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 19
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old, and that I have been spared through the lapse of forty-five years to witness the achievements of these he- roes, I thank God and take courage.
"At the Conference in Vincennes, in 1830, I was ap- pointed to Vevay Circuit. It was during this year that the wonderful camp-meeting on Crooked Creek, above Madison, was held. The good results of this meeting were felt in that part of the country for many years thereafter. About one hundred and forty persons were converted to God, and the power manifested in the con- viction and conversion of these persons was a marvel in the eyes of the stanchest believers. Fear and trem- bling seized sinners as soon as they came within the sa- cred influence, and a yielding to God seemed inevitable.
" In the Fall of this year I was married by Allen Wiley, the presiding elder, to Maria Slawson, who has traveled the path of life by my side ever since. It was customary among those in high life, in that day (and we were of that respected class), to enjoy wedding tours, in order that the young couple might begin life under as fa- vorable auspices as possible ; consequently, we took our wedding-tour. We did not go to Niagara and to the White Mountains, nor to Lake Superior or to California, but we went to Conference. We were married in Switz- erland County, spent our first Sabbath at the noted camp- meeting on Crooked Creek. At its close, we resumed our travels, resting the first night near Columbus, taking a late breakfast at this place. Next morning we started west to Bloomington, via Brown County. Shortly after we started, it commenced raining, and continued all day long. To my suggestion that we had better stop at some house until the rain ceased, my spirited young bride an- swered, that she could stand the rain if I could. So we rode along all day, single-file along the trail, until night
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overtook us. Arriving near the old salt-works, on Salt Creek, we found three little cabins, one-half mile apart. Stopping at the first one, we were told they could not accommodate us; going on to the second, we found all the family sick ; and when we got to the third one, the woman informed us that she had nothing at all to eat ; that her husband was then gone to the settlements for food, and that she could do nothing for us. In this ex- tremity, we returned to the first cabin and asked the wo- man if we could not come in out of the rain. In an- swer, she said we must first go over to the salt-works and ask her husband. Leaving my bride waiting in the dark and rain, I made my way as best I could to the works, and after our situation was fully stated, the hus- band agreed that we might stay with them, but as he had no place for our horses it would be necessary to build a pen for their accommodation. He soon arranged a torch, by the light of which we built a high fence around the horses, cut a few stalks of green corn from his little gar- den-patch, and then we went into the house, carrying our saddles with us, and we were heartily thankful we had a roof over us. We were soon warm and comfortable ; and, after holding family prayer, in which we remem- bered at a Throne of Grace the kind family who were en- tertaining the benighted strangers, we retired, occupying the only bed in the cabin. The bedstead was constructed by driving two pins into the wall, with boards laid across them, and then the straw bed. It was the best they could do, and we were content. My bride had in her pocket a biscuit brought from home, and the great ques- tion was, which should eat it. We finally compromised by dividing it. In the morning we found the horses all right, and we were soon on our way. When we arrived at Bloomington, where we had expected to have broken
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our fast, we concluded to wait until we got to Stanford, where our relatives were glad to receive us; and at two o'clock in the afternoon we sat down to our first meal since breakfast the preceding day. And now, as I write of the experience of that trip, my young bride knitting at my side, her hair much lighter now than then, gives it as her opinion that, while love is essentially necessary and very sustaining under ordinary circumstances, yet, for long bridal trips on horseback, she advises the newly married pair to depend mostly on a diet more substantial.
"In the above sketches of my early life I have not written much of my own success in preaching the Gos- pel. I am glad, however, to remember many pleasant seasons I have enjoyed while trying to do my duty to God in pointing sinners to the Savior; and I am ex- pecting to enjoy the reunion of many friends in the better country, in the blest 'by and by.' I have seen the Church in its infancy, have witnessed its privations and discouragements, as also its successes and achieve- ments. I bless the Lord, that while I can boast of know- ing the simplicity and earnestness of the former times, I have delighted in the glory and grandeur of the latter days; and my strong faith is, that if our Church is only true to herself, the golden day of her power and use- fulness is yet in the future. So mote it be."
REV. ENOCH G. WOOD, D. D.
ENOCH G. WOOD entered the traveling ministry in the Illinois Conference in 1827, at its session in Mount Car- mel, Illinois, and his first appointment was to Charles- town Circuit, Indiana, as junior preacher, with George Locke and C. W. Ruter; the latter being on the super- numerary list. Brother Wood has been on the effective list of itinerants ever since. In youth he drew the
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Gospel sword, threw away the scabbard, and has main- tained his position in the front of the army of invasion for forty-four years, and still claims to be a young man. He is young in heart, young in enterprise, and young in mental vigor, although mature in years and in expe- rience; and having spent the whole of his ministerial life in Indiana, and half of it in the presiding eldership, he deserves to be ranked among the fathers of the Confer- ence. Dr. Wood is an able preacher. His style is argumentative, and his sermons instructive. He lights the sanctuary with "beaten oil." He does not sacrifice to God that which cost him nothing. His sermons give evidence of close thought and careful preparation ; and yet he uses the pen sparingly, if at all, in his pulpit preparations. Most of his sermons would do to go to the press just as delivered, and yet it is doubtful if he ever wrote a sermon in full. He has been a practical and earnest friend of education, giving much attention to the building up of the literary institutions under the care of the Church. Few men have given themselves as unreservedly to the work of the ministry as Dr. Wood, and prosecuted that work with equal zeal and singleness of purpose for so many years. Dr. Wood has ever enjoyed the full confidence of his brethren. He has been four times elected to represent his Conference in sessions of the General Conference.
REV. JOHN SCHRADER.
JOHN SCHRADER is now the oldest minister in Indiana. He entered the itinerancy in the Tennessee Conference in 1813, and has traveled large circuits in Indiana, Illi- nois, Missouri, and Arkansas. He preached the first sermon in New Albany, organized the first class, and administered the sacrament of the Lord's-supper to them
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for the first time. That was in the Spring of 1818. He had been removed in the middle of the year, and placed on Silver-creek Circuit to supply the place of John Cord, who had to leave the circuit in consequence of having his house consumed by fire; and, as the circuit was not able to make up his loss, and meet the pressing demands of his family, Mr. Cord had to leave the circuit, and devote his attention for a season to secular pursuits.
In taking charge of the circuit, he organized a few new preaching-places, one of which was New Albany. A few members had organized themselves into a class. To these Mr. Schrader preached in a tavern kept by a Mrs. Ruff, and administered the sacrament of the Lord's- supper; doubtless the first time that the ordinance was ever administered in that city. Upon the organization of the Missouri Conference in 1816, Mr. Schrader was included within its bounds. Upon the organization of the Illinois Conference, he fell within its bounds; and upon the organization of the Indiana Conference, he was included within its territory. His name has been long on the superanuated list in the Indiana Conference, but the vine which he helped to plant in this virgin soil has sent out its branches, and overshadowed the land. He has seen "the wilderness blossom as the rose;" has lived to see "a little one become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation."
REV. JOHN MILLER.
JOHN MILLER was received on trial in the Missouri Conference in the Fall of 1823, when that Conference included the settled portions of the country, from the western border of the Ohio Conference to the then prov- ance of Texas. His first appointment was to Sangamon Circuit, in Illinois, in Illinois District, with Samuel H.
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Thompson as presiding elder. His second appointment was to Indianapolis Circuit, in 1824; the Missouri Con- ference having been divided, and the work in Indiana and Illinois included in the Illinois Conference. Indian- apolis was included in Madison District, and John Strange was the presiding elder. His third appointment was Paoli. His fourth appointment was Illinois Circuit. His fifth appointment was Vincennes Circuit. His sixth ap- pointment was Washington Circuit. In 1829, he was appointed to Mount Carmel Circuit, and, in 1830, was reappointed to the same charge. In 1831, he was ap- pointed to Corydon Circuit. At the organization of the Indiana Conference, in 1832, he was included in the In- diana work, and was appointed to Charlestown Circuit; and henceforward his name is connected with the work in Indiana. Brother Miller has traveled our largest circuits, filled some of the best stations in his Confer- ence. He has been a presiding elder, and a delegate to the General Conference, and has been ever true and faithful in all the relations he has sustained. For the last few years he has been on the superanuated list. His ministerial record is remarkably faultless. A man of large heart, warm sympathies, true friendships, unaf- fected modesty, and genuine piety, he was greatly loved by the people whom he served. In the days of his vigor he had a musical voice, which he knew well how to manage, for he was a charming singer.
REV. AMASA JOHNSON.
AMASA JOHNSON was received on trial into the trav- eling ministry at the first session of the Indiana Confer- ence, in 1832, and was identified with the work of the ministry in Indiana till the close of his life. Of him Hon. R. W. Thompson said, in his discourse before the
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Indiana State Methodist Convention, on the "Fallen Heroes of Methodism :" "Having been received into the Church by Amasa Johnson, I should do injustice to my own feelings if I did not avail myself of this occasion to bear testimony to his self-sacrificing devotion, his un- questioned purity, and wonderful native abilities. Few men have entered the ministry with less education ; and yet his great sagacity, extraordinary memory, and fine fund of common sense, enabled him to overcome his early disadvantages; so that he at last became one of the most effective and convincing preachers I ever heard. He made no attempt at oratory in its highest sense ; but, as he drew all his illustrations from familiar things, he never failed to reach both the judgment and the heart. If beauty is the greatest when unadorned, then his elo- quence was of no inferior kind ; for it wore none of that clothing which a cultivated imagination gives; it was direct, impressive, and irresistible-the true eloquence of Nature. He had a keen and just sense of responsi- bility to God, and followed after truth for its own sake. Such men as he deserve far more of the world's respect than they generally receive, because .the world loves show and ornament; but those to whom his ability and sterling worth are best known, will remember him, as I do, with sincere admiration for his memory."
REV. ASA BECK.
ASA BECK was admitted on trial in the Illinois Con- ference in 1828, and traveled successively Columbus, Fall-creek, Wayne, Connersville, and Franklin Circuits. At the organization of the Indiana Conference he was in- cluded in the work in Indiana. He has traveled many of the largest circuits in the Conference, and was for many years an efficient preacher; and his labors were
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blessed to the conversion of many souls to God. Father Beck has been for a number of years on the retired list.
REV. JAMES SCOTT.
THE name of James Scott first appears in connection with the work in Indiana in 1826, when he traveled Madison Circuit; and from thenceforward for many years he is found among the active and laborious itinerants who preached the Gospel and planted Churches in the new settlements throughout Indiana. He possessed a keen, analytical mind, and in his early ministry was fond of debate. Several champions of Universalism had reason to remember the clearness of his logic, and the keenness of his satire, as well as his thorough familiarity with the Bible. Age and growing infirmities compelled him to superannuate a number of years since.
REV. ELIJAH WHITTEN.
ELIJAH WHITTEN was admitted on trial in the Indiana Conference at its first session in 1832. He had embraced religion a few years previous to this date, in Cincinnati, in the great revival in that city, under the ministry of Rev. Dr. Wilson. Whitten soon found that Calvinism was opposed to his clearest convictions of truth, and that the doctrines, usages, and general spirit of Methodism better accorded with his convictions and tastes; and he accordingly united with the Methodist Church, entered the itinerant ministry, and devoted himself with unusual energy to the work of the ministry, until failing health compelled him to superannuate. In the days of his vigor, few men could present the doctrines of Christian- ity in a clearer or more forcible light than he.
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REV. HENRY S. TALBOTT.
HENRY S. TALBOTT was admitted on trial in the Illi- nois Conference in the Fall of 1830. In the division of the Conference, he fell in the Indiana Conference, and is still identified with the itinerancy in the Indiana Confer- ence. He resigned the practice of medicine for the work of the ministry. He was a man of considerable culture, and an excellent preacher. He filled a number of respon- sible appointments, including that of presiding elder and delegate to the General Conference, and deserves to be ranked among the fathers of Indiana Methodism.
REV. RICHARD HARGRAVE.
RICHARD HARGRAVE entered the traveling connection in the Fall of 1824, and has been identified with the work of the Methodist ministry in Indiana ever since. In the days of his vigor he was the prince of preachers. With a dignified and impressive personal presence, a clear, full voice, a distinct and ready utterance, and a thorough familiarity with Bible themes and Bible doc- trines, and a heart in full sympathy with his work as a Christian minister, his sermons were listened to with in- terest, although of unusual length. His sermons were no brief essays on distinct topics, as is quite too much the style of the pulpit now, but they were elaborate discus- sions of the grand doctrines of revelation. For nearly fifty years he has occupied a prominent place among the pulpit orators of the land. He has given to the public an excellent volume of sermons. Age and growing in- firmities have compelled him to superannuate, although his heart is in full sympathy with the itinerant work.
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REV. ROBERT BURNS.
ROBERT BURNS entered the traveling ministry in the Illinois Conference in the Fall of 1826, and was a zeal- ous, laborious, and successful traveling preacher. He was gifted in exhortation. His appeals to the consciences and understandings of his hearers were searching and powerful. He continued effective until age and physical infirmities compelled him to locate.
REV. JOIIN W. SULLIVAN.
JOHN W. SULLIVAN entered the traveling connection on trial, in the Indiana Conference, at its session in Mad- ison, in the Fall of 1833, and has been connected with the itinerancy in Indiana ever since. He has been emi- nently useful, having had numerous revivals under his ministry. In his earlier ministry he was an excellent singer, and often powerful in exhortation. He was an excellent manager of revival meetings, and a good pas- tor. He has filled a number of important charges in his Conference with great acceptability. For several years past he has been Moral Instructor to the Southern Indi- ana State-prison at Jeffersonville.
REV. DAVID STIVER.
DAVID STIVER was admitted on trial in the Indiana Conference in 1832, and labored efficiently for a number of years, and was appointed presiding elder on Center- ville District in 1838. Owing to unfortunate domestic troubles, he desisted from the active work of the minis- try for a number of years, but maintaining his Christian and ministerial standing as a local preacher. But yield- ing to his convictions of duty, and the judgment of his
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brethren, he re-entered the Conference, and continued to labor until age and failing health compelled him to super- annuate.
REV. JAMES T. ROBE.
JAMES T. ROBE entered the traveling connection in the Illinois Conference in 1831, but on the organization of the Indiana Conference the ensuing year, he fell within its bounds, where he labored faithfully for a number of years, and finally located in the state of Michigan, where he has continued as a local preacher, rich in Christian experience, and ripening for the heavenly garner.
REV. CHARLES BONNER.
CHARLES BONNER was admitted on trial in the Illinois Conference in the Fall of 1828, and appointed to Fall- creek Circuit, in the vicinity of Indianapolis. His subse- quent fields of labor were in Indiana; and, upon the di- vision of the Illinois Conference, and constituting the In- diana Conference, he was included in the bounds of the latter, where he continued to labor efficiently for a num- ber of years, when he located, entered into secular busi- ness, was unfortunate in trading, went to California, and met a sad death by being pierced through the body by the prongs of a pitchfork, as he was getting off from a load of hay. Charles Bonner was a good man, and, while in the work of the ministry, an efficient preacher. He was a remarkably industrious man, but that industry was directed more to manual labor, in improving parson- age and church property, cultivating his garden, and chopping his own wood, than in intellectual labor for the better prosecution of his work as a minister. The Church is always the loser when her ministers have to give their attention to manual labor or secular pursuits ; and no man
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can be eminent as a minister, or long sustain a respecta- ble position in the ministry, who gives his time and strength to outside duties. Charles Bonner was a true friend and an admirable colleague, in the days of the old- fashioned circuits with two preachers, when the circuits had from twenty-four to thirty appointments to be filled by each preacher once in four weeks. He gathered many into the Church, and his memory is cherished by his co- laborers in the ministry.
REV. JOHN KEARNS.
JOHN KEARNS joined the Illinois Conference in 1827, and labored some twenty odd years in Indiana, filling a number of important stations, and serving for some time as presiding elder. He finally transferred to Minnesota, for a change of climate, where he continues an efficient minister of the Gospel.
REV. JOHN C. SMITH.
JOHN C. SMITH was admitted on trial into the travel- ing connection, in the Illinois Conference, at its session in Vincennes, in the Fall of 1830, and appointed to Rushville Circuit with Amos Sparks. His next appoint- ment was Lawrenceburg Circuit, where he remained two years; and in the organization of the Indiana Confer- ence he was included within its bounds, and early took high rank as a gifted and zealous minister. For a num- ber of years he was recognized at the head of the young men of his age in the ministry in Indiana. No young man had entered the ministry in Indiana, at that day, whose educational advantages were superior to those of brother Smith. His style of preaching was popular, and through his labors multitudes were gathered into the Church. One of the most extensive revivals of religion
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ever enjoyed by the Church in Indianapolis, was under his ministry while pastor of Wesley Chapel, on the cor- ner of Meridian and Circle Streets, in 1836 and 1837. Some years since, impaired health induced him to retire from the active work of the ministry.
REV. JOHN A. BROUSE.
JOHN A. BROUSE was admitted on trial in the Indiana Conference in the Fall of 1833. He traveled several large circuits, filled some important stations, was presid- ing elder for several terms, and once a delegate to the General Conference, and one year an agent for Asbury University. The financial demands upon him necessary to the support and education of a large family, induced him to retire from the active work of the ministry, and give his attention to secular pursuits.
REV. JAMES HAVENS.
FEW names are more familiar in Methodist circles in Indiana than that of James Havens. He entered the traveling connection in the old Ohio Conference in 1821. He came to Indiana a few years later, and settled in Rush County, two miles west of Rushville, where he raised a large family, and where the family continued to reside until the children were all grown. Notwithstand- ing his family was located, Mr. Havens was emphatically an itinerant, traveling large circuits and districts, and often absent from home for weeks at a time. Mr. Ha- vens's early education was defective, and he could barely read when he joined the Conference; but he had an energy that no obstacles could break down, a persever- ance that never abated until its end was reached, and an ability for both mental and physical exertion that en- abled him to accomplish what to most men would have
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been impossible. He arose to a front rank in the min- istry, and made an impression upon general society that has been abiding. His knowledge of human nature was wonderful, and he read the character of those with whom he came in contact by a sort of intuition, and he rarely ever made a mistake. His reproofs were scathing; and, in the early settlement of Indiana, he was for many years emphatically a terror to evil-doers. The stories of his encounters with the rowdies and roughs that were wont to disturb the early camp-meetings, and his uniform vic- tories over them, would constitute a volume of thrilling interest. And, although fearless as a lion in the presence of danger, he was, nevertheless, a man of the tenderest sympathies and warmest friendships. The results of his labors are seen in the social order and the general respect for religion which every-where prevail through- out our state, as well as in the multitudes that were converted to God through his ministry. The fathers labored, and we are entered into their labors. Mr. Ha- vens secured a good general education, and was well read in theology and Church history. He was a delegate to several sessions of the General Conference. His sermons were well prepared, though never written. When asked why he did not use the pen in preparing for the pulpit, his reply was: "Don't you think the devil can read writing ? I don't intend that he shall either forestall me or flank me." During a large part of his ministry he filled the office of presiding elder, and exerted a com- manding influence, both among preachers and people.
REV. CALVIN W. RUTER.
CALVIN W. RUTER was admitted on trial into the traveling connection in the old Ohio Conference in 1818. His ministerial labors were spent in Indiana. Upon the
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organization of the Missouri Conference he was a mem- ber of that body, as also of the Illinois Conference while it included the work in Indiana. During his long ministry he was several times placed either on the super- numerary or superannuated list, but, with returning health, was always found in the active itinerant ranks. He was for many years secretary of his Conference. He was an early and zealous friend of learning, and was one of the founders of Indiana Asbury University. He was a superior preacher, and one of the honored fathers of Indiana Methodism.
REV. ALLEN WILEY.
ALLEN WILEY entered the ministry in 1818, in the old Ohio Conference, but Indiana was the theater of his ministerial labors; and from 1818, down to 1848, the time of his death, he was closely identified with the in- terests of the Church in Indiana; and he, perhaps more than any other one man, molded the character of Indiana - Methodism. He looked more to the future than most of his associates, and he organized and planned and worked for the future. His literary attainments were remarkable for the times in which he lived. He was a good Latin and Greek scholar, and every-where recog- nized as a profound theologian. As a minister, his ser- mons, while presiding elder, made a profound impression. They were usually lengthy; seldom, on the Sabbath, less than an hour and a half in length, but always list- ened to with interest. He was one of the projectors of Indiana Asbury University, and early saw the necessity for denominational schools. He was a remarkable stu- dent, and retained his habits of study to the close of life,
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