USA > Delaware > Methodism of the peninsula, or, Sketches of notable characters and events in the history of Methodism in the Maryland and Delaware peninsula > Part 1
USA > Maryland > Methodism of the peninsula, or, Sketches of notable characters and events in the history of Methodism in the Maryland and Delaware peninsula > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20
Gc 975.2 T56m 1951643
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02229 0339
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/methodismofpenin00todd
MA
Men & C. 442
Sarah, F. Bean,
1916.
.
Yours Sincerely the od
METHODISM
OF
THE PENINSULA;
OR,
SKETCHES OF NOTABLE CHARACTERS AND EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF METHODISM IN THE MARYLAND AND DELAWARE PENINSULA.
BY REV. ROBERT W. TODD.
INTRODUCTION BY
REV. BISHOP JOHN F. HURST, D. D.
Gc 975.2 +56m
METHODIST EPISCOPAL BOOK ROOMS, 1018 ARCH ST., PHILADELPHIA. Copyright Secured, 1886.
PRESS OF THE JAS. B. RODGERS PRINTING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA.
1951643
To the Memory of
A Father, whose life was the embodiment of industry, fru- gality, temperance, honor, and devotion to truth and God; who hated shams; who loved mercy, and whose highest wish for his son was that he might be good and useful :-
A Mother, refined, modest, beautiful; whose life was a benediction; who made home sweet and attractive; who walked the shining way, and led thither the wayward feet of her child; whose memory still blooms fresh and fragrant, from a grave, where almost two-score years ago, fell the tears of a bereaved boy in his first great sorrow :-
To the Memory of this Sainted Twain,
ENROBED, CROWNED, AND WAITING AND WATCHING ON THE FARTHER SHORE, THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY
The author.
$1.50 goodspeed apr 4-1978
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I .- THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE.
Planting and Growth of Methodism in the Peninsula, 9. Lost Chapters, 10. Our Methodist Fathers, 11. Personnel of Methodism, Past and Present, 12. Old-time Environments, Society and Customs, 14. Climate, Topo- graphy and Products, 17. Author's Scope and Purpose, 19.
CHAPTER II .- OUR QUAINT ITINERANT FATHERS.
Thomas Ware, 21. Dr. Chandler, 25. Benj. Abbott, 28. Henry Bohm, 29. The First Camp-meetings, 35. George Wiltshire, 39. Bishop Asbury, 46.
CHAPTER III .- HEROES OF ERIN.
The Typical Irishman, 50. William Barnes, 51. John Henry, 63. Adam Wallace, 69.
CHAPTER IV .- PATRIARCHS OF THE CHESAPEAKE.
Joshua Thomas, 85. Haney Bradshaw, 102. Captain William Frazier, 110. Garretson West, 113.
CHAPTER V .- EPISODES AND COLLISIONS.
John Collins, 124. The politico-religious, 125. Solomon Sharp, 127. William Bishop, 129. Untimely Fun, 131. Vanquished Heroes, 134. James Brooks Ayres, 137. Jas. A. Massey and Geo. Cummins, 142. Thos. Childs, 150. Nathaniel Nimrod, 152. Jonas Bissey, 153. "Daddy " Appleton, 155.
vi
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI .- HYMENEAL AND BAPTISMAL.
Wedding in a "Bugeye," 161. "Jeems" Henry Smith's Romantic Nuptials, 163. Wedding Fees, 166. Asbury's Namesakes, 167. "Governor" Hicks' Baptism, 167. Honoring two Preachers in one Cognomen, 168. Baby Christening at Camp-meeting, 169.
CHAPTER VII .- WHITE SOULS IN COLORED ENVELOPES.
Slavery and the Peninsula, 172. Tom and the Blackeyed Peas, 173. Slave Philosophy, 174. Uncle Zeke's Text, 177. The Old-time Negro at the Primitive Camp-meeting, 178. Praying for the Preachers, 183. "Uncle Jeems" King, 185. Frost Pollet, 187. Emancipation Scenes, 193. Negro Education and Improvement, 199.
CHAPTER VIII .- UNCLE STEPHEN, THE SLAVE PREACHER.
Stephen's Genealogy, 202. Childhood and Youth, 205. Conversion, 210. Marriage, 216. Longings for Freedom and Buying His Time, 217. A Buried Master and Buried Hopes, 218. Buying His Time Again at the Vendue, 220. Rescue of his Wife and Three Children, 221. Stephen and Two Babies on the Auction Block, 225. Sad Parting, 230. Emanci- pation, 232. Call to the Itinerancy, 236.
CHAPTER IX .- OLD TIME SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS.
Starting to School, 238. The Old Log School-house, 239. "Master" Marshall and His Methods, 243. Nathan Wilson, the Fighting Quaker, 249. Master Elisha M-, 253. "Chinquepin " School, 255. "Professor" Samuel Wiseman, 256. Marion Dawson, and the Historian's Graduation, 257.
CHAPTER X .- HUMORS OF A MODERN ITINERANT.
Address to Bishop Foster, 260. Our Senior Bishop's Cane, 263. The Old-time Presiding Elder, 267. The Quart'ly Confrence, 272. Methodist Episcopal Centenary, 278.
CHAPTER XI .- RECORD AND STATUS OF PENINSULA METHODISM.
Historical Sketch, 289. Philosophy of Methodist Success, 297. Methodist Seces- sions, 307. The Wilmington Conference, 313. Statistics of Peninsula Methodism, 315. Our Opportunities and Responsibilities, 324.
CHAPTER XII .- MEMORIAL OF DR. L. C. MATLACK.
Commemorative Service and Address, at Cambridge, Md., 328.
INTRODUCTION.
BY BISHOP JOHN F. HURST.
THE author of the following volume asks me to write some intro- ductory words. My mind goes rapidly back to the man, first of all, before I can reach his book. We met many years ago, when students at Dickinson College, and soon learned that we had come from the same region, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and were starting out on the race of life together. Later along, we entered the ministry, and nearly at the same time. But our field of labor has been different. The author has always preached on the same beloved Peninsula, while my field has been otherwhere. But he has kept his asthma, and I have lost mine. Now and then we have met, saluted, passed a few words of brotherly exchange, and then each has gone out upon his own path. Now there comes a note from the friend and brother of the old times, and with it most of the sheets of his " Methodism of the Peninsula." A mere glance at it brings up all my earliest memories, and gives a touch of sadness to the picture.
The country which the author describes stands completely alone in its territory and life. At an early period in its colonial history, it was almost as individual and separate in usages and tastes as if it had been a different continent. It took all its types from the James River Colony of 1607, and not one from the Plymouth Colony of 1620. The old Cavaliers of Jamestown had only to cross the mouth of the Chesapeake, and treat with the Indians, and build log-cabins, and take possession, and then trust the generous waters for food. Very early the whole Peninsula became a safe retreat. The Indians were away- carried off by the irresistible westward current. Life was easy, and so secure that, before the Revolution, we find the whole Peninsula covered with families from the more insecure territory on the western side of
vii
... viii
INTRODUCTION.
the Bay. These families seem to have enjoyed great favor with the government. Even during the Revolution, and long before, we meet with Eastern Shore names, such as the Tilghmans, Lloyds, Sullivans, Goldsboroughs, Henrys, Decaturs, and many others. Slavery planted itself here with a strong hand. Fred. Douglass came from the Lloyd farm, whose broad acres were ploughed by five hundred slaves. One of my earliest recollections, when living in Cambridge, was the Georgia-man, or slave trader, who sat in a split-bottomed chair in the verandah of Bradshaw's Hotel, and sunned himself, and waited for propositions from slave owners. We boys feared him as a hobgoblin. I saw him every morning, on my way to school, in the opening of the year, for it was at this time that he made his annual northward journey for business purposes. But the war of 1861-65 put an end to all that. The Eastern Shore furnished its full quota of brave soldiers for the colored regiments.
The Rev. Mr. Todd has not only been a careful observer of these various phases of Eastern Shore life, but he has been industrious in recording them. His profession having been that of the ministry, clerical experiences naturally predominate in his book. The Methodist Episcopal Church has nowhere had a more difficult task to perform than here, and nowhere has it won more signal triumphs. Bishop Asbury was regarded a Tory during the Revolutionary War, and was sheltered from danger by Judge White, of Delaware, who entertained him in his own house until the danger was over. The Methodists were considered a dangerous class of innovators, judged from any point of view. The old bricks can still be seen in Cambridge, of which had been constructed the jail in which Freeborn Garrettson was once imprisoned for some irregular ministerial exercises. The trees of some of the historical camp-grounds are still standing, while the premises bear to-day the same names as in the olden times. In the seasons of controversy the quiet villagers often lost their equilibrium. The farmers would come to town, and spend the whole day in learning the latest news of the outside world. The day when the "Maryland " or the "Osiris" landed at the Cambridge wharf was sure to attract many people down to the landing, while each stranger who stepped ashore was certain to attract all eyes.
The ecclesiastical life was well defined. All denominations were reflected here in miniature, save only the Congregationalists. I do not remember to have seen any church representing this communion,
ix
INTRODUCTION.
at any time during my youth, on the Eastern Shore. I question, however, very much whether an enterprise so fully reflecting the spirit of New England would have been permitted by the people at any time before the Revolutionary War, so completely was the territory in the hands of the Church of England. The Baptists, too, had but little favor. The Presbyterians gained no little strength, and it is a fact that the first Presbyterian church ever built on this continent was erected near Snow Hill, the present residence of the author of this work. The Rev. Mr. Makemie was the pastor. He organized other churches at Pocomoke, Wicomico, and in Joseph Venable's Land. Spence wrote: "There is no body of land, of the same size, in the State, the soil of which was, and is so poor." But there was freedom of conscience, as well as security from the Indian depredations. The charter to the Roman Catholic proprietor, granted by Charles I., June 20th, 1632, contained a clause of perfect religious freedom to all emigrants. A man "might live in peace, whether Jew, Moham- medan, or Pagan; whether Atheist, Deist, or Polytheist; provided he neither molested his neighbor, nor endangered the public morals." *
But after the Independents passed out of power in England, and the Revolution of 1688 had been effected, it was a good time to pay up old debts. The Presbyterians, of even the Eastern shore of Maryland, had to give account of themselves. The Established Church of Vir- ginia took the lead in the persecution of all dissenters. Happily for the Puritans of New England, they were too far off to suffer seriously. They held the power in their own hands.
The Rev. Mr. Todd has confined his attention to his own Church. The peculiarities of the camp-meeting services, the idiosyncracies of the negro race when at worship, and all the strong features of the primitive and provincial life, are traced with a freshness and justice which we have seen nowhere else. As a study in dialect, his work must take an influential place in our local American history. He has caught up the fading colors of the old time, and given them a perma- nence for which we have ample reasons to thank him. , The Eastern Shore has undergone a thorough transformation within the last three decades. It was coming on before the war, because of the inflowing population from the North, and especially because of the approach of railroads. But the war was a revolution. The old usages are now
* Foote, Sketches of Virginia, 1st series, p. 46.
X
INTRODUCTION.
rapidly disappearing, and the Eastern Shore is soon to be but little different from the Western.
As a faithful panorama of the old times in the Delaware and Maryland Peninsula, I take pleasure in commending this work. It is evidently the product of careful observation and much labor. Is it an exaggeration? No. Any man who has been "raised " on the Eastern Shore will see the justice of the delineations. Do these narratives reveal any general and exceptional popular ignorance? No. I question whether in any part of New England, at the corresponding time, the average intelligence was greater than throughout most of the Peninsula. It was as much the custom, with all who could com- mand the means, to give a good education to their children, as to open the "road gate" for the entrance of guests, to any number and for a stay of any length. The early Virginia colleges were largely patronized by Eastern Shore young men, while Princeton and Dickin- son, all the way along, have been educating them.
In one part of the work, the chapter on the Record and Status of Peninsula Methodism, the author furnishes a most interesting and instructive contribution to the ecclesiastical history of the whole American church. He presents an account, not only of the denomina- tion with which he is connected, but most rare and valuable statistical tables of all denominations on the Peninsula. This portion of his work was not in the first edition, but has been added in this second one. The four Methodist secessions, during the present century, down on the Peninsula, are treated with special care: the picture is entirely new, and in clear and full light.
The work, as a whole, treats a region which has thus far almost entirely escaped the pencil of the artist and the pen of the American historian. As such it must be regarded as of great value to all students of the religious and local history of our whole country, and more especially to the members and friends of the church in whose service the author has spent a successful and honored ministerial life.
BUFFALO, N. Y., MAY 20TH, 1887.
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
CHAPTER I.
THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE.
HE territory bounded by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and those of the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, is classic ground in the history of American Methodism. Although not planted here until several years after the formation of the New York and Western Maryland Societies, Methodism took root promptly and grew rapidly ; so that, at the time of the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784, the Peninsula reported a much larger membership than any other territory of similar extent in the United States. This phenomenal growth cannot perhaps be attributed to any exceptional congeniality of this section, in the beginning, towards Methodism; for here the pioneer fathers met their most stubborn and malicious resistance, even to the extremity of stripes and imprison- ment. Doubtless it is to be accounted for by that strange philosophy, in accord with which, God is able to subdue all things unto Himself and make the wrath
1*
10
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
of men to praise Him. Be that as it may, the Peninsular battle field has been the scene of the most heroic valor and of the noblest achievements; and from its old grave yards and cemeteries, in the day of eternity, will go up a vast army of approved candidates for special crowns of glory.
The great story of Peninsular Methodism has been told, its historic annals pictured by the able pen of the renowned historian, by the rhythmical measures of the poet, and by the facile pencil of the artist. But, much as has been written and represented, the half has not been told. Thousands of honorable names belonging to this history are written only in God's book of remembrance. Many noble and heroic deeds have never found a human chronicler. There are here enough "lost chapters," could they but be gathered, to fill a great library. But where there were once entire, large, living volumes, only torn leaves and isolated paragraphs can now be found.
One department of Peninsular Methodist history- the heroic and the pathetic; the quaint and the humor- ous-has remained almost untouched. Its traditions have receded and faded, until, in many cases, they have almost lost their plausibility. Some of these traditions, indeed, exist only in corrupted and distorted forms, and detached from the names of the real actors. In the course of a ministry of thirty-three years, within the bounds of what is now the Wilmington Conference, the author has gathered and treasured many well authenti-
11
THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE.
cated incidents of the above described class, belonging to local Methodist history. Furthermore, some of the experiences of the writer, and many of his literary efforts have been tinged with a somewhat facetious coloring; and they, of course, legitimately belong in the same archives.
These historic treasuries are, however, so fragmentary as to time, location and characters; that, in the best arrangement it will be possible to give them, they must necessarily appear as a medley, rather than a continuous melody-as scattered chapters of gleanings, instead of consecutive history.
Sin and its dire consequences excepted, God made man as he is, and takes him as he finds him. It is no part of the mission of the Christian religion to obliterate, or blur and repress man's natural characteristics; but to quicken, and by proper channels, conduct them to their appropriate objects and terminations. To the most saintly, there is as really a time to be merry and laugh as, on suitable occasion, to be sober or weep. The human creature who never, by sunny smiles or the sweet ripple of innocent, joyous laughter, gives play and ex- pression to this sportive attribute and capacity, bestowed by his beneficent Creator, is an abnormal and wretched misanthrope.
Our Methodistic fathers were normal specimens of a God-made race. They could both weep with Jeremiah, over the slain unfortunates of the daughter of God's people; and rejoice and shout for joy with the inhabit-
12
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
ants of Zion. They could thunder the dread maledic- tions of Jehovah, in sorrowful threats of a lake of literal fire and brimstone, as the portion of the reckless and finally impenitent sinner. And, with equal facility and holy earnestness, as to them it seemed proper; they could sometimes convulse an audience by their ludicrous caricatures of the solemn visaged hypocrite, or by their mimicry of the insane and grotesque antics of the silly despisers of God.
Furthermore, the mission of Methodism and of our itinerant fathers, was not specially to the great and noble; for, usually, they do not condescend to subjects adapted to "babes and sucklings." It was not to the cultured, the fashionable, the æsthetic; for they were already enfolded in other churches. But it was to the masses, just as God made them; just as sin had deformed and defiled them; just as the churches that preceded us, had passed by on the other side and left them, covered with wounds and blood-steeped in ignorance and sin, that our Samaritan Church came on her holy mission, with sometimes but a donkey for a burden-bearer, and a wayside inn for a sanatarium. As one result, almost anything-everything possible happened that was uncouth, among the ignorant and unkempt multitudes; from the vacant, open-mouthed, stare and senseless whoop of the ignoramus, to the ludi- crous antics of the outlandish clown, and the ribald jeering of the vile blasphemer. Not infrequently, has Methodism saved and enfolded, even such wretched
13
THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE.
outlaws and enemies as these; and every phase of society, human and inhuman, has been represented in her fellowship. One result of this was, that in our first century, and perhaps even beyond that point, our Methodist gatherings oft times became the theatre for comedies and farces, that no stretch of patience could now endure or charity tolerate.
To be faithful, the historian must recite "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Upon the stage he places before us, he must represent all phases of his subject. Otherwise, his readers will have but partial or distorted views of the society and the events he professes to dramatize. The personnel of Methodism to-day, upon the Peninsula, suffers nothing by com- parison with that of any other denomination. As to the masses of her members, it was not so in the begin- ning. Perhaps some may question the propriety of placing on record the few somewhat ridiculous incidents found in this volume, belonging to the earlier and humbler stages of our history, and to isolated localities. The author thinks the reasons above given justify all he has written.
Doings and incidents, which in the light of one age or state of society, would be deemed proper, or at least admissible; at another time or amid other surroundings, would be condemned as boorish and reprehensible, if not positively wicked. In order, therefore, to take a fair and philosophical view of the history of our fathers and their times, it is indispensable that we duly consider
14
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
their environments, and the influences that gave direction to their actions and sentiments.
For nearly two hundred years from the settlement of the Peninsula, by reason of its isolation, very little of foreign blood or new material had been incorporated into the composition of its people. They grew, therefore, by uninterrupted association and intermarriage, as well as by similarity of pursuits and employments, to be a homogeneous population. An inhabitant of the Penin- sula has a longer list of relations-more cousins and uncles and aunts-than a denizen of any other clime in the world, except perchance it be some ocean islander. At old time quiltings and corn-huskings, much of the time was spent in recounting and retracing the genealog- ical tables, until it often seemed as if each was kin to every other person. And so habituated were these good folk to claim relationship and call each other cousin, even down to the fifth or sixth degree, that many from mere force of habit, addressed all their acquaintances by that endearing title. On this account also, they adopted the same idioms and provincialisms. They followed the same usages and customs. They enjoyed the same recre- ations. They transacted business, or plowed, planted and reaped by the same unvarying rules their fathers had observed before them; esteeming it little less than sacrilege for one of their number to attempt anything in a new way, or to advance any new theory. So com- pletely isolated were they formerly, by reason of difficult communication with the rest of their fellows, and the
15
THE PLACE AND THE PEOPLE.
scarcity of books and newspapers, that they scarcely felt at all the throbbings of the great world outside; and, in course of time, they came to be like the Gentiles, "a law unto themselves," and, like the Jews, "a peculiar people."
Another thing that ministered to their exceptional peculiarity, was the absence of general education. This phase of the old-time Peninsula life is treated in another chapter, and need be here but casually mentioned. Here and there a family, having arisen to a position of opu- lence, would break through the conventional crust that had formerly hampered them, and seek outside the cult- ure impossible to obtain at home. The schools of the Peninsula were widely scattered; for the most part their curriculum did not extend beyond the merest rudiments, and less than half the population could keep their own accounts or write their names. Ignorance is always singular, and an ignorant people must needs be a pecu- liar people.
Of course this condition of Peninsular society in the olden times, was intensified by the introduction and spread of the institution of slavery. The poor African heathens brought with them their weird jungle super- stitions; which, in due time, were translated into plan- tation jargon, and recited by the kitchen and cabin-fires to the wondering children of the mansion, who never wearied of listening; until, in their distorted imagina- tions, ghosts stalked forth in the darkness, as the stars for multitude; and witches and wizards, thick as crickets
16
METHODISM OF THE PENINSULA.
on the hearth, or bats in the air of a summer evening, played at hide-and-seek about every old building and deserted tenement, and along every fence and thicket. To this day, many ignorant whites, and perhaps one-half the colored population of the Peninsula, have as much ' faith in witches and ghosts as they have in the existence of a Great First Cause; and, by charms and exorcisms, take more pains to propitiate the goblins than they do to secure the favor of their Redeemer. To correct these superstitions is the work of the churches and the schools ; but as men remember best and have most faith in what they learn in infancy, their complete eradication will require at least three generations of freedom.
Methodism has done more than all other influences to purge out this leaven of superstition, and these pecu- liarities of ignorance; but very much yet remains to be accomplished. She now, in her various branches in the Peninsula, preaches the Gospel of light and truth to more than forty thousand members, and to twice as many adherents; teaches nearly fifty thousand children and youth in her Sunday-schools; and, by her litera- ture and her reflex influence, is largely directing the general thought and moulding public sentiment. She leads the vanguard of the temperance legion, and guards the rear of the militant column that, having already half triumphed, is surely pressing on to the complete prohi- bition of the legalized liquor traffic in all our beautiful territory.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.