USA > Arkansas > History of Methodism in Arkansas > Part 30
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The African Methodist Episcopal Church .- This Church was organized in Philadelphia in 1816, with Richard Allen as their first Bishop. In doctrine, discipline and govern- ment they have closely copied after the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are the most numerous body of colored Methodists in the United States. Previous to 1860 they were almost, if not entirely, confined to the Northern States About the close of the civil war they came into the State, and organized churches in Little Rock and other cities and towns in the State. They have a regularly organized Con- ference in the State, with the regular appointments of dis- tricts, circuits and stations. During the last twenty-five years they have made great progress in intelligence and piety, as well as in numbers. The standard of ministerial qualification has been elevated, and the body of their preach- ers are earnest and intelligent men who are doing excellent service for the Master and for their race.
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion .- This body of colored Methodists are not to be confounded with the Afri- can Methodist Episcopal Church. It was organized in 1820 in the State of New York, and is the second largest body of colored Methodists in the United States. A peculiarity of this body of Methodists is that instead of electing their Bishops for life they are elected every four years, and hold their office for one quadrennium.
The ministers and members of these different Methodist
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colored churches have made great improvement during. the last few years. Many of their preachers are very earnest and intelligent men, who are deeply pious and thoroughly consecrated to their great work, and they have done much to elevate their race and people. The noisy politician may have attracted more attention and produced a great deal of unseemly strife and confusion, but the humble, consecrated colored preachers have quietly gone among their people and worked faithfully for their spiritual and moral welfare. When we take into consideration the influences that were brought to bear upon the colored people soon after their emancipation, and the advantages that were taken of their ignorance by designing men, the wonder is that they have made as much progress as they have in the moral and spiritual improvement of their race. The negro race are largely indebted to Methodism for their knowledge of Chris- tianity, for in the days of slavery they received the gospel from the hands of the Methodist missionary, and a larger proportion of them were brought into the Methodist Church than into any other church organization. This fact has been recognized by them, and in consequence the Methodist Church has a larger hold upon their affections than any other form of Christianity. These African Churches are doing more to solve what is known as the negro problem than any other one agency. While it is true that designing men sometimes get into their pulpits and mislead their congrega- tions, and it is also true that wicked white men sometimes oppress them beyond endurance, and in this way produce disturbances, the great body of their preachers are humble, faithful men, who are quietly working for the spiritual wel- fare of their people
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America .- At the close of the civil war a large number of the colored Methodists who had been in connection with the M. E. Church, South, went into the Methodist Episcopal Church, African Metho-
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dist Church, African M. E. Zion Church and other bodies, but there was still a large number of them that were not willing to leave the Church that had done so much for them. At the earnest solicitation of many of the leading colored preachers of the M. E. Church, South, Conferences of the colored people were formed and delegates elected to a Gen- eral Conference, to be held at Jackson, Tenn., in 1871. At this Conference, presided over by Bishop Paine and two colored Bishops were elected and ordained, Bishop Miles, of Louisville, Ky., and Bishop Vanderhoost, of Geor- gia. The Church was formally organized at this time under the name of the "Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America." The General Conference of the M. E. Church, South, which met in Memphis in 1870, ordered that all the property that had been held by the Church for the use of the colored people should be turned over to them for their exclusive use. In this way they came into the possession of a great many houses of worship. The first Annual Confer- ence of the colored Methodists was held in the City of Cam- den in 1870, Bishop Keener presiding. The writer of this was appointed to act as secretary of the Conference. The Conference at that time embraced all the State of Arkan- sas, but since that time the Conference has been divided and there are now two Annual Conferences within the territory embraced by the State. This body of colored Methodists are noted for their quiet, conservative spirit. Their preachers as a rule are very careful to abstain from all interference in political matters.
CHAPTER XXIV.
METHODISM AMONG THE NEGROES-THE FRIEND OF THE NE- GRO-WESLEY'S VISIT TO CHARLESTON.
Methodism has always been the friend of the negro race, and from the very beginning has always taken a lively inter- est in the welfare of the African race in America. It is stated that on Mr. Wesley's first visit to Charleston that he preached in old St. Michael's Church, and that he noticed with pleasure that there were several negroes present, with one of whom he had a conversation. He found them sadly deficient in religious information. While in Georgia he tells us that steps were taken "to publish the glad tidings of sal- vation, both to the African and American heathens." On his return voyage from Charleston to England, on board the ship in which he sailed were two negro lads, whom he in- structed in the principles of the Christian religion. Thus early did Methodism begin to show its interest in the African race, and to inaugurate a movement that would carry greater blessings to the negro race than any other movement of modern times. We speak the simple truth when we say that the negro race has been, under God, more indebted to Methodism than to the combined efforts of all other Chris- tian bodies in the world. "The African had been in America nearly one hundred and fifty years before Methodism came. The larger number of this race with which it came in con- tact were those of Virginia and Maryland. While still to a great extent the slaves of religious delusion they could not, properly speaking, be called idolators. The Methodist preachers had a timely and early access to them in the pro- mulgation of the Word of Life. The simple gospel thus proclaimed to them by the early evangelists had great at- traction for them. Ere long fetichism and debasing halluci-
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nations fled before the light of gospel truth. They were once barbarians, and would have remained so in their native land. What seemed a curse was destined to prove a bless- ing in disguise. Many came as slaves to this strange and far-off land to die in the triumphs of the Christian faith. When the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1774 it had already a large number of negro members in its expanding communion."
The early preachers gave great attention to the religious interests of the colored people, and in consequence large numbers of them were formed into classes wherever they were found. The class-leader was often the largest slave- holder. A place in every church was provided for the col- ored members, and the sacrament was administered to them as regularly as to the whites. Ere long some of the more intelligent and trustworthy of them were licensed to exhort and to preach. The colored often outnumbered the white members.
Up to the year 1787 there was no separate report of the colored members. The first separate report showed that the greater number were in Delaware and Maryland.
Among the leading colored preachers of earlier Method- ism, Henry Evans, of North Carolina, occupied a conspicu- ous place. He was a free-born negro and a mechanic, a man of great integrity and in high favor with the whites as well as those of his own color. What Henry Evans was to the South, Black Harry, as he was called, was to the North. He was a coal-black negro, and traveled with Asbury and Coke, and preached with great power. Castile Seeby was another famous colored preacher of a later day, one to whose memory Bishop Capers has paid a grateful tribute.
The older generation of Southern Methodists know very well that the negroes are largely indebted to Methodism for their first knowledge of the gospel. "As a rule, negro slaves received the gospel from the same Methodist preachers, and in the same churches with their masters. The galleries, or
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a part of the body of the house, was assigned to them. If a separate building was provided, the negro congregation was an appendage to the white, the pastor usually preaching once on Sunday for them, holding separate official meetings with their exhorters, leaders and preachers, and administer- ing discipline and making return of members for the annual minutes. But the condition of the slave population segre . gated on the rice and sugar plantations, appealed for help. The regular ministry did not reach the river deltas of the low country-a malarial region in which few white people are found. For twenty years before missionaries to the slave population had been going through the regions most accessible, but in 1829 a system of plantation service and instruction was inaugurated by the South Carolina Confer- ence. On each side of the modest marble obelisk placed over the grave of William Capers is this inscription : "The founder of missions to the slaves." In the autumn after his return from England he was waited on by a wealthy planter on Santee to learn if a Methodist exhorter could be recom- mended to him suitable for an overseer. He was aware of Dr. Capers' interest in the religious welfare of the colored people, and that the prejudices and mistrusts of the slave-holders would not be so great against him. In this way was Dr. Capers led to devote so much of his time and talent to the welfare of the colored race. And to become a leader in that great movement all over the Southland for the relig- ious instruction and salvation of the negro race. A system of missions to the colored people sprang up all over the South, and many of the best preachers of the Conferences gave their whole time in going from one plantation to another instructing and catechising the slaves. These old mission preachers were not only held in great esteem by the negroes, but they had the highest esteem of the white people as well. It was no uncommon thing for the owner of the slaves to be a deeply interested hearer of the instructions given to the slaves.
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CHAPTER XXV.
ARKANSAS TRIBES-PIERRE FRANCOIS CHARLEVOIX-THE INDIAN FORMS OF WORSHIP.
The territory of which the present State of Arkansas con- sists was a part of the original Louisiana purchase, made by the United States in 1803, and for which the French received fifteen million dollars. It comprises about 52,198 square miles, or about 33,406,720 acres of land. It lies on the west side of the Mississippi River, which separates it on the east from the States of Tennessee and Mississippi. It is bounded on the south by Louisiana, and on the west by Texas and the Indian Territory, and on the north by Missouri. When first discovered by white men, the whole country was in the possession of the Indians. The tribes that principally occu- pied this territory were the Osages and the Quapaws. The Ozarks were identified with the Quapaws, both of these being of the Arkansas tribe. The names of Arkansas and Ozark have both become extinct, while the Osage and the Quapaw still remain. The Osage tribes were composed of the Great and Little Osages, who occupied the land north of the Arkansas River and into Missouri to the Missouri River. The Arkansas Indians had villages at the mouth of the Arkansas River and on the Mississippi River, south of the Arkansas. The United States obtained the land from these tribes, the Osages and Quapaws, by treaties made in 1818 with the Osages, and in 1818 and 1824 with the Quapaws. An account of the Arkansas Indians is given by Father Pierre Francois de Charlevoix in his exploration among them in 1821. The following are extracts from the narrative as found in Hempstead's " History of Arkansas":
"The Arkansas Nation, next to the Natches, was probably
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the most civilized of all the aborigines of our country. At the time of DeSoto's visit they lived in mud-walled towns, fortified with high circular towers. They worshiped a great spirit, which they called Coyocophil; and when it thundered they said it was the Lord of Life which spoke to them. They also worshiped both the sun and the moon. From the peculiar structure of their language and the ter- mination of their words, it must be inferred that they were the descendants of the Aztec race. The Natches, Houmis and other Mississippi tribes worshiped the sun and kept up a continual fire in their temples, and at one time in the his- tory of the Southwest Indians the worship of the sun was not less common among them than it was among the prim- itive tribes of the Old World ; and who then can doubt for one moment that most of our Southern tribes were the descend- ants of the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru? For like them they built mounds and temples and performed sacrifices. The best writers on Indian antiquity now admit that they are at least analogous to those of Mexico. The Indian mounds of Louisiana and Mississippi, of which so little is known and much less has been written, are among the most extensive and interesting of any on the continent."
In the progress of our history we will again have occasion to speak of these and other tribes of Indians in Arkansas.
CHAPTER XXVI.
METHODISM AMONG THE INDIANS -- TREATMENT BY THE
WHITES-OLD FRENCH MISSIONS-PRESBYTERIAN MIS- SION -- REV. CEPHAS WASHBURN -- ORIGINAL BOUNDARY- CAPERS -- REMOVAL WEST.
Our history of Methodism would be incomplete without some reference to the labors of our missionaries among the Indian tribes of our country. No one, acquainted with the treatment of the Indians by the whites, can justify the course that has usually been pursued towards them by the people and the government of the United States. The fact that the Indians were savages did not justify the systematic cru- elty with which they have been too frequently treated. Much of the savage cruelty that has been charged upon the Indians was caused by the oppression of the whites. 'Driven to des- peration and despair, they have sometimes turned upon their oppressors with a terrible and indiscriminate slaughter of men, women and children; but for every outrage of this kind perpetrated by them, they could point to similar out- rages upon the part of the whites. The history of Pennsyl- vania shows that whenever the whites have dealt kindly and justly toward the Indians they have been quiet and peace- able. Had the example of William Penn been followed by the other colonies there would have been much less trouble in our dealings with these children of the forests.
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While the Methodist Church may have been somewhat remiss in its efforts to Christianize these aboriginal tribes of our country, it is nevertheless a source of pleasure to know that some efforts have been made, and that some success has: been achieved in winning them to Christ, and that many have been Christianized, civilized and thoroughly educated ..
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When the whites first entered the Territory of Arkansas it was occupied by the Quapaws, Ozarks and Osages. The old French and Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries had established mission posts among them at a very early day, and had succeeded in making some converts among them while the Territory was under French and Spanish control.
The first Protestant mission among the Indians in Arkan- sas of which we have any mention, was organized by Rev. Cephas Washburn, a Presbyterian minister, in the fall of 1820. It was known as Dwight's Mission among the Cher- okees. These Cherokees had recently been brought from the older States east of the Mississippi, and settled in the western part of Arkansas. Dwight's Mission Station was near where the Town of Russellville now stands.
To obtain a clear idear of the work of the Church among the Indians we must remember that at one time the dividing line between the Indian Territory and Arkansas was con- siderably east of the present dividing line. At that time the line began at a point on Red River, near the Town of Ful- ton, and ran nearly north to the mouth of Point Remove Creek, on the Arkansas River, thence in a direct line to a point on White River near Shield's Ferry. The Choctaws occupied the Territory south of the Arkansas River, and west of the line commencing at Fulton, on Red River, and running north to Point Remove on the Arkansas River. The remainder of the Territory north and west of these tribes was occupied by the Osages, Quapaws and some other smaller tribes. The Choctaws, Chickasaws, Chero- kees and Creeks had all formerly been located. east of the Mississippi River, and had made considerable progress in civilization, and many of them had acquired considerable property. Much progress had been made by our mission- aries in giving the gospel to these tribes.
As early as 1821, a mission was established among the Creek Indians, at that time occupying lands in Georgia and
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Alabama, east and west of the Chattahoochee River. Dr. Capers was selected by Bishop McKendree for the purpose of planting this mission. He set out on horseback on an extensive tour of appointments, for the purpose of awakening public attention to the moral and religious im- provement of this tribe of Indians, who occupied the west- ern frontier of the Conference. Contributions were solicited for the purpose of erecting mission premises and establish- ing a school ; and the project in the hands of so eloquent an advocate met with general favor. He visited the Creek agency, and had an interview with the celebrated half-breed Chief, McIntosh, who, according to stately etiquette, though he understood English, would communicate with Dr. Capers only through an interpreter.
Asbury Manual Labor School was located at Fort Mitch- ell, near the present City of Columbus, and Dr. Capers, that he might the better superintend it, was, for 1823 and 1824, stationed at Milledgeville. This mission was discontinued in 1830, but the labor expended was not fruitless, since many of these Indians after their removal west of the Mississippi River were gathered into the fold of Christ, and traced their first impressions to the faithful missionaries who had in- structed them in their home east of the Mississippi River.
Bishop McTyeire says of the work among the Choctaws and Chickasaws and kindred adjoining tribes, “ their evan- gelization was like a nation born in a day.", Rev. Alexander Talley was appointed as missionary to the Indians in North Mississippi in 1827, and taking with him a tent and an in- terpreter, began the good work among these Indians that resulted in the conversion of many of them. The Roman Catholics did some missionary work among the Arkansas Indians while the Territory was under the French and Spanish control.
The first notice that we have of any regular appointments for the Indians is found in the minutes for 1830. We have
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in connection with the Arkansas District the Creek Mission and the Cherokee Mission. The statistics for 1831 are not reported. The statistics for 1832 show within the Arkansas District an Indian membership of 308. At that Conference there were reported six schools among the Creeks and five schools among the Cherokees. It will be remembered that for a number of years the western boundary of the Arkansas Territory was a line beginning near Fulton, on the Red River, and running in a northeasterly direction to the mouth of Point Remove Creek, on the Arkansas River; thence to a place on the White River near Batesville. All west of that line belonged to the Indians. By consulting the minutes it will be seen that some of the most efficient preachers of the Missouri and Arkansas Conferences were appointed to labor among the Indians. Such men as Alvin Beard, John Harrel, A. M. Scott, H. G. Joplin, John N. Hammill, Henry Perry- man, Burwell Lee, Pleasant Tackett, Richard W. Owen, William Johnson, N. M. Talbot, Jerome C. Berryman, J. W. P. Mckenzie, Andrew Hunter and others. Whatever else the Indians may have against the whites as a matter of just complaint, it cannot be said that the Indians committed to the care of the Methodist Church were neglected by the Conference. An examination of statistics will show that the labors of the Methodists have been crowned with a reason able degree of success. A comparison of the condition of the Indians who have been brought under the influence of the Methodist Church will compare favorably with their condition in any other part of the country. So great was the increase of the Indian membership of the Church that they were organized into a separate Conference in 1844, with a membership of 2292 Indians, 85 whites, and 133 colored. As a result of the labors of our missionaries in the Indian Territory, the Indians, under our influence, have advanced in civilization until a large number of them are the equals of their white brethren in intelligence and piety. Many of the
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native preachers are as devoted and earnest laborers for the cause of Christ as can be found among their white brethren. The schools that have been established among them have been under the control of experienced teachers, whose in- fluence in moulding the character of these Indians has developed the highest type of character that has ever existed among them. In the early days of Methodism in Arkansas there was a small remnant of the Seneca tribe of Indians in the northern part of the State. Jacob Lanius, who traveled among them, said of them :
"I then entered the Seneca Nation. They own about twelve square miles of land, number about 192, and are fast decreasing. They have a missionary, Bro. Daniel Adams, a native Mohawk. His house is a neat little cabin, better than many in the State, and pretty well furnished. He speaks the Seneca and some other languages very fluently. His wife is a native Stockbridge Indian, very well educated in common English literature, and upon the whole one of the most intelligent ladies I have seen for many days. They have a fine little son that they wish to qualify for the work of a missionary. A more pious family than this, I presume, cannot be found in the country. Here we have a 'living epistle ' that speaks loudly in favor of missionary operations. Bro. Adams is a member of the Arkansas Conference, and this is the second year he has been appointed to labor among the Senecas. I spent a night with Bro. Adams, and was most hospitably entertained. He is very comfortably situated in a little cabin, has twenty acres of good wheat . and seven of corn, with everything else necessary. His wigwam is furnished with two beds, a table, trunks, plenty of queensware, and the best library I have seen on the dis- trict, save one."-[Methodism in Missouri.
Whatever may be the fate of the Indian tribes of the West, whether it is to be gradually absorbed by the white race, or whether to perish in the presence of a superior civ-
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ilization, or whether they will continue to exist in a state of comparative separation from the whites, their past history demonstrates the fact that they are susceptible to religious impressions, and that the best solution of the Indian problem is to give them the gospel. When they have received the gospel, they will see that the cruelties they have endured were not the result of the Christianity of the whites, but arose from a lack of the spirit of the gospel. They will see that their enemies have been the enemies of the religion of Christ.
The following from the pen of Dr. Hunter, will be read with interest :
"As early as 1815 Methodism was introduced to the In- dians. The gospel reached the Wyandottes through the in- strumentality of John Stewart, a negro, who won many of them to Christ. In 1819 the Ohio Conference sent preach- ers to his assistance. In 1820 converted Wyandottes, under the influence of the missionary spirit, bore the news of their conversion to a kindred tribe-the Ojibways in Canada. Two Indian preachers went there, and twelve years after there were ten Indian missionary stations in Upper Canada, with nearly 2000 adult Indian members, and 400 youths were receiving instruction ie eleven schools. Methodism is a missionary system. A church that is not missionary, lacks the essential features of a church of Christ. She can point today to her thousands of converts among the various In- dian tribes in vindication of her claim to be a part of the Lord's militant host. The truth is God has no use for a church only to be used as an aggressive force against the powers of darkness, that Jesus may be crowned 'Lord of all.' And the man who professes to be the follower of Christ and is opposed to missions has need to examine him- self to see whether the spirit of Christ is in him. 'If any man has not the spirit of Christ he is none of his.' The
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