camp meeting two hours, and that
satisfied me. The heart may be warmed there, but I
doubt the purity of the fire which heats it.'

*'jP. 'A truce to argument. I have a patient there
I want you to see. You have no objection to go pro-
fessionally.'

^^ T. 'No, sir, I will go any where to see a patient.'

'' It was a lovely morning. The sun was shining from
a cloudless sky, and the fresh breezes fanned us, as we
rode by well-cultivated and fertile fields, waving with
their rich and ripening harvests. After a short journey
we came to the encampment, A broad beam of daylight
showed things to advantage; and I could but think, as I
gazed from an elevated point, and drank in the sweet
songs that reverberated through the grove, of some of
the scenes of Scripture. My rebel heart was constrained

WESTERN METHODISM. 417

to cry within me, ^How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob,
and thy tabernacles, 0 Israel ! As the valleys are they
spread forth : as gardens by the river's side.'

'' Having visited the sick whom we had come to see,
we were invited, with great kindness and cordiality, to
partake of refreshments. The warmth of our reception
excited my gratitude, and instead of starting home, when
the horn blew for preaching, I sat down respectfully to
hear the sermon. Bigelow was to preach. I dreaded
the occasion; but had always been taught to venerate
religion, and had never seen the day when I could ridi-
cule or disturb even the Mohammedan at his prayers,
or the pagan at his idol. In the pulpit were many cler-
gymen, two of whom I knew and esteemed — the one a
tall, majestic man, whose vigorous frame symbolized his
noble mind and generous heart; the other a small, deli-
cate, graceful gentleman, whom nature had fitted for a
universal favorite. Had I been consulted, one of them
should have occupied the pulpit at that time. All was
stillness and attention when the presiding elder stepped
forward. Never was I so disappointed in a man's per-
sonal appearance. He was below the middle stature,
and clad in coarse, ill-made garments. His uncombed
hair hung loosely over his forehead. His attitudes and
motions were exceedingly ungraceful, and every feature
of his countenance was unprepossessing. Upon minutely
examining him, however, I became better pleased. The
long hair that came down to his cheeks, concealed a
broad and prominent forehead; the keen eye that peered
from beneath his heavy and overjutting eyebrows beamed
with deep and penetrating intelligence ; the prominent
cheek-bones, projecting chin, and large nose, indicated
any thing but intellectual feebleness; while the wide
mouth, depressed at its corners, the slightly-expanded nos-
tril; and the tout ensemble^ indicated sorrow and love, and

4:18 SKETCHES OF

well assorted with the message, ^Come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'
As he commenced I determined to watch for his faults;
but before he had closed his introduction I concluded
that his words were pure and well chosen, his accents
never misplaced, his sentences grammatical, artistically
constructed, and well arranged, both for harmony and
effect; and when he entered fully upon his subject, I
was disposed to resign myself to the argument, and leave
the speaker in the hands of more skillful critics. Hav-
ing stated and illustrated his position clearly, he laid
broad the foundation of his argument, and piled stone
upon stone, hewed and polished, till he stood upon a ma-
jestic pyramid, with heaven's own light around him,
pointing the astonished multitude to a brighter home
beyond the sun, and bidding defiance to the enemy to
move one fragment of the rock on which his feet
were planted. His argument being completed, his per-
oration commenced. This was grand beyond description.
The whole universe seemed animated by its Creator to aid
him in persuading the sinners to return to God, and the
angels commissioned to open heaven and come down to
strengthen him. Now he opens the mouth of the pit,
and takes us through its gloomy avenues, while the bolts
retreat, and the doors of damnation burst open, and the
wail of the lost enters our ears; and now he opens
heaven, transports us to the flowery plains, stands us amid
the armies of the blest, to sweep, with celestial fingers,
angelic harps, and join the eternal chorus, ^Worthy,
worthy is the Lamb !' As he closed his discourse, every
energy of his body and mind were stretched to the
utmost point of tension. His soul appeared to be too
great for its tenement, and every moment ready to burst
through and soar away as an eagle toward heaven. His
lungs labored, his arms rose, the perspiration, mingled

WESTERN METHODISM. 4:19

With tears, flowed in a steady stream upon the floor, and
every thing about him seemed to say, '0 that my head
were waters !' But the audience thought not of the
struggling body, nor even of the giant mind within; for
they were paralyzed beneath the avalanche of thought
that descended upon them.

''I lost the man, but the subject was all in all. I re-
turned from the ground dissatisfied with myself, saying
within me, ' 0, that I were a Christian !'

^'It was two or three years after this that, being intro-
duced into the Church, I became acquainted personally
with this excellent man, of whose character I propose to
record what I recollect.

"1. He was modest. To receive the plaudits of thou-
sands, without forming a high estimate of one's talents,
requires much grace. Hence, the orator is generally
proud. Bigelow preached to audiences as large, and with
results as astonishing, as we have ever witnessed. Though
he could not have been insensible of his power, yet he
appeared to set no high estimate on his superior qualifica-
tions or endowments ; for he rarely alluded to them, or
sufi"ered any one else, unrebuked, to do so in his presence.
He was a perfect gentleman in his deportment — to his
inferiors kind — to his equals courteous — to those who had
the rule over him submissive — toward those of elevated
station independent, yet duly respectful — toward the civil
magistrate conscientiously regardful, rendering unto '■ CcC-
sar the things that are Csesar's.' Though he scorned not
the palace, he courted not its inmates; and while the
circles of fashion delighted to honor him, he 'conde-
scended to men of low estate.' Capable of standing,
like the eedar on Lebanon, he loved the place

' Where purple violets lurk
With all the lowhj children of the shade.'

^'Though modest, he was not bashful. Without any

420 SKETCHES OF

thing assuming in look, word, or action, he was a fine
illustration of the truth, 'The righteous is bold as a lion/
He was as far from diffidence as presumption. Never
pushing himself beyond his post, he was always ready
to maintain it. His eye knew not to quail, nor his knee
to tremble before mortal man. He asked no one to
stand in his place in the hour of trial or of duty. Yet
after the sharpest conflict, and most glorious mental con-
quest, he was ready to wash the feet of the humblest
saint. The lark is his emblem, which^ after pouring its
heavenly strains upon the upper skies, descends to build
its nest upon the ground. It may be matter of surprise
to some that such a man should be so modest; but the
explanation is at hand. He knew that he had nothing but
what he had received. When his wondering audience
seemed to say, 'He can do all things,' his spirit and man-
ner breathed the addition, 'through Christ strengthening
me.' Moreover, he seemed to have a method of hiding
and diminishing his own excellences, while he sought out
and magnified those of every one else. He was, how-
ever, far from every thing mean or low ; indeed, there
was an exquisite delicacy about all his thoughts, illustra-
tions, and manners.

*'2. He was humble. If any man could boast of gra-
ces he could. In him they all abounded — faith that
works by love, and purifies the heart — hope, the anchor
of the soul, sure and steadfast — love that burns with an
even, intense flame, consuming all that ' opposeth or ex-
alteth itself against the knowledge of God' — zeal, ardent
and uncompromising, bringing body and soul to the altar j
and yet he was

* Of boasting more than of a tomb afraid.'

He worked out his salvation ^with fear and trembling f
lie was meek and lowly in heart ; he inserted the petition

WESTERN METHODISM. 421

'forgive us our trespasses' in all his prayers, and felt that
his best actions needed the 'sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus.'

"3. He was affable. His natural sweetness of temper,
refined by the spirit of Christianity, gave him an unaf-
fected politeness, which rendered every person perfectly
easy in his presence. The young approached him as a
father, the aged as a friend, and both felt encouraged, by
his engaging air, to express their wants or inquiries with-
out reserve. There are some whose affability invites
familiarity, and leads to contempt; but he mingled with
his urbanity a dignity which imposed respect, and a so-
lemnity which banished levity. In his public addresses
he would go before you as a pillar of fire, but in private
he would suffer you to lead wherever you desired, taking
care to follow you like the smitten rock which followed
Israel, to pour blessings at your feet. His mind, like
that of Christ, seemed filled with beautiful analogies, by
which he could rise from the material to the spiritual,
and make an easy path to heaven from any point of earth
He could charm even the worldly heart that would hold
communion with him ; for although he would direct it
outward from its own defiled chambers, and upward to
God, he would make the ascent so smooth and green, and
would throw so much light and loveliness on all the paths
of piety, that his retiring footsteps would call forth the
assurance, ^ At a more convenient season I will send for
thee.'

'' When he spent the night with a religious family, he
was in the habit of conversing in a religious manner,
without seeming to aim at it; and when his host lighted
him to his chamber, he would take him by the hand
when they were alone, and, alluding to the kindness
bestowed upon him, would make his own gratitude an
apology for inquiring into the highest welfare of his

4:22 SKETCHES OF

hospitable fiiend. He would speak of God's goodness,
man's accountability, a parent's influence, a Savior's
love, an approaching judgment; and when, with stream-
ing eyes, he bowed down to plead with God for his friend,
it would seem as though the heart of stone must melt.
Wherever he went he was hailed as a messenger of God j
and whenever he departed it seemed as though an angel
was taking leave. His name still sheds fragrance from a
thousand family altars. It is impossible to describe the
estimate in which he is held by those with whom he was
frequently called to hold communion in the discharge of
official duty. He was the man whom his brethren in the
ministry delighted to honor. At the conference, at the
quarterly meeting, you might see them gathering around
him to hear his counsel, receive his blessing, and present
some token of their love. In such seasons he had no
reason to envy the crowned or the mitered head. No
incense oifered to the conqueror of a hundred of earth's
battle-fields like the incense offered to him at such peri-
ods; but he was not vain, and when he was the object of
kind attention his heart was overwhelmed, and he wept
as a father in the midst of his children. The stranger
who witnessed such a scene could not refrain from saying
in his heart, ^ Behold how they love him I'

"4. He was cheerful, notwithstanding his habitual se-
riousness. Bearing in his bosom a load which might
make an apostle cry out, ^I have great heaviness and a
continual sorrow in my heart,' he, nevertheless, stood
aloof from melancholy or despair. The shades of his
brow were generally like the flying clouds of a serene
day, which, chasing each other, ' now hide and now
reveal the sun.' Meridian faith beamed from his counte-
nance even in the storm, and threw the bow of promise
over the darkest cloud. He illustrated the paradox, * As
Borrowful, yet always rejoicing.'

WESTERN METHODISM. 423

" 5. He was frank. Perhaps this is the first charac-
teristic which a stranger would notice on being intro-
duced to him. fie was far from every thing like reserve,
hypocrisy, or concealment. His thoughts, words, and
feelings were at ease, his natural language under no
restraint, and his lips ready to utter the uppermost
thoughts of his soul. Indeed, his countenance seemed
so transparent, that you could see his heart as plainly as
his features. At the same time, he had none of the im-
pertinence of freedom, nor the indiscretion of openness.
He was more ready to confess his own faults, than cor-
rect another's. If he opened his heart it was not from
conceit, but from natural warmth ; and when he poured
forth its treasures, it was not that they might flow any
where, but only over those fields which thirsted for re-
freshment. When he saw a friend in danger, he did not
hesitate to profi"er counsel ; but this he did in such a
manner as to inspire respect, if not to secure salvation.
There was no superciliousness or display of superiority — •
no aggravation of the offender's faults — no tone of au-
thority in his reproof; but he came upon you with such
^meekness of wisdom,' such a kind estimate of your vir-
tues, such a voice of tenderness, that you could not but
bless him, even though he probed you to the quick.

^' There is a frank man who is not to be depended on.
He will smile upon you, and promise you a favor, and the
next moment, if he meet with your enemy, can promise
him the same ; not that he would be false ; he is only
changeable. But his inconsistencies often involve his
honor, and place his ingenuity upon the rack to rescue
it. Bigelow's promises were to be relied on. Of him we
might say,

' His words are bonds — his oaths are oracles—
His loves sincere.'

" There is a character that can not be understood — a

4:24 SKETCHES OF

perfect mystery. The more you explore it, the more you
are confounded. It is a Proteus; you know not whether
to love or hate — whether to regard it as foe or friend,
saint or devil. One moment you are allured by an ex-
cellence, and the next repelled by a blemish. But the
greatest of all difficulties is, that it communicates with
the world entirely by artificial language. You can not
trace it; it seems to adopt its motives by stealth, and
drag them to its heart as Cacus did the cattle of Her-
cules to his cave — by the tail instead of the horns ; so
that if you follow their tracks, you are sure to go the
wrong way. It can hardly ' take tea without a strata-
gem;' and, like the ancient warrior, if it thought its
coat could tell what it was about, it would burn it. Its
whole business seemed to be to elude the world, which
it draws, like a pack of gray-hounds, to its scent. Now,
the very reverse of all this was Russel Bigelow.

''I shall never forget the childlike simplicity with
which, on one occasion, in conversation about the com-
parative advantages of extempore and written sermons,
he having dropped the remark, 'My happiest efforts/
added, ^0, pardon me for having used that term in
speaking of any effort of mine.' A stranger having
taken him aside, and presented him with a suit of
clothes, which he much needed, he seized his hand, and
looking up to him with tearful eyes, said, '0, doctor, I
will pray for you as long as I live !' If about to make a
speech, he would tell you so, and perhaps explain to you
the ground he was about to take, and the arguments he
would employ; so that, if you chose, you might digest a
reply before his effort was heard. Had he been in Jo-
seph's place, he, too, would have told his dreams, and
looked for his brethren in Shechem or in Dotham.

" G. He was benevolent and beneficent. Like his Mas-
ter, he was touched with a feeling of human infirmities.

WESTEEN METHODISM. 425

He had learned how to weep with them that weep, and
rejoice with them that rejoice. One needed but to see
him in the asylum, or the prison, or standing before an
object of distress by the road-side, or uttering the sym-
pathies of his broad heart at the pillow of the sick to
be convinced, without argument, that there is such a
thing as disinterested benevolence.

" His faith did not overlook the present world, in its
concerns for the future; and while he struggled, and
wept, and prayed for the sinful soul, he did not forget
the sufifering body. Nor was he content with knowing
the sorrows of those who came in his way : ^ The cause
that he knew not he searched out.' He was emphat-
ically the good Samaritan. His expansive benevolence
embraced the whole human family; not that he cher-
ished the wild speculation that all mankind should be
regarded alike; but warming his charity at the fireside
of his sweet home, he bade it expand till it overleaped
all national boundaries, and natural and artificial distinc-
tions. He was not of those who content themselves with
elevated views and warm sympathies, and who sai/ to the
shivering brother, 'Be thou warmed and clothed.' His
beneficence knew no limits but his ability. As he re-
ceived presents wherever he went — and his brethren,
knowing his worth, would not suffer him to be deficient
in his allowance — if he had husbanded what he received,
he would have accumulated money. But his resources
were expended as fast as they were received, and he died
poor. Indeed, to those who walk by sight, he did not
seem to have a proper regard for the wants of his family;
and when he approached the borders of the grave, the
sight of his helpless children, whom he was soon to leave
fatherless, sometimes induced self-reproaches, connected
with a gloomy despondency in view of the future, which,
however, were instantly banished by the recollection of

36.

426 SKETCHES OF

some STveet promise of Scripture, and a view of God's
tender relation to the fatherless and the widow.

^'7. He was liberal in his views. Never compromising
or disguising the truth, warmly attached to his own Dis-
cipline, and firmly persuaded of his own doctrines, he
was, nevertheless, as far from narrowness and bigotry as
the east is from the west. He delighted to hail every
Church that bore the banner of the Savior, under what-
ever uniform or name ; and to the image of Christ his
heart and hand turned as the needle to the pole. He
looked with joy upon the prosperity of sister Churches;
and notwithstanding he felt a deep interest in the welfare
of his own department of Zion, he never could be accused
of proselyting : his great aim was to bring honor to Christ,
souls to heaven, and glory to God. But although he felt
so little concern to attract converts into his Church, the
people ivould follow him in flocks, as sheep follow a shep-
herd.

'^8. His character was harmonious. We have heard
of many a good man whose home was no paradise. Bige-
low was to his family what he was to his congregation.
Indeed, his spirit is said to have been, if possible, even
more sweet and fragrant at the fireside than in the pul-
pit; and his prayers at the family altar were as fervent
as those which were audible to the multitude. In short,
his words and his works, his inner and his outer life, his
public and his private character, were alike lovely and
accordant.

" ' Did you know Bigelow V said the writer to Chief
Justice L. 'Yes,' he replied; ^and it is one of the
greatest regrets of my life that I did not know him bet-
ter. Had I never known him, I should have loved him
for the effects of his apostolic labors and holy example.
We were a rude people when he was among us, and we
never appreciated his worth ' That he had his faults

WESTERN METHODISM. 42^7

and imperfections, we do not deny ; but they were almost
lost amid his excellences. Let the poet look out upon
the plain or the mountain, the gorgeous sunset or the
thundering cataract; but let me look upon a good man.
The artist may mold matter into forms of enrapturing
beauty, and make us feel their elevating and purifying
influences; but what is the marble Moses of Michael
Angelo, or the cold statue of his living Christ, compared
with an embodiment of the Hebrew law and the spirit of
Jesus in the sculpture of a holy life ? Goethe said that
he was not half himself who had never seen the Juno
in the Rondanini palace at Rome. Well, then, may we
say, that he knows not to what race he belongs who
has never gazed upon such a man as Bigelow. If an
angel were to move among us in celestial sheen, with
what sublimity would he inspire us I But how much
more is it to see moral majesty and beauty beaming from
human clay!"

428 SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XXXY.

HENRYB.BASCOM. ■ '

Bascom was emphatically a western man. Early taken
to the head waters of the Alleghany, and reared amid the
wild scenery of his forest home, his mind took its hue and
coloring from those deep glens and craggy mountains;
and the native bent which was given to his genius, from
the sublime and picturesque scenes around him, grew
with his growth and strengthened with his strength.
But though reared in the west, and identified with its nu-
merous interests, and its rapidly-expanding prosperity, he
was not contracted in his views. His mind seemed to
have been framed upon the same grand scale, in which
the Creator had constructed the broad prairies, and mighty
rivers, and towering mountains of the west. The whole
country, from where Atlantic surges wash the rocky,
sterile shores of New England, to where the Pacific's blue
waters lave the golden sands of California, was his home,
and he embraced the whole in his broad catholic sympa-
thies. With him there was no north, no south, no east,
no west; and in this respect his mind had a Websterian
cast — massy, boundless in its sympathies and aims; or,
like to that of the immortal Clay, whose friend he was
during his whole life, he rose above all sectional views,
soared beyond all sectional lines, and embraced his entire
country in the arms of his benevolence.

As Webster, and Clay, and Calhoun were types of a
race of statesmen, which have passed away from the
political world, so may we say of a Fisk, Olin, and Bascom,

WESTEEN METHODISM.

tney were types of a race of preachers, whicli, as the rare
products of an age that is passing, may take a century to
produce their like again. We would not be sectarian,
though we thus confine our comparison to the Methodist
Church ; and yet, for solid learning, deep piety, and sublime
eloquence in the pulpit and on the platform, we know not
their superiors in any age that is past, as exhibited in any
of the Churches of the land. They may not have ex-
celled in Biblical learning, or devoted piety, or pulpit
eloquence, according to the standards of the great master
minds of some other Churches, but, according to our judg-
ment, none excelled them in a union of all these.

However pleasant and perhaps profitable it might be to
indulge in such a train of thought, and pursue it so as to
resolve, as far as possible, the distinguished traits which
characterized these great minds into their elements, and
thereby form an analysis for the study of the youth of the
present day — a model upon which future character might
be constructed — we must forego that pleasure, and proceed
at once to the subject of our chapter.

There was something very remarkable in the youth of
Bascom. Very soon after his conversion, which occurred
at a camp meeting on Oil creek, he gave evidence, in the
relation of his religious experience and prayers, of a
power and eloquence unusual to boys of his age. At one
time he went from home to attend a quarterly meeting at
Franklin. His singular appearance, with his fox-skin cap
and rude backwoods dress, attracted the attention of
every one present; but when, at love-feast, on Sabbath
morning, he rose and spoke of his conversion and the
love of a Savior, every heart was thrilled, and as the
rough exterior sparkled with the light and fire of the soul
within, the people wondered more at the boy than they
had before been surprised at the rusticity of his appear-
ance.

430 SKETCHES OF

On Monday morning, Mr. William Connelley, wlio waa
a merchant in Franklin, took him to his store and gave
him a new hat and some other articles to fit up his ward-
robe. Mr. C. was subsequently, for several years, a mem-
ber of the Pennsylvania Legislature, and from some cause
or other lost his property and became poor. Traveling in
the west, he stopped at Cincinnati, and being destitute
of means, among strangers, he called upon Dr. Elliott, in
Cincinnati, and asked for the loan of a few dollars to take
him home. The Doctor promptly took out his wallet and
handed him all he desired, saying, "Take that, brother,
and welcome, for giving young Bascom a hat."

Soon after his father removed to the wilds of the west,
and settled on the banks of the Ohio, nearly opposite to
where the city of Maysville now stands, where he en-
gaged with his family in farming pursuits. Many years
afterward, while a professor of moral science at Augusta,
he often visited the residence of his father, several miles
above, on the Ohio side of the river. Here he has been
seen with his coat off, and with mattock in hand, grubbing
out the roots and briers of the soil. One season he pre-
pared the soil and tended twelve acres of corn, at the
same time attending to all his duties in College.

In the year 1812, at a quarterly conference, held on the
Scioto, not far from Portsmouth, in a stone house still
standing, he was recommended to the Western conference,
to be received into the traveling connection. That rec-
ommendation, written and signed by the Rev. Robert W.
Finley, is now in the possession of Dr. Elliott, together
with numerous other documents of olden time, pertaining
to Methodism in the west.

His peculiar talents as a preacher were early developed.
He seemed at once to rise to eminence as a pulpit orator.
The graces of oratory, which others gain, like Demosthenes^
by a severe and tedious process, with him were gifts of

WESTERN METHODISM. 431

nature, and not the product of education. "We are
strongly inclined to tlie opinion that the proverb '■^ iweta
nascitur non fit,'' applies with equal force to orators,
though perhaps not to the same degree. Such was the
case, we believe, with Bascom; he was born an orator, and
to have cast his genius in any model would have destroyed
his power. God makes but few such men. Towering up
like Himalaya, or sublimely grand like Niagara, they
stand out apart from their species to excite our wonder.

We were forcibly struck with the saying of a grave
divine, who had been listening with intense and thrilling
interest to Bascom in one of his loftiest moods, and who,
on being asked, after the sermon, what he thought of the
man, replied, ^'I did not think of the man at all. My
mind was wholly absorbed in the contemplation of the
character of the God who created him," Exhibitions of
greatness and power in nature invariably send us up to
nature's God, We wondered not at the saying of this
grave and talented divine. Similar impressions have
doubtless been elicited from others. Who that witnesses
the tempest careering in majesty and leveling forests in
its course, but has his thoughts transferred to the awful
Being who "rides upon the whirlwind and directs the
storm ?'^ We once kneeled down on the verge of an
overhanging cliff, and turned our ear to take in the full
thunder of Niagara, as it rolled, a hundred feet below
us, its everlasting bass, and such a sense of the majesty
and power of God possessed us, as we were never con-
scious of before. We rose from our knees and shouted,
*^God!'^

Father Taylor, of Boston, himself a child of nature,
and boiling over with native eloquence and wit, was once
listening to Bascom, as he was delivering one of his
series of lectures on Infidelity, in Green-Street Church,
New York, The old man eloquent stood by one of the

i32 SKETCHES OF

pillars that support the gallery, and not far from tlic
pulpit. As the lecturer proceeded, Father Taylor became
more and more interested, and he was seen, unconsciously,
to begin to raise his cane, elevating it gradually, as
though he was indicating the orator's progress. There
he stood, like a statue slightly inclined, drinking in every
word till he heard the last, when, with his cane finally
extended at arm's length above his head, he exclaimed,
^^ Grand!''

Blessed with extraordinary powers, and a brilliant native
genius, all that he needed was an appropriate direction,
and a cultivation correspondent thereto; and we most
firmly believe that, in the order of Providonce, he was
thrown into the very sphere of life where he was fitted to
move, with as much adaptation, in regard to hia nature^
as the planets are adapted to their appointed spheres.
Had his genius been cramped by the laws of the schools,
which are often about as useful in making an orator as a
note-book would be to a nightingale, or as the laws of
motion and sound would be to the dash and roar of
Niagara, the thunder of whose anthem is the voice of
nature, we might have had, and doubtless would have
had, a Bascom polished with all the arts of elocution ; but,
like the nicely-adjusted and exquisitely-wrought autom-
aton, there would have been a stiffness in his move-
ments; and although the precision which should mark
them would indicate the wonderful power of art, still we
should have had nothing but the mimic artificial man.

Nature is the fountain from whence the orator must
draw his inspiration, and the field whereon he must
develop his powers. As the eagle, who soars away from
the homes and the haunts of man, to bathe his undazzled
eye in the sunbeam, and pillow his breast upon the storm,
vso the child of genius must become familiar with Nature
in all her aspects. One of the most eloquent divines, of

VVESTEEN METHODISM. 4:33

the same school of theology to which Bascom hf^ionged,
discourses thus on this subject: "The orator must be
much at home, that is, he must study himself; his own
nature, and powers, and states of mind; and he must be
much abroad, that is, he must go out and study Nature in
all her moods. '^ It is said of Cole, the great artist, that
he studied Nature instead of the great masters, and the
result was, that he excelled all the artists of his day, in
transferring natural scenery to the canvas. His "Gar-
den of Eden/' and " Voyage of Life,'' two of the greatest
productions of his pencil, were conceived from nature.
As all the lines of Nature are lines of beauty, so are all
her movements, and he who would be truly eflfective and
graceful as an orator, must follow no other copy. Bas-
com has been heard to say, in reference to the composi-
tion of his sermons, that a room was so contracted it had
an influence upon his thoughts, and he could only think
freely and grandly when out in the midst of nature,
beneath her boundless skies and extended landscapes.
It is said that an Indian mound, in Kentucky, is pointed
out to the traveler as the spot whereon he composed
some of his greatest sermons.

It is seldom we see the blessings of poverty, and yet we
believe that the very curse pronounced on man in Eden, has
been attended with the greatest blessings, and has wrought
out the most incalculable good to man. Bascom's fathei
was poor, and in addition to this he had a large family
to maintain by the sweat of his face. Had he been rich,
the probability is that young Henry would have been
sent to college, and then the idea of his being an itin-
erant preacher would have never been conceived. Hav-
ing received but a limited education, at the early age of
sixteen he entered the itinerancy as a freshman, in one
of nature's colleges, in western Virginia.

The records of the Church show us, that he was
ST.

434 ' SKETCHES OF

received into the ranks of the itinerancy in the year 1814^
and went through his preparatory course in the wilds of
Ohio, as the colleague of the Eev. Alexander Cummins;
and after having completed his academical curriculum, he
was sent out alone, the following year, to the wilder re-
gions of western Virginia, to travel the Guyandotte circuit.
We have already spoken of the grand and gloomy scenery
embraced in this extensive circuit. Here he was sub-
jected to all sorts of privation, toils, and hardship, but he
endured all as a good soldier; and it was here, ascending
the towering hights, or urging his way through the deep
mountain gorges, or plunging into the rapid rivers and
breasting their swelling tides, that his character as a
preacher was developed. Frequently did he have to
travel forty miles a day, through the unbroken solitudes
of the wilderness, without rest, without food, and at night.
in some lone cabin, would he pour out his full heart.
in strains of Gospel eloquence, upon the rude and simple-
hearted backwoods hunters, collected from different and
distant points to hear him. On one of his solitary jour-
neys he was followed for several miles by a large panther,
which threatened at every moment to spring upon him,
and from which he was only rescued by reaching, at night-
fall, the cabin of a settler. Here, when he had a few
hours for rest, would he retire to the woods as his study,
and amid the rocks and grand old trees, all standing as
nature made them, untouched by the hand of man, he
would prepare his sermons. This he would do by walking
back and forth, forming his plans, selecting his words,
constructing his sentences, and uttering them; which
being done, he would lay them up in the capacious store-
house of his memory, to be brought therefrom at his
bidding, with all the rapidity of thought. We believe
that this custom, adopted from necessity in the woods — •
for in a region infested with rattlesnakes and panthers,

WESTERN METHODISM.

it would not be safe to sit or recline — he transferred to
the parlor and the garden, in towns and cities.

At one time he ventured to recline, with his Bible,
beneath the towering, outspreading branches of an oak,
at one of his distant appointments, near the head waters
of Elk river. He possessed, to a great degree, the power
of abstraction, and it was not long till his soul was in-
tently engaged in taking full draughts from the fountain
of inspiration. In the midst of his spirit reverie he was
aroused by the cry of a hunter, in tremulous tones, telling
him, at the peril of his life, to lie still till he fired.
Quickly glancing his eye in the direction from whence
the voice came, he saw his friend, with his rifle elevated,
and pointing toward the branches of the tree under
which he was lying. Familiar as he was with backwoods
life, Bascom saw that some terrible danger was hovering
over him, and without the least perceptible motion of his
body, he turned his gaze upward, when he saw on the
branch of the tree, just over him, and not more than
twenty feet distant, a huge panther, drawn up and just
ready for a spring. It was a fearful, awful moment. The
least motion on his part would have been the signal for
a spring, and his fate would have been sealed forever.
In that awful moment, when death seemed inevitable,
with a self-control and a courage truly wonderful, he con
tinued perfectly quiet, till the keen crack of the rifle was
heard, and the ferocious beast, pierced by the unerring
aim of the backwoods hunter, fell lifeless by his side.

At another time, while traveling this same circuit, he
stopped, on his way to an appointment, at a log-cabin,
recently erected by the road-side. Stopping for rest and
refreshment, not long after dinner was ready, and he
sat down with the family to dine. A lovely little child,
about three years of age, which had attracted his attention
by its innocent mirth and its gentleness; was playing

436 SKETCHES OF

before the door, while the family were engaged around
the homely repast, when suddenly a heart-piercing cry
was heard.

^^ My child ! my child I" screamed the mother, and
quick as thought all rushed to the door.

Father of mercies ! what a sight was presented to that
fond mother ! A terrible panther had sprung upon that
unconscious child, and was ascending a tree with it in his
mouth.

" The gun ! the gun ! quick, for God's sake, the gun 1"
franticly exclaimed the father.

But Bascom had seized it from the rack, and was
already in quick pursuit. He fired, and the ball pierced
the panther, and brought him to the ground with its
victim ', but, alas ! life had fled. Thus, amid such wild
scenes and daring adventures, the first years of our young
itinerant's life were passed.

When the fame of the eloquent young preacher first
reached our ears, we were traveling on the West Wheel-
ing circuit, in another part of the conference. Though
rumor spoke, with glowing tongue, of his matchless and
enchanting power in the pulpit, and we were prepared, as
we often have been before, by such exaggerated descrip-
tions, to be disappointed when we should have the oppor
tunity of hearing him, yet, when that time came, which
it did at conference, where he was literally surrounded
with a battery of critics' eyes, in the persons of preachers,
we were ready to say, after a long-drawn breath, when he
had ended a most intensely-thrilling discourse, in the
language of the Queen of Sheba, on her visit to Solomon,
^' The half had not been told us.'' Those who never heard
him till after his soul had been caged in the cramped
and narrow cell of scholastic study, and shorn of its
freshness, strength, and power, by inhaling the atmosphere
of a pent-up city life, can have but a faint conception of

WESTERN METHODISM. 437

what lie was, when lie communed witli nature and nature's
God, and breathed the pure air of the mountain, in the
bright and palmy days of his itinerant life. In the ex-
pressive language of one who was intimately acquainted
with him, ''Those who heard him then will never forget
the feelings that he produced. The deep, thrilling tones
of a voice then unimpaired by hardship and overexertion,
now melting into the soft, melodious accents of love, and
now bursting forth in thundering denunciations of the
world's ungodliness, never failed to stamp upon the hearts
of his hearers impressions lasting as life itself At one
moment his audience, moved by the charming pictures of
his pencil, would be all radiant with smiles ; at another,
the pathetic, touching, and heart-moving scenes, which
he would describe, would force tears of sympathy down
the cheeks of the most obdurate; and then, in an instant,
by the magic of his burning eloquence, he would make
the whole congregation tremble, so wondrous, so real, so
terrible was his Rembrandt-sketch of the doom of the
impenitent. He controlled his audience at will. Per-
fectly familiar with all the motives of the human mind,
and all the impulses of the heart, he could cause his
hearers to smile with joy, or weep with penitence, or
tremble with remorse, at pleasure. No man possessed a
more fruitful imagination. His descriptions fairly glit-
tered with poetic gems. Touched by his master hand,
every picture of life assumed the charm and glow of
beauty, or glared with the most hideous deformity, just
as it suited his purpose. I well remember a discourse on
the vanities of life, delivered by him some years ago ; and
never did all the charms and attractions of this world
appear so little and so worthless to me as on that occasion.
His description of the dalliances of the world, the siren
whisperings of Ambition, and the luring charms of Pleas-
ure, surpassed in beauty and power any thing I remem*

438 SKETCHES OF

ber to have heard from the lips of man. His power as
an orator was, no doubt, greatly aided by his fine person,
his open, manly, honest expression of countenance, and
his keen, piercing black eye. That eye none could de-
scribe. A venerable citizen, who knew him well, has
often told me that, while Dr. Bascom was preaching, he
could never 'unfix' his gaze from that earnest, soul-pen-
etrating eye. 'Why,' said he, 'whenever he was de-
nouncing any mean passion, or secret, ungodly propensity,
his dark, keen eye seemed to look right through me, and
say to my self-condemned spirit, ' "Thou art the man." ' "
He possessed that indescribable power, that magnetic
charm, if we may so term it, with which all true orators are
gifted, and which never fails to move the souls of men.
What he described was real, and men saw it and felt it
as a thing of life. A deep, earnest soul, and resolute
and brave, was Henry B. Bascom. We will relate an
incident as illustrative of his character, which occurred
when he was connected with Augusta College. He had
crossed the river to attend a meeting. During his dis-
course in the evening, he took occasion to come down
with terrific, scathing denunciation upon the profane
swearer. It is said that whatever citadel of vice or
infidelity he attacked, so direct and powerful was his
artillery, that he left nothing but the smoldering ruins.
It being necessary for him to recross the river that night;
it was agreed by a number of rough boatmen, who were
writhing under his sermon, that they would ferry him
over and retaliate upon him for his severity. Bascom
entered the skiff, and they started from the shore. They
had not proceeded far till they commenced a concert of
oaths, horrid enough to make the cheek of darkness itself
turn pale. There sat the preacher, wrapped up in hia
cloak, in the stern of the boat, apparently unconscious
of what was transpiring. They became enraged at hia

WESTERN METHODISM. ' '^>

stoicism, and raved and cursed like fiends from perdi-
tion, who had graduated in the dialect of the damned.
When they were nearing the Kentucky shore, one of
them asked him if he was not a preacher. To this he
responded in the affirmative.

" Why, then," said he, " don't you reprove us for our
Bwearing ?"

^' You may swear till you break your necks, for aught
that I care,'' replied Bascom, fully conscious of their
design to abuse and insult him.

One, who in later years heard Bascom, said of him as a
preacher, ''His delivery, naturally most eloquent, was
injured, strangely as the assertion may sound, by being
made to conform exactly to the matter delivered. It was
his writing, in other words, that marred his delivery. Had
he always spoken without writing, and formed the habit
of easy, correct, extempore elocution, he would have been
almost any thing that eloquence could have demanded.''
Had this friend known him in his early days, and been
permitted to have heard him, he never would have
spoken thus, because Bascom had formed the very " habit "
of which he speaks, and had attained the high position
for eloquence which such a habit secured. This criticism
serves as an illustration of what we have already said;
namely, that the systems of the schools, which, unfortu-
nately, controlled him in after life, was what, to a great
extent, destroyed his power as an orator. It was, in
truth, ''writing that marred his speaking;" but, notwith-
standing all these disabilities, we aver that he had no
superior in the world. Other speakers may have excelled
m the beautiful, or the pathetic, or the fanciful, but foi
sublimity and grandeur, either as it regarded matter or
manner, we confidently believe he was without a rival.
We have heard him when it was painful to listen; when
the souls of his vast auditory, wrought up to the highest

MO SKETCHES OF

intensity by liis aTvfully-sublime descriptions, seemed
ready to burst with emotion. Nor yet was he wanting
in the beautiful. We have been borne away by his elo-
quence, as on beds of violets, to soft elysian bowers, and
have almost breathed the air and heard the songs of
heaven. But we have a word more in regard to the
knowledge and eloquence which is to be derived from the
study of nature. In this age, when books and colleges
are flooding the land, it would be well for us to call our-
selves back a little to the study of nature, where we find

"Books in the nxnning brooks,
Sermons in stones."

An eloquent divine, at the head of one of our colleges,
says, ^^How much better this unwritten knowledge than
all w^ritten : it is unerring, adapted to each case. It was
an experiment of modern times to restore a sick body by
transfusing the blood of a healthy one into its veins; but
it was unsuccessful, because the transfused current was
not in a proper relation to the vessels which received it :
it irritated and bloated the sinking system. Too much of
our learning is of this kind — a transfusion of thought into
channels unadapted to it, which only vitiates and pufifs
them up. The sick soul, like the sick body, must restore
itself; its vital organs must be aroused to vigorous action
before its streams can be enriched and purified.

''We in this land should be the last to complain of bar-
renness of mind ; for the new world is around us. Alas !
alas ! we are thrashing over and over again the old world's
dry straw instead of thrusting the sickle into the new
world's green and waving harvest. These cloud-capt hills
are strewn all over with legends ready to be bound into
the bundles of Homeric odes and epics. These venerable
woods stand thick with God's owm thoughts; they leap
by us in every deer that crosses our path, and fall upon
us in every descending leaf. New forms of human love,

WESTERN METHODISM. 441

and sympath}^, and sin, and suffering, look out from those
cabin windows and burning brush-heaps, from yonder
cane-brakes and the f)ir-oii wigwams. We have book-
teachers enough. 0 for more bookless ones !"

We have absolutely been sickened at the stereotype
process by which preachers have been made in our col-
leges. They are the merest casts from some model
teacher, and every thing about them is an imitation;
ttieir very tone of voice and manner of delivery, to the
pointing of a finger, or the shake of the head, and even
the alamode of their dress and walk are all the most
servile imitation. Nature is smothered to death, and
buried beyond the hope of a resurrection. And yet we
would not eschew books nor colleges. God forbid ! We
want them all, but we want natural men, whose flash and
thunder in the pulpit come from the Bible and the great
battery of nature. Though Bascom, in later years, had
lost; to some considerable extent, the power of

" Sending his soul -with every lance he threw," ' ' "'

yet he never lost the power to charm, and he never
preached to an audience but that

" Their listening powers
"Were awed, and every thought in silence hung,
In wondering expectation."

What Grattan said of the Irish orator, may with equal
appropriateness be said of Bascom: ''When young, his
eloquence was ocean in a storm; when old, it was ocean in
a calm; but whether calm or storm, the same great ele-
ment, the sublimest and most magnificent phenomenon
in creation."

But there were ether traits of character, concerning
which we must be permitted to allude in our sketch.
Sr.ern and sedate, as one might think, wrapped up in the
solitude of his own thoughts and feelings^ he possessed a

442 SKETCHES OF

heart filled witli tlie kindliest sympathies. He was quite
as ready to

" Feci another's woe,"

and to hide another's faults, as many who have consid-
ered him selfish and indifferent. It is not always those
who have the most feeling that give evidence of it in
their manner. Some hearts are like fountains on the
surface, always seen — open to the gaze of all — others arc
like fountains hidden among the rocks, yet clear, trans-
parent, full, and free. A frown may sometimes be on the
brow, and the tearless eye indicate no feeling, when the
heart is ready to break with tenderness ', and then, again,
we have seen smiles spread over the countenance, when
stormy passions raged within. God looks at the heart,
and we are to judge no man from appearance. Indeed,
one of Bascom's faults, if it were a fault, was almost in-
variably to take the part of the oppressed, or to choose the
weaker side of almost any question, without duly weighing
the merits thereof. His error, however, in this respect^
was pardonable. To pursue a man to *Hhe bitter end,''
because of a difference of opinion, and, with bigotry and
prejudice, question his motives and condemn his actions,
was never the character of Bascom. He was above it, as
far as the towering Alps, which bathes its pure summit
in the light of heaven, is above the clouds and mists that
creep along its sides and encircle its base, and we pity
the man who could pursue so noble a spirit, or breathe an
unworthy suspicion over his memory.

But he was independent; and we hesitate not to say,
that, had it not been for his rare and commanding tal-
ents, he never would have been regarded, by the majority
of the Church, as sufficiently safe to have been intrusted
with any prominent ecclesiastical position. Never was
man, from the very commencement of his ministerial
career, through all its periods, down to the very close

WESTERN METHODISM. 443

almost of his eventful life, more stoutly, bitterly, perti-
naciously opposed, than was Bascom. Providence itself
seemed to frown upon him, as he struggled with the
hardest fortune all through life. But why was this ?
We have thought his mighty spirit required such severe
discipline to school it for heaven. Like Schiller, he
literally passed through storm, and tempest, and fire, to
heaven, and yet, like Elijah and Daniel, he went un-
scathed. He rose, however, despite of all opposing ob-
stacles, to the highest summit of human greatness, and to
the occupancy of the most distinguished posts of honor
and trust in the gift of that branch of the Church to
which he belonged. From a President of Madison Col-
lege, and Professor, in Augusta, he was promoted to the
Presidency of Transylvania University. When the liter-
ary department of that institution ceased, he was elected
editor of the Southern Quarterly Review, and finally a
bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, which
distinguished office he held when he died.

Much might be said of this great man in Israel, who
has been taken from our midst. We are sorry we could
not do the subject more justice. Plad it not been that
our sketches of western preachers would have been in-
complete without a notice of one who grew up in our
midst, and filled the country with his fame, we would not
have undertaken it. What we have written is almost
entirely from personal recollection, not having a single
scrap of material within our reach. We are aware that
his life has been written and published, but, with all our
efforts, we have not been able to procure a coj^y ; and we
had delayed writing this sketch till this late hour in the
composition of our book, hoping to have some data from
which to draw, to enable us to give a more satisfactory
outline of the life and character of that wonderful man^.
but we have been disappointed. We hope our readers

444 ' ' "' SKETCHES OF .1 "^

will regard it as a slight tribute to the memory of one
whom we regarded as the greatest of American pulpit
orators.

lie is gone. Our Bascom is no more. The light that
shone, kindled from God's altar, in that intellect, which
was clear as an angel's, has not gone out; it has only
ceased lo shed its radiance and glory upon the earthly
sphere. In yonder heaven, undimmed, it shines forever.

>; ■';;•:■.• 4 <: /f.

WESTERN METHODISM. 4A5

CHAPTER XXXVI.

S A :M U E L HAMILTON. '

In apostolic times there was among the ministers of
Jesus a Paul, an Apollos, and a Cephas, all possessing
striking characteristics, that in the wide range, under
the diversities of gifts communicated, the Church might
be supplied with a ministry adapted to all its peculiari-
ties. This variety, in the order of Providence, has been
kept up in the Church to the present day. The keen,
logical mind of a Paul, the fervid eloquence of an Apol-
las, the intrepid boldness and zeal of a Peter, and the
mild, persuasive, simple eloquence of a John, all have
their representatives in ministers of the present day.
Such a variety in mental constitution, physical tempera-
ment, disposition, and education is admirably adapted to
the itinerant system of the Methodist Church, because
the variety of talent is diffused over the Church, and
there can be no monopoly of any peculiar gifts, grace, or
usefulness, as exhibited in the ministry, by any one par
ticular congregation. We have often thought there waa
as much difference in the mental as in the physical con-
stitution and conformation of our race, and that every
man possessed an individual character peculiar to him
self, and as distinguishable from the rest of his species
a,o his features differed from all others; and that it would
be as impossible to find two minds exactly alike in every
respect as it would be to find two faces exactly corre-
sponding in features.

As it regarded the toils, and hardships, and privations

4:4:6 SKETCHES OF

of tlic early preacliers of the west, there was a wonderful
identity. There was then no post of ease and honor to
be occupied by a Methodist preacher — no presidenciea
and professorships of colleges, no editorships or agencies,
no splendid stations with large salaries, no easy circuits
with only Sabbath appointments, to be reached on turn-
pikes and railroads — no, there were none of these things;
and yet the ministers of those days went to their work,
and continued in it as cheerfully as the ministers of the
present day fill the various appointments assigned them.
But while among the early preachers there was an iden-
tity in regard both to the kind and quantity of labor in
which they were engaged, there was, nevertheless, as
great a diversity of talent as is found among them at the
present day. We will not particularize, lest we should
be considered presumptuous, or, perhaps, invidious in our
comparisons; but whoever reads our biographical sketches,
will be able to discover diversities of temperament, tal-
ents, and character as great as ever characterized the
ministers of the Gospel in any period of the Church's
history.

Samuel Hamilton belonged to a class distinctly marked.
His position among the itinerant ranks the reader will
be able to fix after he shall have read our sketch. He
was the youngest son of William Hamilton, who emi-
grated from Western Virginia, in 1806, and settled in
the wilds of Muskingum. Having purchased his land,
and made every preparation for settling upon it, he
called all the members of his household together, and,
like Abram in Mamre, erected an altar, and consecrated
his family and possessions all to God. This patriarch,
with his devoted and pious wife, having given themselves
and children to God in an everlasting covenant, were en-
couraged, by God's promise, to expect that the children
of their faith, and prayer, and godly example, would soon

WESTERN METHODISM. 447

give evidence of the work of grace upon their hearts.
At the removal of his father to Ohio, Samuel was in the
fifteenth year of his age. His mind was early impressed
with the importance of religion, and his tears and pray-
ers gave evidence that the world and its pleasures could
not fill the aching void in his aspiring soul. In the year
1812, when he was in the twenty-first year of his age, he
attended a camp meeting, held on the lands of Joseph
Thrap, in the bounds of Knox circuit, where he was pow-
erfully awakened under the ministration of God's word.
It was impossible for him to suppress the deep and over-
whelming convictions of his soul, and in agony he cried
aloud for mercy. For days and nights, in a distress bor-
dering upon despair, he sought for pardon. We had
witnessed his anguish, and the unavailing cries of his
heart for mercy, and all the sympathies of our nature
were deeply aroused in his behalf. AVe took him to the
woods, and there, in the solitude and deep silence of the
night, with the curtains of darkness around us, we fell
prostrate before God in prayer. We arose upon our
knees, and embraced him in our arms, while, with
streaming eyes and faltering voice, he exclaimed, "0
Lord, I do believe ! Help thou mine unbelief!'' Then,
in a moment, quick as thought conveyed by lightning,
the blessing of pardon came down, and heaven filled his
soul. Instantly he sprang to his feet, and, like the man
in the ''beautiful porch,'' he ''leaped, and shouted, and
praised God" for the delivering grace he had obtained
in that distressful hour.

At this time we were traveling the circuit on which
his father lived, and we had the pleasure of aiding the
youDg convert in taking up his cross. He was zealous,
determined, and active, and the Church and world alike
saw that God had a work for him to do. He exercised
his gifts in exhortation, and sinners were awakened and

4AS SKETCHES OF

converted througli his instrumentality. In the yeai
1814, at the conference held in Cincinnati, he was ad
niitted on trial as a traveling preacher. His first field oi
labor was the Kanawha circuit. The circuits in Western
Virginia at that time were called the Colleges of the
Methodist Church, where the young preachers were sent
to get their theological education, or, in other words,
take their theological course. Sometimes they were
called '' Brush Colleges '," at other times, the fields
where the conference broke its young preachers. Some
of the most prominent of our western preachers took
their first lessons in the itinerancy upon this field.
Here, amid the dense forests and flowing streams, the
logical and metaphysical Shinn pored over his books, on
horseback, as he traveled to distant appointments; and
here, among the craggy mountains and deep glens, the
eloquent Bascom caught his sublimest inspirations. In
this wild region the preachers had to encounter much
toil and hardship ; and while they lived on the simple
fare of the country, consisting of hominy, potatoes, and
"mountain groceries," they were not afflicted with those
fashionable complaints denominated dyspepsia and bron-
chitis. As a specimen of the trials of Methodist
preachers, we will relate an incident that occured in the
year 1836. One of the preachers of the Ohio confer-
ence, having reached his circuit, and finding no house
for his family, built for himself a shanty out of slabs, on
the bank of the Gaulley river. Having furnished his
wife with provisions for a month — that being the time
required to perform his round — consisting of some corn-
meal and potatoes, he started out upon his circuit. To
reach his appointments, which were sometimes thirty
miles distant, it was necessary for him to take an early
start. One morning, after he had progressed about half
round his circuit, he started for an appointment which

WESTEKN METHODISM 449

lay on the other side of one of the Gaulley mountains.
It had rained through the night, and having frozen, the
earth was covered with a sheet of ice. The travel was
dif&cult even on level ground, so slippery was the surfiice ;
and unless it should thaw, the itinerant felt an appre-
hension that it would be difficult to ascend the steep
sides of the mountain. Instead of thawing, however,
the weather grew colder; but there was no retreat. His
appointment was before him, and the mountain must be
crossed. At length, after passing for some distance
through a narrow valley, he came to the point where his
narrow path led up the ascent. It was steep and diffi-
cult, and his horse would frequently slip as he urged him
on. On the right the mountain towered far above, and
on the left, far down, were deep and frightful precipices;
a single misstep, and horse aud rider would be dashed to
pieces on the rocks below. After ascending about two-
thirds of the elevation, he came to a place in his mount-
ain path steeper than any he had passed over. Urging
his tired but spirited steed, he sought to ascend; but the
horse slipped. Seeing his danger, the preacher threw
himself off on the upper side, and the noble animal went
over the precipice, bounding from rock to rock, deep
down into the chasm below. The preacher retraced his
steps, and on coming round to the point where his horse
had fallen, he found him dead. Taking oif the saddle,
bridle, and saddle-bags, he lashed them to his back, and
resumed his journey, reaching his appointment in time
to preach. The balance of the round was performed on
foot, and at the expiration of four weeks from the time
of starting, he joined his companion in her cabin, on the
bank of the river, thankful for the providence which
had returned him safely home.

Here young Hamilton studied theology and human
nature, in both of which he became well versed. His

38

450 SKETCHES OF

preaching talents were peculiar, and often did he mate
his discourses sparkle with wit and eloquence. Some-
times he would indulge in a rich vein of humor, which
without letting down the dignity of the pulpit, would
send a thrill of delight among his audience. No one
enjoyed a little pleasantry more than himself; and having
a peculiar horror for any thing like a sour godliness, he
may, at times, have gone a little too far over to the other
extreme. He had a quick perception of the ridiculous,
and was not very well able to command himself even in
the pulpit when any thing occurred to excite that sense
in his mind. We recollect of his telling us of an occa-
sion of this kind, which occurred at a meeting on the
waters of the Little Kanawha. At a certain appointment

there lived a Colonel , whose family were members

of the Church, and who had a respect for religion, though
he was too fond of the world to make a profession thereof.
He was regular in his attendance, and on the occasion
to which we have alluded, he was in his seat, attended by
a neighbor of his, who was respectable enough, with the
exception that at times he would lose his balance under
the influence of intoxicating licjuor. He had taken on
this occasion just enough to make him loquacious without
being boisterous. Hamilton, after singing and prayer,
arose and gave out for his text the first Psalm, which
reads as follows : "■ Blessed is the man that walkcth not
in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way
of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scorner," etc.
He entered upon the discussion of his subject by showing
what was to be understood by walking in the counsel of
the ungodly 3 and as he entered upon the description of
the ungodly, and their various wicked ways and bad
examples, he saw the friend of the Colonel punch him
in the ribs with his elbow, and overheard him say,
'^ Colonel, he means you.'^ ^' Be still/' said the Colonel,

WESTERN METHODISM. 451

''you will disturb tlie congregation." It was as mucli as
the preacher could do to control his risibles ; but he pro-
gressed with his subject; and as he described another
characteristic of the ungodly in standing in the way of
sinners, the force of the application was too strong to be
resisted, and the Colonel's friend, drawing up closely,
elbowed him again, saying, " He certainly means you,
Colonel.'' "Be quiet, the preacher will see you," whis-
pered the annoyed man, while he removed as far from
him as he could to the other end of the seat. The
preacher had arrived at the third characteristic of the
ungodly; and as he, in earnest strains, described the
scorner's seat, the Colonel's friend turned and nodded his
head at him most significantly, adding, in an under tone,
''It's you, it's you. Colonel; you know it's you." By
this time the most of the congregation were aware of
what was going on, and cast significant smiles and glan-
ces at one another. Those who understood the features
of the speaker could easily discover that he was moving
along under a heavy press of feeling, and unless some-
thing should occur to break the excitement, he must
yield to the impulses of his nature. Just at this crisis
a little black dog ran up the aisle, and, stopping directly
in front of the pulpit, looked up in the preacher's face,
and commenced barking. The scene was ludicrous
enough; but how was it hightened when the Colonel's
friend rose from his seat, and deliberately marching up
the aisle, he seized the dog by his neck and back, and
began to shake him, exclaiming, '' Tree the preacher, will
you? tree the preacher, will you?" Thus he kept shak-
ing and repeating what we have written, till he arrived
at the door, when, amid the yells of the dog and the
general tittering of the audience, he threw him as far as
he could into the yard. This was too m.uch for Hamil-
ton^ and he sat down in the pulpit, overcome with laugh-

452 SKETCHES OF

ter. It would have been impossible for him to have
resumed his subject, or even to have dismissed the con-
gregation. Suffice it to say, that preaching was done for
that day; and ever after, when the Colonel went to Church,
he was careful that his friend was not by his side.

Samuel Hamilton was well instructed in the doctrines
and discipline, and peculiarities of Methodism, and
wherever he went his labors were appreciated, and
souls were blest. His next field of labor was Barnes-
ville circuit; and having completed his year of service on
that field, he was sent successively to Steubenville and
Marietta. While on the Marietta district, subsequent to
this date, he furnished for the Methodist Magazine a
sketch of Methodism in Washington county, which, while
it will give the reader a specimen of his style as a writer,
will also furnish a faithful history of the first settlement
in Ohio, and the rise and progress of Methodism. In
his preface to this sketch he says, '^If such historical
facts have not buoyancy enough to sustain them in this
age, let them be joined to others more buoyant, and they
will float down the stream of time, and be taken up by
the historian of coming years as a valuable prize." That
his facts possess buoyancy enough to float down the
stream of time, we leave the reader to judge.

^'The county of Washington was the first organized
county in the North-Western territory. The town of
Marietta, the seat of justice, is situated at the junction
of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, in latitude thirty-
nine degrees, twenty-eight minutes, and forty-two sec-
onds north, and in longitude four degrees, twenty min-
utes west of the city of Washington.

"In 1787 a company organized themselves in Boston,
and took the name of 'The Ohio Company.' The prin-
cipal part of this company were ofiicers and soldiers in
the Revolutionary war ; men who had spent their time,.

WESTERN METHODISM. ^tf

Btrength, and property in giving birth to our nation, and
who had but little at the end of that great national
struggle, excepting the final settlement-notes given them
by the Government, as a remuneration for their services.
Those brave fathers of our nation, being unsupported by
pensions, found it difficult to submit to the heavy hand
of poverty in a country full of wealth; they, therefore,
exchanged with the General Government their final set-
tlement-notes for a million and a half acres of wild land
in Ohio. One hundred thousand acres of this land were
given to actual settlers — one hundred acres each. One
thirty-sixth was given for the support of common schools,
and as much more for the support of the Gospel. Two
townships — or 46,080 acres — were given for the support
of a state seminary. All this was done to invite emi-
grants, and for the good of posterity. -.; *.-•

"On the 7th of April, 1788, forty-seven men landed
on the spot where the town of Mariet a now stands. No
traces of human beings were to be seen, excepting the
marks of the ax-man who followed the surveyor, the
recently-deserted wigwam of the modern Indian, and the
mounds, covered ways, and fortifications of a people 'un-
known to song.' Immured in an immense wilderness,
this band of brothers were permitted to taste the sweets
of solitude for a season ; but the temperate climate, fer-
tile soil, and flattering prospects of the country, soon
induced others to follow them. Thus their number in-
creased, and their prospects brightened, till 1790, It
was then found that the country could muster four hun-
dred and forty-seven men, one hundred and three of
whom had families. But as their prosperous sun was
rising to its meridian splendor, in a fatal hour it was
obscured behind a dark and portentous cloud; nor did it
again appear with its wonted brightness for four years.

"In 1791 the Indians became hostile, and their hos-

454: SKETCHES OF

tilities continued for four years. Considering tlie exposed
situation of the whites, their means of defense, and the
disparity of their numbers, it is utterly astonishing how
they sustained the shock so long. Had it not been for
the undaunted courage, unbending fortitude, and pro-
found skill of those veterans, who had been educated in
the school of danger, they must have fallen victims to
the relentless fury of their savage enemy. It was their
business to defend themselves. This they did so effectu-
ally that they lost but thirty in all — twenty-three killed,
and seven taken prisoners. In 1795 they hailed with
delight the return of peace, left their fortifications, and
returned to their farms.

. ''The first settlers were principally Predestinarians,
subdivided into Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and a
few regular Baptists. Soon after the first company
landed, a Church was organized in Marietta, and Doctor
Story became the officiating minister in the congregation.
From this time a form of godliness was kept up by them;
how much of the power they possessed we are not pre-
pared to say. The united testimony, however, of the
people who lived in those days, and saw things as they
were, leads us to conclude that vital piety was at a low ebb.
Professors appear to have met the loorld's people on mid-
dle ground, offered up a peace-offering, and engaged with
them in all the amusements and pastimes of the age. So
o-reat was the amalc-amation of light and darkness, that
an angel's eye might have failed to draw the line of
demarkation between the man of the world and the mem-
ber of the Church. In this condition Methodism found
the great mass of the people in Washington county — in
their own estimation rich, and increased with goods, and
having need of nothing, and knowing not that they v/ere
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. -
^'lleece Wolf — a local preacher — in a letter to me,

WESTERN METHODISM. 455

writes tlius : 'In April, 1798, I settled on tlie little Ka-
nawha, Wood county, Virginia. At that time Methodism
was unknown in this country. As soon as I came I com-
menced preaching, and the next fall and winter a revival
took place. I made up a class of twenty-one members,
and soon found I had more work to do than I well could
perform. I cried to the Lord for help ; I wrote a letter
to Bishop Asbury, and another to the Baltimore confer-
ence, to be held in Stone Chapel, near Baltimore, the next

?prin

c^*

In June followino- I had the best kind of evi-

dence that Grod and the Church had heard my Macedo-
nian cry. Brother Ilobert Manley was sent on to our
help, and the little flock I had gathered submitted to the
government of the Methodist Episcopal Church.'

"June 1st, 1799, Mr. Manley took charge of the infant
Church in Wood county, Virginia. He appears to have
spent nineteen days in that part of the country, where
he found five or six preaching-places. These limits were
quite too small for a man whose heart burned with zeal
for the glory of God and the salvation of men, and who
had received a commission from the great Head of the
Church to preach the Gospel to every creature. He,
therefore, cast an anxious eye across the Ohio river, where
he saw a vast territory on which a Methodist preacher
had never set his foot, and in which many families were
indeed destitute of the bread of life. He beheld theii
souls in ruin, and hasted to give them relief, by setting
before them the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. On
the 20th he crossed the Ohio, and came into Marietta,
but found no rest for the sole of his foot — no Laban to
say to the servant in pursuit of a spouse for his Master,
'Come in, thou blessed of the Lord j' for an itinerant
Methodist preacher, Methodist doctrines, and Methodist
economy, were to this people as strange and unlocked for
as Columbus's ship and party were to the natives of our

4:^6 SKETCHES OF

land It was not his object to pull down otherSj but to
feed the destitute with the bread of life; he, therefore,
left the town, and directed his attention to the more des-
titute but less jealous people of the country, hoping to
find some noble Bereans, who would test him and his
doctrines by the infallible standard of truth. In his
first tour he visited each settlement in the county — found
a Presbyterian, a Congregational, and a Baptist minister;
but many new and small, but growing neighborhoods,
were totally destitute of all sanctuary opportunities. In
the most of those settlements he found open doors for
his reception. He also found Solomon Goss, and two
members of his family, who had experienced the blessed
effects of Methodism in their own hearts. This family,
when on their way from the east to Ohio, stopped a sea-
son in West Liberty, where they were awakened and
converted to God by the instrumentality of T. Fleming.
If others opened their doors through vain curiosity, to
hear what the babbler could say, this family opened
theirs from the noblest and best feelings of their hearts.
As their attachments to the Church were early in their
beginning, so they have been deep and constant to the
present time.

''This was an eventful year; for in it the public mind
became deeply and correctly impressed with the beauty
and importance of a plan perfectly adapted to the wants
of a new and thinly-populated country. The way was
opened, a number of small classes were formed, and a
circuit was organized in Ohio; and much good seed was
sown that ripened into maturity in after years. The
next year Jesse Stoneman and James Quinn were sent
on to take charge of these little flocks in the wilder-
ness. Thus a regular succession of ministers has been
kept up for thirty years, each watering in his turn the
seed tiown by the other ; during which time the ranks of

WESTERN METHODISM. 457

the. wicked one have been greatly thinned, and the re-
gions of glory peopled with many immortal souls.

*' A number of years now passed with good success in
the country. The classes which had been formed flour-
ished in the principal part of the neighborhoods. Many
had experienced ' the washing of regeneration, and the
renewing of the Holy Ghost/ and loved the Church with
great tenderness. But in town every effort appeared to
be weak and unsuccessful. In 1804 the undaunted and
- deeply-pious George Askins made a bold push, and ap-
pointed a camp meeting in town, on a spot of public
land. The members from the country erected a stand,
fixed tbeir seats, and pitched their tents ; the people of
the town attended, looked shy, and stood at a distance.
And while the bending heavens broke in blessings on
the former, there were no mighty works done among the
latter, because of unbelief. The preachers broke up the
meeting with mingled emotions, cast down and disap-
pointed for the town, but grateful to God for what he
had done for the country. All agreed to pray for the
outpouring of the Spirit of God on Marietta. The next
year Jacob Young and G. C. Light appointed a second
meeting on the same ground. The congregation met as
before. Great seriousness pervaded the whole assembly,
and the sons of Levi were anointed afresh to explain to
and enforce upon the people the nature and necessity of
salvation. Many saw its importance, and felt that with-
out it life is a maze of error and wickedness, death a
gulf of horror and misery, and eternity a scene of indig-
nation and wrath. The grace which accompanied the
ministration of the word wrote the law of God upon many
hearts, both in town and country. Of those in town,
Tonas Johnson was the most prominent. This man had
been a disciple of Thomas Paine. He was a most charm-
ing singer, and had a great redundance of wicked songs,

39

458 SKETCHES OF

In tliis way he exerted an influence over, and led men
wlio possessed intellects far superior to liis own. When
Johnson returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of his
soul; he did it with all his heart, and in a short time
came out in religion as bright as the noonday sun. In a
few days he committed his infidel books and obscene
songs to the flames; supplied their places with the Holy
Bible and a Methodist Hymn-book; and, like Obed Edom
opened his house to receive the ark of the Lord. Hal-
loiced house of grateful memory 1 In a short time a lovely
little class was raised up to worship God in spirit and in
truth. For months and years together this class seldom
ever met to worship without being assaulted by a lawless
mob, who stoned the house, broke the windows, fired
squibs, and covered the chimney, in order to annoy the
worshipers with smoke, and drive them from the house
of God. In this way a number of years passed. Some
of the members let patience have its perfect work ; but
others were in danger of fainting. About this time God,
in his merciful providence, raised up a few young men
who knew their legal privileges, and who put down those
heaven-daring mortals that had persecuted their fellow-
men for no other crime than that of living godly in
Christ Jesus, and enjoying their inalienable rights as
free men. Those young men, by Divine providence, took
Methodism in Marietta under their protection, and nur-
tured her as a mother would her first-born. Some of
them have long since gone to their reward, while others
have grown gray in the good work, and are this day pil-
lars in the Church of God.

" From this time till 1809, the growth of the Church
in town and country was like the well-set tree that takes
deep root, and promises to stand the pelting storms of
coming years. Then the Gospel net fell into the hands
of a man who drew good and had into the Churchy but

WESTEKN METHODISM. 459

was not careful to separate the precious from the vile.
This mismanagement led gainsayers to reproach the
ministry with glorying more in quantity than quality;
ifitroduced lasting difficulties into the classes, loaded the
succeeding pastor with many painful duties, and gave
ample testimony that it is less difficult to get bad men
into the Church than it is to prove their guilt and get
them out again, when their good and the interest of
the Church require it. This reproach being wiped away,
by separating the wheat from the chaff, the chasm was
filled up by men of the first standing, who gave a weight
and influence to Methodism which it never had before in
this place. A number of years now passed. The smiles
of Heaven rested on the Church, and the mighty power
that attended the word preached, and the living faith
and unshaken confidence of the members in Clod, made
her indeed like an army with banners; and had she kept
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, it is difficult
to say to what extent she would by this time have spread
her branches. But, alas! men do not know how to value
the legacy given to them by Jesus Christ, when he said,
^ My peace I give unto you.'

*'In 1819 the spirit of disaffection entered in, and
brought with it all its soul-destroying poison. The labors
of many years wilted at its unhallowed touch, like herb-
age before the winter's frost. To see its desolating rav-
age was enough to break the heart of a good man. In
1826 the old men took an alarm, and gave the next con-
ference a tender but faithful account of their situation ;
and petitioned the conference to send them some man
who would regulate their Church matters. The Ohio
conference had felt many fearful apprehensions for Mari-
etta circuit. They took the subject into deep and prayer-
ful consideration; and that indefatigable man, L. S ,

was selected and sent to this circuit, with special orders.

4:60 SKETCHES OF

to examine the state of tlie Cliureli, and to attend to the
Discipline. He felt the weight of his appointment, flew
to God for help, and came in the fullness of the blessing
of Christ. His divine Master was with him, and blessed
him in all he did. The heathen story of the Phenix
rising to splendor out of its own ashes, would no more
than illustrate the change produced in the Church on
that circuit, under the administration of this highly-
honored servant of Grod.

"When alive to God, the Church has, at all points,
and at all periods, met her share of opposition — not, in-
deed, directly or always from men of high standing, 'but
from lewd fellows of the baser sort,' who are frequently
the degrading instruments of others acting behind a
screen. The spirit of opposition has frequently turned
Methodist preachers out of meeting-houses belonging
to other denominations, and shut public school-houses
against them, with a manifest intention of putting them
down. But, in about as many instances, this kind of
opposition has had a contrary effect. Instead of putting
them down in such places, it has led their friends to
double their exertions to build houses of worship for
themselves. In this way the Church has frequently
gained permanency by the very means intended for her
downfall. Under these circumstances, in different neigh-
borhoods, two or three men of moderate property have
been known, with their own funds, in a short time, to
build houses of worship, to the utter astonishment and
confusion of their enemies. If a jealous distance, scowl-
ing contempt, and gross misrepresentations, be calculated
to inflict wounds, then Methodism has been lacerated
often and severely, as well as he who said, ' Of the Jews
five times received I forty stripes save one.'

"The system of doctrines held and propagated by the
Methodists in Washington county, met a tide of opposi

WESTERN METHODISM. 461

tion for many years. Its principal antagonists were Pre-
destinarians. When Methodism was in its infancy, those
men treated its doctrines with the most sovereign con-
tempt; and in its more advanced state, it was scouted
out of 'good company' and fine meeting-houses as a
dangerous heresy. All this time the Methodist ministers
were preaching in the flowing language of the Bible,
with as much confidence in the correctness of their doc-
trines, and as great indifi'erence to contempt, and scorn,
and opposition, and persecution, as if they knew every
being in the universe believed every word they were say-
ing. In this way their sentiments elicited investigation,
and gained ground daily, till many rallied around their
standard. A great conflict of sentiments among the
people was the natural consequence. In this state of
public excitement, in 1808, the people of Belpre pro-
posed a number of questions, touching those doctrinal
points affirmed by Calvinists and denied by Methodists.
They called two ministers to discuss those questions in
public. Two days were spent in the discussion, and a
great concourse of people attended. The Rev. Samuel
P. Robins took the affirmative, and the Rev. Solomon
Langdon the negative side. Each had his admirers, but
no salutary efi"ects were produced either way; for, it is
feared, too many came out in the pride of their hearts
to see the fight. If the people of Belpre saw the light,
they still loved darhness, and, therefore, failed to make a
clear distinction between the doctrines of general redeinjj-
Hon and those of a particidar salvation. They, in con
sequence, blundered into all the errors of modern Univer-
salism. The subject then returned to the people of the
county, who have not rendered a verdict in fornix but
have in effect. For if it be certain that the ingenious
speculations of Descartes were overthrown by the more
practical philosophers of the Baconian school, it is not

462 SKETCHES OF

less certain that high-toned Calvinism has suffered the
like overthrow from Methodism in this county.

^^ The relative standing of the principal Christian
denominations in the county at present is as follows :
The Presbyterians have four ministers, two hundred and
forty Church members, and five meeting-houses — two of
them very good, the rest old, unoccupied, and in a decay-
ing state. The Congregationalists employ a Presbyterian
minister, have one hundred and eighty Church members,
and one splendid meeting-house. The regular Baptists
have one meeting-house, three small congregations, sup-
plied by ministers from a distance, who visit them occa-
sionally. The Methodists have two traveling and four
local preachers, one thousand and twelve members, thir-
teen meeting-houses, and fourteen other stated preaching
places, where the congregations meet in school-rooms
and dwelling-houses. All have their Bible, missionary,
tract, and Sunday school societies, doing about what they
can to promote the good cause of Christ in the world.
When we look over the history of our sister Churches,
and see what they were once and what they are now, we
are struck with the change that has taken place for the
better, and can not help thinking that one member of
this family has provoked the rest to love and to good
works.

''Notwithstanding Methodism has been assailed by
fierce and contrary winds, like the sea-tossed bark, she
has possessed, and still possesses, some redeeming prin-
ciples, which have at all times exerted a saving influence
in Washington county. These are, First. Her plan; by
which she meets the wants of the outskirts of human
population, as well as the city full; that sends the Gospel
to the poor as well as to the rich 3 and that distributes
the various gifts of the ministry far and wide. Second.
ller doctrines; which, if fairly explained; and properly

WESTERN METHODISM,

m

understood, are calculated not to insult, but to carry con-
viction to the minds of all attentive and unprejudiced
men. Third. ITe?' manner of preacliing -, by which she
instructs her ministers to stand at a proper distance, on
the one hand, from senseless vociferations, as little calcu-
lated to correct the heart as to inform the judgment;
and, on the other, from that criminally-cold indifference
that makes truth look like fiction. Occupying this
ground, she encourages them to grasp their subjects in
all their extent, and to suffer themselves to be wrought
up by a sense of their vast importance to the highest
pitch of mental and devotional energy.

"We have seen Methodism in her infancy cast out and
trodden under foot ; and we have seen her, in her riper
years, put on her beautiful garments, and walk abroad in
the greatness of her strength. These things admonish
us to 'rejoice with trembling.' If Grod has been with
us, and made us a people who were not a people, we
should rejoice greatly in the Lord, and incense of praise
and gratitude should ascend to him from our feeling
hearts, like smoke ascending from an ever-burning altar.
But if myriads follow, and look up to us for the bread of
life, we should tremble under a sense of our high respon-
sibility, and the account we must render to our Judge.''

In the year 1819 brother Hamilton was transferred to
Missouri, and stationed on the Indiana district, which
he traveled four consecutive years, and at the expiration
of which time he was retransferred to the Ohio confer-
ence. His appointment was the Marietta district, which
he traveled four years. From this district he was sent to
the Kanawha district, which he traveled two years, and
then successively the following circuits; namely, Asbury,
Irville, Rehoboth, and Deavertowu. In all his vast
range of travel, and amid all the toils and conflicts of
his itinerant life, he never for a moment faltered in hia

4:t)4: SKETCHES OF

work. His friends were numerous wherever lie went;
and he understood that trait of the apostle Paul, to be
all things to all men, so that by all means some might
be saved. This he was enabled to be, in an eminent
degree, without blowing hot and cold with the same
breath. While he mingled, with ease and dignity,
among the great, commanding their respect and esteem,
he also condescended to men of low estate. His talents
were, as we have already intimated, sui generis. He had
a manner of illustration peculiarly his own, seeming to
have taken no man for his model. Sometimes he would
indulge in a vein of irony and sarcasm that was wither-
ing to the systems and principles he opposed. He was
very plain in his dress, and any one, on meeting him,
would be sure to guess he was a Methodist preacher.
Indeed, he seemed to take delight, as he called it, in
showing his colors. He was of the medium hight, thick
set, with a bland, open countenance, indicative of great
good feeling. His manner of preaching was somewhat
peculiar. He would always divide his subject, with the
greatest exactness, into a few simple heads, or proposi-
tions, after which, if there were any terms of importance,
he would define them clearly, and then proceed, slowly
and cautiously, in the discussion of his subject, illustra-
ting the whole with the most appropriate figures, drawn
from real life. Toward the close he invariably warmed
up, and became vehement. In this respect he resem-
bled the eloquent Christie, though he had not the same
intense and fiery ardor. Though not exactly a memoriter
preacher, that is, he did not write and commit his ser-
mons, yet, like some few we have known, the very thoughts
and words which he employed in the delivery of a ser-
mon, would occur on its repetition even years after. He
was evidently a master-workman, and none were more
successful than he in the various fields in which he waa

WESTERN METHODISM. i0^

called to labor^ as the results have abundantly and clearly
shown.

His last fieldj as we have already seen, was Deavertown
circuit. While engaged in the performance of his min-
isterial duties on this circuit, he was attacked with a
slight stroke of paralysis, which, for a short time, dis-
qualified him from hard labor. Still, he continued in
his loved employ, as his strength permitted, till a second
attack, which totally prostrated him, and put an ^nd to
all his labors in the ministry. For two years he lingered
in a helpless condition, yet he patiently and pleasantly
awaited the will of his heavenly Father, full of faith and
the Holy Spirit. No complaint ever escaped his lips;
but keeping his eyes fixed upon the bright and joyous
inleritance of the saints in light, when the messenger
cam 3, conscious of his dissolution, he said, in soft, sweet
toncL, to his spirit, '^ Arise, the Master is come, and
calleth for thee." Then his worn-out and broken-down
tabernacle went to the dust, and his happy soul, on wingg
of faith and love, entered the "building of God, the
house i.ot made with hands, eternal in the heavens.''

4:66 SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XXXVII.

VV I L L I A M H . R A P E R . :

Among that class of preachers who entered the itiner-
ancy, in the beginning of the present century, was the
Eev. Wm. H. Raper. That he was horn in troublous
times, is evident from the fact that a block-house, be-
longing to one of the military stations in the wilds of
western Pennsylvania, was the place of his birth, which
event occurred in the j^ear 1793.

His father was a surveyor under the Government, in the
North-Western territory, which made it necessary for him
to be much from home, in the discharge of the duties of
his office. His mother was one of the matron pioneers of
the west, and among the first class of Methodists in the
North-Western territory. She was a woman of exemplary
piety, of great faith and devotion. She was also a patriot
mother of the Revolution, as her subsequent history, in
relation to her sons, most abundantly shows.

When William was quite young his parents removed to
Columbia, on the Ohio, a few miles above Cincinnati,
where his early days were spent, in those sports and em-
ployments incident to frontier life. When he reached
his nineteenth year his thoughts were turned to war.
Having two brothers in the army of General Hull, whose
base surrender has forever associated his name with an
ignominy little less than that which attaches to Arnold,
a call was made for volunteers, and the young American
joined the company of Captain Stephen Smith, and went
forth to try the rigors of the camp and field. Not long

WESTERN METHODISM

^

after entering the company, tlie sergeant being disquali-
fied, by sickness, from filling bis post, young Eaper was
cbosen to tbe office. He felt an ambition to fill with
honor and bravery the post assigned him, and labored
with zeal and diligence to become master of all the arts
of war.

A day or two before the battle of the Thames, his com-
pany was ordered to march up the Lake, some fifteen
miles, to prevent the landing of the British. The en-
gagement took place during their absence, and the battle
was nearly closed before the company arrived on the
ground. This circumstance rendered it necessary, as
Captain Smith's company was now the strongest, that it
should take charge of the prisoners of war, which had
been taken by Commodore Perry and Greneral William
Henry Harrison, and bring them to the Newport station.
All the officers who ranked above Raper in the company
having taken sick, the command devolved upon him. It
was a responsible undertaking, but, as the sequel will
show, the young officer proved himself adequate to the
emergency. The company consisted of one hundred sol-
diers, and the number of prisoners amounted to four
hundred. Every arrangement being made, they com-
menced their march. On their route it was necessary
for them to cross the Black Swamp, which, at that season
of the year, was nearly covered with water, which ex-
tended for miles through a drear and desolate wilderness.
In their march the company became bewildered and lost,
and the commander was at his wits' ends to know what to
do. For three days and nights they wandered about in
the swamp, without food. The company had become
scattered, and on the morning of the third day he found
himself with a guard of only twelve men, and about one
hundred prisoners. The prisoners, seeing the weakness
of the guard, resolved on a mutiny, and refused to march,

468 SKETCHES OF

threatening to kill the few who had them in charge. No
time was to be lost, and Kaper, calling out his men, drew
them up in line and commanded them to make ready for
the emergency, which they did, by fixing their bayonets
and cocking their guns. In this position both parties
stood for some time. At length, finding that the prison
ers refused all entreaties to march, the commander gave
them five minutes to decide, and if, at the expiration of
that time, they did not march, he would fire and charge
upon them. At the end of each minute he announced
the fact, but they would not move. When the last
minute had expired the soldiers were commanded to pre-
sent arms, take aim, and — but before the word fire had
escaped his lips, a large Scotch soldier, fresh from the
Highlands of his native country, cried, hold ! and, step-
ping aside, asked the privilege of saying a word. The
captain asked him if it was for peace. To which he re-
plied in the affirmative. The privilege was granted, and,
addressing his fellow-prisoners, he said, ''We have been
taken in a fair fight, and are prisoners, honorably so, and
this conduct is disgraceful to our king's flag, and is not
the conduct becoming true soldiers, but disgraceful to
ourselves and country. Now," said he, ^'I have had no
hand in raising this mutiny, and I propose that all who
are in favor of behaving themselves as honorable prison-
ers of war, shall come to me, and we will take the others
in hand ourselves, and the American guard shall stand by
and see fair play." This speech had the desired effect,
and the mutiny was brought to an end without bloodshed.
Eaper continued in charge till he delivered them over
at Newport, opposite Cincinnati. A few years ago we
met with an old soldier, one of that company and guard,
who told us that Mr. Raper was considered one of the
best soldiers and bravest men in the army; that he had
seen him under almost every position in which a soldier

WESTERN METHODISM

«E9

could be placed, and never saw him evince the least fear
They had among the prisoners two Indians, who, after
very severe threatenings, and, indeed, at the point of
Raper's sword, finally led them out of the swamp. That
evening they reached a settlement, where they obtained
provisions, and, notwithstanding the efi"orts of the officers,
many of the men killed themselves by eating.

After his arrival at Newport with the prisoners, he was
offered a commission in the regular army, which he con-
sented to take, provided it was agreeable to the wishes of
his mother. Such was his love for her, that he would
take no important step without first consulting her. His
mother's answer was characteristic of the noble mothers
of that day: "My son, if my country was still engaged
in war, and I had fifty sons, I would freely give them all
to her service; but, as peace is now declared, and there is
no such necessity, as a Christian mother, therefore, I can
not consent, for I think something better awaits my son
than the mere camp-life of a soldier in time of peace. '^
We have often heard him speak with gratitude, in view
of this advice of his mother, and that he felt it a far
greater honor to be a humble minister of Jesus Christ,
than to have been at the head of the American army.
He, accordingly, declined the commission, and returned
to his former occupation, which was that of a tanner.

In the spring of 1816 he joined the Church, under
Rev. Russel Bigelow, at the house of Judge Ransom, at
Newbury, Clermont county, Ohio, and after months of deep
penitence, he was converted. Shortly after he assisted
in holding meetings in his neighborhood, and the next
year was employed by the presiding elder, on what was
then called the Miami circuit.

In the year 1819 he was received on trial in the trav-
eling connection, at the conference held at Cincinnati,
and appointed to Madison circuit, with the Rev. Henrj

470 -" SKETCHES OF

Baker for a colleague. We will give some incidents con-
nected with his early itinerancy. While traveling in
Indiana, upon the first visit to one of his appointments,
after the meeting was closed, a fine, large man approached
him and called him brother, and said, "I knew you the
moment I saw you, but I suppose you have forgotten me.^'
Brother Ilaper told him he did not remember to have
ever seen him. ''Well, sir,'^ said the man, "I am the
Scotch soldier that made the speech to the prisoners, the
morning of the mutiny in the Black Swamp." Theii
meeting, under such a change of circumstances, was re-'
marked by brother Raper as being very delightful, when
he added, "After we were exchanged as prisoners of war,
my enlistment terminated. I had been brought to see
the justice of the American cause, and the greatness of
the country. I determined I would not return to the old
country. I commenced working at such labor as I could
find. I saved a little money, came to this state, rented
some land, and opened a farm. I have joined the Meth-
odist Church, and, praise God ! the best of all is, I have
obtained religion. And not among the least of my bless-
ings in this new country, I have a fine wife and a noble
child. So, come," said he, "dinner will be ready by the
time we get home." All other claims from the members
had to be set aside this time, and the two soldiers, now:
as friends and Christians, were permitted to renew their
acquaintance. They were ever after fast friends.

At another time, having lost the direction on a strange
road after night, he crossed at the mouth of a creek,
which empties into the Ohio, where it was, perhaps, fifty
feet deep, when the Ohio river was very high. The
mouth of the creek being full of drift logs and brush, and
It being dark, he mistook the drift for a bridge, and went
upon it; he thought it was a very shackling kind of a
bridge, but passed over, leading his horse, without injury,

WESTERN METHODISM. 471

although, when upon it, he feared his horse would fall
through, and knew no better till the next morning, when
he was told of his danger by the family, to whose house he
had been attracted late in the nighty by seeing the light
from their cabin window. But for that cabin he would
have had to remain all night in the woods, as he had
done several times before.

During that year he swam his horse thirty-two times,
in order to reach his appointments. On one of these
swimming excursions he met with a singular incident.
His horse, by some means, became entangled while swim-
ming, and sank, throwing him off. It was a cold morn-
ing, a little before sunrise; and being incumbered with
a great-coat and leggins, he found it very difficult to
swim ; but, with great effort, he succeeded in catching
hold of the limb of a tree, which was hanging over the
stream, where he was enabled to rest and hold his head
above the water. While thus suspended in the stream,
the thought rushed upon him, ''Mother is praying for
me, and I shall be saved. '^ After thus resting, for a
moment or two, he made the effort and got ashore. His
horse had also made a safe landing, having the saddle-
bags on his back all safe. His clothes and books were
wet, and himself very much chilled by the early bath.
But while this was going on with himself in the stream,
his mother, some eighty or a hundred miles distant, that
morning awoke suddenly as from affright, when this
thought rushed upon her, "William is in great danger;"
when she sprang from her bed, and falling on her knees,
prayed for some time in intense supplication for his
safety, when she received a sweet assurance that all was
well. When they met and related the facts, and com-
pared the time and all, they precisely agreed.

As a man he was honorable and high-minded. In the
language of the Committee on Memoirs, written by ono

4:72 - SKETCHES OF

wlio was a companion with liim on the well-fought field
of itinerant life :

'^Brother Raper's ministerial qualifications, taken alto-
gether, were far above the medium grade. Blessed with
an extraordinary memory, he acquired a very large amount
of historical and general information, and possessed the
happy art of turning all to good account. Some minis-
ters excel in some things pertaining to their office, and
fall behind in others; but brother Raper succeeded well
in almost every particular. He was a profound theolo-
gian, mighty in the sacred Scriptures, readily perceived
the line separating truth and error, and evinced superior
logical skill in advocating the one and opposing the other.
Under his ministry thousands of souls have enlisted in
the cause of Christ, many of whom went before to hail
him welcome into everlasting habitations, while others
yet follow him as he followed Christ. While this gen-
eration lives on earth, he and his labors will be remem-
bered with delight by many both in and out of the Church.
Spiritual gifts were conferred on him in great variety.
He sang delightfully and usefully, and was highly gifted
in prayer and exhortation. He was an eloquent preacher,
an able expounder of the word of life, a very judicious
administrator of Church discipline, and a faithful and
affectionate pastor. af iuii.

^^ Whether on a circuit, in a station, or over a district
as presiding elder, he appeared to be alike at home, and
every-where useful. His stated ministry was exercised
chiefly in Ohio and Indiana; but his connection with
several sessions of the General conference, and subse-
quently with the General Mission Committee, caused him
to be well-known about the eastern cities, where he was
highly esteemed. Indeed, his amiable social qualities,
superior conversational powers, and rich fund of useful
incidents, gathered from practical life, not only gained

WESTERN METHODISM. 473

him access^ but secured liim warm personal friends
wherever he went. But few men had more admirers, and
none more devoted bosom friends, either \nj or clerical,
than had brother Raper. It must not be inferred, however,
from any thing here stated, that brother Raper never had
enemies.

"No one could expose sin as he did, plainly and fear-
lessly, without exciting opposition. On one or two occa-
sions, in the earlier part of his ministry, some attempts
were made to do violence to his person, if not to take
away his life; but the Lord preserved him from harm,
and the man who made the most daring attempt upon
him was on the same day, by his faithful preaching,
awakened, sought and found mercy, and became an ac-
ceptable member of the Church. Brother Raper was
always disposed to put the best constructions upon the
conduct of others, and ever ready to forgive an injury;
and now he is where the wicked cease to trouble, and the
weary are at rest.

"In the early part of February, 1852, he accompanied
Bishop Morris to Aurora, Indiana, to attend a quarterly
meeting and visit his old friends in that place. There he
preached his last sermon, with peculiar clearness and
effect. On Tuesday, the 10th of February, he started for
home, in company with Bishop Morris, on the steamer
Forest Queen. He was attacked some time in the night
with spasms, and when his condition was discovered by
the brother who was in the same room, consciousness was
gone. The boat being in port, medical aid was immedi-
ately had, and all that human skill could do was done,
but to no saving effect. He was carefully and tenderly
borne to the bosom of his family, whose feelings we can
not attempt to describe, where he expired about half-past
six, P M., surrounded by his affectionate and deeply-
afflicted fjimily and many sympathizing friends.
40

4:74: SKETCHES OF

" That once beautiful and manly form, upon whicli we
were wont to look, now lies in ruins in the charnei-houso.
But that is not brother Eaper — it is only the earthly
tabernacle in which he recently sojourned among men.
Brother Ilaper is in heaven, free from all the shackles of
mortality. He mingles with the glorified spirits of just
men made perfect, enjoying the light and the smiles of
the reconciled and pleased countenance of Him who loved
him and gave himself for him.

^'Let us not confine our thoughts of him to the cold
and silent tomb, but let us contemplate him in heaven, in
a world of peace and joy above, while his flesh rests in
the promise of a glorious resurrection. ^ Peace to his
ashes !' May we imitate his virtues, and finally share his
triumphs in Christ through eternity!"

He has gone from our midst, after being with us, as a
preacher, for thirty-three years, and we shall no more
hear his voice in our councils, nor be encouraged by his
smiles. We recollect distinctly the last conference which
he attended, and deeply impressed upon our mind is the
last speech he made to his brethren. He had been af-
flicted for some time, and his disease was of such a nature
as to render him liable, at any moment, to be called away.
He addressed his brethren in a few words, in which he
took occasion to allude to his sufi"erings; and, after re-
ferring to the many happy seasons spent with his breth-
ren in the ministry, he told them he waited the will of
his Master; and if, before another conference, he should
be called away, he said, with uplifted eyes and tremulous
tongue, "Look up on high and believe I am there."

At another time, and still more recently, when it was
customary for him to tell his family that they need not
be disappointed or alarmed, if he should die before
morning, he said to a brother, "I feel like one at a
way-statioD, on the platform, with my trunk packed.

WESTERN METHODISM. 475

"waiting for the cars/' The chariot of the Lord at length
came, and brother Wm. H. Puaper ascended to mansions
on high.

On a lovely spot, in the Wesleyan Cemetery, the hand
of affection has reared a beautiful white marble obelisk,
as a sacred memento, to tell the passer-by where sleeps
the sainted dust of one of Ohio's best and bravest sons.

476 -■ SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

JOHN ULIN.

The subject of our sketcli was born in Virginia, in tlie
year 1792, and brought up to manhood in the wilds of
Greenup county, Kentucky. Growing up, as he did, amid
the scenes of border warfare, which, in his early life, pre-
vailed between the whites and Indians, it might be ex-
pected that young Ulin would form a character corre-
sponding to the times in which he lived, and the scenes
by which he was surrounded. His father was a daring
and adventurous backwoods hunter. A spot is pointed
out to the traveler, as he passes along the banks of the
Ohio, or floats over the surface of that majestic river,
where a high, craggy rock rises up almost perpendicu-
larly from the bank, on the Virginia side, called " Ulin's
leap.'' It is a wild, romantic spot, even to this day.
The summit of the rock is covered with scraggy trees and
evergreens, and is wild and unbroken as nature made it.
In olden time, the father of John, when hotly pursued by
the Indians, with whom he was not able to compete,
leaped over this frightful precipice into the depths be-
low, and escaped unhurt from the savage foe. It was a
deed of desperate daring, but it was better for him to
make the fearful leap, than to fall into the hands of the
merciless savages, whose revenge he had aroused.

Young Ulin shared the fortunes of his father, and en-
tered, in early life, upon the stirring field of adventure.
He became an expert hunter. The woods were his home,
and in its deep solitudes he wandered in search of game.

WESTERN METHODISM. 47T

There was a native buojancy, if not wilduess, in his com-
position, united, however, with great amiability, and a
full flow of sociality, that made his society desirable
among both old and young; and hence, in all backwoods
sports and pastimes, in all scenes of mirth and gayety, or
reckless daring, he occupied a place in the front rank of
his associates.

But he was destined by Providence for another sphere.
That brilliant mind and brave young heart was to be oc-
cupied in diflferent pursuits from those which then ab-
sorbed them. A great observer of human destiny had
said:

" There is a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Kough hew them as -we will."

A book, however, older than that of the dramatic poet,
and one from which he had drawn, uncredited, so largely,
had uttered the sentiment in countless forms of expres-
sion long before; and we need only go to that old book of
life to learn, that ^^it is not in man that walketh to direct
his steps,'' and that '^our ways are from the Lord.''

AVe have already spoken of a pioneer preacher who
had penetrated these wilds. On a certain occasion,
gloomy and melancholy as the dark defiles and solitudes
around him, he might have been seen urging his steed
through the forest, in search of a new appointment in
that wild region. At length he arrives, and surrounded
by the old and young from far and near, he opens his
message. One dark eye in that assembly scans the
preacher, though the mind is intently fixed upon the
sermon. Preaching gave the itinerant relief, as it af-
forded him an opportunity to unburden his heart in the
description of another's. The shade passed from his
countenance, the dark, lustrous eye was kindled with
light and softened by tears, and the simple, truthful,
loving eloquence which fell from his tongue found way

478 SKETCHES OF

to every heart. Young Ulin, for it was him among the
rest of that backwoods assembly that we have alluded to,
never was so strangely and powerfully touched before.
He saw and felt, in the light of the Gospel of a free sal-
vation, for the first time that he was a sinner, and that
he must be converted or lost. He was among the first at
the rude altar for prayer, as a seeker of salvation, and
after an earnest struggle, with strong crying and tears,
he found the pearl of great price, and was made happy in
the love of God. His conversion was clear and powerful,
and of such a nature as forever to shut up all avenues to
doubt in regard to it. A glorious change had come over
him, and he now withdrew from the sports of the wild-
wood, and directed his attention to the more staid and
sober pursuits of life. Not long after his conversion, he
felt moved by the Holy Spirit to engage in the work of
calling sinners to repentance, and such were the gifts,
grace, and usefulness that characterized his labors, that
he was duly licensed to preach as a local preacher. He
did not, however, continue long in this vocation. His
ardent spirit longed for a wider field of usefulness, and he
sighed to be given up exclusively to the work of saving
souls. Though he had a family, and, in consequence of
the great difficulty in that day of getting a support, few,
if any, preachers with families were admitted into con-
ference, yet, because of his extraordinary talents and
burning zeal, he was admitted into the itinerant ranks at
Hillsboro, October 4, 1826.

His first appointment was to Burlington circuit, on
which he was continued one year, and where he labored
with great success as a herald of the cross to perishing
thousands. His next appointment was Charleston, Vir-
ginia, embracing a wild but beautiful country on the
Kanawha and Elk rivers. Here he blew the soft and
silvery tones of the Gospel trumpet, which waked the

WESTERN METHODISM. 479

echoes of the mountains and vales of that picturesque
land, and many were the hearts that were touched and
melted at the sound. Reader, have you ever heard
the Alpine horn, gliding in smooth cadences over the
waters, floating through the vales, and echoing back in
softer tones from the mountains, plaintive as the coo of a
dove, and sweet as the lute of an angel ? If you have, it
will give you some conception of the clear, soft, far-
reaching voice of John Ulin. We have heard the grand,
sublime roar of the lion-like Bascom, as with the majestic
sweep of a hurricane it leveled the forests of men at im-
mense camp meetings, and we have heard the soft and
eloquently-beautiful strains of the lamb-like Summerfield,
as it won and melted all hearts in the crovrded churches
of our great cities; but we never heard a voice which, for
sweetness, compass, and power, excelled that of John
Ulin. He was emphatically a child of Nature, and grew
up amid the sublime and beautiful scenes which God
himself had formed, and the clumsy hand of man had not
marred, and he gathered his inspiration from these scenes,
together with the deep communings of his own heart
with God.

From Virginia he was sent to Gallipolis, including that
town and the country lying upon the waters of Raccoon,
Chickamauga, Kiger, and Shade rivers. This was a large
circuit, and it was laborious to travel, but the faithful
herald sounded the clear notes of the Gospel in all its
length and breadth. Methodism had made but little
progress in Gallipolis. It was settled by the French, as
its name imports, and they were mostly Roman Catholics,
having brought their priest with them from Paris. From
some cause or other, many years ago they were, we are
informed, excommunicated en masse, and since then they
have not felt disposed to unite with any Protestant de-
noniinarioii, though .some uf the descendants of th.c old

480 SKETCHES OF

settlers have laid aside their prejudices and become con-
nected Yvith different denominations. After laboring in
this field for one year, Ulin was sent to Salt Creek circuit,
embracing the towns of Piketon and Waverly and the
surrounding country. Some parts of this circuit were
settled by old Methodists from Virginia; and one neigh-
boihood particularly, a few miles below Piketon, called
now the Barnes neighborhood, was settled by an old
brother Boydston and his family, who were stanch
Methodists of the old school. Here brother Ulin found
a welcome home, and was instrumental in the awakening
and conversion of some of the children of the ancient
families residing there. There was another settlement
on the Big Bottom, called Foster's, which was a strong-
hold of Methodism, and there, also, our brother was made
a blessing to the Church. Piketon was a wicked place,
and there were but a few Methodists there in the days of
Ulin, though the Church since has grown largely. His
next and last field of labor was New Bichmond, with the
now sainted Collins. But his work was done. The
cholera was doing its dreadful work. He and his be-
loved companion were engaged in ministering to the
wants of the sick and dying. In the midst of her kind
ministrations she was seized with the malady, and in a
few hours death terminated her labors of love. The last
sad office, of consigning the wife of his youth and the
mother of his children to the grave, was scarcely per-
formed ere the fell monster seized him, and there in his
little hut, surrounded by eight lovely, helpless children, the
father breathed his last. He had nothing to leave them
but a father's blessing and a father's prayers. He gave
up all for Christ, and when he died he gave his children
to the Savior. After bidding them, one by one, an af-
fectionate adieu, he told them to live for God, and meet
thiMV tVither and 7iiotlier in heav-f-n. In the midst of the

%

WESTERN METHODISM. 481

tears and heart-breaking sobs of those children, he
shouted victory over death, and went to join the sainted
above. We were on another part of the district when
the event occurred, but we hastened with rapid pace to
look after the dear children. Before we arrived, how-
ever, father Collins and the stewards had them all pro
vided with good homes, where they were brought up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord, and some of them,
we know, this day are following in the footsteps of their
parents to heaven.

Inscrutable as are the ways of Providence, we know
that "He doeth all things well.'' And though unbelief
misfht ask in such a time of trial, "where now is thy
Goa?" yet the Providence which took the parents to
heaven provided bountifully for the children, and he
who is the Father of the fatherless will always " temper
the wind to the shorn lamb."
41

tJr

482 SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XXXIX.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS. ^

The subject of this narrative was born in Jessamine
county, Kentucky, on the 7th of May, 1797. His parents
"were pious, and, as might be expected, William was
brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
We believe there are no children whose early training
has been religious, but become, at a very early period in
life, the subjects of the Spirit's awakening influences.
'^The promise is to us and to our children,'^ and if we
devote them to God, and labor to bring them up in his
nurture and admonition, we may conclude, with certainty,
that the germs of truth planted in their young hearts,
and baptized by our prayers and tears, will receive the
additional watering of the Holy Spirit, without whose
genial and attractive influences all human agencies must
prove unavailing. Thus educated, young Phillips soon
became impressed with the importance and necessity of
religion, and often was induced to turn his attention to
the subject. After laboring hard all day — for the youth
of that period were not brought up in idleness, whatever
else might be said about them — he would spend the even-
ing in writing prose and poetry, for both of which species
of composition his mind took an early turn, and ho
seemed to take great delight in the exercise. Many of
these lucubrations have been kindly submitted to our
examination by his son, Mr. J. M. Phillips, chief clerk
of the Book Concern. Some of his poetic effusions are
highly creditable. Among his papers is a melodramatic

WESTERN METHODISM. 483

performance, entitled, ^^ The Hypocrisy UninasJced," tlie
prologue to which is written in poetry, and which, for
point and poetic merit, we think could not be excelled
by any poetic wit of the present day.

It was customary for the farmers in the section of the
country where young Phillips lived to raise their hogs in
the woods; and there being an abundance of mast, they
•would grow fat without any other feeding. When the
time for killing came, each fiirmer would sally forth and
collect his hogs, which-he was enabled to do from the fact
that each owner had a private ear-mark, by which he
could identify his stock, and distinguish it from those of
his neighbors. It happened that there lived a family in
the neighborhood, who, lacking that honesty which should
have characterized all in those early times of privation -
and toil, did not scruple to appropriate their neighbors'
hogs to their own use, without fear of discovery, as
they cut off the ears of the hogs, thus obliterating all
marks of ownership. Many efforts were made to detect
them in their nefarious business; but as they carried on
their depredations so secretly, usually taking the night ''
season for their work of pillage, they eluded detection.
The whole neighborhood seemed to be satisfied that they
were guilty; but as it could not be proven, they con- .
tinued to carry on their thieving with impunity. Youno-
Phillips was aware of the state of things, and set himself
to work to write a short poem descriptive of hog-stealing,
and containing such an unmistakable description of the
thieves, that all who read it would understand the appli-
cation as certainly as though he had named the persons
themselves. lie knew the force of public opinion, if
it could only be brought to bear upon the guilty; and,
accordingly, keeping the matter a profound secret from
every body, he waited till some public occasion would call
out the neighborhood. It was not long till such an occa

4:84: SKETCHES OF

sion presented itself. Taking his poem with him, which
ho had written in a disguised hand, and which none but
himself could read, he went to the public gathering.
While mingling with the crowd he purposely dropped it^
knowing it would be picked up by some one. It was not
long till it was rumored that a curious writing was found,
and the ingenuity and learning of all was taxed to deci
pher its contents. Finally it was brought to Phillips,
who, taking it, and looking at it for some time, said he
thought he could make it out by hard spelling. When
he had examined it sufficiently long, occasionally calling
a knowing one to help him out with a hard word, he
mounted a stump and began. At first he stammered
considerably, which only increased the interest, making
certain points more emphatic. As he progressed every
eye was turned to the hog-stealers, whose persons and
conduct were described to the life ; and before he had fin-
ished they skulked away from the crowd, unable any
longer to withstand the battery of eyes that was opened
upon them, and the shouts and peals of laughter which
rent the air. Suffice it to say, the hog- thieves left the
neighborhood, and no complaint was ever after heard of
such depredations.

But the most satirical thing in the English language
we ever read, is his poem entitled, ^^ Alexander the Great ^
or, The Learned CamelJ' Many of our readers have,
doubtless, seen this production, as it was once published
and somewhat extensively circulated. It was designed
as an expose of Campbellism, or the "Christians," as
they are denominated; but more familiarly known as the
Reformers, or Campbellite Baptists — a denomination
quite numerous in Kentucky. It flashes throughout
with the most keen and cutting satire, and gives evi-
dence of high poetic talent, as well as a thorough knowl
edge of the system which it exposes.

WESTERN METHODISM.

"We will give a few stanzas of the poem, wliicli will
enable the reader to form some judgment of its charac-
ter. We would refer to the poem itself, but it has long
been out of print. It begins thus :

"In times of old, as books relate,

Lived Alexander — called the Great ;

Who conquered Greece, and Persia, too,

And did the universe subdue ;

Made kings his slaves, and every nation

Filled with blood and desolation.

But Alexander, mounted ou

Bucephalus, and clothed upon

With all the panoply of war,

Was more diminutive, by far,

Compared to modern Alexander,

Than is a goslin to a gander ;

For, reader, know we have of late
- A second Alexander great —

A man of more deserved renown
■ Than he who tumbled cities down:

More great, more bold, and learned, too,

Thau e'er was Christian, Turk, or Jew ;

And should you doubt his fame or glory,

Pray give attention to my story."

After this introduction there follows, in the same vein
of cutting satire, a description of the tenets of the Rev.
Alexander Campbell, in three hundred lines. At the
close is an oration, supposed to have been delivered by
Mr. Campbell, of which we give the first two stanzas, aa
follows:

" Ho, every mother's son and daughter!
Here's the Gospel in the water ;
Here's the ancient Gospel way ;
Here's the road to endless day ;
To the kingdom of the Savior,
You must enter in the river.
Every mother's son and daughter,
Here's the Gospel in the water.

All ye sons of Adam's race,
•, Come and share this wat'ry grace I

4:86 SKETCHES OF

Water is the healing lotiou,
Vast as the Atlantic Ocean;
Water purilies the nation,
Water is regeneration :
Evei-y mother's son and daughter,
Here's the Gospel in the water."

So mucli for the poetry of brother Phillips. His prose
compositions we shall have occasion to refer to hereafter^
and shall, therefore, resume our sketch.

When he arrived at mature age he entered the bois-
terous, stormy sea of political life. Leaving the quiet
and beautiful vale of the muses, and the sacred walks of
and embarking upon the stormy wave of popular

sons:

excitement, he was well nigh being shipwrecked, at least
so far as religious impressions and tendencies were con-
cerned. To cut loose, if possible, from all religious
thoughts and restraints — for his early religious training
had a wonderful hold upon his conscience — he resorted
to the reading of infidel books, and pursued their study
till clouds and darkness, and doubt and uncertainty, gath-
ered around his mind, shutting out the beautiful visions
of his earlier days. His early training, however, in
habits of virtue, proved a barrier too strong for the en-
croachments of infidelity; and though he had learned
to doubt, he nevertheless retained a high regard for mo-
rality, and could not obliterate from his mind the truth of
Christianity. He continued in this skeptical state, hov-
ering, as it were, over the dark confines of infidelity, till
he was settled in life, and had the charge of a rising
family. The following account of his conviction for sin
and his awakening to a sense of his lost condition, in
which the blank and cheerless nature of infidelity was
strongly contrasted with the satisfying portion religion
imparts, was given by him, in a love-feast, soon after his
conversion :

^'One morning," said he, "I returned home in a mel*

WESTERN METHODISM. 487

ancliol}' state of feeling, after having spent the night
from home, engaged in some political feats. I took mj
seat in a room by myself. Very soon my eldest son,

about eight years old, came to me, and said, ' B >

has experienced religion f and then inquired, ^ What is
religion?' Here conviction seized my mind, for I could
not answer the questions of the child. I said. Is it pos-
sible that I, who was blessed with a religious education,
have raised a child to this age, who inquires of me what
religion is, and I can not tell him ! I then resolved to
reform my life, and examine the evidences of Chris-
tianity."

He did not delay this great work, but set about it with
diligence. He was soon convinced of the divine reality
of religion, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church,
as a seeker. He earnestly sought the Lord with bitter
sighs and tears; but his mourning was soon turned into
joy. Five days after he joined the Church he received
the evidence of his acceptance, at Old Fort meeting-house,
in Montgomery county, Kentucky. It was manifest to ail
that he was the subject of a great change. He shortly
after felt intensely the worth of souls, and believed that
he was moved by the Holy Ghost to preach the Gospel,
of which he afterward gave ample testimony. On the
27th of December, 1828, he was licensed to preach as a
local preacher by the quarterly meeting conference of
Mount Sterling circuit. In this capacity he labored with
success, till he found that his field of labor was too circum-
scribed. He was duly recommended and received into
the Kentucky conference, in the fall of 1831, at its ses-
sion at Louisville, after he had labored as a local preacher
for nearly three years. He was appointed successively to
Winchester and Lexington circuits, and Newport and
Covington station ; having been reappointed to the last
two places yo as to serve each two years in succession,

4SS SKETCHES OF

except the time that elapsed between his appointment by
the General conference and the termination of his con-
ference year, which was still shortened by his unexpected
death. He received deacon's and elder's orders at the
regular periods in which these offices are usually con-
ferred.

In the mean time he was appointed by the Book Com
mittee assistant editor of the Western Christian Advo-
cate; and after serving in this capacity one year, he was
elected to that post by the General conference of 1836.
Possessing talents of a high order as a writer, he contrib-
uted largely of the products of his pen to the columns of
the Advocate. Among other of his numerous produc-
tions was a serial, entitled, '^Campbellism Exposed; or,
Strictures on the Peculiar Tenets of Alexander Camp-
bell.'' This serial began with the January number ol
1835, and closed in April, 1836, but a few months before
his death. The articles, as they appeared in the Advo-
cate, received a wide favor all over the country, and were
read with interest and profit by thousands. The Ohio
conference, which met about one month subsequent to
his decease, passed a unanimous resolution, requesting
the Agents to publish the Strictures in a book form,
which was in due time accomplished, and the work placed
upon the General Catalogue. This little volume has had
an extensive sale ; and we know of no work better calcu-
lated to expose the errors of the Campbellites than the
Strictures. To those who have not read it, we take the
liberty of calling attention to the able manner in which
the subject is discussed. In the first chapter the author
gives a clear statement of the Campbellite doctrine of
baptism, and introduces the texts upon which the Camp-
bellites rely in support of their doctrine. The clear and
critical exegesis of the author on those texts shows that
they are wrested from their obvious import by the advo-

WESTERN METHODISM. 489

cates of Campbellism, and neither really nor apparently
sustain their views. The next chapter discusses the true
condition of regeneration as represented in the Bible,
and as contradistinguished from water regeneration.
Chapter third is devoted to an examination of the agency
employed in the work of regeneration. The succeeding
chapter examines the mode of baptism, and discusses the
true import of the term hapdzo, furnishing clear and
cogent reasons for baptism by sprinkling, and against
baptism by immersion. The fifth chapter is confined to
the subject of Creeds, while the remaining chapters, in
a most masterly manner, discuss the subject of Sects,
Sectarianism, and the Call to the Ministry, concluding
with a recapitulation containing a summary of what had
been advanced in the foregoing pages.

From the way in which Mr. Campbell ranted and raved
against the Methodists, about the time the Strictures
appeared, and for a long time afterward, we are led to
conclude that they told powerfully upon the strongholds
of the system; for men generally lose their temper when
they fail in argument. Among the papers of brother
Phillips are many valuable manuscript sermons. The
most interesting portion of his manuscripts were, how-
ever, unfortunately lost.

Elevated by his talents to the permanent post of as-
sistant editor, a long and brilliant career of usefulness
was before him. Associated with Dr. Elliott, whose
extensive and varied learning eminently qualified him
for the post of principal editor of the paper and books
of the Church, he was, from his talents as a polemic
and his acquaintance with polite and general literature,
a most desirable acquisition; but, alas! how uncertain
were all earthly hopes and prospects; for in the brief
space of only three weeks and two days after his appoint-
ment, he was called away from the scenes of his toil on

490 SKETCHES OF

earth to the rest and blessedness of heaven. Short but
brilliant was his career.

The ensuing annual conference filled the vacancy oc-
casioned by his deathj in the editorial department, with
the gifted and eloquent Hamline, who, with Dr. Elliott,
furnished the following brief memoir of the last hours,
together with a tribute of respect to the memory of their
fellow-laborer :

'' On the 22d of June, 1838, he was confined to his
bed by a violent attack of fever. For several days pre-
vious to this he felt manifest indications of an approach-
ing assault of severe sickness. During his confinement
of six weeks and two days, he suffered much pain of
body, which was borne with great patience. When the
fever was high he was affected with delirium ; but when
the fever abated he was in the full exercise of his mental
faculties. Shortly after he was taken ill he gave instruc-
tions to his afflicted wife, respecting her concerns and
future residence, intimating to her that the present dis-
ease would prove fatal. He also called his children to
his bedside, and solemnly and without tears, yet deeply
affected, gave them the charge and instructions of a par-
ent on the verge of eternity. In his moments of self-
possession, both when asked and unsolicited, he expressed
himself strongly, yet very humbly, respecting his confi-
dence in God and the enjoyments of religion, which he
evidently possessed in a high degree. At one time,
when it was thought he was dying, he was asked, '■ If all
was well?' he calmly replied, 'I feel for me to live is
Christ, and to die is gain.' He then spoke of the good-
ness and mercy that had followed him all the days of his
life. At another time, when he complained of a pain
in his breast, it was said to him, ' When we get to heaven
we shall then be done suffering. Pain and affliction will
be over, and God shall wipe tears from every eye. Do

WESTERN METHODISM. 491

you expect to get there?' He replied, ^Yes; my soul
sometimes exults at the prospect;' and, with a faltering
voice, he added, ' Yes, glory to God !' At another time
he said to a friend, 'My mind is entirely at peace. It is
doubtful whether I shall recover from this sickness; but
to me death has no terror, the grave no gloom. If it
were the Lord's will I would like to live, that I might
make some better provision for the temporal and spiritual
welfare of my family. But why do I talk thus? The
Lord is sufficient. I now wish to leave this with you as
my testimony, that my hope is in Christ, through whose
blood I shall conquer. I now feel none but Jesus can
do suffering sinners good.' Again he said, 'In retro-
specting the past, contemplating the present, or looking
forward to the future, I have nothing to fear.' There is
no doubt in the minds of any of his friends concerning
his triumphant entrance into the paradise of God, He
departed this life on the night of the 4th of August,
1836, at half past twelve, in the city of Cincinnati. His
remains were carried to Wesley Chapel, on Saturday, the
6th, at 10 o'clock, A. M., where an impressive sermon
was delivered by the Kev. J. F. Wright, from Psalm
xlvi, 10: 'Be still and know that I am God.' His body
is deposited in the Methodist burying-ground till the res-
urrection of the just. In his death the editorial corps
has lost a valuable member, and the Church has been
deprived of the services of one of her most faithful and
efficient sons.

" As a Christian, he is to be ranked among the excel-
lent. Entire reliance on the mercy of God, and the
vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ, was the strongest
and most prominent exercise of his mind during his
affliction; and, indeed, this was the settled disposition of
his very soul from the time he first embraced religion;
but which increased as he grew in grace, so as to form an

iii SKETCHES OF

abiding, firm exercise of liis mind. His reliance on the

Kedeemer was such, that

*His blood and righteousness
He made his only plea.'

^^The expression, Lord, have mercy, which he repeated
much during his sickness, indicated to those who heard
him, that reliance on Jesus Christ was, with him, perma-
nent and unwavering. In patience he possessed his soul
to such a degree that the severest pains could not wrest
a murmur from his lips.

^' His ministerial gifts and qualifications were considered
to be of the most useful kind. The following extract
of a letter from an aged and experienced member of the
Church, will place the ministerial character of brother
Phillips in a very amiable light:

"'While we would cast in our mite in honor of his
Christian character, and for the encouragement of others
to follow his example, we being intimately acquainted
with him for the two years he traveled Lexington circuit,
Kentucky, our house being almost his constant home
once in four weeks, as he traveled round his circuit, we,
who have been acquainted with Methodist preachers for
near fifty years, and some of us strict observers of men
and things for more than forty years, are more than will-
ing to give in our testimony to the Christian and evan-
gelical or apostolical character of brother Phillips. And
first, a more pious, studious, grave, cheerful, humble, lov-
ing, laborious, and effective preacher we have never known.
In a word, he seemed all goodness, not only for a short
time — as too many often are — but all the time alike good.
In the pulpit, whether the congregations were large or
small, he was like a lamp to light up their intellects —
his doctrines so pure and evangelical, his reasoning so
profound, his language so appropriate, that all acknowl-
edged him much of a master workman. In company he

WESTEKN METHODISM. 493

"was very social and friendly; in our family he was always
instructive ; unto the aged he was reverential ; with the
young he was familiar, and acted much of the philoso-
pher; while all his language and deportment seemed
seasoned with grace and warm affection. We recognize
him this moment, fresh in our memories. His almost
constant practice in the winter nights was to instruct our
daughters and sons in the rudiments of singing, as also
in the way of salvation, with several other branches of
useful instruction. He often put us in mind of the old
Methodist preacher that some of us knew nearly fifty
years ago in old Virginia, that used to preach at my
grandfather's. We were acquainted, also, with the cir-
cuit preachers that preached at my father's for several
years in Kentucky, where the preachers made their home.
Among those preachers were but few Phillipses to be
found. For twenty years or more we have not known a
more excellent and profitable man than brother William
Phillips. But he is gone to glory. Is it possible that we
are to hear from him no more this side of heaven ?'

''To this unadorned and simple testimony other ac-
counts precisely correspond.

'' His attainments as a writer place him deservedly, if
not among the foremost writers, at least in that respecta-
ble class which would raise him several degrees above
mediocrity. But as he was called away at the early age
of thirty-nine, and, therefore, before he had opportunity
to come fairly before the public, it would be difficult to
present him in his real character before the world. His
writings in the Western Christian Advocate, over his
proper signature, have evident marks of accurate research,
sound judgment, and respectable attainments. Had he
turned his attention to writing at an earlier period of his
life, or had he been spared longer, he would probably have
held a prominent place among the writers of this age.

4:94: SKETCHES OF

"Brother Phillips was little above the ordinary hight,
and rather spare. His personal appearance wa-s not only
agreeable, but might be considered dignified. His man-
ners were courteous and pleasing, manifesting a disposi-
tion to be friendly to all; so that even the stranger was
often prepossessed in his favor; but he was respected
most by those who knew him best. He was truly a son
of peace; and though he considered it his duty to con-
tend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints,
he delighted not in controversy. Yet into this he was
willing to enter sooner than yield up any portio-n oi
truth."'

:-.\ «.:i ■'■-ff- .;!;:-;!".

WESTERN METHODISM,

CHAPTER XL.

THE INTREPID MISSIONARY.

The Methodist Churcli has furnished missionaries^ who
for zeal and courage, in planting the standard of the
cross on the battlements of heathendom, have not been
excelled by any other denomination. Of this number
was our young brother, Daniel Poe, a short sketch of
whose life and labors we propose to give. He was born
in Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 12th day of October,
1809, and was born again at a camp meeting, on Wayne
circuit, five miles south of Wooster, Ohio, in August,
1825; in the sixteenth year of his age. He united with
the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the house of Judge
William Henry, near where the town of Massillon now
stands, under the ministry of Eev. A. GofF. Though but
a boy, he was remarkable for his exemplary piety, and
was soon appointed a class-leader and licensed to exhort.
In April, 1830, feeling a divine call to the ministry, and
desiring to prepare himself by a better education, he went
to Worthington, Ohio, and attended an academy through
the summer. In the same autumn he went to Augusta
College, Kentucky. During vacation, in 1832, he visited
his brother, the Rev. Adam Poe, who was then residing
in West Chester, and traveling Miami circuit. It was
while he was there that we first formed an acquaintance
with him, having attended with his brother the camp
meeting which was held just before the session of the
Ohio conference at Dayton. By our advice he was
licensed to preach and recommended to travel. He was,

4^96 SKETCHES OF

accordingly, admitted on trial in the Ohio conference,
and appointed to travel Letart Falls circuit, with the late
Rev. A B. Stroud as his colleague, and Rev. I. C. Hun-
ter presiding elder. There he labored successfully and
acceptably. The next year he was appointed to Eaton
circuit, with Rev. W. Sutton, and we were his presiding
older, having succeeded Bishop Morris, who commenced
his duties as editor of the Western Christian Advocate.
The next year he was appointed to Hamilton circuit, with
Rev. J. Hill, and in 1835 to Oxford circuit, with Rev.
B. Westlake. In May, 1836, he was sent by Bishop
Soule to the Oneida and Menominee mission, west of
Green Bay, then under the supervision of Rev. John
Clark, now of the R,ock River conference. Here his
labors were very arduous and responsible. He com-
menced a school among the Oneida Indians west, and ex-
tended his visits to Brothertown, and other fragments of
tribes, scattered through the Wisconsin territory. On
one occasion, in the month of February, 1837, after visit-
ing an encampment of Indian hunters, between Green
Bay and Lake Winnebago, he wished to go to Brothertown
to meet an appointment; and as he made all these jour-
neys in the wilderness on foot, finding that he could save
some thirty miles in the distance by crossing the lake on
the ice, he proposed to do so. An old Indian of the
company, at his request, took him in a bark canoe on to
the ice, which was at that point parted from the shore
some thirty rods. After they reached the ice, the Indian
drawing up his canoe, ran some distance forward, and
stooping down placed his ear near the ice, then rising,
he said,

^'You can't cross, you must go back."

Daniel, however, replied, '^I have an appointment, and
I must go."

^^Then," said the Indian, ^^you drown." ^

WESTERN METHODISM. 497

He, however, persisted in going forward. The Indian
then bade him farewell with tears, saying, "I never see
you more." As Daniel could see across the lake, he felt
confident that he could run over safely, and started on a
rapid trot. After passing quietly about five miles, he
heard suddenly a report as of a cannon, and looking for-
ward, saw the ice breaking and rolling up in waves to-
ward him. Seeing his imminent danger, he ran with all
his might in an opposite direction, to escape the opening
made by the swell. Getting round it, he struck his course
anew for the same point on the opposite shore at which
he had before been aiming; but soon again he heard in
advance a similar alarming report, and saw the ice again
thrown up by the rolling waves. Again he was forced to
run for life. In a word, this terrible race continued
through the day. Still the resolute missionary kept his
eye fixed on the distant shore, and ran forward as soon
as he could avoid one opening, only to meet another^
eating as he ran, when he became hungry, some parched
corn, with which he had filled the capacious pockets of
his coat. Just as night was closing upon him, he reached
a place on the ice within some twenty or thirty rods of
the shore, and springing into the water and swimming for
the nearest point of land he reached it, but was so ex-
hausted as to be unable to stand. He laid down upon
the beach, a bluif of some forty or fifty feet being above
him, which it was impossible for him to ascend. Here
he thought his toils must end, and he gave himself up to
die. After commending himself to God, he thought of
the home and friends he should see no more; he thought
how those dear to him would mourn him as lost, and
never probably learn how he had died. At this the love
of life sprung up in his heart as he had never felt it be-
fore, and with a powerful eflPort he rose upon his knees.
Crawling along the beach some distance, he came to a

498 SKETCHES OF

small ravine, where the melting snow was running down
into the lake. Up this he clambered on his hands and
knees, taking hold of bushes and roots to help himself
along, till he reached the top of the bank. Here he
shouted glory ! till the woods rang. The moon was shin-
ing beautifully, lighting up the snow-covered forest with
its brightness, and, hence, there was sufficient light for
him to find his way. He perceived that he had landed
very near the point at which he had been aiming, and
getting into an Indian trail, after resting awhile on his
snowy bed, he started forward courageously toward his
appointment, at Brothertown. After walking some dis-
tance along the path, he saw an owl light on a bush just
before him. Being exceedingly hungry, and having a
loaded pistol in his pocket, he thought he would shoot it
and eat it raw. He approached near, with his pistol in
his hand, and aiming it so as to make sure of his prey, he
pulled the trigger j but, alas! his pistol only snapped.
He then remembered he had been swimming with it in
his pocket, and ^'I think,'' said he, "I never felt a dis-
appointment more severely than to see that owl fly slowly
away, leaving my hunger unsatisfied." After walking
about five miles, he came to an Indian camp near the
trail. He entered and found four or five Indians, who
had been encamped there some time hunting. They were
all fast asleep. At their fire he saw a pot, and without
waking up the proprietors, to ask their leave, he helped
himself heartily to its contents, which consisted of boiled
venison and corn. Then lying down before the fire with
a thankful heart, he fell asleep and rested sweetly till
nearly ten o'clock the next morning, when finding his
hosts all up and gone to their hunting, he again helped
himself to the corn and venison, and pursued his journey
to Brothertown, where he preached to nearly all the in-
liabitants who professed to be Christians. These Indians

WESTEKN METHODISM. 499

had lost their Indian dialect, and were speaking only the
English language. Their religion, however, appeared to
be a mixture of Christian tradition and pagan supersti-
tion. Thej had an old woman as successor to their last
missionary, who, it seemed, had been a Freewill Baptist,
and they regarded her with great confidence as a prophet-
ess. After he had preached to them, she said she was
taught by the Spirit, that he had told them God's truth.
He staid several days preaching to them and visiting
from house to house. About twenty professed conversion,
and he formed them into a class. To this, however, the
prophetess was much opposed, and told them the preacher
was a false teacher, and they must not join his Church.
To this one of them replied, *' When he first preached to
us, you said the Spirit taught you that he told us God's
truth. Now you say, without the Spirit, that he is a
fiilse teacher.'' The old woman was confounded. The
class met and encouracred each other in the service of
the Lord.

Daniel continued to visit them monthly, and was much
aided by a young lady, Miss Jane West Ingram, who,
having heard of their settlement and condition some
months before, left her father's house at Pontiac, Michi-
gan, and procuring school books at Detroit, took passage
on a steamboat to Green Bay. There she hired an In-
dian guide and pony, and putting her books in a bag on
the pony, she started with her guide, riding the pony
herself, while the Indian ran before. When she reached
them, she told them that she had come to teach them,
and had brought them books. She induced them to build
a cabin school-house, and gathered all the children she
could into it. There, among those Indians, without any
white person near to sympathize with, or advise her, that
young, devoted female instructed the Indians in letters,
daily praying with and for them, and visiting the sick and

500 SKETCHES OF

suffering among tliem. Slie affectionately pointed tliero
to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world,
and had seen some of them die happy. It was at her
request that Daniel visited them and commenced his
labors among them. At the first interview of these young
missionaries, they found in each other congenial spirits,
and mutually formed an attachment for each other, founded
in Christian love. In the month of June, 1837, they
were married. Jane then went with Daniel to the Oneida
mission, and her place in the Brothertown school was
supplied by brother Clark, the superintendent. At Oneida
they felt the need of a house of worship. Jane had some
three hundred dollars, which she had earned by school-
teaching in Michigan; this she offered as capital to com-
mence with. Daniel got most of the male members of
the mission to go with him into the pine woods, on Fox
river, and cutting saw-logs, they took them to a mill, ten
miles distant, and prepared lumber for their house. He
came out to the ensuing sessions of the Michigan and Ohio
conferences, and obtained some funds, with which he re-
turned, and soon they had a comfortable meeting-house.
There has been a flourishing mission ever since at that
place. Our young brother traveled on horseback through
an almost solitary wilderness, from Green Bay to Alton,
Illinois, in the autumn of 1838, to attend the Illinois
conference. There Bishop Soule transferred him back to
the Ohio conference. He could not get back to Ohio in
time to get an appointment that year, but reached his
father's house, in the neighborhood of Massillon, in De-
cember. He visited his brother, in Tifl&n, who was pre-
siding elder of that district, in January, 1839; and one of
the preachers in the district having failed, he was em-
ployed on Mexico circuit, where he labored with zeal and
usefulness, till the session of his conference, in Septem-
ber, 1839, when he was apDointed to M'Arthurstowa

WESTERN METHODISM. 501

circuit. The next two years he was appointed to Tarlton.
At the session of the Ohio conference, held at Hamilton,
September, 1842, he, by the advice of Bishop Morris,
took a transfer, with several others, to the Texas confer-
ence. He immediately started with his wife and three
little children, the youngest but a few weeks old, to that
then Republic of the Lone Star. His letter, published in
the Western Christian Advocate, of May 19, 1843, gives
an account of his journey there and the session of the
Texas conference held that season at Bastrop.

During his first year in Texas, seeing the great want of
schools and teachers throughout the country, after con-
sultation with Rev. Littleton Fowler, his presiding elder,
and with his consent and by his advice, he came to Ohio
and obtained a corps of teachers, with whom he returned
and commenced a number of schools at most of the
prominent points in Eastern Texas. During his sojourn
in Ohio, while he was gathering up his teachers, there
occurred a great amount of sickness and suffering at
Milam, where his family was located. "While at the Ohio
conference, we recollect distinctly the thrilling appeals of
this intrepid young missionary. When some of his breth-
ren expressed fears for his safety and that of his wife,
whom he left in her shanty on the distant plains of Texas,
coupled with what was a seeming intimation, that their
courage would scarcely be adequate to breast the dangers
and hardships of that border land, he replied, that " if
he thought there was a drop of coward blood in his veins,
he would let it out with his jack-knife, and as for his
wife, there could be no fear on her account, as he found
her among the Brothertown Indians alone, teaching the
children in the wigwams of the distant west.'' It was an
interesting season in the conference, and many of the
brethren indulged in remarks relative to the missionaries
of olden time. One brother related an interview he had

502

SKETCHES OF

with the lion. Thomas Corwin, who said, "Methodist
preachers were the very men for the times; and while
they went with their elbows out, and wore blankets in-
stead of coats, peeling bark with their teeth, and sleep-
ing in the woods, those who affected to despise them
could never imitate their courage or rise to their use-
fulness."

Daniel, while at the conference, received a letter from
his devoted wife, giving a thrilling account, among other
things, of the conversion of an infidel, and, also, a descrip-
tion of his death. The editor of the Ladies' Repository^
Kev. L. L. Hamline, requested it for publication; and
while brother Poe was on his return home on the steamer,
he wrote out the account of the awakening, conversion, and
death of this infidel, but from some cause or other it was
never sent, and consequently never published. It was
entitled, "The power of the Gospel in Texas/' and we
give it to our readers :

"I made my residence in the beautiful village of
Milam, Sabine county, Texas, where there had been re-
cently formed a small society of Methodists. Here, as
well as all around the San Augustine circuit, I found the
Church in a feeble and lukewarm condition, and so it
continued till the first of May last. We had appointed a
two days' meeting in Milam, and prayed much and earn-
estly that a work of divine grace might there commence.
The time came, and on Saturday the congregation was
small, and a death-like stupor and coldness seemed to
pervade almost every heart.

"There lived, adjoining the village, a Dr. W , who

was said to be a very wicked man, a Universalist, and a
great enemy to the Methodist Church. It was said, too.
that he had a very worthy, pious wife, who desired to at-
tend meeting and unite with the Church; but it was
said that the Doctor would not permit her to do so.

WESTERN METHODISM. 503

Wtile meeting was in progress on Saturday, the Doctor
was at the tavern across the way, uttering bitter curses
against the Methodists.

"The Sabbath came, and the congregation was unusually
large. I was preaching on the doctrine of rewards and
punishments, when my eye fell on the Doctor, who was
seated in the very rear of the congregation. He seemed
much excited; sometimes his face would redden, and then
an almost deathly paleness would pass over it. He seemed
very restless, too, and kept constantly turning on his seat.
I knew not whether ho was enraged or whether conscience
was doing its office, awakened and enlightened by the
Holy Spirit. I thought, however, that I would talk fear-
lessly and plainly, and leave the result with God. I spoke,
in conclusion, of the fearful account that that man will
have to render on the day of judgment who keeps his wife
and children away from the house of God, and bids
them follow him in the way to hell. An appointment
was made for the afternoon, and the congregation dis-
missed.

"As I was returning to the afternoon service, I saw the
Doctor standing at the corner of the court-house, where
the meeting was held. When I was yet a few rods
distant, he started out to meet me. I had heard that the
Doctor possessed considerable personal courage, and that
he had be^n through a number of bowie-knife and pistol
fights. Whether he came in peace or came armed for a
deadly encounter I knew not, nor was it my business to
know; my business was to meet him. We met, when he
gave his trembling hand, and said in accents broken with
sighs and accompanied with tears, 'Mr. Poe, I wish you
to open the door of the Church this afternoon for my wife
to join.' I said, 'Thank you. Doctor, but what are you
going to do? you are a sinner, and must have religion, or be
lost eternally.' He answered. ' I feel as I never felt in

604: SKETCHES OF

all my life — is there, can there be mercy for such a
wretched sinner as I have been ?' I told them that there
was mercy, free and full, and exhorted him to look to
Jesus, as we walked together into the congregation.
After an excellent sermon was preached by my colleague,
I stated that I was requested to open the doors of the
Church, and went on to give an invitation. The Doctor's
wife immediately came forward, together with a number
of others. I then invited all who desired to seek their
soul's salvation, to come to the mourner's bench. The
Doctor and many others came trembling and weeping, and
kneeled in prayer.

''A glorious revival commenced that afternoon. God's
people were heard shouting for joy, and sinners were
heard weeping and crying aloud for mercy. The meeting
lasted some two weeks, during which time many sinners
were awakened and converted. The Doctor came forward
at every invitation, and seemed powerfully awakened and
deeply engaged, and yet he found no relief I visited
him often, and talked and prayed with the family. He
did not attempt to conceal or extenuate, but acknowledged
that he had been the greatest of sinners — that he had
long hindered his wife from going to meeting and joining
the Church — that he had set an awful example before his
children. Mercy was his only plea. Sometimes he said,
*I am just entering the kingdom, when my sins rise up
and shut me out.' He said he was determined to seek
on, and if he went to hell he would go a praying penitent.
I left him in this state of mind about the first of July
last, well satisfied that if he persevered, his dungeon
would yet shake, and his chains fall ofi", and his soul be
set at liberty.

'^ I received a letter from my wife, saying that the Doctor
was very sick and in great distress of mind — that he had
sent for her very often to sing and pray for him= 1 have

WESTERN METHODISM. 505

just received another letter from mj wife, saying that the
Doctor is no more.

'"I have just returned from the funeral of Doctor

W . He sent for me both by night and day, to sing

and pray with him, and about two days before his death
he found peace and died very happy. Just before he left
the world, he called me to his bedside and said, ''Tell*
brother Poe, of all the men I ever saw, I loved him the
most; I would be glad to have him now about my dying
bed, but that can not be. Tell him to go on and keep
preaching Jesus, and I will meet him in heaven. '' '

"To be made the humble instrument in the hand of
the blessed Savior, of plucking that brand from eternal
burnings, more than compensates for all the sacrifices we
have made, in leaving our native land and friends and
all. But that is not all; the revival that commenced at
that meeting, spread all around the circuit, and hundreds
have been added to the Church. '^

After his return to Texas, he endeavored to commence
an institution of learning at San Augustine. The ensuing
conference adopted it and gave it their patronage. Dan-
iel was appointed to the San Augustine circuit, and com-
menced his labors, having some three hundred miles to
travel in filling his appointments every four weeks. After
the first quarter, the teacher of mathematics, in their new
college, resigned, and Daniel undertook to supply his
place. While filling this post, he regularly rode into the
country and preached on Friday night, twice on Saturday,
and twice on Sabbath, and returned so as to attend to the
recitations of his classes in the college, from Monday
morning to the next Friday afternoon.

In June, 1844, his wife was attacked with congestive
fever, but in a few days she seemed to be convalescent,
and he went to an appointment six miles from San Au-
gustine the first Saturday in July, to hold a two days'

43

606 SKETCHES OF

EQeeting. The congregation met in a grove^ and ho
preached to them on Saturday, at 11 o'clock, from Lam.
iii, 48. Dr. Greir, a member of our Church, told us
that he wept profusely while he portrayed the desolations
of sin, and exhorted the sinner to come to Christ for sal-
vation. When he closed his sermon, he gave out the
first two lines of a hymn, and stepping down from the
stand, approaching the Doctor with his hand on his tem-
ple, he said, " Doctor, I feel as if my head was bursting.''
The Doctor perceiving that he had a violent fever, as-
sisted him to his carriage, and took him to his house, and
by prompt attention, through the afternoon and night, he
thought him better next morning, and took him home.
On Sabbath afternoon his wife was taken worse, and his
two eldest children were violently attacked with the
same fever. On Tuesday evening the Doctor told him
his wife must die. About the same time Rev. L. Fowler,
having returned from New York, where he had been at-
tending General conference, brought him a letter from
his brother, and spoke to him of the probable division of
the Church. He read his letter, and laying it down ex-
claimed, " 0, must Methodism be rent in twain I" He
was unable to see his wife, as they were lying in separate
rooms, and said to brother Fowler, "Tell Jane to com-
mend her soul and her children to God. If I live I'll do
the best I can for them, if I die I want Adam to come
and get them." He grew rapidly worse, and on Wednes-
day morning he was told that he too must die. He imme-
diately commenced giving some direction about his busi-
ness, requested Rev. Lester Janes to write to his brother,
and request him to come and settle his business^ pay all his
debts, and bring his children to Ohio. In the midst of
these efforts, his mind wandered, and he complained of
excruciating pains in his head and of choking. In this
condition he remained till morning, when brother Fowler

WESTERN METHODISM. 607

returned and found him dying. He took him by the
hand and said, ^^Daniel, you are going!'' He answered,
m a whisper, '^Yes!" Brother Fowler asked, "How do
you feel?" He replied, ''Happy, very, very happy!" and
expired. His wife had conversed, after being informed
that she must die, with brother Fowler on her spiritual
prospects, and asked him to pray with her; and while he
prayed she was powerfully blessed. She then had her
children brought to her, and commending them to God
in a few words of prayer, gave them her last kiss, and
handed them to friends standing around her bed, saying,
'' Take care of them till their uncle Adam comes for
them." She knew their father was dying too ; and though
she was one of the most affectionate mothers we ever
knew, she seemed to give her children to her heavenly
Father without a single distrustful fear; and then in
bright and joyous vision of her home so near, she shouted
glory! till her voice sunk to a whisper; and she breathed
out her happy spirit into the arms of the Blessed, who
waited to bear her to heaven. They died within forty
minutes of each other, and were buried in one coffin, im-
mediately in rear of the Methodist church in San Au-
gustine. "Lovely and pleasant were they in their lives,
and in their death they were not divided."

In December, 1844, his brother. Rev. Adam Poe,
reached that place, and found all three of the children at
different places, well taken care of by good friends, in
pretty good health, having nearly recovered from their
attacks of fever. After settling the business matters,
according to Daniel's directions, and being ready to start
home, he took the children, the youngest in his arms, and
the others walking on each side of him, to the grave of
the parents, to take a last look. As they stood by the
grave, the oldest, a little girl five years of age, sobbing as
if her heart would break, said, "0, uncle, can't you

^08 SKETCHES OF

take up father and motlier and take tliem witli us to
Ohio?" Her little brother, a year older, answered, '^ Su-
san, don't you know father and mother will be as near to
us in heaven, after we get to Ohio, as they are now?
They will not forget us ; they love us still, I know they
do." The little one in his arms lisped, "Yes, I know
my pa and ma love me any where."

Thus died, and were buried in the red lands of Texas,
as noble a couple as ever labored and suffered in the
Methodist itinerancy, in the prime of life and the midst
of their years. Both of these devoted missionaries were
very highly esteemed, as far as they were known, in
Texas, and Daniel was as widely known as any minister
could be, in the length of time that he was there. Of
his talents, as a minister, much might be said to his
credit. He laid the foundation of a good education in
his youth, under the direction of the late Dr. Enter, who
was his warm, personal friend. He was a diligent and
enthusiastic student through life, and most conscien-
tiously did he observe the rule of a minister, which
we have frequently heard him quote with solemn emphasis,
"Never be unemployed, never be trifiingly employed."

He was in person almost gigantic, being six feet three
and a half inches high, and weighing about two hun-
dred and thirty pounds. He possessed uncommon ath-
letic force and activity, and the whole energy of hiff
powerful body and mind was devoted to his Master's
work. His social qualities were such as to make him
a favorite in every circle where he moved. In the
wigwam of the Indian, and in the cabin of the Texan
negro, as well as among the most refined in the higher
walks of civilization, every-where he was beloved, and
his ministry was crowned with many trophies, that no
doubt will shine as stars with him in the kingdom of
heaven forever.

WESTERN METHODISM. 509

Thus lived, and tlius died one of the most zealous and
indefatigable young preachers we ever knew. May God
raise up many more such to carry the Gospel to re-
gions beyond !

510 •' SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XLI.

THOMASDRUMMOND.

The subject of our sketch was born in Manchester,
England^ in the year 1806^ and came to America with his
father's family in 1811. His father sought a home in
the west, the El Dorado of the emigrant, whose broad
plains and rich soil invite the culture of the industrious
yeoman. When quite a youth he devoted himself to the
service of the Lord. He was not like many who think
it quite sufficient for all the purposes of salvation to give
the last sad remnants of their miserable lives to God.

" A flower -wlien offered in tiie bud,
Is no vain sacrifice."

How precious are the memorials of that heart whose
early affections have been given to God ! Truly, as saith
the inspired one, the ways of Religion '^are ways of pleas-
antness, and all her paths are peace — she is a tree of life
to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one
that retaineth her." In the twenty-third year of his
age — being called of God — he entered upon the work of
the ministry, and began earnestly and eloquently to plead
with sinners to be reconciled to God. After exercising
his gifts as a local preacher for the space of a year, and
giving full proof of his call by the fruits which attended
his labors, he was recommended for admission into the
traveling connection, and accordingly received by the
Pittsburg conference in the year 1831.

His first appointment was to the Summerfield circuit,
in the West Wheeling district, with the Rev. John W.

-WESTEEN METHODISM. 511

Minor. The next field of labor assigned him was the St.
Clairsville circuity where he continued one year; and at
the expiration of his term he was sent to Pittsburg, with
Dr. Martin Ruter for his colleague. The appointment
of so young a preacher to a station of so much import-
ance as Pittsburg, would necessarily lead one to infer
that he not only had remarkable gifts, but that he had
made astonishing progress in ministerial attainments, and
such was the fact. Some preachers at first give but little
promise, and develop slowly, yet in the end become
learned, talented, and useful, even as stars in the right
hand of Jesus, to shine upon the Church and the world.
Others at once seem to flash over the horizon of life as
the sun when he crosses the threshold of the ocean —
first a circle of mellow light, and then a full burst of
glory; but whether suns or stars, both have their ap-
pointed spheres, and roll on fulfilling their high and holy
destiny. In the Church of the apostles there was a Paul,
an Apollos, and a Cephas; and the diversity of talent was
made to subserve the most important purposes in the
erection of the spiritual building.

Drummond had rare and brilliant talents; and though
but two years in the conference, and but three a preacher,
he was regarded by the appointing power as adequate for
so important a post. His next station was Morgantown,
in Virginia, where he remained one year with great ac-
ceptability and usefulness. At the conference which was
held in Washington, in July, 1834, his heart was touched
with the wants of the west; and filled with a missionary
zeal, he volunteered for Missouri, and was stationed in
the city of St. Louis. At that post he labored hard, ful-
filling all the duties of a preacher and pastor up to June,
1835, embracing a period little short of a year from the
time of his transfer. On the Sabbath before his decease,
though somewhat indisposed, he labored with more than

512 • ■ SKETCHES OF

ordinary fervor. The dead and the dying were around
him; for that dread "pestilence which walketh in dark-
ness and wasteth at noonday/' was spreading death and
desolation in the ill-fated city. To prepare his hearers
for the scourge, and to converse and pray with those who
were grappling with the dread monster, taxed all his ener-
gies to the utmost. Sabbath evening came ; but, alas !
the foe had seized the soldier of the cross himself — he
was attacked with cholera, and all medical skill and
attention were in vain. Monday closed the scene of
conflict. The king of terrors aimed at length his fatal
dart, and smote the saint; but he feared not the blow.
The sting was extracted, and victory over death and hell
was gained through faith in Jesus' blood. Just as his
spirit was passing, he said to his weeping friends around
him, "All is well! Tell my hrethren of the Plttshurg con^
ference I died at my post J'

When the brethren met at their holy convocation,
which was shortly after, there were weeping eyes and
sorrowful hearts; but the message which they had re-
ceived from the dying soldier cheered them on in the
battle of the Lord. One of their number — one of Zion'a
sweetest minstrels — touched his lyre, and it sent forth a
dirge pleasant but mournful.

"Away from liis home and the friends of his youth,
He hasted, the herald of mercy and truth ;
; ■;, For the love of his Lord, and to seek for the lost;

Soon, alas ! was his fall — but he died at his post.

. ■ The stranger's eye wept, that, in life's brightest bloom,
,, One gifted so highly should sink to the tomb ;

*' For in ardor he led in the van of the host,

"' ■• Aiid he fell like a soldier — he died at his post.

He wept not himself that his warfare was done —
The battle was fought, and the victory won ;
But he whispered of those whom his heart clung to most,
j; ,, * Tell my brethren, for me, that I died at my post.'

"WESTERN METHODISM. 513

He asked not a stone to be sculptured with verse ;
He asked not that fame should his merits rehearse ;
But he asked as a boon, when he gave up the ghost,
That his brethren might know that he died at his post.

Victorious his fall — for he rose as he fell,

With Jesus, his Master, in glory to dwell ;

He has passed o'er the stream and has reached the bright coast,

For he fell like a martyr — he died at his post.

And can we the words of his exit forget?

0 ! no, they are fresh in our memory yet ; - ,

An example so brilliant shall never be lost, .

We will fall in the work — we will die at our iwst."

From this poet — the Rev. William Hunter, formerly
editor of the Pittsburg Christian Advocate, and author
of "Select Melodies" — we have received a sketch em-
bracing some personal recollections of Drummond, which
"we subjoin :

"Yours of the 17th ult. is before me, asking for rec-
ollections of Rev. Thomas Drummond. I had no per-
Bonal acquaintance with brother Drummond. He was
my senior by two or three years in the Pittsburg confer-
ence, and left it for St. Louis at the close of my first
year as a probationer. I never saw him but once ; that
was at the conference in Washington, Pennsylvania, in
1834. He came up to me before the conference door —
having somehow associated my face and name together,
as I had his — and said, in that free and peculiar manner
which was characteristic of him, while he seized my
hand, 'How are you, Hunter? We need no introduc-
tion." He passed into the church, and I am not cer-
tain that I ever saw his face again, I left the seat of
the conference, perhaps, that day or the next; and he
was transferred to Missouri, where he shortly afterward
died. From that conference I was sent to Pittsburg,
in company with T. M. Hudson and M. Simpson — now
bishop. Thomas Drummond had been there with Doctor

514 SKETCHES OF

Rutei'; no^- tlie preceding year, but the one before that.
I consequently heard much of him, and can testify to
the universal esteem in which he was held. Some of
the good old members could scarcely cease talking about
him. I can not at this date call up particular incidents
related to me concerning him, during his labors in Pitts-
burg. I can only state that the general impression made
upon my mind by what I heard was, that he was quite a
good preacher; studious in his habits, industrious in his
pastoral work, and an exceedingly-agreeable companion
in the social circle. He was a man of very kind feelings,
although somewhat free and blunt in his manners. He
was not one of those who continually wore a somber coun-
tenance, as if to smile was a sin, or a little pleasantry
an iniquity to be punished by the judges. He was a
cheerful, vigorous, energetic man, doing his duty with a
good will, a light heart, and a radiant countenance ; yet
withal a man who entered deeply into the sorrows of
others, visiting the sick and the needy, and ministering
both to their temporal and spiritual wants. A poor wo-
man, whom he had visited as a pastor, died happy in the
Lord, leaving a little girl with no provision for her com-
fort. Brother Drummond adopted her as his own — I
believe her father was dead also — and made arrange-
ments for her rearing and education; though I think
that from the pecuniary burden of this he was relieved
by the liberality of the late Mrs. Dumars, of Pittsburg,
in whose bosom beat the kindest heart of woman, and
who took the little girl, bringing her up as her own. The
little girl used to call herself Mary Ann Cooper Drum-
mond Dumars. She became a member of the Church,
and is now a married woman, with a family of her own,
and living in comfortable circumstances. This incident
will illustrate one trait in brother Drummond's character — ■
his kindness and benevolence — the trait to which, per-

"^ WESTEEN METHODISM. 615

haps, he fell a martyr in St. Louis during the cholera
visitation there.

"Brother Drummond was the first stationed preacher in
the station which I now occupy — Morgantown, Virginia.
The parsonage in which I am now writing was built
under his superintendence. The trees in the yard were
planted by him, from which succeeding preachers, since
that time, have eaten fruit. He frequently laid off his
clerical coat, and went to work at the parsonage himself-
and so well was the financial part of the business man-
aged, that when the work was done there was a dollar
over; though some of the credit of this is also due to
the well-known liberality of the Church here.

''Here, as in Pittsburg, I have often heard brother
Lrummond spoken of in terms of kind remembrance.
The families in which he boarded, especially, have a
high appreciation of his worth. He was able in the pul-
pit, faithful in pastoral visitations, diligent in the instruc-
tion of the children, assembling them for catechetical
exercises. He by no means confined his labors to the
village; but had several appointments in the country
round about, some of them as many as nine or ten miles
out. There is a sweet little church a couple of miles
out of town, now called Drummond Chapel, in memory
of the fact that he was, perhaps, the first who established
preaching in the neighborhood. The only week-day
class that we have in the station is a female class, met
by the preacher, composed generally of the older ladies of
the Church. It was Drummond who formed this class,
as he said, for his own especial benefit. There are some
of the traces left by him in this, the last station which
he occupied in the Pittsburg conference. I am not
aware that there was any great revival in the place during
his labors ; but the Church was in a healthy and prosper-
ous condition. I am told that he studied law, and passed

616 SKETCHES OF

an examination on it while here. I know not that he
intended ever to practice. It is more probable that his
object was to qualify himself better for the work of the
ministry, by increasing his knowledge of legal science. '*
How many burning and shining lights have suddenly
been quenched in the darkness of death ! How melan-
choly the remembrance that the most talented and
dscply-devoted in the ranks of the ministry are soonest
called away from the walls of our Zion, while we are left
to mourn their departure ! May we imitate their virtues
and aspire after their glorious immortality !

WESTERN METHODISM. 617

CHAPTER XLII.

INDIAN CAMP MEETING.

In the year 1828, a short time after we left the Indian
nation, we held a camp meeting at Messick's camp-ground,
not far from Bellefontaine. To this meeting we invited
the Indian brethren at the Wjandott mission. This
invitation was generally acceded to, and the Indians came
with their camping apparatus, to the number of one hun-
dred and fifty. A place was assigned them for pitching
their tents, so that they might all be as near together as
possible. We have called this the ''Indian camp meet-
ing,'' because, as the sequel will show, the exercises were
mostly confined to the Indian department of the camp,
and the Lord seemed to have selected our red brethren as
the instrumentality, through which all the glorious re-
sults that attended it were achieved.

The Indians being more expert in pitching tents than
the whites, they, of course, were ready at an earlier hour
to engage in religious exercises. It is characteristic of
the Indian to devote exclusive attention, for the time
being, to whatever pursuit or employment he may take
in hand. If it be fishing, or hunting, or sugar making,
or corn planting, nothing else is allowed to interfere in
the time allotted to these things. So in regard to re-
ligion. The time devoted to God was the most sacred,
and no people could unite with greater sincerity than
they in singing those appropriate lines :

" Far from my thoughts vain world begone,
Let my religious hours alone." ^. >, ''"**

vm

SKETCHES OF

Soon tlie Christian cliiefs, and queens, and all, were
formed into a circle, and the voice of praise and prayer
made the forest arches ring. After singing one of their
Christian songs, only as Indians can sing, they fell si-
multaneously upon their knees and lifted up their faces
toward heaven, as if they expected to see the Great Spirit
descend in blessings from the parted skies. One of their
number would lead in prayer, and when the Indian words,
^' tai7ientare," and " Homendeztie," would escape the sup-
pliant's lips, a deep amen would be uttered in concert by
all the circle.

The Indian has strong faith, and when he makes prepa-
ration for a sacrifice to the G-reat Spirit, he expects with
the utmost confidence that it will be accepted. So was it
in this instance; for while they were praying the Spirit
came down upon them, and the power of God was mani-
fested in the awakening and conversion of souls. As the
shaking of the leaves in the tops of the mulberry trees
was an indication to the prophet of the presence of God,
so the excitement of the multitude engaged in prayer, as
indicated by the tears, and groans, and shouts, was a sign
that the Great Spirit was at work upon the hearts of
these sons and daughters of the forest, and presently the
tents of the whites were forsaken, and many might have
been seen mingling with their red brethren and sisters
in the exercises of the hour. From this hour, though so
early in the meeting, the work of the Lord began, and
the interest continued to increase and spread as the
meeting progressed, till Saturday night, when the whole
encampment was in a flame of religious excitement.
There seemed to be no need of preaching or exhortation,
the Lord having taken his own work into his own
hands. All that the preachers and people had to do was
to follow the leadings of the Spirit, and the hours passed
away in singing and prayer, interrupted only — if, indeed,

WESTERN METHODISM. 519

it may be called an interruption — by the loud cries for
mercv, wliicb rose from the burdened hearts of the kneel-
ing penitents, or the louder shouts of praise to God for
delivering grace, which rose up on the night air and re-
echoed among the trees from the converted. The holy
scenes and hallowed associations of that night of prayer
among the Indians, will never be erased from our memory;
and though many of our precious red brethren and sis-
ters, who made that grove resound with their voices, have
long since gone to join the innumerable company before
the throne of God and the Lamb, yet we shall cherish
the recollection of that hour till we too shall be sum-
moned to the marriage feast above.

Sabbath morning came. It was one of those beautiful
Sabbaths of an Indian summer, which, by its soft and
balmy nature, reminds one of the rest and blessedness of
heaven. Not many miles from the camp-ground there
lived an ungodly man, whose wife, though not a professor
of religion, having heard of the meeting, was desirous to
attend. She had never been to a camp meeting before,
and her desire to attend, like that which actuates too
many others, was simply to gratify her curiosity. It was
with some considerable difficulty that she could get her
husband's consent, for even backwoods wives in that day
were accustomed to look up to their husbands for advice.
She finally succeeded, however, as women generally do
when they take the right course, in overcoming her hus-
band's opposition. He agreed to stay home and mind
the children while she would be absent, but commanded
her to come home by the middle of the afternoon, on pain
of getting a whipping. The poor woman, with the brutal
threat resting over her head, arrived upon the ground at
an early hour. Scarcely had she got within the circle of
tents and taken her seat in the congregation, till she
began to feel sad at heart, A wonderful power had

620 SKETCHES OF

taken hold of her mind. Her thoughts were carried back
to tlie days of her youth; her early religious thoughts were
awakened ; tears began to flow, as her children and hus-
band passed rapidly but vividly before her; her sins rose
up in frightful, hideous forms to her excited imagination
and conscience; and tears and sobs gave place to groans
and cries for mercy. She soon became an object of at-
tention, and prayers from many a sympathizing heart
went up to God in her behalf She had already remained
beyond the time allotted her by her husband, but her
heart was too much burdened to think of returning.
She could bear reproach, and scorn, and scourging, but a
wounded conscience was insupportable. Through the
entire day she continued to plead for mevcy, and when
the shades of night were gathering around, and forest
and tent were lighted up with the watch fires, and the
voices of praise and prayer were swelling out in anthems
and supplications to the God of heaven, she embraced
the cross with all the fervor of her soul, and her burden,
like that of Christian's in Bunyan's Pilgrim, rolled away
from her and was lost in the tomb of forgetful n ess. It
was then that she passed from darkness to light, and froca
the bondage of Satan to the liberty of the children of
God.

That night was spent in rejoicing, and when tho
morning came, with a glad heart and free, she started
home to meet her enraged and cruel husband. She was
always amiable, but she met him that morning with »
smile and a sweetness that only grace can spread over the
features. With meekness and humility she told him of
the cause of her detention, and concluded by a simple
narration of what God had done for her soul. This,
however, as is usually the case, only enraged him th?
more, and taking his wagon whip he beat her most se-
verely. This she could have borne without religion, for

WESTERN METH0DIS]!J:. 521

it was nothing when compared witli the lashes of a guilty
conscience; but now that her soul was full of the love of
God, with a martyr spirit she could have borne the tor-
ture or the stake, in the name and for the sake of Jesus.
From that hour the iron entered his soul only to be
extracted by an omnipotent Hand. He raged like a
maniac, and swore that he would take vengeance in firing
the encampment that night.

Night came, and this inhuman fiend started out under
its cover to execute his fearful threat. When he arrived
upon the ground the Indian brethren were engaged in a
most glorious work. The groans of the penitent, and the
shouts of praise of the converted, were mingled together,
and the sound of the many voices was like the roar of the
distant sea. While this sound waked the songs of heaven,
it was a "dreadful sound" to that ungodly man, and car-
ried, like the sound in the Assyrian camp, terror to his
heart. He drew near. There was terror in his face and
wildness in his eye as the watch-fire gleamed upon him,
but his heart had lost its courage, and his arm its nerve.
As he gazed upon the scene, like Belshazzar, in the
court of Babylon, in sight of the mysterious characters
of fire, which blazed out upon him, his knees trembled,
his heart quaked, and he fell prostrate upon the ground,
crying for mercy. He was picked up by an athletic In-
dian, who fully understood the nature of his condition,
and carried him into the circle. No sooner was the
sturdy Saul prostrate before the Indians, than a volley of
prayer went up in his behalf that almost rent the heav-
ens. He was a prisoner, captured by one of the scouts
of Immanuel's army, but he was wounded and dying.
His captor bent down closely with his ear, to listen to his
dying groans, and would say to him in Indian, "by
and by."

There lay the prostrate sinner pleading for mercy.

u

SKETCHES OF

The Indians stood by him, and sang and prayed till long
past the noon of night. It was a desperate struggle, and
seemed doubtful whether there was mercy for such a bold
blasphemer and cruel persecutor. But just before day,
when the stars began to fade in the light of the gray
streaks of morning, God's mercy came, the long agony
was over, and the blasphemer and persecutor was changed
into a child of God; the heir of hell was made an heir
of heaven. To the astonishment of all, after his first
bursts of praise were over^ he related his cruel conduct to
his wife, and his intention, as a matter of revenge, of
setting the encampment on fire. Some one present inter-
preted his confession and experience to the Indians
When he was through, the noble-hearted Mononcue
stepped up to him, and taking him by the hand said,
''Now, my white brother, God converted 3^our wife, and
you whipped her for it, and God has converted you. Go
home and tell her what God has done for your soul, and
let her take the same whip, if she desires so to do, and
whip you in return. It is good that God has converted
you both. Go in peace, and sin no more.'' This couple
will never forget the Indian camp meeting.

But these are not all the incidents connected with this
camp meeting; there were others etill more interesting
and thrilling, the relation of which, however, would oc-
cupy too much space for this chapter, and we shall reserve
them for the next.

WESTERN METHODISM. 523

CHAPTER XLIII.

CONVERSION OF AN I N SPE C T 0 R - G E N ER A L .

At the Indian camp meeting, accompanied by lier
children, was a lady who claimed kindred with the na-
tives of the forest, from the fact that, although her
father and husband were white, yet her mother was a
native of one of the Indian tribes. She was a most
worthy, consistent, and zealous member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and had pitched her tent at the com-
mencement of the meeting. She possessed much of the
true Indian character of integrity and perseverance,
conjoined with a large share of gentleness and benevo-
lence. Her fidelity and devotion as a wife and mother,
beautifully assorted with the entire consecration of her
heart to God. In all the religious exercises she took an
active part, and her labors and example were particularly
beneficial to her Indian sisters in the Lord.

Let us now call your attention to the husband of this
devoted woman. Though wicked, unlike the case de-
scribed in the foregoing chapter, he was not opposed to
his wife on account of her religion; but rather assisted
than prevented her in the discharge of her religious
duties. He had been a major in the militia; but on
account of his military skill was promoted to the office
of an Inspector-General. We have already seen that he
did not accompany his wife to camp meeting, the reason
of which was, that at the time he was out on a tour of
duty, inspecting the various regiments and companies.
As a military man none was more popular ; and his

SKETCHES OF

social, if not jovial disposition, led him to seek kindred
society, and occasionally to partake of the festive cup,
and enjoy a game of whist. These indulgences, how-
ever, as we have already hinted, were mere episodes in
his otherwise temperate and sober life. Would that it
were the case with all; but, alas! how few know where,
or have the power to stop with only an occasional indul-
gence in drinking and gaming ! He had a respect for
religious institutions, and would regularly attend, with
his wife, at the log church. When Saturday evening
arrived the General directed his course toward the camp-
ground, where he arrived dressed in full military cos-
tume. .*
But we will leave him for a while in the religious
marquee, enjoying the society of his family, and call
your attention to a short history of his wife's family
connections. Her father, Ebenezer Zane, in an early
day, was taken prisoner by the Indians, and from his
home, near Wheeling, Virginia, was removed to the
west, where he was adopted by the Wyandott tribe, and
raised to follow all the pursuits of an Indian life. A
dark-eyed, blooming Indian maid won his youthful aifec-
tions — not by any of those arts of fashionable life, by
which too many arc decoyed in what are called the cir-
cles of refinement, but by a native gentleness, simplicity,
and beauty, which needs not foreign adornment and art
to captivate. Suffice it to say, the two young and unso-
phisticated hearts were united; and as the result of this
union, and as pledges of its continued purity and genu-
ineness, they were blessed with three sons and four
daughters. We have not space to dwell upon their his-
tory, only to say that all their daughters, in process of
time, married white men. Their names were Reed,
M'Culloch, and Armstrong — the 3^oungest, as we have
already seen^ was married to General Long. Two of tha

WE8TEEN METHODISM. 525

sons — Ebenezer, junior, and William — married Indian
women, and the third — Isaac — married a white woman-
This whole family were related to the Zanes at Wheeling,
of whom there are some of the descendants still living.
The Indian branch of this family were noted for sobriety,
honesty, and respectability. They resided on Mad river,
where a section of land was granted to them by the Gov-
ernment. The family of which Mrs. Long was a mem-
ber were all religiously inclined. It was at the house of
the younger Ebenezer Zane that the first quarterly meet-
ing was held in the Wyandott nation. Isaac was con-
Yerted, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
continued till his death to exemplify, by his consistent
dejDortment, the Christian profession. We have often
heard him, in his broken Indian dialect, tell in love-feast
and class meeting the wonders of redeeming grace and
dying love. None could listen to the simple and touch-
ing recital of his conversion without being deeply
affected, and realizing of a truth that he was a child of
God.

M'Culloch, a brother-in-law, was a faithful and devoted
Christian, and died in the triumphs of the Gospel. He
left two sons, who followed in the footsteps of their par-
ents. The elder son, Noah, yet lives to serve God and
the Church. The younger became a reputable Baptist
preacher. Sarah Zane married Robert Armstrong, who
was taken prisoner by the Indians when a boy, and
reared among the tribe. They had four children, two
sons and two daughters, all of whom were sent to the
mission school, at Upper Sandusky, when we had charge
of the same. Hannah, one of the daughters, was con-
verted while a member of the school. She was one of
the most lovely and amiable children we ever knew; but,
alas ! death, who loves a shining mark, aimed his fatal
javelin, and the idol of her parents and our school was

626 SKETCHES of

smitten. She was just budding into womanhood when
arrested by disease. Day after day we saw the bright
and beauteous flower fade before us, and we knew she
must die. Just before her death her weeping and dis-
consolate father bent over her couch, and, placing her
arm around his neck, she said, '^Dear father, do not
weep for me, I am going to God and heaven. Angels
are waiting to take me home. You and mother, and
brother and sisters will soon come after me, and then we
shall all be happy forever. Farewell, dear father and
mother! My Savior smiles, and bids me come.'' Then,
with the sound of glory on her tongue, her sainted spirit
passed away to the land of the blest. That little Indian
girl would not have died had beauty and gentleness been
a security against the shafts of death. But, as the little
prophet said, the father and mother, and the younger
son, John M'Intire, have gone to join her in heaven.

But we must now return to the camp meeting. On
Sabbath morning General Long was seen, in full military
dress, in the congregation, and excited the attention of
all, but more particularly his Indian friends. Pie was an
attentive observer of all that transpired, and listened
eagerly to all that was said. Those who knew him best
saw, from his clouded brow, and his attempts to rally his
spirits, that there was something pressing heavily upon
his otherwise joyous and happy mind, and they were not
much at a loss in conjecturing the cause. The Spirit of
God was evidently at work in his heart. His affectionate
wife and Indian friends were constant and earnest in pour-
ing out their supplications in his behalf. Ilis convictions
increased, notwithstanding all his efforts to shake them
off; and when Monday morning came, he was glad to
avail himself of the opportunity his duties afforded in
leaving for the muster-field, where companies awaited
his inspection. He accordingly mounted his horse, and

WESTERN METHODISM. 527

started; but liis Christian friends did not give him
up. They knew full well that God was at work upon
his heart, and their anxieties were increased in the con-
viction that a crisis had arrived in his history which
would, in all probability, decide his destiny forever. One
has said,

"There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune." :i'

Especially is this true in regard to religion. There is a
period in the history of every man, when it may be said
of him individually, as it was said by the Savior to the
scribe, on a certain occasion, " Thou art not far from the
kingdom of heaven." When the tide of Divine influ-
ence is up, and waves of mercy are gathering around,
then the soul may start out upon that flood for heaven ;
but if this influence is resisted, the receding waves will
bear away hope and happiness — it may be forever.

The General had not proceeded more than two miles
on his journey till his feelings became almost insupporta-
ble. He was alone, and there being nothing to divert
his mind, he was shut up to himself, and a horror of
darkness came upon him. To go farther he felt it would
be impossible. The cords of an irresistible influence
seemed to be drawing him back, and having reached
their utmost tension he must yield or break that influ-
ence forever. He turned his horse in the direction of
the camp-ground, and rode rapidly back. When he
arrived the congregation were assembled for the purpose
of partaking of the holy communion. The elements of
bread and wine had been consecrated by holy hands and
prayer, and the pastor was inviting the flock to come for-
ward to the rude altar, and participate in the eucharistic
feast, which every want supplies. He stood and gazed
upon the scene. He saw his beloved wife advance and
kneel with the whites and Indians that crowded to their

528 - '• SKETCHES OF

places; and as the minister said, ^^Ile that confessetL
Jesus before men, shall be acknowledged by him in
heaven; while he that denieth him shall also be denied
at the judgment of the great day/' he felt that he had
neither part nor lot in the matter, and that he must for-
ever be separated from his dear wife and the society of
all the good, and the scene and associations so affected
him that he wept aloud. After the sacrament was ended
the presiding elder addressed the congregation, touch-
ingly alluding to the scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary,
which had been presented before them in the passion
and death of the Son of God, and concluded by inviting
all such as were desirous of fleeing the wrath to come,
and of being saved from their sins, to come forward, and
kneel at the altar and pray for pardon. Scarcely had he
ceased till anxious souls in large numbers pressed to the
mercy-seat. The General was standing, in full military
costume, at rest, with one hand upon the stake that sup-
ported the altar-railing. His feelings were wrought up
to the highest point of excitement, and unable any longer
to restrain his emotion, which was raging with earthquake
violence within his soul, he exclaimed, with a loud but
tremulous voice, '' Quarters ! quarters ! My God, quar-
ters I I yield;" and then fell his whole length upon the
ground. He was soon surrounded by the godly, and
borne into the altar. The excitement produced by this
demonstration, among the whites and Indians, was tre-
mendous; and when they all fell upon their knees there
went up such a storm of prayer as rent the very heavens.
The General wept, and groaned, and prayed for the space
of two hours, with a fervency that few ever prayed be-
fore. He was a shrewd, intelligent Yankee — a descend-
ant of the Puritans — and many were astonished at the
appropriateness of his language in supplicating mercy.
But see ! he ceases to pray, and quick as spark from

WESTERN METHODISM. 529

smitten steel, the blessing descends ! Hark ! A shout,

*' Glory, glorj!" in loud, full bursts, escapes from his

lips. "Where am I?" said the converted man. "I

never saw so beautiful a place in all my life before." In

an instant his wife, who alone had been pouring out her

heart to God in her husband's behalf, was at his side,

praising God for redeeming grace. They embraced with

an affection they never knew before; for they were now

one in Jesus. His Indian and white friends turned their

prayers into praises, and united with the angelic throng,

" WTiose hymns of joy proclaimed through heaven
The triumphs of a soul forgiven."

He was greeted by the warm-hearted chief, Mononcue,
who embraced him, and said, in broken English, " My
brother, you must now fight for King Jesus." After his

joy had somewhat subsided he found Judge lyii^g

in the altar, upon his face, weeping. Approaching him
he said, ''Judge, is this you? Get up and pray with all
your might; you will never obtain the blessing of pardon
lying there. Get up and pray with all your heart, and
God will bless you."

The next day the General started for the muster-field.
The officers had heard that he was converted, and haa
joined the Church. Many of them were not a little an-
noyed at the intelligence; and though they no doubt
secretly felt that he had done right, and wished them-
selves in his condition, yet they resolved to put his relig-
ious fit, as they called it, to an end, at least to test the
genuineness and strength of his profession. They had
to this end prepared a fine dinner, with the accompani-
ments of wine, music, and cards. When the time for
recess came he was ushered into a room decorated with
national flags, evergreens, and flowers, where a sumptuous
dinner was spread. Scarcely had he taken his seat before
an officer — for whom the General had a great regard-—
45

530 SKETCHES OF

approaclied him witli a flowing glass, which he presented,
saying, " My dear General, you must be greatly fatigued
with the arduous duties of the day; take a little wine, it
will strengthen you." "No, my dear Colonel," said he,
^' not one drop shall pass my lips." By this time the
eyes of all the officers were turned in that direction. It
was the first trial, but nobly he met it. Raising his
voice he said, ^' Fellow-officers and gentlemen, yesterday
God, for Christ's sake, pardoned my sins, and I have
sworn allegiance to the King of heaven. By this oath I
will live, and by it I will die ; and now let me say, m all
kindness, unless you repent of your wickedness you must
perish in your sins; and here I most cordially invite you
all to go with me this evening to the camp meeting, that
there you may seek religion." Then, espying a pack of
cards on an adjoining table, he added, ''Nor will I ever
throw another card, by the grace of God, as long as I
live." These announcements, though by some antici-
pated, yet to others were like claps of thunder in a clear
sky.

That dinner was eaten in silence, and not a drop of
wine was drank or a card shuffled, and the hour passed
away in peace and quietness. The General lived many
years a consistent and devoted member of the Church,
adorning the doctrines of God, his Savior; and as a sol-
dier of the cross, when he came to die, he was enabled
to say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which God, the righteous Judge, shall give
me."

Many were the converts at that camp meeting, and the
day of eternity will show, that of the whites and Indians
who there embraced religion, the work was as genuine
and lasting as that which characterized the conversion
of Genoral Long.

WESTEEN METHODISM. 531

CHAPTER XLIY.

PIONEER "WOMEN.

Historians may write of the brave and patriotic women
of ancient times, of the mother of the Gracchi, and the
mother of Napoleon, and Washington, and the more re-
cent patriotic deeds of our Revolutionary mothers, who
freely gave up their sons to fight the battles of liberty,
and sacrificed every thing but their more than Iloman
virtue, in supporting our heroic fathers in the conflict for
freedom; be it our pleasing task to record some of the
achievements of our pioneer mothers in the west, whose
zeal, and courage, and self-sacrificing devotion, afi"ord
specimens of a moral sublimity greater than was ever
witnessed in the heroism of the patriot mothers of olden
time.

When the Rev. Bonnet Maxey traveled as a missionary
in Georgia, about the close of the Revolutionary war, the
following incident occurred, which he related to me with
his own lips. It will be recollected that nearly all that
country was a wilderness, inhabited by savage Indians.
There were but few Methodist societies, and they were
widely separated. The missionary, in his long and peril-
ous journej's, could only reach them occasionally, and in
doing so would have to encounter almost as much toil
and hardship as the emigrant now does in crossing the
plains to California. Even then, with all his zeal and
perseverance, there were some settlements that could not
be reached without a reinforcement of missionary laborers
In one of these settlements^ six miles distant from each

532 SKETCHES OF

other, there lived two pious women, wiio had emigrated
to the country from the state of Maryland, where they
had been converted and joined the Methodist Church.
They felt the loss of the ministrations of the Gospel. No
Sabbath brought with it its holy scenes and sanctuary
privileges. The time of the people seemed to be occu-
pied, on Sabbaths, in the sports of the chase, or in idle
and frivolous amusements. While, however, the neigh-
bors were engaged in the desecration of the holy Sab-
bath, these two pious women agreed to meet half way be-
tween their respective cabins, and hold a prayer and
class meeting by themselves. Sabbath after Sabbath
these devoted females walked to their appointment in the
woods, and there, in the depths of that southern forest,
with no eye to see but God, they spoke to one another
about their trials, and conflicts, and hopes, and '' the Lord
hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrances was
written before him/' The voice of praise and prayer
echoed through the wildwood. They not only prayed for
themselves and their neighbors, but they besought the
Lord that he would send the Gospel into that wild and
destitute region. One Sabbath, while thus engaged in
religious exercises, they were overheard by a hunter, who
came unconsciously upon their retreat; and there, in the
language of the poet, in that

•' Scene -where spirits blend,
And friend holds fellowship -with friend,"

around that common mercy-seat, they united their sup-
plications. It was holy ground, and a sacred awe
came over him, as from the covert of a tree he listened
to their praises and their prayers. This hunter's cabin
was not far distant from the place of meeting, and every
Sabbath he would, at the appointed time, take his station
and listen to the soul-thrilling eloquence of their prayers
and songs. He had not, though a roving hunter, been

WESTERN METHODISM. 533

reared altogether without the influences of religion. His
pious mother, long since in heaven, had taught him the
fear of the Lord, and her instructions and prayers would
cross his memory in his wild, erratic course, and like the
recurrence of a pleasant dream awaken hallowed memo-
ries. On a certain Sabbath he resolved to introduce
himself to the strange, mysterious worshipers; and, ac-
cordingly, after they had concluded their meeting, and
were taking leave of each other to return to their homes,
he appeared before them, and in tones of kindness in-
vited them to meet at his cabin on the next Sabbath, and
he would collect his neighbors.

Here was a trial which they had not anticipated. But
they regarded it as an interposition of divine Providence
in their behalf; and though it would be a heavy cross,
requiring the greatest amount of moral courage and en-
durance, to meet the rough and sturdy backwoodsmen,
and hold meeting in their midst, they must not deny
their Master in refusing to enter this open door. It was,
accordingly, noised abroad that two women were going to
hold meeting at the hunter's house; and as the thing was
entirely new, the whole neighborhood went. The hus-
bands of the two pious and devoted women, not knowing
it was their wives, but being filled with curiosity at the
singular announcement, were among the number of those
who took their companions with them to the place of
meeting. Their astonishment can better be imagined
than described, when they saw them take their places in
the cabin as the women that were to hold meeting on the
occasion. One of them read a chapter in the Bible,
which she did in a clear, strong voice, and then gave out
a hymn, which was sung by the two and the congregation
to some familiar tune; after which they kneeled down,
and the one who had read the Bible offered up a most
fervent and deeply-impressive prayer to God; in behalf

534 SKETCHES OF

of the congregation assembled. After prayer was over
they united in singing one of those songs of Zion, with
which they had made the woods ring at their Sabbath
meetings previous. Many a heart was touched, as the
divine strains rolled over the wondering assembly, and
the tear stole down many a rough, sun-burnt face. When
this was ended, the other rose tremblingly but firmly, as
with the heart of a giant, and commenced telling the
plain, simple story of her conversion. As she spoke, her
voice assumed a majesty and a power truly wonderful.
God sent down his Spirit and attended it with power to
the hearts of the audience; and first the hunter, and then
the two husbands, unable any longer to repress their feel-
ings, broke out in loud cries for mercy. Several, while
she was speaking, fell, as if smitten with lightning, to
the floor, others fled from the house in the greatest con-
sternation. These pious sisters in the Lord were not
frightened by this exhibition of divine power; for although
it was farthest from their anticipations, yet they had been
familiar with such scenes in the days of their youth.
They knew "it was the Lord's doings, and it was mar-
velous in their eyes," and they, therefore, commenced
singing and praying with the slain of the Lord. It was
not long till several were happily and powerfully con-
verted to God, and this increased the power; and they
were set immediately to work to pray for penitents and
sinners. The work spread, mighty consternation fell
upon all the people, and far and near, those who had not
attended at the beginning flocked to the place of prayer.
The hunter and his wife, and the two husbands were all
converted, and the meeting continued with but little in-
termission, night and day, for two weeks. It was what
might properly and most significantly be denominated a
protracted meeting. The news of the wonderful work
flew as on the wings of the wind, to the distance of forty

'*' WESTERN METHODISM. 535

or fifty miles, when it reached the ears of brother Maxey,
who immediately started for the scene. When he ar-
rived, he found the two faithful female heralds of the
cross still on the ground, fighting most manfully the
battle of the Lord. They had already received forty new
recruits, all converted and happy in the love of God, and
they were all living, speaking witnesses for Jesus — not a
still-born child in all their ranks. Scarcely had the
itinerant reached the scene of action, than, like the old
soldier, at the sound of battle, the power of God came
on him, and he entered the ranks of God's army with a
shout of victory and triumph. They at once recognized
his spirit, and hailed him as a fellow-soldier; but how
great was their rejoicing when they found him to be
one of Immanuel's ofiicers, in the great army of God !
To him the sisters cheerfully intrusted the leadership,
and he led them forth valiantly to glorious war. With a
voice like a trumpet, and a love for God and zeal for
souls which was like fire in his bones, he went from
neighborhood to neighborhood proclaiming salvation, and
the work spread and prevailed, so that before the revival
ceased, it had covered a sufficient extent of country to
form a good large circuit, in the entire bounds of which
there never had been preaching before.

And now, dear reader, what a field for reflection is
here ! — a wonderful manifestation of the power of God,
through the agency of two pious, heroic. Christian
women. How many would have said, could they have
witnessed these two devoted females, commencing their
religious exercises at that meeting, where were crowds of
ungodl}^ men, collected from all parts of the country, and
impelled by mere curiosity at the novelty of the thing,
^' How improper! how unlike the decency and order which
the apostle Paul enjoins should be observed in religious
worship ! And then, how shocking to delicacy, for women

536 SKETCHES OF

to speak in public, especially in such a mixed assembly!''
But we see in this, as in other similar manifestations,
that God's ways are not as our ways; and that He who hag
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the
mighty, and things that are naught to bring to naught
things that are, that no flesh might glory in his presence,
the excellency of the power being of God and not of man,
selected those two females as the chosen instruments
of his Holy Spirit, to bear the messages of mercy and
salvation to that dark and destitute region. We are
obliged to concede this, or to admit what is abhorrent to
every Christian ] namely, that the Holy Spirit will sanc-
tion and set its seal to a work brought about by improper
agencies.

Again : what Christian, who even believed that it
was right and proper, and perfectly in accordance with
that ''decency and order" recommended by the apostle,
for women to exercise their gifts in singing, and prayer,
and Christian conversation or exhortation, would have
had faith to believe thiit any good would have resulted
from such a meeting? Yet these Christian females had
faith, and according to that fiiith so it was to them. Be-
sides, the circumstances were such as to justify such a
procedure. In their neighborhood there were no minis-
ters of the Gospel, and no Sabbath and sanctuary privi-
leges; and impressed by the Spirit to pray the Lord of
the harvest that he would send forth laborers, they went
to prayer, and God heard and answered in a way that
they had not anticipated, and that human reason could
not have divined.

We will relate another incident of female devotion,
"which occurred in the bounds of the Ohio district. In
the year 1817, while we were traveling with a fellow-
itinerant, in passing along between the waters of Oil
creek and Scrub Grass, which empties into the Alleghany

WESTERN METHODISM. 637

river above Pittsburg, we came in sight of an old dilapi-
dated log church. The sight of an old church gone into
decay, never fails to awaken in our minds many reflec-
tions, and we never pass one without feeling an irre-
pressible desire to understand something of its history.
My companion being somewhat acquainted with the his-
tory of this old church, related to me the following, in
connection with the same : At an early day, in the set-
tlement of that part of the country, which was then de-
nominated the Holland purchase, a small Methodist so-
ciety was organized by pioneer Methodist preachers.
After some time the society built that log church, and
flourished for several years. In progress of time, how-
ever, some of the old members died, and were buried in
the graveyard close by the sanctuary, and others moved
away, till it was dropped from the list of appointments
as a preaching-place, and only one member of the class
and society remained. She was a mother in Israel, and,
like the prophet, she was left alone to sigh over the deso-
lations of Zion. She loved the old sanctuary, and though
deserted, she seemed to realize an increasing attachment
as time wrought its inroads upon its doors and windows.
Invariably on the Sabbath, when her health and the
weather would permit, did she repair to this deserted
temple and worship her God. There, in holy meditation,
did she recall the scenes of her youth, the holy seasons,
happy days she had spent with her brethren and sisters,
some of whom were sleeping quietly in the adjoining
church-yard, while others were faraway. Here she would
sit, and read, and sing, and pray, and talk to her invisible
God and Savior. At length, it was noised abroad that
she was a witch, that the old church was haunted with
evil spirits, and that she met there to hold communion
with the spirits of darkness, and thus increase her power
of evil over the bodies and souls of those around her.

538 SKETCHES OF

Slic was old and feeble, and heard of their surmises, but
she remembered that her Master was charged of being
pos'^essed by the devil, and she heeded them not, but
continued her Sabbath visits to the consecrated place.
At length, two wicked young men of the neighborhood
determined to watch her, and entering the church some
time before she arrived, they climbed up and secreted
themselves in the clapboard loft. After remaining there
a short time, the old lady entered the church and took
her seat by the rude altar. The young men, as they after-
ward related, experienced some sensations of fear, see-
ing, as the}^ supposed, the old witch draw from her side-
pocket an old leather-enveloped book, but their fears soon
subsided when they heard her read, instead of an invoca-
tion to the spirits of darkness, the story of the widow of
Sarepta. After she had finished, she drew from her
other pocket an antiquated-looking hymn-book, from
which she read that inimitable hymn,

" ' '• *' Jesus, I my cross have taken, ! '"*'"

All to leave and follow thee ; '• , . ' - ' : **'»

Kaked, poor, despised, forsaken, . ';
All I am is lost in thee."

After having sung this beautiful hymn, which she did
with a trembling, but sweet, melodious voice, she fell
upon her knees and poured out her full heart to God in
prayer and supplication. As friend holds fellowship with
friend, so did she talk with her heavenly Father. She
told the Lord all her complaints and grievances, and
lamented the sad condition of the old and young of the
neighborhood, who were alike on the road to perdition.
She then alluded to the happy seasons she had enjoyed
in that place, when Zion shed her holy light and converts
crowded her gates. In piteous strains she lamented her
desolations, and prayed that the Lord would build up her
waste placeS; and again crowd her gates with living

WESTERN METHODISM. 639

converts. She prayed especially for those who cast out
her name as evil, that the Lord would change their hearts.
She prayed, also, for the young and giddy multitude, who
were forgetting God and living as if there were no hell
to shun, no heaven to pursue. While she was praying
God's Spirit was at work on the hearts of the young men
on the loft, and they began to weep and cry for mercy.
The old lady was not startled; she seemed to realize, while
praying, an answer to her prayer; and as the Savior in-
vited Zaccheus to come down from the tree, because on
that day salvation had come to his house, so did she
invite those young men to come down from their hiding-
place. They obeyed her directions, and there at that
altar, where, in other days, she had witnessed many con-
versions, before that Sabbath sun sank behind the west-
ern hills, they found pardon and salvation. From this
hour the work of God commenced; the meetings were
continued, and a flourishing Church was raised up, and
the old dilapidated log meeting-house was again made to
resound with the happy voices of the children of Zion.

SKETCHES OF

CHAPTER XLV.

THE INDIAN CHIEF^ RHON-YAN-NESS.

At the death of Rhon-yan-ness he was the oldest chief
in the Wyandott nation. He was among the first that
embraced the Gospel, and became a convert to the relig-
ion of Christ, among the Wyandotts. He was a great
hunter, and first among the braves of his tribe, and was
as much honored as a chief as any chief of any nation.
Like Saul of Tarsus, who, as a brave and indefatigable
opponent of Christianity, when converted, became equally
courageous and persevering in the cause of Christ, so
it was with this Christian Indian. There was no enter-
prise, however hazardous, that ho would not undertake
for the interests of his nation before conversion; nor was
there any danger he would not brave, or sacrifice he would
not make, for the sake of Christ and his cause, after he
had been made partaker of the grace of life.

We will relate an incident which occurred in his life,
that will serve to show, in some degree, his zeal and
courage as an Indian, and will also illustrate several
points in his character better, perhaps, than the most
elaborate detail. Previous to the relation of this incident
it will be necessary to refer the reader to a scrap of bor-
der warfare.

''About the middle of July, 1782, seven Wyandotts
crossed the Ohio, a few miles above Wheeling, and com-
mitted great depredations upon the southern shore, kill-
ing an old man, whom they found alone in his cabin, and
spreading terror throughout the neighborhood. Within

*" WESTERN METHODISM. 54:1

a few liours after their retreat, eight men assembled from
diflPerent parts of the small settlement, and pursued the
enemy with great expedition. Among the most active
and efficient of the party were two brothers — Adam and
Andrew Poe. Adam was particularly popular. In
strength, action, and hardihood, he had no equal, being
finely formed, and inured to all the perils of the woods.
They had not followed the trail far before they became
satisfied that the depredators were conducted by Big
Foot, a renowned chief of the Wyandott tribe, who de-
rived his name from the immense size of his feet, and
his strength was represented as herculean. He had
also five brothers, but little inferior to himself in size
and courage; and as they generally went in company, they
were the terror of the whole country, Adam Poe was
overjoyed at the idea of measuring his strength with
that of so celebrated a chief, and urged the pursuit with
a keenness which quickly brought him into the vicinity
of the enemy. For the last few miles the trail had led
them up the southern bank of the Ohio, where the foot-
prints in the sand were deep and obvious; but when
within a few yards of the point at which the whites as
well as the Indians were in the habit of crossing, it
suddenly diverged from the stream, and stretched along
a rocky ridge, forming an obtuse angle with its former
direction. Here Adam halted for a moment, and directed
his brother and the other young men to follow the trail
with proper caution, while he himself still adhered to
the river path, which led through clusters of willows
directly to the point where he supposed the enemy to lie.
Having examined the priming of his gun, he crept cau-
tiously through the bushes, till he had a view of the
point of embarkation. Here lay two canoes, empty and
apparently deserted. Being satisfied, however, that the
Indians were close at hand, he relaxed nothing of his

SKETCH ESOF

vigilance, and quickly gained a jutting cliff, whicti huncj
immediately over the canoes. Hearing a low murmui
below, he peered cautiously over, and beheld the object
of his search. The gigantic Big Foot lay below him in
the shade of a willow, and was talking, in a low, deep
tone, to another warrior, who seemed a mere pigmy by
his side. Adam cautiously drew back, and cocked hia
gun. The mark was fair ; the distance did not exceed
twenty feet, and his aim was unerring, liaising his rifle
slowly and cautiously, he took a steady aim at Big Foot's
breast, and drew the trigger. His gun flashed. Both
Indians sprung to their feet with a deep interjection of
surprise, and for a single second all three stared upon
each other. This inactivity, however, was soon over.
Adam was too much hampered by the bushes to retreat,
and setting his life upon a cast of the die, he sprung
over the bush which had sheltered him, and, summon-
ing all his powers, leaped boldly down the precipice,
and alighted upon the breast of Big Foot with a shock
■which bore him to the earth. At the moment of contact
Adam had also thrown his right arm around the neck of
the smaller Indian, so that all three came to the earth
together. At that moment a sharp firing was heard
among the bushes above, announcing that the other par-
ties were engaged ; but the trio below were too busy to
attend to any thing but themselves. Big Foot was, for
an instant, stunned by the violence of the shock, and
Adam was enabled to keep them both down. But the
exertion necessary for that purpose was so great, that he
had no leisure to use his knife. Big Foot quickly recov-
ered, and, without attempting to rise, wrapped his long
arms around Adam's body, and pressed him to his breast
with the crushing force of a boa-constrictor! Adam, as
we have already remarked, was a powerful man, and had
seldom encountered his equal ; but never had he yet felt

WESTEEN" METHODISM. 543

an embrace like that of Big Foot. He instantly lelaxed
his hold of the small Indian, who sprung to his feet.
Big Foot then ordered him to run for his tomahawk,
which lay within ten steps, and kill the white man while
he held him in his arms. Adam, seeing his danger,
struggled manfully to extricate himself from the folds
of the giant, but in vain. The lesser Indian approached
with his uplifted tomahawk ; but Adam watched him
closely, and as he was about to strike, gave him a kick so
sudden and violent as to knock the tomahawk from his
hand, and sent him staggering back into the water. Big
Foot uttered an exclamation in a tone of deep contempt
at the failure of his companion, and raising his voice to
its highest pitch, thundered out several words in the
Indian tongue, which Adam could not understand, but
supposed to be a direction for a second attack. The les-
ser Indian now again approached, carefully shunning
Adam's heels, and making many motions with his toma-
hawk, in order to deceive him as to the point where the
blow would fall. This lasted for several seconds, till a
thundering exclamation from Big Foot compelled his
companion to strike. Such was Adam's dexterity and
vigilance, however, that he managed to receive the toma-
hawk in a glancing direction upon his left wrist, wound-
ing him deeply, but not disabling him. He now made a
sudden and desperate effort to free himself from the
arms of the giant, and succeeded. Instantly snatching
up a rifle — for the Indian could not venture to shoot for
fear of hurting his companion — he shot the lesser Indian
through the body. But scarcely had he done so when
Big Foot arose, and placing one hand upon his collar,
and the other upon his hip, pitched him ten feet into
the air, as he himself would have pitched a child. Adam
fell upon his back at the edge of the water; but before
his antagonist could spring upon him, he was again upon

1)4:4: SKETCHES OF

his feet, and stung with rage at the idea of beins: han-
dled so easily, he attacked his gigantic antagonist with a
fury which, for a time, compensated for inferiority of
strength. It was now a fair fist fight between them ; for
in the hurry of the struggle neither had leisure to draw
their knives. Adam's superior activity and experience
as a pugilist gave him great advantage. The Indian
struck awkwardly, and finding himself rapidly dropping
to leeward, he closed with his antagonist, and again
hurled him to the ground. They quickly rolled into the
river, and the struggle continued with unabated fury,
each attempting to drown the other. The Indian being
unused to such violent exertion, and having been much
injured by the first shock in his stomach, was unable to
exert the same powers which had given him such a de-
cided superiority at first; and Adam, seizing him by
the scalp-lock, put his head under water, and held it
there till the faint stru2;2;les of the Indian induced him
to believe that he was drowned, when he relaxed his
hold, and attempted to draw his knife. The Indian,
however, to use Adam's own expression, Miad only been
2)ossu7ninfj !' He instantly regained his feet, and in his
turn put his adversary under. In the struggle both were
carried out into the current, beyond their depth, and each
was compelled to relax his hold and swim for his life
There was still one loaded rifle upon the shore, and each
swam hard in order to reach it; but the Indian proved the
most expert swimmer, and Adam, seeing that he should be
too late, turned and swam out into the stream, intending
to dive, and thus frustrate his enemy's intention. At this
instant Andrew, having heard that his brother was alone,
in a struggle with two Indians, and in great danger, ran
up hastily to the edge of the bank above, in order to
assist him. Another white man followed him closely,
and seeing Adam in the river, covered with blood, and

WESTEEN METHODISM. 645

swimming rapidly from shore, mistook him for an Indian,
and fired upon him, wounding him dangerously in the
shoulder. Adam turned, and seeing his brother, called
loudly upon him to ' shoot the big Indian upon the
shore/ Andrew's gun, however, was empty, having just
been discharged. Fortunately Big Foot had also seized
the gun with which Adam had shot the lesser Indian, so
that both were on an equality. The contest now was who
should load first. Big Foot poured in his powder first,
and drawing his ramrod out of its sheath in too great a
hurry, threw it in the river, and while he ran to recover
it. Andrew gained an advantage. Still the Indian was
but a second too late, for his gun was at his shoulder
when Andrew's ball entered his breast. The gun drop-
ped from his hands, and he fell forward on his face upon
the very margin of the river. Andrew, now alarmed for
his brother, who was scarcely able to swim, threw down
his gun, and rushed into the river, in order to bring him
ashore ; but Adam, more intent upon securing the scalp
of Big Foot as a trophy than upon his own safety, called
loudly upon his brother to leave him alone and scalp the
big Indian, who was now endeavoring to roll himself in
the water, from a romantic desire peculiar to the Indian
warrior, of securing his scalp from the enemy. Andrew,
however, refused to obey, and insisted upon saving the
living before attending to the dead. Big Foot, in the
mean time, had succeeded in reaching the deep water
before he expired, and his body was borne ofi" by the
waves, without being stripped of the ornament and pride
of an Indian warrior,

"Not a man of the Indians had escaped. Five of Big
Foot's brothers, the flower of the "Wyandott nation, had
accompanied him in the expedition, and all perished. It
IS said that the news of this calamity threw the whole
tribe into mourning.. Their remarkable size, their courage,

46

I

546 SKETCHES OF

and their superior intelligence, gave them immense influ-
ence, which, greatly to their credit, was generally exerted
en the side of humanity. Their powerful interposition
had saved many prisoners from the stake, and had given
a milder character to the warfare of the Indians in that
part of the country. A chief of the same name was
alive in that part of the country so late as 1792 ; but
whether a brother or son of Big Foot is not known.
Adam Poe recovered of his wounds, and lived many years
after his memorable conflict; but never forgot the tre-
mendous 'hug' which he sustained in the arms of Big
Foot." He was the grandfather of Adam Poe, present
Assistant Agent of the Book Concern.

The great loss sustained by the Wyandott nation in the
death of the Big Foot brothers, created an implacable
hatred in every heart toward their destroyers. Many an
Indian malediction had been poured out upon the head
of Adam Poe, and many a prize had been ofi'ered for his
scalp. His place of residence, which was on the west
bank of the Ohio river, at the mouth of Yellow creek,
was known to the Wyandotts. It seemed, however, that
none of the nation possessed sufficient courage to encoun-
ter, single-handed, this foe of the redman, whose strength
was considered equal to that of Big Foot himself At
length, having determined to wait no longer in seeking
to be revenged of the death of their Goliah, the nation
made choice of their bravest warrior, in the person of
Rhon-yan-ness, one of their chiefs. Having made all
the preparations necessary for the accomplishment of the
fearful mission intrusted to him by his nation, he started
out on foot for the residence of Poe. After passing
through the then wilderness of Ohio, he at length
reached the creek, which emptied into the Ohio, on the
bank of which his intended victim lived. No sooner,
however, had he placed his foot within the door of the

WESTERN METHODISM. 54:7

brave backwoods hunter than he was received with the
utmost cordiality and friendship, while every hospitality
that the cabin afforded was, with true pioneer generosity,
tendered to the Indian guest. When the time for retir-
ing to rest had come, there being but one room and one
bed, Poe made a comfortable pallet for the Indian on the
floor by the fire, after which he and his wife retired to
rest, without any suspicion whatever in regard to the
designs of the Indian. It was now a time of peace, and
the Indians, particularly the Wyandotts, were regarded
as friendly. It was not long till they both fell asleep,
when Rhon-yan-ness rose stealthily from his couch, and
proceeded cautiously, with his tomahawk and scalping-
knife, to the bedside of the unconscious sleepers.
Scarcely had he arrived at the spot than the kindness
of his host flashed upon his mind. ^' How,'' thought he,
'^can I perpetrate an act of so much cruelty upon one
who has taken me into his wigwam, and treated me with
so much friendship?" The better feelings of his nature
overcame him, and finding it impossible to commit an
act which, though it might bring honor to him from his
nation as the avenger of the death of Big Foot, he could
not nerve himself up to such a pitch of desperateness as
to obliterate all the gratitude of his heart. Enemy as
Poe had been to his nation, yet he could not think of
imbruing his hands in his blood, and with these thoughts
he crept back softly to his bed. He had not Iain long
till the question came up before him in a somewhat dif-
ferent aspect, and his thoughts took a turn somethins;
like the following: ''Have you not been solemnly set
apart by the nation to avenge the death of its bravest
warrior ? and will not the ghost of the departed haunt
you in your chase in the wilderness, and in your mid-
night slumbers, till it is appeased by the death of Poe?
Dues not your religion require you to execute vengeanco

54:8 SKETCHES OF

as the agent of the Great Spirit? and will he not frown
upon you if you fail to do the work of death ?" At this
Hhon-yan-ness again seized his deadly instruments, and
sprang to his feet. It was now past midnight, and all
was still. No sound could be heard but the gloomy hoot
of an owl, which had nestled in some tree in the sur-
rounding forest. The light of the fire had gone out, and
there were only a few burning coals left upon the hearth,
from which was emitted a kind of twilight glare that en-
abled him to gaze upon the features of his victim. Sum-
moning all his courage he raised the fearful tomahawk,
and was about to bury it in the head of his host, when
something whispered, '^ Shame on the Indian that can
strike a friend. Mean and cowardly is the warrior who
would kill even an enemy that has treated him kindly.''
His heart faltered, his hand trembled, and the tomahawk
fell by his side. Without disturbing the family he re-
turned to his i^allet, and, dismissing all thoughts of
revenge, he slept soundly till morning.

Poe rose early and made his fire, without disturbing
his guest, who was in a heavy slumber. When it was
fully day, and the bright fire blazed around, he had an
opportunity of gazing upon the broad, open features of
the manly Indian whose giant form was before him.
There he lay, with his tomahawk and scalping-knife by
his side. Poe understood enough of the Indian charac-
ter to know that in the days of peace they were capable
of the most sincere and lasting friendship; and though
he had measured arms with them in the deadly strife,
they were more sinned against than sinning, and whatever
cruelties they may have committed, were excited by the
depredations of the white man : hence he loved the In-
dian, and had often bewailed the unhappy fate of Big
Foot and his brothers. Anxious to enjoy the society of
hia Indian guest he approached him, and gently touching

WESTERN METHODISM. 54:9

him, said softly, ^-"Wake, brother, wake; tlie morning
has come." The Indian sprang to his feet instantly,
and, seizin::; him by the hand, bestowed his Indian bless-
ings. After again partaking of the humble but bounte-
ous fare of the cabin, he made ready for departure. As
he was leaving Poe furnished him with provisions for his
journey, and, taking him by the hand, said, '' Once we
were at war, and were enemies; but now we are at peace,
and are friends. AYe have buried the hatchet, and are
brothers. Let us live in peace and brotherhood." Pthon-
yan-ness was too much overwhelmed with a sense of
gratitude for the goodness of his heart to make any re-
ply; but the big tear which rolled down his bronze
cheek told the sincerity of grateful emotion, and he left
to join his nation on the distant plains of Sandusky.

He often told us that was a happy day in his life, and
the more he thought and reasoned about the course he
had pursued the more he was convinced that he had
acted right. Not long after his return to his nation he
became interested in the missionary labors among his
people ; and the wonderful story of the white man's God,
as he came to earth and suffered and died for sinners,
deeply affected his heart. Soon this bold, intrepid chief
renounced his Indian religion and forms of worship, and
embraced Christianity. He was soundly and happily
converted to God, and became a burning and a shining
light in the midst of a dark and perverse nation. Being
now in Christ he was a new creature; old things had
passed away, and all things had become new. He felt
upspringing in his heart that love which worketh no ill
to its neighbor, but makes its possessor kind, and gentle,
and forgiving; and which teaches that '' whomsoever
hateth his brother is a murderer," in the eye of the holy
law, as effectually as if he had plunged the fatal knife
into his heart. He took a bold stand iu religion, and as

550 * , SKETCHES OF

a class-leader and steward lie rendered efficient service
to the mission. Three years after his conversion he real-
ized a maturity of Christian grace, which enabled him to
rejoice in that perfect love which casts out all torraenting
fear. Ilis life was hid with Christ in God, and he walked
as seeing Him who was invisible. His whole life was
unblamable, and his character as a Christian irreproach-
able; and we never knew a Christian in any nation, or
among any people, more innocent, guileless, and happy
than Rhon-yan-ness. Rooted and grounded in love he
was steadfast in his profession, and labored hard to ele-
vate and improve his nation. His powerful influence as
a chief was brought to bear upon the heartless trader,
who would come among the Indians with his fire-water,
and rob them of their brains and furs. The Indians
have been cruelly treated, and it is high time the Gov-
ernment should interpose more effectually its authority
in their behalf. How much we owe them as a nation
none can tell; but it is high time that some move was
made to repay the debt. We were deeply and intensely
thrilled at the last anniversary of the Parent Society,
which was held in this city, by the speech of Bishop
Janes, who has charge of the Indian missions. It was
so true, so appropriate, and so fearless that we would,
had we space, hand it down to posterity as the testimony
of the Church in behalf of our native red brethren.

After being a member of the Church militant for a
period of sixteen years, Rhon-yan-ness was called to join
the Church triumphant. He has attended a quarterly
meeting at the mission on Sabbath, and while, as a stew-
ard, he was handing round the bread in love-feast, as em-
blematic of universal charity, he seemed to be unusu-
ally happy. When relating his Christian experience, in
which he referred to his interview with Adam Poe, he
thrilled every heart with the story of redeeming love.

.r

WESTERN METHODISM. 551

Raising his streaming eyes toward heaven, he clapped his
hands, and shouted in prospect of his long-sought home.
Two days after this meeting he was called by the Master
to enter his inheritance above, and full of faith and holy
triumph he passed away to the spirit-land.

THE £XD.

^'J^

Iff

'i^i, *%-^

w

• .•%