USA > Arkansas > History of Methodism in Arkansas > Part 31
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spirit of Methodism has always been in accord with this sentiment.
"Bishops McKendree and Soule visited these missions among the Wyandottes in 1824, and were delighted with what they saw and heard. In 1821, Dr. William Capers was selected to set on foot a mission among the Creeks. He traveled extensively on horseback on a tour of appointments for the purpose of awakening an interest among the whites in this tribe of Indians, who occupied the western frontier of the then South Carolina Conference. Contributions were solicited for the purpose of erecting mission premises and establishing a school, and the project met great favor. The doctor visited the Creek agency, and had an interview with Chief McIntosh, who assented to the doctor's proposition. Asbury Manual Labor School was located at Fort Mitchell near the present City of Columbus, and Dr. Capers, that he might better superintend it, was for 1823-24 sta- tioned at Milledgeville. Isaac Smith in his 61st year con- sented to teach the 'brother in red.' Smith won the affec- tions of the red man and in 1829 there were reported 71 members at the Asbury Station, and the school consisted of 50 scholars. In 1830, the mission was discontinued. The labor was not lost, however, for many of them was gathered into the fold in their new home west of the Mississippi, who traced their religious impressions to Father Smith and his associates. Of this number was 'Sam' Checote, who died but a few years since a useful member of the Indian Mission Conference. He was one of Smith's pupils at the Asbury school. McTyiere's 'History says ' the evangeliza- tion of the Choctaws, kindred and adjoining tribes, was like a nation being born in a day.'"
In 1827 Dr. Alexander Talley was appointed missionary to the Indians in North Mississippi, and with a tent and an interpreter he set himself to work. The interpreter, who was an Indian, shrank from appearing before large congre-
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grations and this confined the missionary to mere groups. He pitched his tent among small settlements and invited them to come and hear the " good talk " and he taught the groups that gathered and passed on. Before he got round in detail the Chief, Leflore, sent for him and courteously en- treated him and made the teacher welcome at headquarters. Greenwood Leflore was the son of a French trader, who had married in the nation and had a numerous progeny of sons and daughters. Greenwood, the eldest son, had been well educated among the whites, was principal Chief of the na- tion and Talley's interpreter upon certain occasions ; and a better one no preacher ever had. One of the first reform movements was to suppress the whisky traffic. The ordinance passed in council was duly guarded by penalty. "The of- fender was to be struck a hard lick on the head with a stick and his whisky poured out on the ground." A self-willed brave-Offa homa-had defied the law and met the penalty, for they were in earnest. A camp-meeting was held and Capt. Offa-homa with scar unhealed on his scalp was the first to appear. The Leflore family, the most intelligent and influential, and the common people, were brought under re- ligious influence and a spiritual power pervaded the whole nation. The venerable Isaac Smith came up from the Mus- kogee school and his word and manner emphasized by his gray hair made an uncommon impression. As he uttered paragraphs of Bible truth, Leflore, standing by his side, would interpret to the multitude seated and standing around. The interpreter enlarged on the text and wept; the people wept also. Dr. Talley took a delegation of In- dian converts with him to Annual Conference, which met at Tuscaloosa in 1828. After his report was read the Confer- ence requested that one of the Indians might give an ac- count of the work of grace and the prospects of the nation. Capt. Washington responded through an interpreter. The Conference was powerfully moved. Bishop Soule rose
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from the chair, shook the hand of the speaker and welcomed him and his people to the Church and exclaimed, " Breth- ren, the Choctaw Nation is ours. No, I mistake, the Choc- taw Nation is Jesus Christ's." The Rev. R. D. Smith and Moses Perry were sent to Talley's help. The Indian work spread and prevailed and was divided into circuits. Moses Perry married into the tribe and accompanied them to their country west of the Mississippi. "The work of the spirit," say our historian, " was deep." We have witnessed among no people more marked awakenings, conversions and subse- quent developments of Christian experience that we have found among the Choctaws, and to this day they and the Chickasaws remain true to the faith of their fathers. In 1822 the Rev. Richard Neely of the Tennessee Conference com- menced to preach to the Cherokees in North Alabama, and under his preaching a class of thirty-three members was formed. At the following session of the Conference, Rev. A. Crawford was appointed missionary to the Cherokees and with the approval of head men in that part of the nation, opened a school which met with favor. The work continued to grow until in 1830 there were 855 members of the Church and five sehools with about one hundred pupils. Here are the appointments for 1827: William McMahan, superin- tendent ; Wells Valley, Greenberry Garrett ; Oos-tan-a-la, Turtle Fields ; Ecoto, James J. Trott ; Creek Path, John B. McFerrin ; Chat-ooga, A. F. Scruggs; Sal-a-kowa, D. C. McLeod. John B. McFerrin traveled among the Cherokees two years. His second circuit was 400 miles around. John Blackbird was his interpreter. He says "this was one of the hardest years of my itineracy, but in many respects it was pleasant." We saw many Indians converted to God and took a number into the Church. I baptized at one time the mother, her daughter and grandchildren. Often did the wild woods ring with praise to Jesus for his pardoning mercy. The remarkable men converted among the Chero-
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kees and added to the Methodist Church during our mis- sionary labors among that people, were Richard Riley, the Gunters, Turtle Field, Young Wolf, Arch Campbell, John F. Boot, John Ross. During my stay there I preached the gospel to some of the natives who had never heard the tid- ings of salvation. Among the converts was an Indian woman nearly 100 years old. I was the first preacher who ever visited the celebrated " Dirt Town Valley." Here the Indians built a log church and we established a congrega- tion. In after years it became celebrated as a camp-ground among the whites, who succeeded the Cherokees. Alto- gether I trust my two years were profitably spent among the red men of the forest. "In reviewing these two years I feel thankful to God that it was my privilege to preach the gospel to the poor Indians." -[See "Life of McFer rin " by Dr. Fitzgerald.
Speaking of the great change that had taken place in the condition of the Indians, Dr. Hunter says: "At the time when I was in the Creek Nation the principal interpreter was James Perryman. At his house near the Hawkins school, after a long search, I found McGowan and Irwin. , That was on the first day of January, 1836, more than fifty-three years ago. As I retrospect the past and think of the improvemet in church and state, both in the Indian Nations and in Ar- kansas, I am ready to exclaim, " What hath God wrought !" The most vivid imagination could not have anticipated the · half that has been accomplished since that day. Then there was one circuit in each of the nations, Creek and Cherokee ; now several districts in each of the Indian Nations and an Annual Conference of half a hundred preachers. There is Harrell Institute, besides other academies and schools, among the Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, and before long Galloway College, in the Cherokee Nation, will open its hall for the reception of pupils. In Arkansas the im- provement in every particular has been wonderful. Insti-
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tutions of learning have sprung up in various places, patron- ized and sustained by the different churches. Railroads with iron bands hold the different sections together in indis soluble bonds, prophesying of greater prosperity in the near future. 'With my staff I went over the Jordan and now I am become two bands.' So said Jacob when he returned from Padan-Aram to look after the stone he had set up for a pillar, and on whose top he had poured the oil that morn- ing after seeing the mystic ladder with the angels of God ascending and descending .. Bethel, house of God, was the name of that place ever after. 'Two bands!' Six Annual Conferences rest securely on the territory of the original Arkansas Conference. Near five hundred traveling preach- ers are heard now every Sabbath where fifty-three years ago forty-three published the gospel message in Arkansas, Indian Territory, Louisiana and North Texas. Fifty-three. years ago if any one had ventured to predict that the time would come when a railroad would pass through the entire length of the Indian Territory from Missouri to Texas, what was said would have been considered the baseless fabric of a vision ; yet so it is today."
CHAPTER XXVII.
CONCLUSION-THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES-FIRST THINGS IN ARKANSAS.
My work is nearly completed. I have taken my readers from the introduction of Methodism into Arkansas in 1816, and followed it in its course through all these years to the present time. We have seen it in its feeble beginnings on Spring River Circuit, under the leadership of Eli Lindsay, and near Mount Prairie in the southern part of the State, under the leadership of John Henry, two local preachers whose names should be preserved in the annals of Arkansas Methodism. We have seen that apostle of Methodism, William Stephenson, the first itinerant to enter the State, and take for his circuit the whole of South Arkansas from the Arkansas River to the Louisiana State line. Then we have seen that remarkable man, John Harris, coming as the second itinerant, to travel for years across the trackless wilderness, enduring hardships and privations that remind us of the heroic days of the Church. These were heroic days, and the men that met these dangers, and overcame these difficulties were heroes worthy to take their place beside the martyr-crowned men of old. We have seen the circuit expand into a district that embraced within its bounds the territory of the State. We have traced the organiza- tion of new circuits and districts until it became necessary to organize the Arkansas Conference in 1836. This was a joyous day for such old veterans as William Stephenson, John Harris, Burwell Lee, Henry Cornelius, Jacob White- sides, E. B. Duncan and John Harrell. And there stood on that Conference floor, in the vigor of a young manhood, such brave young spirits, so full of hope and enthusiasm, as
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William P. Ratcliffe, Andrew Hunter, J. W. P. Mckenzie, James Essex, Fountain Brown, ready at the Master's bid- ding to go anywhere, do any work, and endure any hard- ship for the sake of Christ ! Then we have at a more re- cent date such men as Stephen Carlisle, John Cowle, John H. Blakely, Jacob Whitesides, John M. Steele, John J. Roberts, and following close upon them came such men as James E. Cobb, A. R. Winfield, George A. Dannelly, Wil- liam Moores, A. B. Winfield, Jesse McAlister, Robert Brit- tain, Benoni Harris and others of equal note, some of whom have passed away, and others remain with us a little while longer as a benediction to the Church they have served so well. We have lived to see a large body of active, vigorous. and consecrated young men take the place of these old men who are rapidly passing away-men into whose hands we can safely entrust the future of the Church.
We have seen the one Annual Conference of 1836 divided into three Annual Conferences, either one of which is larger than the original Conference.
We have traced the progress of education from the humble Male and Female Academy, at Washington, the Elm Spring School, at Elm Spring, and Soulesbury Academy at Bates- ville, to the splendid colleges of the present : The Galloway Female College, at Searcy, the Hendrix Male College, at Conway, the Arkadelphia Male and Female School, at. Arkadelphia, and the Quitman College, at Quitman, all the property of the Church, and having buildings, grounds, equipments, furniture, facilities and patronage that will com- pare favorably with the best in the Eastern schools.
Methodism in Arkansas had a small beginning, but like the grain of mustard seed, it has become a great tree. The Methodists are the most numerous of all the Churches of Ar- kansas. In every portion of the State their preachers travel, their houses of worship are built, and their Sunday schools. are filling the land. It has reached all classes of society,
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the rich and the poor meet together. In city and in the ·country, in the densely populated region, and in sparse set- tlements, the members of the Church are found. They fill the learned professions, they are engaged in merchandise, in trade, in agriculture, and in mechanics. In the social re- lations of life they occupy a circle equal to the most elevated in the land.
I now leave this work in the hands of the readers. If they shall reap anything like the pleasure in reading that I have found in writing this History of Methodism in Arkansas, and placing on record the worthy deeds of the noble men who laid the foundations. upon which we have built, I shall feel more than repaid for any time and labor I may have spent in gathering these facts and placing them in form.
THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES
There are three Annual Conferences included within the State of Arkansas, with the following boundaries :
THE ARKANSAS CONFERENCE
shall include that part of the State of Arkansas inclosed by the following boundary line : Beginning at the point where the North Fork of White River crosses the Missouri State line ; thence down North Fork to its mouth; thence down White River to the mouth of Sillamore ; thence up South Sillamore to line on range twelve; thence south with range line to Little Red River ; thence down Little Red River to Miller's Ferry ; thence to the mouth of Palarm Creek, on the Arkansas River, so as to include all the present boundary lines of Quitman and Mount Vernon Circuits; thence to the southeast corner of Perry County ; thence west by the south boundary lines of Perry, Yell, and Scott Counties to the State line ; thence with the State line to the beginning.
THE WHITE RIVER CONFERENCE
shall be bounded on the east by the Mississippi River; on the north by the Missouri State line; on the west by the
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Arkansas Conference ; on the south by a line running from the head of Palarm Creek to the head of Cypress Bayou ; thence down said bayou to Des Arc Bayou; thence down that bayou to White River, and down said river to its mouth.
THE LITTLE ROCK CONFERENCE
shall embrace all that portion of the State not embraced in the Arkansas and White River Conferences.
When the Spring River Circuit was formed, in 1815, this territory was a part of the Tennessee Conference. The Missouri Conference was formed in 1816, and the Ter- .
ritory of Arkansas was included within that Conference. It remained in connection with that Conference until 1836, when the Arkansas Conference was formed. The Ouachita (now Little Rock) Conference was formed in 1854. The White River Conference was formed in 1870. In 1816 there were 88 white and 4 colored members; in 1836 there were 2065 white and 451 colored members; in 1854 there were 16,482 white and 2808 colored members; in 1870 there were 29,855 white and 13,263 colored members; in 1890 there were 70,086 white members.
FIRST THINGS IN ARKANSAS.
The first white man to enter the territory embraced by the State of Arkansas was Hernando DeSoto, in 1541.
The first white settlement in Arkansas was made in the · year 1686, at the Post of Arkansas. .
The first Governor of the Province of Louisiana, which included the Territory of Arkansas, was Savlolle (pronounced Sovul), appointed in the year 1699.
The first American Governor of the Province of Louisiana was William C. Claiborne.
The first Protestant sermon preached in Arkansas was by Rev. John P. Carnahan, of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in 1811, at the Post of Arkansas.
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HISTORY OF METHODISM IN ARKANSAS.
The first Methodist preacher to enter the State was John Henry, a local preacher, in 1815.
The first Protestant house of worship was built at Mount Prairie, in Hempstead County, by the Methodists, in 1816, and was called Henry's Chapel.
The first itinerant Methodist preacher to enter the State was William Stephenson, in 1816.
The first Annual Conference held in the Territory was at Mountain Spring camp-ground, in 1833.
The first session of the Arkansas Conference was held at Batesville, in 1836.
6
APPENDIX A.
1820-21.
Fifth session at Shiloh, Illinois Territory, September 13, 1820, Bishop Roberts, President.
Arkansas District-William Stephenson, Presiding Elder ; Pecan Point Circuit, Washington Orr; Hot Springs Circuit, Henry Stephenson ; Mount Prairie, Gilbert Clark ; Arkansas Circuit, William Townsend ; Spring River, Isaac Brookfield ; White River, William W. Redman. Number in society, 5II whites, 25 colored.
1821-22.
Sixth session at McKendree's Chapel, Cape Girardeau, October 21, 1821, Bishop Roberts, President.
Arkansas District-John Scripps, Presiding Elder ; Ar- kansas Circuit, Dennis Wiley; Hot Springs, Isaac Brook- field ; Mount Prairie, John Harris; Pecan Point, William Townsend ; Spring River, Isaac Brookfield; White River, William W. Redman. Number in society, 683 whites, 34 colored.
1822-23.
Seventh session at St. Louis, October 24, 1822, Bishop Roberts, President.
Arkansas District -- John Scripps, Presiding Elder; Ar- kansas Circuit, John Harris; Hot Springs and Mount Prai- rie, Samuel Bassett, Gilbert Clark; Pecan Point, William Bryant ; Arkansas Mission, William Stephenson; Spring River, Isaac Brookfield. Number in society, 916 whites, 48 colored.
1823-24.
Eighth session at St. Louis, October 23, 1823, Bishop - McKendree, President.
Arkansas District -- William Stephenson, Presiding Elder ; 26-M
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HISTORY OF METHODISM IN ARKANSAS.
Arkansas Circuit, Andrew Lopp ; Hot Springs and Mount Prairie, Joh Blasdell ; Pecan Point, Rucker Tanner; Spring River, James E. Johnson. Number in society, 852 whites, 80 colored.
1824-25.
Ninth session at the house of William Padfield, St. Clair County, Ill., October 23, 1824, Bishop Roberts, President.
Arkansas District-William Stephsnson, Presiding Elder ; Arkansas Circuit, to be supplied ; Hot Springs, Green Orr ; Mount Prairie, Gilbert Clark ; Pecan Point, Rucker Tanner ; Spring River, Frederick Leach and William Shores. Num- ber in society, 80 whites, 68 colored.
1825-26.
Tenth session at Tennessee, Mo., August 4, 1825, Bishop Roberts, President.
Arkansas District -- Jesse Haile, Presiding Elder; Arkan- sas Circuit, to be supplied; Hot Springs, Gilbert Clark ; Mount Prairie, Green Orr, Rucker Tanner; Natchitoches, William Stephenson; White River, Cassel Harrison. Num- ber in society, 664 whites, 40 colored.
1826-27.
Eleventh session at McKendree Chapel, Cape Girardeau, September 14, 1826, Bishop Roberts, President.
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Arkansas District-Jesse Haile, Presiding Elder; Arkan- sas Circuit, John Cureton; Hot Springs, Parker Snedecor ; Mount Prairie, Thomas Johnson; Spring River and White River, to be supplied. Number in society, 830 whites, 71 colored.
1827-28.
Twelfth session at St. Louis, September 6, 1827, Bishop Roberts, President.
Arkansas District-Jesse Haile, Presiding Elder; Arkan- sas Circuit, William Shores; Hot Springs, to be supplied ; Mount Prairie, Thomas Johnson ; White River and Spring
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HISTORY OF METHODISM IN ARKANSAS.
River, John Kelly, Edward T. Perry. Number in society, 661 whites, 58 colored.
1828-29.
Thirteenth session at Fayette Camp-ground, Howard County, September 12, 1828.
Arkansas District -- Jesse Haile, Presiding Elder; Hot Springs, John Kelly; Arkansas Circuit, James Bankson ; White River, Parker Snedecor. Number in society, 724 whites, 68 colored.
1829-30.
Fourteenth session, at Potosi, Washington County, Sep- tember 10, 1829, Bishop Soule, President.
Arkansas District-Uriel Haw, Presiding Elder; White River, - Kelly; Arkansas Circuit, John A. Henry, Pleasant Tackett ; Hot Springs and Mount Prairie, Rucker Tanner, Jerome C. Berryman ; Helena, John Harris. Num- ber in society, 894 whites, 89 colored.
1830-31.
Fifteenth session, at St. Louis, Bishop Roberts, Presi- dent.
Arkansas District-Jesse Green, Presiding Elder. Hel- ena, John Harris; 'Hot Springs and Mount Prairie, Nelson R. Bewley; Arkansas Circuit, Mahlon Bewley ; Mount Pleasant, Pleasant Tackett; James' Fork, to be supplied ; Cherokee and Creek Mission, to be supplied; Spring River and White River, James H. Slavens. Number in society, 1260 whites, 72 colored.
1831-32.
Sixteenth sessior, at McKendree's Chapel, Bishop Rob- erts, President.
Arkansas District-A. D. Smith, Presiding Elder. Hele- na Circuit, Fountain Brown; Pine Bluff Circuit, W. A. Boyce; Chicot Circuit, John Harris; Hot Springs and
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Mount Prairie, H. C. Joplin, William Duke; Arkansas Cir- cuit, John Hammil, Richard Overby ; Washington Circuit, John Kelly; Creek Mission, Alvan Baird ; Washington and Cherokee Mission, John Harrell, A. M. Scott; White River and Spring River, Nelson R. Bewley. Number in society, no returns.
1832-33.
Seventeenth session, Pilot Grove, September 17, 1832.
Arkansas District-Martin Wells, Presiding Elder. Hel- ena Circuit, Micah Casteel ; Pine Bluff Circuit, William A. Boyce; Chicot, to be supplied ; Ouachita Circuit, to be sup- plied ; Hot Springs, Henry Cornelius ; Mount Prairie, Foun- tain Brown, Lemuel Wakelee; Red River, to be supplied.
Little Rock District-A. D. Smith, Presiding Elder. Little Rock Circuit, to be supplied; Arkansas Circuit, to be supplied ; Washington Circuit, W. G. Duke; McIntosh, Harris G. Joplin ; Wyans School, John N. Hammil; Haw- kins School, Alvin Baird ; Hardridges School, Henry Per- ryman ; Cherokee Circuit, John Harrell ; Adairs School, Burwell Lee, Thomas Bertholf; Chism's, Richard Overby.
Number in society, 1512 whites, 222 colored, 308 Indians.
1833-34.
Eighteenth session, at Mountain Spring Camp-ground, Arkansas, September 4, 1833, Bishop Soule, President.
Arkansas District-Martin Wells, Presiding Elder. Hel- ena Circuit, John Neil ; Pine Bluff, to be supplied; Ouachi- ta, Henry Cornelius; Hot Springs, Fountain Brown ; Mount Prairie, Richard Overby, J. B. Denton ; Red River, to be supplied.
Little Rock District-Andrew D. Smith, Presiding Elder. Little Rock Circuit, Wm. G. Duke ; Arkansas, John H. Rives ; Washington, Alvin Baird.
Mission Schools among the Indians-John Harrell, Pleas- ant Tackett, Leamer B. Stateler, John N. Hammil, Pleasant
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Berryhill, Thomas Bertholf, Richard W. Oven, Burwell Lee, J. Brewton, Harris G. Joplin.
Number in society, 1779 whites, 237 colored, 494 Indians.
1834-35.
Nineteenth session at Bellview, Washington County, Sep- tember 10, 1834, Bishop Roberts, President.
Arkansas District-Charles T. Ramsey, Presiding Elder. Helena, L. Wakelee ; Pine Bluff Circuit, William P. Ratcliffe, Ouachita, N. Keith ; Hot Springs, Wm. G. Duke ; Mount Prairie, N. Cornelius, Franklin F. Brown ; Rolling Fork, W. Sorrells.
Little Rock District-M. K. Lacy, Presiding Elder. Lit- · tle Rock, M. Wells; Arkansas, John H. Rives ; Washing- ton, H. G, Joplin ; Greene, J. P. Neil ; Kings River, J. G. Duke; Seneca Circuit, J. L. Gould; White River, Andrew Peace.
Indian Missions and Schools -- A. D. Smith, J. Horne, B. Lee, T. Bertholf, P. Berryhill, John Harrell, J. N. Hammil.
Number in society, 2406 whites, 386 colored, 509 Indians.
1835-36.
The twentieth session, at Arrow Rock Camp-ground, Sep- tember 10, 1835, Bishop Roberts, President.
Batesville District-Burwell Lee, Presiding Elder ; Helena, to be supplied; Franklin, to be supplied ; Big Creek, L. Wakelee, Jackson J. Powell; White River, A. Baird; Clin- ton, to be supplied ; Arkansas, to be supplied; Carrolton, to be supplied ; Washington, John Harrell.
Little Rock District-C. T. Ramsey, Pine Bluff, F. Brown ; Ouachita, to be supplied ; Hot Springs, H. Cornelius; Mount Prairie, John Hammil, W. G. Duke ; Sulphur Fork, J. H. Carr; Chicot, Joseph Rentfro; Bartholomew, J. M. Gore ; Little Rock Circuit, William P. Ratcliffe.
Indian Schools and Missions-P. M. McGowan, S. K.
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Waldron, J. Horne, J. H. Rives, A. D. Smith. Number in society, 2334 whites, 373 colored, 467 Indians.
The first session of the Arkansas Conference met at Batesville, November, 1836, Bishop Morris, President.
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