USA > Missouri > Annals of Methodism in Missouri : containing an outline of the ministerial life of more than one thousand preachers, and sketches of more than three hundred ; also sketches of charges, churches and laymen from the beginning in 1806 to the centennial year, 1884, containing seventy-eight years of history > Part 24
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30
P
-
301
CANTON CIRCUIT.
that I have failed to procure data to enable me to write: sketches of these charges.
Canton entertained the annual Conference as early as. IS20, which was presided over by Andrew Monroe.
Dr. Rush informs me that William Pritchard and wife,. Middleton Smoot and wife, Jacob and Henry Brown and their wives were the charter members. The class was organ -. ized in the house of William Pritchard by W. A. H. Spratt, in 1831. It was the first class organized in Lewis county, and was in Palmyra circuit. I cannot give the date of church buildings. Dr. Ruth was licensed to preach in this. county when it belonged to Monticello circuit.
In the St. Louis Conference for this year, Sarcoxie (now Neosho) district first appears. The name of Hillsboro cir- cuit is changed to De Soto, and Rolla mission and Syracuse circuit (now Bunceton) enter the list of appointments, and Warrensburg is made a station.
1860.
Two new charges appear in the Missouri Conference- this year, Emmerson Mission and Hydesburg circuit.
In the St. Louis, Allenton and Marshall first appear, and Versailles becomes a circuit.
The first class was organized in Marshall in 1842, and was composed of Rev. J. Hood and wife, Dr. J. Hicks and wife, J. A. and Rebecca Trigg, F. H. Brown, Benoni Rob- ison and Thomas Davis. The first house of worship was a frame building and was dedicated by T. P. Akers in I855 or 1856. The second, which is the present one, was com- menced in 1870, and was dedicated by Bishop Marvin in 1876. It is of brick, and cost $9,000. The Southwest
IS61. 305
Missouri Conference was most delightfully entertained there in 18So. I suppose the charge never licensed any person to preach.
1861.
The Missouri Conference for this year was held in Glas- gow, and was presided over by W. G. Caples. No new charges were organized.
The St. Louis met in Arrow Rock and after the first day adjourned to Waverly, where it completed its session under the presidency of D. A. Leeper. No increase of charges.
This was the last session held by this Conference till March, 1864, when, by the appointment of Bishop Soule, it met in first church, St. Louis, and held a session of two days duration, under the presidency of Dr. J. Boyle, and adjourned to meet at the same place in September, which it did and completed its work under the presidency of Bishop Kavanangh, who also presided at the next session, which was held in Centenary church in 1865.
'The printed minutes contain nothing from this Confer- ence from 1860 to 1866, and the Conference journal was burned during the war, Of the proceedings of 1864 and 1865 there ought to be a record somewhere, but I cannot learn who has it in charge.
In 1860 there were ten districts and ninety-one circuits, stations and missions. In 1865 there were but five districts and fifty-four pastoral charges. In 1860 the statistical report shows 25,365 members and ministers; in 1866 there were only 8,075 reported.
305
SUMMARY.
1863-5.
The Missouri Conference did not meet in 1862, but held regular sessions under the presidency of Andrew Monroe in IS63 and 1864, and in IS65, Bishop Kavanaugh presided. In IS60, this Conference had S districts, S2 pastoral charges, and 25,420 members and ministers. In IS66, 5 districts, 50 pastoral charges and 12, 102 members and ministers.
"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."
CHAPTER IX.
SECTION I.
"When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow, For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress."
1865.
The Missouri Conference admitted two on trial this year, one of whom located in 1872 and the other died in 1873, and one was received by transfer.
1866.
One received on trial by the Missouri Conference this year and two came by transfer. The St. Louis admitted four on trial and readmitted one. Of the eight, five have located, three of whom have been readmitted, one of them twice, so that five are yet in the field. Three have been Presiding Elders and one a delegate to the General Con- ference.
1867.
Eleven entered the Missouri Conference this year by the door of trial and one got in some other way. Don't know how. The St. Louis Conference had four applicants, two were readmitted and one came by transfer. Of the nineteen, two discontinued, one withdrew, one was expelled, one
308
SAMUEL SWIFT BRYANT.
transferred, five located and three have died. Three have served as presiding elders in Missouri and one was a deel- gate to the General Conference, and he is entitled, under rule, to further notice.
SAMUEL SWIFT BRYANT was a Virginian, born Aug. 4; 1809, and brought up in Norfolk. He was converted in his eighteenth year and soon after moved to South Carolina, where he was licensed to preach and joined that Conference in 1832. There he served on circuits, stations, districts and agencies fourteen years and located. Early in 1867 he came to St. Louis and was employed by the presiding elder, T. M. Finney, to serve Wesley Chapel, which he did most accepta- bly. I first made his acquaintance in Dr. Smith's office, in Centenary Church, that year. He was readmitted into the St. Louis Conference at its next session and stationed at In- dependence, where he remained two years: then on Kansas City District four years; after which he served Warrensburg, Jefferson City and Walnut street, Kansas City charges, each two years.
This brings us to the end of the eventful life of an extraordinary man.
He died Dec. 28, 1879, at the home of his brother and friend, Rev. Wm. Holmes, of Kansas City, and was buried by his wife and son in Independence.
The following just, though brief estimate of Dr. Bryant was furnished me, at my request, by one who knew him long and esteemed him highly in love for his works' sake :
"Samuel S. Bryant was possessed of genius. Rare powers of analysis were his; and powerful thought was supported by vivid imagination. As long as he lived, he was a student; few mèn read so much, or digested so thoroughly what they read. He was eloquent, with a vein of natural humor, often allied to tender pathos. Fre-
1867. 309
quently he was quite unaware of the quaintness of his own express- ions, so that the momentary amusement of his audience surprised him. He was quite devoid of worldly ambition, and, as to doing anything merely for 'effect,' he was simply incapable of it.
"Singularly young at heart, this silver-haired preacher, approach- ing to the allotted three-score-and-ten years of human life, could enter into the feelings of the young with delicate sympathy; hence he was a favorite with young people, many of whom called him 'Papa Bryant.' It was, doubtless, 'his youthfulness of spirit that enabled him to comprehend the times in which he lived,-to adapt himself to their changes, and, in many respects, to agree with new opinions; unless, indeed, these new opinions in any way opposed themselves to Christianity.
""I am not afraid of Truth,' he was wont to say; 'Truth, scientific or other, must needs accept and agree with that Being of whom it is an attribute. Even where apparent differences occur, these are only apparent,-if the opinions advanced as truth be really true.'
"Dr. Bryant possessed one very striking characteristic. He was a devoted friend, but anything but a formidable foe. He could love with all his heart; but he was by no means what Johnson called 'a good hater.' Indeed, he could not hate,-nor could he distrust. His impulse was to love whomsoever he came in contact with; if this was not reciprocated, the affection on his part, though not intrusive, did not cease. Even if injured or deceived, his pity for the man who could, of set purpose, injure or betray another, far exceeded any resentment on his own behalf. These characteristics were so natural with him that they could hardly be called virtues,-unless natural virtues. So far from finding it hard to forgive, it was hard for him not to do so.
"His faith in Christ,-his belief in the resurrection, and in the final reunion of those in heaven who had loved on earth,-these were child-like in unwavering confidence.
"He prepared his sermons with great care, always using 'notes' when preaching, yet, these were really mere notes,-heads of his intended discourse, with here and there a full sentence, or even a short paragraph; 'skeletons' of sermons. In no case did he ever
310
SAMUEL SWIFT BRYANT.
write out a sermon in full,-unless for publication. He spoke with great fluency, never at a loss for words; and it occasionally happened that, having entered the pulpit, something would forcibly suggest to him another text, and a sermon wholly extempore, or a new sermon on the first-chosen text. Knowing the ease with which he could speak on any subject, his friends sometimes asked why he took pains to arrange his 'notes,' at all; which he answered to the following effect :
" 'One who depends wholly on written discourses is apt to be more profound in thought, more accurate in reasoning, more careful in expression, than one who depends on the inspiration of the moment; yet, he is also apt to become tedious, dry, and more or less out of immediate sympathy with his hearers. One, who depends wholly upon the gift of eloquence, is apt to become illogical, scattering and extremely careless in construction, while he will assuredly repeat himself, taking ten or fifteen minutes to say what might be told in five. However, he usually strikes the chord to which his congrega- tion responds, and is often able to hold their attention and arouse their thought and feeling better than a more careful preacher. Since, therefore, it is necessary to influence and (if possible) to really move the hearer, and at the same time to say nothing self-contradictory, heretical, or otherwise objectionable, it is best to unite the two methods, to take the best parts, so to speak, of extempore and written discourse, avoiding, if possible, the worst faults of both. In this age, a preacher's words are often closely watched for the purpose of criticism, or even to find occasion of reproach; hence, he cannot be too careful. Ile should always address the highest intellectual and spiritual element in the congregation before him.'
.
"Perhaps, it was owing to this careful preparation that Dr. Bryant's sermons increased in ability, clearness of thought, beauty of illustration, and pure spirituality, so long as he was able to preach at all. He often expressed a desire not to live to be superannuated, but to 'die in the harness.' Be never was really superannuated. So frail had he grown that, as time drew near for the last Conference he ever attended,-held at Kansas City,-he could not attend to the necessary duties, and these were fulfilled, with the utmost kindness, by Rev. W. B. Palmore. Dr. C. C. Woods succeeded Dr. Bryant at
311
IS6S.
Kansas City, and the latter was made 'supernumerary.'-merely that his devoted friends might have charge of him until his death. The last intelligible words of Dr. Bryant consisted of a quotation from Revelations: 'To him that overcometh, I will give a crown of life.'' 1868.
Just even two dozen new names were entered on the roll this year, thirteen in the Missouri Conference and eleven in the St. Louis. Fourteen entered on trial, one was readmitted and nine came by transfer. Of the twenty-four, three discontinued, two have withdrawn, one was expelled, four have been transferred, six have located, three of whom died. One disappeared in 1869 and eight are now members of the Missouri Conference. Four have filled the office of P. E. The rule requires further notice of only one.
THOMAS J. GOOCH was born at Denmark, Madison county, Tennessee, June 4, 1852. When just twenty-one years old he began his life work in the Memphis Conference, which he joined in 1853, and in which he spent fifteen years preaching and teaching in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. He was transferred to the Mis- souri Conference in IS6S, and stationed in Columbia. After this he served the church three years in Glasgow, one in Carrollton, two in Mexico, one in St. Charles, two in St. Joseph, four in Mexico, and nearly two on the Mexico district, making nearly sixteen years in Missouri, half of which was spent in and around Mexico. Here the good man and faithful preacher "met his tate quite on the verge of heaven" May 1, IS84, and entered into the joy of his Lord. Mr. Gooch was a man of more than ordinary ability, as is indicated by his appointments. He was portly ; had a com- manding presence, and a physique, peculiar to himself, which
312
THOMAS J. GOOCH.
attracted attention. The memory of him will abide in Mis- souri for a long time. The minutes say of him :
"He died at his post like a Christian hero. His faith sustained him in his physical sufferings, which were intensely severe. To a brother minister seated at his bedside the Sabbath before he died, he said: 'I am now testing the gospel I have preached to others for years.' 'Do you find it sufficient, Brother Gooch?' 'O, yes; it is all I want. Jesus is my rock; in Him I trust, in Him I trust. All is bright; there is not a cloud in my sky. I am ready to go.' This was his last testimony. In labors, he was abundant; in work, continu- ous; confering not with flesh and blood, or ease or comfort. He went wherever duty called him, regardless of bad weather and all other difficulties. Every preacher in his district loved him with a pure heart fervently, because he felt in Brother Gooch he had a warm personal friend. Among all classes of citizens, our brother's death created a profound and wide-spread sorrow. The community (Mexico), where he labored long and acceptably, and where he fell mourned him as one endeared to all. His funeral was the most largely attended of any ever held in Central Missouri. When his funeral sermon was preached, the ministers of the various churches in Mexico were all present, and publicly, and with tears, bore testi- mony to the nobility of nature and Christian worth of our brother." 1869.
We greet twenty-five new names this year, ten in the Missouri and fifteen in the St. Louis; nineteen on trial, two by readmission and four by transfer. Seven discontinued, two have withdrawn, five have transferred, five have located and three have died. Three have served in the office of pre- siding elder, and one is a L D. and a bishop. 1870.
Twelve were admitted on trial this year, one readmitted and five received by transfer. Missouri got seven and St. Louis eleven. Of the eightcen, two discontinued, seven have been transferred, four have located and three have died. Two have reached the presiding eldership.
313
IS71.
1871.
This year the Missouri Conference received sixteen on trial and three by transfer. Only two sought admission into the St. Louis Conference, while the new Southwest Missouri Conference heard the voice of eleven asking for admittance. Two came in by transfer and one came in from another church, making a total of thirty-four. Of this large class- the largest yet received in one year-six discontinued, one has withdrawn, three have transferred, twelve have located and two have died. One has served as presiding elder and one is a missionary in China.
1872.
A class of twenty-nine was enrolled this year ; eleven in the Missouri, five in the St. Louis and thirteen in the South- west Missouri. Six discontinued, one withdrew, seven have transferred, seven have located and two have died. None have reached the presiding eldership, nor been "doctored." 1873.
This year the Missouri admitted eight on trial, readmit- ted one and received two transfers. The St. Louis had one applicant for admission, one readmission and five transfers. Southwest Missouri had two applicants, and two came by transfer. Of the twenty-two, three discontinued, one with- drew, five have been transferred, five have located and three have died. Only one has reached the office of presiding elder. 1874.
Again we have thirty-four new names entered upon the roll ; twelve in the Missouri, fourteen in the St. Louis and eight in the Southwest Missouri. Twenty were applicants for membership, one was readmitted and thirteen were trans- fers. Four discontinued, eight have been transferred, five
314
BENJAMIN TAYLOR KAVANAUGH.
have located and two have died. One disappeared and four -.. teen are yet sowing and reaping. This year ends another decade, during which 215 men have passed before us, the aggregate of whose service is 2,103 years, which is short forty-seven of an average of ten. As this section is so short, I shall expand it somewhat by a brief mention of the names of three great men, who have taught and toned up Meth- odism in Missouri during the past and present decades, but were excluded by rule :
BENJAMIN TAYLOR KAVANAUGH, a brother of the bishop, and in some points of character even a greater man, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, April 28, 1805, and from two years old was reared by a widowed mother. He was converted in Lexington at the age of fourteen ; was. licensed to preach in 1829, and joined the Illinois Confer- ence in IS35 ; afterwards located, studied medicine, went to St. Louis in IS50, was a while professor in the medical department of the Missouri State University; then the first editor of the St. Louis Advocate; was re-admitted into the St. Louis Conference in 1857, and stationed two years each at Lexington and Independence ; was chaplain in the Con- federate army. For fifteen years after the war closed he- was preacher, doctor, professor and editor, in Tevas. In IS79 he returned to Kentucky, where, though blind. he con- tinued his many-sided labors, writing books-one on elec- tricity-and communications for papers and preaching, till July 3, ISSS, when he ceased to work and entered into his. rest. The above outline does not near tell all he was and did. He preached fifty-nine years in Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri and Texas. In the meantime he was editor, professor, agent, pyhsician and
IS71. 315
lecturer, Before he was preacher, he was a book-binder, tanner and land agent. "He kept all the irons in the fire- tongs, shovel and poker." During the session of the St. Louis Conference in St. Louis in 1853, I was Dr. Kava- naugh's guest. One evening I was not well. He gave me a dose of medicine that had capsicum in it. When he handed it to me, he said: "When you take it, keep your mouth shut. People can save themselves of much sufiering in this world by keeping their mouths shut." I have thous- ands of times thought of the admonition, and kept my mouth shut. So much so, that my wife calls me the silent man. I fear I have observed the injunction too closely. I believe I ought to talk more than I do. One of the greatest revivals. Lexington, Mo., ever had was under the ministry of Dr. Kavanaugh. He left some books in manuscript that ought to be published. Ile ought to have a biographer, but Dr. Redford is dead.
WILLIAM ANDREW SMITH was born in Fredericksburg, Va., November 29, 1802, and died in Richmond, Va., March 1, IS70. He was an orphan, both parents having died when he was but a boy. He commenced preaching when he was twenty-one years old. He was admitted on trial by the Virginia Conference in IS25. Was elected to the General Conference in IS32, and every subsequent Gen- cral Conference as long as he lived. He was elected presi- dent of Randolph Macon college in 1846; came to Missouri in 1866; served Centenary church, St. Louis, two years ; was elected president of Central college in 186S, and during the year following raised nearly $100,000 endowment; over- taxed his strength, in this, the greatest year's work of his life ; returned to Virginia, by leave of the curators, in quest
316
FRANCIS X. FORSTER.
of health, but to find a grave in his own native soil. Dr. Smith was one of nature's noblemen. He was a leader among truly great men. In 186º [ heard him preach in the Hall of Representatives, in Jefferson City, standing immedi- ately under a portrait of George Washington. The picture looked as though the preacher of the hour might have sat for its taking. There was certainly a striking resemblance. Then he was to Southern Methodism what George Washing- ton was to the United States. He was, in the organization of our church, the leader thereof. All who have read the debates in the General Conference of 1844 will accept this statement as true. As a logician, he had no equal in that body of great men. In this line he had but one superior in the South, and that was Dr. A. T. Bledsoe. But I must forbear. He barely touched Missouri. His fame is the heritage of Virginia Methodism.
FRANCIS X. FORSTER was admitted on trial by the South Carolina Conference in 1847, and disappears there- from in 1849. He was again admitted on trial in 1856; this time in the Georgia Conference, by which he was received into full connection in 1858, and from which he dis- appeared, I know not how, in 1864. I next find his name in the Missouri Conference in 1869, as principal of Fayette Classical seminary, but how he got into the Conference the minutes do not show. He located in 1876, and died in ISSO, and was buried at Fayette. Mr. Forster was profess- or in Wesleyan Female college at Macon, Ga., from 1857 to 1864; then in Central college at Fayette, Mo., from 1870 until he died. I think he came to Missouri early in 1869. I know he was in Jefferson City a while that year, in charge either of the church or a school, the latter I think. His life
317
IS71.
was given mostly to teaching. It was from the professor's chair he reached and helped Missouri Methodism most. In Central college he came in contact with hundreds of the brightest and best boys of the state, and while he rests from his labors, his work still goes on through the hands and heads and hearts of those in whose training he took such an important part. He was pastor of Fayette station the first year of its existence. The minutes contain no memoir of him.
CHAPTER IX.
SECTION II.
"Awake, awake, put on thy strength O, Zion; put on thy beauti- ful garments, O, Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean." 1866.
The conferences met within ten miles of each other this year-the Missouri at Richmond and the St. Louis in Lex- ington, and were presided over for the first time by that prince of preachers, Bishop Doggett. In the Missouri, Macon City becomes a station and Rushville, New Market and Newark circuits come. upon the roll. In the St. Louis conference seven districts appear instead of five last year, one of which however was mostly in Kansas.
After the war all of Southeast Missouri was thrown into one district, called Iron Mountain, to which this writer was appointed. Now it is divided and two of the old districts- Cape Girardeau and Greenville-restored. In the St. Louis district we have three new names, Fenton; Mt. Olive circuit and Chamois, and in the Cape Girardeau district, DeSoto circuit is named Platin. Lexington district takes the name of Kansas City. Fenton and Mt. Olive were taken from the St. Louis circuit, and yet the "old hive" had enough bees left to make honey for Morris and Browning. Chamois was a new name for the old Linn circuit. The good people of
IS67. 319
'Chamois built a church about this time, which was dedicated by the Presiding Elder, T. M. Finney, for whom it was named. A pastorate of three years endeared the good people of this circuit to me, and I hope never to forget the names of Knott, Wagner, Marquand, Shobe, Wyatt, Pearl, Zevely, Chapman, Evans, Davis, Miller, Lambeth, Bumpass, Holloway. Stratton and many others.
1867.
The Missouri Conference met this year for the first time in Macon City, and the St. Louis for the first time in Kansas City, and were both presided over for the first time by our own matchless Marvin. The Missouri Conference honored their guests by placing the name of their city at the head of a new district, where it still remains. Savannah district was restored, and Montana district appears with L. B. Stateler, Presiding Elder. The new pastoral charges are Cottleville, New Florence and Wright City, in St. Charles district ; and in Chillicothe district Richmond was made a station and the circuit was named Camden. St. Francisville mission, in Hannibal district, takes its place among the pastoral charges ; also Jacksonville mission in Macon. In St. Louis district, Union circuit disappears from which comes Labadie circuit, and Washington station, both of which abide. In the Cape Girardeau district Oak Ridge comes on the list, which was next year changed to Pocahontas. It is the upper half of Jackson circuit.
1868.
The Conferences met this year in Weston and Jefferson City, and for the last time the genial, fun-loving, good Bishop Kavanaugh was with us. Plattsburg district was reorganized and Breckinridge and Bethany, Haynesville and
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.