USA > Ohio > Biographical and historical memoirs of the early pioneer settlers of Ohio, with narratives of incidents and occurrences in 1775 > Part 41
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The glorious results of this early attempt at missions to the
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Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel P. Robbins.
JULY,
heathen is well known to the religious world.
The Rev. S. P. Robbins was born at Plymouth, the 20th day of April, A. D. 1777, and seems to have been consecrated from the womb, like Samuel of old, to the service of the Lord, for from his earliest childhood, he was deeply impressed with rev- erence for holy things, and felt little interest in the sports and amusements of childhood and youth. He learned to read and write at an early age, so that when in his eighth year, he ad- dressed quite an intelligent epis- tle to his brother Isaac, then in Boston, which is preserved among the family letters. At a suitable age he was prepared for college, and entered the Uni- versity at Cambridge when he was seventeen years old, and graduated in 1798. His college course was very creditable as a scholar, and his conduct marked with the strictest decorum, avoiding all those irregularities so common to students in our colleges at the present day. Soon after his graduation he se- lected the ministry of the gospel as his occupation in life ; but before commencing the study of theology, had to pass through the ordeal of a country school- master, as was the practice of the larger portion of our edu- cated young men, before enter- ing on a profession-as many of them had exhausted all the funds their fathers could afford in the college course, and after they were twenty-one years old, were thrown on their own resources for a support. Teaching was the only employment for which they were fitted ; while the low wa- ges offered by the country dis-
tricts was the most trifling pit- tance, ranging from ten to fifteen dollars a month ; a sum but little, if any, exceeding the hire of a common laborer on the farm ; the honest yeomanry of that day, thinking in unison with many of the present, that "a cheap schoolmaster," was the most de- sirable, however mean his abili- ties ! He left home in Novem- ber, in company with his pater- nal uncle, Ammi Ruhamah Rob- bins, the pastor of a church in Norfolk, Connecticut, the land of his fathers. After spending two or three weeks in search of a school in the adjacent towns, he at length obtained one, at fourteen dollars a month, in Go- shen, which he considered quite fortunate, as many teachers re- ceived but ten dollars. He boarded in the family of the Rev. Mr. Hooker, a noted divine, whose wife was the grand- daughter of President Edwards, of Yale, so that his first winter passed pleasantly and profitably. The following season he taught a school in Lenox, Ct., and con- tinued in this employment until April, 1800. The latter part of 1799, he commenced the study of divinity, with the Rev. Mr. Hyde of Lee, in Massachusetts. His father, who had been in a low state of health for some months, died in June, 1799.
Mr. Robbins' name and quali- fications being now well known, he was selected by the people of that vicinity, to deliver a Eulogy on Washington, in Feb- ruary, 1800, which was printed, and considered a highly credita- ble production. At this time, and for several months pre- ceding, there was an exten- sive revival of religion in Le-
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Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel P. Robbins.
1850.
nox and the adjacent towns. Into this work he entered earn- estly, as appears from his letters to his mother, and became thor- oughly converted to God, devot- ing his life and talents to his service. In 1801, he was ex- amined, and licensed to preach the gospel ; soon after which he was employed as a preacher by a society in Blandford, Mass, where he continued for several months ; after which he preached in Stockbridge and Becket, until the beginning of the year 1802, when he was again engaged in Blandford until May. During this month he went to visit his brother, the Hon. Chandler Rob- bins, in Hallowel, Maine, pass- ing through Plymouth on his way, where he preached in Mr. Judson's pulpit, the successor of his father. The death of his excellent mother, in 1800, made this a very solemn visit, as her instructions and advice had greatly contributed in making him what he was. While stay- ing in Maine, he was employed to preach in the town of Augusta for some Sabbaths, and also in Bath. He remained in Maine until the spring of the following year, when he was employed by the Connecticut Evangelical Missionary Society, as a mis- sionary, to itinerate in the new settlements of the State of New York, on the heads of the Sus- quehannah river, in Steuben, Oneida, and Brown counties, where he continued for one or two years, visiting and preach- ing to the scattered inhabitants of this then wilderness region His name was long remembered there, as a faithful Evangelist, as was testified in years after, by letters to him from some of
his christian friends, when set- tled in Marietta. Mr. Robbins having a sister, Mrs. Hannah Gilman, living in this place, vis- ited her in the winter of 1804-5. While there he preached several times, in a very acceptable man- ner, to the Congregational So- ciety. Their former pastor, the Rev. Daniel Story, had died the year before, so that they were destitute of a preacher. He left there, on his return to New Eng- land, in the spring, performing this long journey on horseback, over very bad roads, and streams of water without bridges. On the eighth of April, 1805, the society at Marietta gave him an unanimous call, to settle over them as pastor, which was an- nounced to him by Gen Rufus Putnam, one of the trustees, with a salary of five hundred dollars, a liberal sum for that day, when the inhabitants of Marietta were few in number, and yet struggling with the dif- ficulties that attend all new set- tlements. They however look- ed for aid to the rents of a mile square of land, on a part of which the town is situated, de- voted, by the wisdom of the Ohio Company, in every town- ship, to the support of the gospel. This source, it was supposed, would furnish about one quarter of the sum. The church was composed of members living in Marietta, Belprie and Adams- three fourths being in Marietta, and the other quarter in Belprie and Adams. One Sabbath in a month was divided 10 these 1wo places. Belprie was fourteen miles, and the other town ten, from Marietta. The salary was made up in the same ratio. It was late in the autumn of 1805
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Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel P. Robbins. JULY,
before Mr. Robbins decided on accepting the call. The country was new, the inhabitants thinly scattered, and facilities for trav- elling poor, compared with the New England states, where many of his friends urged him to remain. But having finally decided on going there, he went forward with his whole heart, determined to spend and be spent in the service of his Lord, and for the people whom he was about to receive under his charge The ordination was to take place on the eighth of January, 1806; some days previous to which, the pastors who were to officiate in the exercises, assembled at Marietta, from considerable dis- tances, as at this time there were only six or seven ministers of the Congregational or Presbyterian order in the State of Ohio, then containing ninety thousand in- habitants. Rev. Thomas Rob- bins, his cousin, came from New Connecticut, or " the Reserve," where he was itinerating in the employ of the Connecticut Mis- sionary Society; Rev. Lyman Potter, from Steubenville ; Mr. Badger, from Austinville, Pa .; Rev. Jacob Lindsly, from Water- ford, Ohio; and Stephen Linds- ly, of Marietta. In view of this solemn event, he says in his journal, " Oh that I might have grace to support me under all the trials peculiar to the work, and to assist in all its duties !" The ordination took place in a large unfinished brick dwelling- house, owned by the Hon. R. I. Meigs; the society having no house at that time sufficiently large ; but public worship was attended in the Academy. The Rev. Jacob Lindsly made the introductory prayer ; Rev. Thos.
Robbins preached the sermon, from Matthew xxiv : 14, which was printed at Marietta; Mr. Potter made the consecrating prayer; Mr. Badger gave the charge; Mr. S. Lindsly presented the right hand of fellowship; and Mr. Badger made the con- cluding prayer. After the ser- vices, Mr. Robbins, and the church under his care, " renewed the covenant," and gave their assent to "the Confession of Faith."
The following year a large and beautiful church building was erected by the society, in which he afterwards officiated to the time of his death. His cousin Thomas remained in Ma- rietta until the middle of Feb- ruary ; visiting in company the new settlements in the country within fifteen or twenty miles, and preaching to the people, who heard them gladly; for the sound of the gospel was a rarity.
Soon after his ordination, he commenced a series of religious services for the benefit of the church and people under his charge-such as weekly prayer- meetings, and assemblies of the youth, in which Scripture ques- tions were propounded at one meeting, and answered at the next, in writing. It was found a very profitable exercise, and productive of great good to all who engaged in it. These meet- ings were kept up for several years. Once a month, when he visited Belprie, the journey was sometimes extended up the Hockhocking river, the distance of thirty or forty miles, preaching to the scattered settlements, more or less discourses, every day. In his return, he often
247
1850.
Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel P. Robbins.
called on the inhabitants at the mouth of the Little Kenawhba, and at Vienna, where some of his church resided, eight miles below Marietta, in Virginia, thinking he could never do enough to promote the cause of Christ on earth.
On the 20th of April, 1806, he was twenty-eight years old, and made this entry in his journal : " Oh! what an unprofitable life have I lived! The Lord humble me under a sense of my unpro- fitableness and unfaithfulness, and forgive-and give me a heart to devote myself more to thy service this year, than I have ever yet done, for Christ's sake, amen. N. B. I mean, for the future, through God's assistance, to observe my future birth-days, except when they fall on the Sabbath, as days of fasting and prayer." This was doubtless faithfully kept, as his diary will testify. He also affectionately noticed the days of his father's and mother's death, from year to year, as days of solemnity and spiritual improvement. In visit- ing the public schools, he was very punctual, as he had oppor- tunity ; giving them religious in- struction and advice; catechis- ing the children after the good old New England fashion, both in public and in the private fam- ilies where he visited, leaving precious seed scattered wher- ever he moved in his Master's field.
During this year some addi- tions were made to his church, but so many sects about this time sprung up in the vicinity of Marietta, that the people's minds were much distracted. Amongst the most prominent of these, was the " New Halcyon Church,"
originated by Abel M. Sargent, who pretended to be inspired, and as having a commission from heaven to preach the new doc- trine. They held that baptism was regeneration; and that a man, by living in strict conform- ity to the gospel, without sin, might become so holy as to work miracles-heal the sick, raise the dead, and live without eating. One of this sect, in 1807, resid- ing a few miles above Marietta, put this belief to the test. He was the son of one of their lead- ing female preachers-for, like the quakers, both sexes were called by the Spirit to preach the new gospel. He lived nine days without food, and then died. His friends asserted that he would rise the third day, and did not suffer him to be buried. On the fourth day putrefaction was so far advanced that they con- signed him to the earth. They held that the faithful would in- herit eternal life, but that the wicked at death were annihilat- ed both soul and body, thus ad- vocating the doctrine of the Uni- versalists, to which sect, many of the Halcyons attached them- selves after the death of Sar- gent. This peculiar sect, whose doctrine in some things resem- bled the Mormons, ceased after six or eight years ; and they have been unknown as a religious de- nomination for a long time. Mr. Robbins took but little notice of Sargent or his tenets; though challenged to a public discussion by their leader ; knowing that so unscriptural and absurd a doc- trine must soon come to an end.
The new year of 1807, opened with acknowledgments of the goodness of God, and of his own
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Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel P. Robbins.
JULY,
unworthiness. " Blessed be God that I am spared to see the light of a new year. The Lord par- don the sins of my holy things, for Jesus' sake." The summer of that year was very sickly. An epidemic, miasmatic fever, pervaded the country, from the falls of the Ohio to Pittsburgh. Many died in Marietta from the disease ; and Mr. Robbins was sick for some time, so that for thirty days, he was unable to cross the Muskingum river to his place of meeting-he living at that time with his sister Gil- man on the west side of that stream, called " Fort Harmer,"- on which occasion he says : " The Lord perfect begun good- ness, for Jesus' sake, and keep me to live nearer to thee, and to realize my accountableness, more than I have yet done ! amen."
He was very conscientious in visiting the families of his con- gregation ; which was done in alphabetical order, several times in a year; thus becoming per- sonally acquainted with all his flock, and administering such exhortations, consolations, or ad- vice, as they severally needed. This practice was continued all his life, and much endeared him to his people. In 1808, he com- menced a course of irregular missionary tours into destitute portions of the state-spending about two weeks in this service. In May he rode as far as Gran- ville, preaching the gospel as he went out and returned, at Wa- terford, Springfield, Newark and . Granville. The last of this month he began to hold meetings on the Sabbath in the new church building, but it was not fully finished and dedicated to the service of God, until the 28th of
May, 1809-on which occasion the Lord's-supper was adminis- tered. The day is made memor- able from a violent tornado, which burst in fury over Mari- etta, just as the congregation had left the house at the close of the afternoon service. Sev- eral buildings were unroofed, and others blown down, with vast destruction to forest trees, over a space of country several hundred miles long and eighty or one hundred broad. It was the most violent and destructive storm that has ever visited this part of Ohio, from its first settle- ment to the present time.
In December, 1808, he assist- ed at the ordination of the Rev. Timothy Harris, at Granville. There had been a considerable revival of religion among the people since his arrival there in Oct. 1807. He continued, dur- ing his short but useful life, one of Mr. Robbins' most ardent friends. At the close of the year he says : " Blessed be God for sparing me another year ; may a sense of his goodness and forbearance lead me to repent- ance !"
His missionary and itinerating labors were fully equal to that of any Methodist circuit rider ; travelling every two or three weeks to Belprie, preaching on the way, both going and return- ing, at private houses ; and every two or three months, winter and summer, making visits to the distance of eighty or one hun- dred miles, occupying from ten to fourteen days; besides at- tending and preaching at pres- byteries and associations two or three times a year. From the daily records in his journal, the labor thus performed was im-
S
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Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel P. Robbins.
1850.
mense, travelling on horseback, in all varieties of weather, over the worst of roads, fording creeks, and sometimes in emi- nent hazard of his life from drowning. But nothing could cool his zeal, or cheek his ardor in his Master's service, deeming no labor too severe, if even one soul could be converted to God. In February, 1810, he visited his friends in New England. This journey was performed on horseback, at a very inclement season, and occupied him from the 12th of February to the 3d of March, when he arrived at his uncle Robbins' in Norfolk, Ct .; visited his old preceptor, the Rev. Mr. Hyde of Lee, Mass., and preached in his pulpit. On the 24th reached Plymouth, his native place, where he preached several times. While in Lynn, on a visit to his brother, Dr. P. G. Robbins, he was invited to address the Methodist society, and attended a meeting of the Quakers ; numbers of both these sects attending his preaching in the Congregational church ; a minister of the gospel from Ohio being a rare sight in Massachu- setts. While here he visited the Theological School, just founded at Andover, and assisted in the religious services of the day. After calling on his friends in Connecticut, he reached Mariet- ta, the 31st of May, much grati- fied, and devoutly thankful for his preservation during this long journey.
On the 13th of September of that year, he was united in Mar- riage to Miss Martha Burlin- game, a grand-daughter of Gen. Rufus Putnam-his friend Har- ris, of Granville officiating on this occasion. On the 15th he
moved into his own dwelling- house ; on which, he writes, " The Lord move with us, and dwell with us, for Jesus' sake !" The fruits of this marriage were six children; three sons and three daughters, all of whom lived to adult years. As an evi- dence of his devotion to God, and how deep the interest he felt in the spread of the gospel, in the prospect of the birth of his first child, daily prayers, often attended with tears, were offered up, that this child might be a son, whom he then dedicated to the service of Christ in the gospel ministry. His petitions were answered. The first-born was a son. That nothing on his part should be wanting to pre- pare the youthful Samuel for the service of the Lord, he set apart the sum of one thousand dollars, his portion from his father's es- tate, for his education. At a suitable age he graduated at Athens college ; became hope- fully pious, and studied theology at Andover; soon after which he went out to India as a mis- sionary. The climate under- mined the health both of him- self and wife, obliging them to return to their native land. Mrs. Robbins died soon after, and he in a few years, with consump- tion.
At the close of the year 1810, he says, " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his bene- fits, which have been bestowed upon me the past year." And on the first of January, 1811, " Blessed be God for his good- ness to me and mine ; for suffer- ing us to live to see the light of this new year; O! for a heart to live more devoted to his ser- vice than ever !"
VOL. I.
32
250
Preaching the Doctrine of the Atonement.
JULY,
In February, he had the blessed privilege of receiving his dear sister, Mrs. Hannah Gilman, into the church under his care. She had from her youth exhibited a tender chris- tian spirit, and was attached to her brother Samuel by the warm- est ties of sisterly love. From thenceforth she became a sin- cere and devoted Christian, her whole heart and soul being con- secrated to the service of God, in an eminent degree, which was a source of consolation to him during the remainder of his life, as is evident from the cor- respondence carried on after her removal to Philadelphia, in Sep- tember 1813,
In August, 1811, he was much gratified by a personal acquaint- ance formed with Peter Miller, a colored man, who was born a slave ; but had been converted to God, and received his free- dom ; soon after which, impelled by a missionary spirit, he went and preached to the Wyandot tribe of Indians, at Sandusky, with considerable success. Feel- ing his weakness, from the lack of a suitable education, he re- turned to the white settlements
for aid in the work. His exer. tions laid the foundation of a mission to that tribe, under the Rev. J. B. Finley, of the Metho- dist church, an account of which has heen published. Mr. Miller delivered several discourses in Marietta, and sometimes in Mr. Robbins' desk.
At the baptism of his first child, in September, named Samuel Prince, he says, " May God own it as his, and give us grace to bring it up for him.".
The winter of 1811-12, was rendered memorable by a series of severe earthquakes all over the valley of the Ohio and Mis- sissippi. These are noted in his journal, the first being felt on the night of the 15th of Decem- ber, and the morning of the 16th. They continued at intervals for several months ; one of the hard- est being on the 15th of Feb., 1812, at four o'clock in the morn- ing, throwing down the tops of several chimneys, and cracking the walls of brick houses in Ma- rietta, causing great alarm to the inhabitants. The centre of these convulsions was near Madrid, a town on the Mississippi river.
(To be continued.)
RELIGIOUS COMMUNICATIONS.
For the Panoplist.
PREACHING THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT.
(Continued from p. 223.)
As relates to our , christian hearers, the points of interest in this truth are such and so nu-
merous, as to present strong motives for giving, in our preach- ing, great prominence to this doctrine. A few only of these can be noticed.
It promotes, in the Christian, deep and tender conviction of the evil of sin. When we lead him to Calvary, we are employ-
THE
PANOPLIST,
OR THE
CHRISTIAN'S ARMORY.
VOL. I. AUGUST, 1850. No. 8.
BIOGRAPHY.
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE REV. SAMUEL PRINCE ROBBINS.
(Continued from p. 250.)
IN addition to his pastoral la- bors, Mr. Robbins usually at- tended the examination of the students in the College at Athens, under the care of Jacob Lindsly, once or twice a year, for which he was well fitted, being a good classical scholar. In August, 1812, on account of the war, the President proclaim- ed a national fast, to be held throughout the United States. On this occasion he preached a discourse from the 15th verse of the 50th Psalm : " When you are in trouble call upon me, and I will hear you." First, however, premising, in the 14th verse, that the people pay their vows unto the Lord. It was a gen- eral season of mourning, as the citizens were much divided in their opinions, as to the justness or necessity of the war at that time; many believing it might have been avoided without any loss of credit to the nation.
On the 20th of October, 1812, VOL. I.
the annual association of Con- gregational ministers met at Ma- rietta. On this occasion there were present Messrs. Potter, Harris, Schemmerhorn, Robbins, and Samuel J. Mills. The latter was on a visit to the western country, as an agent to the American Bible Society, and to awaken a spirit of foreign mis- sions, then just beginning to dawn on the American churches. On the 22d, a society was or- ganized, called " The Washing- ton County Bible Society," on which occasion Mr. Schemmer- horn delivered a discourse. This was one of the first Bible Socie- ties formed in the valley of the Ohio, and has continued to this day, being the means of doing much good, by the distribution of the word of God amongst the destitute people, not only in this, but in all the adjacent counties. It received the fostering care of Mr. Robbins and his church, who remained all his life-time one of its warmest friends and supporters.
Soon after his settlement as pastor of the church in Marietta,
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Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel P. Robbins. AUG.
he commenced a course of re- ligious instruction for the chil- dren, by an annual teaching of the Westminster Catechism, which took place in the meet- ing-house, in the month of Au- gust. It was an excellent prac- tice, established by the divines of New England at an early day. On these occasions he preached a suitable sermon, by which the parents of the children, who generally attended, might be edified, as well as the youth. It was a profitable service, and kept up as long as he lived. Sunday schools have done away with this custom, but can never fully supply its place. That lit- tle code affording more instruc- tion in the truths of the gospel, the sovereignty and majesty of God, with the duties we owe him, than any other book of the same size in the English, or any other language.
The latter part of November, 1813, he commenced a mission- ary tour for the Bible Society, in company with the Rev. Ly- man Potter, whom he always addressed as a father in the church, to preach and solicit do- nations for its support. It ex- tended through Athens, Ross, Pickaway, Fairfield, and Mus- kingum counties. While at Chillicothe, he addressed a ser- mon to about three hundred British prisoners of war, at their barracks. They were captured by Com. Perry, on Lake Erie. After the discourse they distri- buted several Bibles and Testa- ments amongst the destitute seamen-thus fulfilling the com- mand of his Master, to "visit the prisoners, and to love and do good, even to our enemies." On this tour he spent over three
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