USA > Nebraska > A history of Nebraska Methodism, first half-century, 1854-1904 > Part 4
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If the first contribution for the first Methodist church erected in Nebraska was made by a non-church member, the subsequent success of the enterprise depended largely on the generosity of another outsider, S. F. Nuckells, a banker, who generously gave one-fourth of the entire cost while the building was in progress, amounting to $1, 125, and at the dedication gave $200 more.
These two cases are thus mentioned as typical of what took place very often in those early days, and even before the days of Church Extension help, made it possible for
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little, struggling societies to secure places of worship. It indicates the fact that these worldly wise business men had come to place a high value on the Church as a great power for good in determining the character of the civil- ization that should prevail in the State. Thus it often happened that a large percentage of the means needed for the erection of the first churches came from these enterprising non-Christian business men, and in not a few cases, more than half the sum needed came from that source. Even in a place like O'Neil, Nebraska, where a large percentage of the population is Roman Catholic, Rev. B. Blain, who built our church at that place, says there was more money contributed by the Catholics for the building of the first Methodist church at that place than the Methodists themselves were able to give, there being but a handful of them, and they very poor. The mention of these facts is not intended to discredit the giving of the members themselves, which was doubtless in many of these cases, if not in all, far more in proportion to their ability than that of the non-Church members, and from higher motives, and at greater sacrifice.
While Brother Gage had already secured a subscrip- tion of $2,400, and had let the contract to John Hamlin for a brick church, forty by sixty feet, before leaving the charge, and probably immediately after the organiza- tion of the Church, the successful prosecution of the work was chiefly due to his successor, Rev. H. Burch, who reached Nebraska City, November 29, 1855. He at once addressed himself to the task of completing the projected church building. The walls had been completed to the square, half the subscription had been collected and paid to the contractor, and no more subscriptions were due
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until the church was completed. The winter season had set in, and nothing more could be done till spring. Mean- while a heavy wind had blown down the side walls. This caused consternation among the little band of sixteen members, and scemed like utter defeat to the enterprise. I will let Brother Burch tell the story of how this crisis was met :
"We had a meeting of the Board of Trustees, and after giving the subject a good deal of consideration, it was decided that the only thing to do was to go ahead and complete a church on the foun- dation already laid. To do this, it was necessary to borrow $800, as that amount under the contract was due the contractor, and because of the de- fault of the payment of that sum the building, or rather the walls, were left JOHN HAMLIN. uncovered and unsupported at the Member of first class in Nebraska City, was first Sunday-school superintendent. Had contract for and built first church in Ne- braska. mercy of the wind. A note of $800 signed by the members of the board and the pastor, was placed in the bank, the money drawn and paid to the contractor, and the work of rebuilding begun. But be- fore the building could be completed we had to borrow $400 more. In these days that would seem a small mat- ter, but not so at that time, when the number was so small and so poverty stricken that none of our members were able to procure more than the necessaries of life."
Thus by the wise and energetic work of the pastor, Hiram Burch, the self-sacrificing devotion of the little band of Methodists, and the generous contributions of the
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friends outside of the Church, was this first Methodist church (and probably the first church of any kind except mission churches for the Indians) in the Territory car- ried forward to completion at a cost of $4,500, and in November, 1856, dedicated to the worship of God by Dr. Goode.
This historic church does not depend wholly on the fact that it happened to be first for the significance that makes it worthy of this detailed account of its construc- tion, but from the first has justified the heroic sacrifices involved at the beginning. It at once became the scene of great revivals and has always housed a vigorous Meth- odist society.
OMAHA.
The next place to receive attention and the appoint- ment of a regular pastor was the ambitious and growing village of Omaha. There was something about this loca- tion that attracted from the first settlement in 1854 some of the shrewdest and most far-seeing business men that came to the territory in those early years. From the first they seemed confident that Omaha was to be the metropolis of the West, and proceeded at once by all legitimate business methods, and some perhaps less scru- pulous than they ought to have been, to realize their ex- pectation. True, every town on the river from Rulo to Dakota City, entertained the same hopes. Some of them at the start possessed equal advantages, and one at least, Bellevue, superior natural advantages. Besides being a more eligible site in point of beauty, it was the point that nature seems to have determined as the proper place for the projected Pacific Railroad line to cross the Missouri,
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furnishing a natural and easy route up the Papio and out on to the Platte bottom, which could have been con- structed at far less expense than the line from Omalia. But from the first Bellevue and all the other competing points were outgeneraled by the business men of Omaha, who by first securing the removal of the territorial capi- tal from Bellevue where Governor Burt first located it, to Omaha, and at immense expense secured the building of the bridge for the Union Pacific Railroad at Omaha, forever settled the metropolis question in their favor.
It was not likely that so wise a leader as Dr. Goode would fail to see and appreciate the strategical value of such a place and provide for it. Hence early in 1855, long before there was enough Methodists to form a class, he appointed Isaac F. Collins to the mission. This was probably in January, and he reached his field and en- tered upon his work about the 20th of the following March.
Thus it occurred at Omaha, as at many other places in Nebraska, that the first events of a religious character were Methodistic. The first sermon preached, the first official appointed to look after her spiritual interests, the first pastor assigned and present on the field, the first church organization effected, and the first Protestant church building erected, were all Methodist.
Of Isaac Collins little can be ascertained. During his ยท pastorate at Omaha, he married a daughter of Brother Amsbary, the father of Rev. W. A. Ainsbary. Another brother, Webster Amsbary, is still living, and furnishes me the following brief facts concerning this cultured and devoted man who laid the foundations of Omaha Method- ism. He says the first time he saw Isaac Collins was
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when, in 1855, he rode up to his father's log cabin on a pony, and announced himself as having been sent to Omaha Circuit. This extended north and west indefi- nitely. He also says that Collins was born in Michigan, and was educated at Ann Arbor. While a brother, Jud- son, went to China as a missionary, Isaac went to Ar- kansas, and there, after preaching some time, became principal of a seminary at Tellequia, in the Indian Ter- ritory. It was from .this field that he came in response to Dr. Goode's call for workers in Kansas and Nebraska, and was assigned to Omaha. In 1858 he left the Ne- braska portion and served some pastorates in Kansas.
Isaac Collins was without a church to preach in or a house to live in. He soon found a place in which to live, being unmarried, and through the courtesy of the Territorial officials he was permitted to occupy the United States Government building in which to hold meetings. While it was not possible to effect an organization until six months after his arrival, he was not without a con- gregation, and some supporters, as nearly all the early settlers were anxious to have religious services main- tained in the village, however they might feel towards the Methodist Church or its pastor.
We would be glad to know who constituted that his- toric class which Isaac Collins finally succeeded in or- ganizing in the month of September, 1855. The begin- ning of a local Church organization, representing an ag- gressive type of Christianity, is a matter of great moral significance in any community. The mere presence of such an organization, with its church building, and its recurring religious services announced regularly to the community by the ringing of the bell in their hearing, is
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a constant reminder of higher interests to be cared for, and must tend to check and curb the more sordid and selfish tendencies of our nature; but when you add to this mere existence the potent moral energies and inspiring influences of the messages of divine truth delivered every holy Sabbath by some faithful man of God, the instruction imparted in the Sunday-school, the prayers and testimo- nies and example of the faithful members, you have a center of moral and religious power which radiates a constant influence for good to the community ; and when in addition to all these regular and stated services you have at frequent intervals gracious and sometimes power- ful revivals, you have an agency for good that no commu- nity can afford to be without, being, as such a Church is, the chief conservator of public morals, and the promoter of those high ideals of life that tend to produce the best result in life and character. But all this is especially true when the place where this Church begins its humble ca- reer is destined to become a great city, with its intense activities begetting a forgetfulness of divine things, and its powerful agencies of positive evil demoralizing many of the people.
Rev. James Haynes, in his history of Omaha Meth- odism, says there were six enrolled in this first class, in September, 1855, but does not give the names. Nor is there any record preserved that affords information on this point. The only clue to this desirable information is found in the names of those who one year afterwards par- took of the sacrament at the first quarterly-meeting ever held in Omaha. These were Mr. and Mrs. Amsbary, Mr. and Mrs. Collins, Mrs. Crowell. Mrs. McCoy, and Mrs. Harris, and some, if not all of these were probably mem-
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bers of the original class, and have the distinction of starting Omaha Methodism on its career. Of Mr. and Mrs. Amsbary, little is known, except that besides giv- ing their daughter to be the wife of Isaac Collins, they gave a son, W. A. Amsbary, to the Methodist ministry in Nebraska, who as the subsequent records will show, be- came a very efficient preacher of the Gospel. Of the others, Mrs. McCoy organized the first Sunday-school in Omaha, and was herself the first superintendent, and was permitted in many ways and through many years to serve the Church she loved in the city of Omaha. She died in the triumphs of the faith in the fall of 1902.
MRS. GEO. A. McCOY.
Member of first class in Omaha, organized the first Sunday-school, and was first superin- tendent.
Brother Collins remained till the Conference of 1856, which met in October 23d. During his pastoratc, besides organizing the class, he in- augurated and carried to completion, the first church erected in Omaha, though it was not dedicated till December, 1856.
This brief statement concerning the building of this first church in Omaha does not convey to our minds all that it meant for that brave pastor and his little flock of perhaps six, all of whom could not probably contribute one-fourth of the $4.500 necessary. Material was very expensive then, pine lumber being worth $100 per thou- sand. But with the larger conception of the Church as a public necessity in any community, and having raised part of the amount needed by the sale of a portion of their lots, he appealed to the public generally, first as-
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certaining what each was able to give, and then boldly demanding that amount. The event proved this demand was honored to such an extent that the church was car- ried forward to completion and dedicated in December, 1856. It was located in what has since become the heart of the city, on lots donated by the town-site company at the corner of Douglas and Thirteenth Streets. on the ground now occupied by the Omaha National Bank.
We would gladly mention the laymen associated with Isaac Collins in this historic enterprise which meant so much of faith and sacrifice to them, but the loss of the early records make this impossible. We do not even know who the first trustees were, or who were on the building committee. We only know that of that memo- rable list that partook of the first communion in Septem- ber, 1856, there was only one male member, Brother Amsbary, and he resided near Florence.
The subsequent history of Omaha up to the end of this first period brings into view some strong men, one of whom, John M. Chivington, who afterwards attained to national notoriety, if not national fame, in what is known as the Sand Creek massacre, when he was in command of troops in Colorado. He succeeded Isaac Collins as pastor one year, and at the Conference in April, 1857, was made presiding elder of the Omaha District, and the next year was transferred to the Nebraska City District. He continued on this district until 1860, when he went to Colorado. John M. Chivington was one of those strong, forceful characters who find it difficult to either control themselves or to subject themselves to the requirements of a Church, or to the rules of war, but are a law unto themselves. But for these defects he would have been a
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power for good, as he was a strong preacher and pos- sessed many of the elements which constitute successful leadership.
J. W. Taylor followed J. M. Chivington as pastor at Omaha. This devoted pioneer preacher came of South- ern stock, having been born in Fayette County, Virginia, December 6, 1815. He was converted and united with the Church at the age of fourteen. His natural gifts of speech and song soon led to his being licensed to exhort and then to preach. He went from Virginia to Michi- gan, where he was married to Barbara Eiken, who was his constant and loyal companion for sixty-five years, and then passed to her reward. His first charge was White Oak Grove, in Platte County, Missouri, to which State hie had removed, and where he spent eighteen years of faith- ful service in the western part, a section which became, in the fifties, the very hot-bed of border ruffianism. Platte County, the scene of his first and some of his sub- sequent labor, was the storm center of the pro-slavery opposition to Northern Methodist preachers. It was
here that the infamous Platte County resolutions were passed, threatening a coat of tar and feathers for the first offense, and death for the second, to any Northern Meth- odist preacher who should proclaim the Gospel in that county. Though the fact that he was a Virginian re- lieved the situation in his case somewhat, the fact that he was a minister of the Northern Methodist Episcopal Church made it extremely perilous for him, and during the last few years in Missouri he discharged his duty at the peril of his life. One of his fellow workers on an ad- joining charge, Rev. Sellers, was tarred and feathered, while another, Father Holland, was shot dead, and
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Brother Taylor, himself, was notified to leave the coun- try or a similar fate would overtake him. The feeling of bitterness having taken possession of the masses in Mis- souri, and growing worse every day, rendered further effort useless, and the new field opening up in Nebraska presenting an opportunity for usefulness free from those obstacles, he deemed it right and wise to cross the river and enter the work in Nebraska, which he did in 1855. His ministry in Missouri till thus interrupted, had been very successful, and has been in Nebraska, but his home- spun manners and style of preaching did not altogether suit the taste of the more fastidious people of Omaha, and his pastorate there can hardly be said to have been very successful. But the old hero has, by his cheerful, happy spirit ; his inspiring songs, his plain, faithful preaching, contributed largely to the planting of Methodism in Ne- braska. There are few, if any, of whom it is more fre- quently recorded that he was the first to preach the Gos- pel and organize the Church in the frontier settlements. He has since passed to his reward.
In 1858 W. M. Smith followed Brother Taylor. Of him Haynes says: "Mr. Smith was a man of good gifts for the pulpit, and an able manager of the affairs of the Church; but his sentiments on the question then vexing the Church and nation were un-Wesleyan and provoking to a majority of the people comprising the communicants under his administration. The membership was small, numbering hardly half a hundred, and any subject on which they could not harmonize, and especially the grave one at that time agitating the commonwealth, was next to a disaster, as its direct tendency was to hinder the most successful carrying on of evangelical work. The
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bitterness and asperity indulged in mere conversation were adverse to spiritual growth, and engendered ani-" mosity which has not yet been outgrown. Mr. Smith's. success was not what it should have been, and, most likely would have been, if his views had tallied with a controlling number of his people. Methodism failed for this and other reasons to get a prevailing hold on the citizens and hence suffered for want of adequate sup- port, either financial or moral."
A man now appears on the scene, a devoted man, whose ministry was a great blessing to Omaha. H. T. Davis, D. D., entered the ministry in the Northwest In- diana Conference on trial, in October, 1855. After three years of successful work in that Conference, which was attended with gracious revivals, he felt called to the Western field, and in 1858 wrote W. M. Smith, who was then pastor at Omaha, to that effect, and he at once in- formed the presiding elder of Brother Davis's wishes. He was offered Bellevue, then vacant. He, as soon as it was possible to make such a move, reported for duty, and entered upon a career that has meant much for the cause of Christ, and especially for Methodism. His experiences in first entering upon his work in Nebraska, will be related more in detail in another part of this vol- ume. His entrance into Omaha, which had already be- gun to take on city airs, is characteristic both of the man and of the times. Being unable to secure anything bet- ter, he secured a lumber wagon drawn by a pair of oxen, to haul his goods to Omaha, and he and Mrs. Davis on the load, drove up Farnam Street to the parsonage.
Dr. Davis was a man of great faith and was con- stantly expecting great things of the Lord, and soon in-
H. J. Davis
3
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spired his little flock with a like spirit, and they rallied around him, forgetting their political differences, which ` had become so acute under the administration of his pred- ecessor.
Besides, H. T. Davis was always seen to be a man so pre-eminently of one work, and that work the salvation of souls, that few ever thought to inquire after his political predilection, though his private convictions were well de- fined. Such a pastor was much needed in Omaha just at this juncture, when political excitement had reached a high pitch. Brother Davis found a debt of five hun- dred dollars on the church, and the whole community so prostrated financially by the crash of 1857-58 as to make it impossible to raise the money to pay this debt in Omaha. His people gladly gave him permission and he went back among his- Indiana friends and soon raised the whole amount.
There is no record of any special revival interest dur- ing the first year, and he himself makes no mention in his book of special religious interest during the year, as he most certainly would if there had been. But the follow- ing year witnessed a very gracious revival.
H. T. Davis's pastorate being full legal term of two years, carries us to the close of the first period, so further mention of Omaha will be deferred till we come to treat the second period.
CHAPTER III.
FIRST PERIOD. (1854-1861.)
FROM tracing the history of the beginnings in the . centers, we pass to a general survey of the whole. While there is little difference in the date of the first settlements during this first period along the eastern tier of counties, probably with the exception of the Morris settlement noted, we find, as might naturally be expected, that the rich valleys of the Nemahas lying contiguous to the Ter- ritory of Kansas, were among the first to be settled. I11- deed, as early as April or May, 1854, Christian Bobst and family came with some others from Ohio and settled on the South Fork of the Great Nemaha in the southeastern corner of Pawnee County, near where Dubois now is. These were joined in the following August by the Meth- odist families of Henry and Jerome Shellhorn. During the summer another settlement was made where Pawnee City now is. When in the early spring of 1855, that sturdy Englishman, David Hart, was appointed to the unorganized region between the Nemahas, he found no class-leader to tell him of spiritual affairs, no committee to estimate or Quarterly Conference to fix his salary, or steward to collect it, but he soon found a warm-hearted welcome to this Methodist neighborhood at South Fork. that had been waiting nearly a year for the coming of the itinerant. Here in the cabin of Henry Shellhorn he preached the first sermon in Pawnee County, and in the
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fall of that year he organized the first class in that county, in the cabin of Christian, or Judge, Bobst.
The following named persons constituted this historic class : Judge Bobst, Sarah Bobst, his wife: Mariah Shellhorn, Jerome Shellhorn and his wife, Mary E. Shell- horn. Judge Bobst was class-leader and steward. A characteristic incident which occurred during the sum- mer is related by Brother H. Burch, who was traveling a circuit in Kansas, just across the line, and was at the time visiting Brother Hart's work, having been invited to preach on the Sabbath at the Bobst appointment. The afternoon was rainy and no one was present but the fam- ily. They had no sermon, but the opportunity for doing something for the Master was not allowed to pass. Some time was spent in religious conversation, reading the Scriptures, singing and prayer. The pastor had called for their Church letters, but in their moving from Ohio these had somehow got mislaid. During this informal religious exercise good Sister Bobst was wonderfully blessed. The memories of the past and the experience of the present filled her heart so full of joy that it shone out of her countenance. The pastor, quick to perceive these religious expressions, remarked that he guessed Sister Bobst has found her Church letter. "This." writes Brother Burch, "was like the spark to the powder, and there was an explosion of religious joy and acclamations of praise that continued long after we had retired." Thus the fires of spiritual life were burning on the altars of many hearts, ere organization could be accomplished.
A general "history of Nebraska" credits David Hart with organizing the first Methodist Church in Richard- son County, at Archer, some time in 1855, which after-
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ward became the Church at Falls City, Archer, itself be- ing moved to that place.
There is no reason to believe that Brother Hart was able to effect any organizations other than these two, but doubtless had other preaching places, and was able to re- port at the Conference of 1856, forty-four full members and six probationers.
These items given by Rev. C. W. Giddings in a His- tory of Nebraska, published in 1882, are of interest. "The Church at Table Rock was organized in 1857, by Rev. C. V. Arnold, a member of the Wyoming Confer- ence, Pennsylvania, and consisted of forty members. The meetings were held for four years at the house of Rev. C. W. Giddings, who had himself just come to Nebraska. But many who came at the first settlement got discour- aged by the hard times and in 1858 left, so that out of one hundred and fifty families who had come, during the eighteen months preceding, to make their homes in Table Rock and vicinity, but fifteen families remained."
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