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 4
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I tell you, boss, I can't stand it to be jammed and scrouged in any such way."
Bidding adieu to these queer backwoods people, the young preacher hastened on towards the camp- ground. He reached his destination in time for the evening service, and had the pleasure of listening to an able, soul-stirring sermon by the Rev. John H. Bruce. The country was new, and the "sickly season" was now at its hight ; as a consequence there were but few tent holders on the ground. Sinners were converted and believers strengthened, but, all in all, the success of the meeting was hardly up to the usual-standard.
The "fifth" quarterly meeting for the conference year, was held at Jackson's, on Prairie creek. The sum allowed the preacher-in-charge for the year was $216 ; the claim of the junior preacher, for the time he served, was received on the basis of $100 a year. Letter postage for five hundred miles or over was 25 cents, payable at the office of delivery. The scarcity of money may be inferred from this, that well-to-do farmers, or others, were known to per- mit letters to remain in the post-office for weeks and even months, being unable, as they often were, to raise sufficient money to pay the postage. At this last official meeting for the year, the circuit was well represented. Leaders and stewards, one or more, were present from each of the twenty eight appointments. These good men had been hard at work, to collect in full the sums estimated for the support of the preachers. A more liberal people, it ought to be said, than the people of Muncytown circuit, in 1840, were not to be found. Money, as a
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rule, they did not have, but such as they had, they freely gave-as, for instance, linsey-woolsy, tow-lin- en, jeans, blankets, socks, wheat, corn, pork, veni- son, wild turkies, Etc. Every appointment had been thoroughly canvassed, and the reports brought in were found to be quite respectable. The money paid in amounted to the sum of $7.373. This was placed on the table, and one of the stewards piled it up, piece at a time, in a conical pile. The mon- ey of course was all silver, and consisted of 123 cent pieces, "bits," and 6} cent pieces, or "fips." This unexpected liberality in the form of money made old Brother Jackson especially happy. Walking round the table with his arms akimbo, his eyes fixed on the glittering pile of silver, he exclaimed, "Bless the Lord, our preachers won't starve this year."
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CHAPTER IV.
BISHOP SOULE AND SON.
The Indiana Conference of 1840 was held in the hall of the House of Representatives, beginning on Wednesday, October 21. Bishop Soule presided. The presiding elders were : C. W. Ruter, E G. Wood, A. Eddy, John Miller, T. J. Brown, E. R. Ames, H. S. Talbott, James Havens, Robert Burns, G. M. Beswick, Aaron Wood, and John Ercanbrack.
Twenty-four were admitted on trial : namely, Philip I. Beswick, Daniel S. Elder, Elam Genung, John L. Smith, Charles W. Miller, Daniel Mcln- tyre, John W. Mellander, Robert HI. Calvert, John B. DeMotte, Brinton Webster, Isaac M. Stagg, Allen Skillman, Martin J. Hofer, Charles B, Divid- son, Asbury Wilkinson, Colbreth Hall, Morris Ben - ton, Nathan S. Worden, Freeman F. Sheldon, Thomas Goodwin, Samuel Smith, William C. Smith, John Kisling, and William C. Jones.
Thirteen were admitted into full connection ; to wit, Seth Smith, John L. Kelly, Cyrus Nutt, Fran- cis A. Conwell, James Hill, Josiah J. Cooper, Joseph S. Beswick, John Talbott, Lucien WV. Berry, George W. Stafford, John H. Hull, George Havens, and James Crawford.
Fifteen were ordained elders ; namely, Isaac Crawford, William Meginnis, William H. Goode, Ezra L, Kemp, William M. Fraley, Anthony Rob- inson, Lucien W. Berry, Miltiades Miller, Amos Bussy, Jared B. Mershon, John H. Bruce, George M. Boyd, Jacob Colclazer, and Josiah J. Cooper.
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Some of these received ordination as elders by vir- tue of their having been local deacons for two years.
Allen Wiley was the stationed preacher at In- dianapolis. On arriving in the city Brother Hull and his colleague ( now an applicant for admission . on trial ), called on Pastor Wiley, to receive their assignments for entertainment during the confer- ence session. Having received his own assignment, Brother Hull inquired, "And where is the young man, my colleague, to go ?" The old gentleman grew red in the face, nervously threw his glasses astride of his nose, ran his eyes hurridly over his list of assignments, and said, "He can go to John E. Foudry's, but,-as the name of your friend is not on my list, I'll see about that." Candidates for admission were not expected to attend confer- ence, and no provision was made for their enter- tainment. That was the rule. Pastor Wiley was a little embarrassed therefore by the situation, es- pecially in view of Brother Hull's solicitude. The junior was well provided for, however ; and, if it need be said, he greatly enjoyed the conference,- having nothing to do but to take note of men and things as he loitered in the lobbies and committee rooms or carefully watched the conference proceed- ings.
Promptly at the hour appointed for the opening session, 9 o'clock, a man whose appearance would attract attention anywhere, deliberately walked down the main aisle, ascended the platform, and, after kneeling a few minutes in silent prayer, seated himself in the Speaker's chair. That remarkable
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person, the observed of all observers, was Bishop Soule. His years were not yet three score ; he was tall, muscular, athletic ; even as compared with the heroic men of the conference, he seemed like an- other Saul among the prophets.
This illustrious man, Joshua Soule, was born in Bristol, Maine, in 1781 ; he was admitted on trial in the New York conference in 1799, and appointed to Portland circuit, in the province of Maine, with Timothy Merritt, preacher-in-charge; in 1804 he was appointed to the Maine district as presiding elder, and became a member of the General con- ference which met that year, on the 6th of May, in the city of Baltimore. He was again a member of the General conference in 1808, and, as chairman of a committee appointed for that purpose, drew up the restrictive rules, which, with slight changes since made, yet remain the organic law of the church. He was chosen Book Agent in 1812; in 1824 he was elected to the episcopacy. He had been a member of each General conference from 1804 to 1824 inclusive. This remarkable man, as it thus appears, was admitted on trial in the travel- ing connection at eighteen years of age ; was ap- pointed presiding elder, and became a member of the General conference, at twenty-three ; selected as committee chairman, to draft the plan of the de- legated General conference, and write the constitu- tion of the church, at twenty-seven ; elected princi- pal Book Agent at thirty-five ; was made a bishop at forty-three, and at sixty-two became senior bishop.
An incident occurred the first morning of the con-
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ference that must have been as mortifying to the bishop as it was painful to the conference members. Joshua Soule, junior, living at the time in Indiana- polis,-eking out a precarious subsistance by the practice of dentistry,-reputed as frequently and freely indulging in his cups,-came into the hall just as the temporary secretary finished calling the roll. He tarried not, on entering the hall, but, striding rapidly to the front, was soon at the speaker's desk with his father. The scene presented a contrast that was suggestive and striking. The bishop was attired in a faultless suit of black ; the profligate was also a conspicuous figure, with collapsed plug hat, threadbare pants, and untidy linen, or, in the words of Dryden, " unkempt his locks and squalid his attire." The effect upon the audience can be imagined better than described. There was first a subdued smile in the conference room, a titter in the galleries, quickly followed by a look of mingled sorrow and pity on the part of the preachers,-of disgust on the part of spectators.
Of the twelve good and true men, who, at that conference, composed the bishop's cabinet, all have been transferred to the celestial city." They have gone to reap the reward of the righteous. Their memoirs have been written. They all died in the faith. Once they were mortal ; like all other sinners saved. they were saved by grace divine. A few words regarding each of them may not be out of place.
Calvin W. Ruter had a rather fine physique, with a considerable tendency to obesity ; a good deal of apparent dignity, with a sort of sanctimonious, aris-
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tocratic air ; and, but for his evident desire to please everybody by taking both sides of all questions in controversy, he would have been a fair conference debater. He was said to be a wise administrator, a good presiding elder ; and doubtless he filled an important place in the itinerant ranks wherein he served his day and generation.
Augustus Eddy was a man of easy manners, pleas- ant address, and, in the days of his strength, a pow- erful preacher. His kindness of heart, amiable dis- position, and manly, Christian bearing, won for him a host of friends wherever he went.
Thomas J. Brown was a native of Western Virgin- ia, and grew to be a man among the rough mountain scenes of his native country. Though of a rugged exterior, he had a brother's heart ; grace had done much in the way of polishing the rough ashler. He was literally a "terror to evil doers." His speech and preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom. He was a power of good in his day.
James Havens was one of the most remarkable men of his time. He has often been represented in a light that gives no proper idea of the man. Usually he has been shown up by newspaper scribblers as a notable pugilist, fond of indulging in what such writers are pleased to call "muscular Christianity." True, when he felt it to be a religious duty, he did not hesitate to employ force to quell rowdyism and preserve order ; yet he was proverbially kind and tender. He was a born general, and, when in com- mand, as at camp-meetings, or on other popular oc- casions, woe to the man that violated the rules of the meeting. Affable, kind-hearted and courteous,
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fearless, brave and true, he was greatly esteemed by the better classes of the people every-where. The preachers especially loved and honored him as a pre- siding elder. He regarded the preachers of his dis- trict in a certain sense his family, and was always ready to assume any official responsibility for their protection and defense. Were a case of alleged im- morality brought to his notice, he, as presiding el- der with jealous care for the purity of the church, speedily sought to ascertain the facts involved. A court of inquiry was at once instituted. When the accused, duly tried, was found guilty, Mr. Havens showed him no quarter ; if, on the other hand, the accused was honorably acquitted, Mr. Havens at once espoused the cause of the injured man, often, too, at the expense of his own popularity. He was not the man, for fear of losing the favor of a preacher's enemy, to listen in silence, and thereby consent, to the words of a defamer ; but, like the brave man that he was, never shirking his responsibility as a custodian and defender of the men committed to his official care and oversight, he was ever ready to do, to dare, and,if need be,to die for the right. The intrepid and stalwart heroism of this grand man, won for him a name that will not, can not perish. When trimmers and time-servers shall have been forgot- ten, or, if not forgotten, yet remembered only to be despised, the name of James Havens will continue to be as ointment poured fourth. "James Havens," said the late U. S. Senator, Oliver H. Smith, "has done more to lay broad and deep the foundations of Christian civilization in the West, than any other man in the Mississippi valley."
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George M. Beswick was a model man physically, a model man as a Christian and as a minister. He had the largest head, and was the youngest man of the twelve presiding elders. His words in the pul- pit "dropped like the rain and his speech distilled as the dew." He was modest and unobtrusive in his intercourse with his brethern. As a preacher he was the peer of any man in the conference.
Of John Ercanbrack not so much is known. After the year 1840, he was not associated with Indiana Methodism. The General Conference of that year so changed the conference boundaries as to connect his district with Michigan.
Enoch G. Wood was thus attacked by our quill a few years ago, while he was yet living and in active service in the church : "Dr. E. G. Wood is the present efficient presiding elder of the Moore's Hill District, Southeast Indiana Conference. What about him forty years ago ? 'There seem,' as our notes of 1840 say, 'to be two Enoch Woods in the conference. They call one long Enoch and the other Enoch G. Long Enoch looks to me to be good natured, but not very smart ; Enoch G. looks smart, put not very good natured.' Long years of faithful labor have shown Dr. Wood to be a man of sterling integrity, a safe and able theologian, always equal to his re- sponsiblities in every place to which the church has called him." Had he been favored with a larger share of the "milk of human kindness," or with less austerity of manners, possibly he might have been a still more useful minister. He fell with his armor on. He has finished his course ; he has joined the heroic band above.
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John Miller, tall, manly, sweetly dignified, his face full of sunshine, deeply impressed one by his personal appearance as being more than an ordinary man. He was a good preacher, an excellent exhort- er, and one of the most successful members of the conference in winning souls to Christ. When he lifted up his voice in song he captured all hearts.
Edward R. Ames had represented the Greencastle District from the conference of 1839 to May, 1840, when he was elected by the General Conference to the office of missionary secretary. He still held his place, however, in the Indiana Conference after his appointment to the secretaryship. He was elected bishop at Boston in 1852. As a profound thinker, presiding officer, sagacious and far-seeing church statesman, he perhaps had no peer ; as a preacher, he was impressive, highly instructive, and sometimes exceedingly touching in the simplicity of his gospel illustrations. Take him all in all we shall not soon see his like again on the Episcopal board.
H. G. Talbott was, in his early manhood, a suc- cessful medical practitioner. A sense of duty im- pelled him to abandon his profession for the work of the Christian ministry. He was a sound, sensible preacher, an agreeable companion, a man of God, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.
Robert Burns was the writer's first presiding elder in Indiana. He may be properly styled "Robert the Amiable." He was a good man and true. He died a superannuated member of the North-Indiana conference. Never knew a man to whom the words of the prophet might be more fittingly applied : "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of
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the firmament ; and they that turn many to right- eousness, as the stars for ever and ever."
Dr. Aaron Wood, the lively, vivacious, sparkling preacher, the genial and companionable brother, esteemed, honored, and loved by everybody, was the last of the twelve to pass away. In the fall of 1885, at the session of his conference ( Northwest Indiana ) at Valparaiso, he made the following re- quest : "Dearly Beloved Brethren,-At the close of the eighty-third year of my natural life, the seventy- second of my spiritual life, and the sixty-third of my itinerant life as a Methodist preacher, I respectfully ask the conference to grant me the superannuated relation. Respectfully,
A. Wood.
He ascended in triumph to his reward August 20, 1887.
In the course of the session-conference of 1840- several things occurred well calculated to make a deep impression on the mind of a young man with nothing to do but to look, listen, and observe. One incident may be mentioned. Presiding-elder Ha- vens brought forward the recommendation of a young man for admission on trial, the initials of whose name were A. P. The Elder, after represent- ing the case in his forcible style,-speaking in glow- ing terms of the young brother's powers as a preach- er, exhorter and singer,-resumed his seat, evident- ly feeling confident of a large vote in favor of his man. The Bishop said : "Is the conference ready to vote ?" Just then a sonorous voice came from the other side of the hall, "Not ready, " when Pre- siding-elder Eddy rose to inquire whether the young
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man commended by Bro. Havens was "any kin to his brother," a certain Dr. P. "Old Sorrel" (a sobriquet given to Mr. Havens by the rowdies.) promptly sprang to his feet and said: " Mr. Pre- sident, Bro. Eddy asks if the young man is any kin to his brother. Why, sir, are we to be governed by a rule like that? Was Abel responsible for Cain ? or Joseph for the meanness of his brethren who sold him into slavery ? Who, sir, could stand to be judged by such an unrighteous rule as that ? could you, Mr. President? ( Here, doubtless, the scene of the day before came up before the bishop and the conference. ) No, sir, there is not a man on the conference floor that would consent to be judged in that way. I know I would not, and I know you would not, sir ; and, as I happen to know, if a rule like that had been in force when the question of ad- mitting my friend Eddy was brought up-a rule like that, sir, would have been the last of him." This impromptu speech, especially the closing sentence, was uttered in the impusioned style peculiar to the heroic old Roman, and evoked a round of applause from the galleries. (The applause, of course, was promptly suppressed by the chair. ) The effect of the speech upon the conference may be judged from the fact, that the young man was admitted on trial by a vote almost unanimous.
The bishop's address to the class about to be re- ceived into full connection, was listened to with pro- found attention by the large audience present. The eloquent and forceful utterances of the bishop made a lasting impression on the mind of the young man from Muncytown circuit, and doubtless had much to
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do with the shaping of his after career as a travel- ing preacher. Some of the bishop's sayings are dis- tinctly remembered. Commenting on the rule, "Be punctual," he gave some illustrations drawn from his own experience and the experience of others ; warming up with the progress of his interesting and telling argument, he rose on tiptoe, and stretch- ing forth his long arm, came to his climax with the words, "Brethern, let nothing but absolute impossi- bilities hinder you from keeping your engagements."
Just before the appointments were read the bish- op made another telling address, which he closed as follows :-
"Some of you brethern will be disappointed : but, remember, some of the people will also be disap- pointed. All of you preachers will not get the places you have expected ; nor will all the churches get the preacher they have expected. Disappointments are inevitable ; they cannot be avoided. To the preachers I would commend the example of one of the most able and pious ministers of the South. There was a certain appointment in that good broth- er's conference, among the lagoons, mosquitoes, and alligators,-a place dreaded by all, it was supposed. The work had been supplied by inexperienced, and, often, inefficient men. The time had come, it was thought, to give the charge a more efficient ministry, and so the good brother alluded to, was appointed to that work. The presiding bishop read the ap- pointments slowly, and, on coming to the name of the dreaded charge, pronounced it, and then made a long pause. A death-like stillness ensued. A hor- rible nightmare seemed to rest upon the conference.
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At last the name of the brother appointed to the charge was announced ; but, to the surprise of every- body, instead of manifesting a sense of affliction, the good man bounded from his seat, and, exulting cried out, 'Thank the Lord for any place to preach Christ, and win souls.'
"And now to the people," continued the bishop, "I would commend the example of the Choctaws. A missionary had been with them for years that was greatly beloved ; but, in the judgment of the ap- pointing power, it was thought advisable to move him to another field. The Indians, greatly distress- ed at the loss of their beloved minister, Father Smith, . sent their chief to the bishop with the request that the order removing the missionary be countermand- ed, and that he be sent back without delay. The bishop, reasoning the case with the chief at some length, and telling him, 'The change was not made to afflict your people, but in view of the pressing de- mands of the work,' sent him back to explain the matter to his people. After a little the chief return- ed, and said, 'We will take the new man, and pray for him six moons ; then, if he will not do, we shall expect you to take him away, and send us back Fath- er Smith.' Now that is the way for you people to do,"Said Bishop Soule. "Kindly receive your preach- er, whoever he may be, and pray for him six moons ; and doubtless God will bless him and make him a great blessing to you. Certain it is you will think much better of your preacher after you have thus prayed for him."
The reading of the appointments was followed,on the part of the preachers, by a little hurried hand-
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shaking, a few brief parting words,-a "God bless you," or a "Good-by," and all were off to their work for another year.
CHAPTER, V.
WINCHESTER CIRCUIT -- SMOKED HAM.
Among the appointments announced by Bishop Soule at the close of the Indi in Conference, Octo- ber, 1840, for the ensuing conference year, were : Winchester District-a new district -R. Burns, pre- siding elder ; Winchester Circuit, J. H. Bruce and J L. Smith. Brother Bruce, who had traveled the circuit the previous year, continued his residence at "Economy, " a small village in Wayne county ; his assistant, the junior preacher, made his head- quarters at Spartanburg, in Randolph county.
Winchester, the head of the circuit, contained a kind- hearted and very hospitable population. Here lived the "Kisers, the Goodriches, the Monks, the Browns, the Wades, " and many others quite as worthy as these. Judge Goodrich, formerly a dis- tinguished attorney, had but recently moved from Virginia ; and, for the purpose of providing better business facilities for his younger brothers, had es- tablished himself as a merchant in the goodly county-seat of Randolph.
By advice of the preacher-in-charge, Junior, on making his first appointment at Winchester, put up
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at Judge Goodrich's. He was received at the Good- rich home with a hearty welcome, and was enter- tained according to the generous style of Virginia hospitality-the heartiness of his welcome in no way diminishing on its becoming known that he was a native of the Old Dominion, and the son of a family classed as one of the F. F. V.'s. On making a call at the judge's store, Junior was surprised to see, among the numerous customers present from the surrounding country, an old neighbor from Ohio, a now aged man, who, at an early day, had migrated to Indiana. Junior had not seen him for many years, and had almost forgotten that such a man as " Zebedee Cantrell" had ever lived. He was a man in good circumstances, and respectably related ; but unfortunately ; had contracted habits of in- temperance, and, at the time now referred to, was evidently, to some extent, under the influence of strong drink. The unexpected meeting of the man, awoke the power of slumbering recollection. A panorama of forgotten scenes were brought up in rapid review. Junior secretly wished he might not be introduced to the man, and said to himself, " If I am introduced, I hope I shall not be recognized. But before there was time for any formal introduc- tion, the old pioneer drew nigh, and, surveying the preacher from head to foot, thus began : "I say, stranger, ain't your name Smith ?" Here the Judge interposed with-"Yes, Mr. Cantrell, that is our young preacher, Brother Smith; I hope you will come and hear him preach, and get better acquaint- ed with him." "See here, Jedge," said Zebedee, "your' nowhere; why, I've knowed this boy from his
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childhood ; he had the best old Methodist mother in Green county ; and he is the best boy you ever saw. Why, Jedge, this boy once saved me from a big lickin' at a general muster at Caesarville. You see, I was a little , "how come you so, " and two big strappin' fellows jumped onto me ; but this boy happened to be at hand, and he just cleaned 'em both out in less than no time ; and you see, Jedge, I've kinder liked him ever since. And I can tell you more, Jedge. Once I was in Xenia when Main street was knee deep in mud-well, it was not just exactly what one would call mud, but a kind o' fritter batter; and I was "putty well up," swing- ing' long first one side and then t'other side of old gray, when my saddle girth broke, and down I come kerwhallop in the mud ; it was cold and rain- in', and there lay old Zeb from shoulder to flank in the loblolly. And then the clerks and the people in the shops and stores all went to laughin' at me ; but this here boy, Jedge, just waded right out in the rain and mud, fixed my saddle girth, helped me into the saddle, and fixed my hands in old gray's mane, and I went right straight home ; and, Jedge, this is the first time I've seen the boy since. And now, Jedge, I want to do something for him; so, if he wants anything out of your store, let him have it, old Zeb's good for it." Then turning, to Junior : " Now, my son, anything I've got is yours. I want you to come to my house and see me. You know I'm no Christian. I'm a poor, wicked, old man ; but I have a large family of boys and girls, and may be you can do them some good. I'm a hardened old sinner, but I want you to come and see me."
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