USA > Arkansas > History of Methodism in Arkansas > Part 10
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This young and brilliant preacher was cut off in 1839, in the midst of his usefulness, in the most distressing manner. A company of Indians had made a raid upon the white set- tlements, when a company of citizens led by Denton were in pursuit of them. The Indians fired upon them from am- bush with too deadly an aim, when Denton fell mortally wounded, and was buried upon the banks of the stream that bears his name.
The following letter from Bishop Andrew to Dr. Wm. H. Browning, of the Little Rock Conference, will be read with interest :
" SUMMERFIELD, ALA., January 8, 1868.
" MY DEAR BROTHER BROWNING-I did not know what had become of my old friend, but often thought of you, and of other days. Well, the other day I got a letter from the office and found on opening it that it was from my old friend, W. H. Browning. And so you have strayed over into Arkansas, a land which I have visited frequently, and I would like to do so again, but I am growing old so
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fast that I doubt whether I shall ever be able to realize my wish. * *
" My mind goes back to the time when I first visited the Arkansas Conference. The session was held at Little Rock, and was the second session of that body. The first, I think, was held at Batesville, and Bishop Morris presided. It was a small body, even after the half dozen which I car- ried with me were added, yet they were men of the right stamp; men of true hearts and determined purpose. I think that but few of the men that met me there are now living and in the work. I stayed at the home of Brother Ratcliffe, who, with his excellent wife, showed me much kindness. He I see is living, and yet in the work, and still a faithful, zealous leader in the hosts of Israel ; God bless him and his. I remember Fountain Brown, whom I used to meet at Conference many years after, but I believe he has crossed the flood and gone to his reward. Arkansas about this time had a very unenviable reputation. It was regarded, even in the neighboring States, as the home of robbers and murderers. And when it was understood that I was going to hold that Conference, many of my friends seemed quite astonished when they learned that I intended to go. 'You must certainly,' said they, 'arm yourself as a defense against the outlaws you will be sure to encounter.' ' No, said I, I will trust in God and go in his name. If these characters see me without any preparation for defense they will think I have nothing worth fighting for; but if they see me armed to the teeth they will conclude I have booty, and will be more apt to attack me.'
"Well, I went to Arkansas, and mingled with all classes of its population, and no one offered me any violence in all my route. And usually when they ascertained that I was a minister, they treated me with respect; so I carried up a better report from Arkansas than many others would have done. The only weapons I carried with me were my Bible
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and hymn-book, and above all a firm confidence in God. I have visited the Conference several times since then, and have marked its steady increase in population and material prosperity ; and that now, instead of the little band of 1837, that met in Little Rock, two respectable Conferences with many thousands of members occupy that country.
"J. O. ANDREW."
During this year the Conference suffered the loss of one of its most effective preachers :
"Rev. Charles T. Ramsey was born in North Carolina in the year 1794. His parents moved to East Tennessee, where he was reared up to manhood. He then removed with his parents to New Madrid. County, Mo., where he lived until about the 27th year of his age, when he became awakened to a sense of his danger under the labors of the Methodist min- istry. He joined the Church, was converted, and removed to the Western District of Tennessee, where he was an ex- horter, afterward a local preacher, and in the fall of 1829 was admitted on trial in the traveling connection, Tennessee Conference. He traveled various circuits in the Western District, with acceptability and great usefulness. His zeal seemed to increase with his years, and finding there was a great call for ministers in Arkansas, he took a transfer to the Missouri Conference, which then included that country, and was appointed on the Mount Prairie Circuit, where he was useful. At the next Conference he was appointed to the Little Rock District, but was arrested by disease in that place, which ended his sufferings in three days. During his illness he expressed the most perfect resignation to the will of God, and died as he had lived, strong in the faith giving glory to God. He was an itinerant seven years, and finished his course on the 10th of November, 1836."
In answer to the question, "Who have located this year ?" there were six: W. H. Turnley, Charles J. Carney, Cot-
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man Methrin, John H. Rives, Lemuel Wakelee and Jesse A. Guice. Philip Asborne was discontinued.
The third session of the Arkansas Conference met at Washington, Hempstead County, November 7, 1838. Peter German, B. B. Weir, Samuel Clarke and Daniel Adams were admitted on trial. George W. Morris, William Mulkey, M. S. Ford, S. Walters and S. Holford were received by transfer from the Tennessee Conference, and Juba Easter- brook from the Ohio Conference.
The reported increase in membership for the year was 415 whites and 91 colored.
The locations for the year were Ansel Webber, Henry Cornelius, Winfree B. Scott, Thomas Bertholf and Jeptha Hughes.
The third session of the Arkansas Conference met in the Town of Washington, Hempstead County, November, 7, 1838.
As none of the Bishops were present, John Harrell was elected to preside. He discharged the responsible duties of this office to the satisfaction of his brethren.
The statistics showed that progress had been made every- where except in the Creek Nation, where there was consider- able decrease.
The following were admitted on trial: Peter Gorman, B. C. Weir, Samuel Clark and Daniel Adams.
The Conference received by transfer from the Holston Conference, D. B. Cumming, John F. Boot, A. Campbell and Weelocker; and from the Tennessee Conference, George W. Morris, William Mulkey, M. S. Ford, S. Walters and S. Holford.
As there were thirteen additions by admission on trial and by transfer, and five locations, and one death, and three were discontinued, it will be seen that there was only a gain of four to the working force of the Church at this Confer- ence.
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There was one death during this year, Hiram Geering, of whom Dr. Hunter says :
"In the fall of 1837 a young man came to us from Michi- gan. He stood full six feet in his boots, was square-built, · black hair and dark eyes ; would weigh about 180 pounds -physically a model man. That was Hiram Geering. He was appointed to Washington Circuit in Northwest Arkan- sas. He entered upon his work with great spirit and did most effective service in the vineyard of his Lord. In the fall he was taken sick, and although he had the best of med- ical attention, he never recovered. At the home of Dr. Bedford, on Cane Hill, he breathed his last, leaving this message : 'Tell my brethren that I died at my post in sight of heaven.' When this writer traveled that circuit in 1840, his name was on the lips of all the good people. They took mournful pleasure in speaking of the young preacher whose memory was so dear to them. Dr. and Sister Bed- ford, as long as they lived, took pleasure in recounting his many virtues, and considered themselves highly honored in being permitted to minister to him in his last illness. At the next Conference John M. Harrell preached a funeral sermon occasioned by his death that made a profound im- pression on the audience, and especially on the preachers. We all resolved to go forward, and if need be, 'die at our posts ' like our departed brother. The body of our brother rests at Cane Hill, waiting the call of the last trump. Bless. the Lord for the Christian religion.
" At this Conference two new districts were formed; the Red River and the Fayetteville. The Cherokee and Creek work were connected with the latter under J. Harrell as Pre- siding Elder, and the Choctaw and Chickasaw were in the Red River District, under Robert Gregory. Brother Gregory will be remembered by those who were young at. that time. He was a handsome little man; would weigh 150 pounds when in good health. At times he preached 8-M
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with great acceptability, both to whites and Indians. But he was subject to spells of melancholy. Then he was blue; more so than any one I have ever known. When himself he sang sweetly and was a great worker in the altar at the camp-meetings, and was a popular man with preachers and people. He came to us from Tennessee, and at the or- ganization of the Conference was appointed to a circuit. Charles T. Ramsey, who was placed on the Little Rock Dis- trict, having died, Gregory was put in charge of that work. The district then included all the country from the Arkan- sas River south, and including the 'Sulphur Fork' country on the other side of Big Red River, now included in the Counties of Bowie, Red River, Lamar and Fannin, in what is now Texas. After doing good work in Arkansas for a num- ber of years he was transferred to the Memphis Conference, where he traveled a district for four years and was then placed on the superannuated list. I met him several sum- mers in succession at the Hot Springs in our State. His melancholy fits had become more common, and at times his friends discovered that his mind was considerably im- paired. Returning from one of his visits to the Springs he stopped off the train at Bryant Station to visit a distant relative; while there his bodily ailment increased with so much violence that in a few days the weary wheels of life stood still, and it was my mournful pleasure to attend his funeral and see my former Presiding Elder laid away in Wesley Cemetery, near Bryant, in Saline County, Arkansas, to await the resurrection of the just. I regard it to this day as a singular providence that permitted me to attend the funeral rites of my old friend. To us God moves fre- quently in 'mysterious ways,' carrying on his designs, not always bright, however; but dark as his designs may ap- pear to us, faith looks through the cloud and sees a smiling face.
" At the third session of the Conference there came to us,
.
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by transfer from Tennessee, one whose name should be pre- served from oblivion. That was William Mulkey. He was a unique character. He was one of the best English scholars I have ever known. He had lectured on orthoepy in many of the colleges North and South, and could give each letter in its exact sound. In bodily make he was of the medium size, carried no surplus flesh and was as near all nerve and muscle as any other man. His first appoint- ment was in the Choctaw Nation, as the colleague of Mc- Kenzie. Knowing Mulkey as we knew him afterwards, it was a great mistake to send him to preach to Indians through an interpreter. It was like putting a steam engine to a common road wagon. Mulkey ran away from the in- terpreter and left him wondering where he would take up. In the fall of the year the Presiding Elder brought him down into the white settlements in Sevier and Hempstead Counties, where, after the novelty growing out of the preacher's man- ner passed away, he did most effective work. He was all action in the pulpit. Hands, arms, eyes and the muscles of his face, all were brought into service, and while it was odd and amusing, it was all natural, and when once you were used to him you enjoyed it hugely and didn't care to hear any one else. There was so much quaintness and originality about him that he had the attention of his audience from first to last. 'His word was with power.' When passing on by wagon from Little Rock with his family, making his way to the Indian Nation, he stopped for the night with a Cumberland Presbyterian family. When the brother found he had a preacher for a guest, he sent out and invited his neighbors in to hear preaching. They came, fiveen or twenty, among them a man by the name of Montgomery, who scarcely ever went to church. He was noted for his carelessness to the subject of religion. Mulkey's manner arrested him from the start, and the matter of the discourse -though the same old gospel-was presented in such an
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original way that at the close of the sermon, Montgomery was under deep conviction, which ended in a sound conver- sion at the camp-meeting the following summer. His wife and children also followed the example of the husband and father, and that became one of the most pious families of that community. There are a great variety of gifts. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas. There are sons of consolation and sons of thunder, all called to the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Bro. Mulkey served the. Church for a number of years as a missionary to the colored people on the Red River plantations, the owners giving him a good support. He located afterwards and for several years lived in the vicinity of what is now Center Point, in Howard County, where he was very useful. He afterwards went to Nashville, Tenn., and from there to Texas. My recollection is that he took to the lecturing field again, and in traveling in a stage coach at one time, he became very sick and was left at a house by the roadside, where he died. He left several children, sons and daughters. One of his sons is in the evangelistic work in Texas and his praise is in all the churches. He has nephews and nieces in the vicinity of Nashville, in Howard County, Arkansas. So passed away this friend of my early ministry. His home was the resting place of many a weary itinerant, this writer among the number. His good wife was a help-meet indeed, and joined her husband cheerfully in making her guests com- fortable. Thank God we shall not be strangers when we cross the last river. In closing I wish to mention a remi- niscence. We were sitting together conversing on various subjects. The question was raised as to how much it was a Christian man's duty to bear from the wicked without re- sistance. I remember asking him the question direct : 'Bro. Mulkey, suppose a wicked fellow should come up to you and say, "Mr. Mulkey, I am going to whip you !" 'What would you do?' ' I would say to him, sir; if the Lord gives
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me grace I will bear it, but if he don't, woe be to your hide.' Nothing but the grace of God would have saved the hide of the fellow that attempted to chastise him. He was all activity and had been a practiced boxer in his younger days. Adieu, my old friend ; I shall never see your like again in every respect."
The fourth session of the Arkansas Conference met at Fayetteville, Washington County, November, 1839.
This was a year of great prosperity to the Church, as the minutes show a healthy increase in the membership. The increase for the entire Conference was 1340, which was a gain of about 40 per cent. The increase for the Arkansas portion of the Conference territory was 809.
There were three admissions on trial at this Conference : George Standford, Stephen Carlisle and William Stanley.
The additions by transfer were: R. B. Hester, Edwin Yancey, W. B. Mason, James Morris, R. W. Cole and W. A. Cobb.
Although the Conference received such a large addition to its working force by transfer from other Conferences, its numerical strength, was no greater than it, was the previous year, as the Conference lost heavily by the location of some of its most efficient preachers.
The year 1839 was a memorable epoch in the history of Methodism. It had completed the first century of its exist- ence as an ecclesiastical organization. For several years the various Methodist bodies had anticipated this event with no little interest. As it was regarded by Methodists as the introduction of a new era in Protestantism, it was thought proper to celebrate the centennial with such ex- pressions of gratitude and praise to God as would be com- mensurate with the blessings received.
Dr. Stephens says in his " History of Methodism:" "In the ensuing October the whole Methodist world united in the celebration. It was an occasion which had never been
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equaled by any Protestant body in the extent and interest of its observance, or in the munificence of its liberality. The aggregate sum contributed by the various Methodist bodies was more than seventeen hundred thousand dollars, and without interfering with their stated collections. Some of the most important financial foundations and public edifices of Wesleyan Methodism were erected and endowed forever by it. But these were secondary results ; the moral influ- ence of the occasion was incalculably more important. The almost incredible liberality of the denomination, during a year of almost unparalleled commercial depression, demon- strated its resources. The affection of the people for their great cause was shown to be profound and universal. A salutary religious feeling attended generally their religious ceremonies ; their surprising donations, pouring into the treasury from all parts of the world, were in thousands of instances accompanied by significant and touching senti- ments. Some were in honor of long-deceased veterans who had fought the battles of the early itinerancy ; others, in memory of parents or children, brothers or sisters, who had been led to a religious life, and into heaven, by the agency of Methodism; others, in commemoration of old class- mates or class-leaders, or old pastors, who had long since gone to their rest, but could never die in the memories of the donors ; some in grateful acknowledgment of special spiritual blessings, of redemption from vice, of deliverance, · or sanctification in great trials, of prosperity in business, of the moral rescue of kindred and friends. Never did Method- ism receive more emphatic moral testimonials than in these acts of pecuniary liberality ; never were there more ser- mons and addresses delivered or printed respecting it than during this year; never more discussions about it in public journals; never was its history more generally read, or its practical system more fully reviewed ; never had it received a more thorough appreciation. Beyond as well as within
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the denomination the extraordinary demonstration could not fail to produce a profound impression, for the whole Chris- tian world saw more distinctly than ever, that after a hun- dred years of struggles and triumphs, the great movement was more demonstrative and more prospective than ever it had been. Nor was the Christian world disposed to deny that the commemorative demonstration was justified by the historical results of Methodism. It was seen that most of
the great religious and philanthropic institutions which now chiefly embody the moral power of Protestantism, the Bible society, the tract society, the modern missionary society, the Sunday-school, as an agency of the Church, sprung directly or indirectly from the influence of the movement, that in the language of a churchman, 'never before in the British Islands was there such a scene; there were no Bible, tract or missionary societies before to employ the Church's powers and indicate its path of duty, but Wesley started them all; the Church and the world were alike asleep; he sounded the trumpet and awoke the Church to work.'
"Wesley died at the head of a thoroughly organized host of 550 itinerant preachers and 140,000 members of his so- cieties in the United Kingdom, in British North America, in the United States, and in the West Indies. Such were some of the facts, astonishing to the most sober contempla- tion which its history presented at the time of its centenary jubilee ; but even with such facts to stimulate the general joy, gratitude and hope of its people, they could hardly have dared to anticipate the results which about twenty addi- tional years were to present to us in confirmation of the providential mission of their cause-its 18,000 itinerant Methodist preachers, 2,800,000 communicants and 10,000,000 hearers. The sectarian partialities of our modern Protest- antism render the task of the historian apparently invidious in the citation of such facts, but they are the legitimate, be- cause the most significant. historic data ; as here presented
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they are assuredly within the limits of the actual truth, and may well justify the common gratitude and congratulation of the friends of our common faith."
We have had occasion to notice the fact that many of the most faithful and devoted preachers of that day were com- pelled to locate on account of the meager support received by them. The demands of their families for the bare ne- cessities of life compelled them to engage in secular pur- suits, but their services were not lost to the Church. Their experience as traveling preachers enabled them to fully sym- pathize with their itinerant brethren, and as local preachers to render most efficient aid to them in their work in the several communities where they lived.
From this date the name of Stephen Carlisle becomes prominently identified with the history of Arkansas Meth- odism as one of the leaders in the development of the Church, and by his labors contributing very largely to its growth and prosperity. His name will frequently appear as we trace the history of the Church.
The fifth session of the Arkansas Conference met in the City of Little Rock, November 4, 1840, Bishop Beverly Waugh, President.
Benjamin F. Harris, Ethan E. Bryson, Green Woods and Richard W. Cardwell were admitted, on trial. Mason B. Lowry, S. W. Moreland and Samuel Robbins was received by transfer from the Tennessee Conference. There were 34 preachers in full connection and 8 on trial. There were 81 local preachers, 4228 white members and 725 colored mem- bers, and 1524 Indian members. The two districts in Louis- iana were reported this year in the Mississippi Conference. Counting only those reported from the Arkansas districts, . there was a gain of 811 whites and 117 colored. A com- parison of the growth of the Church during the decade from 1830 to 1840, will show that the growth of the Church was
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much more rapid than the increase in the population of the State.
The population of the State in 1830 was 30,388. The population of the State in 1840 was 97,574. The member- ship of the Church in 1830 was 1334. In 1840 it was 5034. If 3.2 represent the increase in the growth of the State, then 3.7 will represent the Church.
An examination of the list of appointments for 1830 will reveal the fact that only a small part of the State was actu- " ally occupied by the Church, although it was laid off into circuits and districts. The greater part of these circuits had no well defined boundaries; an appointment to a certain work simply meant to occupy the region of coun- try in that direction. As late as 1840 many of the circuits were larger than the present districts are. Take as an illus- tration, the Pine Bluff Circuit embraced the territory occu- pied by the present Pine Bluff District, and a part of the Monticello District. The Little Rock District embraced all the territory within the State lying south and east of Little Rock. It will be remembered that there were no railroads at that time, and but few roads of any kind. There were but few bridges across the streams, and often the itinerants' way was only marked by a dim trail through almost impenetrable forests. In many instances they would travel for hours, or even a whole day without coming in sight of any human habitation. There are men now living who distinctly re- member the time when the itinerant preachers, in passing from one appointment to another, would have to camp out in the forests, frequently tying the horse out to graze during the night, while the preacher slept under the shelter of some friendly tree. As there were but few bridges in the country it. was nothing uncommon for the preacher to swim the creeks and bayous for a long distance. Many are the thrill- ing experiences told of the hair-breadth escapes of these old veterans as they made the round of their immense circuits.
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Of the Rev. Andrew Smyth, who came to the State in 1831, and did such faithful work for a number of years the venerable Dr. Abbey has furnished the following sketch : "I knew him about 1816 or 1817, and I saw him last in 1823. He was the third and youngest son of a widowed mother, living on the left bank of the Mississippi River, about thirty miles above the mouth of the Ohio, in Alexander County, Illinois, where the three brothers kept a ferry on the Missis- sippi. John, the oldest brother, was married, and was once Sheriff of that county. Larkin and Andrew were boys nearly grown. The mother was religious, a very rare thing then in that country. Society was very wild and unculti- vated. Andrew was a mechanical genius and invented a tread-wheel ferryboat, which far surpassed other crude modes of propulsion. In the spring of 1823 the family, or rather the two families, left Illinois, and removed to the wilds of West Tennessee, and settled about one mile or two south of the' Hatchie River, six miles below where Bolivar now stands, in Hardeman County. I went with the Smyths from Illinois to Tennessee and remained there until late in 1823, when I left there and located in Natchez, Miss. While there some Methodist preacher -- in later years I have not been able to learn who-visited that neighborhood and preached on two monthly occasions, taking his text both times from Revelation. This was the first preaching of any sort in that settlement, the first Methodist preaching I ever heard, and I think likely the first the Smyth boys ever heard. It was then called the Clear Creek Settlement. When I left there was no religion in the Smyth family except the old lady. They were clever, respectable, industrious people of more than ordinary intelligence for that country and those times. Somewhere about 1830 I saw in a newspaper the name of Andrew Smyth as a Methodist preacher, and wrote to him to know if it was my old friend, and was rejoiced to know that it was. Our correspondence continued occasionally for a
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