USA > Delaware > Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 1 > Part 21
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
the Church of England, cheerfully took part day, to whom Mr. Asbury preached, as also in their construction, and at least one build- on the previous day. Everywhere the spirit of affiliation was growing, and despite the noise of battle heard in all quarters, the flames of the Methodist fire were ablaze and attracting the now aroused people to her altars. ing, White's Chapel, had a vestry room at- tached to it, and was pronounced by Mr. As- bury, who preached in it for the first time in Oct. 1782, to be "one of the neatest country chapels the Methodists have on the whole In 1781, the Second Annual Conference held in Delaware was begun at Mr. White's, April 16th, and afterward adjourned to, and the session closed, in Baltimore. It was begun in Delaware, in order "to examine those who could not go to Baltimore, and to provide sup- plies for those circuits where the Lord was more immediately pouring out His spirit." The number of Methodists in Delaware were re- ported to be 1,052, or about one-tenth of the whole membership in the country. During the following years, down to the period of the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the number of members, and the work of evangelization constantly increased, while like- wise, a spirit of ministerial and ecclesiastical care arose, which took hold of the children, and prepared the way for that important branch of church work, the Sabbath School. continent." The distinct recognition of this attitude of the Delaware Methodists toward the Church of England is necessary to account for the position that the Methodist Episcopal Church gained from the beginning, in the hearts of so many of Delaware's chief citizens. The earnest zeal with which Mr. Asbury and orther northern preachers withstood the spirit of separation in Virginia, and other points south, gave to the Methodists, Dr. Edward White ; his brother Thomas, afterward Judge White , Dr. Ridgley ; Mr. Smithers; Governor Bas- sett ; White Brown; the Bayards and Cooks ; and many others, whose prejudices gave away under the persistent attachment shown by the Methodists to the church of their fathers. In- stead of being despised and persecuted, they became popular, their religious tenets were examined and embraced, and the services of In Delaware, first of all the States, began this initial movement, as may be seen by the following extract from the minutes of the Con- ference of 1779. · the Church itself became more intensely inter- esting, as the broken-hearted penitents sought the table of the Lord, and partook of the elements typical of the broken body and shed Quest. II. " What shall be done with the Children ? " blood of the Savior of mankind.
As illustrative of the popular regard of all classes toward the Methodists, a brief his- tory of a Quarterly Meeting held near Dover, in 1780, is here given. Mr. Asbury, who had been overlooking the interests of the work in Maryland and Virginia, returned to Delaware his adopted "home," for he had become a citi- zen of the State, and was regularly returned as such, and to Dover his favorite "place" in November. Dining with Dr. Ridgley, and meeting with the Rev. Mr. McGaw, he took the latter to the quarterly meeting, Saturday, Nov. 4th, at Barratt's Chapel, then in process of construction. Three hundred people were in waiting. Rev. Mr. McGaw preached the sermon, and was followed in exhortations by Messrs. Hartley and Glendenning. On Sunday there were between one and two thousand people present, crowding the house "above and below" while many remained outside. The love-feast lasted for two hours. Four hundred people were assembled again on Mon-
Ans. "Meet them once a fortnight, and ex- amine tlie parents with regard to their conduct towards them."
In 1780, Mr. Asbury arranged to preach to the children, at Barrett's, appointing a place for them to sit in the chapel, and requesting the parents "to send a note with each child," informing him of "the temper, and those vices to which the child might be most subject." It was the constant course of Mr. Asbury from this time forward to urge the preachers to care for the children, and in a few years schools were opened for their religious instruction.
Methodism continuing in its onward course was gradually preparing, under the superin- tending care of God, for the step which, in 1784, led to the organization of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church in the United States. This act was not an act of separation from the Church of England in America, for, by the Peace which in 1783, was established between
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Great Britain and the United States of Amer- | was organized into a separate and indepen- ica, wherein the Independence of the latter was recognized, the Church of England ceased to be a State Church among us, and the parishes and property of that Establishment together with its members, save those who had become members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, were subsequently embraced in the Protestant Episcopal Church. At the time when initia- tory proceedings were had in Delaware in 1784, the Methodists were without church or- dinances, and being Episcopalians, as were most of the inhabitants of the entire Peninsula, were needing, greatly, such an ecclesiastical sys- tem as that which Mr. Wesley had devised for them, in accordance with the earnest petition of the Methodists of this country. In Barratt's Chapel, Kent County, Delaware, on Sunday, Nov. 14th, 1784, after public worship, and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, Dr. Thomas Coke, LL.D., disclosed to Mr. Asbury "the design of organizing the Methodists into an Independent Episcopal Church," and this being communicated to the preachers present, it was agreed to call a General Conference to meet in Baltimore, during the ensuing Christmas. In this convention the Methodist Episcopal Church was established, and the Rev. Francis Asbury, a citizen of Delaware, having been previously ordained Deacon, and Elder, was, on the 27th day of December, A. D. 1784, by the imposition of the hands of Dr. Coke, as- sisted by ordained Elders, set apart for the office of Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. To the State of Delaware belongs the honor of giving to the church her first resi- dent Bishop, the immortal Francis Asbury, while also rests within her consecrated soil the remains of the venerable Richard Whatcoat, the second of the line of resident Bishops, who died at the house of Richard Bassett, Esq., in Dover, July 5th, 1806, and, from thence, was buried in the grounds of Wesley Chapel, Dover. And with equal delight her citizens re- joice in the saintly character, spiritual wisdom and might, of her venerable, long loved citizen, the Rev. Levi Scott, D. D., who, at the time of his death, July 13th, 1882, was Senior Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
II.
We proceed now to trace briefly the second period mentioned in the beginning of this Article, after the Methodist Episcopal Church
dent church. It will be seen that the develop- ment in the State has been uniform, during the century now closing. To account for this it must be premised ; first, that from the be- ginning of her ecclesiastical life the Metho- dist Episcopal Church was under such rules as required a deliberate planning, or system of christian life for both the ministry and the laity. It was demanded of the former that sub- mission to all ecclesiastical appointments should govern them ; that they should do the work in the field whereunto they might be sent, and in the manner arranged for them ; and of the latter it was required that they, each of them, should constantly attend the means of grace, both in the family, and in the church. Persistent refusal on the part of either class involved separation from the church, as the object was not to gain in numbers so much as to lead men into a deep, solid and useful christian life. A second and powerful agency in her growth, was the spiritual activity, and intense zeal of the ministers, and officers of the church, which inspired the private mem- bers, giving to them such a spirit that from individual to individuals, and to the whole the flame of revival was communicated, and the joyous upbuilding of the whole was ad- vanced. It was this that made the Annual Conferences, and Quarterly Meetings, held in the State, seasons of great power, and periods of the ingathering of souls into the Kingdom of Christ ; and that has sent down to posterity the glowing historical accounts of "big days" in our earlier Methodist History.
Under the new organization, Methodism in Delaware, was for the most part placed under the ecclesiastical supervision of the Rev. William Gill, (himself a native of Delaware,) as Presiding Elder. His jurisdiction was over Dover ; Caroline, which extended over the greater part of Sussex County; Somerset, and Annamessex Circuits. The preachers associated with him were, for Dover, Samuel Dudley, and Joseph Wyatt; and for Caroline, William Cannon, Jesse Lee, and Shores Bright. William Gill. (see Stevens Hist. M. E. Church, Vol. II page 36,) was one of the most eminent itinerants of his times; a man of superior intellect and acquisitions, which so impressed Dr. Rush, who attended him during a period of sickness in Philadelphia, as to dis-
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pose that great man ever afterward to defend . the close of the session of 1790, thirty mem- the Methodist Ministry against the prevalent bers were added to the church, while through imputations of ignorance and fanaticisin. Rush the State the marvelous increase of the work pronounced him "the greatest divine he had of God was such that 200 members were ever heard." He was esteemed the most pro- found, the most philosophic mind in the Methodist Ministry of his day. He died in 1788, declaring "all is well."
Among the Converts this year, was Miss Eunice Tindale of Sussex County, who after- ward married Mr. Joshua Jefferson, also a member of the Church. They settled near Port Penn, in New Castle county, and were in- strumental in establishing the Asbury chapel of this region, in the cemetery of which they are both buried. Many others were also ad- mitted to membership during this year, of whom mention may be made as: Garrett Jones, Elijah Truitt, who set up the family altar in his father's home, and was instrumental in turning the whole family to the Methodist Church. Eli Shockley and Edward Wheatly, through whose agency Wheatly's Chapel, in North-West-Fork Hundred, was erected. The work thus encouragingly advanced, continued to spread during the years immediately follow- ing, without, however, any new circuits being organized until 1789, when Milford, Dover and Duck Creek, were added to the others, and Wil- mington was entered as a station with William Jessup as the pastor. The membership in Wil- mington was 43 whites,and 19 colored. In his annual visits to these charges, Bishop Asbury was greatly pleased as he witnessed their pro- gress, informing us that in 1787, a comfortable church costing about 200£, P. C.had been erec- ted in Smyrna; in 1788, one was in process of erection at Lewis, and in 1789 he dedicated the new chapel, Asbury, in Wilmington. The revival spirit during this year was widely prev- alent throughout the larger part of the State, the services in some instances being attended with the shoutings of the people, and new fields of labor being opened for the itinerant. It was about this time that preaching was estab- lished by the Methodists at Middletown. The membership of the church, in the State, had grown to about 3,700.
In 1790, the first Annual Conference was held in Smyrna; where for three years in succession the citizens entertained the preach- ers in their Annual session. These were all seasons of power. Within three weeks after
added in one year. The spirit of devo- tion so widely prevalent in the southern por- tion of the State, did not, it seems, affect the citizens of Wilmington ; and for several years there was no very manifest prosperity. Bishop Asbury, visiting it in 1791, says "Alas for poor Wilmington ! when will this people open their cyes." Rev. T. Ware, who was stationed in Wilmington in 1791, described their condition in the declaration, that the borough was infec- ted "with a mystical miasm on the subject of religion which had a deleterious effect on many, and especially on the youth. They had im- bibed this moral poison until it broke out in supercilious contempt of all who were by one class denounced as hirelings and will-wor- shippers, and by another as free-willers and perfectionists. Hence the house in which we worshiped was surrounded by hundreds of these sons of. Belial night after night, while there were scarcely fifty within. I had, how- ever, the pleasure of numbering among those of my charge some of the excellent of the earth, and much satisfaction in marking their growth in grace." (Life of T. Ware, p, 185 et Seq ) In 1794, Wilmington was again placed on Cliester Circuit, and was alternately a station, or embraced in the circuit until 1806, when a permanent station was formed. In 1795, William Jessup, their first stationed minis- ter was called to his reward in heaven. He was a native of Sussex County Del. and united with the Methodists in 1779 Being greatly opposed in his religious life, by his father, his embarrassments were many, but he persistenly pursued his course, was admitted into the traveling ministry in 1784, and after serving the church for eleven years in that capacity died shouting with his expiring breath "My work is done ! Glory ! glory ! glory !"
In 1797, Rev. Ezekiel Cooper was appointed to Wilmington, which position he held until the latter part of the ensuing year. Under his ministry a membership was also raised at Newport, and weekly sabbath services held, first in a hall, and afterward in the church of that place erected in 1798. He found the church in Wilmington to be embarrassed, by a spirit of discord and murmuring. The so-
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE,
ciety at Newport was small but very much united. At that time there was but one white man in membership, Mr. Miller, but a few se-' lect ladies, such as Mrs. Lattimore, Mrs. Rob- ertson and Mrs. Miller made the society very! desirable. In 1798, Mr. Cooper, finding that preaching at Newport every sabbath afternoon, and at Wilmington twice during the same day, was too great an undertaking, made his plan to give the former public service once in two weeks. In Wilmington the church estab- lished a singing school, to which the whole society had free access ; it met on Tuesday night after the close of the prayer meeting, the object being to practice the singing of Wesleyan hymns. Wilmington suffered much during these two years from the malignant fever, which prevailed so alarmingly that all who could do so left the town; the churches suffered greatly, and at one time the Metho- dist population was reduced to twenty persons. These and other circumstances so affected the society that after a period of thirty years from the introduction of Methodism in the borough only [34 members were reported, 87 whites, and 47 colored.
The growth of the church was more encour- aging in other parts of the State, and mem- bers were added from year to year. Confer- ences whether Annual or Quarterly, were sea- sons of great power ; love-feasts, prayer meet- ings, and class meetings overflowed with the melting influences of the Holy Spirit, and the testimony of the saints who were called to their heavenly reward impressed those who witnessed their triumph in the dying hour, with the solemn, solid and blissful reality of a life devoted to God and His cause. Among the many that were thus called away, was Bishop Asbury's " dearest friend in America," Judge Thomas White who died in 1795. In speaking of this, the bishop said ; " This news was attended with an awful shock to me. I have met with nothing like it in the death of any friend on the Continent. *
* I have lived days, weeks, and months in his house. * * He was about sixty-five years of age. He was a friend to the poor and oppressed ; he had been a professed churchman, and was united to the Methodist connection about sev- enteen or eighteen years. His house and heart were always open ; and he was a faith- ful friend to liberty in spirit and practice ; he
was a most indulgent husband, a tender father, and an affectionate friend. He professed per- fect love, and great peace, living and dying."
During the Annual Conference held in Smyrna, in 1792, a new feature was introduced by Bishop Asbury, that of holding a Confer- ence with the leaders, local preachers and ex- horters. In this meeting an account was given "of their present and past experience ; the state of their respective families ; of the classes of which they had charge, and of the prospects of religion where they lived." The meeting was attended with great power. In Camden there had been erected "a neat, economical" church, mainly through the instrumentality of Dr. Barratt, son of him who had built Bar- ratt's Chapel. As the Bishop pursued his way through the State, he met everywhere en- couraging assurances of the advancement of the cause. Thus it was in the subsequent visits for the year prior to the period of sick- ness, and emigration which specially prevail- ed toward the close of the 18th century. In 1795, there was a great revival of religion at Smyrna, where also was held, in 1797, the An- nual Conference, during which there was al - . most continual service in the church, night and day, and many professed conversion. This Conference session had been appointed for Philadelphia, but the yellow fever being prevalent there, was changed to Smyrna. A clear view of the growth of the Church in the State may be gained by the following figures : In 1785 the membership was 1,350 ; in 1800 it had increased to 2,800. These figures are ap- proximative, because the circuits lying con- tiguous to Delaware, embraced (most of them) societies within the State, which were reported in the Annual Minutes, for the cir- cuit with which they were connected.
The year A. D. 1800 was one of remarkable success to the church in Delaware. Every- where the spirit of revival seemed to prevail, and in some places the most wonderful dis- plays of divine power were exhibited. In Dover the Capital, and in Smyrna, the seat of the Philadelphia Conference for that year, sea- sons of such glory were experienced, as had never before been witnessed. In the latter town, during the whole week of the Conference session, said one who was present, the church was never "empty of people night or day." "I have seen," he adds, "the people going to
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meeting at I o'clock in the morning. Every day there was preaching at 5 o'clock, and II o'clock A. M., prayer meeting at 4, and preaching at 7 o'clock P. M. But the congre- gation continued from one meeting to the other, some going and others coming contin- ually. Those who went home could not stay away but would return again. Worldly busi- ness of every kind appeared at a stand; the people were singing and praying in almost every house. Several times a large company of them went through the streets singing and rejoicing as they went from private houses to the preaching house. Numbers of the most re- spectable and influential people in the State were there and were as zealous and lively as any others. The Governor, Mr. Bassett, was among them, and all in a flame of love, zeal and faith ; the Secretary of State, Dr. Ridgley, and the Collector of the United States Revenue for the Delaware District, Mr. McLane, and various others of the first station and respectability were full of zeal to support the glorious work. Multitudes were awakened and converted, and some of the most obstinately wicked men in these parts were conquered by the all prevailing grace. The Sabbath after Conference there were more than one hundred who came forward to join the church in one day, and during the follow- ing week a number more. Surely, Lord, this is Thy doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Such shouts of joy, and tri- umphs of praise! such harmony and mel- ody in the midst of the assemblies! while some were exhorting, others praying ! some mourning, others rejoicing in salvation found ! all in (if I may be allowed the paradox) confusion, and regular order." These remark- able scenes were also witnessed at Milford, where, too, was a large ingathering, and the increase of members on the three charges into which the State was divided, was 1,630 in one year. During the following year the increase was more than 1,200, and a new circuit was formed out of Milford, called at first Broad- kiln, but afterward Lewistown.
The year 1801 is also remembered for being the period when was first established at Dover the "Yearly Meeting," so famous in Methodist Peninsula Annals. It had been determined upon at the Smyrna Conference of 1800; and at the earnest solicitation of Gov-
enor Bassett, Dr. Ridgley and others, was to be inaugurated in the following May. It was held according to agreement for one week, and was in charge of the Presiding Elder of the District. The Rev. Thomas Ware, then in charge thus describes it : "The meeting was no less extraordinary than the one held at the Conference" (at Smyrna the previous June.) "There were but few of the principal houses in this metropolis, in which there were not some converted during the meeting ; and more than once the whole night was employed, both in the church and in private houses, in prayer for penitents and in rejoicing with those who had obtained an evidence of pardon, or were reclaimed from their backslidings." (Life of T. Ware, p. 234.)
In 1802 another union meeting was held in Dover, (they began usually every year on Sabbath in Pentecost,) at which much good was done. There were present about twenty preachers, who ministered daily to a con- gregation of three or four thousand persons. On the Sabbath succeeding torty-four mem- bers were taken into the Dover Society on pro- bation, and others were added in other parts of the circuit ; more than one hundred and fifty having been converted. Dover Circuit was at this time a six week's circuit, and was served by three preachers. To the Rev. Thomas Smith, who was one of the appointees for 1802, we are indebted for the following facts as to the number of classes and preach- ing places embraced in this field. They were, Dover, Farrow's Chapel, Raymond's, Smyrna, Blackiston's Chapel, Guen's Chapel, Camden, Thomas's Chapel, Purnell's, Fredericka, Bar- rett's Chapel, Banning's, and Garrettson's Chapel. In describing the circuit Mr. Smith says, "never was I among a people who more cordially received the gospel, and acted out its principles more fully in their lives. The more wealthy and influential part of the community in this State embraced Methodism at its rise in the Peninsula ; this had a happy influence on the common people -they had less opposition from the world, and a more ready access to the means of grace." This year was one of great prosperity on the circuit. In less than five weeks after their entrance upon the work of the charge, Mr. Smith and his colleagues took in on probation two hundred and forty- seven members. In August a season of re-
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markable power was witnessed at Black- iston's. In two days' services eighty-five per- sons became the subjects of pardoning mercy, and gave their names and influence to the church. A great revival followed, and Black- iston's was restored to its old position and influence in the State. A church was built at Banning's during the year, and, at the close, it was found that four hundred and thirty- three members had been added to the cir- cuit.
This year, also, began the Methodist Church in Laurel, Sussex Co., Del. A class had been organized in 1801, at George Adams', who lived about one mile from Laurel, but the church having been built in Laurel, the class at "Daddy Adam's house of glory" was dis- banded, some of the members going to Moore's Chapel, and others to Laurel. In no part of the State, however, was the increase in membership so marked, as on Milford Cir- cuit, where during the year nearly eleven hundred were added to the church, and a new circuit, Broadkiln, was formed. So remarkable was the work of God in the State, that Bishop Asbury sought to inspire the congregations in other parts of the country, by publicly reading to them an account of these remarka- ble out-pourings of the Spirit.
Success attended the efforts of the ministry and laity throughout the bounds of the State during the years 1803 and 4. Broadkiln circuit was changed to Lewistown Circuit : St. Mar- tin's circuit which embraced the larger portion of Worcester County, Md., included certain points in lower Sussex ; and in 1804, Duck Creek (subsequently Smyrna) circuit was cre- ated out of Dover circuit. This latter charge had been connected with Dover for twenty- five years, and the town of Smyrna, itself, was regarded as one of the most important stations in the whole State. The Philadelphia Confer- ence of 1803, was held here, and like its pre- decessor of 1800, was remarkable for its spirit- ual influence. Methodism was supported in the community, by Joseph Wyatt, in whose house religious services were held until the church was built, by Alexander McLane, father of Hon. Louis McLane, who gave the site on which the church was erected; by Dr.Cook who married a daughter of Judge Thomas White, Mr. Asbury's fast friend, and by George Ken- nard, an influential merchant of the town, whose
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