USA > Indiana > A history of the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from its organization in 1844 to the present > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
A HISTORY
OF
THE NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH From Its Organization, in 1844 to the Present
By REV. H. N. HERRICK, D. D., Of the North Indiana Conference AND WILLIAM WARREN SWEET
Professor of History in DePauw University
v.1
W. K. Stewart Company Indianapolis
1917
Copyright 1917 BY WILLIAM W. SWEET
1502828
TO
MY FATHER AND MOTHER
INTRODUCTION
At the session of the North Indiana Conference at Bluffton, in 1910, two conference historians were ap- pointed, H. N. Herrick and Milton Mahin. At that time Milton Mahin was the oldest living member of the conference, having joined the old Indiana Conference in 1841, and had continued in the active ministry until 1894; his active ministry thus covering the whole life of the North Indiana Conference. Dr. Herrick had entered the ranks of the conference in 1868 and con- tinued in the active work of the ministry until 1910, when he was granted a superannuated relation. Both of these men were thus well fitted to write a history of their conference. Both had been active in the con- ference, Milton Mahin having been secretary during the years of the Civil War, and each of them had served as Presiding Elders or District Superintendents. In 1911 Dr. F. G. Brown was added to the number of conference historians, the conference rightly thinking that his experience as Assistant Editor of the Western Christian Advocate would stand him in good stead in gathering material for the history of the conference.
Dr. H. N. Herrick immediately began to plan and work for the accomplishment of the task to which he and his committee had been assigned by his beloved conference. He planned a complete historical survey of every church in the conference, and there was ap- pointed, under his direction, county historians for each county in the conference, whose duty it was to collect material for the history of every Methodist Episcopal church in the county. The county historians appointed were as follows: Adams county, Rev. W. J. Myers ; Allen, Mr. O. E. Mohler; Blackford, Rev. B. G. Shinn, attorney ; Cass, Mr. I. W. Krider; DeKalb, Mr. M. B.
INTRODUCTION.
Wills; Delaware, Rev. J. E. Irwin; Elkhart, Prof. B. W. Thomas; Grant, Charles E. Neal, Esq .; Hamilton, Mr Roll S. Truitt; Hancock, Rev. C. H. Smith; Henry, Dr. J. W. White; Howard, Dr. J. McL. Moulder; Huntington, Dr. W. C. Chaffee; Jay, Mr. A. T. Place; Kosciusko, Rev. J. B. Cook; La- Grange, Mr. G. C. Morgan; Madison, F. A. Walker, attorney ; Marion, Rev. G. H. Hill; Miami, W. E. Mow- bray, attorney ; Noble, Mrs. M. E. Kiblinger; Randolph, Rev. H. J. Norris ; St. Joseph, Mrs. W. E. Butterworth; Steuben, Mrs. Frank Wier; Tipton, Mr. M. W. Per- shing ; Wabash, Mrs. A. F. Ebbinghouse; Wayne, Rev. O. S. Harrison ; Wells, Prof. P. A. Allen; Whitley, Rev. C. W. Shoemaker.
It was Dr. Herrick's plan to divide the history into three parts. Part I was to contain a general history of the conference; Part II was to contain the county histories, or the history of the churches in each county, prepared by the county historians ; Part III was to be a complete appointment record, both by charges and by pastors, with other special features. Dr. Herrick had spent a great deal of time and labor in collecting mate- rial for this history, and the first time I had the pleas- ure of meeting him was on a hot summer day in 1914, in the library at DePauw University, where he had come to gather material. Before his death, which occurred in February, 1915, he had practically com- pleted the appointment record, and it is published as the Part II of the present volume, though much of it has been brought down to date.
On the death of Dr. Herrick the conference Pub- lishing and Finance Committees placed the whole mat- ter in my hands; all of Dr. Herrick's material and manuscript, and his correspondence relating to the his- tory has been carefully read and it has been very val- uable in the preparation of this volume. After very careful consideration it was thought best, however, not
INTRODUCTION.
to attempt to print the book entirely as Dr. Herrick had planned it, and Part II, which was to contain the work of the county historians has, therefore, been omitted. This was thought best for at least two rea- sons: First, it would make the volume entirely too large, and therefore both too bulky and expensive and, second, only about a third of the county historians had turned in any material, and it was thought that if we waited until all had submitted material, the volume would be delayed for a number of years, and perhaps never appear at all. I wish, however, to express my thanks to those county historians who have sent in their histories in manuscript. The material thus col- lected has in many instances proved helpful and has been freely used.
I wish to take this opportunity also to acknowledge the work that has been done by certain students of mine at DePauw University: E. J. Wickersham is largely responsible for the material in the second chap- ter; Charles A. Kuttler for the third; J. N. Simmons for the sixth; H. G. Bailey for the seventh, and E. E. Aldrich for the eighth. Mr. Fred D. Bacon, Roy C. Lockwood and Miss Gladys Light have also rendered valuable help, and my colleague, Dr. W. W. Carson, has kindly read part of the manuscript and also part of the proof.
The task of collecting the pictures that appear in this volume was placed in the hands of Rev. J. C. White at the death of Dr. Herrick and he is largely responsible for them. I wish also to thank the Publish- ing Committee for their encouragement and co-opera- tion.
W. W. S.
DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana.
CONTENTS
Introduction
I-III.
PART I.
Chapter I. The Status of Methodism in Indiana at the Organiza- tion of the North Indiana Conference 1-5
Chapter
II. The First Decade, 1844-1852.
6-34
Chapter
III. The North Indiana Confer-
ence, 1852-1860
35-67
Chapter
IV. The North Indiana Confer-
ence in War Time, 1861-
1865
68-90
Chapter
V. The Years of Reconstruction,
1866-1869
91-106
Chapter
VI. Methodism in North Indiana
Conference
from
1870-
1876
107-127
Chapter VII. The North Indiana Confer-
ence, 1877-1887
128-144
Chapter VIII. The Gas Boom, 1888-1893.
145-167
Chapter
IX. The Educational Interests of
the North Indiana Confer-
ence
168-195
Chapter
X. The last years of the Cen-
tury, 1894-1900
196-208
Chapter
XI. Recent Progress, 1901-1917.
_
209-221
ii
CONTENTS
PART II.
APPOINTMENT RECORDS.
I. Appointments in Indiana before the Organization of the Indiana Conference 224-237
II. Appointments in Indiana from the Organization of the Indiana Conference to the Organization of the North Indiana Conference, 1832- 1844 238-266
III. North Indiana Conference Charges and their Pastors, to the present. 267-336
IV. Preachers left without appointment to attend School 337-339
V. Miscellaneous Appointments 340-344
VI. Local Preachers Who Served as Supplies but did not Join the Annual Conference 345-349
VII. Appointment Record for Districts ; Presiding El- ders and District Superintendents ___ 350-351
VIII. Deceased Members
352-357
IX. Session of the Conference. 358-359
X. General Conference Delegates 360-361
Index 362-
Maps and Illustrations
Map of Methodist Circuits in Indiana in 1816 Facing p. 6 The Old Indiana Conference in 1832 Facing p. 22 Map of Indiana Conference at its division in 1844 . Facing p. 38 Map of the North Indiana Conference since 1852 . Facing p. 54
Members of the North Indiana Conference Facing p. 76
A History of the North Indiana Conference Of the Methodist Episcopal Church
CHAPTER I.
THE STATUS OF METHODISM IN INDIANA AT THE ORGAN- IZATION OF THE NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE.
The purpose of this narrative is to recount the his- tory of the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from its organization in 1844 to the present. There are doubtless some who entertain the opinion that such a history as this is hardly worth the writing, but those who love the church of their fathers, whether they be laymen or ministers, will be interested in this simple story, and it is for their sakes that I have undertaken the task. In these pages there will be found little to excite the interest of the casual reader, for the subject-matter is the humdrum life and activities of the early itinerants in the North section of Indiana and their successors, and the religious activi- ties of the common people. There will be little to say concerning politics and war, but there will be much to say of revivals and camp-meetings, of the building of churches, and the action of Conferences.
The North Indiana Conference was not the first Methodist Conference to exist on Indiana soil. Meth- odism came across the Allegheny mountains with the stream of settlers who moved into the territory south of the Ohio from the close of the Revolution, and the first circuit of which we have any very definite knowl- edge, to be laid out in this vast new region, was in Ken-
2
NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE
tucky, in the year 1786.1 From Kentucky Methodist Circuit riders came across the Ohio river into Indiana, and there was Methodist preaching in Clark's Grant, now Clark county, as early as 1802. The region west of the mountains had been organized into a Confer- ence, called the Western Conference, in 1800, though Bishop Asbury had visited the west as early as 1787, and the first Conference session held west of the moun- tains was in 1789. In these early visits which Bishop Asbury made across the mountains, in his efforts to regulate the affairs of the infant church in the wilder- ness, he was often exposed to danger from the In- dians, who were on the war path from 1786 to 1794, and several times the western preachers had to arm themselves in crossing the mountains and guard Bishop Asbury through the wilderness.2
During the twelve years of the existence of the Western Conference, six Indiana circuits were organ- ized, and when the Ohio and the Tennessee Confer- ences were formed from the Western Conference in 1812 these six Indiana circuits were divided between those two Conferences; southeastern Indiana being in- cluded in the Ohio and southwestern Indiana in the Tennessee Conference. The next change made in con- ference boundaries which affected Indiana was in 1816 when the southwest section of the state was included in the Missouri Conference, though the southeast section still continued a part of the Ohio Conference. In 1820 there were thirteen circuits in Indiana, five in the Ohio Conference and eight in the Missouri Conference. The General Conference of 1824 divided the Missouri and the Ohio Conferences, and placed Indiana and Illinois into a new conference to be called the Illinois. The old Illinois Conference continued for eight years, when in 1832 the old Indiana Conference was organized,
1 Peter Cartwright's Autobiography, 38.
2 Ibid., 39.
3
NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE
including all the state of Indiana, and a narrow strip of territory in the southern part of Michigan.3
When the old Indiana Conference was organized in 1832 there were five districts, 20,035 members and sixty-five preachers, at the last session of the old Indiana Conference in 1843, there were sixteen districts, 67,219 members and two hundred and sixteen traveling preachers.4 At this time there was consider- able agitation in the larger Conferences of Methodism for a division into smaller conferences, and a letter of Bishop Morris to the Western Christian Advocate at this time, sums up the arguments in favor of the smaller divisions. He states that too large a confer- ence is objectionable on several accounts; such as needless waste of time and money attending them. He thinks that the conferences like the members compos- ing them, should be itinerant. "Nothing," he con- tinues, "is so well calculated to fix a strong impres- sion in favor of Methodism on the population of a vil- lage and the surrounding country as a Conference of traveling preachers with hearts warm from scenes of revivals in their respective charges." He continues : "Those Conferences which are small enough to itiner- ate among the villages within their bounds are usually attended with revivals of religion, while very large ones can only be held in a few large places, where they become so common, not to say burdensome, that they cease to be regarded with much interest."5 In writing this letter Bishop Morris had in mind the Indiana Conference, and he makes the recommenda- tion that it be divided into two Conferences.
In 1842 the Indiana Conference had met at Center- ville, and at this session it was resolved to request the ensuing General Conference to divide the Conference,
3 Sweet, "Circuit-Rider Days in Indiana," Chapters I and II.
4 Holliday, "Indiana Methodism," 146.
5 Western Chrstian Advocate, December 29, 1843.
4
NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE
making the National road the line of separation. The agreement was that the towns east of Indianapolis on the National road were to belong to the North Indiana Conference, while Indianapolis and the towns west, lying on the National road, were to belong to the southern division, or the Indiana Conference. At the next session of the Conference in 1843 it was agreed that Terre Haute and the Eastern Charge in Indian- apolis should belong to the northern division.6
The General Conference of 1844 met in New York and according to the recommendation of the Indiana Conference, the state of Indiana was divided into two Conferences, that part lying south of the National road retaining the name Indiana Conference, and that part of the state lying north received the name North Indiana Conference. The membership of this new Conference, estimated by districts, was as follows: Lafayette district, 3,312; Peru district, 3,010; South Bend district, 2,625; Ft. Wayne district, 2,639; Cen- terville district, 4,173; Indianapolis district, 4,389; making an aggregate membership, including proba- tioners, of 27,563.7
Methodism in Kokomo came into existence about the same time as the North Indiana Conference. In 1843 Jacob Colclazer rode into Kokomo on his horse and proceeded to organize the first Methodist Church in the village. In the latter part of the year 1844, a log church was built on the corner of Superior and Washington streets, which at the time was considered a most suitable church edifice, and probably was the most expensive building in the county. The next year a Sunday school was also organized, which reported an average attendance of fifteen.8 At the session of the Conference in 1844, J. L. Smith had been appointed
6 Holliday, "Life and Times of Allen Wiley," 84.
7 J. L. Smith, "Indiana Methodism," 116.
8 Kokomo Tribune, February 6, 1915.
5
NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE
to the Eastern Charge, Indianapolis, and when he arrived there found the congregation without a house of worship. Roberts Chapel had been commenced the year before, named in honor of Bishop Roberts, who had died in 1843, but the walls had been raised only one story, when the work on the building was sus- pended for the want of funds. The court house, how- ever, had been secured as a preaching place, and was so occupied until some time in the summer of 1845, when the basement of the church was so far finished that it could be used for the public.9
It was in 1844, January 18, that the remains of Bishop Robert R. Roberts, which had been interred on his farm in Lawrence county, at his death in 1843, were disinterred and removed to Greencastle. At the last session of the old Indiana Conference, action had been taken to this effect, and a committee had been appointed for this purpose, and also to collect funds from the Methodist preachers in Indiana, for the erec- tion of a suitable monument.10 On the 19th of January the body was interred on the campus of Indiana As- bury University, and at that time suitable religious services were conducted by Rev. John Miller, followed by an appropriate address by Professor W. C. Lara- bee.11 This was the last official act of the old Indiana Conference, and it is fitting that the grave of Indiana Methodism's first Bishop should be the link which unites the history of the Indiana Conferences.
9 J. L. Smith, "Indiana Methodism," 117.
10 Sweet, "Circuit-Rider Days in Indiana," 86, 87. 11 Holliday, "Indiana Methodism," 381.
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST DECADE.
The first session of the North Indiana Conference was held at Ft. Wayne, commencing September 24, 1844. Bishop Waugh presided, and Bishop Hamline, with his wife, were also there. Bishop Hamline and wife had come in a two-horse wagon from Detroit, and continued their journey from the Conference to Cincinnati.1 The majority of the preachers came on horseback. J. L. Smith, pastor of the Eastern Charge, Indianapolis, spoke of the Conference in the following manner: "Thanks to the management of the smooth- faced, popular Presiding Elder, G. M. Boyd, and to the sagacious, gentlemanly pastor, H. B. Beers, ample ar- rangements had been made for the entertainment of the Conference, including the faithful horses that car- ried the preachers to Ft. Wayne, for in the language of ancient hospitality, 'there was straw and provender enough and room to lodge in.' "2
The Conference consisted of eight Presiding El- ders, eighty pastors and nine assistant pastors, two agents for the Indiana Asbury University, two Uni- versity professors and four superannuated preachers, making in all a Conference of 105 members. James Johnson, L. B. Eaton, Hezekiah Smith, Abraham Koontz, James Burns, L. M. Hancock, Martin S. Mor- rison, J. C. Ferris, Daniel Crumpacker, Jeremiah Early, J. C. Robbins and James Sparr had the honor of constituting the first class received on trial in the North Indiana Conference.3
1 Autobiography of Joseph Tarkington, 144.
2 J. L. Smith, "Indiana Methodism," 114.
3 Ibid., 115.
WHITE WATER
CIRCUIT
M
LAM
١
OHIO
1
1
LAWRENCEBURG. CIRCUIT
1
1
DISTRICT 1
SILVER CREEK CIRCUIT
1
TENNESSEE
CONFERENCE
VINCENNES
CIRCUI
A
T
RIVER
PA
/ BLUE RIVER
A
PATOKA
CIRCUIT
1
CIRCUIT
1
DISTRICT
WABASH
CIRCUIT
CONFERENCE DISTRI
E
1816
MAP OF METHODIST CIRCUITS IN INDIANA IN 1816.
n
1
7
NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE
Considerable time was spent in the consideration of some of the things done by the late General Con- ference. The General Conference of 1844 was a most important one, for it was at this Conference that the division occurred between the northern and southern Methodists. The question of slavery came up early in the General Conference, in connection with an ap- peal of a member of the Baltimore Conference who had been suspended from his ministerial standing for refusing to liberate certain slaves which had come into his possession through marriage. After a discus- sion which covered five days, the General Conference sustained the Baltimore Conference by a vote of 117 to 56.4
The great discussion over slavery, however, began with the report of the committee on Episcopacy on May 21st. Bishop James O. Andrew, of Georgia, had a slave girl left him by an old lady of Augusta, Ga., on condition that he should liberate her and send her to Liberia, with her consent. But on reaching the re- quired age the girl refused to go to Liberia, and re- mained legally the property of Bishop Andrew. The Bishop had also inherited from his first wife a slave boy, which he could not free, and on his second mar- riage he married a lady who had inherited slaves from a former husband's estate. The committee requested the Bishop to resign, but after some discussion a sub- stitute was offered, stating "that it is the sense of this General Conference that he desist from the exercise of this office so long as this impediment remains." After a discussion lasting ten days, the substitute was carried by a vote of 110 to 68. The General Confer- ence adjourned June 10th, and on the following morn- ing the southern delegates met in New York City and agreed to call a convention of the southern churches,
4 W. W. Sweet, "Methodist Episcopal Church and Civil War," 24, 25.
8
NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE
to meet at Louisville, Ky. Upon meeting, this conven- tion, by a vote of 94 to 3, decided to separate from the Methodist Episcopal Church and to form a new church to be known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.5
The North Indiana Conference passed the follow- ing resolutions :
1. Resolved, by the North Indiana Conference, in Conference assembled, That we do in the fear of God protest against all efforts, from whatever source proceeding, to divide the Methodist Episcopal Church, and hereby pledge ourselves, to the best of our ability, to heal the wounds of Zion and promote the peace of the church thus threatened and endangered.
2. Resolved, That we do not concur in the reso- lutions of the late General Conference to alter the Sixth Restrictive Rule in Section 3 of the first chapter of the Book of Discipline.
3. Resolved, That we have no desire to withhold from our southern brethren any portion of the prop- erty of the church that may justly belong to them ; but are influenced in our non-concurrence with the above resolution of the General Conference by motives whol- ly apart and above pecuniary considerations.
The vote on non-concurrence was: Ayes, 65; nays, 0.6
Another series of resolutions were passed as fol- lows:
Resolved, That we approve of the course and spirit of Dr. Bond, as editor, in the unpleasant agitation of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the case of Bishop Andrew.
Resolved, That we most heartily concur in the
5 Ibid.
6 Western Christian Advocate, November 1, 1844.
9
NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE
action of the majority of the late General Conference in that case.7
Bishop Waugh was in full sympathy with all the preachers of the Conference. It is said that he wept with them at the recital of their sorrows and rejoiced with them in their triumphs, for toil and hardship he himself had experienced. The Bishop had called Allen Wiley into the cabinet to assist in making the appoint- ments. Wiley had traveled the Madison District when said district had included Ft. Wayne. Wiley knew the country from the Ohio river to the lakes; he knew the men of the Conference as no Bishop could know them.8
Some of the Presiding Elders were deeply con- cerned over certain appointments, and especially was this so of Joseph Tarkington, Presiding Elder of the Centerville District. He was much concerned about the unfinished church at Cambridge City, especially as a new pastor had to be appointed to the Cambridge and Dublin Charge. The retiring pastor had been there two years and could not be returned. "What shall I do?" inquired the Presiding Elder. "Send J. H. Hull there; he is just the man for the place," was the reply. Hull was sent, and the first thing he did on reaching the charge was to sell his horse and apply the proceeds toward finishing the church. The people, inspired by his zeal, came to the rescue of the enter- prise. Early next spring, by invitation of the pastor and trustees, President Simpson, of Indiana Asbury University, and J. L. Smith, pastor of the Eastern Charge, Indianapolis, attended the dedication of the new church.9
A new era of Methodism was beginning. The city of Lafayette, which was to entertain the North Indiana Conference at its next annual session in Sep-
7 Western Christian Advocate, November 29, 1844.
SJ. L. Smith, "Indiana Methodism," 116, 117.
9 Ibid., 120, 121.
10
NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE
tember, 1845, was advancing rapidly in the develop- ment of Methodism. In 1844 the Methodists here had built a fine brick church and parsonage on the corner of Fifth and Ferry streets. The dedication took place in the summer of 1845. It was not long until Meth- odism had grown to such an extent in this city that a second church was demanded. In 1849 the nucleus of a new church was formed, under the labors of W. F. Wheeler, city missionary, and in 1850 one hundred and forty members were set off from the old society, forming a second church, with T. S. Webb as the first pastor. What had been the experience in Lafayette, to a certain extent, had been the experience of the whole Conference. The churches throughout the Con- ference, and Indiana Asbury University, located at Greencastle, were in a most prosperous condition.10
The University was receiving favorable comment in the Western Christian Advocate from time to time. In one issue the following comment was given: "We can, with great confidence, recommend our friends to send their sons here, in order to have them instructed in literature, their morals duly guarded and their re- ligious advantages increased." Again, "the moral in- fluence is so strong that most wild boys who go there are naturally awed into a sober deportment by the silent yet efficacious religious and moral influence which surrounds them from the faculty and the sober students. At this time there was a total of 161 stu- dents in the University, and much energy was being put forth for the purpose of endowing each professor- ship and to place the institution on a basis so that the storms of time would not disturb.11
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