USA > Indiana > Rush County > Centennial history of Rush County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 32
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GATHERING AT M. E. PARSONAGE, GLENWOOD, ABOUT 1895
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isfactorily explained. The inside cover has the familiar name of Conrad Sailor, who was the agent of the state in the creation of Rush county, scribbled on it in ink a couple of times. The minutes open at Page 5 with the continuation line "her stated meetings from the first Saturday in the month to the third." The next para- graph follows: "A request of the brethren on Clifty for help to constitute a church: agree to send Elder John Blades and Brother Abraham Hackleman. Elder John Blades was chosen standing moderator. Adjourned to
the third Saturday in November, 1821. (Signed) Rob- ert Thompson, clk. L. F. R. C." The second entry fol- lows: "Saturday, November 17, 1821-The church of Little Flat Rock met agreeable to adjournment and after prayer by Elder John Blades, Brother Benjamin Sailor laid in complaint against himself for rioting and drunk- enness and was excluded." A minute dated September 18, 1824, notes that "the committee that was appointed to look out a suitable spot of ground for meeting house, they came forward and reported that they had found a suitable place in the southwest corner of Jacob Hackle- man's land, and the church was agreed to the place of ground to build their meeting house upon. The church located two acres of land of the said Hackleman, and the brothers, Conrad Sailor, Elias B. Stone and William Mil- ner to act as trustees in the survey and reception of the deed for said place of land. On motion the church took up the business of building a meeting house. They agreed to build a hewed log meeting house, the size here de- scribed : thirty feet in length and twenty-six in width, with a roof of joint shingles, the house to be twelve feet between the sill and plate; the house to be built by sub- scription and Brother Conrad Sailor to superintend the business." Brevity marks most of the entries in the old book and each minute invariably shows that "brethren of sister churches were invited to seats," and that "a door was opened for the reception of new members." In for- 26
ยท
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mal phrase they note the taking in and dismissal of mem- bers, the appointment of brethren to admonish the negli- gent to perform their church duties. complaints of lapses and the citing of offenders before the church. One militant brother was thus haled before that body for "unadvisedly whipping a man in Rushville." and at an- other time "for wanting to fite." The complainant was his own brother. In several cases the offenders manfully lodged complaints against themselves, mostly for intox- ication. A brother, self-accused of "committing the sin of amusing himself in a merry company by frolicking and dancing," professed repentance and the church resolved "to bare with him." Elder Thompson became standing moderator and Abraham Hackleman writing clerk. An entry on August 15, 1822, shows that "$6.1834 was raised by subscription to pay the necessary expenses of the church for the year 1822." Certainly this was not prod- igal. The old church was heated in cold weather by means of a "hearth of brick about four feet square in the center of the house, upon which charcoal was placed and fired up when required. The house was built by the joint efforts of members, who turned out en masse and made nothing else their business until it was completed." Through Elder Thompson's efforts Baptist churches were organized in different parts of the county. "All went on smoothly and swimmingly for about five years, when mutterings and rumblings began to be heard in the distance of the coming storm of the Reformation." In 1828, after consulting with his leading members, Mr. Thompson went to Kentucky to annihilate the new doe- trine. Like Saul of Tarsus, he was converted by the way and returned home to champion it and to lead a majority of his members, not very long after, out of the Little Flat Rock church. The old minute book notes ( April 2. 1830) the difficulties over matters of doctrine and the division of the church. A little table furnishes the facts in brief form. It enumerates: "Dismissed by letter, 6; Thomp-
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son's party, 31; total amount, 55." This would leave only eighteen. On the preceding page it gives "the names of the parties that left us" as follows: John P. Thompson, Priscilla Thompson, Simeon B. Lloyd, Mary Lloyd, Abner Hackleman, Elizabeth Hackleman, Roder- ick Talbott, Margaret Stephens, William Moor, Rebecca Moor, John Heaton, Hester Heaton, Phoebe Heaton, Thomas Heaton, Margaret Williams, Mary McDaniel, Rebecca Garrison, John McDaniel, Katherine McDaniel, Jacob Coon, Margaret Coon, James Frazee, Katherine Frazee, Ebenezer Thompson, Mahalia Taylor, John Haw- kins, Nancy Hawkins, Elizabeth Maple and Elizabeth Moore. The minutes of the next meeting of the old church in May, 1830, use a new title, "the Regular Bap- tized Church of Christ on Little Flat Rock." John Blades signs as moderator and Thomas Sailor as clerk pro tem. The Thompson faction was granted the use of the church "on the first and fourth Saturdays and Sab- baths of each month" for one year, and there was a set- tlement for its part of the work done on the new building. On Sunday, May 23, 1830, Elder Thompson organized the Little Flat Rock Christian church. In 1822 he organized a Baptist church in Rushville, whose old brick house of worship long stood on the southeast corner of First and Perkins streets.
Regarding this contention as to historic precedence Mr. Blount's review points out that "whether the organ- ization in the house of the pioneer Morris or the one at Little Flat Rock can claim the honor of first existence is not so vital, since it is not the fact of beginning so much as the fact of development that is important. The Flat Rock has precedence so far as continuity of place is con- cerned. It began in 1827, under the inspiration of Elder John P. Thompson, who having formed the Flat Rock Association of the Baptist church, when he was brought into the light of the teachings of the Scriptures as urged by Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott, B. W. Stone and
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others, himself turned to that faith of the Church of Christ and carried his recently constituted Flat Rock Association with him and organized them anew upon 'the Bible and the Bible alone' as the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. This motto became the battle cry and indeed is the 'shibboleth' of this religions order today. .. The work so well begun by Elder Thompson was greatly aided by that wonderfully fearless and aggressive pio- neer, John O. Kane, who came to this county in 1832."
During the height of his missionary career Alexan- der Campbell visited this field and was warmly received in Rush county, those here who had accepted his doc- trines welcoming him with a feeling almost akin to ven- eration. One of the families that entertained him during that tour was that of the pioneer Ephraim Frazee, who lived at the eastern edge of Rush county in Noble town- ship and who for years was the "local" preacher in the Christian church at Orange. One of Ephraim Frazee's daughters, Catherine, married Doctor Lindsay and moved to Springfield, Ill., where Vachel Lindsay, the poet, was born. In his "Golden Book of Springfield" Vachel Lindsay, who is a frequent visitor to the old Frazee home- stead in Rush county, makes occasional references to In- diana. In an introductory chapter to his main narrative he talks of Alexander Campbell. Ultra modern follow- ers of Campbell, he says, hang in libraries with unlimited pride a certain rembrantesque lithograph of that great man, "an heirloom that is now quite rare, and to be classed in its Southern way, as the spinning wheels and old Bibles of the Mayflower are classed in a Northern way." This lithograph is the enlargement of the engrav- ing of the Richardson biography, but much color and magie have been added. "Out of the darkness emerges a smooth shaven, high-bred, masterful physiognomy more like that of the statesmen who were the fathers of the re- public than a member of any priesthood. Campbell's cheeks and eyes are still fired with youth and authority
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militant. He has a head bowed with thought, crowned with gray hair, and beneath his chin is the most states- manlike of cravats, with a peculiarly old-fashioned roll. Thus he must have looked at the height of debate with the infidel. I can never forget the copy of the lithograph that hung over my grandmother's front room fireplace in the patriarchal Frazee farmhouse in Indiana. Under it I heard the proverbs from Campbell every summer from the time I can remember anything. All those say- ings were mixed up with stories that came with my people along the old Daniel Boone trail from Kentucky and Vir- ginia. And when the old frame house was new and novel, and most other dwelling houses near were log cabins. Campbell had been a guest received there with breathless reverence. Under that picture I was personally con- ducted through all the daguerreotypes and records per- taining to the Kentucky pioneers of our blood."
In his review of the work of the Methodist Episcopal church in this county Mr. Blount observed that "the honor of the pioneer work in religious teaching in the county lies between this order of worshippers and the regular Baptists. It cannot be definitely determined which denomination has the precedence. As early as 1821 James Havens preached the Methodist Episcopal faith in the southern part of the county, and at nearly the same period John Linville organized a class in the south- east corner. They mention among their early laborers in the county B. Beggs, James Havens, Joseph Tarking- ton, William Evans, John Strange, A. Cummins, Allen Wyley, Calvin A. Rutler, B. F. Griffiths, G. K. Hester and others who were indefatigable in their labors to es- tablish the cause. Perhaps the best known, at least the name of widest repute in this county, as well as in other portions of the state, is James Havens. .... His strong and vigorous constitution, his profound mental organiza- tion and unlimited energy, coupled with an almost un- paralleled religious zeal, made him an emphatic 'planter
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and waterer' of the young church for which he expended his very best energies." The year that Methodism was introduced into Rushville. Indiana belonged to what was then known as the Missouri Conference, and all the fields of labor that had been formed within the bounds of the state, belonged to the Madison district. In 1824, Rev. John Strange was appointed to the Madison district, and Rev. James Havens was appointed to the Connersville circuit. Sometime during the year, James Havens vis- ited Rushville, formed the first Methodist society and received it into the Connersville circuit as a regular preaching place. The first class was composed of nine members, and John Ally, Sr., was the leader. At the close of this year, Rushville, with a large portion of the surrounding country, was set off in a separate field of labor, with a membership numbering 324. This was the last year that Indiana was included in the Missouri Con- ference. "In point of numbers," continues Mr. Blount's review, "the Baptists stand third. They established themselves here in a very early period of the county's history, almost if not quite simultaneously with the Meth- odists. As early as 1821 there was an organization of the people known as the Flat Rock Church. John P. Thomp- son, who figures in the foregoing, was the founder of that church, and made monthly visits to them. This church established itself in Rushville in 1822, and has the honor of locating the first religious organization in the beau- tiful capital of Rush county .. .. . There were several or- ganizations of this people at this early date, and nearly every organization had a local preacher. These were greatly aided by Wilson Thompson, JJohn Sparks and George Harlan, from Fayette county. The split in the Regular Baptist church in Rush county took place in August, 1845, on the ground where the new (1888) church house, erected by the Christian church, near Raleigh now stands. There was at that time a meeting house known . as the Zion Church, which belonged to the Whitewater
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Association standing on this site. The controversy, which ended in division, began at the East Fork church. Elder Sparks began to advocate conditional salvation and El- der Hatfield, a local preacher for that congregation, op- posed with such offensive criticism as to cause Elder Sparks to prefer charges against him, which resulted in the withdrawal of fellowship from Hatfield. Mr. Hat- field appealed to the Whitewater Association for redress and the hearing took place on the date above stated. Wil- son Thompson defended Hatfield and David Drummonds supported the church in its action in excluding Hatfield from its fellowship. The ground upon which the house stood belonged to Mrs. Nancy Cook, and she was appealed to as to which party should have possession. She decided in favor of Elder Thompson, whereupon Elder Sparks called upon his friends to know how many would follow him to a grove about one mile south. The trial was held on Friday and Saturday and on Sunday much the larger party went with Elder Sparks to the grove. The rights of property were finally tested in the civil courts, and by a kind of compromise measure East Fork was given to the Sparks party and Zion to the Thompson."
Regarding the Presbyterians Mr. Blount's observa- tions point out that "this order made its first effort in Rushville in January, 1825. ... They have never been a very aggressive people, and this fact may account for their not having increased in numbers to a greater extent. Being among the first to plant their faith in the county, they have become identified with all the county's interests Among the pioneer preachers of this order one now remains as a tower still, though chiefly in memory. I refer to the venerable D. M. Stewart. No minister in Rush county has done more than he, nor has had a greater interest in the moral and religious growth of society. He has been identified with nearly every measure which looked to the elevation and the protection of society, and for the last fifty years his name has been a household word in the county." (Written in 1888.)
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The recollections of Dr. John Arnold also carry some interesting observations regarding some of the earlier ministers and the organization of churches in this county. Of the Rev. N. C. MeDill, who began his labors here in 1852, and was for fifty years thereafter a tower of strength in the United Presbyterian church, Doctor Ar- nold says that he "was in many ways one of the most re- markable men of the Rush county clergy. When he began his labors with Richland church he was a young man of exceedingly delicate health. and it was not supposed. even by the most sanguine, that he could long endure his ardu- ous task." Of James Havens, mentioned above. Doctor Arnold observes that "he was a remarkable man. Pos- sessed of a powerful mind. clear and logical in its deduc- tions, though unpolished by education and uncultured by extensive reading, his earnest convictions, tireless energy and indomitable will exactly fitted him for the wild and new country in which he labored. He was of that heroic type that commanded the respect and won the love of the honest and brave pioneers. ... He was bold and aggres- sive, and perhaps even harsh sometimes in his attacks on sin and error, but his honesty of purpose gave to him a success that milder and more polished men failed to at- tain. His early education was very limited and for a time he felt no need of a higher culture, deeming it unnec- essary for a successful exposition of Scripture truths; but a riper experience and wider observation showed him his error, and in after years his character received the polish of extensive reading, and the iron hand of argu- ment. though incased in a velvet glove. had lost none of its pristine power to seize and crush error. With age he became milder and less exacting, more tolerant and com- passionate of the mistakes of others, and in his mature Christian character there was much to love and but little to censure. " In his published recollections along this line Doctor Arnold further observed that "the pioneer preachers of all denominations endured many hardships
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and much labor in proclaiming the gospel in a new and unsettled country ; but none could compare in these re- spects to the Methodist itinerant. With perhaps from twenty to thirty preaching stations to be visited each month, these places being; widely scattered through the almost pathless wilderness, no mode of travel except on horseback, through swamps, overflowing streams, and the dense forest-these men necessarily endured danger, suffering and privations that the souls of sinners might be saved. These men were truly moral heroes, whose en- thusiastic devotion to their high calling enabled them cheerfully to endure all these trials and to rejoice that they were called to do so. Many a valuable life was sacri- ficed, but the triumphant spirit felt no regrets." Along this same line Doctor Arnold pointed out that "Wilson Thompson was regarded as the undisputed leader of the Calvanistic Baptists. Originally of meager education, without any of the advantages of literary culture, he be- came a powerful preacher, even able and willing to defend his views against the assaults of all opponents. He was extremely popular in his own denomination, but like all agressive and able men, was proportionately unpopular with those whose favorite theological ideas he attacked. He was to the Regular Baptists what James Havens was to the Methodists, and John O'Kane to the Disciples. John Sparks and George Harlan were able expounders of their doctrines, but did not possess that combative spirit which never omitted an opportunity of attacking the sup- posed errors of other denominations."
In his observations concerning the organization of the Carthage Meeting of Friends Doctor Arnold con- cluded that "the Society of Friends has ever been dis- tinguished for its unswerving advocacy of temperance, education and the rights of man. They were far in ad- vance of all other denominations in their conscientious, consistent and earnest opposition to slavery." Of John O'Kane, who first made his appearance in Rush county
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in 1832, and whose name, together with that of John P. Thompson, is inseparably connected with the history of the Christian church in this section of the state, Doctor Arnold notes that "he was a splendid specimen of a man physically, tall, erect, dignified, with a broad, high fore- head. He was eloquent, argumentative, persuasive and sarcastic. He possessed a kind of magnetism that swayed the minds of his congregations in a wonderful manner, and he opened the way that made the advance of the other leaders of the reform easy." From the older chronicles it also is noted that John Morrow was a zealous preacher, and at times strong. His elocution was not very fluent, but his strong common sense made him very acceptable to his congregation. He had but one fault: he carried no watch, and sometimes, in his zeal, would forget the time of day. While Oliver H. Smith was a candidate for Con- gress, he met Father Morrow and several other Meth- odist preachers at Conwell's store, in Decatur county. They were on their way to conference. Their horses were feeding, dinner not ready and they took a short walk to the spring, under the shade of some spreading elms. Father Morrow proposed that Smith should make a speech. The motion was seconded by all the preachers, and the candidate addressed them for about two hours, with as much sound as if he had been speaking to thou- sands. At the close Father Morrow remarked that he liked the speech, but it was a little too long. "Ah, Father Morrow, I thought it was my last chance to punish you a little for what I have suffered under your long sermons," said Mr. Smith. The other preachers smiled, and he was told the remark was like seed sown on good ground.
James Havens was called by Oliver H. Smith, who knew him well. the Napoleon of the Methodist preachers of Indiana. "He seemed to be made for the very work in which he was engaged," was Smith's observation. "He had a good personality. a strong physical formation, ex- panded lungs, a clear and powerful voice, reaching to the
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verge of the camp ground, the eye of the eagle, and both a moral and personal courage that never quailed. His pow- ers as a preacher were of a very high order. The great characteristic of Mr. Havens as a preacher was his good common sense. He could distinguish his audience so as not to throw his pearls before swine. He could feed his babes with the 'milk of the Word,' and hurl the terrors of the law at old sinners." The sculptured face of James Havens on the strong but simple monument which marks his grave in East Hill cemetery is its own perpetual com- mentary on the vigor of this pioneer preacher. The sculp- tor's deeply graven lines show something of the rugged power that characterized the labors of the missioner, and are their own continuing memorial.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL CHURCHES
In compiling this chapter relating to the churches of Rush county an effort has been made to obtain specific information regarding each and every church in the county. Inquiries have been made in competent quarters seeking details of organization and development of each of the congregations. Some of these inquiries met with prompt and helpful responses. Others have been wholly ignored. With the material at hand the compilers have endeavored to give as comprehensive a review as possible of the church field in Rush county. Under the circum- stances this review is admittedly incomplete. No doubt also its accuracy in places is open to criticism. This is admitted without apology. The limitations of time in the compilation of such a work as this precludes further re- search. In most cases where the criticism possibly may lie a just conception of the situation would reveal the fault to be due to failure to supply the definite informa- tion sought. This, however, as it may be; an effort has been made to present such details as may be informative to future generations, and if the following pages shall serve some future historian as a basis for further and
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more comprehensive research their mission will have been accomplished.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
The Main Street Christian Church at Rushville has had a continuous organization since May 23, 1830, when Elder John P. Thompson, whose activities in the carly field here have been noted, began to preach to those at Rushville who had espoused the cause he then was so vig- orously promoting in this section, but it was some time before a church building was erected and a definite or- ganization effected. Among those who helped in this cause at Rushville were Joel Wolfe and William B. Flin, who kept alive the movement and on August 15, 1841, un- der the leadership of Elder John O'Kane the congrega- tion formally was organized with twenty-four charter members. On March 30, 1844, Joel Wolfe, George H. Caldwell and Reuben D. Logan were appointed trustees with a view to buying a lot for the erection of a house of worship, but conditions arose which deferred the plans of the little congregation, and it was not until six years later, in 1850, that a meeting house was built, the building com- mittee having been William Lockridge, Amon Johnson, Samuel Barber and William B. Flinn. This was under the continued ministrations of Elder O'Kane, who in 1852, was succeeded by Elder George Campbell, who served at a salary of $300 a year. Among the later pas- tors were J. R. Frame. David B. Simpson, Benjamin Franklin, "Billy" Wilson, Joseph Incas, Daniel Frank- lin, Rolla B. Henry, Thomas J. Murdock. L. L. Pinker- ton, John Shackleford. Land, Pritchard, Downey, Van- Buskirk. Conner, Brewer. Gilbert and others whose names in other days were familiar in the councils of the Christian church. The Rev. John H. MeNeil, who was called in 1888, did much toward the work of organizing the congregation along its present progressive lines. He served as pastor for four years, and it was under his di-
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rection that the Christian Endeavor Society was organ- ized, and a general impetus given to the departmental work of the church. It also was under his direction that the present handsome church edifice was erected in 1893- 94, at a cost of $30,000, and was dedicated on February 4, 1894. The present pastor is the Rev. L. E. Brown. and all departments of the work of the church are reported in a flourishing condition.
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