USA > Ohio > Circuit-rider days along the Ohio; being the journals of the Ohio Conference from its organization in 1812 to 1826 > Part 4
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5 From a letter of Martin Ruter published in Biographical Sketches of Eminent Itin- erant Ministers, etc. By Thos. O. Summers (Nashville, 1858).
6 Stewart, Highways and Hedges, p. 27; James B. Finley, Autobiography of, p. 285; Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, pp. 335, 336.
7 James B. Finley, Autobiography, p. 285.
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rider waked up the town, then the gentlemen in black would call and inquire into the 'religious interests' that seemed to be abroad in the town, and . . suggest the' holding of a union meeting." But against such coopera- tion Finley always advised, because he thought the Pres- byterians wanted to use the Methodists for the sole pur- pose of advancing the Presbyterians.8
Methodism was introduced into the Western Reserve soon after the coming of the first settlers. The first so- ciety was formed at Deerfield in 1801, while the next year another class was organized at Hubbard. Like many another community on the frontier, this early Methodist work was begun by local preachers. The first regular Methodist preacher in the region was Shedrach Bostwick, who was sent as a missionary by the Baltimore Confer- ence in 1803. In 1805 Bostwick "located" in the Reserve, the several Methodist preaching places being then at- tached to the Erie Circuit. In 1810 the Western Re- serve was formed into a separate circuit called the Hart- ford, while the next year the name was changed to the Trumbull Circuit and that year there were 445 members reported.
In the year 1812 a new district was formed called the Ohio, and the Western Reserve territory was placed in this district. There were now two circuits in the Re- serve, the Trumbull and the Grand River, showing a total membership of 580. Methodism made steady growth in the Reserve, against great odds, and in 1817-18 there were four circuits, the Grand River, Mahoning, Huron, and Cuyahoga. After 1819 the Reserve was divided between two districts, at first the Ohio and the Tuscarawas and later the Ohio and the Lancaster Dis- tricts, while the General Conference of 1824 formed the Pittsburgh Conference and the Western Reserve, east of the Ohio and Erie Canal, was placed in this Conference.
8 James B. Finley, Autobiography, pp. 287, 288.
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By 1826 the Western Reserve contained nine circuits and 3,646 members.9
The early settlers of the Western Reserve were largely from New England, and a majority were attached by education and training to New England Calvinism. Mis- sionaries sent out from the East were numerous, and, according to contemporary accounts of Methodist cir- cuit-riders, these Eastern missionaries did all in their power to impede the work of the Methodists.10 One of the early Methodist preachers in the Western Reserve writing of his labors in the region states: "We (my col- gee and myself) have to encounter some difficulties in- cident to travellers in a new country also Calvinistick prejudices which by hereditary succession are almost interwoven in the constitution of many of the New Eng- landers-by these our doctrines are but little understood and consequently (through ignorance I hope) were grossly misrepresented." Further he states: "Perhaps there is no part of the world visited more by missionaries of the Presbyterian order than this but I think those who have been sent out by the charitable institutions for heathen missions mistake their field of labor when they confine themselves to this Western Reserve."11
At the session of the Conference in 1816 the question of the relation of the church to the Masonic Order was introduced, which resulted in the passage of resolutions condemning preachers and church members for associat- ing with or joining the Masons. The resolutions pro- claim it "inexpedient and imprudent for a travelling preacher to dishonor himself by associating with the
9 The Western Reserve was 120 miles long and averaged 4334 miles in breadth and contained an area of 3,360,000 acres. It was bounded on the east by Pennsyl- vania, the south by the 41st degree of north latitude, west by a line parallel with the western line of Pennsylvania, 120 miles distant, and north by Lake Erie. (See His- tory of Methodism on the Connecticut Western Reserve, Ohio, by the Rev. Alfred Brun- son, Methodist Magazine (1832), vol. xiv, pp. 255-274.)
10 James B. Finley, Autobiography, pp. 273, 274.
11 From an unpublished letter of the Rev. Ezra Booth (Ohio Wesleyan University collection). Ezra Booth was junior preacher on the Grand River and Mahoning Cir- cuit in 1817-1818.
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Free Masons in their Lodges" and they further instruct the presiding elders to inform the official men and mem- bers of the church, at the Conference's disapprobation of their "associating themselves with the Free Masons either in their Lodges or Festivals."12 The Conference at its next session again considered the matter through a committee, whose report explains the reason for the op- position of the church to the Masonic order. The report states that whereas many of the "brethern" have attached themselves to the Society of Free Masons they have de- cided to communicate to the church their sentiment in the matter. They proclaim themselves "decidedly and sentimentally opposed to the practice and are determined (as ministers of Christ and your servants) to set our faces and lift our hands against it for the following reasons :"
(1) Because it appears from observation that an union with this body of men is unfavorable to piety, witness the multitudes who on being converted to God have abandoned their Lodges and Festivals walking no more with them. Witness the dacying piety of those who have attached themselves to them from amongst ourselves. Witness that want of brotherly love, those jars and schisms which have ensued.
2ndly. What ever Masonry may be in itself, it is obvious to all that Masons are (in general) greatly deficient both in religion and good morals, and the Lord hath said "Come out from amchy them (that is the wicked) and be ye separate" yea tho they have the form; yet if they denied the poer of Godliness, from such turn away."
In closing the committee admonishes "Dear Brethern . 'The secret of the Lord is with them that fear and love him' and we are sure if you have and retain this 'Secret,' it will secure your felicity and render the 'Secrets' of Masonry unnecessary."18 ->
Methodist opposition to Masonry continued for a num- ber of years. In 1821 the Ohio Conference "Voted that brother Hincle be admonished from the Chair for hi's tra-
12 Conference Journal (MSS.) for 1816.
13 MSS. Journals of the Ohio Conference, 1817.
, "
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prudence in joining the free Masons and particularly of his manner of doing it."14 A Letter of James B. Finley written to the Rev. David Whitcome, who had just joined the Masons, dated February 8, 1841,15 sets forth a posi- tion commonly taken by Methodists at a considerably later period.
The sixth session of the Ohio Conference met at Zanes- ville on September 3, 1817, with Bishop Roberts the pre- siding officer.16 Bishop McKendree was also present and signed the Journal. Two or more of the bishops were usually present at the sessions of the Western Confer- ences during these early years. The bishops traveled through the country in carriages or horseback and stopped overnight along the way, often stopping at camp meetings, where large numbers of Methodists were gathered. It is very probable that these early bishops were better known and more widely heard by Methodists throughout the country generally than are the Methodist bishops of these days.
14 MSS. Journals of the Ohio Conference, 1821.
15. An unpublished letter in the collection of Ohio Wesleyan University. The letter states: "The news (that you had joined the Masons) came on me like a clap of thunder and now you have joined and sworn to be a Mason I do not know that it would be worth while to say anything to you on the subject, but you have inflicted a wound on many of your own charge and the purest part of God's heritage. You have been set by the Holy Ghost as an overseer of the morals of Gods people and if any of them should stray through a sinfull curiosity to a circus a theater, or a ball room yours is the duty to reprove and reclaim them but who is the truly pious man that would not much rather be found in any of them than in a Masons Lodge. Stript, blindfolded, with a halter round his neck and sword pointed at his breast and the profaine oath to have his throught cut from ear to ear &ct. and to see an ambassador of Jesus Christ, one who professes to be sent by Christ and to stand in his place, led about in this manner by-McGuire Ockly or men of this stamp. O tell it not in Gath nor publish it not in the streets of Dayton.
And then to think of you or any Christian minister should go saying I am in search of light when you have Christ the Holy Spirit and word, the true light to enlighten (you); to go to a Mason Lodge asking after light is too silly and contemptable. Your curiosity might have been gratified if you had taken the pains to read Morgan's book, Atlars Ritual, John Quincy Adams Letters and the testimony of 250 Masons who all announced it as Rottin and dangerous to our civil Institutions but I find the secret lies in the desire of Masonic influence and honner that comes from men and not from God.
Can you say follow me as I follow the Masons. Will not your example and influence be the means of leading many a weak Brother in the Society of these wicked men and put them under their influence to the injury of their souls. Can you now say to them come out from amongst the wicked whom you have sworn aligance to. Can you now exbell a Brother from the Church for attending balls and theaters and circuses and horse races any of which are preferable to the secret abominations of a lodge." (From a long MS. letter written by James B. Finley to the Rev. David Whitcome.)
For an account of Morgan and the rise of political Anti-Masonry see the full ac- count in McMaster, History of the People of the United States, vol. v, pp. 109-120.
"Stewart, Highways and Hedges,p. 33, mentions that Bishop Roberts was the presiding officer, but says nothing of the presence of Mckendree.
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A glimpse as to the condition of the practice of medi- cine on the frontier is afforded by certain charges pre- ferred against a member of the Ohio Conference at the session in 1817. Lemuel Lane is accused of practicing medicine without sufficient knowledge; of violating a State statute by "administering medicine without author- ity"; of "receiving exorbitant pay for his vegitable prepa- ration"; of "practising the Science of Midwifery without skill." He was found guilty of all the charges, but on his promise to "give up entirely the study and practice of Physic and the Science of Midwifery and devote himself entirely to the ministry" he was allowed to remain on trial in the Conference though he was deprived "of the office of Deacon."17
Though there had been a steady advance in the mem- bership of the Conference in the five years since its or- ganization, and the number of preachers and circuits had increased accordingly, yet the hardships attending the work of the Circuit-rider were in no way abated. The Little Kanawha Circuit was one of the largest, most difficult and most dreaded of the circuits. It embraced a large portion of what is now contained in a whole Conference in the State of West Virginia and was five hundred miles in circumference. John Stewart, who rode this circuit in 1817-1818, thus describes it: "Some of our rides between appointments were forty miles and more, and much of the way no roads. We would carry the tomahawk with us and blaze our path on the trees through the forest, or follow the blazed tracks that had been made by our predecessors. Notwithstanding the utmost care, we would frequently lose our path."18 Living conditions on this and other circuits were ex- tremely rude and many a cabin lacked every essential of comfort. One cabin in which Stewart was welcomed had
17 MSS. Journal of the Ohio Conference, 1817.
18 Stewart, Highways and Hedges, p. 35.
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neither chairs, bedstead, table, nor floor. To do the preacher special honor they "set out the iron bake-oven, and putting the lid on it, gave it to the preacher for a seat while they gathered about him to hear the news or receive such instruction as he had to give. The meal consisted of bear meat and cornbread, and when bed time came they all gathered about the family altar, then one of the family claimbed up to the loft, threw down a quantity of robes, taken from the wild animals of the forest. These were spread on the ground floor on each side of the spacious fireplace, and soon parents, children, and preacher were fast asleep."19
In contrast with the Little Kanawha was the Fair- field Circuit. It was one of the oldest and best in the Conference, and was located in and about Lancaster, Ohio. It contained from twenty-five to thirty appoint- ments. There was much wealth and refinement within its bounds and the Methodist Church had a strong hold upon the people generally. The preachers on this circuit had time for reading and study and the circuit-riders accounted themselves fortunate to have their names read after Fairfield Circuit. But even the best and easiest of the circuits in 1818 entailed never-ending riding, preaching, and exhorting, for even this circuit spread over a half dozen large counties and contained a mem- bership of nearly a thousand.20
The next three sessions of the Ohio Conference, that of 1818 at Steubenville, that of 1819 at Cincinnati, and the session of 1820 at Chillicothe, all convened early in August. Bishops McKendree and George were both present at the Steubenville and Cincinnati session while Bishop Roberts presided at the 1820 session. The next four sessions of the Conference were held the first week in September. The Conference of 1821 met at Lebanon and all three Bishops were present-McKendree, George,
19 Stewart's Highways and Hedges, pp. 35, 36.
20 Ibid., pp. 38, 39.
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and Roberts; the 1822 session met at Marietta, with Bishops McKendree and George present. The session of 1823 was held in Urbana, with Bishops McKendree and Roberts presiding, while at the Conference of 1824, held in Zanesville, Bishops McKendree, Roberts and Soule were present, the latter having been elected at the Gen- eral Conference the May previous. The next two sessions of the Ohio Conference met in October, that of 1825 in Columbus, the farthest north the Conference had yet met, and the 1826 session in Hillsborough. Bishop George seems to have been the only bishop present at the 1825 session, while Bishop Hedding alone presided at the 1826 session. In the first fifteen sessions of the Ohio Conference there were two or more bishops present at every session except three-the last two, and the 1820 session.
One of the tragedies enacted in the Ohio Conference during these years was the suspension and final expulsion of William Burke. William Burke was one of the best- known of all the early Methodist preachers in the West. He was born in Virginia in 1770, but moved with his parents, shortly after the War of the Revolution west of the mountains, where in 1791 he experienced conversion and the same year began to preach. When the Western Conference was formed in 1800 he became the first secre- tary. He was appointed a presiding elder in 1803, and from that time until the year of his suspension he was one of the recognized leaders in the church. None had made greater sacrifices than he and none had served the church with greater success.21 In 1813, worn out by his arduous labors in the ministry, he wrote a letter to the Conference asking for supernumerary relations.22 He had obtained the appointment as postmaster of Cin-
21 See "Autobiography of William Burke," in Finley's Sketches of Western Meth- odism, pp. 22-92; also Jacob Young, Autobiography of a Pioneer, pp. 313, 314. For the Conference action in regard to William Burke see the Journals for 1818 and 1820. 22 See Paine, Life of Bishop Mckendree, vol. i, pp. 290, 291, for Burke's letter to the Ohio Conference.
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cinnati, evidently thinking that a year or so would re- store him to health.
At the Conference of 1813 charges were brought against Burke for treating the elder with contempt, and the Con- ference suspended him for one year. At the next session of the Conference Burke came and took his seat as usual, but as Jacob Young states, Bishop Asbury was sick and McKendree was not there, and John Sale, the acting president, did not know how to handle the case. Accord- ingly, the case was not settled and finally at the Confer- ence of 1818 the case came up again and Burke "was suspended from all official services in the M. E. Church until he give full satisfaction to this Conference." Mean- while Burke had continued to preach and administer the sacraments in seeming defiance of Conference action. Finally at the Conference session of 1820, on a motion made by James B. Finley and seconded by Jacob Young, William Burke was expelled from the church.
Certainly this treatment of one of the oldest and most- talented members of the Conference seems extremely harsh and unjust, for he was guilty of no moral wrong, and his long years of service was a constant testimony of his devotion to the church. But this case, however, well illustrates the general attitude of the Methodist Church toward law and order. It demanded regularity above all else, and this, no doubt, was a most beneficent influence on the frontier, where law and order were none too highly respected. In numbers of instances the Con- ference appeared very harsh in voting down men, who afterward displayed exceptional ability. The best illus- trations of this harshness are the cases of Alfred Brunson and Henry B. Bascom, both of whom were at first re- jected by the Conference, and Brunson did not obtain membership until after repeated attempts.23
23 Alfred Brunson, Western Pioneer, vol. i, pp. 201, 202, 210-215. See also Henkle, Life of Henry B. Bascom, pp. 32-66.
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The year 1818-1819 was one of revival in all the dis- tricts of the Ohio Conference. On the Ohio District, of which James B. Finley was the presiding elder, the re- vivals began mostly in the camp meetings, and the mem- bership in many of the circuits was greatly increased. One camp meeting was held in the town of Deerfield in the Western Reserve in July, the result of which con- tinued for three months, the society increasing in mem- bership from sixteen to one hundred. Another camp meeting on the Erie Circuit was equally fruitful, while a like meeting on the Lake Circuit, near the town of Erie, attracted great crowds. Finley states that "in these parts a camp meeting had never been held before, in consequence of which many were excited to come and see." On the Sabbath a sermon on the judgment was given a most at- tentive hearing "and the whole congregation seemed to be melted into tears." From this meeting the elder passes on to another camp meeting at Chetauqua, which very prob- ably marks the beginning of the present "Chautauqua."24
The presiding elder of the Scioto District, John Collins, writes of similar revivals on his district. He testifies that "Camp-meetings have been rendered a great bless- ing to this country, especially during the last season," and "Every circuit in this district is favored with an outpouring of the blessed Spirit."25 Perhaps the most remarkable revival in the Ohio Conference during these years was the one known as the Chilicothe revival. It began in the fall of 1818 and continued through the en- tire autumn until February, resulting in adding to the church two hundred and twenty new members. The Presbyterian Church in Chilicothe partook of the revival spirit and likewise increased its membership. The Meth- odist congregations became so large that it became neces- sary to build a new church. The new church was a two-
24 Methodist Magazine, 1819, vol. ii, Letter from J. B. Finley, dated June 30, 1819, pp. 308-310.
25 Ibid., Letter from the Rev. John Collins, pp. 233-235.
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story brick building seventy by forty feet, "with spacious gallery," and cost $5,000.26
As a result of these revivals the membership of the church throughout the Conference shows a great increase for 1819 over that of the previous year. In 1818 28,361 members had been reported; in 1819 there were 34,826, an increase of 6,465, which is the largest increase in any single year during the first fifteen years of the history of the Ohio Conference.
Throughout this period much of the preaching of the Methodist circuit-rider was still carried on in the cabins of the people, rather than in meetinghouses. Thus on the Muskingum Circuit in 1823 there were twenty-three preaching places and twenty-one of them were the homes of the people, while two were chapels, one known as Wesleyan Chapel and the other Asbury Chapel.27 The situation on the Marietta Circuit in 1824 was much the same. On this circuit there were twenty-two preaching places. Two were chapels or churches, two were school- houses, and the remainder the cabins of the people.28
One of the notable Methodist events for the year 1818 was the beginning of the publication of the Methodist Magazine. Although published in New York, the Ohio Conference took great interest in this new venture and its early issues contain many communications from mem- bers of the Ohio Conference. A committee was appointed to gather materials for the Magazine and in 1820 action was taken in the Conference to "increase the number of subscribers for the magazine so as to have it reprinted in Cincinnati," and there is abundant evidence that the Magazine was well supported in the West.29
In the first issue of the Methodist Magazine is an In-
26 Ibid., Letter from Samuel Williams, pp. 235-240. See also letter from Samuel Williams describing a later revival in Chilicothe Methodist Magazine, 1825, pp. 155- 158.
27 Stewart, p. 127.
28 Ibid., p. 139.
29 MSS. Journal of the Ohio Conference, 1817, 1818, 1820.
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troductory Address30 by the editors in which they an- nounce the purpose and plan of the new publication. They announce their design to be to "circulate religious knowledge"; they plan to avoid controversial subjects, as "such contentions have already done great evil in the Christian world"; nor do they intend to replenish their publication with "curious tales, wonderful narratives, or miraculous phenomena," for they recognize that the age of miracles is past and that faith must be grounded upon reason. They urge parents to consider "the Methodist Magazine as a legacy for their posterity, and as soon as the last number for the year is received, have the whole bound together and carefully preserved." They close their address with a warning against a certain "Methodist Pocket Hymn Book" which had its untimely birth in a back county of this State (New York) and "is a libel upon the Methodist Episcopal Church and a reproach to her name." If any man, they state, after reading the sublime and spiritual hymns of Wesley and the other authors "from whose works our hymn book is composed" can derive any edification or entertainment from the "commonplace" poetry of the day, "we are far from wish- ing to lessen his enjoyment; but the honor of the church calls upon us as far as our influence extends, to prevent the circulation of such publications under the sanction of her name."
One of the issues which stirred the Ohio Conference through several years of its early history was the "pre- siding elder question." The question as to the method of choosing presiding elders had come up in the General Conference of 1816, but it was laid over for four years and came up again in the General Conference of 1820. Here a resolution was introduced providing for the elec- tion of elders by the Annual Conference. This resolution at first passed the General Conference, but later, after a
30 Methodist Magazine, vol. i (1818), pp. 3-7.
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speech by Bishop McKendree, the General Conference voted to suspend their resolution for four years. The debate caused the greatest excitement, and the General Conference was thrown into confusion by the determined opposition of the minority who favored election of the presiding elders. Meanwhile the agitation was contin- ued throughout the church and in the Ohio Conference the "Radicals," as those in favor of limiting the power of the bishops were called, continued their agitation, and finally several of the ministers withdrew from the church.31 At the session of the Ohio Conference in 1821 a series of resolutions were passed on the presiding elder question.32 The subject continued to interest the church for several years thereafter though no radical change re- sulted.
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