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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02576 9958
Gc 977.2 Sw36c Sweet, William Warren, 1881- 1959. Circuit-rider days in Indiana
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CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA
BY
WILLIAM WARREN SWEET Professor of History in DePauw University ..
W. K. STEWART CO., Indianapolis, 1916.
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
Copyright, 1916 BY WILLIAM W. SWEET
415101
Dale 1,00 NOV 2 & 1631
TO THE CIRCUIT RIDERS OF OLD Who contributed so largely to Indiana's Life; And to those who have entered into their labors.
INTRODUCTION.
If there ever is an appropriate time for the publica- tion of such a volume as this, it is the year 1916, which marks the 100th anniversary of Indiana's admission to the Union and it is hoped that this volume will, in a sense, be recognized as Indiana Methodism's contribu- tion to the historical literature of the centennial year. This book has been endorsed by the Indiana Confer- ences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to a cer- tain degree they have made its publication possible, and for this reason I wish to express my gratitude to them, and especially to their Centennial Committees, for their encouragement, in its preparation.
The Minutes of the old Indiana Conference, have never been published, and since they cover the impor- tant years, from 1832 to 1844, the years in which In- diana Asbury University was founded, and also the years in which Matthew Simpson and Edward R. Ames were active in its councils, it was thought that the centennial year was an appropriate time to give these Minutes to the Methodists of Indiana. Accordingly the second, and largest part of this volume is devoted to these Minutes. They have been edited with notes, which it is hoped will explain all things necessary for their intelligent reading by an Indiana Methodist.
In editing the Minutes, I have been assisted by six of my students, at DePauw University, who constituted a Seminar in Early Indiana Methodist History, during the winter of 1915-1916. These students are E. J. Wickersham, Charles A. Kuttler, Fred D. Bacon, Miss Gladys Light, Roy C. Lockwood, and J. N. Simmons. Miss Ruth Price, a graduate student in the Depart-
INTRODUCTION.
ment of History, in 1914-1915, is largely responsible for the material used in Chapter II, Part 1, on "Indiana Methodism, 1816-1832." The maps have been drawn by Mr. H. G. Bailey and Mr. E. E. Aldrich. I grate- fully acknowledge their assistance, and take this op- portunity of commending their work. W. W. S.
Greencastle, Indiana, December 15, 1915.
CONTENTS.
Introduction.
PART I.
Chapter
I.
The Planting of Methodism in
Indiana
1-29
Chapter II. Indiana Methodism, 1816-1832 30-51
Chapter III. The Old Indiana Conference, 1832-1844 52-89
PART II.
I. Journal of the First Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, New Al- bany, Indiana, October, 1832. 90-110
II. Journal of the Second Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Madison, Indiana, October, 1833 110-122
III. Journal of the Third Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Center- ville, Indiana, October, 1834 122-138 IV. Journal of the Fourth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Lafay- ette, Indiana, October, 1835 138-153
V. Journal of the Fifth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Indianapo- lis, Indiana, October, 1836 153-168
VI. Journal of the Sixth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, New Al- bany, Indiana, October, 1837 169-184
VII. Journal of the Seventh Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Rock- ville, Indiana, October, 1838 184-203
VIII. Journal of the Eighth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Law- renceburg, Indiana, October, 1839 __ 203-222
CONTENTS
IX. Journal of the Ninth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Indian- apolis, Indiana, October, 1840 222-243
X. Journal of the Tenth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Terre Haute, Indiana, October, 1841 243-273
XI. Journal of the Eleventh Annual Ses- sion of the Indiana Conference, Cen- terville, Indiana, October, 1842 273-303
XII. Journal of the Twelfth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Craw- fordsville, Indiana, October, 1843 303-333 Bibliography 334-339 Index.
CIRCUIT RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA
CHAPTER I.
THE PLANTING OF METHODISM IN INDIANA.
A STUDY of the genesis of Methodism in Indiana must begin with the coming of the first settlers, and the settlement of Indiana did not in any real sense begin until after the close of the Indian wars, which were terminated by General Anthony Wayne in his successful campaign of 1794. At the battle of Fallen Timbers, fought August 20, 1794, the Miami Indian Confederacy received its death blow, and the treaty of Greenville, signed the next year, opened up half of Ohio and a narrow strip of triangular shape in the southeast corner of what is now Indiana, to settle- ment.1 This territory however was not the first to be settled in Indiana, for the old French town of Vin- cennes had been in existence since the early years of the eighteenth century, and besides that Virginia had granted George Rogers Clark and his men, who had taken part in his campaign against Vincennes during the Revolution, 150,000 acres of land on the Ohio River, and this grant had been confirmed by the United States in 1784 after the territory north of the Ohio had been ceded by Virginia. With the close of the Indian wars settlers began to move into these grants, and the census of 1800 shows that there was a popula- tion in what is now Indiana of nearly three thousand. Vincennes and vicinity had 1,538, while Clark's grant
1 Esarey. History of Indiana. 123. 124. 127.
CONTENTS
IX. Journal of the Ninth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Indian- apolis, Indiana, October, 1840 222-243
X. Journal of the Tenth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Terre Haute, Indiana, October, 1841 243-273
XI. Journal of the Eleventh Annual Ses- sion of the Indiana Conference, Cen- terville, Indiana, October, 1842. 273-303
XII. Journal of the Twelfth Annual Session of the Indiana Conference, Craw- fordsville, Indiana, October, 1843. 303-333 Bibliography 334-339 Index.
CIRCUIT RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA
CHAPTER I.
THE PLANTING OF METHODISM IN INDIANA.
A STUDY of the genesis of Methodism in Indiana must begin with the coming of the first settlers, and the settlement of Indiana did not in any real sense begin until after the close of the Indian wars, which were terminated by General Anthony Wayne in his successful campaign of 1794. At the battle of Fallen Timbers, fought August 20, 1794, the Miami Indian Confederacy received its death blow, and the treaty of Greenville, signed the next year, opened up half of Ohio and a narrow strip of triangular shape in the southeast corner of what is now Indiana, to settle- ment.1 This territory however was not the first to be settled in Indiana, for the old French town of Vin- cennes had been in existence since the early years of the eighteenth century, and besides that Virginia had granted George Rogers Clark and his men, who had taken part in his campaign against Vincennes during the Revolution, 150,000 acres of land on the Ohio River, and this grant had been confirmed by the United States in 1784 after the territory north of the Ohio had been ceded by Virginia. With the close of the Indian wars settlers began to move into these grants, and the census of 1800 shows that there was a popula- tion in what is now Indiana of nearly three thousand. Vincennes and vicinity had 1,538, while Clark's grant
1 Esarey, History of Indiana, 123. 124. 127.
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CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
had 919.2 Most of these first settlers came from across the Ohio river, from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina, and a considerable number of them had been members of Methodist classes in the older states, though the Methodist was not the only denomination3 represented among these first settlers, but Baptists, Presbyterians and Quakers were also numerous. Speaking of the migration of settlers after the Wayne campaign, into Ohio and Indiana, and its effect upon Methodist societies in Kentucky and other places within the western country, one of the pioneer preachers writes : "The Indian wars having terminated, the people began to scatter in every direction. New settlements were formed, and Ohio and Indiana began to settle rapidly, and the societies, many of them were broken up, and we had not preachers sufficient to fol- low the tide of emigration to their new settlements";+ and as a result of this situation there was a decrease of members in the Western conference from 1795 to 1801.5
Previous to 1800 the Methodist conference in the western country was called the Kentucky conference, but in this year the name was changed to the Western conference and it so remained until 1812 when it was divided into the Ohio and the Tennessee conferences."
2 Ibid, 179.
3 W. C. Smith, "Indiana Miscellany," 43.
The Methodists were not the most numerous religious body among the early settlers in Indiana. It is probable that they were less numerous than either the Baptist or the New Lights. 4 Autobiography of Rev. William Burke contained in Finley's "Sketches of Western Methodism." 22-92.
5 In 1797 there were 1,170 white members and 57 colored re- ported for the Kentucky District. In 1799 the membership had decreased to 1,672 white, though there was a gain of eight col- ored. General Minutes, Vol. I, 74, 86.
6 The General Conference of 1796, divided the Methodist Epis- copal church into six conferences, among them being the "Western Conference" [ Sherman, "History of the Discipline," 319]. The
3
CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
In 1800 the Kentucky district contained nine circuits embracing Kentucky, and the settled parts of what is now Ohio and a part of Tennessee. These circuits were manned by fourteen preachers and one Presid- ing Elder, the redoubtable William McKendree. The names of the circuits in this district were, the Scioto and Miami, in the Ohio country, the Hinkstone and Lexington, Danville, Salt River and Shelby, Cumber- land, Green River, Holston and Russell, wholly in Kentucky, and the New River circuit, part in Ken- tucky and part in Tennessee.7 None of these circuits as yet extended into Indiana, and there were no official Methodist societies in Indiana territory at this early date, but there was undoubtedly Methodist preaching conducted by local preachers, who had come into Indi- ana among the first settlers, previous to any officially organized society. I have named the circuits of the Kentucky district because it was from this district that Indiana Methodism sprang. The Kentucky cir- cuit, which was the first circuit to include any Indiana territory, was the Salt River and Shelby.
In the year 1800 there was a great revival begun, which spread all over the western country, resulting in more than doubling the membership of the Western conference, and also greatly increasing the number of both local and traveling preachers. This remarkable revival made its appearance in Kentucky in the spring of 1801, at a Quarterly meeting held on the Hinkstone circuit. This meeting lasted from Friday until Mon- day morning, and preaching and exhortation was al- most continuous during that time. One of the preach- ers at that meeting has told us that there "was a great trembling among the dry bones. Great crowds fell
name Western Conference, however, was not used in the minutes until 1801, the Western territory being designated as the Ken- tucky district or conference.
7 General minutes, Vol. I, 99.
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CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
to the ground and cried for mercy, old and young." The next week another meeting was conducted on the Lexington circuit, in which "every local preacher and exhorter was employed, holding small meetings at various places on the circuit, and on Sunday morning all the people came together for a great meeting, and as they came they could be heard, singing and shout- ing on the road." With this beginning the work and enthusiasm spread into all the circuits of the Western conference, and Methodist work was also extended into many of the new settlements.8
The first reliable record of Methodist preaching in Indiana was in 1801 at a settlement called Springville, which was located in Clark's grant. Two local preachers, Samuel Parker and Edward Talbott, crossed the Ohio river and conducted a two days' meeting.9 This was evidently a part of the great revival move- ment which was then under way in the western country.
To William McKendree, the Presiding Elder of the Kentucky district, belongs the honor of establishing the first official Methodist class ever formed in Indi- ana. In the summer of 1802 Andrew Mitchell took William McKendree across the Ohio river in a canoe, and on this trip two classes were formed, in what is now Clark county, one at the town of Charlestown, the present county seat, and the other at a place called New Chapple.10 In the spring of 1803 Benjamin Lakin, then traveling the Salt River circuit in Ken- tucky, crossed the river and preached in the woods near the present town of Charlestown, as soon as the
8 Burke's Autobiography, 75-79.
9 From a letter of George K. Hester. found in Holliday's "Indiana Methodism," 37.
10 From a letter of I. N. Britton, a lifelong friend of Andrew Mitchell. The letter is found among the records of the Methodist church at. Charlestown, Indiana.
1809
1809
1795
1805
1803
.
RIVER
1784
Early Indiana Indian Cessions
1804
5
CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
weather permitted, and made arrangements to include that neighborhood, and also the Robertson neighbor- hood, which was five miles north of Charlestown, among his regular preaching places, and these places remained a part of this Kentucky circuit until the or- ganization of the Silver Creek circuit several years later. At the session of the Western conference, in 1805, Peter Cartwright was appointed as junior preacher with Benjamin Lakin, on the Salt River and Shelby circuit, and he states in his Autobiography that "Brother Benjamin Lakin and myself crossed the Ohio river and preached at Brother Robertson's and Prath- er's. In this grant we had two classes and splendid revivals of religion."11
While Methodist preaching was being introduced into Clark's grant in the manner above described, others were introducing Methodist preaching in other sections of the new territory. The narrow strip of territory which had been opened to settlement after the Wayne campaign, in the southeast section, had be- come quite densely populated by 1805; especially was this true of the country along the Whitewater river. In 1805 two settlements had been formed on the east branch of the Whitewater, one a little south of the present city of Richmond, which was called the Ken- tucky settlement, because most of the families had come from Kentucky; the other settlement was above the present town of Brookville, and was called the Carolina settlement, because most of the families there had come from South Carolina.12 Among the settlers in the lat-
11 Peter Cartwright's Autobiography, 167.
12 Western Christian Advocate. August 15. 1845. Article by Allen Wiley. Rev. Allen Wiley, one of the well-known pioneer preachers of Indiana, contributed to the Western Christian Ad- vocate during the years 1845-1846, a series of thirty-seven papers on the "Introduction and Progress of Methodism in South-east- ern Indiana." These papers form one of the important sources for this study.
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CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
ter settlement were several Methodists, including James Cole, Benjamin McCarty, who had been an exhorter or local preacher in Tennessee, and Enoch Smith and his pious wife. These persons met together with some others and drew up a petition to John Sale, who was the Presiding Elder of the Ohio district, ask- ing that a regular traveling preacher be sent them. In response to this petition in March, 1806, John Sale sent Joseph Oglesby to form a new circuit west of the Great Miami.
We are fortunate in having from Oglesby himself a description of the formation of this new circuit, which became known as the Whitewater circuit. He began his labors at the home of Moses Crume, a local preacher, living at that time near the present town of Hamilton, Ohio. His next stop was at the cabin of a family a few miles from Crume's by the name of Gray. After opening several preaching places in Ohio he struck General Wayne's old road from Hamilton to Ft. Wayne, which he says "seemed still fresh and plain." From this road he came upon an Indian trail which led him into Indiana, to the settlement above mentioned, the one known as the Kentucky settlement, near the present town of Richmond. Here he preached at the cabin of a Mr. Cox, where he formed a society. This society was small, because most of the people in this settlement were Baptists. The next preaching place was at McCarty's, more than forty miles down the Whitewater, seven miles above the entrance of that river into the state of Ohio. Here a flourishing society was formed. From McCarty's he went eleven miles down the river to the cabin of a Mr. Thomas, this class finally building a meeting house at Elizabethtown. From thence he went to the house of a Mr. Hays, be- tween Elizabethtown and Lawrenceburg and formed another society. Oglesby also preached at Lawrence- burg, the county town of Dearborn county, on this first
7
CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
round, the town having been founded in 1802. From Lawrenceburg the preacher started north, up the Miami, preaching on both sides of the river, until he arrived at the place of beginning.13 This route was traveled by Oglesby every four weeks until the meet- ing of the Western conference, which was held that year in Tennessee, on September 15, 1806, and during his six months on this circuit he succeeded in gathering into Church membership sixty-seven persons.
Joseph Oglesby, the founder of the Whitewater cir- cuit, was at that time a tall, slender, young man, in the prime of life. His hair, which inclined to be fair, was clipped short from the forehead half way back to the crown, and the remainder was allowed to grow eight or ten inches long, so as to reach down to his shoulders, and hung loosely about his neck. This peculiar method of hair dressing was recognized as the Methodist preacher fashion, and was quite generally followed by all the preachers. Oglesby's voice was a full bass and stentorian, but not harsh or grating. He had a great command of words and poured forth his thoughts and feelings with great volubility and zeal."14 The second year of the Whitewater circuit, (1806-1807) Thomas Hellums and Sela Paine were appointed as the circuit preachers.15 Hellums is described as "a grave, zealous, affectionate and weeping preacher." His countenance was always most solemn, "and his subjects of discourse were usually of a grave and pathetic cast. * * * The intonations of his voice were as solemn as death, and
13 Western Christian Adv., October 17, 1845. In this paper Allen Wiley quotes from a letter of Joseph Oglesby, in which the above facts are given concerning the founding of the Whitewater circuit.
14 Western Christian Adv .. October 17. 1845.
15 The year 1807 was the first year a report from the White- water circuit appears in the minutes and through a mistake it is called White River circuit instead of Whitewater. ( Minutes, Vol. I, 149.)
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CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
usually large tears dropped from his face most of the time while he was preaching."16 In this year Benjamin Lakin, whom we have met before, as one of the earliest Methodist itinerants to preach in Indiana, preached at a quarterly meeting held at McCarty's. During one of his sermons on a Sabbath, he suddenly paused and said in a most solemn manner, "I feel an impression that there is some young man or woman in this house, who will be tramping in hell before this time next year." Immediately, we are told by Allen Wiley, who was one of the young men present at that meeting, "all the young people whom I could see became deathly pale : and I suppose myself among the rest: for-I felt as awful as death, judgment and eternity could make me."17
Joseph Williams was the circuit preacher on the Whitewater circuit during the year 1807-1808, and that year many new neighborhoods were settled and taken in as preaching places, and the number of appointments on the circuit had increased to over twenty. Hugh Cull, a local preacher who had settled in the Whitewater country in 1805 and had done some preaching in the neighborhood, was employed to help Williams on the circuit, and at the close of the year the membership of the circuit was reported as 165 white and one colored.18
The first entire circuit in the territory of Indiana was the Silver Creek, which was organized in 1807 with Moses Ashworth as the circuit preacher. This new circuit took in Clark's grant, which had formerly been included within the Salt River and Shelby circuit of the Kentucky district. With the organization of this circuit, Indiana Methodism starts on its separate
16 Western Christian Adv .. November 28, 1845. Allen Wiley Paper Number VI.
17 Ibid., December 5. 1845. Paper Number VII.
18 Minutes. Vol. I. 159.
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CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
career. Moses Ashworth closed his first year with a camp-meeting, held in the Robertson's neighborhood, a few miles from Charlestown, and this was one of the first, if not the first camp-meeting to be held in In- diana.19 In the year 1808 a new district was added to the Western conference, and it received the name, In- diana district, and thus the name Indiana, appears on Methodist records for the first time. This new district had six circuits, namely : The Illinois, which included all the settlements in the great territory ; the Missouri, another state-wide circuit ; Maramack, Cold Water, and the two Indiana circuits, the Silver Creek and the Whitewater.20 Over this new district was placed as Presiding Elder, Samuel Parker, one of the local preachers who first introduced Methodist preaching in Indiana in the year 1801.
In the year 1809 a third Indiana circuit was formed, the first report of which appeared in the minutes for 1810. This circuit was the Vincennes and the preacher appointed to preach Methodist doctrine in this Roman Catholic stronghold was William Winans.21 The story is told that one of the first services conducted by the circuit rider in the old town of Vincennes was held on a Sabbath evening at the fort, on the Wabash. The congregation was made up of a few government offi- cials, a few English speaking settlers, two or three In- dians and the Governor of the territory, William Henry Harrison. There were only a few tallow candles to furnish light for the service, and one of these was held by the governor to enable the young circuit rider to read his text and line out the hymn.22 And it ought to be said, in this connection, that the first governor of Indiana territory, William Henry Harrison, was always
19 From the letter of Rev. Geo. K. Hester, as above.
20 Minutes. Vol. I, 171.
21 Ibid., 184.
22 Holliday, "Indiana Methodism," 28. 29.
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CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS IN INDIANA.
the firm friend of the Methodist circuit rider, though he himself was a communicant of the Presbyterian Church.
Belonging to the Vincennes circuit was a neighbor- hood known as the Busroe settlement, located on the Wabash, which was visited by Peter Cartwright in 1808, and in this settlement he organized a Methodist society, in the following manner, which we will allow him to relate in his own way :23
"I will state here a case which occurred at an early date in the state of Indiana, in a settlement called Busroe. Many of the early emigrants to that settle- ment were Methodists, Baptists and Cumberland Pres- byterians. The Shaker priests, all apostates from the Baptist and Cumberland Presbyterians, went over among them. Many of them I was personally ac- quainted with and had given them letters when they removed from Kentucky to that new country.
"There was then no Methodist circuit preacher in that region. There was an old brother Collins, a local preacher, who withstood the Shakers, and in private combat was a full match for any of them; but he was not eloquent in debate, and hence the Shaker priests overcame my old brother, and by scores swept mem- bers of different churches away from their steadfast- ness into the muddy pools of Shakerism. The few who remained steadfast, sent to Kentucky for me, praying me to come over and help them. I sent an appointment with an invitation to meet any or all of the Shaker priests in public debate ; but instead of meeting me they appointed a meeting in opposition, and warned the be- lievers, as they called them, to keep away from my meeting ; but from our former acquaintance and inti- mate friendship, many of them came to hear me. I
23 Peter Cartwright says the second full circuit in the State of Indiana was the Vincennes circuit, which he himself helped to form in the manner here described. "Autobiography," 167.
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