USA > Indiana > Indiana miscellany : consisting of sketches of Indian life, the early settlement, customs, and hardships of the people, and the introduction of the gospel and of schools ; together with biographical notices of the pioneer Methodist preachers of the state > Part 14
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dress to the people of Noblesville, to which is pre- fixed a correct copy of the letter published by F. W. Emmons." In this pamphlet Mr. Berry displayed much forensic skill, and showed himself to be a controversialist of no ordinary grade. The influence of this publication was to silence, to a great extent, the assaults hitherto made upon the Methodist Episcopal Church in that place. During the two years Mr. Berry labored on Noblesville circuit he greatly endeared himself to the people, and when he left them they felt that they were losing the services of a minister of superior mind, talents, and maturity for one of his age.
In the Fall of 1840 he was appointed to Knights- town circuit. Here he labored with much success. The people in crowds waited on his ministry.
In Knightstown Universalism had made a lodg- ment, and many of the people were being carried away by it. Mr. Berry considered it to be his duty to take off the specious garb with which that system had clothed itself, and exhibit it in its true character. This he proceeded to do in a few sermons of great clearness and power. These discourses pro- duced great excitement among the Universalists. The result was, a preacher of that persuasion, by the name of M'Cuen, challenged Mr. Berry to a public discussion of the question, "Will all men be holy and happy in a future state ?" M'Cuen to affirm, and Berry to deny. The challenge was accepted, the time for the debate to come off fixed upon, and
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the rules by which they were to be governed in the discussion arranged. The excitement now ran high. The Universalists were sure of a great victory. Their champion, M'Cuen, was an old theological pugilist, having held thirty-four debates with minis- ters of different denominations, while Berry was a young man and had never held a public debate, but had spent the most of his time since eighteen years of age in traveling large circuits as a Methodist itinerant preacher, and had not had the advantage of even attending a public debate. The contest ap- peared an unequal one, and some of Mr. Berry's friends feared to have him meet that ecclesiastical gladiator. When the time for the commencement of the debate arrived, the crowd in attendance was so great that no church in town would hold them. The discussion was held in a grove. Several Uni- versalist preachers were present to assist their champion as armor-bearers. The debate continued three days. By the close of the first day all fear upon the part of Mr. Berry's friends was dissipated, and they were proud that they had such a youthful defender of the truth. His closing speech, in which he summed up the arguments that had been ad- vanced, was most overwhelming, bearing every thing before it. His soul seemed to catch inspiration from on high; his lips and tongue were touched anew with a live coal from off God's altar, and his words burned as they fell upon the audience. M'Cuen and his friends turned pale. At the close of the
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debate, Mr. Berry and his friends proposed to pub- lish the speeches made in the discussion, a stenog- rapher having been employed to take them down, but Mr. M'Cuen and his friends would not consent.
The next year Mr. Berry was appointed to Rush- ville circuit. Here he labored faithfully to the close of the year, making many warm friends, losing none of his reputation as a zealous, faithful minister, of superior talents.
In the Fall of 1842 he was stationed at Wesley Chapel, Indianapolis, where he remained two years. At this time Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, now of Brooklyn, N. Y., who was rapidly rising to his zenith as a pulpit orator, was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. His church and Mr. Berry's stood within a stone's cast of each other. Though the latter had to stand up in the pulpit by the side of this young Demosthenes, he gathered a large congregation of admiring hearers, who waited upon his ministry from Sabbath to Sabbath.
At the close of his second year in the capital he was appointed presiding elder of Indianapolis dis- trict, which he traveled two years, and was then appointed presiding elder of Brookville district, which he traveled three years.
In the Summer of 1849 the Joint Board of Trus- tees and Visitors of Indiana Asbury University elected him President of that institution, to succeed Dr. Simpson. He continued to travel his district till the close of the Conference year, and then assumed
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the responsibilities of the Presidency. While he held this high position the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the Ohio Wes- leyan University. In discharging the duties of President of Asbury, he brought all the powers of his great mind into requisition, devoting all his en- ergies day and night to the interests of the institu- tion, and to the advancement of the young men committed to his care. He drew them to him by the strongest chords of esteem and affection. As an evidence of this, we give the following extract from a letter written since his death, by one who had been a student under him, which now lies be- fore us :
"While the whole connection will join me in lamentation that one so able to defend has fallen from the walls of Zion, and has resigned his silver trumpet to another, we know not whom, none but those who have enjoyed the advantages of his coun- sel and faithful instructions during college life, felt the power of his genius and the fervor of his zeal, will fully appreciate my bereavement. His mind, his countenance, and all his bearing, stand before me an image of inimitable greatness. We shall no more hear his fervid eloquence, that came as the dashing of Niagara's waves, nor feel the joy that his image imparted when it spoke its approval of a virtuous act."
Dr. Berry was President of Indiana Asbury University five years, when he resigned his position
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in that institution and was stationed in Centenary Church, New Albany. Though eleven years had elapsed since he had been engaged directly in the pastoral work, he had lost none of his zeal, nor had he forgotten how to do that particular species of Christian labor, such as conducting prayer meetings, meeting the classes, visiting families, etc.
During this year he was elected President of Iowa Wesleyan University, and in July, 1855, entered upon his duties as the head of that institution. Here he labored four years with success, the insti- tution constantly rising under his superintendency, the faculty and students feeling that a master-mind was among them.
The leading Methodists of the State of Missouri, together with the citizens of Jefferson City, determ- ined on founding a university of the first class at that city, and several large donations were made as a basis upon which to start the enterprise.
In looking over the whole Church for the man best qualified to take charge of this grand enter- prise and carry it through to completion, Dr. Berry was selected, and was, by the Board of Trustees, elected President and Financial Agent. After ma- ture consideration and a great mental struggle, by the advice of some of the most prominent men of the Church, he concluded, for the sake of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church and the cause of education, to accept the position. The faculty and students of the Iowa Wesleyan University were loth to give
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him up. From a letter which now lies before me, written by one of their number since the death of Dr. Berry, we quote the following: "It was with great reluctance, with fear and trembling, that we gave him up to enter upon his last field of labor, from which death so recently called him. He went, but not without our sympathies and prayers. But little did we think his warfare was so nearly ended ; his victory so surely won." In 1857 he took his position at the head of the Missouri enterprise, and entered upon the arduous duties devolved upon him. He was not permitted to prosecute the work to completion. An inscrutable Providence ordered otherwise. He had prosecuted this work but a brief space when he was prostrated by affliction. In November, 1857, he was attacked with asthma and erysipelas combined, which produced paralysis of the tongue, throat, cheeks, and lips, depriving him almost wholly of speech and the power to swal- low medicine or nourishment. In this condition, enduring great suffering, he lingered about nine months, and died at the house of John G. Ruckle, Esq., in the city of Cincinnati, whither he had gone to obtain medical assistance, on the morning of the twenty-third of July, 1858. Being deprived so nearly of the power of speech, he could not con- verse much, but he wrote many letters to his dis- tant friends. This he continued to do almost daily up to the period of his death. In these letters he expresses his unshaken confidence in God, though
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passing through the furnace of affliction. In a let- ter written to a friend a few days before his death, he says, "My soul has been staid upon the Lord, and from day to day I rejoice in his goodness. This letter costs me much pain. I write with diffi- culty, and it is all about myself-a very unworthy object. But Jesus is worthy."
When the taper of life burned out, his soul quietly passed away to join the redeemed at God's right hand. His remains were conveyed to Indian- apolis, where a funeral discourse was delivered to a large and weeping audience by Rev. James Havens, after which they were interred in the old cemetery near the city. Dr. Berry was one of the closest students-going to the bottom of every subject he undertook to investigate. He was an intellectual giant. He never allowed himself to go into the pulpit without having thoroughly studied the sub- ject he expected to present to the people. He wrote sketches of all his sermons, but seldom took one into the pulpit. At his quarterly meetings, when he was presiding elder, after having gone through with the labors of Saturday and Saturday night, when all others had retired to rest, he would take the manuscript containing a sketch of the sermon he designed preaching the next day, place it upon the mantle before him, then walk the room and study, with much prayer, for hours. The next day, when he appeared before the congregation, his sermon seldom failed to tell upon the people.
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Rev. Allen Wiley once remarked, "Such mental efforts as Berry makes in preaching are enough to prostrate the physical system of any man." It is possible that his wonderful mental efforts did induce his early death. If so, he fell a sacrifice to his Master's cause.
He was a wise administrator of Discipline, whether in charge of circuits, stations, or districts. He was no time severe, but fearlessly announced his senti- ments where and whenever it was necessary for him to do so. To a stranger, there seemed to be some- thing in his appearance which said, "Don't come too close;" but he had a kind heart, warm friendship, and strong attachments to his friends.
As a preacher he had few equals, and no supe- rior in this country. All his sermons evinced much thought, and were often overwhelming in their ef- fects. Sometimes the people sat awe-stricken as if incapable of moving. At other times, they were so thrilled with joy that the loud alleluias would roll up simultaneously from many voices, drowning the voice of the speaker. At a camp meeting held near Cumberland, in Marion county, in the Fall of 1842, he preached on Sunday morning to an audi- ence of several thousand, from, "Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee." As he advanced in his ser- mon, the tide of feeling in the vast audience rose higher and higher, till he reached his last proposi- tion. While describing the good that should result
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from an acquaintance with God, some one gave ex- pression to the thrill of joy that filled the soul. In- stantly, hundreds arose to their feet, clapped their hands, and shouted aloud the praises of the Re- deemer, so completely drowning the voice of the preacher that he took his seat. There was no more preaching at the camp meeting that day. The re- maining hours and a large portion of the night were spent in singing, praying, and praising the Lord. Thirty-eight united with the Church as the result of that day's labor.
As an educator Dr. Berry had few superiors. Such were his pulpit talents, and such his ability as an administrator of Discipline, that many of his friends thought it was a mistake in him to leave the regular work and confine himself to the labors of a literary institution. The opportunities for doing good in such an institution are numerous and great, but the itinerancy is the great field for usefulness.
He enjoyed the confidence of his brethren in the ministry to a high degree. He was three times elected delegate to the General Conference, twice from the Indiana, and once from the Iowa Confer- ence. He was looked to by many ministers and private members as a promising man for the Epis- copacy, and would doubtless, had he lived a few years longer, been called to that high position in the Church.
He was highly esteemed by his numerous friends, and their sorrow was deep when his voice was
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hushed in death. The following is taken from a letter published in one of our Church papers, giv- ing an account of the closing scene in the first session of the Iowa Conference held after the death of Dr. Berry :
"The occasion was unusually solemn, and mourn- fully melancholy. One of the brightest stars in the constellation of Christianity; one of the purest lights in the firmament of Methodism has reached to an- other orbit. The sun of our dearly-beloved brother, Rev. L. W. Berry, D. D., went gently down to rise with greater beauty and upon a clearer sky in a better world. His death was known to us all. Our stricken hearts were yet bleeding from the wounds inflicted by the hand of the ruthless, un- yielding monster. Mt. Pleasant, his former home, was draped in mourning, and the bereaved Church and his own orphan children were called as mourn- ers to the altar of his own place of worship to la- ment his departure.
"The announcement of his death was formally made by Rev. Joseph Brooks, A. M., of the Central Christian Advocate, who briefly addressed the Con- ference in nearly the following words: 'I have to announce the death of my dearest earthly friend, one bound to me by every tie of Christian love and fraternal affection. He died a martyr to a great cause. He had the frame and muscular power of a giant, yet he spared them not in the work of the Lord. His clarion voice was like a trumpet in the
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proclamation of the unsearchable riches of the Gos- pel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. With . his mind well stored he had not a treasure or a jewel which was not fully emptied into the treasury of the Lord; but above all was his great heart given to the work of the Lord. He lived in the midst of wealth, yet he chose to die poor, unincum- bered with the cares of the world. He could have joined any profession, would have been an ornament to any society, and was well-qualified for any posi- tion in Church or State. But he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. In the mysteries of holiness he had been a lifetime-student, but in the closing days of his life he was a model of Christian experience, of Christian purity. His like I shall scarcely look upon again. He was my friend and I loved him. He has passed away and I shall meet him in heaven.'
" Brother Brooks was followed by Rev. C. El- liott, D. D. The Doctor spoke warmly of their first acquaintance, of the powers of mind, the kind- ness of heart, and great usefulness of Dr. Berry during life, and of his triumph in death. It was affecting to see this venerable servant of God moved to tears, and with the simplicity of a child referring thus to his departed friend.
" Rev. J. W. M'Dowel next spoke of taking Dr. Berry when a boy of seventeen into the ministry, how he labored, how he lived. Brother M'Dowel was so moved he sat down bathed in tears.
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" Brother Hardy called back the recollections of his own conversion through the ministry of Dr. Berry.
" Brother Bradley spoke of the kind encourage- ment given him in the youth of his ministry by Dr. Berry.
" Bishop Morris arose and with great solemnity remarked, 'In the year 1842, when I was holding the Indiana Conference, which then embraced the whole of the State of Indiana, I asked the presid- ing elders, before any appointment was made, to tell me, leaving all personal considerations out of the question, who was the best and most active availa- ble station preacher in the Indiana Conference. They responded without a dissenting voice, Lucien W. Berry. I then put him down for the charge in Indianapolis, the most difficult charge in the Con- ference. A great man and a prince has fallen. Dr. Berry was a great man. Of course I would not say this if he were present. He was of the first class of pulpit men in America. He has gone, and I trust we shall all meet him up yonder,' (pointing to the heavens.)
"And thus closed these solemn services."
Dr. Berry did not profess to be perfect, nor do his friends claim perfection for him, but all who knew him considered him a "burning and a shining light," a man of deep piety, one who had laid his all on God's altar, a star of the first magnitude. Most of his ministerial life was spent in Indiana, and Indi-
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ana is honored with his grave. It was a myste- rious providence that one of so much promise should be cut down in the prime of life, that so brilliant a luminary should set just as it was reach- ing its meridian. "But God's ways are not our ways."
In this brief sketch of Dr. Berry we have not pretended to write his biography, only to pay a small tribute of respect to the memory of a dear, intimate, and long-tried friend. We have more than one hundred letters written by him in a private correspondence of nearly twenty years' con- tinuance. We might have selected many passages from these letters which would have been interest- ing, showing the state of his mind at different times, his views upon different subjects, and the warm friendship of his heart; but to have done so would have extended this sketch beyond the proper limits of such a notice. Dr. Berry will never be forgotten by those who knew him well.
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
REV. JAMES HAVENS.
IN attempting to write a sketch of Rev. James Havens, we feel our inadequacy to present such a portrait of him as his long life, abundant labors, extensive usefulness, and great worth demand; and yet, we can not consent to leave him unnoticed. A long and intimate acquaintance seem to demand that we should pay some humble tribute of respect to his memory. We knew him when we were in our juvenile years; our father's house was his home ; he and our father were fast friends, united in heart like David and Jonathan, and they are, doubtless, now together before the throne. We delighted to do him reverence; to take care of his horse, and in every possible way to administer to his comfort. He was for four years consecutively our presiding elder. We have followed him as he led the way on many a moral battle-field, and have witnessed many a glorious victory achieved by him, through Jesus Christ, as the leader of God's sacramental hosts. We are sorry we have so little data to write from. The lamented Dr. L. W. Berry, some years since, commenced writing the biography of father Havens. Many interesting incidents in his early life Dr.
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Berry had noted down, as he received them from his lips. Other pressing duties prevented him from completing the work, and since his death the manu- script can not be found. This is much to be regret- ted. There were some things in the life of father Havens, contained in that manuscript, that had never been given to the world, which are now, perhaps, forever lost, biographer and subject both having passed away from the busy scenes of this life. We have heard Dr. Berry read portions of his manuscript, but can not undertake to reproduce from memory.
James Havens was born in Mason county, Ken- tucky, December 25, 1791. He was the son of John and Nancy Havens. His parents were not educated persons, but possessed vigorous minds. His father had a strong, elastic, physical constitu- tion, and lived to an advanced age. His mother died when he was young, and his father married again. He cherished the fondest recollections of his mother, though she was taken from him when he was a small boy.
In 1805 his father emigrated to Ohio, he being in the fourteenth year of his age. All his early life was spent in a new country, in the backwoods. This subjected him to many disadvantages, but there were some advantages; these were turned to good account. He was deprived of the advantages of schools and the means of mental culture, but his having been brought up under the toils and hard-
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ships of a life upon the frontier, developed his phys- ical powers, made him bold and fearless in what he undertook to do, and taught him self-reliance. This assisted to prepare him for the work that was before him.
In 1811 he was united in marriage to Miss Anna Higgenbotham. Their union proved to be a most happy one. They lived together in uninterrupted connubial bliss for many years, she acting well her part in all the vicissitudes of life. They reared up a large family of children in respectability. Three of their sons, Landy, George, and David, became itinerant Methodist preachers.
In 1811, soon after he was married, he was con- verted and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church under the ministry of Rev. James B. Finley. It has been stated that he was the first person Mr. Finley received into the Church after he entered the itinerancy. From the time of his conversion and union with the Church, he turned his attention entirely to the subject of religion and the salvation of souls, except what was absolutely necessary to meet the wants of his family. It was not long till he felt that a dispensation of the Gospel was com- mitted unto him-that "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel!" His want of an education and an abiding sense of his own weakness-of his lack of qualification for the work of the ministry-a calling so high and holy, made him tremble and caused him great distress of mind. He was often made to ex-
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claim, "Lord, I can not preach! I am willing to do any thing I can do. How can I preach ?" But wherever he went, by day and by night, "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel !" was sounding in his ears. He has often been heard to say in the latter years of his life, that he did not believe any man ought to be allowed to preach who did not feel that everlasting woe would be his portion if he did not- that it was trifling with sacred things-a crime for any man to enter the work of the ministry merely as a profession. The idea of any man's choosing it for himself was in his estimation most erroneous. He believed God chose that work for certain men, and called them to it by impressing the fact so deeply upon their minds as to make them feel, " Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel !" After some months of groaning and sighing, he yielded, and was in the same year in which he was married and united with the Church, licensed to preach. He was a local preacher ten years, preaching as of- ten as he could, having to labor for the support of his family.
In 1821 he was admitted on trial in the Ohio Conference, and appointed to Salt Creek circuit. In 1822 he was appointed to Straight Creek circuit. In 1823 he was received into full connection and ordained elder, having been ordained deacon as a local preacher. This year he was appointed to Brush Creek circuit, with Rev. Henry B. Bascom preacher in charge. This was to him an important
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year in his ministerial and itinerant life. Here he formed an intimate acquaintance with and a friend- ship for Mr. Bascom that was never broken off. By an intimate and close association with him he dis- covered that he had been misjudged by many per- sons who thought him to be proud and aristocratic in his feelings. He found him to be a most humble and deeply-pious minister. His association with Mr. Bascom this year was of great advantage to him in his ministry.
In 1824 he was transferred to the Illinois Confer- ence, and appointed to Connersville circuit. This was his introduction into the State of Indiana. He located his family on some wild land he had pur- chased in Rush county, not far from Rushville. In this vicinity his family ever afterward resided, while he traveled circuits and districts near and remote. Some were wont to censure him for keeping his family local, while he was a traveling preacher. Had he moved his family from year to year, he would have broken down and been compelled to lo- cate. His family was large. He and his good wife were blessed with fifteen children. To have dragged these from circuit to circuit every year would have consumed a handsome fortune, when his quarterage receipts ranged from thirty to one hundred dollars per year. By locating his family on his own land where they could find employment, and where he could occupy what little time he had to spend with them in improving and cultivating his farm, and by
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