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 2
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Bowlin Smith and Lovewell Owen were united in marriage by the Rev. Edward Drumgole in the year 1800. This union was blest with ten children, all of whom lived to adult age; namely, Nancy P., Mary N., Sophia S., Elizabeth F., John L., Sarah L., Harriet B., Matthew A., Catharine R., and Benjamin F. They were all members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; each one died in the hope of a blissful immortality.
In 1811 William and Mary Owen, with their son William and their daughters, Sophia and Sarah, quit- ting their Virginia home, settled in Green county, Ohio. Here they found a number of their old-time Virginia friends and neighbors,-the Bonners, the
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Pelhams, the Sale's, the Heaths, and Davises,-sev- eral of whom were representatives of the first class formed in Virginia, and became charter members of an Ohio class at a point called Union meeting house.
Another Virginia family, Bowlin and Lovewell Smith, with their children, were attracted to Green county, Ohio, in November, 1826. Among the chil- dren of this family was a boy of fifteen, John Lewis, or, as they usually called him, Lewis. A month or two after the family arrived in Ohio, Lewis, while at- tending a meeting at Union, was by the Holy Spirit deeply awakened-at a meeting conducted by Will- iam H. Raper and George W. Maley, the preachers then in charge of Union circuit.
On the morning of April 1, 1827, while Horatio Maxey, sen., brother to the Rev. Bennett Maxey, formely of the Virginia conference, was singing, "Come, ye sinners, poor and needy," John Lewis Smith, then in the 16th year of his age, was power- fully converted to God. He soon felt it his duty to call sinners to repentance, but found much to discour- age the undertaking, especially in his lack of educa- tion, not to mention his youth or his sense of unfit- ness generally. There was no doubt in his mind as to the supreme necessity of at least a good English education, and, such as his opportunities were, he resolved to improve them. Being the eldest son of a large family recently located in the woods of a new country, his father unused to manual labor, the bur- den of making a farm,-grubbing, rolling logs, maul- ing rails, making fences, etc.,-devolved mainly on him. Every day was a day of toil. The day's work done, he took up his books, pursuing his stud-
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ies in the light of the blazing shell-bark.
One of the best of mothers aided him much in his studies, as well in the study of theology as other sub- jects. She was a woman of extensive reading and of much more than average culture. Besides the Bi- ble she was familiar with the theological writings of Wesley and Fletcher, especially with such volumes as Wesley's Sermons, Fletcher's Appeal, and Checks to Antinomianism. Thoroughly posted on the sub- ject of Bible doctrines, and well informed on the re- ligious topics of the day, she was by no means an in- competent instructor. She was a thorough-going Methodist, withal, by virtue of the training, antece- dents, and traditions of her early life. The father of Episcopal Methodism was indeed her spiritual father. . Very naturally, and justly enough, she revered the name of Bishop Asbury. The good bishop was the frequent guest of her father's family in Virginia, as also their occasional guest in Ohio, and so became the means, when she was quite young, not only of leading her to Christ, as heretofore stated, but also of establishing her fully in her devotion to the doc- trines and usuages of Methodism.
Nine long years or more the boy was in training by the devoted mother. Encouraged by her prayers and instruction, yet not without many misgivings, sometimes hoping and sometimes despairing, back- sliding and repenting, at last he resolved to go for- ward in what seemed to him plainly the path of duty. Survive or perish he would preach the gospel.
His first license as an exhorter bears the date of June, 1836, and the signature of William Sutton, preacher-in charge. When the question of grant-
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ing the license came before the class, a lengthy dis- cussion ensued. Some thought it was not a very "clear case." At last, when the vote was taken, it was found to be a tie. As it happened, Mother Sale, widow of the Rev. John Sale, of precious memory, was present, and, at this juncture, inquired of the preacher whether it was lawful for women to vote. Being answered in the affirmative, she voted "aye" and the license was granted.
The young man, on being recalled to the class room and informed as to the action of the class,forth- with announced an appointment to "hold meeting" at 4 o'clock the next Sunday afternoon, at the house of Brother Thomas Owen. A little incident hap- pened about this time that resulted in giving the announcement wide publicity. A clever, hard-work- ing man by the name of Price, had traded a favorite family horse to the then prospective exhorter ; but, on finding his wife and children loth to part with the horse, Price came to the young man, saying, "I'll make you a thousand rails if you will consent to rue the bargain." The offer was accepted. Price made the rails, which was equivalent to the payment of five dollars, and received back his horse. The young man, after thinking the matter over, decided not to exact anything from his neighbor and paid Price for making the rails. Price was elated. As soon, there- fore, as he heard of the announcement, he took it upon himself to go abroad over the neighborhood, commending the "new preacher," and urging every- body to attend the meeting. The result was, that, when the hour for meeting came, Thomas Owen's house and door-yard combined, could hardly hold
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the people that turned out, all curious to hear the "new preacher" as he was called by his friend Price. Not long after this Mr. Price and several members of his family were soundly converted.
The following Sunday night, Exhorter held a meet- ing at the house of Brother John Loyd, whose son is now an esteemed member of the Cincinnati confer- ence. The writer cannot vouch for the truth of it, but it was said, in reference to this occasion, that the reading of the opening hymn was distinctly heard at Lick Branch, a distance of a mile or more. Soon after the meeting opened George B. Owen, who for some time had been in a backslidden state, on ac- count of his unwillingness to preach the gospel was called on to pray. He refused to respond. Again he was called on to pray, and again he refused. Having a notion that nothing else would do, Exhort- er reached over to where Owen was kneeling, and gave him a blow on the short ribs, saying : "This is my last call to you; we've come to a dead lock; and, if you are determined not to pray, I shall proceed to dismiss the meeting."
At last he began in a low, mumbling way, but soon began to warm up, and in a few minutes was praying for mercy at the top of his voice. He was there and then triumphantly re- claimed. The house was crowded. And so wonder- ful were the manifastations of divine power, that, be- fore the meeting closed, everybody in the house was either shouting the praise of God or crying aloud for mercy. No one was invited to the mourner's bench, but the unconverted found a place for prayer where- ever they happened to be. The revival flame there kindled, spread abroad over the country; and souls
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SCENES AND INCIDENTS.
not a few were converted ;- in the fields, along the highways, coming to church or returning from it, as well as at the house of prayer. George B. Owen whose reclamation has been mentioned, became a zealous and useful minister. After traveling about twenty five years in the Cincinnati conference, he was called from the labors of earth to his reward in heaven.
The Exhorter aforesaid was licensed to preach in February, 1837, by the Rev. James B. Finley, pre- siding elder, and was at once employed by Mr. Fin- ley as a supply on the Wilmington circuit, J. Laws preacher-in-charge. Among the many good people then living in the bounds of the circuit, mention may be made of the Wrights, the Hibbens, the Morrises, the Shephards, the Gustins, and the Showalters at Willmington, in the country were the Jenkinses, the Fortners and the Trimbills, Mother Fortner, as she was called, lived at "Oliver Branch." She had been raised a quaker, -- was a woman of culture, deeply pious, and especially gifted in public speech. On a certain Sunday morning, at one of the quarterly- meeting love-feasts, a tedious old brother, by the name of Babby, and Mother Fortner rose at the same time to speak. Not seeing her, Brother Babby proceeded to tell his experience, she taking her seat. Nobody cared to listen to Brother Babby, but all were anxious to hear Mother Fortner. A feeling of disappointment was manifest-by no one more visibly than by the presiding elder, Mr. Finley. Brother Babby continued his talk, telling, among other wonderful things about the "sea sarpents,' he had seen as he was coming over from England.
-
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Becoming very impatient, Mr. Finley interrupted him with, ' Be Short, Brother Babby, be short many others desire to speak." "Child," responded the complacent Babby, "I recon you can wait till I tell my tale, can't you?" And on he went with his story. He had not proceeded far, however, until Mr. Finley again suggested the importance of brevity. "Be short, Brother Babby, you must be short ! we've no time for long speeches." Babby returned almost the same response as before. "It looks strange, child," he said, "that you can't wait till I tell my tale," and, as before, proceeded to unwind his yarn. Unable to endure the imposition any longer, Mr. Finley began to sing, the congregation joining with a will -and Brother Babby took his seat ! Mother Fortner then rose, and began in her tender, plaintive way to speak of her religious enjoyments and hopes. The people listened with intense interest, anxious to catch every word that fell from her lips. The good woman had well-nigh reached the climax of her telling talk, the congregation already deeply mov- ed, when Brother Babby, the irrepressible Babby, began to sing at the top of his voice. "Stop that, stop that, Brother Babby, Sister Fortner is speak- ing,"exclaimed Mr. Finley, in tones that fairly blazed with indignation; but the imperturbable Babby only sang the louder, and continued to sing until Sister Fortner was seated. The Englishman had caught up with the presiding elder.
The assistant preacher had just closed his first ser- mon at the Jenkins appointment, when a little boy about eight years of age, rose in the congregation, and, with tears streaming down his face, exclaimed,
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SCENES AND INCIDENTS.
"I love Jesus, oh, I love Jesus"! The preacher receiv- ed him into the church, and, after the close of that conference year, never saw him again until 1884. The boy, now over fifty years of age, was visiting some friends in Thorntown, Indiana, and again heard the man preach that received him into the church. He sought an interview with the preacher, and said: "I have always remembered that the preacher to whom I gave my hand, was named Smith; but, if ever I knew, I have never been able to recall the first part of his name. I have for years been wanting to find him, and now I believe you are the man." "Did you," he continued, "ever preach at Salem ? or what was sometimes called the Jenkins meeting-house ?" "Yes," said the preacher, "I preached there in 1837 as a supply, now forty-seven years ago." "Do you remember a little boy's joining the church there any time that year?" he queried. "Yes," said the preach- er, "and I remember distinctly how he impressed me and the congregation, when, with streaming eyes he exclaimed, 'I love Jesus, oh, I love Jesus!'" "I am that boy," said he, "and I thank God that I have at last found the man that received me into the church; and, now I want to tell you that I still love Jesus, and am on my way to heaven."
x
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CHAPTER II.
OHIO CAMP MEETING-UNCLE BILLY ROWE.
The local preacher was variously engaged from 1837 to 1840, somtimes in secular business, some- times traveling as a supply. His first effort at preach- ing from a text occured at the house of a Brother Brewington, in Madison county, Ohio, about five miles from London. Thus it happened. He had gone to Mr. Brewington's in company with a friend, Brother G. B. Owen, visiting, to spend a certain sab- bath, and enjoy the privilege of hearing a sermon by the Rev. Joel Havens, (a brother of the Rev. James Havens, knowing that Mr. Havens had an appoint- ment there for that day Mr. Havens preached a powerful sermon, and then met the class, the exer- cises proceeding amid sobs, and tears, and many loud halleluias. Mr. Havens called on the local preacher to conduct the closing services, after which he an- nounced : "Bro. John L. Smith, of Green county, will preach to the people here this afternoon at 4 o'clock, and Brother Owen will exhort after him." A clap of thunder in a clear sky could not have taken the young man with greater surprise.
Overwhelmed with a sense of the responsibility now resting upon him, actually to face a congregation in the capacity of a preacher, but feeling he dare not, at the peril of his soul, refuse to respond to the an - nouncement, he betook himself to the grove, there to wrestle with God in prayer for divine aid. His mind was led by the Spirit to Matt. xxi. 28, 1. c., "Son, go work to-day in my vineyard." The young preacher
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thought he saw the counterpart of his own experience in the first son's refusal and after obedience, and this determined the drift of the discourse. It is fairly supposable that he did not preach a very methodi- cal sermon, but he was happy in trying to preach, -- the people indulged in frequent amens, and he was greatly encouraged.
Sometime in 1838 he was invited to attend a camp- meeting in Fayette county, Ohio, a few miles from Jefferson. On his way thither he preached at Sabina, in Clinton county, and at the Sugar-creek appoint- ment, between Sabina and the camp-ground. The school-house at Sabina was full, yet only one person in the audience, and he a backslider, had made a pro- fession of religion. Christian people in those days usually knelt in time of prayer, but, on this occasion, there was not one to bow with the preacher at the throne of grace. After discoursing to the people as best he could under the circumstances, he was invit- ed to the home of his friend, the backslider, where, as he cannot forget, he was kindly entertained.
Early the next morning he started for the other appointment, where he found the people waiting, on his arrival at II o'clock. His theme at this point, Sugar-creek, was "Practical religion."
The camp-meeting referred to was largely attend- ed both by the laity and the ministry. The Revs. Edward Estell, Samuel Clark, and Moses Trader were among the ministers in attendance ; also the then celebrated exhorter, Billy Rowe, a host in him- self, was there in the fulness of his zeal and strength. Trader and Clark were considered the lions of that particular forest. Trader preached on Sunday morn-
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ing. His text was Heb. iv. 14. Two hours or more he towered with his grand theme, the priesthood of Christ, the swaying multitudes unconsciously near- ing the pulpit, until, at the close, carried away by the burning words, the mighty thoughts and melting pathos of the "son of thunder," there was first a mur- mur of applause like the low rumble of distant can- nonading, then an outburst of loud halleluias rarely, if ever before, witnessed even in those days of won- derful camp-meeting revivals. The camp-meeting custom then was, to have two or three sermons in succession on the Sabbath day, without intermission. Clark was to follow Trader. As soon as Trader sat down Clark arose, and, chafing like a mettlesome steed in restraint, or a proud-spirited warrior whose defeat is assured, he announced as a text Acts xii. 22,-"And the people gave a great shout, saying, it is the voice of a God, and not of a man." How frail is man! The choice of the text was in itself suggest- ive of a wrong spirit. All through the discourse there was an evident wish to strike at his predeces- sor as both grieved and mortified his audience. At the close of the harangue the people went mourning to their tents.
The day was made further memorable by another failure, of less importance to be sure than the one just mentioned, of a different character, but never to be forgotten by our local preacher. About three in the afternoon he was informed that he would be ex- pected to preach at 4 o'clock. Anticipating the re- mote possibility of such a call as this, he had already prepared himself for the emergency by carefully memorizing one of Burder's "village sermons". The
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only thing for him to do now, was to make sure of his preparation; so he took to the woods forthwith, there to repeat and re-repeat his piece. When the horn blew, calling the people together for the after- noon service, the young preacher, now well-nigh frightened out of his wits, was accompanied into the stand by Father Rowe, who had the goodness to say, for the young man's encouragement, "I will stand by you," a word of promise that was royally fulfilled. After singing and prayer the young man arose, and announced his text, "I am the way", John xiv. 6. He went on smoothly enough for about ten minutes, "when in an instant all was dark ;" then, having made several fruitless attempts to recover his self-posses- sion, he sat down, chagrined almost beyond endur- ance. This humiliating experience taught him an important lesson; for then and there he vowed unto the Lord never to violate the law, "Thou shalt not steal," which vow, as he believes, he has faithfully kept. His first was also his last attempt at plagiarism.
That wonderful man, Uncle Billy Rowe, promptly rose, spoke tenderly and kindly of the young preach- er, and told how he himself, in his more youthful days, had often failed in his attempts to exhort. Men could not control the conditions under which they were to preach, and the most able ministers, he had observed, did not escape the mortification of occasional failures. Having at length fully enlisted the sympathy of the congregation, he reannounced the text, "I am the way," and, taking hold of his sub- ject with the grasp of a giant, redeemed the failures of the day, "snatching victory from the jaws of de- feat."
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He drew largely from Thompson's Seasons, Young's Night Thoughts, and Milton's Paradise Lost. Young, however, seemed to be his favorite author. He touched the key note, when, in devout attitude and thrilling tones, he poured the fervor of his soul into the invocation :-
O Thou great Arbiter of life and death ! Nature's immortal, immaterial Sun ! Whose all-prolific beam late called me forth From darkness, teeming darkness, where I lay The worm's inferior, and, in rank, beneath The dust I tread on, high to bear my brow, To drink the spirit of the golden day, And triumph in existence; and couldst know No motive but my bliss ; and hast ordained A rise in blessing! with the patriarch's joy, Thy call I follow to the land unknown :
1 trust in Thee, and know in whom I trust: Or life, or death, is equal. neither weighs : All weight in this -O let me live to Thee !
Eloquence, some one has said, is in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. However that may be, Mr. Rowe's address rose to the dignity, sweep, and power of the highest order of sacred eloquence. His sublime mastery of the occasion was attested by the simultaneous weeping, praying, and shouting of the vast congregation. There were a few in the audience that were apparently indifferent,-a few of the disciples of Paine, who were grouped together at the left of the speaker. The speaker, well knowing they were present and the motives that prompted their coming, appeared for sometime not to notice them; but just at the proper point in the progress of his discourse, sweeping round in that direction, his eyes fell full upon them: for a moment he stood
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motionless, intently gazing upon the group, then, lift- ing his eyes toward heaven, he exclaimed, "O Fath- er, help me !" and with a glow of heavenly inspiration upon his countenance, addressed them in words that must have burned to the very core of their hearts :
Ve brainless wits! ye baptised infidels ! Ve worse for mending ! washed to fouler stains ! The ransom was paid down ; the fund of Heaven. Heaven's inexhaustible, exhausted fund, Amazing, and amazed, poured fourth the price. All price beyond : though curious to compute, Archangles failed to cast the mighty sum: Its value vast, ungrasped by minds create, Forever hides, and glows in the Supreme. And was the ransom paid? It was : and paid (What can exalt the bounty more ?) for you. The sun beheld it-No, the shocking scene Drove back his chariot: midnight veiled his face; Not such as this ; not such as nature makes; A midnight nature suddered to behold: A midnight new ! a dread eclipse (without Opposing spheres,) from her Creator's frown !
Turning now toward the western sun, earth and sky glowing in the supernal beauty of the sunset's golden beams, the great exhorter continued:
Sun ! didst thou fly thy Maker's pain ? or start At that enormous load of human gilt, Which bowed his blessed head; o'erwhelmed his cross: Made groan the center; burst earth's marble womb, With pangs, strange pangs ! delivered of her dead? Hell howled; and Heaven that hour let fall a tear : Heaven wept, that man might smile : Heaven bled that man Might never die !-
Again addressing the audience, his face aglow with rapture, he dwelt for a time on "Jesus the way",- the way, through death to immortality, from the sor-
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rows of earth to the blissful life of heaven, closing with the words:
In his blessed life,
I see the path, and in his death, the price, And in his great ascent, the proof supreme Of immortality. - And did he rise ? Hear, () ye nations ! hear it, O ye dead!
He rose ! Hle rose ! He burst the bars of death.
Oh the burst gates ! crushed sting ! demolished throne ! Last grasp of vanquished death ! Shout earth and heaven! This sum of good to man: whose nature, then, Took wing, and mounted with him from the tomb ! Then, then. I rose --
"Let us sing," he said, and more than a thousand voices thrilled with the triumphant strains of old Easter Anthem. The effect was sublime. The dis- ciples of Paine had fled. The ministers were shout- ing, and embracing each other in their arms; sin- ners were falling by the scores, and crying for mercy; and all over the camp-ground, the saints were re- joicing with exceeding great joy.
In the course of the meeting, which lasted about a week, three hundred and seventy souls were re- ported as having been brought to the knowledge of sins forgiven. Many also professed the blessing of "perfect love." "He that winneth souls is wise." "And they that be wise shall shine as the bright- ness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."
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1196555
CHAPTER III.
SURPRISE-INDIAN SQUAW.
The winter of 1839-40 brought with it many changes. Westward, at length, Providence having opened the way, the path of duty led our Local preacher. In the month of March, 1840, he set out on horseback for the far west, which, as he then un- derstood it, meant eastern, or, at most, central Indiana. After visiting some friends that lived on the Raccoon, near Ladoga, Montgomery County, he went into the Mississinewa country, to see his sister and her husband, the Rev. Eli H. Anderson. While at Mr. Anderson's house he met, for the first time, the Rev. John H. Hull, now of the Northwest In- diana Conference. Brother Hull, then a lean, lank, wiry, little fellow, a mere boy, was on the circuit,- the circuit having Muncytown, now Muncie, as its chief appointment, and embracing no inconsiderable portion of the regions round about,a -circuit bound- ed on the east by Bear creek ; on the south by New Castle circuit and Blue river, on the west by Pipe creek; and on the north by "limberloss and loblolly."
The presiding elder, the Rev. Robert Burns, was wanting an assistant for Brother Hull. Pastor Hull and his people promptly decided that the Buckeye local preacher had been divinely directed thither, to become the pastor's much needed assistant. Ac- cordingly, a few weeks after his arrival, at a quar- terly meeting held at Smithfield, on White river, he was authorized, by the presiding elder, to co-operate
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as Junior preacher with Brother Hull the remain- der of the conference year.
The Buckeye was fairly inducted into Hoosier- dom at the aforesaid quarterly meeting, and soon learned to love the Indiana people and admire their ways. Among the sturdy members of the church then living at Muncytown were Samuel Harlan, Job Swain, Abram Baurgelt, James Hodge, and James Nottingham. Jack & Russey was the style of the principal mercantile firm. ( Both members of the firm had Christian wives.) Dr. Anthony was one among the leading physicians.
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