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 24
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great service to the cause of the Union by his public lec- tures, his personal influence, and his wise counsels, dur- ing the War of the Rebellion. He contributed largely to the efficiency of the sanitary measures inaugurated by the " American Christian Commission " during the War. He is admired and beloved by the whole Protestant Church ; for, without abating any of his devotion to his own Church, he cultivates the truest Christian charity among all Christian people.
EDWARD R. AMES.
EDWARD R. AMES was born in Amesville, Ohio, May 20, 1806, and spent his childhood and youth upon a farm, where he developed a remarkably vigorous phys- ical and mental constitution. Mr. Ames descended from an old Puritan stock. William Ames, originally of Som- ersetshire, England, came to America with his family, and settled in Braintree, New Plymouth Colony, Massa- chusetts, in 1643. He died in 1654, leaving behind him one son and six daughters. From this son descended a numerous posterity. Several of his descendants figured conspicuously in the scenes and events of the American Revolution. Fisher Ames was one of the most fiery and effective orators of his day. Bishop Ames's parents removed from Massachusetts to the North-western Ter- ritory in 1798. Of course young Ames's literary op- portunities were limited in so new a country. It so happened there was an excellent circulating library in the neighborhood, to which he had access; and the bishop has often remarked of that library, as Carlyle of his attendance at the English University, that it gave him a taste for reading. His father died in 1823. At the age of twenty, he left the farm and entered as a stu- dent in the Ohio State University at Athens, where he
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spent some three years, supporting himself chiefly by his own exertions. During his attendance at the Uni- versity he experienced an evidence of sins forgiven. At the solicitations of Bishop Roberts, in 1828, he accom- panied him to the seat of the Illinois Conference, which met that year in Madison, Indiana. There young Ames became acquainted with Rev. S. H. Thompson and John Dew, from Illinois; and, under their persuasions, he was induced to go to Illinois, and open a High-school in Leb- anon, which was so successful as to become the germ'of M'Kendree College. Mr. Ames remained in Lebanon until 1830, when he entered the itinerant ministry in the Illinois Conference. When Illinois Conference was divided, and Indiana Conference was constituted, Mr. Ames was included in the Indiana Conference. In IS40, he was chosen a delegate to the General Conference, which met in Baltimore, and by that body elected Cor- responding Secretary of the Missionary Society for the South and West. In that capacity he had supervision of the Indian missions, and his duties required an im- mense amount of traveling. It was before the era of railroads. The office was one of great labor, but right nobly and efficiently were its duties performed. During his four years in this office, he traveled some twenty- five thousand miles. During one tour he passed over the entire frontier line, from Lake Superior on the north to Texas on the south-of course being com- pelled to camp out during most of the route, and for a part of the way so destitute of provisions that him- self and fellow-travelers subsisted several days on maple- sugar and water. He gathered a vast amount of in- formation that was made available, both by the Church and the Federal Government. He systematized the missionary work, took an inventory of the missionary
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property, and got valuable grants from the Government for educational purposes among the Indians. The Gen- eral Conference of 1844 abolished the office, and Mr. Ames took his place among the ranks of efficient itin- erants in Indiana Conference. In 1849, he was elected to the Presidency of Indiana Asbury University, but declined the position. In 1852, he was elected to the episcopal office on the same ballot with Levi Scott, M. Simpson, and Osmon C. Baker. He was the first of our bishops to visit the Pacific coast, and was pre- pared by his counsels and experience to aid the breth- ren in laying wisely the foundations of our Church in that wonderful land. Bishop Ames is a man of close observation, of breadth of thought and comprehensive- ness of view. His plans are far-seeing and statesman- like. Something above the medium size, and a little inclined to corpulency as age comes on, with an intel- lectual cast of countenance, and a dignified bearing, his personal presence as a presiding officer is much in his favor. He is eminently a business man. His plans are practical. Few men can secure a more rapid and intelli- gent dispatch of business by an annual conference than he. Intensely patriotic, he gave the whole weight of his personal and official influence in favor of the Govern- ment in suppressing the late. Rebellion. He was the first of our bishops to enter the Southern territory and reconstruct the old Church in our reconquered territory.
As a preacher, he is eminently instructive. His man- ner is calm, dignified, and collected. He has that quiet- ness of manner that indicates conscious strength. His sermons, though not written, are carefully thought through. His style is a model of terseness and perspi- cuity. His sentences are never involved or obscure. His hearer is never in doubt as to his meaning. With-
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out any display of rhetoric, he talks up into the higher regions of thought and feeling. While his sermons are richer in thought, and equally pure in diction with those of his earlier days, perhaps his most popular sermons were preached while presiding elder of a Western dis- trict, when, at his camp-meetings, thronging thousands would hang on his words, and be moved by his impas- sioned eloquence, as the forest is swayed by the wind.
While the bishop is an ardent Methodist, he cultivates and disseminates the broadest and truest Christian cath- olicity ; and, while laboring to build up his own Church, he enjoys the confidence and friendship of the Protestant clergy from one end of the continent to the other. While he is a positive man, and, when occasion calls for it, can assume the functions and prerogatives of his office with remarkable promptness, he has, nevertheless, a great deal of the suaviter in modo, and he seems to take it on more and more. Indeed, the gentler Christian graces shine out more and more conspicuously as age comes on.
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CHAPTER XVIII. (FROM 1870 TO 1872.
Fortieth Session of the Indiana Conference-Death of B. F. Torr and Thomas A. Whitted-Delegates to the General Conference of 1872-Congratulations between the Electoral Conference and the Annual Conference-Statistics and Contributions-South-eastern Indiana Conference-Lay and Clerical Delegates to the General Conference-Thomas Ray-John W. Dole-William T. Saunders- Members-Church Property-Contributions-Largest Churches- Sketch of Rev. S. T. Gillett, D. D .- Twentieth Session of the North-west Indiana Conference-Electoral Conference-Resolu- tions against a Change in our Church Economy-Delegates to the General Conference - Members - Contributions - Educational - Twenty-ninth Session of the North Indiana Conference-Mem- bers-Contributions-Electoral Conference-Delegates to the Gen- eral Conference-Resolutions on Conference Boundary-Lay Dele- gation-Rev. Thomas Bowman, D. D., elected to the Episcopacy- Sketch of Bishop Bowman.
INDIANA CONFERENCE.
ITHE Indiana Conference held its fortieth session in the city of New Albany, beginning on Wednesday, September 13, 1871. Total number of preachers com- prising the Conference, 122. Of these, 111 were full members, and 11 probationers; 104 in the active work of the ministry, 17 superannuated, and 1 supernu- merary. Bishop Clark, to whose episcopal supervision the Conference had been assigned that year, having died, Bishop Scott presided. Rev. S. L. Binkley was elected principal secretary, and O. H. Smith, J. H. Clippinger, and R. B. Martin, assistant secretaries.
Two members had died during the year ; namely, B. F. Torr and Thomas A. Whitted. Brother Torr was admitted into the Conference in 1860. He was for
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some time a student in Asbury University. He was a young man of decided ability and marked individuality of character. Faithful and fearless in the discharge of duty, he was firm in his adherence to what he believed to be right. His last appointment was to Roberts and M'Kendree Charge, New Albany. He died November 4,1870.
Thomas A. Whitted was a native of North Carolina. He was licensed to preach by the Bedford Quarterly Conference, in 1844. He traveled for several years as a supply, under the direction of the presiding elder. In 1853, he was admitted on trial in the Indiana Confer- ence. He was an earnest, faithful preacher, and met death triumphantly, March 31, 1870.
The increase in the membership within the bounds of the Conference, during the year, was 2,759; the total membership, including probationers, was 21,007; local preachers, 224; number of churches reported, 3334, valued at $694,800-the two most costly churches in the Conference, and perhaps in the state, being Merid- ian-street Church, Indianapolis, and Trinity Church, in Evansville. There were 73 parsonages reported, valued at $74,500. The contributions of members for Church purposes were as follows :
For the support of the Ministry.
.$77,784 38
For the Superannuated Preachers.
1,287 04
For Missions ...
8,992 41
For Church Extension
347 90
For Bible Society.
1,570 15
For Sunday-school Union
204 85
Expenses of Sunday-schools.
6,382 71
For Tract Cause ..
58 45
For the Freedmen's Aid Society
235 28
Total
$96,863 17
To which should be added the personal donation of $2,000, from that large-hearted and earnest Christian layman, W. C. De Pauw, Esq., of New Albany.
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The provisional plan for the introduction of lay del- egates into the General Conference, having received more than the requisite number of votes, both from the ministry and the laity, the delegates from the several charges within the bounds of the Conference met, pur- suant to the provisions of said plan, on the second day of the Conference, September 15, 1871, and duly organ- ized by calling Hon. R. W. Thompson to the chair, and appointing F. M. Thair and Hughes East, secretaries. Hon. R. W. Thompson and Washington C. De Pauw were elected delegates to the ensuing General Confer- ence, to meet in Brooklyn, in May, 1872, and Asa Iglehart, Esq., and Colonel T. J. Smith were elected reserve delegates.
The Annual Conference adopted the following reso- lutions, which were formally presented to the Electoral Conference, by a committee appointed for that purpose :
" Whereas, the last General Conference, after careful deliberation, did, in its godly judgment, send forth to the Church a 'Plan of Lay Delegation,' for the godly consideration of the ministers and people of the Methodist Episcopal Church; and, whereas, the ministers have, by vote in the Annual Conferences, accepted of such plan, and the laity of the Church have also, by vote, expressed themselves; and, whereas, by the provision of this plan, the quarterly conferences in the bounds of this Annual Conference have elected delegates to the Electoral Conference, to meet in this city Sep- tember 15th, to elect delegates to the General Conference of 1872; now, therefore,
"1. Resolved, That the Indiana Conference acquiesce in this great movement, as thus far consummated, and prays for its peaceful and wise consummation at the approaching General Conference.
"2. Resolved, That we welcome our brethren, the laity, to the councils of the Church, in the confident belief that their love for the Church, and their interest in her prosperity, and their practical skill, will only add strength to our Zion, and enable her more fully and rapidly to accomplish her great mission in 'spreading Scriptural holiness over the land.' In this more intimate relation, we do most devoutly implore God's blessing alike on them and us.
"3. Resolved, That the following members of this Conference be a committee to bear our fraternal greetings to the Electoral Conference, on Friday, the 15th inst., namely: C. Nutt, John Kiger, Wm. Meginnis, W. V.
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Daniel, John Schrader, H. S. Talbott, W. C. Smith, J. C. Smith, H. Hays, S. Ravenscroft, J. R. Williams, and G. W. Walker."
H. S. Talbott presented the resolutions, and, on be- half of the Annual Conference, congratulated the Elec- toral Conference, and bade them a God-speed in their work. Hon. R. W. Thompson responded on the part of the laymen, and the utmost cordiality and confidence were manifested by all. Thus harmoniously and peace- fully was this radical change effected in the organic law of the Church.
The ministerial delegates to the General Conference of 1872 were, J. J. Hight, Wm. K. Hester, Cyrus Nutt, and John Kiger. W. F. Harned and B. F. Rawlins were elected reserve delegates.
SOUTH-EASTERN INDIANA CONFERENCE.
THE South-eastern Indiana Conference met in Wall- street Methodist Episcopal Church, in Jeffersonville, Ind., September 6, 1871. George L. Curtis was elected secretary, and E. L. Dolph, W. S. Mahan, and A. N. Marlatt, assistant secretaries, Bishop Scott presiding.
The Laymen's Electoral Conference held its session on the second day of the Conference. J. C. M'Intosh, Esq., was elected president, and J. H. Stewart secretary. E. K. Hosford and J. C. M'Intosh, Esq., were elected delegates to the ensuing General Conference, to be held in Brooklyn, N. Y., in May, 1872. J. H. V. Smith, Esq., of Indianapolis, and D. G. Phillips, Esq., of Mad- ison, were elected reserve delegates.
The ministerial delegates, on behalf of the Annual Conference, were, Enoch G. Wood, Sampson Tincher, and F. A. Hester; and the reserve delegates were W. Terrell and F. C. Holliday.
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Three members of the Conference had died during the year, namely : Thomas Ray, John W. Dole, and W. T. Saunders. Father Ray joined the Indiana Conference at its session in Madison, in 1833. He had been for a few years on the superannuated list at the time of his death. He was killed by the express train, on the rail- road, at Inwood, the place of his residence, January 31, 1871. From some cause, he did not observe the ap- proaching train, as he was crossing the track, until it was too late for him to escape, and he was instantly killed. He was a good man, and doubtless "the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof" were in waiting to convey him to his heavenly home.
Rev. John W. Dole entered the traveling connection in the Missouri Conference, in 1835. He maintained a good Christian and ministerial character till the day of his death. He came to Indiana in 1845, and was iden- tified with the work in Indiana from that time till the close of his life. He had been for a few years on the superannuated list. He was a good man, and met death triumphantly.
Rev. W. T. Saunders was a young man of promise. He entered the ministry, in the South-eastern Indiana Conference, in the Fall of 1859. He died in Madison, July 29, 1871, in the thirty-fifth year of his age.
The number of members and probationers, reported this Conference, was 24,390. The ministerial force com- prised one hundred and twenty-one traveling preachers, twenty-one of whom were either on the superannuated or supernumerary list.
Number of churches. 290
Their probable value $768,500
Number of parsonages. 45
Their probable value $47,750
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The Church collections were reported as follows :
For the support of the Ministry. $70,405 06
For the Superannuated Preachers, etc .. 1,282 77
Amount collected for the Missionary Society. 7,218 49
Amount collected for Church Extension. 683 70
Amount collected for the Tract Society.
256 71
Amount collected for the Bible Society. 888 75
Amount collected for Sunday-school Union.
220 67
Amount collected for support of Sunday-schools ..
4,627 80
The most expensive churches in the Conference are, Roberts Park Church, Indianapolis, of which Rev. J. H. Bayliss is the present pastor, and the First Church, in Greensburg, of which Rev. S. T. Gillett, D. D., is pastor. Roberts Park Church, when completed, will be the most elegant, and perhaps the best-arranged, Protestant church in the state. It is located in the center of an acre lot, fronting on Delaware and Vermont Streets, with alleys on the other two sides of the lot. The building is of white limestone, from the Ellettsville quarries, carved and rubbed, and edges beveled, and is one hundred and twenty-one feet long and seventy wide. The lecture-room, class-rooms, and parlors are on the first floor. The lecture-room will accommodate about eight hundred persons, and the main audience-room will seat about thirteen hundred.
The First Church, in Greensburg, is also a two-story edifice. It is built of brick, capped and trimmed with limestone. Its arrangements for Sabbath-school, class, and prayer meetings are excellent. The church-tower is something over one hundred and seventy feet high.
Rev. S. T. Gillett, D. D., the present pastor of the First Church, in Greensburg, Indiana, is a native of the state of New York, and came to Indiana with his father's family, in 1818. They landed at Old Fort Harrison, near where the city of Terre Haute now stands. They as- cended the Wabash in a family flat-boat, which was pro-
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pelled by hand-power all the way from the Ohio. His father died in ten days after their landing, from sickness brought on by imprudently leaving the boat without his coat, to greet the Indians lining the bank, many of whom remained in the country to receive their annuity, accord- ing to treaty stipulations. Sickness prevailing exten- sively on the prairies, the widow, with her children, took refuge in the healthy wooded country near the present city of Rockville, in what is now Park County. Al- though the lands had been sold by the Indians to the General Government, yet many of the Indians remained. Among these, a mission school was formed, by Elder M'Coy, of the Baptist Church, and here young Gillett received a portion of his early education. In 1819, he removed to Madison, Indiana, and became a member of the family of his half-brother, Colonel N. B. Palmer, and while there, pursued a classical course, preparatory to the study of medicine. As a life among the sick was uncongenial, he made application, through Hon. Wm. Hendricks, United States Senator from Indiana, for an appointment in the Government service, and received that of midshipman, dated December 1, 1826. In March following he was ordered to active duty at New York, and was attached to the steam-frigate Fulton, which, after- ward, was blown up, with the loss of a large portion of her crew. His first cruise at sea was in the United States steamer Lexington, stationed in the Mediterranean, where his vessel remained three years and four months, giving the officers superior facilities for visiting its classic shores, more especially Italy, Asia Minor, and the Gre- cian Archipelago. His vessel returning in 1830, he was detailed, and permitted to visit his Western home, after. an absence of nearly four years. The change from boy- hood to manhood was such that an elder brother found it
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difficult to recognize him; yet his mother, with true pa- rental instinct, clasped her son to her heart at first sight, and wept tears of joy over one who had been a subject of prayerful solicitude during the weary years of his absence.
At that time, the Naval Academy was not in exist- ence as now organized, the Government furnishing in- struction for the midshipmen at navy-yards and on board ships in commission. As an examination for promotion occurred annually, for those who had been five years in the service, three of them at sea, and as merit deter- mined the place of each on the list, there was no small degree of anxiety on the part of the sixty composing the class of 1826, as to their success in the ordeal through which they were to pass. This induced young Gillett to press his studies while on shore, rather than indulge in the sailors' usual course of relaxation while on land. After some months of duty at the navy-yard in Pensacola, he was ordered to Baltimore, with some ยท sixty others, for examination, among whom were Raphael Semmes, John A. Dahlgren, O. S. Glisson, S. C. Rowan, and C. S. Boggs, who were so prominent in naval affairs during the late Rebellion, and who, with the exception of Mr. Semmes, have been promoted to the Admiralty. The Examining Board was in session near two months, and, at its conclusion, placed the name of Samuel T. Gil- lett at the head of the list, giving Raphael Semmes, late Captain of the famous Alabama, the next number below him. Forty-two of the class passed, some failing, others fearing to come before the Board. Young Gillett's suc- cess was the more gratifying as the officers from the Eastern States affected to believe that those from the West could not compete with them.
In 1830 he was again ordered to sea, and was favored
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with duty on board the Delaware, ship of the line. Af- ter landing His Excellency, Edward Livingston, Minis- ter to France, at Cherbourg, the officers visited Paris, and other cities between that and the British Channel. The vessel then proceeded to the Mediterranean, and, during a stay of two years, he visited the south of France, west coast of Italy, Egypt, and Palestine. While witnessing an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, near Naples, he was placed in a perilous condition from a shower of molten lava, thrown from the crater in an ob- lique direction, falling in pieces of several pounds' weight around him and his companions. In Egypt he, with a company of officers, passed up the Nile to Cairo, and, being favored with horses and grooms from the pasha's stables, accompanied by Mr. Gliddon, United States Vice-Consul, visited the Pyramids, ruins of Memphis, Catacombs, and many other interesting localities in that semi-barbarous country, once the seat of literature and refinement as existing in ancient times. In Palestine, they were received by the Governor of Jerusalem, and provided with quarters in that most interesting of all cities to Bible students. Having peculiar facilities here, they visited the sacred localities of this city and the ad- jacent country, and then, rejoining the ship at Jaffa- the Joppa of Scripture-they passed up the coast, visit- ing Tyre, Sidon, and Beyroot, where the lamented Kingsley closed his eventful life. The Delaware then returned to Port Mahon, head-quarters of the squadron, and Mr. Gillett to the United States. We have given this brief review of his nautical life, as that and his ex- tensive travels have had an important bearing on his usefulness as a minister.
On his return home, he was placed on "leave of ab- sence," and entered the service of the State of Indiana
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as civil engineer in the preliminary survey and location of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad. While thus engaged, the great crisis of his life occurred, wholly rev- olutionizing his views of duty and course of action. Re- flecting on the insufficiency of worldly enjoyments-of which he had freely partaken-to satisfy the demands of the soul, he resolved to act on a remark dropped in his hearing by Mrs. Gillett, that " happiness was to be found in religion." Examining the Bible, to learn in what religion consists, he was fully awakened to a sense of his condition and danger as a sinner. 'After two weeks of penitence and prayer, the Savior came to his relief about noon, October 6, 1836, while at home read- ing the Methodist Discipline, his faith being aided by an illustration from sea-faring life. As a Church member, he resolved to live up to his whole duty; and to learn this, he commenced to read the Discipline through. While reading the Articles of Faith, he came to the sec- ond, when his attention was riveted to the statement of the two-fold nature of the Son of God-" very God and very man "-as exactly suited to human redemption. " If," said he to himself, "a soldier and sailor should be at variance, both parties would accept as mediator a ma- rine, who, as soldier serving on shipboard, is both soldier and sailor. Now, Christ is very God and very man, and into his hands I commit my case." Immediate relief followed this act of trust, and the clear witness of the Spirit was realized in a few minutes, accompanied with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Such was his expe- rience, as he has sometimes stated in the social meetings of the Church. Religious matters now appeared so im- portant, that he resolved on a life henceforth to be de- voted to human salvation, and immediately resigned his office of civil engineer, and commenced a course of
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