USA > Arkansas > History of Methodism in Arkansas > Part 15
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Dr. J. B. Searcy, whose valuable services in the army will never be forgotten, still lives, and is an honored and useful minister in the Baptist Church.
Frequent mention has been made in these pages of the "Army Church." This was intended to be, and was, as real a church as any that ever existed in Christendom. It may be of some interest to the reader to know something of its origin and nature.
The chaplains had all felt the necessity for some sort of organization to enable them to preserve the results of their labors. One day the Rev. E. M. Marvin and the writer were sitting alone in the old Second Street Methodist Church, in Little Rock, and lamenting our lack of organization to con- serve the fruit of our labors, when the writer suggested the propriety of organizing a church-a real church in the army. He suggested that to do this we would lose our identity with our own church at home. The writer maintained that 12-M
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there was no impropriety in belonging to two churches at the same time. Finally Marvin decided to call a meeting of chaplains, who appointed E. M. Marvin and Thomas Welch, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, as a com- mittee to prepare a Constitution and Articles of Faith for the new Church.
There were nine ministers present at the organization of the "Army Church;" six were of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, viz .: E. M. Marvin, Horace Jewell, Peter A. Moses, C. F. Dryden, N. M. Talbott and M. C. Manly. The other three were Thomas Welch, pastor of the Presby- terian Church at Little Rock; J. M. Brown, of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, and chaplain in the army ; and Rev. F. R. Earle, of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and a military officer of the rank of major. Mar- vin was chairman, and Horace Jewell was secretary of the meeting. Marvin and Welch as a committee reported the following plan of organization. The report is copied from the minutes now in the possession of the writer :
ARTICLES OF FAITH AND CONSTITUTION.
" The Christian men of the army, believing that the habita- tion of God by his spirit constitutes the Church, agree, for their edification and for the conversion of their fellow-men,. to organize the Church of the Army, with the following Articles of Faith and Constitution:
" Article I. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God; the only rule of faith and obedience.
" Article 2. We believe in one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
" Article 3. We believe in the fall in Adam, the redemption by Christ, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
" Article 4. We believe in justification by faith alone, and therefore receive and rest upon Christ alone as our only hope.
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" Article 5. We believe in the communion of saints and the doctrine of eternal rewards and punishments.
CONSTITUTION.
" The Christian men who have been baptized, adopting these ' Articles of Faith,' in the regiment, shall constitute one church, who shall choose ten officers to take the spirit- ual oversight of the same. Of the officers so selected the - chaplains, or one selected by themselves, shall act as mode- rator. The officers shall meet once a month, or oftener if necessary, and in the exercise of discipline will be governed by the teachings of Christ. They will keep a record of the names and the manner in which their ecclesiastical connec- tion is dissolved."
This movement was criticised by some at the time, but the vast good accomplished by it was a full vindication of the wisdom of the movement. Soon after the organization of these army churches in the various regiments, we were visited by a gracious revival, in which hundreds of souls were converted and gathered into these army churches.
The writer has traveled four large districts as Presiding Elder, and can state from large observation his deliberate conviction that a much larger per cent of the converts in these army churches remained faithful than is usual in our ordinary revival meetings.
It was the custom for the chaplain to give a certificate of church membership in the Army Church, and so far as the writer knows, these certificates were duly recognized by the churches at home when presented for membership. The writer speaks from personal knowledge when he says that the type of piety exhibited by the members of these army churches was equal to the best he has ever known in our regular pastoral charges.
The history of the world, so far as the writer knows, does not furnish a parallel to the disbanding of the Confederate armies. It is a well-known fact that the usual effect of great
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wars is to thoroughly demoralize the soldiers engaged in the contest. Soon after the revolutioary war a wave of infidel- ity swept over the United States that threatened to deluge the land with French infidelity, but no such disastrous effects followed the civil war between the States. While some few may have lost their faith during the great contest, the great body of the Christian men of the army returned to their homes with as vigorous a type of piety as they carried into the army, and thousands who left as unconverted young men returned to their homes to gladden the hearts of their friends by taking their places as faithful, devoted Christians.
The Ouachita Conference during this year lost two very valuable members by death, Duncan L. G. Mckenzie and William Winborne.
D. L. G. Mckenzie was received on trial in the Arkansas Conference in 1853, and appointed to the Little Rock Cir- cuit ; in 1853, to the Camden Circuit; in 1854, to the Brownsville Circuit ; in 1855, Little Rock Circuit ; in 1856, Washington Station ; in 1857, Little Rock Station; in 1858, Little Rock Station; in 1859, 1860, Little Rock District ; in 1861, 1862, Little Rock Station. This was the last appoint- ment he received from the Conference. Soon after his ap- pointment in 1862 to Little Rock, he was taken seriously ill and continued to grow worse until his death, which occurred about the last days of December, at his home in Little Rock. He was regarded as one of the most faithful and devoted preachers in the Conference, and was greatly beloved by all who knew him. His ability as a preacher was of a very high order. His pleasant manners, ardent piety and clear, sound preaching enabled him to command the attention of all classes of the people, who received his ministrations with delight.
William Winborne .- In the absence of any information in reference to this devoted servant of Christ, other than can be obtained from the minutes, we are confined to these. At
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this session of the Conference there were no memoirs fur- nished for insertion in the minutes. The minutes show that he was received on trial in the Ouachita Conference in 1854 and appointed to the Hampton Circuit ; in 1856, to the War- ren Circuit; in 1857, Ouachita Circuit ; in 1858, Ouachita Circuit; in 1859, Center Point Circuit; in 1860, 1861, Clark Circuit ; in 1862, Clark African Mission. He was a faithful, devoted minister of the gospel. I have been informed by one who knew him well that he was a preacher of great zeal and boldness, and fearless in his reproof of sin .. His cour- age was so tempered by gentleness and love that it won the hearts of those who heard him. His son, Finch Winborne, now a member of the Texas Conference, was for several years a member of the Little Rock Conference.
A couple of incidents occurred at the session of the Oua- chita Conference for this year that shows the intensely con- servative spirit of the body at that time. On account of the disturbed condition of the country the Conference had not been favored with the presence of a Bishop for several years, and in consequence there were a number of young men who had been elected to deacons and elders' orders who had not received ordination. A resolution was introduced to re- quest the President of the Conference to proceed to the ordi- nation of these young men. It was argued at length by some of the members of the body, who claimed that the ex- igencies of the case demanded it, and that it was in full ac- cord with the spirit of Methodism, but the proposition was promptly voted down by the Conference as a violation of the law of the Church, which must be obeyed as long as the Conference remained a part of the Methodist Church.
The other case was where a young preacher within the Federal lines had taken the oath of allegiance to the Fed- eral government. A resolution of censure was introduced, but was voted down, upon the ground that this was purely a political question with which the Conference had no juris-
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diction; that it did not involve moral character. It is cer- tainly a matter of gratitude to us at this day to know that in the darkest hour of the country's history, the Church was able to maintain its attitude of a non-political Church; that while its membership were true to their country as citizens, that as a Church they were equally faithful to the teachings of our Divine Lord.
The Arkansas Conference for 1864 met at Jacksonport, October 26 and 27. It will be seen from the disturbed con- dition of the country that the Conference remained in session but two days, and a large number of the preachers were unable to be present.
No Bishop being present, John Cowle was elected Presi- dent of the Conference. There were no admissions on trial and no transfers to the Conference.
W. M. Robins, Josiah Williams and Benoni Harris were chaplains in the Confederate States army. Lewis P. Lively, George Shaeffer and Green Boyd were transferred to the Texas Conference.
There was one death during the year, which occurred under the most painful and distressing circumstances :
John H. Rice was born in Middle Tennessee, December 26, 1828; professed religion and joined the Methodist Church in 1839. He was licensed to preach on the Hickory Creek Circuit, Tennessee Conference, June 10, 1848. He was admitted on trial in the Arkansas Conference, at Bates- ville, Ark., November 9, 1849. He was ordained Deacon in 1851, and was ordained an Elder in 1853. He traveled the following circuits in the order named : Benton, Ouachita, Smithville, Lewisburg, Benton, Helena Station, Lawrence- ville, Batesville Station.
In 1863 he was appointed chaplain to Col. Shaver's regi- ment in the Confederate service, and did faithful service in that position until his death, which occurred March 25,
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1864. The following is the account given of his cruel and untimely death :
Brother Rice by some means had been cut off from his own command, and had been with Major Rutherford's bat- talion in the capacity of chaplain. A detachment had been sent to reconnoiter the Federal camp at Batesville. On their return their camp was surprised by a detachment of seventy-five men from companies B and C, of the Second Arkansas United States Volunteers, Col. Phelps. Brother Rice attempted to escape, but having his horse shot from under him, immediately surrendered. The captain command- ing rushed upon him, and with bitter oaths refused to recog- nize his surrender, and told him he had to die. Brother Rice asked him for time to pray. The fiendish answer was, 1 " It is too late to pray now." Rice fell upon his knees, and raising both hands made a Masonic appeal to him, and commenced praying, at which time the Captain shot him twice through the head with a navy pistol; one ball entering a little behind the corner of the mouth, and coming out directly on the other side. He was then robbed and strip- ped and left in the woods to rot.
Brother Rice was an unarmed Confederate chaplain, in the regular performance of his duties as such. For many years he had been a faithful minister of the gospel in the Arkansas Conference, and was held in high esteem by his brethren. The fact that he was appointed to some of the most prominent charges in the Conference was an evidence of the confidence that was reposed in his ability and fidelity to the Church of Christ.
The Ouachita Conference for 1864 was held at Columbia camp-ground, William P. Ratcliffe, President, and James E. Cobb, Secretary.
The following were admitted on trial in the Conference : Edward R. Barcus, Charles A. Williams and George Evans. Of this number, Edward R. Barcus remained in the Confer-
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ence until 1871, when he transferred to one of the Texas Conferences, where he is now a useful and honored member. Charles A. Williams located in 1868, and is now a useful local preacher within the bounds of the Pine Bluff District. George W. Evans transferred in 1870 to the Western Con- ference.
There were three deaths during this year, Jesse S. Mc- Allister, James M. Lee and Littleton H. Johnson.
Jesse S. McAllister was received on trial in the Indian Mission Conference, in 1847, and appointed to the New Hope Female School and Station. In 1849 he was trans- ferred to the Arkansas Conference, and appointed to Elm Springs Academy, where he remained until 1854, when he was appointed Superintendent of Crawford Institute. In 1856 he was transferred to the Ouachita Conference, and appointed to a professorship in Tulip® Female College, which position he held until the school was broken up by the war. His health failing, he was granted a superannuated relation in 1863, when his health continued to decline until his death, which occurred during the year 1864. Jesse McAllister was a preacher of very superior ability, and was noted for his amiable disposition and fine social qualities. He was eve- rywhere recognized as a refined, cultivated, Christian minis- ter, and superior educator. The growing popularity of Tu- lip Female College was largely due to the presence of Jesse McAllister as one of the teachers in the institution.
James M. Lee was admitted on trial in 1860, and was re- garded as a young preacher of very superior promise.
Littleton Johnson was received on trial in the Ouachita Conference in 1854, and appointed to Perryville Mission ; in 1855, Napoleon Mission; in 1856, Saline Mission; in 1857, Perryville Circuit ; in 1858, Rockport Circuit ; in 1859, De Witt Circuit; in 1860, Oakland Grove Circuit; in 1861, Old River. In 1862 he was appointed chaplain of a regi- ment in the Confederate army, which position he retained
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until the time of his death. He was a plain, practical and useful preacher, one who enjoyed the esteem of his breth- ren.
The year 1864 closed with the dark clouds of despair resting upon the country. All hope of success had been abandoned by all except a very few sanguine persons. Nothing but a sense of honor kept the soldiers to their places in the field. The leaders were without any definite plan, simply waiting for something to transpire that might possibly avert the doom that seemed to be hanging over the country. Every available soldier had been called to the field, and none were left at home except a few old and feeble men, and boys who were too young to go into the army.
Many of the appointments for this year were merely nominal, for such was the disturbed condition of the coun- try that many of the preachers, especially in the northern part of the State, were unable to reach their appointments. The minutes for the Arkansas Conference show that there were no reports from the charges ; while the reports from the Ouachita Conference were very imperfect.
The minutes show the following chaplains in the Confed- erate army for this year : Benoni Harris, W. M. Robbins, Josiah Williams, A. R. Winfield, Horace Jewell, E. R. Har- rison, W. A. Chamberlain, M. H. Wells, J. R. Harvey, B. G. Johnson, W. J. Davis, Geo. W. Evans, H. D. McKennon, James E. Cobb.
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CHAPTER XVI.
CONFERENCE SESSIONS OF 1865-ADMISSIONS ON TRIAL- THOMAS HOWARD-S. G. COLBURN-JOHN H. RIGGIN- GEORGE BUTLER-TRANSFERS-OBITUARY NOTICE-CON- FERENCE ROLL.
In the spring of 1865 the great war between the States came to a close. The armies of Lee and Johnson had al- ready been surrendered, when Gen. Kirby Smith surren- dered the armies of the Trans-Mississippi Department April 26th. " The troops who were surrendered by these com- mands set out to make their way homeward by whatever means they could, many of them being long distances from home and without a cent of money to aid them in their re- turn, but walking or riding- singly or in squads-as they had done when soldiers, and being assisted by the usual hospitality of the country through which they passed, a people who made it a practice to divide the last loaf with a Confederate soldier, they eventually came to their journey's end.
" The restoration of peace found the people of Arkansas almost broken in fortune. In the progress of the war farms had been ruined, barns, fences and houses destroyed, stock carried off or killed ; for such of them as had con- ducted mercantile or other business, all business connections had long ago terminated; slaves which had constituted the chief element of property had been liberated, and there was literally nothing left them in the way of their former pos- sessions ; but thoroughly accepting the situation, they set to work wherever they could with resolute purpose to the grave task of rebuilding their private fortunes. Turning their hands to whatever occupation presented itself, men ad-
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dressed themselves everywhere to the pressing subject of earning a livelihood." The Church had suffered in common with the country in the loss of men and property. Not only had all improvements and aggressive movements been suspended, but there had been great destruction of Church property, and in its impoverished condition the Church was not able to supply the loss.
The thirtieth session of the Arkansas Conference met at Jonesboro, October 4, 1865, John M. Steele, President.
There was one admission on trial, Thomas H. Howard.
The Ouachita Conference for this year met at El Dorado, Andrew Hunter, President.
There were six admissions on trial, Samuel G. Colburn, John H. Riggin, Benjamin O. Davis, James Stincil, George E. Butler and William C. Adams. George W. Primrose was received by transfer from the Missouri Conference.
There was one death during the year in the Arkansas Conference-Joseph W. Bissell. He was born in Nash County, North Carolina, about the year 1835. He was licensed to preach in 1858 and admitted on trial in the Ar- kansas Conference at Van Buren, Ark., November, 1860, and appointed to the Rowesville Circuit; in 1861, to the Dardanelle Circuit ; in 1862 and 1863, to the Gainesville Circuit ; in 1864, to the Big Creek Circuit, where he died August 25, 1865. Such was his fidelity to the Church and his acceptability on all the fields where he had labored that he commanded the esteem of all who knew him.
The returns for this year are so imperfect that it is im- possible to give a satisfactory report of the numbers within the Church. There were thirty-nine traveling preachers in connection with the Conference. In 1860 there were fifty traveling preachers in the Conference, showing a loss of eleven traveling preachers during the five years of the war.
The Ouachita Conference in 1860 reported eighty-one traveling preachers, showing a loss of twenty-three traveling
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preachers during this time. As there are no reported sta- tistics for this year it is impossible to ascertain the number of members within the State at this time. Enough is known however, to ascertain that there had been a great decrease during the four years that the war was raging throughout € the State. All the charges had been greatly depleted and impoverished, and in some instances they had been totally destroyed. In many instances it was like the complete re- organization of the Church, and in a few instances the so- cieties were completely blotted out of existence.
When the preachers met at Conference it was with mingled feelings of joy and sadness. They were rejoiced to meet each other again in Conference after the desolations of the past, and to praise the good Providence of God, that had brought them safely through the terrible ordeal, but they were filled with sadness at the desolations that had come upon the Church, and at the recollections of the losses they had sustained during the four years of conflict-there were so many friendly voices that had been hushed in death.
The Methodist Church was not alone in the losses sus- tained ; every other denomination suffered as greatly from the same causes. The peculiar organization of the Metho- dist Church enabled it to reorganize more rapidly than some others. In a very short time the entire machinery of the Church was in successful operation. The districts, circuits, and stations were being filled by earnest, devoted men ; the scat- tered membership of the Church were being gathered together and reorganized into societies. The hundreds of converts that had united with the Army Church during the war, united with the home churches and contributed largely to the es- tablishment of the Church upon a firm base for future work. Many of these converts in the Army Church proved to be very valuable acquisitions to the Church in time of peace. During this year there were quite a number of revivals
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throughout the State, that greatly strengthened and encour- aged the Church.
The Church had been without the presence of a Bishop in the State for four years, and in consequence there were a number of the preachers who were entitled to ordination, and had not received it, and in consequence, in some in- stances the Church had suffered for lack of ministers, au- thorized to administer the sacraments.
At the Conference in 1863 the necessity for the ordination of the younger preachers was felt to be so great that a num- ber of the most influential preachers of the Ouachita Con- ference supported a resolution to the effect that the Presi- dent of the Conference, in the absence of the Bishop, be re- quested to ordain the candidates for deacons' and elders' orders. At one time it was thought that the motion would prevail, but better counsels finally prevailed, and the motion was defeated.
An incident occurred at that same Conference that shows how intensely conservative the Conference of that day was on all questions of mere civil policy. One of the young preachers who had been within the Federal lines took the oath of allgiance to the Federal government. A resolution of censure was introduced and warmly supported by a num- ber of the brethren, but was finally defeated by the Confer- ence, on the ground that however improper the act might have been, as a political action, it was one of those questions. with which the Church had no jurisdiction, and therefore the Conference, as a religious body, had no right to deliver an opinion.
It is a matter of profound gratitude to God that in the midst of the most intense excitement the Church was able to maintain its high position on all merely political and civil questions, and that its record as a non-political Church has never been broken. However intensely the individual members of the Church may feel on any political question>
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this feeling is never carried into the Conferences of the Church.
As this was the beginning of a new era in the history of the Church in Arkansas, a list of the two Conferences will be of interest to many. The roll for the Arkansas Confer- ence reads for the year 1865: John M. Steele, William A. Cobb, Burwell Lee, Robert J. Brittain, William T. Noe, George A. Dannelly, John Rhyne, Ed. T. Jones, John J. Roberts, James C. Beckham, Hy. Y. Garrison, Thomas H. Howard, James Mackey, William Shepherd, M. H. McMur- try, John Cowle, Benoni Harris, Daniel W. Evans, John W. Patton, Richard H. Dodson, Moses C. Morris, W. R. Foster, F. W. Thacker, Benjamin F. Hall, H. A. Barnett, C. N. McGuire, John M. Clayton, H. M. Granade, Isaac L. Hicks, William R. Knowlton, Mortimer B. Pearson, Rus- sell Reneau, Richard W. Hammett, William Wilson, Francis M. Moore, Jacob W. Shook, William M. Robbins, A. W. C. Drake, Jesse Griffin.
The roll for the Ouachita Conference was: William P. Ratcliffe, Andrew Hunter, A. R. Winfield, A. B. Winfield, John H. Blakeley, John Harris, Alexander Avery, Robert L. Jones, Jerome B. Annis, A. H. Kennedy, James E. Cald- well, Lewis Garrett, Richard F. Colburn, E. N. Watson, J. W. Brandon, H. D. McKennon, C. M. Slover, Britton G. Johnson, W. R. J. Husbands, Cadesman Pope, E. L. Gaddie, C. M. Gentry, B. C. Weir, George W. Primrose, Elijah Crowson, John N. Doyle, T. B. Atterbury, James R. Har- vey, E. R. Barcus, William C. Adams, B. O. Davis, Josiah Greer, Horace Jewell, Samuel Moore, Burton Williams, J. C. L. Aikin, M. C. Manley, C. O. Steele, William Moore, James P. Hulse, John H. Blakely, Thomas Hunt, William J. Scott, Joseph G. Ward, M. Turner, John P. Holmes, Thomas W. Hayes, James F. Hall, George W. Evans, F. M. Rhodes, J. M. Stephenson, R. P. Davies, John Pryor, E. R. Harrison, John F. Riggin, J. A. Clower, James A. Stincil, Charles A.
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