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 7
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remain, and the college that was founded chiefly through his instrumentality, it is hoped, will continue to bless the world through the ages to come. The village of Moore's Hill, now noted for the moral and literary tone of its so- ciety, and for the college of which it is justly proud, owes its name to the following blunder: Mr. Moore had erected a mill that was driven by horse-power, as water- power could not be commanded in that vicinity; and as the early settlers, from a considerable distance, brought their corn to be ground, it occurred to some one that it would be a good idea to have a post-office established in the vicinity of the mill; and accordingly a petition was sent to Washington, praying for the establishment of a post-office at Moore's Mill. The Postmaster-General, mistaking the M for an H, located the post-office at Moore's Hill, and that gave name to the village that sub- sequently sprang up, and to the college that has been founded, chiefly through the exertions and liberality of one of the sons of the original proprietor of Moore's Mill.
Among the agencies honored in the early planting of churches in Indiana, and in carrying forward revival ef- forts, local preachers and exhorters occupied a prominent place, and are worthy of honorable mention. Many of the former had been traveling preachers, who had been compelled to locate for want of a support, and who con- tinued to labor with efficiency. Such was Moses Ash- worth, the apostle of Methodism in Southern Indiana. He settled in Posey County, where he labored as a local preacher for a number of years. These located preach- ·ers usually acted in concert, and kept up a regular plan of appointments. Of these, Garnett, Wheeler, Schra- der, and Ashworth, who labored in Posey, Vanderburg, and adjoining Counties, were prominent; and at camp-
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meetings and two-days' meetings they were a power. Daviess County had four local preachers of note, in an early day, namely: James M'Cord, Elias Stone, John Wallace, and Ebenezer Jones. M'Cord, Stone, and Wal- lace traveled some; Jones remained local, and raised a large family. These were all useful men in their day. Wallace and Stone both died away from home, on cir- cuits; M'Cord removed to Crawford County, Illinois, where he lived to a good old age. The names of Joseph Pownell, Jacob Lapp, John Lowry, Stephen Grimes, John Fish, Richard Posey, John Collins, Richard Brown- ing, Isaac Lambert, Jacob Turman, William Medford, Samuel Hull, Job M. Baker, Wesley Morrison, William Bratton, Hezekiah Holland, Joseph Freeland, and Jesse Graham, deserve honorable mention. Augustus Jocelyn, of Brookville, was a giant among the local preachers of his day. He was a man of culture and of extraordinary ability. James Garner settled in Clarke County soon after the Robertsons came there. He was a great help in building up the Church. He was a total abstinence man, notwithstanding the prevalent custom of using whisky in nearly every family. He raised a large fam- ily, and two of his sons were preachers. He was a re- vivalist, and gathered many into the Church. Barzillai Willey and Cornelius Ruddle were also efficient local preachers in Clarke County. Davis Floyd was also an efficient local preacher at Corydon. He was a practicing lawyer, and for some time Judge of the Circuit Court. Walter Pennington, familiarly called "Uncle Watty," was a licensed preacher, but his talent lay in exhortation. He was a natural wit, and, withal, something of a wag, but nevertheless a useful man. John Jones, who resided in the village of Elizabeth, in Harrison County, a shoe- maker by trade, was also a useful local preacher. Jones
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came from Baltimore, and was for many years recording steward on Corydon Circuit. George Prosser was a local . preacher and a physician, in Orange County. Jacob Bruner was a local preacher of considerable usefulness among the hills of Martin County. Joseph Arnold, Isam West, and William Webb were useful local preachers in Warwick County. At Evansville, Robert Parrott was prominent both as a citizen and a local preacher. Rich- ard and. Joseph Wheeler were also prominent local preachers in the vicinity of Evansville. They were from England, and had been familiar with Methodism in the old country, having sat under the ministry of Dr. Adam Clarke.
The following sketch of early society in Indiana is from the pen of Rev. A. Wood, D. D., than whom few men have seen more of Indiana, or observed it more closely :
"In 1816, the season was very cold. In the western part of New York, and the north-western part of Penn- sylvania, they raised no grain for bread. This caused many who had tried that country to move further south. Hence, in 1817, large numbers built family boats at Or- leans, on the Alleghany, and floated down the Ohio. They settled in Dearborn, Switzerland, Jennings, and Washington Counties, forming neighborhoods of their own. In many respects, they differed from the Ken- tuckians, especially in the arts of labor for opening a new farm in the forest. These brought the Yankee ax, with the crooked helve; they used oxen for rolling logs, and built their cabins square, instead of oblong, with the chimney in one end, having a fifth corner, like the letter V, as the Virginians and Kentuckians did. These Yankees and Pennsylvanians sought out the mill-sites, as they were called, and erected water-mills on the
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streams. I never knew a Kentuckian in those days build any thing better than a horse-mill. During the Territorial Government, the offices were filled by Vir- ginians ; but from 1816 to 1820, the State Government Was in the hands of Pennsylvanians. There was never a sufficient foreign immigration from Europe to make a political power; yet there were local settlements of English direct from old England in Franklin, Dearborn, and Vanderburg Counties ; the Swiss at Vevay, and the French at Vincennes. These, however, were contented with the home influence, and did not aspire to the offices of state. Not so, however, with the New Yorker, Penn- sylvanian, Jerseyman, Virginian, or stray Yankee. A desire for office prompted some of them to remove to the new country, as was confessed by one of the asso- ciate judges, who, on returning to his old home, said : ' Do you think I would stay here and be a common man, when I can go there and be a judge ?'
" An unfortunate occurrence took place at Vincennes, in the early history of Methodism there, that left a bad impression for some time. Thomas A. King, a member of the Tennessee Conference, who had traveled Patoka Circuit, and was very popular at Vincennes and in all that region of country, went into mercantile business, and, as his capital was limited, he bought largely on credit. A great change occurring in the condition of currency, causing a heavy reduction in prices, he failed to make payment, but sold his goods to William and Henry Merrick. The goods were enjoined; they were all three arrested for fraud, and, as the law then was, sent to jail by the creditor. The last mention of King's name in the Minutes of the Conference is the record of his location in the Tennessee Conference, in 1817. He was a talented and popular young minister, but unfortu-
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nately yielded to the spirit of speculation, often so rife in a new country; and, whether guilty of intentional fraud or not, his course blighted the remainder of his life, and involved his two friends.
"In 1832, James Armstrong was appointed super- intendent of the Missionary District, and missionary on Laporte Mission. The district embraced Upper Wabash Mission, S. C. Cooper; St. Joseph and South Bend Mis- sions, R. S. Robinson and George M. Beswick; Kala- mazoo Mission, James T. Robe; Fort Wayne Mission, Boyd Phelps ; Laporte Mission, James Armstrong.
"The first meeting-house was built this year at Door Village, by James Armstrong, who secured a subscrip- tion of three hundred dollars at one of his quarterly- meetings there. The first camp-meeting held in Laporte County was on the farm of J. Osbon, while Armstrong was on his death-bed. He was unable to leave his room, but gave directions for the management of the meeting. The preachers at the meeting were Boyd Phelps, A. Johnson, and E. Smith. About this time some influ- ential local preachers moved into the county. There was quite an emigration from Clarke County, and F. Standiford and Stephen Jones came from Ohio.
" Methodism was introduced into Elkhart County in 1830, under the following circumstances : James Snyder, residing on Elkhart Prairie, went to Michigan to hear E. Felton preach at the village of White Pigeon, and in- vited him to his cabin, which was taken into the mis- sion, and a class formed at his house, of which Azel Sparklin was the leader. The same year a class was formed on Pleasant Plain, at Jacob Roop's, consisting of nine members, of whom Samuel Roop was the leader. The first quarterly-meeting in the county was held by Erastus Felton, assisted by a local preacher by the name
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of James Hellman, from Fort Wayne. Elkhart County was included in the St. Joseph Mission for some years. In 1832, there were societies organized at Roope's, Tib- betts's, and Frear's. Richard S. Robinson organized the first class in Goshen, and Robert P. Randell was the leader. The class consisted of about twenty members, and met in a log-house on Fifth Street. The first camp- meeting in the county was held on the farm of James Frian. Connersville and Whitewater Circuits were favored with the labors of a large number of talented and industrious local preachers. Prominent among these was James Conwell, who came from Maryland, and set- tled near where the town of Laurel now stands, of which he was the proprietor. He built a meeting-house a mile and a half above Laurel, some years before that town was laid out, called Boachim. Mr. Conwell was a man of large wealth, owning a great deal of land. He also conducted a dry-goods store, and annually drove a great many hogs to Cincinnati; for that was the only way of getting live-stock to market, there being neither rail- roads or canals in the state. Mr. Conwell was the first man ever known to keep the Sabbath while driving hogs to market; and no matter what was the condition of the weather, the roads, or the market, when Saturday night came, he stopped with his hogs, and rested until Monday. He usually went in advance of his drove, made arrange- ments for resting over the Sabbath, and generally had an appointment for preaching to the people; and he had the pleasure of knowing that he had some seals to his ministry as the result of these labors. Mr. Con- well was one of the early and zealous advocates of a system of internal improvement in Indiana. The White- water Canal owed its construction to his influence; and, although the work has proved a financial failure, Mr.
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Conwell showed, by his devotion to that and other public works, that he was a public-spirited and useful citizen. Mr. Conwell served as a member of the State Legislature, and, by his ability and public spirit, commanded the respect of his fellow-members. Mr. Conwell was a very sympathetic man. He cried a great deal while he was preaching, and usually made his hearers cry before he was done. From 1824 to several years afterward, James Conwell, John Havens, Joel Havens, Thomas Silvey, John Morrow, Charles Morrow, John Gregg, James Gregg, John Linville, James Linville, Robert Groves, and Thomas Leonard, were all within the bounds of Connersville Circuit."
Dr. A. Wood remarks :
"Every variety of gifts were exemplified in these men. They were strong in doctrine, wise in disci- pline, critical in letters, bold in reproof, and pathetic in exhortation; and at a camp-meeting their labors were very efficient. for lasting good on the entire community. John Morrow was a scholarly man, and spent most of his life as a school-teacher. Joel Havens was chiefly noted for his wonderful gift of exhortation. Few men knew how to play on the emotions and passions of an audience as did he. The two Greggs and John Lin- ville embraced some heresy, and were led away from the Church. Charles Hardy, William Patterson, and William Hunt were also talented local preachers within the bounds of the old Connersville Circuit. Patterson had traveled extensively in the South-west previous to his location. Thomas Milligan and Thomas Hewson were local preachers residing in the bounds of Bloom- ington Circuit, in 1826. They had both been traveling preachers. An old-fashioned quarterly meeting, in a new country, on one of these large four-weeks' circuits,
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with the circuit preachers, presiding elder, and this large array of local preachers, with the exhorters, class- leaders and stewards, made an occasion of interest, and often marked an epoch in the history of some neighbor- hood or village."
Dr. Aaron Wood, in a letter under date of May 10, 1871, says of Dr. Benjamin Adams, who resided for some time in the bounds of Corydon Circuit :
"I hope some one will give you an account of Dr. Ben. Adams. He was the first male child born in Louisville, and was a rude boy, the son of a widow. He had a log roll over him when a boy, that put out one of his eyes and left a scar across his forehead and nose, down to his chin. He was a shoe-maker when he was converted and began to preach. His preaching in the market-house of Louisville attracted the attention of some rich men, who furnished him money to go to Phil- adelphia and study medicine. He was the only man I ever knew that was a great doctor, a great preacher, and a great politician, at the same time. He was . con- nected with Corydon Circuit when it had one thousand members and twenty local preachers. Our acquaintance, up to that time, was mostly a conference acquaintance. On an appeal by T. Highfield, who was accused by Adams, and found guilty by the society of Corydon, John Strange was in the chair, and Wm. Daniels, Sec- retary. Appeals were very common in those days on those large circuits. Highfield had been expelled by Thomas Davis at the close of the year, who had kept no minutes of the trial. I took. the ground, in his defense, that, as there was no minute or proof of the specification before the Conference, he should be re- stored to the Church, or at least have a new trial. After a half-day in debate, Adams beat me, and the
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Conference affirmed the decision of the society. This acquaintance made us true friends ever afterward."
John Schrader was a pioneer itinerant, and, after his location, an efficient local preacher for many years. He was born in Baltimore, 1792; emigrated with his parents to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1795. He was converted and joined the Church in 1810; was licensed to exhort in 1811, and to preach in 1812. He was admitted into the Conference in 1814, and appointed to Greenville Cir- cuit, in Kentucky, which had ten appointments, and was four hundred miles around. Peter Cartwright was his presiding elder. In 1815, he was sent to Vincennes Cir- cuit, with twenty appointments, and three hundred miles around it. Jesse Walker was his presiding elder. In 1816, he was sent to St. Charles, Missouri, where there were twenty appointments, and the circuit was three hundred and fifty miles in circumference. Samuel H. Thompson was his presiding elder. In 1817, he was sent again to Vincennes Circuit, with King and Davis as colleagues. The circuit had been enlarged until it was five hundred and fifty miles around it. Jesse Walker was the presiding elder. In 1818, he was sent to Blue- river Circuit, which was supposed to lie somewhere be- tween Corydon and the mouth of the Wabash River, stretching along the Ohio, and extending north no one knew how far. After the most diligent search, he failed to find any circuit within the prescribed limits, and reported the facts to his presiding elder, who sent him for the third time to Vincennes Circuit. In 1819, he was sent to White-river Circuit, Arkansas, which had ten appointments, and was four hundred miles in cir- cumference. In 1820, he was sent to Corydon Circuit, Indiana, where he remained two years. At the end of the second year he located. He married Pamelia
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Jacquess in the Fall of 1822, shortly after his location. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Asbury at Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1816, and ordained elder by Bishop Rob- erts at Olwell's Camp-ground, below Alton, Illinois, in 1818.
The following letter from Father Schrader, in answer to one of inquiry, under date of March 10, 1871, will be read with interest by many who have known him :
"DEAR BROTHER,-Yours of February 9, 1871, is before me. Some years have passed since I sent you an account of my travels in the Church, from the time of the first Missouri Conference to the time of my set- tlement in Poseyville-in all eight years-all of which I have now forgotten. The date of my location, and the list of my appointments in the work, you can find in the Minutes of the Conference much better than I am able to give them. Next October I shall be seventy- eight years old. My mind is truly superannuated. I am worn out, and am of no use in the Church. Whether you will be able to read this scrawl or not, I can not tell. The Lord is my only hope. In Him I will trust until my end shall come, which I think will not be long. I will be glad to get one of your books, when you have completed your work.
" I remain yours,
JOHN SCHRADER."
Several facts in the early history of the Church in Indiana deserve special notice, and call for a word of ex- planation. The first societies, as a general rule, were formed in the country, and the first circuits were named after rivers or creeks. The town sites were located either with reference to commercial advantages or as expected seats of justice for counties, in many cases yet to be organized. In many of the towns the property-
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holders, and the incumbents and seekers for office, were not only irreligious, but opposed even to the forms of religion, and made no provision for Christian worship. In such cases, the villages were unpromising fields for Christian effort, while those who settled in the country were not only less exposed, but also less inclined to vice. The moral impress of the first settlers in many of the towns in Indiana remains to the present day. Connersville, Vevay, Salem, Terre Haute, and Vincennes were for many years unpromising fields of labor, be- cause the influence of wealth and of official and social position were all against Christianity. The same, to a great extent, was true in Jeffersonville and Rising Sun. In many cases, the proprietor of the town, the clerk of the court, or the landlord of the tavern, gave tone to the morals of the village. In other cases, some man of capital, or some family of culture, made an im- press that was not only abiding, but reproducing; for society, like the individual, has its formative state, its educational period, when it takes on, with more or less distinctness, the characteristics that are likely ever after- ward to adhere to it. Brookville, Corydon, Charles- town, Bloomington, and Indianapolis were fortunate in this respect. Their early and more influential citizens were, many of them, professors of religion, and those who were not professors of religion respected it, and recognized the importance of its influence upon society ; and the good resulting to these respective communities from the character and position of their early settlers, is incalculable.
But " honor to whom honor is due." The bar-room, although saturated with whisky and tobacco, was never- theless often the first place thrown open for preaching, in a Western village, and the landlord would pride him-
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self in maintaining good order during the services. The first sermons preached in New Albany and in Rising Sun were preached in bar-rooms. A preacher on one of our Western circuits had, in his monthly rounds, to pass a village in which there was a tavern, a blacksmith-shop, a store, and a few other buildings. As he had to pass the tavern about the middle of the day, he concluded to leave an appointment and preach them a sermon, while his horse was eating. He accordingly left word that, at his next round, he would preach at 12 M., in the bar- room. The landlord circulated the appointment far and wide. When the preacher came in sight, quite a com- pany of men had gathered, and were busy pitching quoits until the preacher should arrive. The preacher dismounted, gave his horse in charge of the hostler, walked into the bar-room, followed by the crowd of men, and began services immediately. After singing and prayer, he took his text: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be- added unto you." He endeavored, in plain words, to show them the absurdity and folly of serving the devil. "Now," said he, "if you want to be happy, the devil. can't make you happy. He is the most wretched being in all the universe; and, as misery loves company, he will drag you down to his own fiery abode. If you are seeking for honor, the devil has none to bestow : he is the most dishonorable being that lives. And if you are seeking for wealth, the devil has none of it; if you were to sweep hell from one end to the other, you would not get a sixpence." A large, honest, but coarse-looking fellow, sitting right before the preacher, with eyes and mouth wide open, exclaimed, unconsciously, "God! money is as scarce thar as it is here!" Seed thus sown by the wayside sometimes produces permanent fruit. A.
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sermon preached under somewhat similar circumstances, by James Conwell, of Laurel, led to the conversion of a tavern-keeper, who disposed of his liquors, and opened his bar-room for preaching, and it remained the perma- nent place of worship until the erection of the village church.
Rev. A. Wood, D. D., whose opportunities for obser- vation have been unequaled, gives the following sketch of the characteristics of the early settlers in Indiana:
"The most liberal and hospitable were those who came from Virginia and Maryland; the most economical and tidy came from New Jersey; the most enterprising and commercial came from Pennsylvania and New York, with here and there a stray Yankee; the least enterpris- ing and uneducated came from South Carolina and East Tennessee. Kentucky sent two characters: the one a lazy hunter, who had neither enterprise nor education ; the other, industrious farmers, who moved away from slavery, or sought county offices. These last were edu- cated, and very hospitable.
"During territorial times, Virginians and Marylanders had nearly all the offices. The contest at the first' state elections, while the seat of Government was at Corydon, was between the Virginians and Pennsylvanians. After it went to Indianapolis, it was between the Kentuckians and the Indianians of the older counties-Franklin, Dearborn, Harrison, and Knox having, by that time, produced their own aspirants.
" And it is remarkable that, down to 1825, Ohio sent very few emigrants who stopped in Indiana. There were interspersed, in all the towns, a few educated men from England, Ireland, Germany, and the older states ; and the peculiar, personal, magnetic power wielded by individuals, is felt to this day; and the present charac-
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teristics of the county towns may be traced back, good or bad, to the influence of a few men. The Methodists, as an organized power, did not have an even start with other denominations, among the first settlers. The Pres- byterians, Baptists, and Quakers all had their neighbor- hoods, houses, preachers, and schools in advance of us. True, they have had more offshoots, or divisions; for, be it known, all who are now here in the state went from them, not from us. The New-lights were from the old Kentucky Synod; the Disciples from the old Baptists; the Cumberlands, from the Presbyterians; the United Brethren in Christ began by a union of Presbyterians and Baptists : they never were Methodists. Otterbein was a Presbyterian, and Bohm was a Menonite. These offshoots from the old Churches, in differing from the parent stock, took shape and color from the Methodists, doing all they could to absorb from our soil. It is mat- ter of rejoicing that there never was an offshoot from us but our colored brethren, and they are none the less Methodists by their present organization."
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CHAPTER VI.
General Narrative-Rev. Edwin Ray-His Life and Labors-Benjamin C. Stevenson - Indiana Conference in 1833-Sketch of John Strange-Anthony F. Thompson-Indiana Conference in 1834- George Locke-Reminiscences of his Labors-Sketch of James Armstrong - Nehemiah B. Griffith- James Armstrong appointed Missionary-His Personal Appearance and Manner of Preaching- First Societies formed in the State-Elkhart Circuit formed-Indiana Conference in 1835-Origin of the "Preachers' Aid Society "-Ed- ward R. Ames, Agent-Indiana Conference in 1836-"Indiana As- bury University " located at Greencastle-John C. Smith, Agent- Camp-meeting on Rushville Circuit in 1837-Memorable Storm- Anecdote of Ames and Smith-Indiana Conference in 1837-Scene on a Steamboat-George Randle-John Decker-William Evans- Eli P. Farmer and Others-Asa Beck-James Scott-Thomas S. Hill and Isaac N. Ellsbury-Robert Burns, Joseph Oglesby, and Others-Anecdote of J. V. Watson-William H. Goode appointed President of New Albany Seminary-Is succeeded by George Har- rison-Founders of the Institution-Indiana Conference in 1838- Traveling to Conference in Early Times-Incident-Indiana Confer- ence in 1839-Indiana German Mission established-First Mission- aries-Contributions to Missions in 1835 and 1840.
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