USA > Indiana > Contributions to the early history of the Presbyterian Church in Indiana : together with biographical notices of the pioneer ministers > Part 10
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The travelers safely reached their destination, however, and Mr. Reed made an engagement for five years with the Moriah congregation. His letters in the New York Observer show his continued attachment to the scene of his former toil, whither he was soon to return. After a single year the Moriah engagement was terminated, and he looked westward once more, coming, in 1828, to Bloom- ington, where his brother-in-law, Professor Hall, still
1 " Christian Traveller," pp. 233, 234.
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resided. This place "the wanderer," as he styled himself, made the center of the usual missionary labor for a number of years. He left Bloomington in the fall of 1835 and transferred his family to South Hanover, having himself accepted an agency for the college. A little later he was conducting a school in Kentucky, near Shelbyville. He is then successively at various points in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois, until in the spring of 1854 he removed to Waterloo, N. Y., and immediately after to Auburn. 1During all these latter years, aided by his wife, he had joined the work of teaching to that of a missionary. A severe winter now seriously threatened his health, and he came West again to Olney, Ill. Here his family remained while he moved on to Missouri. Connecting himself with the Presbytery there, he was assigned to a mission field at Versailles ; but returning to his family at Olney he suffered a severe hemorrhage of the lungs, and imprudently at- tempting to fulfil an engagement to preach, was attacked with typhoid pneumonia, and after a brief struggle died Thursday night, January 14, 1858. A plain marble slab marks his resting-place in the Olney cemetery, and bears the inscription, "The wanderer here finds rest." His widow survived until May 9, 1869, when she fell asleep at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Williams, near Put- namville, Ind.
In person Mr. Reed was tall and spare, with dark hair and blue eyes. He enjoyed society. "I am a great talker," said one who knew him well,' "and he talked
1 Dr. Henry Little. It was in the winter of 1830, when Dr. Little was making his first journey through the state, that a characteristic incident occurred. Says Dr. Little : " Finding Mr. Reed at Bloomington, he told me that he was to go to Bedford, to marry a couple, the next day, and that I must go with him. At five o'clock on a December morning we breakfasted and were off. At an Indian wigwam we halted and talked a while. Father Reed, having long yarns to tell, lost his saddle-bags afterward, and had to go back two miles to find them. Just at sunset, having traveled twenty-eight miles in all, we reached Bedford and went to the double log cabin where the preacher was expected. It was full of company. The family was from New Jersey. At seven o'clock the wedding came off and we sat down to supper. Everything was nice and in
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two thirds more than I." He was perhaps lacking in shrewdness. For practical affairs he had little aptitude. Sometimes human nature surprised and baffled him. In social meetings he would often speak wonderfully well, though his ordinary preaching was not especially attract- ive. He stooped and leaned in the pulpit, the thumb of his right hand hooked under his waistcoat at the suspender button. But "he had as little selfishness as any of the unselfish men about him-would do anything for the Master's sake." "He was laborious, persevering, patient, pure-minded, affectionate, and simple in his tastes and public ministrations."1 "He performed prodigies of labor as an itinerant." ? His life was one of "arduous and unrequited toil." 3 His monument he reared while laying the foundations of the church in the wilderness. It was in this early period, before his almost aimless ."wandering" began, that his usefulness was most assured.
ORIN FOWLER was another of the quartet of missionaries reaching Indiana in 1818. The eldest son and sixth child of Captain Amos4 and Rebecca (Dewey ) Fowler, he was born at Lebanon, Conn., July 29, 1791. In boyhood he worked on his father's farm, though when sixteen and seventeen years of age he was for two winters engaged in teaching school, the inevitable resource of young New Englanders. He fitted for college under the instruction of his pastor, the Rev. Mr. Ripley, and entered Williams College in the autumn of 1811. At the end of the first term he took his dismission,
abundance. But after I had got one little biscuit, the embarrassed bride and groom shoved back their chairs ; others, equally confused, followed their example ; no sugges- tion of our emptiness came from unworldly Father Reed, and I was too much a stranger to protest ; so the groaning table was almost untouched, and I had to go to bed hungry as a bear. Next morning, however, 1 made up for lost time."
1 MS. of the Rev. Ransom Hawley.
2 " Life and Times of Stephen Bliss," p. 90.
3 " Quarter-Century Discourse," by the Rev. P. S. Cleland, p. 14.
4 A soldier of the Revolution.
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and after studying again for a while under Mr. Ripley's direction, and also for one term at the academy at Col- chester, he entered the sophomore class at Yale College in October, 1812. Here he maintained an excellent stand- ing, being distinguished in the more solid and practical courses of study.1 A few months previous to his grad- uation he accepted the preceptorship of the academy at Fairfield, Conn., and held the place, discharging its duties with great fidelity and acceptance, until the autumn of 1816. He then presented his resignation in order to devote himself more exclusively to theological studies, Dr. Humphrey, then minister of Fairfield, afterward president of Amherst College, becoming his instructor. He was licensed to preach on the 14th of October, 1817, by the Association of the Western District of Fairfield County.
Having preached occasionally in different places, chiefly in Fairfield County, but without any reference to settle- ment, he decided March, 1818, to attempt a missionary tour in the West. With this in view he was ordained at Farmington, at a meeting of the North Association of Hartford County, on the 3d of June following, and on the same day rode twenty-one miles toward his field .?
For the proposed service Mr. Fowler was admirably fit- ted. A sound judgment, a tenacious will, system, industry, and uncommon bodily vigor would all be requisite, and it will be seen that these were among the striking features of his character. " He had rather a large frame," says his college classmate, Dr. Sprague, "indicating what he really possessed, a vigorous constitution." Dr. Shepherd, his friend and neighbor, declares that he seldom if ever knew a pastor "who could perform unremittingly such an
1 Among his classmates at Yale were the Rev. Drs. Sprague and Nevins, and Judge Jessup of Pennsylvania.
2 Thus far I have followed the statements in Sprague, originally furnished by Mr s. Fowler, and after her husband's death reprinted in his " History of Fall River."
3 " Annals," Vol. II., p. 650.
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amount of labor.' ' Young Fowler was just the man to ride into the woods alone and lay the foundations of Christian society there. Throughout his journey he care- fully kept a diary, precise and practical in every page. The faded manuscript has been recovered. A few extracts will best reproduce the early days, at the same time that they fittingly unfold Mr. Fowler's character.
Wednesday, June 3d, 1818. Left Farmington and rode twenty- one miles to Barkhamsted.
Sabbath. Preached twice at Canajoharie to an attentive audi- ence in the Baptist house.
Sabbath, June 14th. Spent the day at Seneca Falls with Mr. Stark and preached twice from Isaiah 55th, 6th, and Isaiah 5th, 4th.2 Received from individuals two dollars for the missionary society.
Tuesday. Rode to Murray, thirty-nine miles, an unpleasant country. Passed the growing village of Rochester, and had an opportunity to converse with one young person.
Wednesday. Rode forty-four miles to Cambria. Saw several deer.
Thursday. Rode forty miles to Black Rock in Buffalo. Passed Queenstown and Chippewa battle-ground and saw the soldiers' bones.
Friday. Rode on the border of Lake Erie to Hamburg, twenty-two miles. Passed village of Buffalo, a lonely way.
Saturday. Rode to Portland, thirty-eight miles. Passed the awful four-miles woods.
Tuesday, June 30th. Rode to Plain, thirty-five miles. Passed Wooster, a pleasant county-seat. Very poor country. Providen- tially lodged with a Presbyterian family who gave me my fare, and with them I attended family duties.
Thursday. Rode thirty-four miles to Harrison, through an awfully muddy country, and woods the most of the way. Was met near the middle of an eight-miles wood in a terrible thunder storm. But the Lord preserved me.
Sabbath, July 12th. Preached in Oxford.
1 " Annals," Vol. II., p. 651.
2 The MS. of the latter discourse is before me, its first page covered with memoranda of dates and localities, indicating its frequent extemporaneous repetition upon this jour- ney and especially in Indiana. It seems to have been his first written sermon.
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Monday. Rode through Brookville in Indiana to a town on Whitewater, twenty-six miles.
Friday. Passed through Vevay, where wine is made by the Swiss, twenty-five miles to a place on the mountains near Madi- son. Was overtaken by hard rain and stopped at a very misera- ble hut. Oh, how many poor creatures have I seen. How many destitute of this world's goods and perishing for lack of vision. Was lost in the wood, but providentially found the way to a Con- necticut family, where by lying on the floor I lodged comfortably.
Sabbath. Preached (in Madison) to a crowded and solemn audience.
Monday. Rode to the skirt of the town and preached. Re- ceived one dollar from Judge Dunn and Elder Simington.
Saturday, August Ist. Rode five miles to Paoli and had oppor- tunity to hear preaching by Mr. Martin.
Tuesday. Rode fourteen miles to Salem and preached. Lodged with brother Martin, an excellent man.1
Thursday. Rode fifteen miles to Brownstown. Visited the school under the care of Mr. Kenshaw. Held a long conversation with two drunkards. One confessed that he was miserable, that he had the horrors. The youth cried when he asked if he could yet be saved.
Monday, August 10th. Visited a school. Found the instructor sitting with an ox goad in his hand, so large that he could reach every scholar.
5
Tuesday. Rode thirty-four miles to Lexington, eighteen of them through the woods. Called at one house and saw a woman rocking her infant in a little log, shaped like a pig-trough.
Thursday. Rode ten miles to Judge Dunn's and found brother Reed of Connecticut, who preached toward evening."
Friday. Visited the school under the care of Dr. Maxwell, which is large and interesting.
Saturday. Visited the school under the care of Mr. McKey. Found them accurate in the catechism as far as they had gone.
Sabbath. Preached in Judge Dunn's barn.
1 It will be found that the journal is very sparing in epithets. This "excellent " is a rarity, as Father Martin was.
2 " I felt happy to-day in meeting at W. Dunn's, Esq., the Rev. O. Fowler, mission- ary from Connecticut. We had been acquainted there when students of divinity and were licensed by the same association. . I preached and he prayed after sermon. In prayer he was able, devout, and solemn.
O that many like him may be sent into the harvest in these parts."-Reed's " Christian Traveller," p. 75. See also pp. 96, 97, 112.
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Thursday, August 28th. Rode to Mr. McCartney's, where I preached. Baptized his children, eight in number. The names of James and Jane McCartney's children, this day baptized, are Polly, Margaret (Peggy), Sally, Martha, John, James, William, Jane, and Miriam Dunn.1 From there I rode five miles to Captain Graham's. Passed the village of Mount Pleasant, which consists of one log house about fifteen feet square, and one other log building about half raised, with about half an acre of partially cleared ground. There is a sugar camp between the village and Captain Graham's.
Friday, September 18th. Rode thirty-four miles to Judge McGee's, Velona. Went till four o'clock without food or drink, and saw but one house for a distance of twenty-two miles. Had much trouble on account of high water. Lost my horse in the woods, but found him again after traveling about three miles through the mud. How great are my fatigues and trials, but the Lord delivers me at all times. One family visit.
Sabbath, September 20th. Administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to the Brownstown church, there being only four communicants. It was the first sacrament ever administered in Brownstown and the first Presbyterian sacrament ever held in Jackson County.
Tuesday. Rode twenty miles by Brother Martin's and Salem to Livonia, a village consisting of about twenty log cabins. There is not a shingled roof in the place.
Sabbath, September 27th. Assisted in organizing the Concord church,? which consists of eleven members : Mr. James Fulton and his wife Catharine, Mr. John Magner and his wife Sally, Mr. James Donnell and his wife Elizabeth, Mrs. Nancy Fisher and her son Telek and daughter Celia, Mr. Moses Mather and his wife Caty. Then administered the sacrament of the Supper in connec- tion with brother Martin, and preached. Rode three miles to Mr. John Magner's. This is Orange County. The first Presbyterian communion in the county.
Friday, October 9th. Sat with Presbytery at Charlestown and preached in the evening.
Friday, October 16th. Rode five miles to Mr. Bergen's and preached to an interesting congregation. After preaching pro-
1 The missionary's record is equally explicit on each similar occasion. The names, and frequently the nicknames, are religiously preserved.
2 This church Dickey's " History " does not mention. It was afterward merged in the neighboring churches of Orleans and Paoli.
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ceeded to form a church. Commenced with prayer ; then read the certificates of such as had them and heard the relation of others and questioned them on doctrines as well as on experience. Led the brethren to the choice of three elders, and it appeared that Christopher Bergen, Samuel Ryker, and Jeduthan Dodd were elected. Postponed further consideration till to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock. -
Saturday. Met and held further consultation and appointed a clerk. At 12 preached to a large, solemn congregation. After preaching proceeded to read the Confession of Faith, and install the elders, they having been ordained. The members of the church 1 are fourteen in number and their names are as follows : Christopher Bergen and his wife Anna, Samuel Ryker and his wife Barbara, Jeduthan Dodd, John L. McCoskey, Peter Ryker and his wife Susannah, John Ryker and his wife Nancy, Theodorus Vanosdol, Peter Vancleve, Rachel Vanosdol, Rachel Weatherford. Afterward met with session and admitted Mary Benepiel and Hannah Hamilton by profession. . . .
Twenty-five per- sons are now in this room around me, all to tarry through the night.
Sabbath. Administered the sacrament to the church yesterday constituted, there being nearly forty communicants present. While administering the ordinance one young man, G. B., was so struck with the expression, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," that he was pressed down, and kept his bed till night. Many were much affected and after the meeting was over two other young persons were so powerfully impressed that they could not refrain from crying out, "What shall I do?" While at supper an aged sinner of sixty-six, and directly after another of seventy-four cried out, "We are undone, we are lost."
Saturday, October 24th. Preached to a large congregation at New Lexington, and then proceeded to form a church. Received and read the letters of such as had them and heard the relation of others. Alexander McNutt, William Wilson, and Solomon Davis were elected elders. One young lady who had been a Baptist wished to join us, having given up her Baptist sentiments, and accordingly she was received.
Sabbath. Met with the brethren and sisters for further consulta- tion, and at 11 o'clock proceeded to the place of preaching, delivered a sermon to a very large, solemn congregation and then
1 Jefferson church, Cf. Dickey's " History," p. 7.
.
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proceeded to constitute the church.1 Read the Confession of Faith and covenant, declared them a church, and consecrated them to the Lord by prayer. Then proceeded to ordain the elders, and charge them and the congregation. Afterward baptized eight children. . . The members of the church are twenty in number and their names are as follows : Alexander McNutt and his wife Margaret, William Wilson, and his wife Margaret, Solomon Davis and his wife Mary, Jacob Hollenback and his wife Elenor, William Bowles and his wife Jane, David Walker and his wife Jane, Frederick Sipes, Robert Woodburn, Margaret Pat- terson, Mary Robinson, Susannah Arbuckle, Fanny Terril, Nancy Roe, and Mary Davis.
Sabbath, November 15th. Rode three miles to Mr. Magner's in the evening. Mr. and Mrs. Shields, with thirteen children, were at meeting last night.
Thursday. Rode nine miles through Vincennes to Judge McClure's, and preached to an attentive audience. V. is built upon the bank of the Wabash. Its local situation is beautiful, but its appearance is very mean. But few of the buildings are well made and many of them are erected with mud walls.
Monday, November 30th. Continued at Vincennes. Attended the funeral of Mr. Emanuel L. Dubois, and delivered an address. Spent the most of the day with brethren Derrow, Tenney, and Robinson, all of them being missionaries. Heard brother Robin- son preach in the evening from John v .: 45.
Wednesday, December 9. Rode thirty-nine miles to Smith's Ferry on White River ; thirty miles of the way without a single house. Saw about twenty deer, and many buck and elk horns.
Thursday. Rode thirty miles alone to Judge Ketcham's on Clear Creek ; twenty miles without a house. Alas, how great my fatigues. For five nights I have lodged on the floor, and for two days have found but very little to eat. But the Lord has supported me.
Saturday. Preached at Bloomington," from Psalms cxix .: 165. Received from George Anderson, a Methodist preacher, half a dollar for the missionary society.
Tuesday. Rode twenty-five miles to Mr. Steele's, on Steele's Prairie. Was very glad to get where there are some of the comforts of life again.
1 Cf. Dickey's " History," p. 7.
2 Probably the first Presbyterian sermon in the place. Cf. Moore's "History of Indianapolis Presbytery, " p. 3.
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Sabbath, Dec. 27th. Preached a funeral sermon on the death of Sally Ann Scott.1
Sabbath, Jan. 10, 1819. Preached twice to very large and solemn audiences ; first, to Father Balch's people, and baptized Amelia Witherspoon, daughter of John and Letitia White, members of Mr. Balch's church.
Sabbath, Jan. 17th. Preached at the court-house in Vincennes. Alas, how great is the wickedness of this place. Every species of wickedness is committed on the Lord's day, this day being devoted to it. May the good Lord have mercy and not destroy the city.
Friday, Jan. 29th. I have a new trouble. My horse is very lame and I fear I must leave him, but I will trust in the Lord.
Sabbath, Jan. 31st. Preached at Mr. Hall's to a very large and solemn congregation. After preaching proceeded to constitute a Presbyterian church, having previously made the necessary arrangements and examinations, when nine persons came forward and were constituted a church of Christ (the Carlisle church). Their names are as follows : William McCrary and his wife Mary ; James Watson ; Rachel Porter; Mary Gould; Lydia Silliman ; Anna Brody; Mary Wasson ; Martha Wasson. Mr. Mccrary was chosen to the eldership and ordained.
Monday, Feb. 8th. The citizens of this place ( Vincennes) have this day presented me with one hundred and one dollars for my personal benefit ; and learning that my horse had failed generously purchased me another, for which they paid eighty dollars. May the Lord reward them for their kindness, and may I have grace and gratitude according to my day.
Sabbath, Feb. 14th. The season is very mild and I have this day had greens with dinner.
Wednesday, Feb. 24th. Rode four miles to Louisville, found brother Rodgers, a missionary from New York. Attended a prayer meeting with liim, brother Reed, and brother Banks.
Thursday. Rode to Charlestown. Found brother Todd and family well.
1 Here the journal is interrupted by a list of " missionary stopping places "-a sort of roll of honor. Livonia : Alex., James, and Elder Mckinney ; Orange County : David Findley and Mr. Fisher ; Camp Creek : Elders Walker, Rodgers, and Henderson ; Bethlehem : Mr. Armstrong; Washington : John Allen and Mr. Thompson ; Vin- cennes : Drs. Hale and Wood; Carlisle : Capt. Wasson ; Princeton : Mr. Brown, In- keeper, and Esq. Goodlet ; Clear Creek : Judge Ketcham; Bloomington : Wm. Harden, Esq., postmaster; 8 Miles West : Judge Berry ; and N. W., Mr. Kirkum; Steele's Prairie : Mr. Steele ; Between Vincennes and Carlisle : Judge Mcclure, Mr. Ockle- tree, and Mr. Watson.
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Friday, March 18, 1819. Left Madison and crossed the river. It was indeed trying to part with my good friends in Indiana. They have manifested much affection for me. May the Lord crown their years with loving kindness, and if I may meet them no more here grant that I may meet them in his kingdom.
From these scattered extracts it is evident how pains- taking and thorough and successful were Mr. Fowler's labors in Indiana.' Entering the state July 13, 1818, and leaving it March 18 of the following year, his fine health had been taxed to the utmost, his assiduity had entirely broken down a valuable saddle-horse, he had organized three churches, through the southern section of the state he had everywhere scattered seeds of truth, large tracts of country like that about Vincennes he had traversed again and again, and it is easy still to discover the lasting influ- ence of his discreet zeal.
Turning homewards he passed through Kentucky, Vir- ginia, Maryland, and Delaware, and reached New York May 13, in time for the spring anniversaries, which then formed a prominent feature of religious life in the Eastern States. He soon sought a settlement, and was installed pastor of the Congregational church at Plainfield, Conn., March 1, 1820, having previously for several months supplied its pulpit. After. eleven years' labor there he removed to Fall River, Mass., where he was installed July 7, 1831.
In the year 1841 Mr. Fowler delivered three discourses contain- ing an historical sketch of Fall River from 1620 to that time. In this sketch he referred to the boundary line between Massachu- setts and Rhode Island, that had been in dispute for about a cen- tury. Not long after, at a meeting of the citizens of Fall River on the subject of the boundary, Mr. Fowler, without his consent or even knowledge, was placed upon a committee to defend the interests of the town before commissioners appointed by the two
1 He was, however, unable to sing, and found himself on that account ofteu embar- rassed. Nor could he become accustomed to the rude frontier life. It will be seen from his diary how it cheered him to meet anybody " from Connecticut."
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states. This service he promptly and ably performed ; but the commissioners came to a decision in which the people of Fall River were little disposed to acquiesce ; and they resolved upon an effort to prevent the establishment by the Massachusetts legisla- ture of the line fixed upon by the commissioners. Mr. Fowler now published a series of papers in the Boston Atlas designed to present before the publie mind the historical facts sustaining the claims of Massachusetts, but even his most intimate friends did not know that he was the author of them. When the authorship was ascertained there was a general voice in favor of his being chosen to the Senate of the commonwealth, at the next session of the legislature. He was accordingly elected in the autumn of 1847, and the Senate, chiefly, it is said, through his influence, rejected the report of the commissioners by a unanimous vote. Such was the estimation in which he was now held as a legislator that in the autumn of 1848, before his senatorial term had expired, the people of his district elected him to the Thirty-first Congress. Here his influence was extensively and benignly felt and his advo- cacy of the cheap postage bill particularly is said to have been highly effective.
Mr. Fowler, during the time that he was a member of the Mas- sachusetts Senate, supplied his own pulpit, either in person or by proxy, and continued to perform his pastoral duties until the last of November, 1849, when he left Fall River to take his seat in Congress. Agreeably to a previous understanding, he was dis- missed from his pastoral charge by the same council that installed his successor, in the spring of 1850. During his connection with Congress he often supplied the pulpits in Washington and the vicinity and preached for the last time in the autumn of 1851.
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