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 3
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Early in the spring Brother Hull and his colleague held a two days meeting at Moores school house. The times were stirring. Both religious and polit- ical excitement ran high. The meeting was not in vain. Souls were converted, and believers sanc- tified. On the Sabbath the preacher-in-charge said to the junior, "You must preach," and, without flinching or whining, the junior went at it in the name of the Lord of hosts. He announced as his text the 5th verse of the 20th Psalm, and did what he could to turn the tide of public feeling in favor of the " banner" of the cross, and the government of Christ. This well meant effort was followed by an exhortation such as only John H. Hull could give.
During the summer of this year, 1840, some of the most remarkable revivals took place that were ever witnessed in the West. They were not, as a rule, the result of "protracted meetings, " as the phrase is usually understood, but of what were known as "two-days meetings. " At one of these meetings held by Hull and Smith, at the house of John Life, on the
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north bank of the Mississinewa river, the divine power was so manifest that some of the most ungod- ly old trappers and hunters present, were heard to say, " We never saw anything like this before." Mr. Life's house was a log cabin, 16x18 feet, with a broad, open fire-place ; puncheon floor ; "cat and clay" chimney ; clapboard roof, held on by knees and weight poles ; home-made, clapboard doors, with wooden hinges and wooden latches-" the latch string out." The door latch, in all such houses, was operated from the outside by means of a string ; taking the latch string in, was, in effect, to lock the door as against outsiders ; to say, "Our latch string is out," was a profession of hospitality. The one room of Mr. Life's cabin served as a church, sitting- room, parlor, and bedroom. When the weather per- mitted the cooking was done by a huge log-fire out doors, and, at such times, the door-yard became the dining hall.
The meeting at Mr. Life's began on Saturday. 'Large numbers were present at the first service. The interval between the forenoon meeting and the night, was mainly devoted to singing and prayer in behalf of penitent seekers of salvation. The morn- ing sermon by Brother Hull had brought a number to repentance, and, before the day closed, not a few of them were converted. Some devoted the afternoon to secret prayer, retiring for that pur- pose into the depths of the forest, and coming to the evening service happy in a Savior's love. That which gave character to the meeting, however, more than any thing else, making it ever memorable to all present, was the conversion of Mrs Life, the lady
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of the house, at the love-feast Sunday morning.
Mrs Life was a native of Pennsylvania,-a woman of flashing intellect and superior culture. Having been brought up a Lutheran, she had become strongly prejudiced against the Methodist church. She married John Life, as she afterwards said, be- cause she loved him, and believed him to be a good man in spite of his Methodism. Her friends were outraged, and disinherited her, because she married a Methodist. And for his sake she was willing, as
an affectionate and devoted wife, to undergo all the labor, care, and inconvenience incident to such an occasion, all the while feeling that, aside from pleas- ing her husband, she had no personal interest in the meeting. After a number had given in their ex- perience at the love-feast, the junior preacher, being most solemnly impressed that Mrs. Life ought to speak, yet hardly knowing whether to suggest it audibly, at last ventured to say, "Will Sister Life speak a few words ?" All was silent for a moment, till Brother Hull exclaimed, " The Lord bless Sister Life !" She then quietly rose, and said : "I was baptized in infancy ; I studied the catechism in child- hood ; I faithfully attended the church ; I say my prayers ; I am a member of the church ; I have been religious all my life. My husband is a Methodist, and I do not oppose him ; I am a Lutheran, and my husband does not oppose me in reference to my church. I was a Lutheran when he married me ; I am a Lutheran still ; and I expect to live and die a Lutheran." Here she paused, started to resume her seat, and had almost reached her chair, when, suddenly turning about, her eyes uplifted and arms
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extended, she cried out,-" But, oh, I'm a sinner ; O God, be merciful to me a sinner ! Oh, my friends, I thought I was a Christian, but I'm not ; oh, I'm a sinner ! Oh God, save a poor sinner like me ! Save me ! save me! save me! O my God! save me now !" And she was saved then and there. There in the love-feast, in the open day, in the presence of all that could crowd into the cabin, ( for many had to remain without, ) she was soundly and scriptur- ally converted to God. The effect of such an occur- rence, of such a miracle of grace, for miracle it was, may be imagined possibly, but it cannot be described. She was not long in changing her church relations, "and ever after was a helpmeet indeed to her devoted Christian husband. Their house was fully dedicat- ed to God and his service, and became, from that time on, a most delightful resting-place for the way- worn itinerant or weary Christian pilgrim. The con- secrated old cabin long since, gave place to the mo- dern mansion, but the fragrant memories which clus- ter about the hallowed spot will perish never. The displays of divine power there witnessed, at the two- days meeting, will linger among the sweetest mem- ories of earth, and become a theme of joyous thought in heaven.
Among the church workers living at the time along the Mississinewa, memory calls up the An- dersons, the Harbors, the Kings, the Smiths, the Porters, the Vincents, the Gregorys, the Allegrees, the Downings, the Strongs, and the Wilsons. Most of these were from Green county, Ohio, and former- ly members at Old Union, on Union circuit.
The third quarterly conference decided on hold-
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a camp-meeting in connection with the fourth quar- terly meeting. A convenient location was found on Campbell's creek. At a time appointed the two preachers, together with a goodly number of the good people, both male and female, met on the designated camp-ground, to clear away the rubbish, and make ready for the meeting.
The first thing in order, however, was a sermon by Brother Hull. Mounting the stump of a "coon tree," he delivered an appropriate discourse on, "Work while it is day ; for the night cometh, when no man can work." The sermon over, the people went to work with a will, to prepare the way of the Lord, " and " a highway for our God. "
The camp-meeting came on in the latter part of August. Among the ministers in attendance were : Robert Burns, the presiding elder ; Joseph Ocker- man, Bardin H. Bradbury, Seth Smith, Hezekiah Smith, John S. Donaldson, and the two circuit preachers. Burns was modest, amiable, and tend- er,-a capital preacher, and a powerful exhorter. Bruce was of Teutonic mould, strong in argument, and somewhat pugilistic. Ockerman was delicate in person, feminine in voice, and a sweet singer. Bradbury was mighty in prayer, mighty in the Scriptures, a sound theologian, and an able preacher. Seth Smith was a chaste speaker, a Christian gentle- man, and a pious, lovable minister. Hezekiah Smith was a great worker, an excellent pastor, a persua- sive exhorter, and a most successful minister. Don- aldson was of Hibernian extraction-eccentric, ready witted, an expert at repartee, a good exhorter, and a good preacher.
SKETCHES AND INCIDENTS.
One of the rules adopted by the tent-holders for the government of the meeting was, that, when the trumpet sounded at the close of the night service, all should retire to rest or leave the ground.
The preaching on the Sabbath by the presiding elder and others had been as "good news from a far country" to the multitudes that thronged the gates of Zion, and the evening services had extend- ed far into the night, when, the altar exercises hav- ing come to a close, the night bugle, so ominous to the rowdy, sounded forth the notice for all to re- tire.
Soon the camp was in comparative quiet, with most of the lodgers in the preachers' tent snugly folded away in the arms of Morpheus. The pre- siding elder had taken his place for repose between Brother Bruce and the junior preacher, the last of the clerical occupants of the place to resign him- self to slumber. At a late hour three of the baser sort among the rowdies, sought shelter and lodging in near proximity to the sleeping parsons, under the preachers' stand. They had not been there long before they commenced growling, barking, howling, and hooting. Among the names they as- sumed in addressing each other were, Mocking- Bird, Big-Gray-Wolf, Old-Towser, Etc. Finally they began to sing a parody on a familiar hymn, when the presiding elder began to soliloquise : " Oh dear me ! what shall I do? Such miserable rowdies ! And the fleas ! the fleas ! I can't sleep at all !" And then with an emphasis born of irritation, the good man exclaimed : "Brother Bruce, you and Brother Smith, get up at once, and move those night-owls
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from the camp-ground." The two brethren sallied forth in obedience to the orders of their district commander. Brother Bruce, taking the lead, plant- ed himself at the entrance of the strange appartment where the disturbers of the peace were lodged, and called out to them, "Come out of there instanter ; come out of there, I say." Reluctantly they crawled forth, when Brother Bruce continued, "Don't you know that the sounding of the trumpet at night, after service, is the signal for all to retire or leave the ground ?" Two of the three instantly fled. The other, standing like a statue, was thus addressed by Brother Bruce : "Sir, I say, you must retire to rest or leave the ground." The man protested that he had no place to retire to. "Then leave the ground, " was the prompt response of Brother B. "Well, " said the rowdy, " may I go where I have a mind to ?" "Anywhere, sir, so you leave the ground." And you promise not to interfere with me if I leave the ground ?" "Yes, go where you please, sir ; all I ask, is, that you leave the ground." The fellow, who had been standing all the while with his back to a tree, instantly whirled and, with a cat-like bound, sprang up into the tree. "What do you mean, sir ?" demanded Brother Bruce. "I mean to obey orders," responded the rowdy; "you ordered me to leave the ground ; I have left the ground as you required ; and now I hope the preacher will be as good as his word, and let me alone. "
The fourth quarterly conference was held or. Mon- day afternoon, at a little log school-house about a quarter of a mile from the camp-ground.
One of the important questions to be decided,
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was, Shall the junior preacher be recommended as a suitable person to be received into the traveling connection? When this question was called the ju- nior retired, and the powwow began. Noble Greg- ory, Thomas Vincent, William Downing, Thomas Leonard, and Elisha Harbor, local preachers ; Abra- ham Baurgelt, Borter Gipson, Jacob Windowmaker, and Father Goff, exhorters ; Daniel Brewington, Job Swain, Nathaniel Dickson, and about twenty-five others, class leaders, besides the preacher in charge, all took a turn at "representing" the candidate. After all the others had spoken Brother Hull made substantially the following speech : "Mr. President, I have patiently listened to the representations of the brethern. Some of these representations ; as I think are just ; some of them are erroneous. I have diligently watched Brother Smith's progress from the beginning. At the close of his first round on the circuit, some of the people were not very well pleased with him as a preacher. They said he was cold and formal ; they thought he would make a good Presbyterian minister, but doubted whether he would do for a Methodist preacher. The second round he did better. The people began to say, 'Why, the young preacher is warming up ; he needs a little more fire, but he preaches well, and we believe he will come out all right.' And now, Mr. President, for the last two months, and especially since his last round on the circuit, the people every-where tes- tify that his preaching is as clear as an icicle and as hot as a salamander." The recommendation was granted without further ado. Meanwhile the subject of the discussion was seated on a log some two hun-
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dred yards from the school-house ; but, had he been much less than a half mile away, he thinks he should have heard every word of Brother Hull's speech !
Among the orders issued by the presiding elder at the close of the camp-meeting, for the enlarge- ment of the work, was one requiring an exploration of the "north country" by Hull and Smith. In due time they were in the saddle and on their way. Be- ginning at the mouth of the Salamonic river, they went from one settlement to another, preaching wherever they could make an appointment. Their first meeting, in this tour, was at a Brother Swims, where they had good success in the work of the Lord. A number embraced the truth, and united with the church. One of the converts was a little son of Brother Swim's. He was a very bright little fel - low, and, for a child, talked of religion with unusu- al readiness and fluency. These many years he has been a useful local preacher.
The next point at which the missionaries pitched their moving tent, was at the house of a Brother Alexander, a recent emigrant from Kentucky. Mr. Alexander had brought with him two of his former servants, a man and his wife, once slaves but now free, whom the missionaries had the pleasure of lead- ing into the liberty of the children of God. The aggregate avoirdupois of these dusky descendants of Ham was 486 ; 220 for Aunt Agnes and 266 for Uncle Aaron. Having found the pearl of great price, they were ready of course to be baptised and received into the church. "In what manner do you wish to be bap- tized?" inquired Brother Hull. Uncle Aaron prompt- ly responded : "Why, chile, we wants to be 'mersed,
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De Laud he went down into de water, an' he come straight up out of de water ; an' me an' Aggy wants to follow right 'long in de good way our blessed Je- sus go."
Brother H .- "All right, Uncle Aaron ; but where shall we go to baptize you ?" Uncle A .- "Why, chile, doan you know what Philip said to de Unerk ? Come an' see." There was a creek not far from the house, and Uncle Aaron declared he knew of a deep hole under a willow tree, not more than a half mile away. At once preachers and people set out for the place where "John" was about to baptize, be- cause there was supposed to be "much water there." The deep hole proved to be a shallow pool, with much grass in it, and a high bank on either side. The prospect didn't seem very encouraging for a sucessful immersion ; anyhow the administrator, in viewing the ground over, could hardly conceal the fact that he felt a little dubious as to the results of the proposed undertaking. The Apostles' creed had been repeated by each of the applicants, the baptismal vows had been taken, and the time had come for a going down into the water, when Uncle Aaron, who had been critically surveying the pool and considering his own huge dimensions, exclaim- ed, "Shore's you're born, Brudder Hull, dat water am to low ; but I tells you now what to do : you jest take Aggy down dar, an' put her into de water as much as possible, an' if de water kivers her all over proper good, den I goes in." The lithe, active ad- ministrator bounded to the waters edge ; Aunt Aggy was assisted to his side; and while Uncle Aaron, with deep emotion sang,
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"I'm a Zion traveler, Won't you go wid me dere ?"
the twain, Brother Hull and Aunt Aggy, found on reaching the deepest part of the pool, the water was about half way to the knees, a little dextrous management on the part of the preacher, brought the huge form of Aunt Aggy to a horizontal position. It was no fault of hers or of the administrator that she was immersed only on one side ; and so poor Aggy received only a partial immersion. She had gone down into the water ; now the serious question was, how to bring her up out of the water. The law of gravitation, so helpful in the descent, was no longer to be counted on except as an opposing force. The task was not an easy one, but, with Uncle Aaron on the bank and Brother Hull in the water, working like two engines at a heavy train, one pulling and the other pushing, at length, the ascent was accomplished. Uncle Aaron was disappointed. "Now, brudders," he said, "doan you see de water am to scace ? Not 'nuff water to kiver Aggy : not 'nuff water anywhar to kiver me. Kase, you see, de season am very dry ; I waits den till the fall rains sets in 'fore l's baptised. De Laud bless you, Brudder Hull. Dey calls you Hull, but you is no hull-you is de kernal, de very marrow in de bone. And de Laud bless you, Brudder Smith. We po' critters is mighty thankful to you 'an Brudder Hull for comin' way out here in de woods to preach de eberlastin' gospel to us sinners. May de Laud bless you bofe' an give you a heap o' souls for your pay, Such in substance were a few of his utterances. The speech of the poor unlettered African was so artless,
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simple, sincere, and pathetic withal, that tears came unbidden to the eyes of many, even of those who had just witnessed the grotesque scene of Aunt Ag- gy's immersion.
Bluffton, the now flourishing seat of justice of Wells county, was the next objective point marked out on the route of the missionaries. Here they were kindly received, and most hospitably enter- tained at the house of that good man, and prince in our Israel, Brother Studabaker. Main street had been cleared out, i. e., the trees had been felled, but the high stumps were standing, and the logs had not all been removed. A rude court-house had been erected, which the misionaries were per- mitted to use as a sanctuary. After preaching and visiting a few days, they took leave of their kind host and his estimable wife, with a sincere "God bless you" at the parting, and going forth, sowing the seed of the kingdom as they went, they return- ed, via,"limberloss and loblolly,"to their own circuit.
The same autumn another camp-meeting was held, this time at the Timberlake settlement, the same corps of preachers as at the Campbell's-creek meeting. The junior preacher set out for the meet- ing from Sutton's, one of the preaching-places of the circuit, a place identical with the spot where Dun- kirk, in Jay county, now stands. The road or trail along which he threaded his solitary way led through a dense forest twelve miles without a house. As he pressed forward on his journey he came at length to a place where two ways met. Here he sat for a time on his horse, wondering which of the two ways he should take, when, peering about through the
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brush, he discovered this inscription on the smooth bark of a beech-tree, "Take the right-hand road for the camp-ground," an inscription which some one had written by dipping his finger in mud.
Further on he passed a man making boards to roof a cabin. The cabin had just been raised to the square, and "scutched" down, being now ready for the rib-poles and roof. The man was familiar with the forest and gave the preacher some practical directions to help him on his way. A strange ex- perience, after leaving this point, awaited the itin- erant. He was making his way, as best he could, over fallen trees and through prickly-ash swamps, when, to his great surprise, he suddenly emerged upon a large clearing. In the distance he saw a house, barn, and orchard, with surroundings similiar to those seen in old and well settled countries. Be- hind him was the dense, gloomy forest, so dense in many places that no ray of sunshine had ever penc- trated its somber shades ; before him, a large well- cultivated farm, with all the appointments seeming- ly of convenience and comfort. The transition was so sudden, so unexpected, and the contrast so great, the traveler could hardly credit his senses.
As he drew nearer the large full-bearing orchard and well-constructed dwelling, wonder quickened his curosity to learn something about the large fam - ily, as it appeared to be, that occupied the premises. Hitching his horse, he approached the house, and. gently knocked at the door, when a sort of grunt from within answered, "Come in." As he opened the door, the children, some fourteen in number, scattered in every direction. Some shot out at the
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back door, others ran under the beds, while some of the smaller ones gathered about the mother's chair gazing wildly at the stranger. Hardly knowing what to say, yet extremely desirous of making himself agreeable, he ventured to inquire how long they had lived there. The woman answered with a peculiar kind of growl, from which he rightly inferred that she was a half breed or compound of French and Indian. Having failed in several attempts to draw her into conversation, the preacher finally bethought himself to inquire about her husband. She seem ed agitated, if not alarmed, at the reference to her hus- band, and, stepping into the back yard, gave two or three shrill whistles. The husband was out on the farm somewhere at work, but the alarm she had giv- en soon brought him to the house. The preacher now tried to talk with the husdand, but found him, at first, almost as unwilling to converse as the grum- py matron of the household. The man looked to be at least three score and ten ; he was bronzed, weather-beaten, and somewhat crippled with rheu- matism through exposure ; he had the eye of a lynx, and a face expressive of savage ferocity. The woman was long, lean, and lantern-jawed, with fiery flash- ing eyes, and savage mein. There were several bad scars about her face and neck, as if she had been at- tacked with a butcher-knife in some drunken row. The children were all girls. Some of them had reached woman's estate, but they were still children. They had grown up like the wild flowers of the woods, innocent of the arts of fashion or fashion's whim. The lord of the "manor," after considerable questioning and encouraging on the part of the
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preacher, gave substantially the following account of himself and family :-
At an early day in the settlement of the Scioto valley his father with a large family, emigrating from Pennsylvania, settled near Chillicothe, Ohio. The Indians were still numerous there, and, the two races being on the best of terms, the chidren of his father's family and the Indian children of the neigh- borhood were constant companions and playmates. One day he and his brother had been plowing in the fields ; at the noon hour his brother climbed into a cherry-tree to help himself to the luscious fruit. B (for so he was called) essaying to do as his brother had done, was peremptorily ordered by his father to go to work. Though deeply incensed at his father, he said nothing. He hitched his horses to the plow, drove to the lower side of the field, left his horses standing in a fence corner, deliberately climbed the fence, and took to the woods. He was then about fifteen years of age and from that day had never seen, or heard from, his father, or any mem . ber of the family. While relating this part of his story he grew furious, stamped, and frothed like a madman. He then went on to say, that, for three days after he left home, he ate nothing but berries, such as he found wild in the woods, and slippery- elm bark, which he gnawed from the trees. The fourth day out, he came upon a camp of hostile Indi - ans. The hostiles determined to burn him at the stake, but, the chief's daughter interceding for him, his life was spared. The chief adopted him as a son, and so made him the brother and companion of his benefactress. That was how he came to adopt
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the life of an Indian. He had been all over the West, and seemed perfectly familiar with such places as Ft. Wayne, Tippecanoe, Prophet's Town, Wea, Vincennes, and Chicago, the Sangamon, Illinois, Fox, and Mississippi rivers.
Early in his Indian life, when he became the owner of a rifle, in company with an Indian companion, he went back to his father's neighborhood in mid win- ter, for the express purpose of taking his father's life. He and his companion lived in the woods for several weeks, he said, whence they would stealthi- ly creep about the premises, trying to get a shot at the old "he bear," as he styled his father. Failing of a chance to accomplish his murderous intent, he bid a final farewell to the scenes of his childhood, to roam with the children of the forest. The Indian maiden that saved his life in due time became his squaw. After a roaming life of many years he and his squaw made up their minds to settle down. "And we settled here," he said. "These apple-trees we packed on our ponies from Vincennes." "We went to work. I cleared ground in the summer, the old woman and the gals pickin trash and burnin' brush. In the winter I hunted and sold furs and deer skins, and by the time the land came into mar- ket I had money enough to get me a quarter sec- tion, and here I am about worn out. I have always had good range here until now. Beats all how the people are crowdin' into this country. Just now there's a fellow buildin' a house out south a piece, not more'n four or five miles from me. I recon you passed his house comin' through ? Old as I am I shall have to sell out and go to a new country ; for
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