USA > Indiana > Indiana Methodism: a series of sketches and incidents grave and humorous concerning preachers and people of the West with an appendix containing personal recollections, public addresses and other miscellany > Part 18
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In 1861 the conference was held in South Bend, beginning October 10, Bishop Simpson presiding at this conference also. Among those admitted in 1861 were S. M. Hayes, LaFayette S. Buckles, John H. Cissel, and O. H. Smith.
Brother Hayes is still in active work in the con- ference; a good man and a good preacher; loves the church; devoted to his friends, and successful in the work; he still enjoys good health and is destined, if his life be spared, to perform yet, many years of ac- tive service.
Rev. LaFayette S. Buckles, who has traveled a number of years with acceptability and usefulness, is now on the list of supernumerary preachers,
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living with his family in Thorntown. In his active ministry, with his ability as a preacher, and superior gifts as an exhorter, and power in prayer, he never failed in his work, but glorious revivals of religion attended in almost every pastoral charge where he led in the work of the Lord.
The outbreak, during this year, of the Rebellion in the Southern states caused a number of the preachers of the conference either to enlist in be- half of the Union in the private ranks or to go as chaplains.
At this time O. H. Smith was principal of the Thorntown academy; G. W. Rice, principal of the New Carlisle seminary; C. N. Sims, president of the Valparaiso college: in the army were N. L. Brake- man, chaplain of the 21st Ind .; T. E. Webb, chap- lain of the 14th Ind .; H. O. Hoffman, chaplain of the 17th Ind .; J. C. Reed, chaplain of the 29th Ind.
Necessarily in the examination of character, and very naturally, the question came up at this session, to-wit, what action should be taken in the case of brethern who had left their work and gone into the army. A distinguished minister, one occupying a very high position in the church was among the visitors attending the conference. As soon as the question was called by Bishop Simpson, the Rev. Gentleman just alluded to, commenced to speak about in these words; "You ask what you will do with these men, and there is nothing to do but one thing," he continued, "locate them, every one of them." Then taking a discipline from his pocket, he read to the bishop and conference what the
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church laws said, concerning the preacher who. should leave his work, etc .; adding, "The very least you can do, brethern, of the conference, is to locate these men, and teach them a lesson." The writer caught the trend of this remarkable speech from the- first sentence of the speaker, and at once began to formulate a preamble and resolutions for the con- sideration of the conference.
As soon therefore as the distinguished brother took his seat something like the following was at once presented: "Whereas, A. B. C. D. and E., members of this conference, have gone at their country's call, to bare their bosoms to the battle's: storm, to protect the flag of the Union, and our homes and firesides as well, and
"Whereas, In this, the hour of our great peril, it is- the duty of every American citizen, in the pure spirit of patriotism, to do all in his power to preserve in- tact our undivided country, therefore,
"Resolved, That, should our beloved brethern, who are now either as private soldiers or chaplains in the army, be permitted, in the good providence of God to return to their homes and families, we will receive- them with open arms and welcome them back to their appropriate fields of labor in this conference." He then added, "Our friend has read from the Discipline, but he has not read all of the paragraph bearing on these cases. The closing words of the paragraph are: "Nevertheless, the final determination, in all such cases, shall be with the Annual conference !" By this time the preachers and people were cheering all over the house; for they could readily "intuitize," as Dr.
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Wheedon, would say, a degree of sympathy with the rebellion in the speech he was thus answering.
Bishop Scott held the conference at LaFayette which commenced October 9, 1862 with J. C. Reed, Secretary. Brethern admitted on trial at this con- ference were Russell D. Utter, Thomas Meredith, Henry G. Jackson, and Samuel Godfrey, re- admitted.
Brother Meredith, now in the full vigor of his noble manhood, has served a number of our better- class stations. He is a unique and interesting preacher. As a church-builder few can excel or even equal him. The magnificent house of worship at Brazil is one of his monuments. He served a full term as presiding elder on the Frankfort district. His praise is in all the churches where he has labored.
Rev. Henry G. Jackson, D. D., now one of the pre- siding elders in Chicago, has had a remarkable career; he is an alumnus of Asbury, now DePauw University; but was elected during his senior year in college to the principalship of the Thorntown Academy; and from there called to the Stockwell Collegiate Institute; and at the close of the war was appointed by Bishop Ames as missionary in the city of New Orleans. For further account of Dr. Jackson, see Appendix, page - -.
At the conference of 1862 Dr. Godfrey was stationed at Ninth-st. Church, LaFayette. In the spring of that year, at the close of the session of the North Indiana conference, held in Ft. Wayne, Bishop Simpson, transferred Rev. Dr. J. W. T. Mc- Mullen to the Northwest Indiana conference. Dr. McMullen filled a vacancy at Delphi until the meet-
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ing of the Northwest Indiana conference, when he was stationed at the Fifth street Church, Lafayette. With Dr. Godfrey in one church and Dr. McMullen in the other, it is no disparagement of other preach- ers to say that no two men of superior brilliancy and eloquence ever graced the pulpits of that city.
The appointments that year in the Terre Haute district were in part as follows:
J. L. Smith, Presiding Elder; Terre Haute, G. M. Boyd; Terre Haute Circuit, Thomas Bartlett; Green- castle, T. S. Webb; Belmore, Daniel DeMotte.
Early in 1862, this writer was appointed by Pres- ident Lincoln, collector of Internal Revenue, with headquarters at LaFayette; and for that year, be- ginning in the fall, in addition to his work as pre- siding elder, he had the supervision of the revenue business by appointment of the president. There were twelve pastoral charges in his presiding elder's district and seven counties in the collection dis- trict. In each of these seven counties the collector appointed a deputy, and, at the principal office in LaFayette, a deputy and book-keeper. The dis- trict stewards met that year at Rockville for the purpose of fixing the presiding elder's salary; and proceeding without any hint from the presiding elder as to what in his judgment the salary ought to be, they agreed on the sum of twelve hundred dollars. The presiding elder then said to the brethern: "Waited down, as I am, with more than the double work of presiding elder and revenue col- lector it will be impossible for me to give full time to the work of the district. I do not expect to be absent from any quarterly meeting or quarterly
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conference in consequence of my work as collector; and yet I feel that one-fourth of my time, at least during the week, will be absolutely necessary in looking after my work as collector of internal reve- nue. I therefore request it of you, as a personal favor to myself, that you will deduct twenty-five per cent. from the amount which you have so gen- erously fixed as salary for the presiding elder." And, it may be added, the good brethern were not long in making the figures by which the salary was fixed at nine hundred in place of twelve hundred.
The preachers on the Terre Haute district that year were faithful and true in their labors. Brother Boyd at Terre Haute station had an exceedingly pleasant and prosperous year. Not only in Terre Haute, but, almost all over the district, there were gracious revivals, and many souls were won to Christ and his Church.
Having been requested by letter, both from Bishop Simpson and my old friend and family physician, Dr. John Evans, of Denver, now ex-governor of Colorado, to meet them at the session of the North Indiana conference at Fort Wayne, this writer was prompt to obey the summons. The following plan, he was informed, had been agreed upon by the bishop and Dr. Evans, who had just been appointed terri- torial governor of Colorado, to wit, that J. L. Smith should be appointed superintendent of mis- sions in the Colorado country by the bishop, that he should settle with Dr. Evans in Denver, and by appointment of the new governor, become secretary of State. The doctor insisted that there would be no
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difficulty in having the work of the secretary's office done by a deputy, so as not to hinder the evangelistic services of the superintendent of mis- sions. This seemed very plausible; but when the husband and father returned to his home in Stock- well, full of the idea of going West, and laid the plan with a degree of minuteness before his wife, she replied: "The matter does not strike me at all favorably. Our daughters, who will very soon be young ladies, are now in a good school here, a school that has cost us a good deal of money; to pull up and move, and break up the education of the girls, and go out to that wild country, for the most part filled up with adventurers, renegades, and gamblers, will never do. Don't you know that girls will marry in the society or social grade of the people among whom they live? Now to take our daughters out of school, and run the risk of their marrying beneath themselves, throwing themselves away it may be, and lowering our family in social and churchly position,-for such a misfortune as might thus come upon us, all the gold and silver in the mines of Colorado would be no recompense."
Thinking over the matter a few days, and remem- bering that a celebrated author had somewhere said, "It is always safe fora man to take the advice of a good woman;" and, as the wife so persistently adivs- ed,the contemplated missionary superintendent and secretary of State decided to remain in Indiana, in- forming both the doctor and the bishop of his de- clinature of the positions offered him.
The senior bishop, Thomas A. Morris, held the session of the Northwest Indiana conference in
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Michigan City, beginning Sept. 30, 1863. Two brethern admitted on trial at this conference still remain among us, having, each of them, made an honorable record during the almost thirty years past. These two brethern, higly respected and much loved, are Reubin H. Sanders and Samuel P. Colvin. The former is now stationed at Door Village, the latter at Plymouth, the seat of justice for Marshall county.
Brother Sanders is a good man and able minister, esteemed by his people, and always successful in his work. He was prominently spoken of at the last conference as a suitable man to be placed on one of the districts as presiding elder.
Brother Colvin is generally known as the church lawyer of the conference. Woe be to the man that preaches heretical doctrines, especially if he should chance to fall into the polemical clutches of S. P. Colvin. Brother Colvin commenced his work on Clinton circuit, and, from the beginning, was a marked man. He has been occupied for a number of years in stations; was for four years presiding elder of the Greencastle district; and, before going to Plymouth, his present field of labor, he served a full term of five years in LaPorte station. For fur- ther notice of the commanding ability and general usefulness of this good brother, see Appendix, page -.
The delegates elected to the General conference were Aaron Wood, George M. Boyd, Jacob M. Stallard and John L. Smith. The Gen - eral conference of 1864 met in the city of Phila- delphia, Pa., on the 2d day of May,-the month of
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May that year, beginning on Sunday, as it will also this year, 1892. Bishops present, Thomas A. Mor- ris, Edmund S. Janes, Levi Scott, Mathew Simpson, Osman C. Baker, and Edward R. Ames. At nine o'clock Bishop Janes called the conference to order and Bishop Morris conducted the opening religious services, consisting of reading the 84 Psalm, singing the 219th hymn and prayer; Bishop Janes continued the religious service by using the latter part of the 20th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and the 237th hymn. The hymn having been sung, George Peck and Charles Elliott led the devotions of the conference in prayer. Dr. Aaron Wood, who led the Northwest Indiana delegation, had been a dele- gate to the General conference of 1844, and had voted in favor of the notorious "plan of separation." This vote his brethern regarded as a great blunder, and were just twenty years in pardoning his mistake. But time, it is said, makes all things even; so now, for the second time in his life, the grand old man was placed at the head of his delegation.
The great scheme of church extention was origi- nated, and, in a degree, perfected, at this confer- ence. Rev. Dr. S. Y. Monroe became the first sec- retary of the society; but in a few short months after he entered upon the duties of his office, he lost his valuable life by falling off the cars between Newark, N. J. and New York City.
The committee on the state of the country, Joseph Cummings, chairman, and Granville Moody, secretary, formulated, and reported to the confer- ence, an address to the president of the United States, which was unanimously adopted. On the 14th
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day of May a committee was appointed to present this address to the president, a committee consist- ing of Bishop Edward R. Ames, Rev. Dr. Joseph Cummings, Rev. Dr. George Peck, Rev. Dr. Charles Elliott, and Rev. Dr. Granville Moody. The com- mittee proceeded to Washington, and presented the address, which was as follows :
TO HIS EXCELLENCY ABRAHAM LINCOLN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
The General conference of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, now in session in the city of Phila- delphia, representing nearly seven thousand minis- ters and nearly a million members, mindful of their duty as Christian citizens, takes the earliest oppor- tunity to express to you the assurance of the loyalty of the church, her earnest devotions to the interests of the country, and her sympathy with you in the great responsibilities of your high position in this trying hour.
With exultation we point to the record of our church as having never been tarnished by disloyalty. She was the first of the churches to express, by a deputation of her most distinguished ministers, the promise of support to the government in the days of Washington. In her Articles of Religion she has enjoined loyalty as a duty, and has ever given to the government her most decided support.
In this present struggle for the nation's life many thousands of her members, and a large number of her ministers, have rushed to arms to maintain the cause of God and humanity. They have sealed their devotion to their country with their blood on
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every battle-field of this terrible war.
We regard this dreadful scourge now desolating our land and wasting the nation's life as the result of a most unnatural, utterly unjustifiable rebellion, involving the crime of treason against the best of human governments and sin against God. It re- quired our government to submit to its own dis- memberment and distruction, leaving it no alterna- tive but to preserve the national integrity by the use of the national resources. If the government had failed to use its power to preserve the unity of the nation and maintain its authority it would have been justly exposed to the wrath of heaven, and to the reproach and scorn of the civilized world.
Our earnest and constant prayer is, that this cruel and wicked rebellion may be speedily supressed ; and we pledge you our hearty co-operation in all appropriate means to secure this object.
Loyal and hopeful in national adversity, in pros - perity thankful, we most heartily congratulate you on the glorious victories recently gained, and re- joice in the belief that our complete triumph is near.
We believe that our national sorrows and calam- ities have resulted in a great degree from our for- getfulness of God and oppression of our fellow-men. Chastened by affliction, may the nation humbly re- pent of her sins, lay aside her hauty pride, honor God in all future legislation, and render justice to all who have been wronged.
We honor you for your proclamations of liberty, and rejoice in all the acts of the government de- signed to secure freedom to the enslaved.
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We trust that when military usages and necessi- ties shall justify interference with established insti- tutions, and the removal of wrongs sanctioned by law, the occasion will be improved, not merely to injure our foes and increase the national resources, but also as an opportunity to recognize our obliga- tions to God and to honor his law. We pray that the time may speedily come when this shall be truly a republican and free country, in no part of which, either state or territory, shall slavery be known.
The prayers of millions of Christians, with an earn- estness never manifested for rulers before, daily as- cend to heaven that you may be endued with all needed wisdom and power. Actuated by the senti- ments of the loftiest and purest patriotism, our prayer shall be continually for the preservation of our country undivided, for the triumph of our cause, and for a permanent peace, gained by the sacrifice of no moral principles, but founded on the word of God, and securing in righteousness liberty and equal rights to all.
Signed in behalf of the General conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Respectfully submitted, JOSEPH CUMMINGS, Chairman.
Philadelphia, May 14, 1864.
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S REPLY TO THE ADDRESS.
Gentlemen,-In response to your address allow me to attest the accuracy of its historial statements; indorse the sentiments it expresses ; and thank you, in the nation's name, for the sure promise it gives.
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Nobly sustained as the government has been by all the churches, I would utter nothing which might, in the least, appear invidious against any. Yet, without this, it may fairly be said that the Method- ist Episcopal Church, not less devoted than the best, is, by its greater numbers, the most important of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to heaven than any. God bless the Methodist church-bless all the churches-and blessed be God, who, in this our great trial, giveth us the churches.
[Signed.]
May 18th, 1864.
A. LINCOLN.
At the close of the reading of the president's re- ply the conference at once adopted a motion direct- ing the book agents at New York to have the paper lithograped so as to make it possible that each member of the body might obtain a copy. As soon as the motion was passed, this writer walked over to where Dr. Carlton, the chief book agent was seated, and asked the agent this question : "Will lithographing the paper mar or injure it in any way ?" "Not necessarily," replied the Dr. "Then,' said the enquirer, "Dr. Carlton, I want you, now and here, upon the honor of a Christian gentleman and a beloved brother, to promise me that, if this paper of the President's shall not be injured in any way in the process of lithographing, you will send to me, the original, signed by the president's own hand." "I will do it," said the Dr. ; and it is believed that he kept his word ; and to-day, as this writer verily be-
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lieves, the original, in a neat frame, hangs in his study.
More than a hundred citizens from Indiana tem- porarily residing in Washington City as clerks, etc., in the different departments, joined in a request to Bishop Simpson to come to Washington and preach in the Capitol on a certain Sunday during a session of the General conference. The bishop accepted the in- vitation, and, at his earnest request, the author of these pages accompanied him. The journey was made on Friday evening, and the Saturday was largely spent in visiting some of the more interest- ing places of the city. On Saturday afternoon, as the custom then was and possibly is now, what was known as the Marine band entertained the people with music on the grounds at the rear of the White House. As the people gathered at the appointed hour and enjoyed the music of the notable band it was observed that the President and his family had taken their position on the second floor of the piazza, which was surrounded by a railing so high that few of the family could be seen, excepting the president from his shoulders upward. The enter- tainment lasted about three hours ; when all was over the people still seemed loathe to leave the grounds, and no one seemed to know exactly what to do with himself. This writer, being near to a man that seemed to be of distinction, said : "Would you not call out the president to speak a few words to us ?" to which he replied, with a look of scorn and contempt, "No sir ; such a thing would be impudent and boorish." Very soon a gentleman was spoken to, and from his shoulder straps was taken to be a
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general in the army, to whom the young man from Indiana plied the same question with a little varia- tion in the language, saying : "Sir, you seem to be a man of authority, suppose you invite the president to stand up and give us a little speech." To which he replied : "I could not think of such a thing, sir." At this the visitor from Indiana walked forward to within about thirty paces of where the president sat and said in a voice that all could hear,"Mr. Lincoln you have a great many friends in this crowd from Ind ana and Illinois; would you be kind enough to speak a word to your fellow-citizens for their encourage- ment at this time of peril to the nation ?" The pres- ident immediately arose,and, stretching himself up to the highest point possible, he said : "There are no people on the face of the earth that I would rather see, and whom I love more than the people of In . diana and Illinois ; I have a speech to make and it is this," (then taking his handkerchief and swinging it around his head, he cried out), "Three cheers for General Grant and the Union army !" Five thous- and people responded with a will ; but, before the cheering was over, the president had left the porch and all was quiet again. Then the man who had first been requested to call out the president came up and said to the Hoosier : "Where are you from ?" to which the answer was made, "I am from Indiana, sir, where would you suppose I was from ?" "Did you ever undertake to do anything in your life that you didn't do ?" "Yes," said the Hoosier, "I always fail when I undertake to do an impossible thing,a thing I rarely undertake however." "Well," said he, "from the scene just witnessed, and seeing your persistence
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in calling out the president of the United States, which I would not have dared to do, I came to the conclusion that you always did everything that you undertook to do."
In the religious services at the Capitol on the next day, Sunday, Bishop Simpson was at his best. There were present, on that notable occasion, President Lincoln and family, foreign ministers, cabinet offi- cers, with distinguished men and women, political and literary, representing almost every portion of the United States. Knowing Bishop Simpson as this writer did, he was surprised at the Bishop's reading as his text the fifth verse of the fifth chapter of Romans : "And hope maketh not ashamed ; be- cause the love of God is shred abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Hav- ing, at the request of the bishop, lead the services in prayer, the writer took his seat at the Speaker's desk, where he had an unobstructed view of the au- dience. The hall (house of representatives) was densely crowded. The president and his family sat at a convenient distance, immediately in front of the bishop, surrounded, for the most part, by his cabinet, and the judges of the supreme court of the United States. The thought occurred, when the bish - op read his text that he had chosen a good subject, a very suitable one for a presiding elder's sermon to a Saturday congregation of church members ; then came the suggestion, Why did the bishop not select some theme that would bring out to an audience like this something that involved more intellect and learning in philosophy and science ? But the won- derful man of God, endued with power from on high,
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was equal to the occasion. The audience, for the most part, was soon melted to tears. The writer noticed particularly the then grand, and almost iron, man, the secretary of the treasury, who seemed de- termined that he would keep the tears back, and yet the tears would come ; at first the secretary, appar- ently wishing nobody to see his movements, would suddenly brush the tears from his eyes, with his hands, but the flow increased until he was compelled to draw his white hankerchief, which he freely used. If all present were as the one who sat behind the bishop during the delivery of that most remarkable sermon it will never be forgotten. Theclosing sen- tence was so much like the bishop's preaching at an old fashioned Western camp-meeting, and was de- livered with such pathos and unction that it would seem that it could never be forgotten, and now, af- ter almost thirty years it is, at least by one, vividly remembered and is here given verbatim : "My dear friends, it is not more learning that you most need, it is not a higher knowledge in diplomacy ; it is not greater political sagacity or more extensive knowl- edge of state-craft ; but, that which every one most needs of all things under the shinning sun is to have, by repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and humble obedience, the love of God shred abroad in your hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto you." This last sentence was uttered in such an impassioned manner as only Mathew Simpson could utter it at the high noon of his noble powers of oratory and Christian manhood.
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