USA > Indiana > Morgan County > The pioneers of Morgan County : memoirs of Noah J. Major > Part 8
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They started the bear before noon with eleven dogs in pursuit. Most of them had been in bear fights before and had learned to keep out of the clutches of a mad
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bear, but a few were beginners and had to suffer the consequences of their inexperience. Bigfoot's tactics kept him in the "hurricane" all the time and he could never be driven out either by men or dogs. He did not care how many of the latter were set on him, for he soon killed or "weaned" all the foolhardy ones without being very much worried. He kept the Indians on the go through the brush and green briars, until they were worn out, never getting anything better than a long shot and "brushy chance" at him.
At nightfall they called off the dogs-or all that were left-and went into camp, determined to renew the attack the next morning. That night the Indians divided their rations with the dogs, but none of them had enough to eat. They could have easily killed a deer during the day but were so determined on killing Big- foot that they neglected to provide for themselves. Next morning they again started in pursuit. The bear traveled quite a long distance, round and round in the worst thickets and briar patches in the "hurricane," so it was late in the forenoon of the second day before they again started in on his tracks. The Indians now determined to shoot at every sight of him, whether at a long or short distance.
They emptied their guns several times that day in the hope of at least an accidental hit. All to no purpose ; the bear seemed as lively and capable of battle the eve- ning of the second day as he did the morning of the first, while the Indians and their dogs were completely ex- hausted. Bigfoot's powers of endurance and his tactics -keeping in the brush and briars, and on the run, con- stantly-made him more than a match for three Indians, three guns and eleven dogs. Whatever became of this noted bear was not known to the hunters of Brookville.
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They estimated that in the day's engagement between Bigfoot and the Indians and dogs, the bear had made steps enough to have traveled one hundred miles, with- out stopping to eat.
The hunters of Laughery creek had many incidents which they loved to relate on the long winter evenings. Mr. Kidd, the man who killed the she-bear and cub, was a very stylish old bachelor. He wore every day ruffled shirts, cassimere pants, and a beaver hat, although by trade he was a brickmason and plasterer. As soon as the day's work was done he threw off the mason's apron, and put on his best apparel.
In those days when the hunters killed a deer, they only stopped the chase long enough to get the carcass and hang it on a bent sapling, where it might remain several days until the chase was ended. Then they would gather in the products of the hunt, take off the hides and salt the hams in a big trough. They usually took a horse and lizard-a sled made of the fork of a sapling- to haul the game in. It was never good hunting when very cold, but that was the best time to gather in the spoils. Kidd had killed a deer where they could not go with a lizard. He got one of the hunters to go with him, saying he could carry it to camp on "Old Roany," if he could help him load it. Roany had hauled many deer into camp in his time, and did not mind it so long as the deer rode on a lizard, but seriously objected to having it on his back. Kidd was a good horseman. He had ridden many "quarter horses" at breakneck speed, and "allowed as how no old scrub could floor him." He ordered his comrade to climb the sapling and, when he rode under the deer and got ready, for him to cut the carcass loose. The deer's legs were frozen as stiff as a hoe handle, and when it came down in Kidd's arms, one
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hind foot went into his pants pocket. Then the old horse began to jump, and kept it up until the deer's leg went to the bottom hem of Kidd's trouser leg. Old Roany now determined to get rid of the whole pack. The beaver hat went first into a bunch of briars; then the man on it, and last of all came the frozen deer on top of the man and beaver. The old horse ran about fifty steps, halted, and looked back as though half sorry for what had happened. Kidd's hat looked like it had been playing with the household pet,-the pup. His cassimeres were completely wrecked and had to be pinned together until he reached camp. One of his ankles was sprained and his "shooting eye" bunged up. His comrade hung the deer back on the sapling, got old Roany quieted, put Kidd on him and took him to camp for repairs.
One winter the hunters hired a young fellow named Sam (I forget his full name) to keep camp. One day they followed a gang of deer that ran in toward the settlements. After killing some of them, and taking their bearings, they found themselves much nearer home than they were to the camp. Then they decided to go home and return to camp in the morning. Sam had prepared a good supper, and waited patiently for the boarders to come in. Being hungry, he straddled a stool and ate his supper, while the wolves and owls began their enchantments, as was their custom about dusk. Sam fired his old musket several times, thinking the boys were lost and that the report of the gun would point them to camp. Tired with waiting he built a big fire, rolled himself in the blankets and tried to sleep.
Some time between midnight and day, as he supposed, a young, unsophisticated wildcat passing by, smelled the savory supper, and particularly the venison hams in the big trough, and jumped up on the trough and began
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helping himself to the contents. Then a "catastrophe" took place. Sam being suddenly awakened by the cat chewing venison, threw the cover off and sprang into a sitting posture, with his back to the cat. In an instant puss landed squarely on his shoulders. Sam had an impediment of speech and the most that could be gathered from him was that the sudden shock of battle had about paralyzed him, so that he did nothing but squall while the cat did all the fighting. It was all over in a few seconds, for the cat was probably as badly scared as Sam, and left as soon as it saw a way of escape. The back of Sam's neck was harrowed over both ways. There was no more sleep in his eyes for the re- mainder of the night, and at early dawn he made tracks toward home. He met the boys returning to camp, but nothing could induce him to return with them. The romance of camp life was all scratched out of him.
· As the settlements were being extended from Brook- ville toward the "hurricane," an old man named Spang- ler-a hunter, trapper, and squatter-built a cabin on the outskirts, two or three miles beyond the border line of the settlement. He lived all alone, with the exception of his old horse and a dog or two. One night, soon after he moved in, he heard something jump on his cabin and walk around over it, shaking the ribs and weight poles under its feet, and then as suddenly jump down on the ground. Spangler was born in a camp and, like General Pike, was rocked in a sugar trough. He was used to war's alarms and never took council of his fears, for he had none. His old horse was not so. He broke his halter, gave some fearful snorts, and "vamoosed the ranch." Spangler rightly guessed it was a panther. He saw it gallop off one night while the moon was shining. As it came too often to be agreeable, Spangler had some
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boys and dogs to lie in wait for it and give it battle. They kept the dogs in the house, but the panther did not appear. Next night, while alone, the panther came and had his usual walk over the roof. The boys and an extra force of dogs stayed several nights in the cabin, but the panther never came when they were there. However, as soon as they were gone, he paid his accustomed visit to Mr. Spangler. What he and every one else wanted to know was, what the panther was after. He never touched anything about the place, and how did he know when Mr. Spangler had visitors so as not to intrude?
Some time after this, Mr. Elmore was hunting his hogs that had strayed from his home in search of the mast. Peeping across a hollow, he saw something lying stretched full length on the sunny side of a log. After looking closely, he was astonished to discover that it was a panther basking in the sunshine. The situation gave him a touch of "buck ague," but he determined to make the most of it. Steadying his nerve he drew a bead and sent the fatal shot into the panther's head. For a minute or two it floundered like a fish out of water, and then all was over. A panther ten feet four inches from tip to tip lay dead at Mr. Elmore's feet. This was supposed to be the beast that made a foot- stool of Spangler's cabin.
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III
PIONEER SOCIETY.
§14. RELIGION.
Among the very first evangelists in the county were the itinerant ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the best results of their missions came to them first in Brown township. They had organized two or three societies in this township as early as 1823, one of which, the White Lick Methodist Episcopal Church, was the most prominent religious society in the county for several years.
Almost at the same time the Friends organized their first church in the same township. This society has the distinction of being the nucleus of that great movement of the Friends which resulted in the Plainfield Yearly Meetings, and which are to that church what the Gen- eral Conference is to the Methodist church or the Na- tional Conventions are to the Christian church. At no other assembly in the United States do the Friends have so many distinguished men and women as annually con- gregate at Plainfield, Indiana.
What were called the Two-Seed Baptists had, in an early day, a church east of Martinsville, not far from the present Centennial Church. There was quite a num- ber of influential citizens in that community who held nominally to that form of belief.
The Newlights were also early in the field and at one time had a considerable following, but for some cause they left no permanent organization. We well remem- ber two preachers of that denomination-Lonsford and Roderick. They sang and prayed in our home with an
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uncle, a young man, dying of consumption. Lonsford was far above the average itinerant of his day, and Roderick was a man full of the Christ spirit and human kindness.
There were scattered here and there some Universal- ists, of whom we shall have something to say further on. There were no Roman Catholics until the time of their organization on Indian creek. The Presbyterians, Chris- tians, and Missionary Baptists had few, if any, churches prior to 1836 or 1837. The Presbyterians and many other people had the pleasure of hearing Henry Ward Beecher at Waverly in 1840. This is about the time Mr. Beecher preached at Indianapolis and was so short of money that he could not take a letter out of the post- office for a week. The United Brethren and Protestant Methodists came in about this date. There were also skeptics, and here and there an avowed infidel or agnostic, but there is reason for believing that a large per cent. of early settlers believed in the divinity of Christ and the Bible as God's revelation to man, although they were much puzzled with creeds and dogmas.
There was wide difference in the manner of conduct- ing divine service and evangelizing between the Friends and Methodist brethren. The former were almost entirely divested of formality or prearrangement. They never sang in church-hence they never had any trouble with the choir. It was not known then who would pray, preach, or talk until the time came and the spirit moved some brother or sister. The sisters were as likely to be moved as the brethren and had the same privileges in all the services. There was a middle wall, or parti- tion, in the house, and the men sat on one side and the women on the other. The partition was not so high as
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to interfere with hearing the speaker. It was the cus- tom of all churches in these days to seat the men and women separately in the meeting house. The indis- criminate seating of the sexes together is a modern innovation. None but the Friends built a partition through the audience room. A Friends' meeting on Lord's day might, possibly, be silent throughout, ending with the customary handshaking. As the children of the Friends have a birthright in their church, there was but little effort made in an early day at evangelization. While this society was once quite informal during public worship, it was very formal in dress and dialect. The men wore broad-brimmed hats and cutaway coats,- derisively called "shad-bellies," and the color of their clothes was usually drab. The women also were quite uniform in their dress, the dove color prevailing. The Friends were early at work for day and Sunday schools, as well as for temperance societies. In politics they were mostly Whigs. In 1840 there were but two Democratic votes cast in Monroe township. But, as they were anti- slavery to a man, they became Republicans in 1856. There is a good reason for believing that they owned several shares in the "Underground Railroad" of the '50's. Although they were noncombatant in principle, several of their young men entered the army and fought like heroes for the preservation of the Union. But the old-time rules and regulations of this society have greatly changed during the last half-century. They have had a division and much fretful discussion about man- ners and customs, resulting in suits in Cæsar's courts to determine rights to church property. The progressive wing has adopted music at home and in church, and also many other things to the disgust of the staid, conserva- tive element.
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But in church as in state, as well as in religious thought and Christian philosophy, art, and literature, nothing can stop or stay the onward march of mind in a government of free institutions such as ours. No marvel then that silent services have been supplanted by praise and song, and that the spirit moves the speakers at the appointed time, without let or hindrance.
The contrast between the Newlights and Methodists in their class and revival meetings a half-century past, and the serious and almost severe manner of the Friends, was so striking as to have puzzled a barbarian to know whether or not they were all worshipping the same God. At that time it might have been said, "Both have gone to extremes; they had better adopt a middle method." But the sequel has shown that the former knew what they were about, for their numbers and influence in- creased tenfold more than the latter. Besides this, the people then were more susceptible to religious impres- sions than they are to-day.
The Friends concerned themselves mostly about home work, while the itinerant went, as it were, everywhere, proclaiming the gospel of free grace. A Methodist minister did not wait for an invitation to some new place, but went, all accoutered with horse, saddle, and saddlebags-the latter containing Bible, hymnbook, a discipline, religious tracts, and a few clothes. As there were no church houses in out-of-the-way places, he preached in private houses, or, during the summer sea- son, in the woods, or any place where he could get a hearing ; and you generally heard him if you got within a quarter of a mile, after he became warmed up with his subject. He did not mince matters or choose very soft words and phrases, but struck out right and left, and rained blows on the heads of devils and bad men like
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fire and brimstone on Gomorrah. People in those days, before the book and newspaper age, would go a long distance to hear an orator, be he preacher or politician, especially if he had something to say and knew how to say it. This fact gave both classes a prominence before the public they do not now possess; for we have the cream of their very best thought in print before our eyes every day ; losing, however, the manner and mag- netism of the man or woman as it may be. The clergy of those days were comparatively unlearned so far as English literature goes. A few read nothing much but the Bible, with which book, however, they were aston- ishingly familiar. Perhaps they could make more cor- rect, offhand quotations than the college trained brethren of to-day.
Fifty years ago there was all over this country a reign of religious prejudice altogether unreasonable and well-nigh unbelievable; and while there is still more of this blindness than can answer any good purpose, we are truly glad to note a marked improvement in the fraternal feeling between religious denominations. Why should brothers in Christ be at enmity any more than are brothers in an earthly family? If my brother wants to wear his trousers inside his bootlegs, or his waistcoat wrong side out, let him wear them so. I'll not disown him on that account. "In essentials unity; in non- essentials liberty ; in all things charity." Men of different denominations would kindly assist each other in build- ing their plain, old-fashioned meeting houses, but they would seldom lend them to those of a different faith for religious purposes. If a revival seemed to be growing into large proportions in one church, another would start a meeting to counteract its influence.
The religious exercises of the Methodists and New-
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lights were exactly the opposite of those of the Friends. When it was announced that there would be "a meetin' here to-night," the brethren and sisters failed not to be in attendance, in order to hold up the hands of the preacher. Nor did they have to wait for the arrival of the preacher to start a song or lead in prayer; for the members could nearly all sing, and pray in public, and shout till the welkin would ring. They sang with the spirit, if not always with the understanding, and prayed as vehemently as Elijah the prophet ; and whoever heard of the spirit not moving an itinerant when the appointed time came to pray or preach? When a big revival got well under way there was not so much sermonizing done as exhorting. Sinners were cordially invited to the altar, where prayer, singing, and exhortation went on for hours. Sometimes there was what the ministers called a "wonderful outpouring of the spirit" and many would profess conversion. There were some eccentric preachers in those days whose words and ways would astonish a Methodist audience of to-day, especially the elite of our towns and cities. Rev. William C. Smith, a minister and citizen of Martinsville for many years, relates the following incidents in his book, Indiana Miscellany. He says: "On one occasion at a camp- meeting, while a prayer-meeting was being conducted in the altar, many persons were seeking salvation and many souls were being converted, the preacher's stand was crowded with the proud and haughty who stood looking on. Among them and at the front of the stand was a young woman very gaily attired, who was making sport in a very derisive manner of the exercises. Mr. Gibson was on his knees in the altar with his face to- ward the stand, earnestly engaged in laboring with the penitents. Looking up he saw the young woman laugh-
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ing and making sport. He suddenly exclaimed in great earnestness, 'My God! Knock that young woman down,' repeating it three times, when, as if pierced by a rifle ball, the young woman fell in the altar. Mr. Gibson turned to a lady who was kneeling near him and tapping her on the shoulder said, 'Sister, that is what I call taking them between the lug and the horn.' The young woman after a long and hard struggle was powerfully converted." Brother Smith says: "His (Gibson's) edu- cation was limited, but sufficient for his station in life and the people to whom he ministered in their wilder- ness homes."
Another instance is given, that of the Rev. John Strange,* one of the first preachers in Indiana. "He possessed what Rev. Mr. Taylor, in his Model Preacher, calls 'surprise power,' in a very high degree. Some- times when portraying the torments of those shut up in the prison-house of hell, and describing the wicked, as in crowds they urged their way down to blackness and darkness, the sinners in the congregation would scream out for mercy. Seizing on the occasion Mr. Strange would exclaim in his inimitable way, 'A center shot, my Lord; load and fire again.' The backwoods hunters knew well how to apply such expressions. On one occasion when he was preaching on Sunday at a camp-meeting, the tide of feeling rising higher and higher, he took one of his wonderful flights of eloquence which lifted the congregation, and a general shout arose. Hearing the great shout which rolled up from the en- closure of tents, a crowd of persons who had been wan-
*Born in Virginia, November 15, 1789. Came to Indiana as a circuit rider in 1824 on the Brookville circuit. He made his home in Madison. He died in Indianapolis December 2, 1832, while yet a young man, worn out with hard work. For a good account of his life see J. C. Smith, Early Methodism in Indiana, 23-51.
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dering about on the outside of the encampment came rushing in through an opening in the row of tents and down the center aisle toward the stand. Seeing the coming throng, Mr. Strange stopped short, raised him- self to his full height, and standing on his tiptoes, threw his right hand forward, pointing with his index finger directly toward the crowd, and then exclaimed in a voice which seemed to startle the people from their seats, 'Here they come now, my Lord; shoot them as they come.' At once scores of loud 'amens' rolled up from the congregation. Instantly as if stricken by lightning the whole crowd of sinners, who were press- ing down the center aisle, dropped upon seats and upon the ground. From that moment he held the congrega- tion at his will until the close of the sermon."
Mr. Strange probably preached in Brown township about the year 1830, as at that time he was presiding elder of the Indianapolis district.
In that city on the 2nd day of December, 1833, he laid down his arms and sword, and put on his crown. The membership in Indiana were in great sorrow when they heard that "John Strange is dead." His whole life had been unreservedly given to the Master's work. He reserved nothing; food and raiment was all he wanted. His favorite hymn was:
"No foot of land do I possess, No cottage in the wilderness, A poor wayfaring man. I lodge awhile in tents below, And gladly wander to and fro Till I my Canaan gain."
An admiring friend once made him a deed to a quarter section of wild land. He kept it awhile and then re-
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turned it with many thanks, saying it bothered him, as he could not conscientiously sing his favorite song, "No foot of land do I possess."
It is not too much to say that no class of men and women ever entered the western wilderness who made greater sacrifices for the Protestant religion than the Methodist itinerants and their faithful wives. Some of the circuits were so large and the roads so bad, and it took so long to make the round trip, that the youngest child would almost forget how the father looked when he left home, and fail to recognize him on his return.
About 1835 the settlers in the center and southern part of the county began to take some interest in school and church affairs. Heretofore they had been too negli- gent of these potent helps to civilization and good gov- ernment. There could scarcely be found a school or church building in the county south of Brooklyn as late as 1836, sixteen years after first settlement, while often the rambler would stumble on a little "one-horse" still, turning out ten or fifteen gallons of copperhead whisky per day. These little moonshiners were running with- out let or hindrance, in the bright light of both sun and the sunlight of the age, for the people thought them quite innocent and useful institutions-more so, it would seem, than schools-and government had not yet learned to pull revenue out of a "jugsucker" at the rate of one dollar a gallon, as it does to-day. But when churches and schools began to move in, the stills began to move out, or rather to die out. For the stills it was a matter of "the survival of the fittest," and the "fittest" have gone to Terre Haute, Peoria, Chicago, Kansas City, and other like places where there is for them a more congenial atmosphere and larger profits.
It has been observed that when people change from
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or begin to change their views about religion, the transition is rapid and masterful. The greatest sinner becomes the most roaring saint. Communities that were dead while they yet lived, became lively corpses when touched with the fire of a religious revival. Re- vivals are curious studies; they cannot always be started at will, nor can the number of those who will be moved by them be determined beforehand; neither can one tell how long they will continue. Sometimes they greatly exceed all expectations; often they fall much below what was hoped for. Certainly it can never be told how many will fall away, and be like the sow returning to her wallowing in the mire.
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