USA > Ohio > Circuit-rider days along the Ohio; being the journals of the Ohio Conference from its organization in 1812 to 1826 > Part 3
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Thence on and on to Cincinnati, across the Ohio into Kentucky, saying: "Oh, let us not complain when we think of the suffering, wounded, and dying of the hostile armies! If we suffer, what shall comfort us? Let us
34 CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS ALONG THE OHIO
see-Ohio will give six thousand for her increase of mem- bers in one new district." And with such comfort bear- ing him along, he presses on in his never ending journeys.
The following incident, which occurred at the Confer- ence of 1812, is related by James B. Finley: "Bishop Asbury said to the preachers,'Brethren, if any of you have any thing peculiar in your circumstances that should be known to the superintendent, in making your appoint- ment, if you will drop me a note, I will, as far as will be compatible with the great interests of the church, en- deavor to accommodate you.' I had a great desire to go West, because I had relatives which called me in that direction, and it would be more pleasant to be with them ; so I sat down and addressed a polite note to the bishop, requesting him to send me West. My request however, was not granted; for when the appointments were read out, instead of hearing my name announced in connection with some Western appointment, I was sent one hundred miles further east. To this, however, I responded amen, and after the adjournment of Conference I said to the bishop, "'If that is the way you answer prayers, I think you will get no more prayers from me.' 'Well,' said he, smiling and stroking my head, 'be a good son in the gospel, James, and all things will work together for good."11
The first year of the Ohio Conference a membership of 22,723 whites and 51 colored was reported. The largest district was the Miami, which had twelve circuits and 9,168 members, while none of the other four districts contained over seven circuits. Of the sixty-one preachers whose names appear in the manuscript minutes thirty- three had deficiencies in their salaries. At this time the amount allowed the preachers by the Discipline was $80 for a single man and $160 for a married man, and of the sixty-one preachers, twenty-two were married men.
11 James B. Finley, Autobiography, pp. 253, 254.
35
METHODISM AND THE WAR OF 1812
An interesting entry in the old Manuscript Journal are the accounts of the bishops, as follows :
Bishop McKendree's Account.
Monies received between the Western Annual Conference Oct. 1st 1811 & the Ohio An- nual Conference Oct. 1st. 1812. Western Conf $10.00
Bishop Asbury' expenses for 1812.
From West to the
South
$21.05
Camden to Richmond 8.24
to Leesburg .. 2.50
Southern Ditto
25.00
Virginia Ditto
16.50
phia . 2.61
to Albany ....
8.12
Philadelphia Ditto 25.00
to Lynn .... 7.85
New York Ditto 30.00
to Lyons (NY)
18.03
New England Ditto 25.00
Gennessee Ditto
25.00
Postage .
6.10
Quarterage
80.
Amount
$181.50
Allowance
80
$169.87
I suppose my travelling expences amount at least to $75. Deduct $155. Supposed surplus $26.50 But I have not been able to keep an accurate ac- count I have frequently paid for 2 men & horses and once for a carriage with 3 horses about 400 miles on a turn Pike Road.
Credit
Received from the
Western Conf .. $31
South D"
35
Virginia 25
Baltimore 25
Philadelphia
25
New York 30
New England 25
Balance
$51.13
Genessee
25
$221 ..
The last quarter of the year was generally given over largely to camp meetings, almost every circuit holding at least one such meeting during the months of July, August, or September. At a camp meeting held near Meadville in 1813 a large number of "rowdies" came to the ground on Saturday afternoon and the presiding elder was much disturbed, fearing an outbreak. While walk- ing about the camp trying to preserve order the elder was met by two gentlemen from Meadville, one of whom
Deduct
$169.87
to Philadel-
Baltimore Ditto 25.00
to Chillicothe 15.37
36
CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS ALONG THE OHIO
proved to be General Mead, who requested the preacher to give himself no more trouble about keeping order, prom- ising to see that order was kept throughout the encamp- ment. General Mead came to the stand and requested that order be maintained, and there was no more trouble during the meeting. At the same meeting Bishop McKen- dree was present and preached every day, to the delight and profit of the people.12
The Conference of 1813 was appointed to convene at Steubenville, Ohio. It was the first time Steubenville had entertained such a Methodist gathering, for Method- ism was comparatively new in the village and there was some doubt as to whether the preachers could all find accommodation. To this Conference both Bishop Asbury and McKendree came, and the Conference was held in "a new brick house, just completed, finished in plain, neat style, and very comfortable." The preaching serv- ices of the Conference were held in a large "sugar or- chard," where seats were arranged to accommodate about a thousand people. Both Bishops preached in the "sugar orchard" on Conference Sunday, McKendree at nine o'clock, and Asbury at eleven.13
At the session of the Conference in Cincinnati in 1814 John Sale, a veteran of the church in the wilderness, was appointed to preside. Bishop Asbury was present, but the increasing infirmities of age made it impossible for him to attend to his office. Bishop Asbury records in his Journal his arrival in Cincinnati, remarking: "There is distress everywhere-in the church, and abroad in the United States. I have discharged blood in coughing."14 Bishop McKendree was detained by a fall from his horse
12 Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, pp. 300, 301.
13 Ibid., pp. 305-307. Of this session of the Ohio Conference. Asbury says in his Journal: "Sabbath 5. In Bezaleel Well's grove I may have had one thousand souls to hear me. Bishop M'Kendree preached, and the exercises closed with the sacrament. The people were attentive to hear with much solemnity" (Journal, vol. iii, p. 356).
14 Asbury's Journal, vol. iii, pp. 365, 366. Bishop Asbury further says of this Con- ference: "John Sale presided with great propriety. . . . On Friday I retired to bed with a chill and fever. John Sale finished the plan of the stations from a general draft I furnished him.".
37
METHODISM AND THE WAR OF 1812
which "severely wounded him in his hip and ribs." The accident had occurred on July 29 as he journeyed from Genoa, New York, to Ohio. He was confined to his bed for several days and was detained for nearly a month,15 and he did not recover entirely from his painful accident for several months.
At this Conference James B. Finley was appointed to the Cross Creek Circuit, which he describes as follows: "Our circuit included the towns of Steubenville, Cadiz, Mount Pleasant, Smithfield, and several other villages, embracing all the country in Jefferson, part of Harrison, and Belmont Counties. It took four full weeks to travel round it, with an appointment for every day and two for the Sabbath. The membership was large, amounting to nearly one thousand. We had to preach thirty-two times every round, and meet fifty classes."16 He records a great religious awakening in Steubenville, where one hundred and thirty joined the church, while the effects of the revival spread to many other appointments on the cir- cuit. One morning the preacher was called upon to pray with eight families before breakfast. However, in spite of the great revivals over the circuit throughout this year, the preachers recorded but sixty-seven increase over the preceding year, which is accounted for by the fact that many members were suspended because of breach of rules, while "others fell away under the influence of the mania that prevailed in regard to banks and specu- lations in real estate."17
Finley thus describes the situation : "A money mania
15 Paine, Life and Times of Mckendree, vol. i, pp. 296, 297. See also extracts from McKendree's Journal.
Of this Conference Jacob Young says in his Autobiography: "I had a great deal to do at this Conference, and for several days and nights I felt like sinking under my burden; but just when things appeared to be coming to the very worst, the great and good McKendree made his appearance in the Conference room. He appeared to take hold of all the tangled matters just right, and closed them in the very best manner he could. . . . Bishop McKendree was very lame. I put him on my fine pacing horse, and went with him to Shelbyville, in Kentucky." (Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, p. 314).
16 James B. Finley, Autobiography, p. 268.
17 Ibid., p. 272.
38 CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS ALONG THE OHIO
seemed to have seized, like an epidemic, the entire people. Everybody went to banking. Within the bounds of our circuit there were no less than nine banking establish- ments, seven of them within the County of Jefferson, and one of them said to have been kept in a lady's chest. All these were engaged in issuing paper, while every incor- porated town, village, or company went to work to issu- ing notes. But it did not stop here. Tavern keepers, merchants, butchers, bakers-everybody-seemed to have become bankers. This fever not only raged in this vicin- ity, but throughout the entire West. It proved fatal, in a greater or less degree wherever it spread. Before it sub- sided another mania sprang up, namely, the laying out of new towns. So great was the excitement that towns were laid out at almost every crossroad within a mile of each other, and on the tops of barren hills. It was no matter where they were located, plots were made, adver- tisements were stuck up, lots were sold, and magnificent squares left for public buildings. After this rage sub- sided, it is not to be wondered at that society was left in a deplorable condition. The imaginary riches of the speculator flew away like the morning cloud, and from a state of high excitement the community relapsed into a state of stagnation. A perfect paralysis seemed to have come upon every department of business, and all who had entered into these speculations were entirely bankrupt. Discontent and dissatisfaction prevailed everywhere."18
At the Conference of 1814 a handsome youth of eigh- teen was appointed to one of the most difficult circuits in the bounds of the Ohio Conference. The youth was Henry B. Bascom and the circuit was the Guyandotte. Bascom was from an extremely poor family which had in 1812 removed from Kentucky to Ohio. He had, under great difficulty, picked up a little education and in 1812
18 James B. Finley, Autobiography, pp. 273, 274
39
METHODISM AND THE WAR OF 1812
was given an appointment in the Ohio Conference. Young Bascom was exceedingly elegant in person and he seemed always to dress in the height of fashion. This gave him a bad reputation among the roughly dressed pioneer preachers, and he was thought to be proud, ambitious, and too aspiring, and many prophesied that he would not remain a Methodist preacher for long. The Guyandotte circuit to which he was appointed in 1814 lay among the mountains of western Virginia, between the Great Ka- nhawa and the Guyandotte Rivers, and this circuit had the reputation as being one where refractory or unprom- ising preachers were sent to "break them in" or drive them off.19 During this year he traveled three thousand miles, preached to four hundred congregations, and re- ceived twelve dollars and ten cents.20
At the next Conference, that of 1815, young Bascom came up for admission into the Conference, but the mem- bers were still suspicious of his qualifications and he was not admitted. He was continued on trial, and ap- pointed to the Mad River Circuit. At this time three cir- cuits covered the whole distance from the Ohio River on the south to the Indian country on the north. These circuits were the Cincinnati, Union Circuit, and the Mad River. This latter circuit extended from the frontier settlements, west of the Great Miami, eastward to the Scioto and northward into the Indian country. The towns of Troy, Piqua, Springfield, Urbana, and several Indian towns were embraced within its bounds.21
The fourth session of the Ohio Conference met at Leba- non, Ohio, on the fourteenth of September, 1815, with forty members present. It was Bishop Asbury's last journey across the mountains and he was accompanied by the Rev. John Bond as traveling companion. The good bishop was very feeble and Mr. Bond "carried him in his
19 Henkle, Life of Henry B. Bascom, pp. 32-66. Louisville, 1854.
20 Ibid., pp. 80, 81.
21 Ibid., p. 84.
40
CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS ALONG THE OHIO
arms like a little child, set him in his carriage when he wished to travel, and took him out in the same way." The bishop took his seat in the Conference room, while Mr. Bond read a chapter and gave out a hymn when the bishop prayed, sitting in his seat, for he was not able to kneel down, and one who heard him said "he prayed as if speaking to God face to face."22 Of this Conference Asbury has left this account in his Journal: "Our Ohio Conference began, and all our fears vanished. We have great peace, abundance of accommodation, comfortable seasons in preaching, noon and night in the chapel and courthouse. Great grace and peace and success have attended our coming together. We hold in Ohio Con- ference sixty-eight preachers, sixty-seven of whom are stationed. Ten delegates have been chosen for the Gen- eral Conference. The settlement with the married and unmarried was made according to the funds, in which the mite subscription aided: the children of preachers were remembered in the distribution of the funds."23
Bishop McKendree was also present at this session and directed the business, though Bishop Asbury "was determined to station the preachers once more." The aged senior bishop preached in the market house on the Sabbath though he was compelled to preach seated in his carriage.24 The ten delegates elected to the General Con- ference were John Sale, Samuel Parker, Charles Holli- day, David Young, Marcus Lindsey, Jacob Young, James Quinn, William Burk, Benjamin Lakin, and Isaac Quinn. Nearly the whole delegation was elected on the first bal- lot, and as one of the delegates says, with "no electioneer- ing."
The General Conference of 1816 convened in Baltimore, the first General Conference since the organization of the Ohio Conference. Bishop Asbury had died in Fredericks-
22 Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, pp. 317, 318.
23 Asbury's Journal, vol. iii, p. 391.
24 Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, p. 319.
41
METHODISM AND THE WAR OF 1812
burg, Maryland, the March previous and one of the first things to occupy the attention of the Conference was the funeral of Asbury, which was said to have been one of the largest ever held in the city of Baltimore. The Committee on Episcopacy recommended that two additional bishops be chosen, and when the election was held Enoch George and Robert R. Roberts were elected by large majorities, and were consecrated by Bishop McKendree, assisted by several elders.
Bishop Asbury had willed his horse and some books and clothes to Bishop McKendree, and these were taken by Jacob Young to Wheeling for Bishop McKendree, as he returned to Ohio from the General Conference. Jacob Young thus describes how he brought these articles over the mountains; "The books and clothes were packed in two valises, buckled together by two leather straps, and laid across his (Asbury's) old pack-saddle. There was another valise buckled behind the saddle, and all were handsomely covered by a large bear-skin. I rode my own horse and led the bishop's." He states that his equip- ment resembled that of those who carried silver from one part of the country to another, and after he got into the mountains he was overtaken by a couple of men who after inquiring his destination and where he had been, sug- gested that he seemed to have plenty of money in his packs. To this Young replied that his packages contained Bishop Asbury's books, papers and some clothes willed to Bishop McKendree. One of the men then asked, "Is Bishop Asbury dead?" and on receiving the reply in the affirma- tive he remarked, "I have seen and heard him preach in my father's house," after which the men rode off looking much disappointed.25
The effect of the War of 1812 upon the church in the West is shown by a glance at the membership returns for the years of the war. The membership for the entire
25 Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, pp. 326, 327.
42
CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS ALONG THE OHIO
Conference at the opening of the war was 22,723 whites and 561 colored, while the number of circuits reporting was thirty-nine. The next year although the number of circuits had increased to forty-four the membership showed a decrease of nearly a thousand. This year 21,964 white and 421 colored members were given as the total membership for the Conference. The third year of the war a slight increase is indicated by the returns which are placed at 21,993 whites and 600 colored, while by the year 1815 the losses for the years of the war have been overcome and a slight gain made. The membership for 1815 is given at 24,095 whites and 644 colored.26
26 These facts have been obtained from Minutes of Conferences, vol. i (1773-1828) for the years indicated.
CHAPTER III
PROGRESS OF OHIO CONFERENCE METHODISM, 1816-1826
THE purpose of this chapter is to recount the story of the growth of Methodism in the Ohio valley during the ten years immediately following the close of the second war with England. The first few years of this period were years of economic stress and population was stead- ily moving westward. In the new States west of the mountains money was scarce and of varying value, for the first National Bank had gone out of existence in 1811 and the Second Bank, established just at the close of the war, in 1816, had not been in operation long enough to cure the financial ills, especially in the newer communi- ties west of the mountains. Between 1811 and 1816, the years in which there was no national bank, private and state banks sprang up like mushrooms and their issues of paper money, practically the only kind of currency in use west of the mountains, handicapped business between the newer and older states. This unstable condition of the currency not only hindered business, but it likewise reacted upon the affairs of the church. This is well il- lustrated by The Methodist Book Concern in its attempt to carry on business in the West.
Until the year 1820 the Methodist Episcopal Church had but one Publishing House, that located in New York, and this House furnished the entire church with books and tracts. It was one of the duties of a presiding elder to see that his district was supplied with books, and he was held responsible for all books sent into his district. The circuit preacher in turn distributed the books to the
43
44 CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS ALONG THE OHIO
people, and he was to account to his presiding elder for all books sold and unsold. The Discipline provided that when books were sent to distant places the presiding elder or preacher was allowed to add the cost of trans- portation to the price of the books.1
The following letter from the book agents in New York to one of the Western presiding elders, dated January 23, 1818, well illustrates some of the difficulties mentioned above :
Dear Bro ;-
Your letter of the 29 ult is duly read. We regret to learn that your monied institutions in the Western Country are in so bad a condition but hope the establishment of the United States Bank will in time regulate those institutions. We are glad you have been able ultimately to secure the uncurrent money put into your hands by the committee. You think you shall make a remittance in May and wish to know what western notes will best answer our purpose here. In answer to this we would ob- serve that unchartered notes will not pass at all. The best are the notes on Marietta, Steubenville, and Chilicothe. These notes are from 6 to 8 per cent below par. The larger the denomination of the notes the better for us. We presume that these Banks exchange specie for their notes when demanded and in this case it is not impossible but what you may get notes of some of the Branches of the United States Bank. If you can obtain these it will be much better as the discount will always be less there than at such a distance as this from the security banks. Should you have any considerable sum on hand which is currant at Cincinnati where we understand there is a Branch of the United States Bank it might be an object to forward it there for deposit and take a draft on the Branch in New York payable to our order and forward to us. This might be done through the aid of any of our friends in account with that Bank. They might de- posit it and then by a check obtain such a draft. We only sug- gest these thoughts to you but after all shall be perfectly satis- fied when you have done the best you can and have no doubt you will always endeavor to do so.2
1 Emory, History of the Discipline, pp. 258, 259. Also Sherman, History of the Dis- cipline, pp. 296-302.
? From an unpublished letter to James B. Finley, presiding elder of the Ohio Dis- trict, Ohio Conference, Steubenville, Ohio, written by the New York Book Agents, J. Soule and T. Mason.
45
PROGRESS OF OHIO CONFERENCE
A number of the preachers became involved in debt through the loose method of doing business with the Book Concern. Thus one presiding elder complains, "I had sold a large number of books; for many of them I was never paid; and under the old system of doing busi- ness the agents forwarded books at their own discretion and charged them all to the presiding elder, and they were deposited here and there-any place where the people would receive them. In this loose way of doing business I lost a great many hundred dollars."3
By the year 1824 a number of the prominent preachers of the Ohio Conference had become deeply involved in debt to The Book Concern and the Conference Book Com- mittee was called upon to make some adjustment. The committee found that John Sale owed $584.1514; James Quinn's indebtedness to The Book Concern was $400, while the account against William Burke totaled $536.01. The committee, in the case of David Young, advised that indebtedness be canceled as it "is connected with many difficulties," while in the case of James Quinn they ad- vise "considering his labors and embarrassed situation, together with his doubts about part of the charges, we have thought it proper to cancel all but the above sum, viz-$269.70."4
The General Conference of 1820 established a branch of The Book Concern at Cincinnati and elected Martin Ruter the book agent. He held office for eight years,
3 Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, pp. 342, 343.
4 MSS. Journal of the Ohio Conference, 1824.
The following is a Bill for books received by James B. Finley, dated New York, May 9, 1817:
Rev.James B.Finley
To J.Soule & T.Mason
Dr.
Retail 1, 2, 3,
$1.12}2 .100 " To 100 Wesley on Original Sin $92 .. 92
.50 75
75 Mrs.Cooper 41. . 30.75
.8712 50 "
50 Heney's Meditations 73 .. 36.50
40 Wesley's Testament 39 82 .. 32.80
Hymn Books 73.365 .-
.1232 50, 50,100
Sutcliffe's Sermons 10. 10 .-
614 ,30, 30
Coke's Sermon 5 1.50
(From an unpublished manuscript, in the Ohio Wesleyan University Library.) $568.55
1:" " " " 11 " 29 .8712 280,220,500
46
CIRCUIT-RIDER DAYS ALONG THE OHIO
being reelected in 1824. Of these eight years he states : "During the eight years in which I had charge of The Book Concern in Cincinnati I conducted its affairs almost wholly by my own personal efforts. I employed no clerk, did all the writing myself, and conducted the whole business with the least expense to the Church that was practicable. In attending the Western Conferences and in other necessary journeys I traveled during the eight years, more than nine thousand miles. I superintended a number of publications, and managed a capital of more than $6,000. At the close of the term, in 1828, it appeared from the accounts of the Book Agents at New York that the Concern had gained an amount of about $7,000."5
The 1816 session of the Ohio Conference convened in Louisville, Kentucky, with all three bishops present, Bishops McKendree, George, and Roberts, the last two having been elected the May previous.6 At this Confer- ence James B. Finley received his first appointment as presiding elder. He was then but thirty-five years of age and was sent by Bishop McKendree to preside over the Ohio District, which included the eastern portion of the State of Ohio, from the Ohio River to Lake Huron, all the Western Reserve, western Pennsylvania, and western New York. Over this vast territory there were but ten traveling preachers and a membership of 4,050.3
In this district Finley found Calvinism and Univer- salism firmly intrenched. He states that he found a Calvinist minister in almost every town, and "the Pres- byterian influence was so great that Methodism could scarcely live." When the Methodists were few in number Presbyterian dignity, according to Finley, "could not stoop to a recognition of them; but when the number increased and the fervent gospel appeal of the circuit-
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