USA > Indiana > A history of the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from its organization in 1844 to the present > Part 7
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L. G. Carnes
J. S. Newcombe
E. C. Fisher
E. S. Riley
Chas. A. Modlin
James C. Lawburgh
G. E. Garrison
A. F. Hogan
A.D.Burkett
u. S. Hartley
R. W. Stokes
D. A. J. Brown
W. E. Pittinger
A. Singer
O.T.Martin
J. R. Stelle
LeRoy Myers
E. E. DeWitt
C.G. Yoemans
Warren W. Wiant
HA. Homer
Edwin Dickson
L. W. Kemper
R. A. Morrison'
MEMBERS OF THE NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE.
R. W. Rogers
S. I. Zechiel
W. E. Hogan
Roscoe S. Shaw
H. C. Powell
C. W. Anderson
Chas. W. Chadwick
J. C. Valentine
L. G. Jacobs
C. B. Thomas
W. T. Daly
E. C. Hallman
E. M. Dunbar
J. B. O'Conner
K. H. Carlson
B. M. Beckdolt
A. C. Hoover
Joseph Grimes
Chas. A. Cloud
C. A. Byrt
Ernest J. Wickersham
F. H. Cremean
C. W. Montgomery
LH. Richardson
E. A. Hartman
E. H. Kennedy
Ira Jones
A. H. Kenna
Jóhn C: Wengatz
W. H. Jenkin
MEMBERS OF THE NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE.
L. F. Ulmer
Karl R. Thompson
Ferdinand A. Shipley
J. O. Hochstedler
J. F. Edwards
E. D. Imler
A. F. White
A. C. Wischmeier
Walter H. Hoffman
C. E. Bash
D. C. Beatty
R. H. Wehrly
M. E. Shattuck
H. R. Glick
M. M. Thornburg
J. M. Jordan
T. S. Haddock
V. C. Rogers
F. J. Robins
L. O. Winslow
M. O. Lester
F. S. Young
J. Pfeiffer
G. E. Whitten
G. N. Callaway
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G, A. McPheeters
J. S. Phillips
J. A. Morrison
Everett Nixon
C. E. Smith
MEMBERS OF THE NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE.
John Parker
B. R. Pogue
J. H. Royer
Garfield Dawe
J. L. Williams
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H. R. Carson
A. P. Teter
R. L. Lundry
H. L. Russell
A. H. Backus
1506
C. S. Miller
MEMBERS OF THE NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE.
J. L. Murr
A. J. Duryee
J O. Campbell
Ivan R. Godwin
E. E. Trippeer
O. A. Trabue
Chas. W. Shoemaker
E. Naftzger
George R. Grose
Lew P. Pfeifer
M. L. Hardingham
Frank P. Morris
Fred F. Thornburg
8. F. Hornaday
L. A. Swisher
W. T. Arnold
L. M. Edwards
J. H. Runkle
G. F. Osbun
E. A. Bunner
C. M. Hobbs
E. C. Dunn
E. E. Lutes
Arthur Cates
W. M. Hollopeter
F. A. Hall
H. L. Liddle
V. B. Hargitt
Preston Polhemus
J. J. Fischer
MEMBERS OF THE NORTH INDIANA CONFERENCE.
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resigned May 2, 1865. He transferred to Iowa Con- ference in 1874, returned to this Conference in 1875, and transferred to South Kansas Conference in 1879.
The writer feels handicapped in the fact that no records are available to show the engagements in which these men participated, some of them on account of disability having resigned their positions before their commands saw active service, and of others no records are given.
The members of the Conference who were enlisted in the army and appointed to positions other than that of chaplain were located by action of the Conference, with the promise of readmission upon their return, which promise was faithfully kept.
Members of the Conference who served as chap- lain in different Indiana regiments were very loyal to the cause of the Union, and did what they could in the time of the country's peril. They were nearly all men past middle life, and this accounts in many cases for their early retirement from the service. Many of these devoted men have fought their last battle and have gone to their reward.
The army chaplain did not have many privileges for distinctly religious services, except on rare occa- sions, when the army spent some time in camp. But he had many other opportunities to be helpful to those under his care. One of the duties of the chaplain was to convey to the families and friends of the soldier the funds paid him by the government. In this way a communication was maintained between the soldier and his distant home. He was the regimental post- master, mail coming to army headquarters, down through corps, division, brigade and regimental, into the hands of the chaplain, and conveyed by him to the soldier addressed. The chaplain was the special friend to every man in his command. This gave him great opportunity for usefulness in time of sickness or
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wounds, in writing letters for disabled men and in other ways too numerous to mention.
Another duty required of the chaplain was to take his place with the surgeons and ambulance corps, in time of battle to render any assistance possible to the wounded and dying. Many a soldier boy has been comforted and led to the Savior at such times by the presence of a devoted chaplain.
At times even these zealous workers, however, seem to have become discouraged in their labors.
One chaplain wrote that the soldiers "were in a state of mind unfavorable to the reception of the truth." A captain, seeing this statement in print, hastened to deny it. In his opinion, he said, the regi- ments as a whole were very open to such a reception. In support of this belief he pointed out that the terri- ble battles through which the men had passed had made them think more seriously of the future.12 This belief of the captain is somewhat proved by the re- ports which many of the chaplains made of how many of the men were converted at the religious meetings held at various times.
In 1863 an added burden was put upon the chap- lains when the Secretary of War declined to furnish regimental tents for religious worship.13 In explain- ing this action, he said that the difficulty of transport- ing such a large tent impeded the progress of the army.
Under a new law, made in 1863, the chaplain re- ceived $100 per month and two daily rations-the rations being estimated at $18 per month-making a total monthly pay in cash of $118. They furnished their own clothing and board. Also, each man was allowed to keep a horse if he so desired, and in case he did so, forage was provided for the mount. Many
12 Western Christian Advocate, 1862, 272.
13 Ibid., 1863, 44.
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of their expenses amounted to $10 a week, besides the families at home who were dependent upon them for sustenance.14
In 1864 a number of new regulations were issued concerning chaplains, which relieved the need in their case considerably. This order read: "Chaplains of the volunteer service are hereafter to have rank as such, without command, heretofore they had had no rank whatever; to be borne on the staff and field rolls, next after the surgeons, and to wear such uni- form as may be prescribed by army regulations. They are to have forage for two horses; and when assigned to hospitals, posts and forts they shall be entitled to quarters and fuel within the hospital, which they do not have now. When absent from duty on leave, or from sickness or disability, or imprisoned by the ene- my, their pay shall not be subject, as now, to any other diminution than other officers. Those absent from sickness, wounds or imprisonment shall receive full pay, without rations. In other respects their pay to be the same as now. Chaplains are hereafter required to make monthly reports to the War Department of the moral condition and general history of regiments, hospitals, etc .; and all commanding officers must ren- der them such facilities as will aid therein; and they must also hold religious services at the burial of de- ceased soldiers and public services every Sabbath, when practicable. Pensions are to be granted to the chaplains at the rate of $20 per month for total dis- ability, and at the same rate to the widows, children, mothers or sister of chaplains who have died since March 4, 1861, of wounds or disease contracted in the service while in the lines of their duty."15 That such
14 Ibid., 1863, 53.
15 Ibid, 1864. 141. For a discussion of the whole subject of Methodist chaplains, see Sweet, "Methodist Episcopal Church and the Civil War," Chapter VI, 133-141; and also Appendix A, 189- 196.
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concessions and provisions were made shows how the chaplains' work was appreciated more and more as the war progressed.
While the faithful army chaplains were perform- ing their duties among the troops, some of the pastors at home were combatting Southern sympathizers. One pastor writes, "there is a large class of 'sympathizers' in this section, self-styled 'Democrats,' more properly called traitors, whose principal distinguishing char- acteristics are whisky drinking, Sabbath breaking and general lawlessness, and utter disregard for the law from God or man. Organized in bands, with old mus- kets, revolvers and horse-pistols, they frequently meet to drill, generally on horseback. Their drill consists in racing their horses at breakneck speed, hurrahing for Vallandingham and Davis, insulting decent people, cursing everything good, and drinking a great deal of very bad whisky. At their last meeting here two days since, one Clark, a good-for-nothing, drunken lawyer, a pretended leader among the chivalry, harangued the motley crowd for a while upon the 'Constitution'; his arguments were clear as mud, yet seemed to be very convincing to his constituents."16 The Methodist preacher was the sworn enemy of these "sympathiz- ers." The pastor of the Third Street Church, Peru, in 1864, was Rev. W. K. Hoback, who had been both a captain and a chaplain in the Union army, having resigned on account of poor health. Naturally, he entertained very decided views in regard to the war, and he did not hesitate to express them, both in and out of the pulpit. This alienated a part of his congre- gation, but it attracted others, and he was given credit for creating Union sentiment in his congregation and in the community at large.17
Many churches throughout the Conference were
16 Western Christian Advocate, 1863, 283.
17 "History of Methodism in Peru," Giles W. Smith, 43.
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centers of patriotism, and were often used for the purpose of enlisting troops. In the little frame church at Kokomo many patriotic speeches were made, and often in this church fifes and drums played soul-stir- ring music to call the boys to arms. "On one occasion a cannon was brought out in front of the church and fired many times to arouse enthusiasm."18 In some places there was complaint that church work lan- guished during the war, due to the fact that the mem- bers were more interested in working for the soldiers and the Sanitary and Christian commissions than for the church, but at Kokomo the work prospered to such an extent that in 1864 it was deemed necessary to build a new church, and a large brick edifice was con- structed, under the pastorate of Charles Martindale. The old frame church had been valued at $1,000, but there was expended upon this new church the sum of $8,500. This prosperity, as illustrated by the Kokomo church, during the war, was not an exception, but was rather the rule, and a study of the statistical tables for the four years will bear out this statement.
The period of the war was a period of increased giving, which was not only true in Indiana, and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but was generally true in every section of the North, and of every church.19 In 1861 the value of church property in the North Indiana Conference was estimated at $278,860; in 1865 the valuation was placed at $436,010; in 1861 the Conference missionary collections amounted to $4,609; in 1865 to $13,528, and there was a corresponding in- crease in the other benevolent causes. The amount contributed by the Conference to the Bible Society in 1861 was $273, while in 1865 the amount given was
18 Kokomo Tribune, February 6, 1915.
19 Fite, "Social and Industrial Conditions During the Civil War," especially Chapter XI, "Charity," 275-311.
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$1,643.20 The Bible Society was particularly active during the war, distributing Bibles to the soldiers, both in the North and South, as was also the Tract Society. From April 1, 1863, until March 1, 1864, 994,473 Bibles were distributed and 5,000 Testaments; 20,000 volumes were sent to the Confederate army under General J. E. Johnson, 50,000 copies to General Bragg's army, 100,000 copies to the Board of Col- portage, North Carolina, while the Christian Commis- sion distributed over half a million copies in the Union army and navy and the various hospitals.21
The twentieth session of the North Indiana Con- ference met in Wabash, Indiana, April 9th, 1863, with the senior Bishop, Thomas Morris, presiding. Milton Mahin, who had the year previous been transferred from the Kansas Conference,22 was elected Secretary, and among the committees appointed the first day of the session were a Committee on "State of the Coun- try" and one on "Bishop Ames' Salary." Both of these committees are strangers to a Methodist preacher of these days. It was the rule of the church in those days, that the Conference within whose bounds a Bishop resided should appoint a committee to estimate the amount of salary to be paid him.23 The committee this year brought in a report of $1,800 as their estimate. The Committee on the "State of the Country," of which W. H. Goode was the chairman, brought in a report consisting of four resolutions, in which they reaffirm their position of the previous year; express their confidence in the final result of the war; con- gratulate the Conference on their unity of sentiment and feeling upon the great issues before the country ;
20 Minutes, 1861, 30; 1865, 26.
21 Sweet, "Methodist Episcopal Church and the Civil War," 166-168.
22 Minutes, 1862, 3.
23 Sherman, "History of the Discipline," 251.
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and earnestly advise the preachers to observe the day set apart by President Lincoln as a day of fasting and prayer.24
The session of the Conference of 1864, which met at Knightstown, was an important one, because of the fact of the approaching General Conference, and also because it was at this session that steps were taken to incorporate the Conference. The occasion for this ac- tion was a legacy of $1,000 which had been left the Conference for the benefit of superannuated preach- ers, widows and orphans, and a committee was accord- ingly appointed to take the steps necessary to the legal incorporation.25
On the second day of the session the Committee on the "State of the Country" offered a resolution asking the trustees of the local church to raise the national flag over the church during the remainder of the ses- sion of the conference. This motion was unanimously adopted, and the flag was accordingly raised.26 The election of General Conference delegates resulted in the choice of O. V. Lemon and J. V. R. Miller, the two alternates being Milton Mahin and S. N. Campbell. O. V. Lemon was the Presiding Elder of the Muncie district and Miller was the pastor of Roberts Chapel, Indianapolis, while Milton Mahin was pastor at New- castle and S. N. Campbell was Presiding Elder of Ft. Wayne district.
During the years of the war, the question of lay representation in the General Conference began to be agitated in the church. The members of the North Indiana Conference, however, were not in favor of this innovation at this time, and at the session of their conference in 1864 passed resolutions instructing their
24 Minutes, 1863, 28.
25 Ibid, 1864, 4, 10, 13. For the Constitution of the Preachers' Aid Society, see Minutes, 1864, 38-41.
26 Ibid, 6.
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delegates to the next General Conference to vote against such a proposition.27 The independent paper known as the "Methodist," which had been established in New York in 1861, had taken up the question of lay representation as its special issue, and other influences were at work, which before many years accomplished the desired end.
The last war session of the North Indiana Confer- ence convened in Kendallville, April 12th, 1865, with Bishop Leonard Scott in the chair. On Saturday morning, April 15th, as the conference was in session, a telegram was received announcing the assassination of President Lincoln and Secretary Seward, and a lit- tle later in the session a resolution was passed appoint- ing a special committee, consisting of Thomas A. Eddy, Jacob Colclazer and R. D. Robinson, to make arrange- ments for "appropriate religious exercises tomor- row-Sabbath-in view of the melancholy events just announced from our national capital," and soon after another resolution was offered and adopted "that the flag on the church in which we are asesmbled be draped in mourning and lowered to the proper position."28 The report of the Committee on "The State of the Country" offered at this session consisted of five reso- lutions and a long preamble. The committee rejoices in the overthrow of the "most gigantic and wicked re- bellion that the world ever saw," and they also rejoice in the virtual extermination of slavery, which, they state, "is the cause that produced the rebellion." They acknowledge that all this has been the Lord's doings, and state that people everywhere are willing to ascribe to the Lord of Hosts the success of Union arms. The committee voices, however, a feeling of sadness in the midst of their rejoicings because of the many noble
27 Minutes, 1864, 15.
28 Ibid, 1865, 11, 13.
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men who have fallen, and among them many sons of Methodist ministers. They also speak of the "un- bounded benevolence" which the war has brought forth, in the care of the soldiers and their families, and they recommend, first, that the Constitution be amended so as to recognize and acknowledge the ex- istence of God; second, they express their profound sorrow and grief at the announcement of the assassi- nation and death of Lincoln; third, they promise to cherish the memory of the "unblemished integrity, incorruptible honesty and steadfast devotion to free- dom of our murdered Chief Magistrate; fourth, the attempted murder of Secretary Seward is deplored, and, fifth, they express faith that God will preserve the national integrity.29
One of the important ways in which the church aided the cause of the Union during the years of civil war was through the agency of the Christian Commis- sion. This organization came into existence in 1861, in New York, largely through the influence of the Y. M. C. A. The purpose of the commission was to fur- nish the soldiers those comforts which the govern- ment was unable to give. The governing board was made up of representatives of the various denomina- tions, the Methodist representatives being Bishop E. S. Janes, Bishop Matthew Simpson and General Clinton B. Fisk. The Christian Commission did its work and collected its funds largely through the churches, and the churches of the North Indiana Conference, and Methodist people generally, loyally supported this good work.30 In 1862 Governor Morton made an appeal to the people of Indiana to do what they could to relieve the hardships of the 100,000 Indianians in the field and their families at home, and he urged the people in
29 Minutes, 1865, 31. 32.
30 Sweet : "Methodist Episcopal Church and the Civil War," 161-166.
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the various towns and cities to adopt some systematic plan to carry on this work. To the ministers of the Gospel he said: "No nobler work than this can en- gage the time you may have at your disposal. Much can be done by appeals from the pulpit and by personal efforts with the people; by visiting the families of sol- diers, ascertaining their wants, and seeing that they are regularly supplied."31 In relation to this appeal, the editor of the "Western Christian Advocate" re- marks: "If we were a minister in Indiana, we should read this 'appeal' in the public congregation on Sun- day; and we believe that all ministers of the Gospel, in that, will do an excellent service to the parties sought to be benefited by this reading."
In response to this appeal of the Governor, Bishop Ames, then living in Indianapolis, addressed a circular letter to the ministers and laymen of the Methodist Church in Indiana, in which he recommends immedi- ate co-operation in this "benevolent and patriotic work." He calls attention to the rapid advance in the price of fuel and provisions, which he says, "Fore- shadows destitution and suffering that only can be
mitigated by the prompt action * of * all good citizens." He advises that the Methodist Church should not act denominationally, and he sug- gests that Methodist ministers meet with the ministers of other denominations, together with the township trustees, and form an organization for the relief and visitation of those in need. As a result of these ap- peals, "Soldiers' Aid Societies" were formed in every neighborhood, and much good work was accom- plished."32
At the session of the North Indiana Conference in 1865 a resolution was adopted recommending that each
31 Western Christian Advocate, 1862, 380.
32 Report of W. H. H. Terrel, Adjutant General, Indiana, Vol. I, 358, 357.
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Presiding Elder's district in the Conference keep a delegate in the field of the Christian Commission while the necessities of the army require assistance.38 A "delegate" was the agent of the Christian Commission sent out to the army, and his duties were to visit hos- pitals, camps and battlefields, in order to encourage and relieve the men; to distribute stores where needed, to circulate good reading matter among the soldiers and sailors, to communicate with their friends, and where necessary to write for them. They aided the surgeons, comforted the dying, and buried the dead.34 As will readily be seen, only Christian men could per- form this duty, and many ministers volunteered for this service. At the battle of Gettysburg 300 delegates helped the surgeons, and about 1,000 boxes of stores were by them there distributer to the wounded.85 The 1865 session of the North Indiana Conference also passed a resolution asking that means be provided to send the Methodist Advocate to "our soldiers in the army," and they promise to take collections in their charges for that purpose, and to send the amount to the publishers as soon as possible.36 On July 20, 1864, Pri- vate Joseph C. Campbell, of the 33rd Indiana Regiment, was struck over his side by a Confederate ball. At the time he was struck he had in his pocket a copy of the Western Christian Advocate and a hymn book published by the American Tract Society, and the Advocate and the book stopped the bullet, and no doubt saved his life. This copy of the Advocate and the hymn book I now have in my possession.37
33 Minutes, 1865, 14.
34 Moss : "Annals of the United States Christian Commis- sion."
35 Western Christian Advocate, 1863, 197.
36 Minutes, 1865, 15.
37 At the death of Mr. Campbell, his daughter presented these relics to Dr. G. W. H. Kemper, of Muncie, formerly Assistant Surgeon of the 17th Indiana Volunteers, and he in turn presented
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The two names most conspicuous in Methodist cir- cles, in Indiana, in relation to the Civil War, were Ed- ward R. Ames and Thomas Bowman. Bishop Ames was descended from an old Puritan family of Massa- chusetts, which had produced many leaders in both state and church. His parents had moved from Mas- sachusetts to the Northwest Territory in 1798, where necessarily the educational opportunities were very limited, but, fortunately, young Ames had access to a good circulating library in the neighborhood, which, the Bishop often remarked, gave him a taste for good reading.
When twenty years of age he left the farm and entered Ohio University at Athens, where he stayed for a period of three years, keeping himself chiefly by his own work. It was while attending the university that young Ames was converted, and at the request of Bishop Roberts the young man went with the Bishop to attend the Illinois Conference, held that year in Madison, Indiana. At this conference he met two men from Illinois, who persuaded him to go to that State and open a high school at Lebanon. This venture was successful, and this school really became the "germ of McKendree College." Ames remained in Lebanon un- til 1830, when he entered the itinerant ministry in the Illinois Conference. At the time of the division of that body he was included in the Indiana Conference, and in 1840 was chosen a delegate to the General Con- ference which met in Baltimore. There he was elected to the office of Corresponding Secretary of the Mis- sionary Society for the South and West. This position he held for four years, and during that period traveled 25,000 miles, systematizing the work, taking an inven-
them to the author. A picture of these relics was published in the Western Christian Advocate, August 10, 1898, with a short article, written by Dr. Kemper.
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tory of missionary property and obtaining land grants from the Government for educational purposes among the Indians. The General Conference of 1844 abolished the office which he held, and he returned to the itiner- ant ministry. After the election of Matthew Simpson as editor of the Western Christian Advocate, he was elected President of the Indiana Asbury University, but declined the position.38
At the General Conference of 1852 Edward R. Ames was elected a Bishop, together with Levi Scott, Matthew Simpson and Osmon C. Baker. He was the first Methodist Bishop to visit the Pacific coast, and was also the first Bishop to go into the South during the war to establish Northern work there. He was particularly active, during the Civil War, in arousing patriotism and sustaining the Government. He lived in Indianapolis, and was a staunch friend of Governor Morton and Secretary Stanton. On one occasion Bishop Ames carried secret messages from Governor Morton to the Secretary of War. In 1862 he was ap- pointed on a commission with Hamilton Fish, of New York, to visit Union prisoners at the South, and to relieve their needs, if possible; but, unfortunately, the Southern authorities would not permit the commis- sioners to pass through their lines, largely on account of their suspicion of Bishop Ames and the church he represented.39
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