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 4
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As soon as it was possible, having first to erect their cabins, clear a little ground, and prepare to raise bread for their families, they commenced the work of building houses for the Lord. Saw-mills were few and far between, and the only carpenter's tools the country afforded were axes, hand-saws,
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drawing-knives, and augers; consequently, the meet- ing-houses were of rough construction. They were of logs, covered with clap-boards, held on by weight- poles. The floors were of puncheons; the chimneys of sticks and clay, and the seats of split logs, hewn smoothly with an ax. The pulpits were of clap- boards, shaved nicely with a drawing-knife. A window was cut out immediately in the rear of the pulpit, to give light for the preacher to see to read his hymns, Scripture-lessons, and text. In some cases this was the only window in the house. Such meeting-houses were the best the people could af- ford. They erected them with much earnest prayer. When they were ready for use, they were, in the most solemn manner, offered to the Great Head of the Church, as a place for him to dwell in; a place where they might "worship him in spirit and in truth." In these rudely-constructed temples of the Most High the Gospel was preached in its purity. Saints and sinners "received their portion in due season." There was no compromising with sin, no studying to please the worldly-minded, nor dispo- sition to avoid giving offense to the half-hearted, formal professors of religion. The law was fulmi- nated from Sinai's blazing top. Hell, with its sul- phurous flames and the groans of the damned, were portrayed in words that burned. The love of God to man in the gift of his Son; the humiliation and condescension of the Savior in coming into the world to suffer, bleed, and die; his poverty and sorrow ;
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his agony in the garden; his betrayal; his cruci- fixion on the cross ; his last cry-" It is finished ;" his resurrection from the tomb, and his ascension, were each and all presented to the people in colors of living light that won the heart and caused tears of joy to flow like showers of rain. Worship among the first settlers was real, spiritual, soul-worship. They had not the temptations to pride and self-grat- ulation when at the place of worship which may beset those who pay their devotions in splendid church edifices, sitting on cushioned seats, and kneeling-if they kneel at all-on Brussels carpets.
We are not entering a protest against fine churches. Of all houses God's house should be most magnifi- cent. It is questionable, however, whether the spending of seventy-five or one hundred or one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to build a church for one congregation to worship in, when there are so many places where God's poor have no house of worship, and when so much of the world is still in heathen and pagan darkness, is pleasing to the Di- vine Being. It requires much watching, much close self-examination, and constant prayer, to avoid be- coming vain of our fine churches. The tendency is strong to forget Christ's poor; and we fear that sometimes we push aside the statement that Christ himself was so poor when on earth that he cried, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head."
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One of the first, if not the first, Methodist meeting- houses built in Indiana was erected in what is now Wayne county, in 1808. In this year the first cir- cuit was formed. It was called "Whitewater." This meeting-house was at the time the upper or most northern appointment on that circuit. There being no circuit formed in any other part of the Terri- tory prior to 1808, it may be presumed there were no meeting-houses built at an earlier date. The one referred to was called "Meek's Meeting-House," and was built on Clear creek, a little to the south- east and about one mile and a half from where Salisbury, the first county seat of Wayne county, was afterward located. This house was occupied as a preaching-place for several years. After Salis- bury was laid out and began to improve, preaching was moved to the town, and the old log meeting- house was abandoned. To this meeting-house the writer was carried by his parents when an infant, and there dedicated to God in holy baptism by the Rev. Moses Crume, who was then traveling Whitewater circuit. So far as we know, there is not a member of the Church who worshiped in this meeting-house now living, and but one surviving of all the minis- ters who preached in that house, and he is far advanced in life. If all are safely housed in heaven, how great the contrast! Once they worshiped together in this world in a log temple, surrounded by wild beasts and savage men. Now they worship together in heaven, in a "house not made with
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hands," surrounded by angels, the prophets, and apostles. O, happy saints! wait and watch! We, your descendants, who still sorrow below, are fol- lowing on.
The second Methodist meeting-house erected in Wayne county was built on land belonging to John Cain, about three miles north-west of where Rich- mond now stands. It was called "Cain's Meeting- House." It was a log structure, about eighteen by twenty-two feet, the chimney in one end. When it was ready for occupancy, a day for its presentation to the Great Head of the Church was appointed. When the time for the solemn services arrived, the people-men, women, and children-gathered in from the surrounding neighborhood. The dedica- tion sermon was preached by John Summerville, who was then traveling the Oxford circuit in the State of Ohio. His text was Zechariah x, 4: "Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle-bow, out of him every op- pressor together." A singular text for a dedication sermon.
In this small log-house some of the most talented men of the West have preached the unsearchable riches of Christ; among the number Moses Crume, John Strange, Walter Griffith, Alexander Cummins, Augustus Jocelyn, James Jones, Arthur W. Elliott, Russel Bigelow, Allen Wiley, and James Havens. One sermon preached in the house by Augustus Jocelyn, from 2 Peter ii, 22-"But it has happened
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unto them according to the true proverb; the dog is returned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire "- made an impression on the minds of some who heard it that time can never erase. O, the dread- ful state of the backslidder as portrayed by the preacher that day !
These distinguished men of God have all passed away. Their voices are no more heard among men, but "their works do follow them."
Cain's meeting-house has long since disappeared, and perhaps but few, if any, who now reside in that neighborhood know that there ever was such a place of worship.
The third meeting-house erected in Wayne county was called "Salem," and was built where the town of Boston now stands. It was of larger dimensions and made a finer appearance than either of the others. This house was occupied as a place of wor- ship for a number of years. In it the power of God was displayed in a wonderful manner. Many souls were enlisted in the army of the Lord, and many here first tasted the joys of pardoned sin. A large society was built up, and the town of Boston, where the old Salem Church once stood, is now the head of a circuit in the South-Eastern Indiana Con- ference.
The first frame meeting-house built in Wayne county by the Methodists was erected under the administration of Rev. James Havens, in the town
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of Centerville. The members of the Church, in the bounds of the circuit, were generally poor. Mr. Havens carried a subscription paper with him as he passed round the circuit, and solicited aid to build as opportunity offered. He presented his sub- scription paper to Elisha W. Fulton, an excellent man and class-leader who then lived in Richmond. Mr. Fulton was not opulent. His occupation was making Windsor chairs. Times were hard and money scarce. He could exchange his chairs for produce, but seldom could sell them for cash. He greatly desired to aid in the erection of the church, but felt his embarrassment. He finally offered Mr. Havens a set of ten-dollar chairs. Mr. Havens said, "No, subscribe five dollars and the Lord will send some man to buy your chairs, and you will save five dollars." Mr. Fulton thought a moment. He determined to trust the Lord. He subscribed five dollars, and Mr. Havens went on his way re- joicing. The next day a gentleman from Center- ville came over to Richmond, bought a set of chairs of Mr. Fulton, and paid him ten dollars in cash. Mr. Fulton laid by five dollars for Mr. Havens, and when he came round again paid the sum and had his five left. No one ever loses any thing by trusting the Divine Being. By subscriptions of ten, five, and one dollar, the necessary funds to build the meeting-house were procured. Israel Abrams gave fifty dollars, which was then consid- ered and was really a large amount to be given by
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one man. It would be pleasant to give accounts of the erection of the first meeting-houses in other parts of Indiana had we the data. No doubt many interesting incidents connected with their history might be given, but unless some other pen writes them out they will never be furnished to the public.
Since the first rude log meeting-house was erected in Indiana, the work of church-building has gone on, till in almost every village and neighborhood a Methodist church may be seen. In some of our cities there are as many as five or six. At this time the number of Methodist churches in the State reaches to some thirteen hundred. Some of them are of the finest architecture, costing from thirty to seventy thousand dollars.
The advancement in this department of Christian enterprise in Indiana, for the last fifty years, has been equal to that of any other State in the Union, in proportion to population. Those who assemble in their richly-furnished churches can not fully sym- pathize with those who worshiped in their small log meeting-houses, in the wilderness. The worship in our elegant churches is, perhaps, more formal than it was when our fathers and mothers paid their homage to Jehovah in the simply-constructed temples of their own hands, or under the shade of the closely-inter- locked forest trees. Our congregations now present a much more gay appearance than then; neverthe- less, God has still true worshipers. And, though in
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some of our churches there are instruments to assist in "making melody unto the Lord," there is the power of the Holy One in them, and Christians are still " glad when it is said unto them, let us go up to the house of the Lord." They say, "Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem !"
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CHAPTER VIII.
CAMP MEETINGS.
CAMP MEETINGS were highly prized by the Meth- odists of Indiana, in the first settling of the country. They were looked to with great anxiety from year to year. At the close of one camp meeting, the peo- ple looked forward to the next, as the period, when they should meet again in their annual convocation, and enjoy a rich "feast of tabernacles." At the con- clusion of one, they made certain calculations on at- tending the next, if life and health were spared. They made it a rule to attend at least one camp meeting each year. If they were held in the midst of "crop time," or harvest, that did not prevent them from being present. They attended these gath- erings in the woods, not for show, not to make a dis- play, nor for pastime; but to enjoy communion with God, to get their spiritual strength renewed, to make war on Satan's legions, and to advance Christ's king- dom in the world. Sometimes the sons of Belial caused them a little trouble, but this did not dis- courage or cast down. Having laid aside the busi- ness cares of life, and left their homes, with all their earthly goods, in the keeping of Him whose eye neither slumbers nor sleeps, and going up in the
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strength of Israel's God, they felt that no weapon formed against them could prosper.
The time at these camp meetings was all devoted to worship, except what was absolutely necessary for eating and sleeping. None was devoted to idle or worldly conversation, in the tents or around the en- campment. Not unfrequently when the battle com- menced, it was continued day and night, without in- termission. While some slept, others kept up the engagement, pouring hot shot into Satan's ranks. This continuous fire was such, that often the stoutest sinners, when once brought within its range, were made to yield and cry for quarter, in a very short space of time. Sometimes, at the midnight hour, the Gospel battery would open anew from the stand, while the infantry, at various points of the encamp- ment, were charging the gates of hell by way of prayer meetings.
In such engagements the slain of the Lord were many. In several instances where the battle continued through the night; as the day dawned, victory, great and glorious, turned on Israel's side. As the light of the rising sun dispelled the darkness of the night, the Sun of Righteousness dispelled the moral dark- ness from many souls, and enabled them to see their names inscribed in heaven.
These camp meetings were the means of gathering many recruits for the army of the Lord. The mem- bership of the Church was greatly strengthened thereby. "Camp-meeting-religion," as it has been
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sometimes sneeringly called, even by some who pro- fess to be Christians, has stood the test of the severest trials. True, some who have been converted at them have fallen back; but a very large majority have stood firm, and proved steadfast. Thousands have gained the hights of immortality, and now sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- dom above, to go out no more. Some of the bright- est lights that have ever shone in the Church, min- isters and laymen, were awakened and converted at camp meetings.
The closing exercises of these " feasts of taberna- cles," were always most solemn and affecting. A procession of the members of the Church, headed by all the ministers present, with all serious persons falling in, marched around the encampment a few times, singing appropriate songs; the full chorus of every voice rose and swelled, while ever and anon loud halleluias would roll up from hearts too full to refrain any longer. A prayer was then offered,
all in the procession kneeling. At its close the preachers took a position, when the procession mov- ing on, all shook hands with them, bidding them farewell. With many, this was a last farewell. The eyes that did not weep on these occasions, at witnessing such a scene, were incapable of tears.
All having bidden the preachers farewell, the benediction was pronounced, when these children of the Most High separated, some of them to meet no more till called from labor to reward, the people 7
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returning to their homes, and the ministers to their distant fields of labor.
A camp meeting was held in what was then Dear- born, now Wayne county, about a mile south-east of where Salisbury was afterward laid out, in August or September, 1810. This was perhaps the first camp meeting held in Indiana. The country being new, and the inhabitants few, the number of persons in attendance was not large, but it was a time of power and great glory. A goodly number of the unconverted who attended this meeting were, before its close, happily brought to a knowledge of sins forgiven. The conversions were clear and satisfac- tory. Thomas Nelson and Samuel H. Thompson were the preachers on the circuit, and John Sale was the presiding elder. So far as we know, not a man or woman who attended this camp meeting is now living. Time's rolling stream has borne them all away.
From this place the camp meetings were moved farther east, to the land belonging to Rev. Hugh Cull, where they were continued for several years.
We would like to trace the history of camp meet- ings in Indiana had we the means of so doing. As the country improved and the number of circuits increased, almost every part of the State has wit- nessed the success of these instrumentalities for the accomplishment of good. No instrumentalities have ever been used by the Church which accomplished so much good in the same length of time and at the
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same cost. The advancement of the country in age, wealth, refinement, and the increase of the number of churches are not sufficient reasons to justify the laying them aside. At a camp meeting persons are kept under a religious influence as they can not be in a meeting held in a church in town or country. Often persons are awakened while at church, but go out and again mix with the unholy throng in the town or city and shake off their convictions, when, if they had been at a camp meeting and remained within the religious atmosphere there they would have yielded their stubborn hearts, sought and found mercy.
The Church is losing much by abandoning this means of grace, which has been so successful in the salvation of precious souls. When the country was new Methodists esteemed it a light matter to take their families in a wagon and travel twenty or thirty miles to a camp meeting. Now the facilities for traveling are such that the people, with but little labor, could travel forty or fifty miles with much less fatigue. As a general thing, to spend a week in the grove at a camp meeting in a pleasant season of the year, is conducive to physical health. Cer- tainly no Christian can spend' a few days at a properly-conducted camp meeting without being spiritually revived and strengthened.
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CHAPTER IX.
FURTHER SKETCHES AND INCIDENTS OF THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF INDIANA.
THE first settlers were brave, fearless men and women, true to each other. The privations to which they were subjected, and the dangers with which they were surrounded, served as so many bonds in uniting them as a band of brothers and sisters.
When the war of "'12" and "'13," as it has been called, came on, the people of each settlement erected a fort at the cabin of some one of them, into which they gathered for safety. These forts, or stockades, were made of two rows of split tim- bers, some twelve or fourteen feet long, planted firmly in the ground, inclosing more or less ground, as the necessity demanded. There were large gates, made of hewn timbers of from three to six inches in thickness. Small cabins were erected inside the stockades for the accommodation of the families. Usually one block-house was built in each fort. These block-houses were two stories high, the upper story projecting over the lower, say two feet, with port-holes in the floor of the projection, so that the men could see to shoot the Indians if they suc- ceeded in getting to the walls of the block-house.
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There were likewise port-holes in the wall in the upper and lower stories, through which shooting of much execution could be performed as the foe was advancing.
Though five, ten, or more families, composed of children, from young men and women down to nurs- ing babes, occupied these block-houses, it was a rare occurrence for any serious difficulty to arise among them. Sometimes provisions were scarce, but usu- ally they had plenty of meat. All the men were excellent hunters-some of them real experts. The country abounding in game, they kept the forts well supplied with venison and bear-meat.
Hunting, however, at this time was extremely hazardous, the woods being alive with Indians; but the hunters always kept a sharp look-out. So well trained and accustomed to forest life were they, that they could pass through the woods as noise- lessly as the Indians.
When considered at all admissible to venture outside the fort to labor, the men went in com- pany, taking their trusty rifles with them. While some performed the work, clearing the ground, making rails, building fence, or plowing, as the case might be, others stood alternating as sentinels to watch for the approach of their savage foe. They worked one day on the land of one man, and the next on that of another, and so on till they got round.
The women of those days were "helps " meet for
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their husbands, willing to endure any privation, and assist them in the performance of any labor. Some of them could handle the rifle with great skill, and bring down the game in the absence of their hus- bands, especially when, as was often the case, the deer made their appearance near the cabin. They would have shot an Indian, if need be, without a moment's hesitation. At the commencement of the war of 1812-1813, a fort was built at the cabin of George Smith, about two miles from where the city of Richmond now stands. All the families of the neighborhood moved into this fort. At one period, when the alarm caused by Indian depredations had measurably subsided, the men ventured out to work without their rifles. One day they were all at work about a mile from the fort. In the after- noon the dogs from the fort commenced a fierce barking in the thick woods on the path leading to the spot where the men were at work. The women concluded there were Indians in ambush there, waylaying the path for the purpose of mas- sacring their husbands on their return from work in the evening. They held a council and determ- ined to go out and reconnoiter, and if Indians were there attack them and drive them away. They selected one of their number to act as cap- tain, and another one to stay with the children and open the gate of the fort to them in case they were driven back by the Indians. They formed in the fort, each woman taking her husband's gun, shot-
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pouch, and hunting-knife, then marched out in sin- gle file. On reaching the woods a short distance from the fort they deployed to the right of the path and entered the spice-bushes, which grew so thickly a beast could scarcely get through them. They proceeded cautiously, the captain a little in advance of the skirmish line. Advancing slowly, they reached the place where the dogs were, and discovered that they were barking at some Indian ponies. Reconnoitering till satisfied that there were no Indians there, they ventured out into the path, marched back to the fort, and hung up their guns.
Many incidents might be recorded showing the bravery of the women who assisted their husbands in clearing away the forest in Indiana and in con- tending with the red men of the woods. Here is another one: There had been quite an alarm at the fort for several days, caused by signs of Indians observed by the hunters while out in search of game. The alarm caused the men in the fort to increase their vigilance. For several days and nights they kept sentinels constantly posted, expect- ing an attack. While some stood as sentinels the others slept with their guns in their arms, ready for action at a moment's warning. A few nights had passed and no assault was made. Their fears began measurably to subside. One night the men placed on guard, being overcome from loss of sleep, lay down at their port-holes, and were soon utterly unconscious. Every one in the fort, save Mrs.
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Smith, who was watching with a sick child, was sound asleep. A little after midnight some dogs that had been left outside the fort commenced a furious barking at the far side of a small meadow, in the edge of the woods, full twenty-five rods dis- tant from the fort. Mrs. Smith went to the senti- nels and found them asleep. She made some effort to awake them, but they were not easily aroused. She concluded to go out and reconnoiter and see if she could ascertain what the dogs were barking at. The night was quite dark, there being no moon and but little starlight. She opened one of the gates of the fort and passed out. Moving stealthily along under the shadow of a fence till she reached the woods, then slowly and cautiously approaching the place where the dogs were, she discovered that they were baying some animal which fled at her approach. She returned to the fort, passed in, re- fastened the gate, and watched with her sick child till morning, when she related her exploit, telling the men if she had been an Indian she could have massacred them all while they slept.
In the first settlement of the country, from the dimness of the paths which led from one settle- ment to another, and the density of the forests, the people frequently lost their way and became bewildered. It was not uncommon to hear at night the cry of some one lost in the woods. Most of the settlers kept a trumpet. When the distant cry of some one so lost in the forest was heard
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at a cabin, the trumpet was blown as a signal to the bewildered that they were heard, and for them to direct their course thither. In the stillness of the night one hallooing in the woods would be heard at a great distance. Sometimes persons were lost for a day and night, and now and then some were lost and never found.
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