Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 87

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I > Part 87

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

451

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

most fearless and at the same time most effective men in planting the gospel of Jesus Christ in a new country. There are thousands in Kentucky, who yet remember the voice of William Burke pealing the thunders of Sinai around them, and then softly wooing the melted heart to the foot of the cross.

Methodism, planted as we have seen in Kentucky, as Iate as 1783, grew rapidly up to 1790 in numbers. In that year, at the conference held at Masterson's station, the numbers reported were

Whites.

Colored .32

Lexington

424

Limestone.

66.

Danville.

322.

.26

Madison

.212

Cumberland

241

1265

107

Limestone circuit was taken from Lexington, and Madison from Danville cir cuit, this year. When we take into consideration the fact that the country was at that time sparsely populated, the increase of numbers is somewhat surprising. In a little more than three years from the hour that the first missionary of the Methodist Episcopal church began to preach among them a free, present, and full salvation, we find that a church has sprung up, embracing within its pale a mem- pership of nearly 1400. Well might the hardy pioneers of that day say " behold what God has wrought." The increase of membership in Kentucky appears to have been steady and uniform in its growth.

: In the accomplishment of the work in which these men were engaged, the local preachers were faithful auxiliaries, and in pushing forward the Redeemer's kingdom, they united, heart and hand, with their pious leaders. Sacrifice, toil, and suffering were endured, and the local preachers shared it. They shunned no hardship, they avoided no danger, but anxious to save souls, and to plant Methodism in the land that was to be the home of their children, they preached and labored side by side with the men whose names we have recorded.

Between the conference of 1790 and that of 1800, there was an increase in membership of 651-making a total of 1,741. During this period we find among the preachers several names which deserve to be cherished throughout the generations to come-men whose talents placed within their reach any position, and whose zeal and devotion rendered them eminently successful as ministers of the Gospel of Christ. It is but seldom that any decade, out of so small a number of preachers as in Kentucky during these ten years, has furnished so many men of such superior talents. For extraordinary powers Benjamin Northcutt excelled. The sermons of John Ray abounded in strength and wit, while the most pathetic and stirring appeals ever and anon fell from the lips of James Ward. John Page combined clear logical thought with the witchery of oratory. Benjamin Lakin was plain, practical, con- vincing. Valentine Cook was scholarly, profound, masterly in an argument, and overwhelining in the enforcement of the great truths of Christianity. William Burke was familiar with every phase of controversy, and at home in every department of theological discussion. His intellectual powers were of the highest order. These inen have all passed away, bearing testimony in their last moments to the truth and saving power of the religion they had preached.

At the conference of 1800, there were five circuits in Kentucky, to which six preachers were appointed. From 1800 to 1810, the increase was much greater than during the previous ten years. The whole number of members in 1810 was 7,057, of whom 583 were colored. There were two presiding- elder districts in the state of Kentucky, and a portion of a third district; and fourteen circuits, to which twenty-five preachers were appointed. Among the naines prominent at this period, and not previously mentioned, were those of William McKendree, Lewis Garrett, Learner Blackman, James Axley, Peter

452

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE

Cartwright, Miles Harper, Samuel Parker, Elisha W. Bowman, William Winans, and Joshua Oglesby. Among the local preachers are Gabriel and Daniel Woodfield, John Baird, Nathaniel Harris, Philip W. Taylor, Henry Ogburn, William Forman, and Joseph Ferguson.

It was during this period that Kentucky was visited with a most extra- ordinary revival of religion. Commencing in 1799, in Logan county, under the ministry of John and William McGee, two brothers-the former a Meth- odist and the latter a Presbyterian-it spread all over the state and into Ten- nessee, and under its influence thousands were awakened and converted to God. The preachers whose names we have just mentioned, together with those referred to in the former decade, by their untiring zeal and earnest labors,.pushed forward the victories of the cross, until Methodism was planted in almost every portion of the state. . Its great centers, from which a hallowed - influence went out, were Masterson's station in Fayette county, Clarke's sta- tion in Mercer, Ferguson and Chaplin chapels in Nelson, Level Woods (now in Larue), Brick chapel in Shelby, Ebenezer in Clarke, Grassy Lick in Mont- gomery, Muddy Creek and Foxtown in Madison, Mount Gerizim in Harrison, Thomas' meeting-house in Washington (now Marion), and Sandusky station (now Pleasant Run) in Marion.

Among the preachers at this time in Kentucky, William McKendree stood preeminent. He entered upon the work in the West at a most propitious period. The "Great Revival" in Kentucky and Tennessee had commenced previous to his appointment to the Kentucky district as presiding elder, and at the time he entered upon his labors, throughout this whole region, a reli- gious excitement was spreading and prevailing. In company with Bishops Asbury and Whatcoat he passed through a considerable portion of Kentucky reviewing this section of his field of labor, preaching with extraordinary fer- vor, and bringing the wealth of his princely intellect and of his tireless energy, and laying all upon the altar of the church. Traveling his vast dis- trict, he had been but a few months on the ground till he understood perfectly his field of labor, moving day and night, visiting families, organizing societies, and holding quarterly conferences. It was his constant practice to travel from thirty to fifty miles a day and preach at night. All classes of people flocked to hear him. Statesmen, lawyers, doctors, theologians, of all denom- inations, clustered around him, saying, as they returned home, "Did you ever hear the like before ?" Some were so captivated that they would say: "Never man spake like this man." Wherever he went he carried a holy influence, which, like "a flame of fire," spread in every direction. True, sometimes he was depressed, for he was mortal; but, nothing daunted, he moved with steady and resistless step, an example of labor and piety among his brethren. Deep streams could not divert him from his course, high mountains presented no barrier, the rains of summer and the snows of winter alike unmoved him. Often he swam the turbid streams to reach the appointments he had made. And many a time, after a long day's travel, he lay out in the woods at night, hungry and cold, with no other covering than his clothes and saddle-blanket, and the blue sky above him.

Mr. McKendree was elevated to the Episcopal office in 1808; and in 1809 the name of Learner Blackman appears as the presiding elder on the Cumber- land district, embracing all of West 'Tennessee, part of Middle Tennessee, on the waters of Elk and Duck rivers, Madison county, in the Mississippi terri- tory, and all Kentucky, below the mouth of Green river, and the counties of Ohio and Breckinridge, above Green river. Mr. Blackman was no ordinary man. He was converted to God and brought into the church in the spring of 1797, through the instrumentality of John Collins, a young Methodist preacher, who had married Mr. Blackman's sister. Although Mr. Collins became dis- tinguished in the ministry, yet in his earlier efforts to preach the gospel he gave no signs of promise. His wife-the first of her father's family who was converted, and who had joined the church at the same time with her husband -feeling a deep solicitude for his reputation, advised him to desist, stating at the same time that he could never succeed. "I think it likely, Sarah," was his candid reply; "but though I may never become a respectable preacher myself, it is my purpose to continue trying until I am instrumental in the con-

453

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

version of some one who will make a preacher;" nor was it long before he was instrumental in the conversion of Learner Blackman.

From the time Mr. Blackman entered the ministry, in 1800, he was "a burning and a shining light." His career as a preacher, however, was brief, in- cluding only fourteen years. During this time no man labored with more con- stant devotion or more untiring zeal. Success crowned his labors, for thousands through his instrumentality were brought to Christ. In personal appearance he was commanding and attractive, nearly six feet high, and remarkably straight. In the pulpit he stood erect, while his address was most pleasing. His voice was soft and agreeable, and its modulations in exact accordance with nature. In every department of his work he excelled. If he preached upon the duties of Christianity, he impressed upon his hearers the paramount importance of a holy life. If he presented the great doctrines of the Bible, he handled error with a giant arm. Frequently he bore down every thing before him. Inspired often with the grandeur of his theme, he arose to the loftiest heights of oratory, and in words of burning eloquence portrayed the "exceed- ing sinfulness of sin;" and then, "dipping his pencil in living light," he would "paint the agonies that Jesus bore" on Calvary, while the hundreds who sat before him would be melted to tenderness and tears. Such was Learner Blackman.

In 1810, as already stated, there were in Kentucky two presiding elder's districts and a portion of a third; in 1820 there were three districts and part of a fourth. In 1810 there were fourteen, and in 1820 twenty-eight circuits- to which latter fifty preachers were appointed. In 1820 were reported 14,035 white and 1,635 colored members-an increase in ten years of 6,928 white and 1,052 colored members.

Among the preachers who entered the ministry during this period, Marcus Lindsey, Jonathan Stamper, William McMahon, William Adams, Samuel Par- ker, and Henry B. Bascom became eminent.

From the time he made his appearance in Kentucky as a preacher, Mr. Bascom not only took rank with the ablest ministers of the church, but he attracted more than ordinary attention in the public mind. The sunshine of fortune had not smiled on his early years, nor had he been blessed with the advantages that education bestows. Converted in childhood, he entered the ministry when only a youth. Grappling with difficultites, before he became a preacher, that seemed almost insurmountable, he held them in abeyance to his wishes. Not conforming to certain notions then prevalent, his entrance into the ministry met with opposition, while in the prosecution of his work, persecutions bitter and relentless pursued him at every step. Without the. sympathy of the church, to the welfare of which he was devoting his strength, and opposed by many of his seniors in the ministry, of whom he expected en- couragement, yet courted by other communions, he spurned their propositions and remained alike unmoved to the chilling words of censure or the warm breath of praise. Such was Henry Bidleman Bascom.

He was the son of Alpheus and Hannah Bascom, and was born May 27, 1796, in the town of Hancock, Delaware county, New York. He embraced religion August 18, 1810, and the next spring joined the Methodist Episcopal church. His father emigrated to the West in 1812, and settled in or near Maysville, Ky. He remained here but a short time, when he removed to Ohio, about five miles from Maysville, in the direction of Ripley, where he located permanently. The poverty of the family made it necessary for Henry to labor constantly for their support, in any manner that offered most remu- neration-at one time even in driving a dray. He never went to school after he was twelve years of age. The conviction was upon him that he ought to preach, and at fifteen years of age he began to exhort. In February, 1813, before he was seventeen, he was licensed to preach, and appointed to Brush Creek circuit. In the Ohio conference of that year he was admitted on trial, and appointed to Deer Creek circuit, and in 1814 to Guyandotte circuit, in Virginia.

Such a prejudice sprang up against Mr. Bascom-partly because of his fine personal appearance and handsome address, and of his ornate style in the pulpit, but mainly because he did "not either dress or look like a Methodist

454

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE

preacher"-as prevented his admission into full connection and his election to deacon's orders. On the Guyandotte circuit the miserable pittance of twelve dollars and ten cents was all he received for his year's services, but he murmured not. Neither poor fare, poor pay, nor difficulties and privations such as few have to encounter, disheartened him. He patiently labored and endured, in humble confidence that with the blessing of God would come, in time, the acknowledgment and encouragement which the conference had never long withheld from others. His faithful work in the immense field of the Mad river circuit, extending from the Scioto river westward beyond the Great Miami, and northward into the Indian country, did not even disarm op- position. Although the next conference refused him the orders to which he was entitled, good Bishop Mckendree said, "Give me that boy; I will be responsible for him." His diary, about that time, abounds with passages which show his humility, his love of prayer, his often resort to secret prayer "in the woods," his sweet trust in his Redeemer.

- In 1816-17 he preached in the Danville and Madison circuits in Kentucky, and in 1818-19 at Louisville-the first preacher ever stationed in that city. So great was his popularity here that many influential citizens-not familiar with the then law of the church-united in a petition to the bishop, at the ensuing conference, to return him to Louisville for the third year. In 1820 he was appointed on the Madison circuit, as junior preacher, and in 1821, to the Hinkstone circuit, as third man; it was no wonder that such results of opposition in Kentucky drove him back to the Ohio conference, at his own request, where, in 1822, he was again appointed to his first circuit, Brush creek.

In 1823, while stationed at Steubenville, Ohio, he was elected-through the influence of the great statesman of Kentucky, Henry Clay-as chaplain to the House of Representatives of Congress. In the interim between the sessions of Congress he preached in several of the large Eastern cities to admiring thousands. His efforts at Baltimore and Annapolis gained him reputation as the first pulpit orator of the world. At Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and at several camp-meetings, great crowds attended on his ministry, and hundreds were awakened and converted to God. His two-year appointment to Congress seemed to greatly extend the sphere of his usefulness.

In 1824 the Pittsburgh conference, to which he had been transferred, ap- pointed him to the city of Pittsburgh; and, in 1825, as conference missionary. In the latter field he was received with great enthusiasm, and his mighty talents were more blessed to the glory of God than ever before. In 1826 he was stationed in Uniontown, Pennsylvar ia, and was president of Madison col- lege, in that place, in 1827 and 1828. For two years, 1829-30, he was agent for the American Colonization Society. He was transferred, in 1831, to the Kentucky conference, and elected to the professorship of moral science and belles-lettres in Augusta college, which he filled for ten years. During this time he was elected president of Louisiana college, and had tendered him the presidency of Missouri university, but declined both honors. He was subse- quently elected and for some years served as president of Transylvania uni- versity-during which time that venerable institution seemed to revive its an- cient glory and enter upon a new career of usefulness.

Between the years 1840 and 1845 the honorary degree of D.D. was con- ferred upon President Bascom by two colleges and two universities, and the degree of LL.D. by LaGrange college, Alabama.

In 1828 he was first elected a delegate to the general conference-which generous confidence of his fellow-ministers he so handsomely retained as to be chosen to every general conference up to the period of his election as bishop, at St. Louis, in 1850.

In 1845, at the convention of delegates from the annual conferences, held in Louisville, Ky., by a ratio of six to one, the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church South was determined upon, and the necessary measures taken to effect it-Dr. Bascom, as chairman of the cominitte on that subject, preparing a report remarkable for its ability and clearness, and which met the almost unanimous approbation of that distinguished body. The general con- ference of 1846, at Petersburg, Va., established the "Methodist Quarterly Re- view," and elected Dr. Bascom editor; and also appointed him chairman of

٠٩

455

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

the board of commissioners to settle the controversy between the Methodist churches, North and South. In 1849 he prepared for publication a volume of his sermons, which had a rapid sale and met with great public favor.

The St. Louis conference, the only one he lived to attend as bishop, met July 10, 1850. After its adjournment he visited the Indian Manual Labor school, at Fort Leavenworth, and preached on his tour, at Weston, Booneville, Lexington, and St. Louis. The latter was the last sermon he ever preached- an effort of great power, and of two hours' continuance-in the afternoon of the last Sabbath in July, 1850. He reached Louisville, on his homeward journey to Lexington, on the 2d of August, too sick to proceed further, and died, at the residence of Rev. Dr. Stevenson, on Sunday, Sept. 8, 1850, aged 54 years -- in the meridian of his fame, and just as a new and brighter career of usefulness had opened before him.

" The death of no preacher of the gospel in America ever produced such a thrill of sorrow throughout the country as that of Bishop Bascom. The press every-where teemed with tributes of respect to his memory; but the church of which he had so long been an ornament was clad in deepest mourning. In his personal appearance he was faultless. His hair was black, and rather thin: his eye was also black, and beamed keen with sentiment. His forehead resembled that 'of Daniel Webster in lofty expansion; it seemed the very throne of intellect. The lips were thin, and, in connection with the chin, indi- cated great firmness and decision of character. The general cast of his coun- tenance approached a calm sternness; but when unbent in familiar conversa- tion, his features became touchingly fine. His voice, of late years, after the affection of his throat, was somewhat husky, but it left sharp and distinct upon the ear the rapid words which clothed his ideas. At its best it must have pos- sessed an untold power of impression, and sounded with the ring of a 'clear, uplifted trumpet.' One of his hearers spoke of it as 'articulate thunder.' His gesticulation was natural, evidently unstudied, and prompted by the emotion of the moment. It was none the less telling on that account. Obviously, it was his wont to throw himself upon the rushing stream of passion, without thinking at all of gesture, voice, or manner." " To the church-to the highest interests of what he conceived to be the cause of Christ in the world-Dr. Bascom devoted his enthusiasm, his energies, and activities. He did this without reserve, without pause, and not without strong temptations from the highest worldly inducements, in an opposite direction. 'Poor and embarrassed as I am,' he wrote to a brother minister, who, under the stress of narrow circumstances, was looking to the profession of the law, 'I am re- solved to have no client but Him who at first employed me to plead the great cause of human salvation; and I know my fee will be certain and large.' What things were gain to him, those he counted loss for Christ Faithfully, bravely, and to the end, he stood by his early convictions as a Methodist minister."

The general conference of 1820 provided for the formation of the state of Kentucky into a seperate annual conference, although the first session was not held until 1821.

In 1830 were reported six districts, embracing 51 circuits and stations, to which 93 preachers were appointed. The increase in membership from 1820 to 1830 was 8,870 whites, and 3,649 colored. The total membership was 28,189.

It will be interesting to inquire whether Methodism had kept pace with the population. In 1820 the total population of Kentucky was 685,049. The membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the same time was 15,670- about one forty-third of the population being Methodists. In 1830 the popula- tion of the State was 854,194, while the Methodist Church had increased to 28,189-being in the ratio to the total population of about one to thirty.

The preachers who entered the ministry during this decade, and became eminent in the Church, were: Edward Stevenson, Peter Akers, George C. Light, Thomas A. Morris, Edwin Ray, Benjamin T. Crouch, Lewis Parker, Hubbard Hinde Kavanaugh, John Fisk, Joseph S. Tomlinson, Charles M. Holliday, William Gunn, John P. Durbin, Littleton Fowler, Silas Lee, and Thomas N. Ralston.

456

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE

HUBBARD HINDE KAVANAUGH, was born January 14, 1802, in Clarke county, Kentucky. At the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to the printing business, under Rev. John Lyle, at Paris; was converted to God, November 3, 1817, and two months after joined the Methodist church; in September, 1822, he was licensed, and, while preaching, edited and published the " Western Watchman," at Augusta. Entering the conference in 1823, for thirty-one years he devoted himself to his holy office, as pastor in all the prin- cipal towns and cities-ranking from the first as one of the most eloquent and gifted ministers in Kentucky. In 1854 he was elected a bishop, the duties of which (January, 1874), he continued to perform with great zeal and acceptance-honored of God and beloved of man and the church.

In 1840, were reported eight districts, embracing 83 circuits and stations, to which 109 preachers were appointed. The membership was 30,679 white, and 6,321 colored, a total increase in ten years of 6,811.

In 1850 there were in the state two conferences, the Kentucky and Louis- ville, together with the Paducah district in the Memphis conference; in all 13 districts, with 123 circuits and stations, to which 138 preachers were appointed. The membership was 36,104 white, and 8,527 colored-a total increase of 7,631.

In 1860 were reported 15 districts, embracing 173 circuits and stations, to which 183 preachers were appointed. The membership was 46,181 white, and 10,634 colored-an increase since 1850 of 11,584.

In 1870 were reported 18 districts, embracing 213 circuits and stations, to which 235 preachers were appointed. The membership was 45,522 white, and 487 colored.

The statistics thus far show the numerical strength of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South. During this decade the colored Methodists were set off into a separate organization, which accounts for the apparent decrease in their membership. Besides those we have mentioned, there are in Kentucky 19,508 members in the Methodist Episcopal Church (North).

The statistics are as follows :

Methodist Episcopal Church South, Whites .. 45,522 Colored, 487

North, Whites and Colored, 19,508

Colored Methodists in different organizations,

12,000

65,030

12,487

Total .77,517

It will be seen from the above table that since the introduction of Method- ism into Kentucky, its advance has been steady, with only occasional inter- ruptions. During the recent civil war the progress of the Methodist Episco- pal Church South was for awhile arrested, and its numbers greatly diminished, but since the termination of the war it has regained all that it had lost. From the meeting of the conferences in 1865 to 1870, a period of only five years, the increase was 13,534; being greater than during any previous five years of its history. The past twelve months, the increase in the Kentucky and Louisville conferences reached nearly three thousand. Not indifferent to the cause of education, the first school of high grade established in the district, before Kentucky became a state, was under the auspices of Methodism; and now the Kentucky Wesleyan University at Millersburg, and the incipient col- lege at Bowling Green, (the former under the patronage of the Kentucky, and the latter of the Louisville conference, ) and the Kentucky Military Institute, near the capital of the state-together with its female colleges at Millersburg, at Shelbyville, at Louisville, and at Russellville-indicate the deep interest Methodism is taking in the education of the young. Adhering to the doc- trines of the gospel that has rendered it so influential in winning souls to Christ, the depravity of man's nature-redemption through Jesus Christ-the agency and witness of the Spirit-the regeneration and sanctification of man's nature, we trust its future will be brighter and more glorious than its past.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 87

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452