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 3
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INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL.
CHAPTER V.
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL AMONG THE FIRST SETTLERS.
MANY of those who first settled the Territory of Indiana were members of Churches before they em- igrated. Some were Methodists, some Baptists, some Presbyterians, some Quakers. Much the largest portion were Methodists and Baptists. Coming from the older portions of the country, where they enjoyed church privileges-where they often heard the Gospel preached-they keenly felt the loss now that they were inhabitants of the wilderness. Though no sound of the church-going bell was heard on the holy Sabbath to call them to devotion, and though there were no ministers of the Lord Jesus to unfold to them the promises of God or tell the sweet story of the Cross or of the joys of heaven, and administer to them the holy sacraments, yet they did not lay aside their Chris- tian professions. They set up the family altar in their newly-erected cabins, on which they regularly offered their morning and evening sacrifices.
When one of them visited a neighbor to spend a social evening, among other topics of conversation, religion, and the many happy hours they had
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enjoyed in the sanctuary in other days and years, formed a prominent part, and they always closed the evening's sociability with prayer. When the Sabbath returned, they gathered together and held a prayer meeting, or some one read a sermon from some volume he had brought with him from beyond the mountains.
These pioneer Christians felt that, as sin was always offensive to God, grievous to the Holy Spirit, and had caused the Savior to bleed and die, so also it should be grievous to them. They never allowed any one to sin in their presence without reproof. This was so well known among those who were disposed to be irreligious that they seldom allowed themselves to sin in the presence of these Christians in the wilderness.
These pious men and women, though without a shepherd to be their spiritual guide, were, indeed, " the salt of the earth." They looked with anxious eyes and longing hearts for the coming of the . heralds of the Cross. They constantly prayed that the Great Head of the Church would send his mes- sengers among them. When they did make their appearance, they were hailed with delight, and welcomed as ministering angels, sent of God to comfort and strengthen them in the faith of the Gospel. When, in their wilderness habitations, they first heard the "joyful sound," it was, to them, " good news from a far country." On it their souls fed and feasted. The heaven-originated Methodist
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INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL.
itinerant system brought the first shepherds to these sheep in the wilderness.
Though the Methodist itinerant system has been violently opposed and ridiculed, it was that which first brought the Gospel into Indiana. Though the itinerant Methodist preachers have been stigmatized as "itinerant circuit-riders," THEY were the men who first threaded the Indian-traces and the newly- blazed ways in search of the lost sheep of the House of Israel. They were the men who swam rivers, slept in the woods alone at night, among wild beasts and savage men, in order to carry the glad tidings of salvation to the first settlers.
Indiana is more indebted to itinerant Methodist preachers for the high position she now occupies in science, literature, and Christianity, than to any other class of men. Though these ministers of the Lord Jesus were not cultured men, as that term is ordinarily understood, they were, nevertheless, educated in an exalted sense. Their education was such as to qualify them for their peculiar and im- portant work. They were inured to hardship; they knew how to sympathize with those to whom they ministered; they could readily accommodate themselves to the circumstances by which they were surrounded, and could always make themselves agreeable in the loneliest cabin. They all had a fair, some of them a good, English training. Some of them, while traveling their large circuits, pur- sued their studies till they became good Latin, Greek,
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and Hebrew scholars. They were well read in the Holy Scriptures, and when they preached they used them. It would have been an anomaly to have heard one of these men preach a sermon and never make a quotation from the Scriptures, except when he read his text.
These men were fearless in the discharge of duty, counting not their lives dear if they might win souls to Christ. No privation, no hardship, no danger deterred them. They were bold in their attacks upon Satan's kingdom, which, by the power of the Holy Spirit that attended their preaching, was often made to rock from center to circum- ference. No sin, great or small, in high or low places, was allowed to go unscathed. Fear of offending, even the most influential, formed no part of their programme. Their eyes were singly fixed upon the glory of God in the salvation of souls.
It frequently occurred, when these self-sacrificing men of God were making their bold charges upon the ranks of Satan, in the name of the Great Cap- tain of their salvation, that those who were marshaled under hell's dark banner would call for quarter, and, falling upon their knees, commence pleading for mercy. On one occasion, at a camp meeting, while one of these ministers, who was a real "son of thunder," was pouring out the terrors of the law, describing the torments of the damned in such awful horror that it seemed their dreadful groans could almost be heard, and while the
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INTRODUCTION OF THE GOSPEL.
thunders from Sinai's smoking top rolled long and loud, an old Revolutionary soldier who was stand- ing in the rear of the congregation, came rushing toward the preachers' stand, crying at the top of his voice: "Quarter ! quarter! quarter!" and fall- ing upon his knees, said: "I am an old soldier; I have fought through the Revolutionary War; I have heard the cannon's loud roar, and have seen blood and brains flying in every direction around me; but since God made me, I never heard such cannonading as this. I yield ! I yield !"
Some of these ministers, who first planted the Gospel standard, were truly eloquent, and would hold the listening crowds that attended their preaching spell-bound, swaying them like forest trees before the mighty blast.
While those holy men led the van, they were supported by as noble, brave, and true a band of Christian men and women as ever fought under the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel. " They shunned no cross; despised no shame." Some of them were mighty in prayer and exhortation.
The women of those days were gifted in prayer, and often prayed in the public congregation. We have heard them, while they took hold of the horns of God's altar by faith, and pleaded with an earnest- ness and power that seemed to bring heaven and earth together. These ministers and members are nearly all gone. They have crossed the river, grounded their arms at Jesus' feet, and have been
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crowned "heirs of eternal life." But they are worthy "to be had in everlasting remembrance." When they fell in the ranks of God's sacramental host, ending their warfare with the shout of triumph, there were no religious periodicals in which to pub- lish to the Church and the world an account of their holy lives and triumphant deaths. We shall give a more extended notice of some of them here- after.
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INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
CHAPTER VI.
INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
IT has generally been thought that Methodism was introduced into Indiana in what is known as Clark's Grant, which included a great portion of what is now Clark and Floyd counties. In later years it has been stated that a class of Methodists was formed in Clark's Grant as early as 1802; but upon what evidence or authority we do not know. We do know that Rev. Hugh Cull, a local preacher, settled in the Whitewater country as early as 1805, having visited the country the year previous.
The first circuit in Indiana was called White- water, and belonged to the Ohio district, in the old Western Conference. It embraced all the country from the Ohio River along the eastern line of the Territory as far north as there were any white settlements, which was in the region where Richmond now stands, and west to the land be- longing to the Indians. This circuit was probably formed in 1807. It appears upon the Minutes of the Western Conference in the year 1808, with Joseph Williams as preacher in charge, and John Sale presiding elder of the district.
The settlements visited by Mr. Williams were
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remote from each other. The traveling was labori- ous and hazardous. The roads along which he had to pass were Indian traces and newly-blazed ways. The streams were unbridged; the country was full of ravenous beasts and of the much-dreaded Indians. The emigrants to whom he ministered could afford him but few accommodations. He labored faith- fully hunting up the Methodists who had pitched their tents in the wilderness, and at the end of the year returned one hundred and sixty-five white members and one colored.
According to the most reliable data, these were all the Methodists who had, to this date, been or- ganized and numbered in Indiana. In 1808 Indi- ana contained but one circuit, with 166 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Now, 1866, there are four Annual Conferences, with a membership of about 100,000 in the State. How great the change in fifty-eight years! Mr. Williams has the honor of being the first itinerant Methodist preacher ap- pointed to a circuit in Indiana. We would, if we had the particulars of his life and death, give them to the public to perpetuate his memory. In 1809 he was sent to Scioto circuit, in the State of Ohio, and in 1810 he located.
In 1809 Indiana district was formed, and Samuel Parker was appointed presiding elder. It was composed of the following circuits: Illinois, Mis- souri, Maramack, Coldwater, Whitewater, and Silver Creek. Though but two circuits of this district were
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INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
in Indiana, we give its entire bounds, that the young men who are now traveling circuits and districts in the State may see the extent of the fields of labor our fathers had to cultivate. This district covered all the Territories of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. It required surely a man of strong nerves and stout heart to travel such a district at such a time. In traveling this district Mr. Parker had to go from the eastern boundary of Indiana across Illinois, and . then across the Mississippi River into Missouri. In some places many miles of unbroken wilderness intervened between the settlements he had to visit. This year Silver Creek circuit was formed, and embraced all the settlements in the southern portion of the Territory, and up the Ohio River to White- water circuit. Hector Sanford and Moses Crume were appointed to Whitewater, and Josiah Crawford to Silver Creek. The most northern appointment on the Whitewater circuit was the cabin of George Smith, which was about two miles from where the city of Richmond is now situated.
At the close of this year the preachers returned 352 members for Whitewater circuit, and 188 for Silver Creek, making an increase of 374. In 1810 Whitewater was placed in the Miami district, with John Sale presiding elder, and Thomas Nelson and Samuel H. Thompson circuit preachers. This dis- trict was composed of the following circuits : Cin- cinnati, Mad River, Scioto, Deer Creek, Hockhock- ing, White Oak, and Whitewater.
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INDIANA MISCELLANY.
Silver Creek was in the Green River district, Wil- liam Burke presiding elder, and Sela Pain circuit preacher. This district was composed of the fol- lowing circuits : Green River, Barren, Wayne, Cumberland, Danville, Salt River, Shelby, and Silver Creek. Indiana district was composed of Illinois, Missouri, Maramack, Coldwater, Cape Girardeau, and Vincennes circuits. Samuel Par- ker was returned to the district, and William Wi- nans was appointed to Vincennes. Nelson and Thompson, who traveled the Whitewater circuit this year, both rose to considerable distinction, particularly Mr. Thompson. The next year Nelson was sent to Rapids circuit, in Mississippi. Mr. Thompson was sent to Nollichuckie, in the State of Tennessee. Neither of these men ever returned to Indiana to labor.
Sela Pain, who traveled the Silver Creek circuit this year, was sent the next to Natchez circuit, Mississippi.
Vincennes circuit appears on the Minutes of the Conference this year for the first time, making three fields of labor in Indiana. What the dimen- sions of this circuit were, at its formation, we have no means of knowing. Vincennes was an old French post, under the influence of the Roman Catholics; a hard place in which to plant Meth- odism. Mr. Winans, who had been sent to Vin- cennes this year, had been admitted on trial in the Western Conference the year before. He was a
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INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
young man of promising talents, and made a good impression on those who heard him preach. It was difficult for him to get the people of Vincennes to come to preaching, so wicked and so much were they under the influence of the Romish priests.
The following incident is said to have occurred this year: General William H. Harrison was Gov- ernor of the Territory of Indiana, and resided at Vincennes. Young Mr. Winans had an appointment to preach one night, in a small room in town. Gen- eral Harrison and one other person composed the congregation assembled to hear the young preacher. There was but one candle to give light, and nothing to place that upon. The General held the candle for the young preacher to see to read his hymn and text. Mr. Winans preached faithfully to those two hearers. After this he had no trouble in getting a congregation to preach to.
From Vincennes Mr. Winans was sent to Atta- kapas circuit, in the Mississippi district, Louisiana. This was the only year he labored in Indiana. He rose to considerable distinction; received the de- gree of D. D., and was several times elected to Gen- eral Conference. He was a member of the General Conference of 1844, which met in the city of New York, and took an active part in the great discus- sion on the subject of slavery. He was one of the prominent leaders in the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He died a few years since. Some of his family still reside in the South,
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INDIANA MISCELLANY.
and were violently opposed to the United States Government during the late rebellion.
At the close of this year the preachers returned 484 members from Whitewater circuit, 235 from Silver Creek, and 43 from Vincennes, making a total of 765, an increase of 418, showing that Methodism began to take a deep hold upon the pioneers in Indiana.
In 1811 Whitewater circuit was continued in connection with the Miami district, Solomon Lang- don presiding elder, and Moses Crume in charge of the circuit. The people hailed Mr. Crume's return to them with great delight. He had traveled the circuit as junior preacher two years before. He made his impress upon the people so deeply this year that he was ever afterward a great favorite among them.
Isaac Lindsey was sent to Silver Creek circuit this year. It remained in connection with the Green River district, with William Burke as pre- siding elder.
Vincennes appears on the Minutes this year as "St. Vincennes," in connection with the Cumber- land district, Learner Blackman presiding elder, and Thomas Stilwell circuit preacher. Mr. Black- man was a man eminent for his talents, piety, and usefulness. During the course of his life he trav- eled over a very extensive territory of country, ranging from Pittsburg to New Orleans, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. This year
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INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
the preachers reported 368 members from White- water circuit, 397 from Silver Creek, and 325 from Vincennes, making a total of 1,160, or an increase of 395.
In 1812 two additional circuits were formed in Indiana-Lawrenceburg and Patoka. Whitewater and Lawrenceburg were connected with the Miami district, Solomon Langdon presiding elder. Silver Creek was connected with Salt River district, James Ware presiding elder, while Vincennes and Patoka were connected with Wabash district, James Axley presiding elder. Walter Griffith was sent to Lawrenceburg, Robert W. Finley to White- water, William M'Mehan to Silver Creek, James Turner to Vincennes, and Benjamin Edge to Patoka. These men were all faithful and useful. Some of them were men of note. Rev. Jacob Young, in his " Autobiography," and Bishop Morris, in his Mis- cellany, speak in high terms of James Axley, the presiding elder this year of Wabash district. He was a man of a peculiar order of talents, and very noted for his eccentricities. Many amusing and interesting anecdotes are related of him. Bishop Morris somewhere relates the following as his in- troduction to Mr. Axley, while the Bishop was attending the Holston Conference, soon after he had been elected and ordained to the Episcopal office. As he was walking along the street in the town where the Conference was in session, he suddenly felt himself in the grasp of some one who had come
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up from behind him. The stranger holding him fast said, "This is Bishop Morris, I suppose ?" The Bishop answered, "It is what is left of him." "Well," said the stranger, as he eyed him from head to feet, "I think the General Conference was scarce of Bishop timber when they made a Bishop out of you."
Walter Griffith, who traveled the Lawrenceburg circuit this year, was afterward made presiding elder, and filled that important office with great acceptability and usefulness. Robert W. Finley had been a Presbyterian minister for several years, and was the father of Rev. James B. Finley, who rose to such distinction in Ohio. At the close of this year there were returned from the five circuits in Indiana a total membership of 1,121, which seems to present a decrease in the number of Church members; but from some cause there were no re- turns from Lawrenceburg and Patoka circuits. This accounts for the apparent decrease in the number of members.
In 1813 the old Western Conference was divided or discontinued, and the Ohio and Tennessee Con- ferences were formed out of it. The circuits in Indiana were placed in these two Conferences. Lawrenceburg and Whitewater were placed in the Miami district, and Silver Creek in the Salt River district, all within the boundary lincs of Ohio Con- ference. Patoka disappears this year. William Dixon was sent to Lawrenceburg, John Strange
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INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
went to Whitewater, and Thomas Nelson to Silver Creek.
Vincennes was placed in the Wabash district, Tennessee Conference, with Peter Cartwright pre- siding elder, and Richard Richards circuit preacher. This being the year when the war with Great Britain and her Indian allies was in full blast, the exposures and privations of the itinerant Methodist preachers were greatly increased. The dangers from the Indians, the deadly enemy of the whites, now encouraged and strengthened by the British, were so great that the settlers most generally gath- ered into forts which they had erected for their safety, In order that they might preach to them, the preachers had to follow the settlers to these forts. Indeed, they had few or no preaching-places except forts. Some of these self-sacrificing men of God, for their own safety, carried their guns with them whenever traveling from fort to fort to preach to their flocks. This state of things de- ranged the plans of the circuits and the classes very much; but it did not destroy the religious fervor of these pious Methodists, shut up in their stockades. When one of these itinerants, with his gun on his shoulder, called at the gates of one of these forts, it was immediately swung open by the inmates, and he received in as the Lord's messenger; and while preaching the Word of Life to them, the holy fire which burned in their hearts would be raised to such a flame that the shout of "a King in the camp"
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was heard. These were glorious "times of refresh- ing from the presence of the Lord." The writer, though then a small boy, remembers well some of those seasons in the fort at his father's.
At the close of this year the number of Church members reported was as follows:
Lawrenceburg 489
Whitewater 847
Silver Creek 555
Vincennes. 175
Patoka
110
Total membership 2,176
In five years, two thousand, one hundred and seventy-six members had been gathered into the Methodist Episcopal Church in Indiana, and this though the country was new and though but a small portion of the Territory was inhabited by white people.
This large increase shows that the men who had been sent into the wild wilderness to cultivate Im- manuel's land had done their work faithfully, and God had crowned their labors with success.
In 1814 Moses Crume was sent to Lawrenceburg circuit, David Sharp to Whitewater, Charles Harri- son to Silver Creek, and Zachariah Witten to Vin- cennes. Patoka does not appear in the list of appointments for this year. Charles Holliday was appointed presiding elder of Salt River district, and Silver Creek being in his district gave him connection with the work in Indiana; and Jesse
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INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
Walker being presiding elder of Illinois district, and Vincennes being in that district, he was brought in connection with the work in Indiana.
The number of members reported at the close of this year was 1,759, showing a decrease, which was caused by the derangement of the work produced by the war in which the country was then engaged. In 1815 John Strange was sent to Lawrenceburg, William Hunt to Whitewater, Shadrach Ruark to Silver Creek, John Scripps to Patoka, and John Shrader to Vincennes, with the same presiding elders that traveled the districts the year before. The number of circuits was not increased, but their boundaries were greatly enlarged.
The terror among the settlers, caused by the war, and the constant danger from the Indians that in- fested the country by thousands, had caused many of the inhabitants to return to the old States for safety. Among them were many Methodists, caus- ing a large decrease this year. There were reported to Conference a total of 1,504.
In 1816 David Sharp was sent to Lawrenceburg, Daniel Fraly to Whitewater, Joseph Kinkade to Silver Creek, John Shrader to Blue River, Thomas A. King to Patoka, and Thomas Davis to Vin- cennes. Blue River circuit had been formed out of a part of Silver Creek. It extended down the Ohio River, and out to the head-waters of Patoka. We now have six circuits formed in Indiana. The war being over, and the country becoming more quiet,
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the inhabitants who had fled for fear of the Indians began to return, with many new emigrants. The preachers were enabled to report this year a total of 1,877 members, an increase of 373 over the past year.
In 1817 Russel Bigelow was sent to Lawrence- burg, Benjamin Lawrence to Whitewater, Daniel M'Henry and Thomas Davis to Patoka, James M'Cord and Charles Slocumb to Vincennes, John Cord to Blue River, and Joseph Pownel to Silver Creek.
Missouri Conference having been formed, all of Illinois, and all of Indiana, except Lawrenceburg and Whitewater circuits, were placed in that Con- ference. The other circuits were in the Illinois dis- trict, with Samuel H. Thompson for presiding elder. Moses Crume was placed on the Miami district, in the Ohio Conference, which brought him back to Lawrenceburg and Whitewater circuits, where he met a hearty welcome from the people. The preach- ers on the six circuits in Indiana reported at the close of this year a total membership of 1,907, being a small increase over the past year.
In 1818 Samuel West and Allen Wiley were sent to Lawrenceburg, William Hunt to Whitewater, Charles Slocumb to Patoka, Thomas Davis to Lit- tle Pigeon, John Shrader and John M'Cord to Vin- cennes, Othniel Talbert to Blue River, and John Cord to Silver Creek. Little Pigeon was a new circuit just formed, and embraced the country
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INTRODUCTION OF METHODISM.
south-west of Blue River circuit. We have now seven circuits, traveled by nine preachers. The preachers reported to Conference at the close of this year a total of 3,044 members, an increase of 1,037.
We have now given a brief sketch of the intro- duction and progress of Methodism in Indiana, so far as the formation of districts and circuits, and the men appointed to travel them, is concerned, for the first decade. We will now turn our attention to some other particulars connected with the intro- duction of Methodism into the State.
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INDIANA MISCELLANY.
CHAPTER VII.
MEETING-HOUSES.
THE first places of public worship were the cabins of the emigrants. Some of these were large enough to hold from fifty to one hundred persons. A con- gregation of one hundred persons was considered large in those days. During the Summer and Autumn, the people frequently resorted to the grove for public worship. A rough stand was erected, and seats made of split logs, properly arranged. At these stands circuit preaching through all the warm season was had; also Sabbath prayer meet- ings, and sometimes two days' meetings were con- ducted at them. Often the power of the Holy One came down among the people, and nature's temple was made to ring with high halleluias. These Chris- tians felt that in God's own temple they could speak forth the praises of the Most High, and pour out the joy and gratitude of their hearts without restraint.
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