USA > Indiana > Indiana Methodism : being an account of the introduction, progress, and present position of Methodism in the State; and also a history of the literary institutions under the care of the church, with sketches of the principle Methodist educators in the state . . > Part 15
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Among the early and faithful workers in the Sunday- school cause in Indianapolis, is the name of Calvin Fletcher, Esq. Mr. Fletcher was among the early set- tlers in Indianapolis. He was a remarkably industri- ous and energetic man, accumulated a large property, raised a large and most estimable family, several of whom
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are widely known. One of his sons, Rev. James C. Fletcher, is the author of the " History of Brazil." Rev. E. T. Fletcher, for a number of years, occupied a front rank among eloquent preachers in the Methodist Episco- pal Church. Prof. M. I. Fletcher, who was Superinten- dent of Public Instruction for the State at the time of his death, was a gifted and accomplished man. Dr. W. B. Fletcher ranks high as a skillful and accomplished phy- sician ; and the other sons are distinguished in their vo- cations, as bankers, farmers, etc. Notwithstanding Mr. Fletcher's numerous and pressing engagements, he be- stowed great attention upon the culture of his family, and gave much time to the Church, especially to the Sun- day-school cause.
Rev. Joseph Marsee, a superannuated member of South-eastern Indiana Conference, who entered the minis- try in Kentucky, in 1826, came to Indiana in 1840, set- tled in Indianapolis, was superannuated in 1858, and died January 20, 1872. He was for many years an efficient preacher. After his superannuation, he was successful in business, and was an example of liberality. He was a grand specimen of a useful, happy Christian, whose evening of life was as rich in heavenly radiance as an autumnal sunset.
Among the early settlers in Indianapolis was Morris Morris, who removed from Kentucky to the vicinity of Indianapolis in 1821. Mr. Morris served several terms in the Legislature, and two terms as Auditor of State. His son, Hon. Austin W. Morris, was for a number of years a leading politician of the Whig school, and an eminently useful man in the Church. Father Morris and his esti- mable wife, and Austin Morris, some years since, were gathered to their heavenly home; but their names are familiar as household words in Methodist circles, and
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their memories are gratefully cherished by those who knew them. General T. A. Morris, a son of Morris Morris, was educated at West Point Military Academy, resigned his position in the army, and, as a civil engineer and a capitalist, has had much to do in building up the railroad system in Indiana; and although a member of a sister Church, yet, as the son of worthy Methodist parents, and himself an honored Christian citizen, is worthy of mention in this connection.
RELATIVE STRENGTH OF THE CHURCHES.
THE following exhibit of the relative strength of the several religious denominations, will be read with interest, and will be found convenient as a matter of reference :
The Protestant Episcopal numbers 582; Methodist Episcopal, 3,219; Presbyterian, 1,736; Baptist, 1,093; Papist, 4,000; Congregationalist, 235; Christian, 900; Lutheran, 810; German Reformed, 300; German Evan- gelical Association, 118; United Brethren, 42; Unita- rian, 500; Friends, 246; Jewish, 58.
In Church property they stand: Protestant Episco- pal, $168,000; Methodist Episcopal, $391,000; Presby- terian, $320,117; Baptist, $116,000; Papist, $300,- 000; Congregationalist, $43,000; Christian, $53,000; Lutheran, $93,000; German Reformed, $21,000; Ger- inan Evangelical Association, $9,000; United Brethren, $5,000; Unitarian, $6,000; Jewish, $27,000; Friends, $20,000.
The following is a list of the appointments made to Indianapolis, down to the division of the first charge:
1821, William Cravens; 1822-23, James Scott ; 1823-24, Jesse Haile and George Horn ; 1825, John Mil- ler; 1826, Thomas Hewson; 1827, Edwin Ray; 1828, N. B. Griffith ; 1829, Thomas Hitt; 1830-31, Thomas
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Hitt; 1832-33, Benjamin C. Stevenson; 1833-34, C. W. Ruter; 1834-35, E. R. Ames; 1835-36, John C. Smith; 1836-37, A. Eddy; 1837-38, John C. Smith ; 1838-39, A. Wiley; 1839-40, A. Wiley; 1840-41, W. H. Goode; 1841-42, W. H. Goode. In 1821, the dis- trict was called Indiana, and Samuel Hamilton was pre- siding elder. In 1824, William Beauchamp was presiding elder. Down to this time, the work in Indiana was in- cluded in Missouri Conference, and John Strange was ap- pointed to the district. In 1825, Missouri Conference was divided, and the work in Indiana was included in the Illinois Conference, and John Strange was appointed to the district. In 1829, Indianapolis was included in Madison District, and Allen Wiley was presiding elder. In 1832, Indianapolis District was formed, and John Strange was presiding elder. This year, the In- diana Conference was organized. In 1833, A. Wiley, Presiding Elder; 1834, James Havens, Presiding Elder ; 1838, A. Eddy, Presiding Elder; and in the Fall of 1840, James Havens was again appointed to the district.
WASHINGTON, DAVIESS COUNTY.
THE Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, Da- viess County, Indiana, was organized in 1816. The population of the village at that time did not exceed sev- enty-five. The meetings were held in the private res- idences of Samuel Miller and Thomas Meredith. The society was organized under the ministry of Rev. John Schrader, who was in charge of a large four-weeks' cir- cuit. The only members of the Church now living, whose membership dates back as far as 1822, are, Eliza- beth Meredith, Robert Stephens, Rebecca Raper, and William Bratten. Mr. Bratten was the class-leader. About that time, Dr. Holland, a physician, and a local
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preacher of considerable ability, was connected with the class. The society continued to worship in private resi- dences, in the school-house, and in the court-house, until 1827, when a small, one-story brick was inclosed, near where the Cumberland Presbyterian Church now stands. The congregation was soon sadly disappointed, by the walls of the building gathering dampness, and threaten- ing to crumble to ruins. They were again compelled to worship in private houses, in the school-house, and in the court-house, until in 1837, when Lewis Jones, William Bratten, and John Fryer purchased a residence where the Methodist Episcopal Church now stands. The building was enlarged and converted into a church, received by the trustees, and paid for by donations.
The prospects of the Church were now greatly brightened; and, in the midst of sincere rejoicings, the church was formally dedicated to the worship of God by Rev. A. Wood. The membership had increased to one hundred and twenty-five, and the appointment was made a station; but, after two years, was again con- nected with the circuit. For several years the Church was blessed with prosperity; and, in 1858, under the labors of Rev. James F. M'Cann, the present house of worship was built, and dedicated by Rev. Calvin Kings- ley. In 1859, the charge was again made into a station, and has so continued until the present time. The mem- bership at present is two hundred and fifty-one, in- cluding fifty-one probationers.
The charge has been favored with special revivals as follows : In 1845, under the labors of Rev. J. R. Will- iams, when about forty-five professed conversion ; in 1858, under the labors of Rev. J. F. M'Cann, when fifty professed conversion ; in 1859, under the labors of Rev. HI. B. Hibben, when about fifty made a profession of
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religion; in 1863, under the labors of Rev. Stephen Bowers, when two hundred conversions were reported ; in 1866, under the labors of Rev. W. F. Harned, when seventy-five conversions were reported; and in 1870, under the labors of Rev. Aaron Turner, when sixty-five conversions were reported. In Church music, Sabbath- school work, and general Christian enterprise, the con- gregation is alive and progressive.
METHODISM IN LAFAYETTE.
BY REV. N. L. BRAKEMAN.
FROM a variety of sources-mainly from the earliest settlers-we gather the following facts concerning the history of Methodism in Lafayette, Indiana :
As early as 1825, „Rev. Hackaliah Vredenburg, who then lived on the Shawnee Prairie, preached the first Methodist sermon in Lafayette. In 1826, Mr. Vreden- burg was appointed to the Crawfordsville Circuit, and occa- sionally preached in Lafayette, which was then an out- post on that work, but without any regularly organized society among the Methodists. In 1827, Rev. Henry Buell rode the Crawfordsville Circuit. In 1827-28, Eli P. Farmer succeeded Mr. Buell. In 1828-29, Stephen R. Beggs, with John Strange as presiding elder, was ap- pointed to the Crawfordsville Circuit, and formed a good class in Lafayette; twenty in all, only five of whom were males ; but up to this date no permanent or formal organization had been made, and no permanent place of public worship had been provided. Ministers preached wherever they could, sometimes in a private house, then in Eli Huntsinger's wheelwright-shop, which was a small log-cabin on the corner of Mississippi, now South and Ferry Streets; sometimes in an unfinished public building; then again in the log-tavern, on what is called
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now Second Street, near Ferry (still standing, and owned by H. Taylor) ; and sometimes in the open air. Pastors and people realized that they were indeed "pilgrims and strangers, without any certain dwelling-place ;" but Lafayette has, thus far, proved to them and theirs a " continuing city," and their descendants to-day may justly claim, with Saul of Tarsus, that they are citizens "of no mean city." (Acts xxi, 39.) At that date (1828) all the buildings in Lafayette of every kind, great and small, public and private, numbered just seventeen ! Allow five persons to each building-a large estimate- will give a population of eighty-five souls. Here we may mention the names of the Heaths, Fords, Samples, Taylors, Vanattas, Harringtons, Millers, Tuttles, Pykes, Wellses, and others, who settled in Lafayette from 1828 to 1830, and later families, who have been identified with Methodism from the first, and are exerting a con- trolling influence upon its future destiny.
When Mr. Beggs was appointed to Crawfordsville Circuit, the following were the principal preaching-places, and in the order named : Crawfordsville, Fort Wayne, Logansport, Delphi, Lafayette, Attica, Portland, Coving- ton, and back to Crawfordsville again. The subordinate and intermediate preaching-places, however, outnum- bered the principal ones, so that the minister had to preach from five to seven times each week. The follow- ing year the "Logansport Mission" was formed, em- bracing Logansport, Delphi, and Lafayette; and Mr. Beggs was again appointed, but did not fill out the year. (See "Early History of the West and North-west :" Rev. S. R. Beggs. Pages 81-83.)
The next preacher was James Armstrong, with Strange still as presiding elder. In September, 1830, Mr. Armstrong preached in an unfinished store-room on
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Main Street, built by John Taylor, Esq., on the lot where the Galt House now stands, and then and there made the first formal and thorough organization of Meth- odism in Lafayette. An official board was appointed, trustees elected, and the initiatory steps taken toward procuring a lot and building a church. A lot was pur- chased on the corner of Main and Sixth Streets, where the "old bank building" now stands. and early the following season a frame church was erected. In that church, while it was yet in an unfinished state, in June, 1831, the first regularly conducted quarterly-meeting was held, John Strange, the presiding elder, being present, and preaching with power. That meeting was a great event for Lafayette Methodism. It had been published throughout the country by the " circuit-rider," on his previous "round ;" and people of all denomina- tions, and some of no denomination, came, some from a distance of fifteen and twenty miles, to see each other, to hear the Word of life, and to worship the God of their fathers. Some came to see the city, and some to see the "new church;" and many came to hear the pre- siding elder, whose fame as a pulpit orator filled the land, and drew together great crowds whenever he preached. A large congregation-considering the time and place-assembled; the women and children filled the house, mainly, while the men stood listening with- out, or reclined under the shade of the adjacent trees. The weather was exceedingly warm; but as the house had neither doors nor windows as yet, it was well ven- tilated !
All the services were largely attended, and of special interest to the new settlement, embracing city and country. Quarterly conference attended to the tempo- ralities of the Church. On Sabbath morning the love-
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feast was held, and at 11 o'clock A. M., Strange de- livered one of his inimitable and overpowering sermons ; and in the afternoon there was another sermon, at the close of which the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's- supper were administered. During this last service an incident occurred which we deem worthy of record; the material points of which are thus given by Sanford Cox, Esq., in his "Recollections of the Early Settlement of the Wabash Valley," pages 81, 82.
Armstrong, who was also an eloquent and popular preacher, and beloved by all who knew him, had preached his celebrated "Fish Sermon" with happy effect; and Strange, who was a man of surpassing personal beauty, piety, eloquence, and solemnity combined, conducted the services of the Eucharist. While the latter was address- ing the communicants, bowed and in tears at the altar, and in the most tender and touching language, telling them of Christ as "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world," a group of thoughtless and giddy youngsters were gathered about the door, whose looks and actions denoted a spirit of levity wholly in- compatible with the solemnity of the scene transpiring before them. Mr. Strange for a while seemed to take no notice of them, but continued to address the communi- cants in the most gentle, loving, and pathetic terms, when, suddenly starting up, as if awaking from a rev- erie, with flashing eye, in sterner tones, with correspond- ing gesture, and with a ringing emphasis, he said : “Did I say Christ was the Lamb of God? He is, to the humble, contrite, trusting believer; but to you sinners"- pointing back, with his long, bony finger, toward the irreverent young men at the door-" to you, sirs, arouse him, and he is 'the Lion of the tribe of Judah,' TERRIBLE IN HIS JUSTICE; and by the slightest movement of his
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omnific power, could dash you deeper into damnation in a MOMENT than a sunbeam could fly IN A MILLION OF AGES !" This immediate and unpremeditated passing from the tender and pathetic to the stern and terrifying, was as penetrating and overpowering in its influence as it was sudden and unexpected in its transition. It thrilled and startled the people like a beam of lightning from a sun-lit sky. Its effect upon the young men at whom it was aimed was wonderful. Hushed into profound silence and fear, they stood pale and motionless, for the nonce. One of them afterward said that, for the time, he felt his hair instantly stand on end, and felt as if flying with the speed of light toward the deep, doleful regions, so eloquently and fearfully alluded to in the impromptu and brilliant flash of rhetoric, which equals the most sublime flights of Bridane, Bascom, or Simpson.
We will add that the young man who was the master- spirit of the above group of irreverent lookers-on so elo- quently rebuked, and who felt that he was "flying" through space to Pandemonium swifter than Milton's " Archangel ruined" fell to his doom, still lives in Lafay- ette, a worthy and exemplary member of a sister Church. And whenever we see him passing about, with his now whitened locks standing a la Jackson, we secretly won- der whether it is really natural for his hair to stand out like the quills of the "fretful porcupine," or whether it was caused by the electric shock of Strange's potent elo- quence on that sultry Sabbath evening in June, 1831, making it "instantly stand on end."
Strange and Armstrong were followed on the circuit by Samuel C. Cooper and Samuel Brenton, and these last by Boyd Phelps and Wesley Woods. The latter died soon after he entered upon the circuit, and was suc- ceeded by S. R. Ball. In 1833, " Lafayette Circuit" was
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formed, and Richard Hargrave and Nehemiah Griffith were appointed the preachers, and James Thompson pre- siding elder. William M. Clark and William Watson were the next preachers. At conference, in the Fall of 1835, Lafayette was made a station, and Dr. H. S. Tal- bot was stationed preacher for two years. He was suc- ceeded by the following ministers, some of whom served two years, namely : Lorenzo B. Smith, J. A. Brouse, H. B. Beers, Amasa Johnson, J. M. Stallard, and Samuel Brenton.
This brings us down to 1844-45, which marks a new era in Lafayette Methodism, when it had built for itself a fine brick church and parsonage, on the corner of Fifth and Ferry Streets, where the society worships at the present time.
In 1849, the nucleus of a new Church was formed, under the labors of W. F. Wheeler, City Missionary, and in 1850, one hundred and forty members were set off from the old society, and a second charge, now the Ninth- street Methodist Episcopal Church, was formed, with T. S. Webb as pastor ; J. L. Smith, D. D., Presiding Elder. It is now a strong, intelligent, growing Church ; Rev. J. C. Reed, D. D., is at present pastor.
April 4, 1852, the German Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, under the Rev. C. Keller. At about the same time, the Colored Methodist Church was organized by Rev. Mr. Dunlap. This Church is very feeble in numbers and financial strength, though they have a very good property, embracing church, parsonage, and a brick school-house. There are not more than about one hundred colored people, all told, in Lafayette.
What is now the Sixth-ward (Oakland Hill) Method- ist Episcopal Church began its history as a class, organ- ized by Dr. Charles Nailor in 1859. In 1860, it became
Prologs by Winder
richard Hargrave
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the head of the Lafayette Circuit. In 1866, it was made a mission appointment, Rev. A. Potter as supply, and Rev. S. Godfrey, Presiding Elder. In 1868, a nice brick church, sixty-five by forty feet, was built; and in 1869, Rev. F. Taylor was made pastor; Rev. I. W. Joyce, Presiding Elder. This Church is properly a branch of the Ninth-street Methodist Episcopal Church ; Rev. P. S. Cook is now pastor.
In 1866, Rev. G. M. Boyd was appointed pastor of the " Old Fifth-street" Church, and under his labors, the long-talked-of enterprise of a new, more costly, and more commodious house of worship for the parent society was initiated. Two young men of the Church (John W. Heath, Esq., and Hon. Henry Taylor) bought a lot on the corner of Sixth and North Streets, for $7,000, and do- nated it to the Church for their new site. A subscrip- tion was circulated with encouraging success, and a good degree of interest awakened in the new enterprise. In the Fall of 1868, Rev. N. L. Brakeman was appointed pastor; Rev. William Graham, D. D., Presiding Elder; and in the following Spring the work of erecting the new building was commenced. When completed and fur- nished, it will have cost $70,000 or $75,000, will seat one thousand people, and will be one among the finest churches in the state, and the finest in the conference. The society has changed its corporate name, and is now known as Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. It was inclosed in January, 1870, and will be ready for occupa- tion, it is thought, by December, 1871.
In 1869, the society formed in Chauncey, a suburb of Lafayette, on the western bank of the Wabash, had become so strong as to determine to build a house of worship for itself. The enterprise was promptly entered upon, vigorously prosecuted, and early in 1870, their
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house was dedicated. The old Fifth-street Church (now Trinity), notwithstanding its own heavy enterprise, then in progress, set off thirty-six of its own members to the Chauncey Church, gave of its sympathy and means to aid the young and rising society, and bade it Godspeed on its way. In the Fall of 1870, Chauncey became a station, and Rev. W. C. Davisson was appointed pastor. Chauncey is the seat of the "Purdue Agricultural Col- lege," and is destined to become a place of no little im- portance. Our church there is a Gothic frame structure, and cost something over three thousand dollars. Con- sidering its style, character, and accommodations, it is a marvel of cheapness.
The following table will give a bird's-eye view of the present strength of Methodism in Lafayette :
NAME OF CHURCH.
Members ..
Number of
Sab.Schools. No. in the
property ...
Value of
ganized .....
When or-
Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church
289
325
$80,000
1828-30
Ninth-street Methodist Episcopal Church.
235
241
20,000
1849
German Methodist Episcopal Church ..
109
120
7,000
1852
African Methodist Episcopal Church ..
25
35
3,000
1853
Sixth Ward Methodist Episcopal Church.
105
130
7,500
1859
Chauncey Methodist Episcopal Church.
70
100
3,500
1869
Total
833|
951
$121,000
In so condensed and rapid a sketch of the rise and progress of Methodism in Lafayette as we have been obliged to make, it is impossible to bring forward the names of ministers (elders and pastors), and members, male and female, whose lives and labors have left their impress for good upon family, society, Church, and State. God knows them, whether. living or dead; their record is on high, and their reward is sure.
The above table indicates but in part what Lafayette
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Methodism is. No statistics (except those kept by the recording angel above) can show what Lafayette Meth- odism has done for God and humanity in the last forty- six or fifty years. Count the men and women who, during these years, it has put into the ministry, the week-day and the Sabbath-schools, as preachers and teachers, and the souls converted, or made wiser and better, through their labors; count the souls it has led to the Cross, and then given to other denominations from its altars and its fellowship, and the good they have done, and are doing; count the large number transferred by letter to other Churches, scattered through half the states in the Union, from New York to California ; count the sainted ones from the ranks of infancy, childhood, youth, middle life, and age, whom it has given to the shin- ing hosts of heaven-a much larger number, they, than we are aware, till we stop and think, and count their graves-and take into account all the secret, silent, un- seen, and unknown influences which have gone out from all these, for good of which none but God can truly know, but which, like Nature's hidden powers, are the most potent, after all ; combine, in imagination, all that has been accomplished for good by the living and the dead in these five different channels indicated, of human thought and feeling, influence and agency,-and then you only approximate the true reckoning, as it shall appear in the last day.
SOUTH BEND.
JOHN BROWNFIELD, Esq., of South Bend, has furnished the principal facts in the following sketch of Methodism in that locality. In a note, under date of February, 1871, he says :
" South Bend was laid out in 1830. I visited this.
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county in 1833. I heard brothers Robinson and Bes- wick preach in Niles. Their mission extended from Fort Wayne to Lake Michigan, embracing Goshen, South Bend, Laporte, and Michigan City, in Indiana; also, Niles and St. Joseph, in Michigan. I settled here in 1834. There were then about forty Methodists, and a population of one hundred and seventy-five. In 1836, our number increased considerably; the new-comers be- ing chiefly from Ohio, and among them Albert and L. W. Monson, and Obadiah Hackey, father of Rev. J. C. Hackey. The population was then about five hundred. I am sorry to say that Methodism, for the last five or six years, has not kept pace with the population. The United Brethren, who were early on the ground, and, in 1836, built a church, have now no organization at all in our town. Presbyterians, Baptists, Campbellites, and Catholics have come in, in considerable numbers. Our present population is about eight thousand. The first and second charges embrace about four hundred mem- bers, or one in twenty of our entire population."
On the 24th of January, 1831, Rev. N. B. Griffith, and Benjamin Ross and family, arrived at South Bend, and found Samuel Martin and wife, and Benjamin Potter and wife, members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Griffith came as a missionary. There was a deep snow on the ground, and the weather was intensely cold ; and as the few families in the village were sheltered in cab- ins and half-faced shanties, no room could be had large enough to accommodate the people for preaching, and Mr. Griffith left to bring his family to this new field of labor. On the evening of the 30th of January, the Methodist families of the village assembled at the house of Benjamin Ross, and held a prayer-meeting, which was the first Methodist worship, if not the first Protestant
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