USA > Ohio > Early history of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio : with biographical sketches of the principal agents in their religious movement > Part 13
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His mental powers were most rapid and energetic in action. His method of reasoning tended to generaliza- tion, embracing a great variety of subject and method. Though not educated, in a scholastic sense, his taste, dis- cernment, and industry very fully supplied this deficiency, and stored his mind with much general information and critical historical learning. The master quality of his mind was his almost matchless memory-memory, both of history and chronology. He made no memoranda of his sermons, yet he could report at any time, promptly and accurately, the number of his discourses, baptisms, and multitudes of incidents, and all without pen or pencil to aid him. It were vanity, perhaps, to assign him a place in this respect with Macaulay or Johnson ; but all who knew him wondered at his power-a power which was at his command, with undiminished force, up to the hour of his death. In his character were chiefly discernible firm- ness, decision, boldness in enterprise, and sturdy honesty. He was eminently social and hospitable, compassionate and kind-hearted. His religion was conscience and rev- erence ; his humanity, a tender and systematic benevo- lence. He gave freely for humane, religious, and educa- tional objects.
More than a year previous to his death, he was afflicted with a gradual weakening of the muscles, which pervaded the whole system, affecting his speech in common with every other muscular action. Without pain, and with the full exercise of his mental powers, he died at his home,
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at Chagrin Falls, easily and tranquilly, in full nope of immortality, April 7, 1863, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
EXPECTATION OF THE MILLENNIUM.
The ardor of religious awakening resulting from the new discoveries in the gospel was very much in- creased about the year 1830, by the hope that the millennium had now dawned, and that the long ex- pected day of gospel glory would very soon be ushered in. The restoration of the ancient gospel was looked upon as the initiatory movement, which, it was thought, would spread so rapidly that existing denom- inations would almost immediately be deorganized ; that the true people, of whom it was believed Christ had a remnant among the sects, would at once, on the presentation of these evidently scriptural views, em- brace them, and thus form the union of Christians so long prayed for ; and so would be established the Kingdom of Jesus in form, as well as in fact, on its New Testament basis. All the powers in array against this newly established kingdom, whether in the churches of Protestantism or Romanism, would soon surrender at the demand of the King of kings.
The prospect was a glorious one, springing very naturally from the discovery of the complete adapta- tion of the gospel to the ends for which it was given. This hope of the millennial glory was based on many passages of the Holy Scriptures. All such scrip- tures as spoke of the "ransomed of the Lord return- ing to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : that they should obtain joy and glad- ness, and that sorrow and sighing should flee away," (Isa. xxxv : 10,) were confidently expected to be liter-
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ally and almost immediately fulfilled. These glowing expectations formed the staple of many sermons. They were the continued and exhaustless topic of conversations. They animated the hope, and inspired the zeal, to a high degree, of the converts, and many of the advocates of the gospel. Millennial hymns were learned and sung with a joyful fervor and hope sur- passing the conception of worldly and carnal pro- fessors. One of these hymns, better in its hope than poetic merit, opened as follows :
" The time is soon coming by the prophets foretold, When Zion in purity the world will behold, For Jesus' pure testimony will gain the day, Denominations, selfishness will vanish away."
The Scriptures, especially the prophetic writings, were studied with unremitting diligence and profound attention. It is surprising even now, as memory re- turns to gather up these interesting remains of that mighty work, to recall the thorough and extensive Bible knowledge which the converts quickly obtained. Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the four great monarchies, with the accompanying vision of the kingdom of the stone (Dan'l ii) and the visions of that prophet himself (chapters 7 and 8), became generally familiar, and were, in the main, it is presumed, correctly un- derstood. Many portions of the Revelation were so thoroughly studied that they became the staple of the common thought. The " two witnesses," their slaugh- ter, their resurrection after three and a half days ; their ascent in clouds to heaven in the sight of their enemies ; the woman that fled into the desert from the flood of persecution poured out to engulf her ; her abode and nourishment there for a "time, times
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and the dividing of time ;" her blissful return from her wilderness retreat, and the prophetic acclaim : " Who is this that comes from the wilderness lean- ing on the arm of her beloved, fair as the sun, clear as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners?" all these and many others constituted a novel and voluminous addition to the stinted Bible knowledge and the stereotyped style of sermonizing which then prevailed.
Some of the leaders in these new discoveries, ad- vancing less cautiously as the ardor of discovery in- creased, began to form theories of the millennium. The fourteenth chapter of Zechariah was brought for- ward in proof-all considered as literal-that the most marvelous and stupendous physical and climatic changes were to be wrought in Palestine; and that Jesus Christ the Messiah was to reign literally "in Jerusalem and in Mt. Zion, and before his ancients, gloriously." The glory and splendors of that august millennial kingdom were to surpass all vision, as the light of the moon was to be made equal to the light of the sun, and the light of the sun would be aug- mented " sevenfold." William Hayden went to New Lisbon to fill an appointment. Calling at Bro. Jacob Campbell's, we found Bro. Scott. Mrs. Camp- bell was a Christian lady of much brilliancy of talent, and intelligent in the Holy Scriptures. Salutations over, she broke forth in an animated strain : “ Bro. Scott and I have just been contemplating how joy- ful it will be in the millennium-mortals and immor- tals dwelling together !" Bro. Scott then, with great fluency, discanted upon the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, relating to the return of the Jews and
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their re-establishment in the Holy Land, the coming of the Lord, the resurrection of the saints, and the gathering together unto him on the Mount of Olives. Scott had a vein of enthusiasm, to which these mil- lennial prospects were very congenial. He was led on in the brilliant expectations by the writings of Elias Smith, of New England, whose works had fallen into his hands. In a letter to Dr. Richardson, written in New Lisbon, April, 1830, he says the book of Elias Smith, on the prophecies, is the only sensible work on that subject he had seen. He thinks this and Croly on the Apocalypse all the student of the Bible wants. He strongly commends Smith's book to the Doctor. This seems to be the origin of millennial views among us. Rigdon, who always caught and proclaimed the last word that fell from the lips of Scott or Campbell, seized these views, and with the wildness of his ex- travagant nature, heralded them every-where.
These hopes were much confirmed and increased by the publication, about this time, of "Begg on the Prophecies," a small, but vigorous and confident work, excessively literal, by James Begg, of Paisley, Scotland. A cheap edition of it was brought out by the author's brother, William Begg, a recent convert from the Presbyterians. The announcement and favorable notice of this work in the " Millennial Harbinger," together with the taste for such reading now preva- lent, introduced this book widely, and it became a powerful auxiliary of the doctrines and aided to crys- tallize them into definite theory. About the same time appeared the essays on the millennium, by S. M. McCorkle, a "sturdy layman." His trum- pet blew no uncertain sound. Its blast was fierce
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and fiery as the noise of the ram's horns around the walls of Jericho. His essays, which were published in the " Millennial Harbinger," produced a wonderful effect. Many thought the day of the Lord just at hand. They prayed for it, looked for it, sung of it. The set time to favor Zion had come. The day of re- demption was near. It only awaited the complete pu- rification of his church-which meant the removal of sects and the union of Christians on the " Bible alone." Preaching against "sectarianism" was now more frequent and vehement. The legitimate and needed work of preaching the gospel of Christ, and of cor- recting the errors which lie directly in its way and impede its progress, was not abandoned, but more attention was now bestowed on the task, assumed as necessary, of clearing off the whole body of sectari- anism. " Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people." Isa. Ivii : 14. This was the text of many a sermon. The sects, it was assumed, are the stum- bling-blocks in the way of the chariot of the coming king. This assault on the denominationalism of the times, by which Christians are separated from one another, is so nearly in line with the true work of the restoration of primitive Christianity, that this mis- take of its purpose was very easy. Yet the difference
is neither small nor unimportant. It is one thing to introduce light into an apartment, and thus remove the darkness, and quite another to attack the dark- ness hoping to remove it and thus make way for the light. This reformation, so called, is not a negation- a mere protest against sectarianism. This is not its prime, or originating impulse. It is a plea for the
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Christian religion as a whole. Its defenses are de- fenses of Christ, of his apostles, of their authority, their claims and their teachings, as set forth in the volume of inspiration. If obstacles are in its way, it seeks their removal, whether they be Protestant, Romanish, Jewish, or Mohammedan. But these are resultant and consequential to its primary and direct aim, and not for a moment to be confounded with it.
Many sagacious brethren perceived with regret the new turn things were taking, and rightly judg- ing that these Millennial theories would not tend to develop the work so auspiciously begun, but rather divert the minds of the people from it, they began prudently and cautiously to correct the aberration, and draw attention away from untaught questions and visionary anticipations of the future to the real pur- poses of the work of Christ now on hand, the preach- ing of the gospel for the salvation of sinners, and building up of the saints on the most holy faith. Some supposed Mr. Campbell to be in sympathy with these views ; and, indeed, some plausibility was lent to this opinion by the title of his new periodical, "The Millennial Harbinger."
Mr. Campbell, whose eye was fully open to all, was not slow to perceive all this, and he felt called to un- dertake the needed correction. He commenced, in the " Millennial Harbinger," for Sept., 1834, a series of articles under the title of "The Reformed Clergy- man," which, while they held McCorkle's essays on the literal interpretation of prophecy directly in re- view, had for their aim the wider purpose of correct- ing the errors entertained and propagated to the det- riment of the practical work of the gospel. These
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essays were written with marked ability. They im- mediately arrested universal attention, and were read every-where. For prudential reasons the writer sought to veil his style, evidently desiring that no bias might be given to his reasonings from personal considerations. Their drift and aim were soon discovered; and the positions assumed, and rules of prophetic interpreta- tion set forth, were so consistent and evenly balanced, that the " second sober thought" coming to the res- cue, the effect was salutary and the remedy complete.
Mr. Campbell's non de plume of " Reformed Clergy- man," was not to all a concealment of the real author of the essays. His style betrayed him ; and it was amusing to hear the discussions-the hints and guesses on the subject of their authorship, and the merits of the essays themselves-which were carried on with Mr. Campbell and by others in his presence, before he was suspected as the writer of them. A sagacious Scotch lady, in the city of Pittsburgh, of great posi- tiveness, berated him soundly for his indiscretion in permitting that " Reformed Clergyman " to publish such erroneous doctrines in his paper. My eyes stole over Mr. Campbell's face the while, and from the tokens there I saw, first and plainly, a confession of their authorship. The hits and jibes were sharp as from a polished quiver, and somewhat rude, withal. It was matter of much joy to many when this result was reached, and the brethren began to turn their thoughts and talents more directly to the preaching of the gospel. Among them, William Hayden should be named, as he saw and sorely felt the evil, but had not power to stay the tide ; and, in like manner, others who saw not the evil tendency so plainly, now that
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the remedy had wrought its cure, could see more clearly than ever the importance of adhering closely to the plain New Testament teachings, taking Christ as the only interpreter of type, shadows, and prophecy in the Old Testament ; and the inspired apostles as the divinely authorized and commissioned interpre- ters of Christ.
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CHAPTER VIII.
The Church in Mentor; and Biography of M. S. Clapp and other Advocates of the Gospel.
F OR several years previous to the establishment of the reformatory doctrines in Mentor, there had been a Baptist church in town, considerable both for numbers and influence. It had Elders Woodworth, West, Abbott, and Freeman as its min- isters. Near the time of the appeal for the union of Bible men on Bible ground, it was served by the good Warner Goodall. His death, in June, 1826, was the occasion of calling Sidney Rigdon, then re- siding in Bainbridge, to preach his funeral sermon. The church called Rigdon as its pastor in the fall of that year.
During the winter of 1825-6, Corbly Martin, who became extensively useful in the reformation in Ohio and Indiana, resided in the hospitable family of Judge Clapp, a prominent member of the church. Bro. Martin preached there during that season. A conversation between him and a Mrs. Rexford is re- ported, in which she urged the practice of "close communion " in the church as' an objection to her becoming a member. He failed to remove her ob- jection, and she remained to be a first convert when the gospel offering a free salvation to all who would receive it was first proclaimed in Mentor.
Sidney Rigdon was an orator of no inconsiderable
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abilities. In person, he was full medium height, rotund in form ; of countenance, while speaking, open and winning, with a little cast of melancholy. His action was graceful, his language copious, fluent in utterance, with articulation clear and musical. Yet he was an enthusiast, and unstable. His personal influence with an audience was very great ; but many, with talents far inferior, surpassed him in judgment and permanent power with the people. He was just the man for an awakening. He was an early reader of the " Christian Baptist," and admiring its strong and progressive teaching, he circulated the paper, and brought out its views in his sermons. Whatever may be justly said of him after he had surrendered himself a victim and a leader of the Mormon delusion, it would scarcely be just to deny sincerity and candor to him, previous to the time when his bright star became permanently eclipsed under that dark cloud.
. In March, 1828, he visited Scott in Warren. He had been with him on former occasions, and had adopted fully his method of preaching Christ, and of calling the awakened and penitent believer to an immediate obedience of his faith for the remission of sins. The missing link between Christ and con- victed sinners seemed now happily supplied by the restoration of the way of bringing converts into the knowledge of pardon, which was established by Christ himself in the commission.
Rigdon was transported with this discovery. On leaving Warren to return to Mentor, he persuaded his brother-in-law, Adamson Bentley, to accompany him. This was a visit to that town of no ordi-
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nary importance. Bentley was a gentleman of cul- tivated manners, tall, of benign aspect, and of com- manding presence; and, as a preacher, dignified, solemn, and often very impressive. But more, they were both ablaze with the new developments of gos- pel light which was shedding its effulgence rapidly over the country.
The trumpet which they blew gave no uncertain sound. It was the old jubilee trumpet, first sounded by the fishermen of Galilee on the day of Pentecost, announcing glad tidings to the nations that the year of release from bondage in sin had now come, and calling ransomed sinners to return, freely par- doned, to their homes. They spoke with authority, for the word which they delivered was not theirs, but that of Jesus Christ. The whole community was quickly and thoroughly aroused. Many turned to the Lord. The first person to accept the offered boon and lead the people to Christ, was an intelli- gent young man, M. S. Clapp, then in his twenty-first year, son of Judge Clapp. His older brother, Thomas J. Clapp, had been baptized in June previous. Twenty persons were baptized the first time they re- paired to the Jordan. The immediate result of the meeting was the conversion of over fifty souls to the Lord Jesus.
It is impossible to describe the agitation of the public mind. The things which they heard were so new, yet so clearly scriptural, that, while some hes- itated and many wondered, they could not gainsay it; and nearly the whole church accepted cordially the doctrine of the Lord, exchanged their " articles" for the new covenant as the only divine basis for
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Christ's church, and abandoned unscriptural titles and church names, choosing to be known simply as the disciples of Christ.
From Mentor they went to Kirtland, where almost an equal ingathering awaited them. The fields were white for the harvest. At the first baptizing here, twenty souls were lifted into the kingdom. Others followed, and soon the numbers so increased that a separate organization became a necessity-so might- ily prevailed the word of the Lord.
The news of this great overturn spread quickly through the country, up and down the lake shore. Bentley went to Painesville. The rumor of the re- vival in Mentor preceded him, with some exagger- ated and perverted accounts of the preaching. He delivered a few discourses on the first principles of the gospel, and left them to leaven the minds of his hearers.
The church now contained over a hundred mem- bers. The following were prominent ; many of whom became leaders of the host, and pillars in churches. The head of the family is named. Their wives, and generally their families, were also in the church : Deacon Benj. Blish, Deacon Ebenezer Nye, Orris Clapp, Jonathan Root, Joel Rexford, Thomas Carroll, Asa Webster, Sidney Rigdon, Deacon Champney, Amos Wilmot, Osee Matthews, Eggleston Matthews, Joseph Curtis, Anson Matthews, Sylvester Durand, Tuttle, Warren Corning, Amos Daniels, Samuel Miller, Ezra B. Violl, Noah Wirt, David Wilson, Danl. Wilson, Alex. P. Jones. To these are to be added, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Randall, Mrs. Water- man, Mrs. Rexford, Calista M. Lewis, Morgan Lewis.
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Few communities have been so stable ; the families here named have composed the staple of member- ship, and the support of the church from that time to the present. This congregation has long stood as a light-house. It was shaken as by a tempest under the outbreak of Mormonism ; but it is to be noted that few of its members were led astray. While the church in Kirtland, with less experience, and more immediately in Rigdon's power, became engulphed, and has never since been recovered, the church in Mentor, with stronger material, withstood the shock. They were much aided in their resistance by the presence of Elder Thomas Campbell, who spent sev- eral months there and in the vicinity during the ag- itation which it produced.
Bro. M. S. Clapp came rapidly before the public, and soon attained prominence by his zeal and ability. In the year 1834, Bro. E. Williams was settled as pastor and elder, with Benj. Blish. He served the congregation, yet preaching much abroad, till his re- moval to Chardon, in 1856. Bro. Blish not only won, but retained the fullest confidence, not of the church only, but of the whole community, for his prudence in management, his judicious counsels, and godly life. After having won the crown, he died univer- sally beloved, February, 1864.
Her long-time laborers were brethren Clapp and Williams. But a page would scarcely hold the names of all who have gleaned in this harvest-field. Few churches have possessed a membership of more abil- ity. In a community noted for its social culture, it has maintained its position with credit. For integ- rity, benevolence, and as a leader in the cause of
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temperance, antislavery, and measures that look to the lifting up of the world from wrong and oppres- sion, no brotherhood has a brighter record.
Three preachers arose in Mentor, whose names are known afar-M. S. Clapp, A. P. Jones. and J. J. Moss. Bro. Moss was in the employ of Bro. B. Blish, in the summer of 1829. Raised in Presbyterianism, he had a spasm of horror when he learned that he had engaged himself to work for a very leader of the new and hated heresy of "Campbellism." The first evening, greatly to his surprise, as he had been told "Campbellites " never prayed, Bro. Blish gathered his household, with the word of God in every hand. But Moss, still doubting, stood bolt upright, while all around him knelt. The service, so simple, sin- cere and earnest, melted his heart. Ashamed of his prejudice, the next time he joined, and knelt, and prayed. His Bible was now read while others loitered. He soon heard Bro. Collins. His acute, quick mind saw, understood, and grasped the im- mense difference between all forms of sect-organiza- tion, and the simple, entire system of Christianity as a whole. The sun was now risen upon his under- standing, and the twinkling lights of Babel-sectarian- ism faded. September, 1829, he came to Christ, and was baptized into his name, which, with him, meant the entire consecration of all his powers to his honor. The thousands by him turned to God in Ohio, New York, Canada, Kentucky, and other States, attest the fidelity of his heart to that plighted vow. A history of his life would fill a volume. He was the first man to raise a testimony against Mormonism. With the elements of character for pioneer work, he has, to an
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extent which can be affirmed of few men, extended the limits of the kingdom into new regions, and de- fended it in the arena of controversy against every form of assault, with a mastery and success above the reach of most men. He has not always had the gratitude of those whom he has served, nor the support of the churches he has planted. He was born July 13, 1806, in Onondaga, N. Y., and after forty-five years of toil and privations, he is still in the field.
Bro. A. P. Jones, equally bold and with more learn- ing, was his true yoke-fellow. They were both teach- ing in the vicinity of Kirtland, when Mormonism in- vaded the place, and hand in hand, though young, they often put its champions to flight. Bro. Jones married Miss Irene Gilbert, of Newburg, and soon afterwards he gave himself to the service of the new churches in western New York, where his name is still cher- ished with great respect. He finally settled in Platteville, Grant County, Wisconsin, where he preached for several years. He has recently fallen asleep in the Lord.
BIOGRAPHY OF MATTHEW S. CLAPP.
. If " a good man's steps are ordered of the Lord," as says the prophet, " his death also is precious in His sight."
Bro. Clapp was born in Mentor, February 1, 1808. His father, the late Hon. Orris Clapp, was called by his fel- low-citizens to serve as Judge of the Court; which trust he discharged, with honor. Matthew's early life was passed amidst the scenes and privation of that early day. His
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