USA > New York > A history of the purchase and settlement of western New York : and of the rise, progress and present state of the Presbyterian Church in that section > Part 17
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HISTORY OF REVIVALS.
Among forty members at its commencement, there were but three who professed to have any hope of an interest in . Christ; now twenty-two more give evidence of piety." Mount Morris is also mentioned as a place in which God was manifesting his power and goodness, in causing sinners to embrace Jesus as the only ark of safety.
In the progress of our survey of the revivals of this period in Western New York, beginning at the east, we have proceeded westward, as far as to the Genesee river. Westward of that boundary the country was but sparsely populated. Previous to the war with Great Britain, the country was being rapidly settled. That war, in a great measure, put a stop to the progress of the settlement. Indeed, many who had emigrated to the territory be- fore the war, removed back to the place from which they had emigrated, or to some place where they could feel greater security from the ravages of hostile Indians. But after the restoration of peace in 1815, the settlement of the country recommenced, and the progress was very rapid. With the progress of the settlement, religious institutions kept pace ; churches were organized, and minis- ters introduced. The churches, however, at the period we are now contemplating, were few and weak, and most of them destitute of the stated preaching of the word. God, in his mercy, remembered them in their low estate, and visited them with the reviving influence of his Holy Spirit. Parma, Riga, and Murray, are mentioned as places where revivals were experienced of some considerable ex- tent ; and in the minutes of the Synod for February, 1817, Gains- ville, Buffalo, Hamburgh, Eden, Willink, and Pomfret, are enume- rated among the congregations, in which an increased attention to the things of religion, and some hopeful subjects of divine grace were found. A notice inserted in the Buffalo Gazette, at the com- mencement of the year 1817, says,-" It may, perhaps, rejoice the people of Zion, to be informed. that throughout this section of this lately heathen country, the Spirit of the Lord and the spirit of the gospel are extending far and wide. Eight persons were received into fellowship with the Presbyterian church at Buffalo, on last Lord's Day. The towns of Willink, Hamburgh, and Eden, where formerly the Spirit of the Evil One enchained the hearts of many, the stately steppings of the Redeemer are seen, and the great inquiry is, " What shall I do to be saved ?"
At the period of these revivals on the Holland Purchase, minis- terial labor was greatly needed. Rev. Silas Hubbard had been settled as pastor of the church of Warsaw, in Oet., 1813, but the pastoral relation was dissolved on the second day of May, 1816. În November, in 1815, Mr. Miles P. Squier, a licensed preacher of the Gospel from Vermont, came to Buffalo on an invitation from the principal citizens of the village, to preach to them, with a view to a permanent residence and settlement, and on the third day of
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May, 1816, he was ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry, and installed pastor of the Presbyterian church of Buffalo, by the Presbytery of Geneva. At the time of his installation, he was the only settled minister having a pastoral charge over a particular congregation on the Holland Purchase. His labors were immedi- ately blessed to the conversion of souls. Rev. Hippocrates Rowe was installed by the Presbytery of Geneva, pastor of the congrega- tions of Warsaw and Orangeville, on the fourth day of December, 1816; and Rev. Samuel Swezey, on the twelfth day of March, 1817, was installed pastor of the congregation of Pomfret (now Fredonia), by the Presbytery of Niagara, which had been organized in February preceding. At this time Rev. Hugh Wallis was preaching as a stated supply in Pembroke. How long these minis- ters had, at this period, been laboring on this territory, is not known to the writer ; it was, however, but a short period. Whether their preaching and other labors, were instrumental in bringing on the revivals, or whether their coming was the result of excited attention connected with the outpouring of the Spirit previous to their coming, the writer is not able to state. Mr. David M. Smith, a licensed preacher of the gospel from Connecticut, was probably preaching in this region in 1816. He was received under the care of the Presbytery of Geneva, Feb. 12th, 1817, and was ordained and installed pastor of the congregation of Lewiston, July 1st, 1817. At the same time, Mr. Calvin Colton, a licentiate from the Presby- tery of New York, was ordained an evangelist. Mr. Colton, it is believed, had but newly arrived in the region, during the period of these revivals ; itinerating missionaries, to some extent, labored on this part of the moral vineyard. Some from the Genesee Mission- ary Society, were employed for short periods : one for a short period each year by the General Assembly ; but the most important missionary labor in this field was that of Rev. John Spencer, who is mentioned in a former chapter of this work, and who seems to have been the standing missionary of the Connecticut Missionary Society. His labors in the service of that Society commenced in 1807, and were continued for a number of years, almost without interruption. It is believed that he was in the service of the Society the whole of the years 1816 and 1817, and that his labors were eminently useful in promoting the work of the Lord. A more diligent, faithful missionary, probably could not have been found.
As to the character of the revivals in Western New York of this period, the author is not aware that there was anything pecu- liar in them to distinguish them from the revivals of preceding times. No new measures were adopted in addition to those which had by the evangelical church been considered legitimate. The observations which were made respecting the revival of 1799, will apply, with little allowance, to the revivals of this period. It is, however, to be observed, that in these revivals of 1816 and 1817,
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there was a vastly greater number of laborers in the spiritual har- vest, and consequently, much less of what might be denominated co-operation, than in that of 1799. Hence some greater variety in the manner of addressing saints and sinners, and in the mode of conducting religious meetings, might be expected to take place. Pastors were assisted at times by neighboring ministers, and vacant churches obtained such assistance as they could ; but such an order of ministers as evangelists, or technically called, " revival preachers," whose business it was to go from place to place and "get up a re- viral," and, by the use of peculiar instrumentalities, effect the con- version of a great many souls, was not then known. The minister who preached the gospel plainly, fully, earnestly, affectionately, and constantly, was a revival preacher, nor was it considered that any novelties were needed to convert souls. This was understood to be the proper office-work of the Holy Spirit. The revivals of this period are believed to have been the genuine work of the Holy Spirit of God ; the results on the review bear the most decided testimony as to the character of the work.
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CHAPTER XII.
History of Revivals continued. Synod of Geneva, 1819. Prattsburgh. From 1822 to 1825: 1826. Presbytery of Cayuga, Cortland Village, Marcellus, Genoa, Groton, Cayuga, Auburn, Ithaca, Danby, Candor. Character of the Revival, and means used. From 1827 to 1830. Revivals of 1831. Minutes of the General Assembly. Narrative of the Synod of Geneva, of the Synod of Genesee, of the Presbytery of Chenango, Cortland, Tigoa, Cayuga, Geneva, Bath, Angelica. Revivals in Onon- daga Presbytery.
IN the preceding chapter we have brought down the history of revivals in Western New York to the close of the year 1817. That and the preceding year constitute an era of revivals, memorable in the history of Western New York. In the years which suc- ceed, for a considerable period, the revivals are not so frequent, nor, in the general way, of equal extent. The last remark is not universally the case. God continued to manifest his gracious pre- sence with his church, in effusions of the Spirit in a greater or less measure, showing his readiness to grant blessings when sought unto in the way of his own appointment. On the minutes of the General Assembly for May, 1818, the Presbytery of Cayuga is particularly noticed as one which had been blessed with revivals more extensively than any other. "Out of twenty-six congrega- tions," it is said, " seventeen have been visited with the outpour- ings of the Spirit, and nearly six hundred added to the church on confession. Of these seventeen, the trophies of divine grace have been most numerous in the congregations of Ithaca, Lansing, Aure- lius, but chiefly Auburn." This statement undoubtedly refers in part to what was related in the preceding chapter. On the minutes of the Synod of Geneva for February, 1819, it is recorded : "In the extensive region which Niagara Presbytery embraces, a special attention may be said to have characterized the religious aspects of Lewiston, Clarence, Cayuga Creek, Pembroke, Gains- ville, Le Roy, Fredonia, and, what is particularly interesting, the Aborigines at their villages near Buffalo. By these special favors, and the more ordinary attention, the churches within the bounds of the Niagara Presbytery have received an animating increase. The Presbytery of Ontario appears to have been favored with some special attention in the towns of Penfield, Bloomfield, and Riga. The Presbytery of Geneva report a gradual reformation of the people within their bounds, and a uniform attendance on the means of grace. The town of Ulysses has experienced a copious refreshing, and already reckons about fifty among the professed converts. Within the bounds of the Cayuga Presbytery, the vil-
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lage of Aurora has received an abundant effusion of the Holy Spirit since August last, and about fifty hopeful subjects of grace are reckoned among its fruits. The Presbytery of Onondaga have many good things for which to praise the Lord Jehovah. A deep and general seriousness in the course of the last year has pervaded the first church of Onondaga, the first church of Pompey, the vil- lage of Orville, the towns of Sullivan, Lenox, and Lysander, by which the kingdom of the Redeemer within their limits has been greatly increased and strengthened. The Presbytery of Bath presents a truly affecting instance of divine power and grace in the town of Prattsburgh. In the adjoining corners of Bath and Prattsburgh, about thirty have recently been brought to the know- ledge of the truth, as it is in Jesus ; and in the more central part of Prattsburgh, the work within two weeks past has assumed the most interesting features, and an overwhelming influence. Be- tween forty and fifty, it is credibly stated, have been hopefully born again, within the short compass of ten days; and the present moment with that people is a season big with the prospects of Zion's glory, and travailing for the birth of many souls."
The expectations of the people of God respecting this revival in Prattsburgh were not disappointed. It continued for some time with great power, and, as the final result of it, about seventy mem- bers were added to the Presbyterian church. Time has tested the genuineness of this work, and evinced in the clearest manner that it was a gracious work of the Holy Spirit, who alone quicken- eth dead sinners and imparts spiritual life.
The years 1819 and 1820 were characterized by revivals in Sherburne, Smyrna, Smithfield, and neighboring towns ; Homer, Truxton, Coventry, Newark Valley, Ithaca, Ludlowville, Ge- noa, Auburn, Onondaga, Marcellus, Geneva, Phelps, Jamestown, and Ellicott. Some of these were very extensive, and in view of them it may be truly said, that a great company were obedient to the faith.
In the following year we find as congregations or places visited in a special manner, with the gracious influences of the divine spirit, the names of Smithfield, Cazenovia, Lenox second church, Manlius third church, Onondaga second church, De Ruyter, Ger- man, Oxford, Virgil, Preble, Homer, Truxton, Skeneatoles, El- bridge, Brutus, Sennett, Auburn, Lyons, Phelps, West Bloomfield, Lima, Avon, Rochester, Ogden, Ridgeway, Shelby, East Riga, West Riga, Barre, and Royalton. It will be perceived that in this list of names several are the same that were named the preceding year. Probably the revival that commenced the preceding year was continued, and so became a subject of report two years in succession.
During the years 1822, 1823, 1824, and 1825, the gracious visi- tation of the Holy Spirit was experienced in many of the congre-
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gations in Western New York. We may mention the following as having come to the knowledge of the writer, viz :- Sullivan se- cond church, Lennox first, Pompey first, Pompey second, Pompey third, Granby, Onondaga first, Salina, Camillus, Otisco, Sempro- nius, Windsor, Binghamton, Union, Ithaca, Groton, East Groton, Scipio second, Moravia, Milan, Waterloo, Junius second, Clyde, Romulus, Geneva, Phelps, Palmyra, Bellona, Middlesex, Naples, Prattsburgh, Pulteney, Bath, Dansville village, West Bloomfield, Richmond, Livonia, Mount Morris, Groveland, Orangeville, Nunda, Geneseo village, Pittsford, Perrinton, Chili, Wheatland, Riga, Ber- gen, Warsaw, Sheldon, Lockport, Buffalo, Fredonia, Cold Spring, and Jamestown. In many of these congregations the outpouring of the Spirit was abundant, and the numbers of the impenitent hopefully converted was great ; in some, it was a gentle refresh- ing shower, terminating in the conversion of a few individuals, and bringing them into union with the visible church. In the congre- gations of Mount Morris and Buffalo, the showers of the Spirit were repeated during these years.
The year 1826 was peculiarly distinguished in Western New York as a year of the right-hand of the Most High. The rain of righteousness descended in copious effusions upon the congrega- tions of Cazenovia, Pompey first church, Cicero, Manlius first, Manlius second, La Fayette, Otisco, Homer, Cortland Village, Har- rison, Fabius, Preble, Candor, Danby, Ithaca, Ludlowville, Groton, Genoa, Auburn, Marcellus, Elbridge, Cayuga Village, Canandaigua, Marion, Huron, Parma and Greece, Lockport, Cold Spring, Buffalo, Indian Stations, especially Tuscarora, Aurora west, Concord, and Evans. The narrative of the state of religion within the Presby- tery of Cayuga for the year 1827, exhibits in a very affecting man- ner, the power and the sovereignty of divine grace in these revi- vals. It says : " The Presbytery have at present forty-two churches under their care, to nine of which there has come within the past year a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. The in- fant church at Cortland village has been made greatly to enlarge the place of her tent. During the last winter a powerful work of the Spirit commenced in that place. The Spirit descended like a rushing mighty wind, and in its progress levelled many of the strong- holds of sin, the Babels of spiritual pride, the entrenchments of heresy, and the strongest fortresses of infidelity. Under the plain, unadulterated, and unadorned exhibitions of Gospel truth, small children, in connexion with confirmed infidels, and bold blasphe- mers, were heard mingling their cries for mercy. They number more than a hundred, as the fruits of this blessed work.
" In Marcellus the state of religion became more interesting, about a year ago. There was some unusual engagedness amongst the members of the church. Christians began to feel the impor- tance of shaking off their slumbers, and awaking to greater pray-
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erfulness and effort. The state of things kept gradually improving, till the months of April and May, at which time it became highly interesting. Many sinners became deeply distressed, and amongst others some Universalists were heard anxiously inquiring, " What must we do to be saved ?" and almost daily some were added to the number of the faithful. About forty are reckoned the hopeful subjects of the work.
" In Genoa, after a long wintry season, during which almost everything seemed to have felt the chill of spiritual death, the ver- nal sun has returned with his life-giving influences. Some time during the month of February, the church and congregation as- sembled to observe a season of fasting and prayer ; and during the exercises of that day there was visible some unusual solemnity. There were some searchings of heart amongst the people of God, who now began to feel the importance of strengthening the things that remained, and which seemed ready to die. This state of feel- ing continued gradually to increase, till the united and agonizing cry of the whole church was, 'O Lord, revive thy work.' The influence now extended to the unconverted, and the slumbers of death were broken. Throughout the whole congregation there was very deep solemnity, and many were heard to ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward. About fifty have hopefully passed from death unto life, and the hope is indulged that the Spirit is not yet departed.
" To the east church in Groton, the past season has been one of uncommon interest. On the members of that church God has been pleased to pour out a spirit of grace and supplications, and, in evi- dence of the truth of the promise that he has never said to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek ye me in vain,' they now tell of one hundred and fifty, who have begun their song of praise to him that loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood.
" Although the passing cloud of divine influence has distilled its blessings less copiously on the small church of Cayuga than on some others, yet hopes are there entertained of twenty-five, as being born again to a new and divine life.
" In Auburn, which has repeatedly heretofore been the theatre of the Spirit's special operation, there is at present an incipient revival of cheering promise. Between sixty and seventy, it is hoped, have shared its saving influence.
" Upon the congregation at Ithaca, the Holy Spirit has come down with resistless and overwhelming power. Those doctrines of the cross which have ever been to some a stumbling-block, and to others foolishness, and against which the pride of the carnal heart has always aimed a deadly opposition, have there proved to be the power of God unto salvation. That congregation has the name of being always attentive to the means of grace, and on seve- ral previous occasions, the humbling truths of the gospel have found their way to the consciences of numbers of the impenitent.
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But never before has that place been favored with a work so gene- ral in its influence. During the two past years religion was in a very declining state, especially the last, and it was not till the month of June, 1826, that the state of things became more encouraging. At that time three pious females, taking a view of the desolations of Zion, had their hearts drawn out in prayer to Israel's God. Like those pious Jews spoken of by the prophet, they 'spoke often one to another,' to encourage each other's hearts, and to strengthen each other's hands. Through their united exertions, a female prayer-meeting was revived, which had been suffered to go down. The spirit of prayer thus enkindled, continued to increase and spread till about the middle of October, when the whole church seemed to travail in birth for souls. This spirit of agonizing prayer was in most cases not general, but specific in its objects, taking hold of particular individuals. To such subjects the hearts of Christians would often be directed, without their being able to assign the reason, and would be drawn forth in the most agonizing supplications, while for the time the dearest friends who were also in a Christless state, would be comparatively forgotten. These prayers in many cases received the most signal answers, and the promise was often literally fulfilled : ' While they are yet speaking, I will hear.' While a little group of Christians would be gathered together, with one accord, in one place, to pray for some distressed sinner without his knowledge, light would break into his soul, and leaving his retirement for the purpose of informing his Christian friends that he had found the Saviour, he has discovered them ago- · nizing at a throne of grace on his behalf. For some time after the commencement of the work, it was chiefly confined to children, but afterwards it almost entirely left the children, and passed up to persons of mature age. Of the 250 hopeful converts, are to be found persons of every age, of every class of society, of every com- plexiou of character, and of every grade of mental cultivation. The libertine has been reformed ; the man of strict morality has felt his need of that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord ; and many a cold professor has felt the anguish of a wounded spirit, and been brought again to cry for mercy. There has been nothing noisy or disorderly in their solemn assemblies, even when the ex- citement was at its height ; but while sinners have been suffering the most awful and overwhelming agony, so that their trembling limbs have been actually unable to support them, the house of wor- ship, save the speaker's voice, has been silent as the grave. In most cases, the distress of mind has been most pungent, produced by a strong conviction of the entire alienation of the heart from God; and such convictions have been usually followed by very comforting views of Christ as a Saviour, Almighty, and in every respect, All-sufficient. This revival numbers among its subjects more than half of the Bible class, and a goodly number both of the
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teachers and scholars of the Sabbath school, and the precious work still continues.
" In the congregation at Danby, the work has been quite as pow- erful, and perhaps more so, in proportion to its numbers, than at Ithaca. The commencement of the work in both places was simul- taneous, and most of the remarks which have been made in refer- ence to the work at Ithaca, will apply also to that of Danby. The state both of religion and morals had antecedently been very low ; but, in the progress of the work, almost every house has been visited, and some almost whole families have been taken. The hopeful subjects of the work, which is still in progress, amount to two hundred.
" The revival in Candor is yet in an incipient state ; twenty have been hopefully converted, and thirty more are in a state of deep anxiety.
" The aggregate of hopeful conversions noticed in the foregoing details, is 900. Six hundred and seven new members have been added to the nineteen churches from which reports have been received, making an aggregate now in the communion of those churches, of 2,348.
"As a general remark in reference to the above mentioned revi- vals," the Presbytery say, " it may be observed, that we have heard of no extraordinary array of means-nothing but the foolishness of preaching, a plain and faithful exhibition of gospel truth, the instruc- tion of Sabbath schools and Bible classes, and private addresses to the consciences of the impenitent. In almost or quite every case, we have heard of the conversion of sinners being preceded by a very uncommon spirit of prayer on the part of Christians. In regard to those places for which God had blessings in store, he seemed to say, ' I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.' Most of the other churches under the care of this Presbytery, hearing of these displays of divine power and mercy, have been awakened to more than ordinary engagedness in prayer, and we sincerely hope that this season of refreshing may not pass away until they have all been visited."
· The foregoing view of the revivals which occurred in the Pres- bytery of Cayuga, will serve as a specimen of the revivals generally in Western New York at that period. The writer is not aware, that at that period there was any very noticeable difference in the character of the revivals which took place, or in the means em- ployed to promote them.
During the year 1827, the visitations of the Holy Spirit were in a considerable degree intermitted, though in some places refresh- ings were enjoyed. The congregations of Smithfield, Pitcher, Owego, Newark valley, East Groton, Southport, Wayne, Ogden, Wheatland, Warren, and New Hudson, are noticed as watered with the dew of the Heavenly Spirit, in a more than ordinary
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manner. In 1828, the number of congregations visited was much greater, and dispersed over all parts of the field, and the number of souls hopefully converted to God, was very considerable. The author has a catalogue of nearly thirty congregations in which revi- vals of a greater or less extent were enjoyed in the course of the year. The revivals in 1829 were less numerous than in the pre- ceding year, yet Western New York in this year had an evidence that the Lord had not forsaken his heritage, and a considerable number of the churches were revived by the showers of the Spirit of God, poured out upon them, and many sinners were converted unto God. The congregations, in which there were special out- pourings of the Spirit in 1830, were more numerous than those in 1829. The author has information of more than twenty congrega- tions in which the blessing was poured down in goodly measures, rejoicing the people of the Most High. .
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