USA > New Jersey > Memorials of Methodism in New Jersey : from the foundation of the first society in the state in 1770, to the completion of the first twenty years of its history > Part 5
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THE WORK IN 1774.
ally cut to pieces." His employer, who was a Presbyte- rian clergyman, took the matter in hand and had them brought to justice, and they were severely punished by the court. This put an end, he says, to persecution on that circuit.
Gatch was too much devoted to the work of preaching the gospel to be turned aside by persecution. "He has been heard to say, judging, probably, from the rage and cruelty of the mob, into whose hands he had fallen the day before, and from the severe manner in which they had whipped the young man in the field, that, had he fallen into their hands when lying in wait for him, his life would probably have been taken ; 'for,' said he, 'I should never have made the promise that they intended to ex- tort from me.'" Sometimes, he says, he felt great tim- idity at the prospect of danger, but, when the hour of peril came, his fears vanished. This he considered a clear fulfillment of the promise, "Lo, I am with you always."
We will take our leave of this Methodist pioneer and hero with the following tribute by his son :* "When he went to Virginia, f persecution did not rage to the same
* Rev. George Gatch, in Christian Advocate and Journal, 1835, p. 136.
+ He was appointed to Hanover, Virginia, at the Conference in 1776.
6
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MEMORIALS OF METHODISM IN NEW JERSEY.
extent, but his health soon failed from excessive labor, and exposure to the open air in field preaching ; so that at the Conference, in 1778, he received no appointment ; and January 14, 1778, he was married to Elizabeth Smith, of Powhattan county, daughter of Thomas Smith. Though he received no regular appointment after this time, he had the superintendence of some of the circuits in the vicinity of his residence, and spent a considerable time in traveling and preaching at large; until the sta- bility of the work, and the cares of his family reconciled his mind to a more circumscribed sphere.
" He was received into full connection at the Confer- ence in 1774, and acted as an assistant; and when the preachers from England were under the necessity of re- turning, he was one of five who were chosen to superin- tend the work. When the controversy* arose, which led to the present organization of the Church, he was one of three who superintended the southern part of the work, and to whom the present state of things, in part, is to be attributed. He was the mover and vindicator of the rule for trying members by a committee, and from his labors in the business department and in the pulpit, it may be said, he bore the burden and heat of the day.
* This controversy was concerning the administration of the ordi- nances, a summary account of which will doubtless be given in the History of American Methodism.
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" He resided in Powhattan county sixteen years and then removed to Buckingham county. He was led, after a residence of five years in Buckingham county, to haz- ard a removal to the Northwestern territory. This was in the fall of 1798; and in the succeeding winter he settled his family on the Little Miami, nine miles from the mouth-the place of his residence till his death. He began immediately to hunt up the lost sheep in the wil- derness, and was among the first to establish Methodism north of the Ohio. He was chosen, in 1802, from Cler- mont county to assist in the formation of a constitution for a state government; and was chairman of the com- mittee to whom were referred the propositions of Con- gress for becoming a state. After the organization of the state he served twenty years as associate judge. As one of the pioneers, he was useful in the settlement of the country, and was looked to for advice on all common matters, by the many who soon began to settle in his neighborhood ; while his house was a refuge for the weary wanderer. In his political and civil relations he maintained the dignity of the gospel, and carried reli- gious influences, thereby, into many minds, which, pro- bably, otherwise would not have been brought under its control.
" He was all the time industrious, as a local preacher, and continued his religious services after he had declined
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all civil and domestic labors and responsibilities. I be- lieve he preached his last sermon on the second of Jan- uary 1834, on which he was eighty-four years old.
"He was taken on the 25th of December quite ill with the prevailing epidemic. He appeared sensible of his situation, and said but little. He remarked, a few hours before his dissolution, four of his children stand- ing by his bed, that on the morning before he was taken he had an unusual flow of Divine feelings, such as he had rarely experienced ; but that, during his affliction, his pain had been so great that he could hardly compose his mind while he could send a wish to the throne of grace; but that we must all pray for him, as he had often prayed for us. When asked, however, he ex- pressed an unshaken confidence in God. He fell asleep in the arms of Jesus, without a struggle or a groan, or the least apparent agitation; while his spirit silently for- sook the long abode in which it had experienced so many vicissitudes, and found a safe retreat in the bosom of its God."
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DARK DAYS.
CHAPTER V.
DARK DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY METHODISM.
AT the Conference of 1775 there still remained two . circuits in New Jersey, and three preachers were ap- pointed to labor in the State. John King and Daniel Ruff were sent to Trenton circuit and William Duke to Greenwich. They were to change in one quarter. It would appear that, led by so brave and earnest a cham- pion of the cause as King, they labored zealously to carry the work forward; yet there appears at the close of the year a very remarkable and painful decrease of members-a decrease of one hundred and fifty, one half from the number reported the previous year.
It is not probable that this mournful declension was the result of ordinary backslidings ; but the excitement of war, and the arousement of a martial spirit, which was beginning to be felt over the whole country, called the minds of the people away from religious contempla- tions and caused them to neglect the ordinances of the
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gospel. While their minds and hearts were absorbed by thoughts and schemes of carnal warfare it is not strange that many ceased to fight the good fight of faith. It is a sad duty to record too, that the preachers on the Tren- ton circuit, were not as attentive to the work as its exi- gencies required, else, it may be, there had not been so serious a declension in the membership. On the 16th of April 1776, Asbury, in his Journal says, "I received a letter from friend E. at Trenton, complaining that the societies in that circuit had been neglected by the preachers." There may have been reasons which ren- dered this neglect, in some degree, justifiable, or possibly, unavoidable.
During those early and troublous times it was a com- mon thing for preachers to locate. Accordingly the three who traveled in New Jersey this year soon retired into the local ranks. King, as we have seen, located at the end of the year, but afterward returned to the work, Ruff located in 1781 and Duke in 1779.
Enough has already been said of King to give the reader a tolerably just idea of his character as a minis- ter. We will however give an additional incident which shows how powerful was the influence which he exer- cised. A German, named Henry Rowman, was induced one day to attend a Methodist meeting. It was in the year 1768. He went under the influence of strong
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prejudice ; and, after reaching the place, determined to go away without hearing the preaching; but, on seeing a group of decent, well dressed persons approach the place, he supposed it could be no disgrace to him to be found in their company, so he returned and seated him- self. John King was the preacher. He took his posi- tion and stood a few minutes with his hand before his face, engaged in devotion. Bowman was forcibly struck with the conviction that he was a messenger from God, and that he himself was a sinner. Distress seized his mind, and he turned his attention to the subject of his personal salvation and anxiously sought pardon until he obtained it. He united with the Methodists, and after maintaining his profession fifty-nine years he finished his course with joy.
DANIEL RUFF entered the ministry at a very early period in the history of the cause. He was received on trial at the Conference of 1774, the second held in America, but he was very usefully engaged in the work previously to that time. Nearly three months before that Conference was held, Bishop Asbury, being in the region of Baltimore, speaks of preaching at the " upper ferry," and says : "Honest, simple Daniel Ruff, has been made a great blessing to these people. Such is the wis- dom and power of God, that he hath wrought marvel- ously by this plain man, that no flesh may glory in his
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presence." More than two months afterward he writes; " Rode to Susquehannah and many of the leading men were present, with a large congregation. Simple D. R. [ doubtless meaning Daniel Ruff,] has been an instru- ment of real and great good to the people in these parts."
When Mr. Ruff traveled Trenton circuit Benjamin Abbott's house was one of his preaching places. The latter was much engaged for the blessing of sanctifica- tion. Ruff went to his house and preached, and in the morning, in family prayer, he prayed that God would sanctify them soul and body. "I repeated," says Ab- bott, "these words after him, 'Come, Lord, and sans- tify me, soul and body !' That moment the Spirit of God came upon me in such a manner that I fell flat to the floor, and lay as one strangling in blood, while my wife and children stood weeping over me. But I had not power to lift hand or foot, nor yet to speak one word ; I believe I lay half an hour, and felt the power of God running through every part of my soul and body, like fire consuming the inward corruptions of fallen, depraved nature. When I arose and walked out of the door, and stood pondering these things in my heart, it appeared to me that the whole creation was praising God; it also appeared as if I had got new eyes, for everything appeared new, and I felt a love for all the
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creatures that God had made, and an uninterrupted peace filled my breast. In three days God gave me a full assurance that he had sanctified me, soul and body. ' If a man love me he will keep my words ; and my Fa- ther will love him and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him,' ( John xiv. 23,) which I found day by day manifested to my soul by the witness of his Spirit."
Ruff did not long remain in New Jersey, as in June of this year we find him in Maryland, preaching in the neighborhood of Freeborn Garrettson's residence. Rev. J. B. Wakeley quotes the following from the Life of Gar- rettson: " On the Tuesday following, in the afternoon, I went to hear Mr. Daniel Ruff preach, and was so op- pressed that I was scarcely able to support my burden. After preaching I called in with D. R. at Mrs. G's. and stayed till about nine o'clock." "On his way home on horseback that night," continues Mr. Wakeley,* "after a most desperate struggle with the enemy, Mr. Garrettson was accepted in the Beloved. He says, 'I knew the very instant when I submitted to the Lord and was will- ing that Christ should reign over me. I likewise knew the two sins which I parted with last, pride and un belief.'"
* Lost Chapters Recovered from the Early History of American Methodism.
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MEMORIALS OF METHODISM IN NEW JERSEY.
After enduring severe mental conflicts in regard to his duty to preach the gospel, and having reached a satis- factory conclusion about the matter, "I received," says Mr. Garrettson, "a letter from brother D. R. desiring me to come and take the circuit a few weeks while he went to Philadelphia. I had no doubt but the Lord di-
rected him to write thus."*
" *
He complied with the re-
quest. When Mr Ruff returned he resumed his labors on the circuit and Garrettson went to form a new one. Mr. Ruff solicited Garrettson to attend the Conference of 1776 at Baltimore, which he did, and was received on trial and appointed to a circuit.t
In 1776, Mr. Ruff was appointed to New York. He was the first American preacher that was stationed at Wesley Chapel, the first Church built in that city. Several reasons conspired to render this a difficult ap- pointment. The preacher stationed there the previous year had left the Methodists and the society had become greatly diminished, as they were left destitute of the advantages of pastoral attention and oversight: and "the revolutionary troubles were increasing. New York was beginning to be the theatre where awful trage- dies were performed. The curtain was raised and the actors were performing their parts, at which humanity
* The experience and travels of Mr. Freeborn Garrettson, etc. ; Philadelphia, 1791. ¡ Ibid.
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shudders. We cannot wonder that Mr. Ruff considered it unsafe to remain in New York and therefore aban- doned a scene of so much confusion and suffering."*
Mr. Ruff labored in New Jersey at four different times. During one of the periods of his ministry there an incident occurred, which may, perhaps, be regarded as illustrative of the command which Jesus once gave to a certain man to not tarry to bury even the dead of his household, but to go and preach the Kingdom of God. A man by the name of Robert Turner, went from New Jersey into the peninsula and was useful there in preach- ing. Lewis Alfrey, who had been an extravagant sin- ner, was convinced through his labors, and afterward be- came a useful preacher. Turner returned to his family for the purpose of settling his affairs, intending to give himself wholly to the ministry after a few weeks. Ruff pressed him to go into the circuit before the time he in- tended, saying, "Suppose you had but a fortnight to live would you not go ?" He replied he would. By the time Ruff came round again, about a fortnight, Turner died of the small-pox.f In 1780 Mr. Ruff was stationed in Baltimore in connection with Freeborn Garrettson and Joshua Dudley. At the ensuing Conference he located. He probably labored more in New Jersey than any other preacher of his time.
* Wakeley's Lost Chapters.
¡ Asbury's Journal.
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MEMORIALS OF METHODISM IN NEW JERSEY.
WILLIAM DUKE joined the Conference in 1774, and was appointed to Frederick circuit with Philip Gatch. He was then quite a youth. This year, 1775, he is sent to New Jersey, and in 1776 to Brunswick ; in 1777 he was stationed in Philadelphia, and in 1778 he was sent to Carolina. He joined the Protestant Episcopal Church and resided in Elkton, Maryland, where he died in 1840. Mr. Duke was intimately acquainted with Captain Webb, and often heard him preach. He greatly admired him, though he thought him a little visionary. He was accus- tomed to relate many interesting anecdotes concerning him. Captain Webb entertained a high regard for Mr. Duke and presented him with his Greek Testament, which he kept for many years, and then gave it to Rev. J. B. Hagany, and he presented it to Bishop Scott, who preserves it as a memento "of the old soldier, who fought so nobly the battles of the cross."
Before the close of this Conference year, Asbury again appears in New Jersey, rallying the feeble and broken detachments of the cause to more earnest battle. On Tuesday, the 22nd of April, 1776, he rode to Burlington from Philadelphia, and on the way he says, "My soul was filled with holy peace, and employed in heavenly contemplations ; but found to my grief that many had so imbibed a martial spirit that they had lost the spirit of pure and undefiled religion. I preached from Rom. xiii.
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DARK DAYS.
2, but found it a dry and barren time. And some who once ran well now walk disorderly. On Wednesday I rode to Trenton, and found very little there but spiritual deadness. Had very little liberty in preaching among them ; thus has the Lord humbled me amongst my peo- ple. But I hope through grace to save myself, and at least some that hear me."
The next day he rode about eleven miles, and preached to a people who manifested very little feeling under the word; "but at I. B's. the next day there was more sen- sibility amongst the congregation ; and, though very un- well, I found my heart warm and expanded in preaching to them. It is my present determination to be more faithful in speaking to all that fall in my way, about spiritual and eternal matters. The people were very tender at friend F's. on Saturday. And on the Lord's day I spoke feelingly and pointedly to about three hun- dred souls at the meeting house. Afterward I returned, through the rain, to Trenton, and was well rewarded in my own soul, while preaching to the congregation at night. I felt every word, which seemed to cut like a two edged sword, and put me in mind of some of my former visits. May the Lord revive his work amongst them again, and make the time to come better than the former time !"
While Asbury was abundant in labors for the cause of
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God and Methodism, in New Jersey and elsewhere, he was the subject of mighty assaults from the adversary. During his present tour in New Jersey, he writes, " Satan beset me with powerful suggestions, striving to persuade me that I should never conquer all my spiritual enemies, but be overcome at last. However, the Lord was near, and filled my soul with peace. Blessed Lord, be ever near me, and suffer me not to yield to the temp- ter ; no, not for a moment !"
On the 30th of April he attended a Quarterly-meeting at Hopewell. The love-feast was an interesting and powerful season. Many related their Christian experi- ence. He lectured in the evening at I. B's. though very weary, " but my heart," he says, "is with God, and I know we cannot tire or wear out in a better cause." The following day he rode back to Trenton, where he preached to about a hundred souls, and then traveled about thirty miles to another stopping place.
On the second of May he preached at Mount Holly. "Some melted under the word, though, at first, they seemed inattentive and careless." He says, "The grace of God kept my spirit this day in sweet seriousness without any mixture of sourness." The next day but one he was at New Mills. A Chapel was already erected there, and he preached in it with fervor but not with freedom from Matt. vii. 7; it was, probably,
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in process of being completed, as he says, "I found bro- ther W. very busy about his Chapel, which is thirty-six feet by twenty-eight, with a gallery ten feet deep." He spent the Sabbath at New Mills, and preached, and it was a heart-affecting season. He then returned to Philadelphia, but went, he says, under a heavy gloom of mind, and found his spirit "much shut up."
During this year, Abbott, with apostolic zeal, marvel- ous faith, and overwhelming eloquence, was storming the citadel of the enemy in West Jersey. It was at about this period that he bore the banner of Methodism into the town of Salem. A gentleman there invited him to preach at his house, and on the next Sabbath after he received the invitation he proclaimed the truth there with characteristic energy and power to a large congre- gation. Some cried out under the sermon ; many were in tears. He made another appointment in two weeks from that day at eleven o'clock. An elder in the Pres- byterian Church, who was present, asked him if he would preach at his house. He told him he would that day two weeks, at three o'clock. At the time appointed he was at his post and preached at both places to many people. At the first, he enjoyed much freedom in speaking, and after the sermon, found that both the man and his wife, in whose house the service was held, were awakened. At the next, great power attended the word, several cried
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aloud and one fell to the floor. After meeting he asked the man of the house if he knew what he had done ? " What have I done ?" he replied. Said Abbott, "You have opened your door to the Methodists, and if a work of religion break out, your people will turn you out of their synagogue." He replied he would die for the truth. He repeated the appointment at both places. On his way home he met with one of Whitefield's converts, who had known the Lord forty years. He was, says Abbott, an Israelite indeed. They enjoyed great comfort in con- versing on the things of God. He afterward died at Abbott's house, "happy in God."
The following Sabbath he preached at Hell Neck, a place which received its name on account of the wicked- ness of the people. One said he had heard Abbott swear, and had seen him fight, and now he would go and hear him preach. He was awakened under the word, and soon after was converted. Abbott received several invitations to preach through the neighborhood, and a revival of religion followed. Among those who were the subjects of the work was a lad of fifteen. His father was a great enemy of religion, and determined to pre- vent his being a Methodist, and even whipped him for praying. This resulted in leading him to the borders of despair, and he was tempted to think he had sinned against the Holy Ghost. Abbott heard of it and went
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to see him. He told him his temptations, and cried out. " There, I have now done it !" and clapped his hands on his mouth. Abbott told him he had not done it, and would not do it for the world. His father soon came in, and he warned him against such conduct towards his son, but he replied that it was all delusion. "Who told you so ?" said Abbott. "D. P., " said he, "and he is a Presbyterian and a good man." "Tell D. P. that he is a deceived man," said Abbott, "for that is the true work of God upon your son." The son then cried out, "The Lord is here! The Lord is here!" The father, address- ing Abbott, said, "Benjamin, are you not a Free Mason ?" He replied no ; that he knew nothing of Free Masonry, but he knew this was the operation of the Spirit of God. The father then wept. Abbott prayed, and the family were all in tears. After this the son went on joyfully.
Abbott then went to another of the neighbors, and talked and prayed with them. The man kneeled, but the woman continued knitting during the prayer. When he arose he took her by the hand and said, "Do you pray ?" then, looking steadfastly at her, added, "God pity you." This pierced her heart, so that she had no rest until she obtained mercy of the Lord.
The excitement reached such a height that the whole neighborhood seemed in a state of alarm. A Quaker 7
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went to hear him, and asked him to his house. He went, and when he entered he said, "God has brought salvation to this house." While at prayer in the even- ing, a daughter of his host was convicted, and soon after, the Quaker, his wife, three sons, and two daughters ex- perienced religion, and as the fruit of the revival they had a considerable society in the place.
He extended his labors also into Mannington, where great congregations assembled to hear him preach. At one place where he preached, the minister of the parish at- tended. "Ifelt, at first," he says, "a great cross to preach before him, he being a learned man, and I supposed had come to hear me with an evil design, as appeared after- ward to be the case. However, I prayed to the Lord not to let me be confounded. After I began, my cross was but light, and the minister, who sat before me, was no more than another sinner. The power of God rested upon us, and several cried out aloud, and two fell to the floor, agonizing for salvation. I tarried all night, and the minister and five or six of the heads of the Presby- terian meeting, spent the evening with me, in order to dispute, and pick me to pieces if possible. The minister asked me if I was a Wesleyan : I answered, Yes. 'Then,' said he, 'you deny the perseverance of the saints.' God forbid, said I, for none can be saved unless they perse- vere to the end. 'Then,' said he, 'you believe the pos-
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DARK DAYS.
sibility of falling from grace.' I answered, Yes. He then, in a very abrupt manner, gave me the lie ; but, when I told him that I could prove the doctrine by the word of God, he very passionately gave me the lie again. I quoted sundry scriptures, particularly that of David's fall, and turned to Ezek. chapter iii., verses 20 and 21, and wished him to read and explain the passage; but he would not touch the Bible. His elder said it read as I said, and he ought to explain it. He, in a passion, said he was brought up at a college, and certainly knew; but I was a fool, and he could cut such a fellow's throat ; then turned to his elder and said, 'If there was a dog's head on your shoulders, I would cut it off. Do not you know the articles of your own Church ? I will teach you better.' I told him the curse of God was upon all such watchmen as he was, who did not warn the people against sin; that if they lived and died in sin, they could not be saved, and by his doctrine souls might fall away and perish, but their blood would be found in his skirts. He replied, ' I could cut such a fellow's throat ; it makes my blood boil to hear the perseverance of the saints de- nied.' I then handed him the Bible, and desired him to clear it up. ' But,' said he, 'you are a fool, you know nothing at all. I was brought up at college, and I will have you before your betters.' He got so angry that he could say but little more. I told him that if we were
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