USA > Arkansas > History of Methodism in Arkansas > Part 3
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A Church Conference is composed of all the members of the Church in one place, together with the resident mem- bers of the Annual Conference.
The Quarterly Conference is composed of all the official members of a pastoral charge.
The District Conference is composed of representatives from each of the pastoral charges within the Presiding Elder's district.
The Annual Conference is composed of all the traveling preachers within the Conference, and a certain number of lay delegates from each district.
The General Conference is composed of a certain number of clerical and lay delegates from the Annual Conferences, and convenes once in every four years.
CHAPTER IV.
INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM IN AMERICA-ROBERT STRAW- BRIDGE, PHILIP EMBURY, CAPT. WEBB, RICHARD BOARD- MAN, JOSEPH PILMORE-FIRST ANNUAL CONFERENCE-DR. COKE-THE FORMATION OF CONFERENCES - WESTERN CONFERENCE-EARTHQUAKES.
Our Methodist authorities are not agreed as to the exact time when Methodism was introduced into America. By some it is claimed that it was first introduced into Maryland by a local preacher, Robert Strawbridge. It is said of him that he emigrated to America in 1759 or 1760, and settled on Sam's Creek, Frederic County, Maryland. He began to preach to his neighbors soon after he came into the neighbor- hood, and as a result of his labors a society was soon or- ganized and a log church was built on Sam's Creek, which is claimed by some to have been the first Methodist church built in America. The precise date of this, however, is not exactly known.
About this time Philip Embury, another local preacher, emigrated to America and settled in New York. The first sermon was preached in his own house in New York to six persons. The first class was organized in 1766.
As this organization of Methodism has been greatly mis . represented by the enemies of Methodism, a plain statement of the circumstances will be of interest to the readers who may not have access to the true histories of the introduction of Methodism into the City of New York.
A few Irish Methodists came from Ireland to New York, and among these was Philip Embury, a local preacher. De- prived of their regular services they grew indifferent, and somewhat backslidden, and engaged in worldly amusements,
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such amusements as could not be taken in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mrs. Barbara Hicks, "a mother in Israel," came upon a number of these one evening who were engaged in playing cards for amusement (not gambling as some have asserted). She seized the cards and threw them into the fire, and administered a severe rebuke to them. Philip Embury was not in this company, as some have asserted. Mrs. Hicks then went to the house of Philip Em- bury, and reproved him for his neglect of duty in not preaching to them, saying to him, "Bro. Embury, you must preach to us, or we shall all go to hell, and God will require our blood at your hands." He replied, "How can I preach, for I have neither a house nor a congregation." She then said, " Preach in your own house and to your own company first." To this he agreed. A congregation of six persons were collected together in his own house, to whom he preached the first Methodist sermon in New York. This. was Mr. Embury's account of the affair, as given in "Lost Chapters in Methodism," by J. B. Wakely, who was stationed. at one time in New York City, and was perfectly familiar with its history. This account of Mr. Embury, and the or- ganization of the first Methodist society in New York, is a complete vindication of their character against the frequent aspersions of the enemies of Methodism.
Philip Embury was soon joined by Capt. Webb, who ren- dered efficient service to the infant cause in New York City. He preached for some time in a hired room, near the bar- racks. We next find these Methodists occupying a rigging loft, where Philip Embury and Capt. Thomas Webb preached to the little company of worshipers. It is said, "In this humble place twice on Sunday, and on Thursday evening, Philip Embury or Capt. Webb preached a full, free and present salvation, and here the worshiping assemblies were fed with the sincere milk of the Word, and they grew there- by. Here they wept, and prayed, rejoiced, and praised."
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When we think of this humble beginning of Methodism in America, and then trace its wonderful history to the present time, we are made to exclaim, " What hath God wrought." From this feeble beginning, Methodism has multiplied until it numbers its millions of adherents.
In 1769, Mr. Wesley sent Richard Boardman and Joseph Pillmore over to America to assist in the work already be- gun by the labors of Strawbridge in Maryland, and Embury and Webb in New York. Boardman and Pillmore were the first regular itinerant Methodist preachers sent to America.
The first annual Conference held in America met in the City of Philadelphia July 6, 1773. At this Conference the minutes show that there were ten preachers representing a membership of 1160. The year 1784 was an eventful one in the history of Methodism in America. Previous to this time no one was authorized to administer the sacraments, as none of the preachers had ever received ordination. The Methodists of America were desirous of receiving the sacra- ments from the hands of their own preachers, and conse- quently requested Mr. Wesley to make some provision for them to receive the sacraments. According to this request, Mr. Wesley set apart Thomas Coke, a Presbyter of the Church of England, as a general superintendent of the societies in America, with full power to set apart Francis Asbury to the same office. Thomas Vassey and Richard Whatcoat were set apart at the same time to act as Elders among them by administering baptism and the Lord's Sup- per. The Conference for 1874 recognized the action of Mr. Wesley in setting apart Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury as joint superintendents of the Church in America, which adopted the name of " Methodist Episcopal Church." The subsequent history of the Church has fully justified the wisdom of the plan of organization. The statistics for the year 1784 show a membership of 14,986, and preachers 83.
Methodism in America was now a regularly organized
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church, fully empowered to transact all the business pertain- ing to an independent church of Christ. The happy effect of this action upon the growth of Methodism is seen in the increased gain in membership. The total membership for the year was 18,000 members and 106 preachers, a gain of 3012 members and 21 preachers. The Conferences for this year were held at Saulsbury, North Carolina ; Lane's Chapel, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland. From this time the Church began to work its way south and west with the ad- vancing tide of immigration. In 1788 a Conference was held in Holston. In 1790 there were Conferences held in Holston and in Kentucky.
In 1792 the first General Conference was held in the City of Baltimore. The second General Conference was held in the City of Baltimore in 1896. Up to this period in the history of the Church the Bishops exercised discretionary power in appointing as many Annual Conferences as they judged expedient for the convenience of the preachers and people, but as the General Conference possessed the legis- lative power to make rules and regulations, it was deemed best at this session to settle definitely the question in re- gard to their number, and also to define the respective boundaries of each. Accordingly the number of Confer- ences agreed upon was six, with the proviso that if it should be considered essential to the demands of the work in New England the Bishop might organize an additional Conference in the province of Maine. The following were the Confer- ences organized :
The New England Conference, the Philadelphia Confer- ence, the Baltimore Conference, the Virginia Conference, the South Carolina Conference, and the Western Conference. The latter embraced the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, and subsequently all the territory lying west of these States.
In 1806, the Western Conference embraced the Holston District, Cumberland District, Kentucky District, Ohio
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District and the Mississippi District. The Mississippi District embraced two appointments in Louisiana-Claiborne and Opelousas. In 1808, the Ouachita Circuit had been added to the district. In 1809, we have the Indiana District, with four appointments in Missouri : Maramec Circuit, Missouri Circuit, Cold Water Circuit and Cape Girardeau Circuit. It is probable that the preacher on the Cape Girardeau Cir- cuit penetrated as far south as the upper part of Arkansas, though of this we have no positive information. It is also probable that the preacher in the Ouachita Circuit, in the Mississippi District, penetrated as far north as the southern boundary of Arkansas. We know that at this early date the circuit lines were not very clearly defined, and as these circuits lay near the boundary lines of this territory, they may have crossed over and preached to the scattering set- tlements that had been formed at that early date. While we have no positive evidence that any Methodist preacher had ever preached within the Territory at this early date, from facts in our possession we incline to the opinion that there had been Methodist services in a few places.
The year 181I is noted in the annals of Missouri and Ar- kansas as the period of the great earthquakes, which occurred at New Madrid, in the Territory of Louisiana, and which reached into the upper part of what is now the State of Ar- kansas. It began in the neighborhood of the mouth of the Ohio River, and extended southward along the valley of the Mississippi River for 300 miles. The celebrated naturalist, Von Humboldt, in describing this earthquake, says that " it presents one of the few examples of incessant quaking of the ground for several successive months far away from any volcano. The ground rose and sunk in great undulations, and lakes were formed and drained again. The surface burst open in great fissures, which extended northeast and southwest, and were sometimes more than a half-mile long, and from these fissures mud and water were thrown as high
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as the tops of the trees. The disturbances continued until March 26, 1812, when they ceased.
"This was the most extended earthquake ever felt in the United States, and the effect of it was to leave a large por- portion of the country near New Madrid sunk and sub- merged. It has since been called ' the sunk country.' In Craighead County, Ark., is to be found a portion of country called the ‘sunk lands,' which were submerged by this earthquake February 6, 1812. The St. Francis River altered its course and followed the lowest places, leaving its former bed dry, and lakes formed in places where it used to run. At the time this earthquake was in progress the steamer New Orleans, the first steamboat on the Western waters, was on her first trip from Pittsburg, the place of her building, to New Orleans, the place of her destination, under charge of Mr. Nicholas J. Roosevelt, her builder and projector. After passing the falls of the Ohio the existence of the earth- quake began to be manifest.
"At New Madrid, a great portion of which had been en- gulphed, as the earth opened in great chasms and swallowed up houses and their inhabitants, terror-stricken people begged to be taken on board, while others, dreading the steamboat more than the earthquake, hid themselves as the boat approached. One of the most uncomfortable things of the voyage was the confusion of the pilot, who became alarmed, and declared that he was lost, so great had been the changes in the channel caused by the earthquake. Where he had expected to find deep water, roots and stumps projected above the surface. Tall trees that had been their guides, had disappeared. Islands had changed their shapes, cut-offs had been made through what was forest land, when he last saw it." (See Claiborne's History of Mississippi, Vol. I, p. 537.)
In another description of this event we have this state- ment : " The people of the Little Prairie had their little set-
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tlement which consisted of 100 families entirely broken up- only two families remained. The whole region was covered with sand to the depth of two or three feet. The surface was red with oxydized pyrites of iron, and pieces of pit coal. The country was filled with chasms running from northeast to southwest, at intervals, sometimes as close as half a mile apart, and sufficiently large to swallow up not only men but houses. To save themselves the inhabitants cut down large trees at right angles to the chasms and stationed themselves thereon. The great Prairie settlement, one of the most flourishing on the west bank of the Mississippi, and New Madrid, dwindled into insignificance, and decay, the people trembling in their miserable hovels at the distant and mel- ancholy rumbling of the approaching shocks."
The Rev. John M. Steele has left us a very vivid descrip- tion of these earthquakes, which he obtained from eye-wit- nesses of the scenes described. The first and severest shock came at night. The afternoon preceding this shock was bright and clear without any signs of the terrible scenes that were fast approaching the quiet and seemingly secure population of these communities. The greater part of the shipping of those days was carried in flatboats, and upon this particular occasion the river near New Madrid was lined with flatboats loaded with produce of all kinds for the markets. An eye-witness who was on one of the boats, says that about 10 or II o'clock at night a sheet of flame and burning coals seemed to come from the bed of the river, shooting up to the height of several hundred feet into the air. The shock was attended by a low rumbling sound like distant thunder. The rushing of the fire and coals through the water produced a wave that carried the water up stream for the distance of several miles. An eye-witness states that the flatboat he was on was carried up the river about four miles.
There are some rather amusing incidents related of the
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effect that the great earthquakes of 1811 had upon the peo- ple. Rucker Tanner, who afterwards became a traveling preacher in the Conference, and his father who was a local preacher in the Methodist Church, were living at that time in the New Madrid country. A certain man, whom we shall call Mr. R., became greatly alarmed and thought the Great Day of Judgment had come. He sent in great haste for the Elder Tanner to come and take up his case at once, for it was the worst case in all the country ; that it was the most difficult of any, as he had been a very bad man.
The following is from a writer who was only ten years old at the time of the earthquake: " It was Sunday, and I had gone out in the woods and gathered hazel-nuts. James Dennis had just built a log house, and in digging up earth to fill the hearth-place had come upon the skeleton of what he supposed to be an Indian. Captain Oatwell and my father were sleeping together at the house of Mr. Dennis. That same Sunday night, while we were all asleep in bed, the earthquake came. It awoke the Captain, who remarked to my father that he thought ' the Indian must be turning over.' At home, my mother, in the alarm of the shaking, thought that the Indians were attempting to break into the house ; and she arose in bed and took down a sword that hung over it. Then the frightened negroes came to my mother to know what they must do. She said to them : 'Pray with all your might; it is an earthquake.' My own thoughts were that the cause of the earthquake was my gathering nuts on the Sabbath ; and as soon as daylight appeared I took my load of nuts and emptied them out behind a stump. a little way from the house."
.
Referring to the excitement that prevailed in consequence of the earthquakes, Bishop Paine says: " In many instances the excitement assumed a religious aspect, and a wide-spread and glorious revival extended throughout the greater part of the Western work; insomuch that the two Conferences,
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HISTORY OF METHODISM IN ARKANSAS.
Ohio and Tennessee, into which the Western was divided by the General Conference, reported in the fall of 1812 a net gain of more than 50 per centum. So that the Lord had not only terribly shaken the earth, but had also mercifully shaken the hearts of the people."
To the same effect, John Scripps says : " This year the Lord shook terribly the earth, particularly the circuits of Brother McFarland's charge. The people became alarmed and fled, many to Christ, but more into the Church, for refuge."
The reformations produced by this excitement were in many instances of the most permanent character.
CHAPTER V.
INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM IN ARKANSAS-WM. PATTER- SON-KENTUCKY COLONY-JOHN PATTERSON-HELENA- ELI LINDSAY-SPRING RIVER-FIRST CIRCUIT-WILLIAM STEPHENSON-JOHN HENRY.
There is some little difficulty in ascertaining who were the first Methodist preachers to enter the territory that now forms the State of Arkansas. There is the same difficulty in regard to the place and time when the first preaching was had and the first societies were organized. Our authorities are a little obscure, both in their dates and the persons who were prominent in these beginnings of Methodism. In the early part of the year 1800 William Patterson, Sylvanus Philips and Abraham Philips moved from Kentucky to Ark- ansas and settled three miles south of the St. Francis River, at a point known as the Little Prairie, on the bank of the Mississippi River. John Patterson was born at this place during this year. He was the first white child born in this part of the State, and probably the first child born of Amer- ican parents in the State. In the summer of 1800, William Patterson cut the large cane where the City of Helena now stands, and built a rude warehouse for storing goods and provisions for the accommodation of barge shipping, as there were no steamboats at that day.
From the minutes we learn that William Patterson was admitted into the Western Conference in 1804, and was ap- pointed to the Scioto Circuit. In 1806, he was appointed to Claiborne Circuit, and Elisha M. W. Bowman to Opelousas Circuit, Louisiana. This was the first appearance of organ- ized Methodism west of the Mississippi River. While we have no positive evidence that William Patterson ever
Bishop Galloway's Souvenir.
In a private letter received from Bishop Galloway this morning, written at London, the bishop states that he will sail for New York, September 17, and expects to reach there September 24, and come direct to his home in this city, arriving September 27. The bishop has been attending the ecumenical conference and preached the ecumenical ser- mon to the conference recently. The letter is written to Edgar S. Wilson and while per- sonal contains two very interesting souvenir relics referring to which the bishop says: "Inclosed you will find a leaf. I plucked it yesterday from the tree that shades the grave of Daniel Defoe. It is for one of your boys who has read Robinson Crusoe. The monument over the grave was erected by, the children of England. The green sprig is from the wey tree in the 'Country Church Yard,' under which Gray wrote his famous 'Elegy.' A few yards away is his grave. Underneath that church, so the books say, is the body of Edmund Burke, England's greatest statesman. The church is at Stokes Poges, a few miles from Windsor and Eaton. Adjoining the church yard is a large and beautiful estate, once the home of Sir Thomas Penn, the son of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania."
RKANSAS. 29
sion into the travel- obable that he did success of the first st families had pre- irch into these new
notice the fact that ouri Circuit in 1807. i met at Bethlehem, ), 1815, Spring River ri District and left to be supplied. This was the nrst regular work laid off by the. Conference in the Territory of Arkansas. While there had been occasional preaching by the preachers from the Mis- souri District within this territory, this was the first regular . appointment. As the work was left by the Conference to be supplied, this was done by Eli Lindsay, a local preacher · who lived on the Strawberry River, near the mouth of Big Creek.
Rev. John M. Steele, from whose manuscript I am in- debted for this information, says: " Col. Magness stated to- me that their first preacher was named Lindsay, and that he preached on White River and Little Red River, and thence to Strawberry and Spring River. That his visits were ir- regular, and that he would attend all the house-raisings, log- rollings, quiltings, marriages and frolics of all kinds where he could get the people together, and that when the young folks got tired of their fun the preacher would propose a song and prayers and a talk to them, and in this way secure their attention. His course was approved both by the Con- ference and the people." At the close of the year he re- ported a circuit of ninety-five members, a most excellent re- port for such a new and sparsely settled country.
As Spring River was thought to be of sufficient import- ance to designate the name of the first circuit in Arkansas,
P 1 F 1
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INTRODUCTION OF METHOD SON-KENTUCKY COLON ELI LINDSAY-SPRING R STEPHENSON-JOHN HEN
acter of the parent plants. It is not diffi- cult to do this, vand it requires only a little time to make the selection, while no other part of the farm work will give so good a profit. It only requires a little care and attention at the right time. In gathering corn it is very little trouble to have a box in the wagon, and to throw into it the best ears from the best stalks, and so secure seed of just the kind which is wanted. It really takes less time to save seed in that way than to handle over the corn left in the crib at planting time and pick out the large ears which may happen to be left there, and it certainly costs much less than it does to pay a fancy price for some one else to do the work. Selecting cotton seed for a large planting takes more time, but pays just as well. If seed for planting the entire crop cannot be selected, stalk by stalk, still it is possible to select enough for planting a few acres each year, and if the crou of the following seed for __ the Ist preaching was
There is some little diffic first Methodist preachers t forms the State of Arkansa: in regard to the place and ti had and the first societies were organized. Our authorities are a little obscure, both in their dates and the persons who were prominent in these beginnings of Methodism. In the early part of the year 1800 William Patterson, Sylvanus Philips and Abraham Philips moved from Kentucky to Ark- ansas and settled three miles south of the St. Francis River, at a point known as the Little Prairie, on the bank of the Mississippi River. John Patterson was born at this place during this year. He was the first white child born in this part of the State, and probably the first child born of Amer- ican parents in the State. In the summer of 1800, William Patterson cut the large cane where the City of Helena now stands, and built a rude warehouse for storing goods and provisions for the accommodation of barge shipping, as there were no steamboats at that day.
From the minutes we learn that William Patterson was admitted into the Western Conference in 1804, and was ap- pointed to the Scioto Circuit. In 1806, he was appointed to Claiborne Circuit, and Elisha M. W. Bowman to Opelousas Circuit, Louisiana. This was the first appearance of organ- ized Methodism west of the Mississippi River. While we have no positive evidence that William Patterson ever
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C c t i
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a C
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HISTORY OF METHODISM IN ARKANSAS.
preached near Helena before his admission into the travel- ing connection in 1804, it is highly probable that he did preach there as a local preacher. The success of the first preachers indicates that some Methodist families had pre- ceded the organized forces of the Church into these new fields of labor.
We have already had occasion to notice the fact that John Travis was appointed to the Missouri Circuit in 1807.
At the Tennessee Conference, which met at Bethlehem, Wilson County, Tennessee, October 20, 1815, Spring River Circuit was made a part of the Missouri District and left to be supplied. This was the first regular work laid off by the. Conference in the Territory of Arkansas. While there had been occasional preaching by the preachers from the Mis- souri District within this territory, this was the first regular . appointment. As the work was left by the Conference to be supplied, this was done by Eli Lindsay, a local preacher · who lived on the Strawberry River, near the mouth of Big Creek.
Rev. John M. Steele, from whose manuscript I am in- debted for this information, says: " Col. Magness stated to me that their first preacher was named Lindsay, and that he preached on White River and Little Red River, and thence to Strawberry and Spring River. That his visits were ir- regular, and that he would attend all the house-raisings, log- rollings, quiltings, marriages and frolics of all kinds where he could get the people together, and that when the young folks got tired of their fun the preacher would propose a song and prayers and a talk to them, and in this way secure their attention. His course was approved both by the 'Con- ference and the people." At the close of the year he re- ported a circuit of ninety-five members, a most excellent re- port for such a new and sparsely settled country.
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