USA > Ohio > Early history of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio : with biographical sketches of the principal agents in their religious movement > Part 17
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Few men ever lived among us who understood better the gospel of Christ. Though conducting successfully a large farm, his study of the Scripture was constant, thor- ough, and unremitting. In the earlier part of his life he gave considerable time to preaching, and all his life the church received much of his attention. As a speaker he was slow, but his speech was so candid and so seasoned with good sense and godly counsel that it was always profitable.
He died on Wednesday, the 28th of May; was buried Friday, the 30th. Bro. A. B. Green preached on the oc- casion to the largest assembly ever convened on such an occasion in the town. The preacher was much weighed down, saying to me afterward, "I felt as though I was preaching the funeral of my own father."
His first family consisted of three sons and one daugh- ter. The sons are all preachers and holding important positions. His daughter Mary is Mrs. Neely, lately among the freedmen in Alabama, now of North Carolina. She was, through distance, denied the sad privilege of mingling her tears with the family at the burial. The others came, but some of them too late to have the coffin-lid lifted to behold his face in death.
Bro. Atwater died within twenty rods of the spot where he was born. The home virtues were pre-eminent. Such a home ! And such generous hospitality ! For much
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This church of Mantua has given to the public three educated men of much promise for ability and for a thorough training in the principles of the Chris- tian religion. These are the three sons of the elder Atwater : O. C. Atwater, John M. Atwater, and Amzi Atwater-the last a professor in the University of Bloomington, Ind., and a preacher; the others are proclaimers of the gospel in New England.
SKETCH OF DARWIN ATWATER.
Bro. Atwater's life was in many ways remarkable. Very seldom has a man appeared, and disappeared from the scenes of life's activity with so little of cloud or fleck upon him. Finely formed, of full size, an open, frank, yet grave countenance, his presence was noble, commanding always the respect of the people.
He was the only son of Hon. Amzi Atwater, who for a time filled the position of Associate Judge, and of Sister Huldah Atwater, whose time-honored home was in Mantua. His father, the late Judge, being one of the original party of surveyors to survey into townships the country called New Connecticut, or " Western Reserve," the party landed at Conneaut, the 4th of July, 1799, and proceeded to their work. This done, Amzi Atwater married Miss Huldah Sheldon, and settled on the banks of the Cuyahoga, where his son Darwin was born, September 11, 1805.
He availed himself of such facilities for learning as the country afforded. 1822-23 he spent some time in the academy in Warren. Afterward, in company with his friend, Bro. Zeb Rudolph, yet surviving, he took a course of study in language and the Bible, to fit himself for preaching.
He found a congenial companion in every good sense, and for every good purpose, in Miss Harriet Clapp, daugh-
MR. BISHOP believes the State Sunday laws which have fallen into neglect, can be and ought to be enforced; and, if elected Governor, it will be regarded by him as a "privilege" to enforce them.
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more than forty years the welcome guest has bathed at his fountain and been refreshed, equally at his table and by his Christian, hospitable welcome.
Many years ago he lost the faithful wife of his youth. Another was given to him, who let not down the standard of home virtues and comforts He married the second daughter of the beloved Marcus Bosworth, Mrs. Betsy W. Treudley, whose children found a home and counsel invalu- able to them. About eighteen years the new went on so steadily and uniformly, it seemed but the first continued- not two families ; one continued, unbroken chain of affec- tion through all.
HIRAM.
The history of the church of disciples in Hiram is so intimately interwoven with that of its first and long its only elder, Bro. Symonds Ryder, that we shall follow the thread of his life in giving this history to our readers. In doing this, we shall draw freely from the biographical sermon delivered by Pres't B. A. Hinsdale, of Hiram College, on the occasion of the funeral of Mr. Ryder, August 3, 1870, slightly abridg- ing some paragraphs. We do this with the more pleasure, as in the discourse Pres't Hinsdale gives in its true light, the "momentary tripping " of Bro. Ry- der, with the correct explanation of his deviation ; a circumstance, which, at the time it occurred, as I dis- tinctly remember, created a marvel of astonishment in the minds of the disciples and of all who knew the manly consistency of his character. This dis- course repeats a few facts already recorded, but in such connection that the repetition will be fresh. The length of the sermon will not be considered ob- jectionable, in view of the valuable lessons which it impresses from the life of the man of whom it speaks.
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LIFE AND CHARACTER OF SYMONDS RYDER.
A FUNERAL SERMON PREACHED IN HIRAM, O., AUG. 3, 1870.
BY B. A. HINSDALE.
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace ; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. . Gen. xv : 15.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in, in his season. Job v : 20.
Nothing has occurred in the history of this community for many years so fertile in suggestion, as the event which has called us together.
Here lies one who has attained to the age of nearly eighty years-who was but three years younger than the American Government. Not many men are left to us whose recollections go back to the closing years of the great life of Washington-to the time when Adams, Jef- ferson, and Hamilton, were in the fullness of their strength ; not many who read in the newspapers the history of the wars of the French Revolution ; not many are the lives that have spanned the eventful period reaching from the time when the first Napoleon was an unknown subaltern in the French army, to the time when the third Napoleon is marshaling his troops for the great struggle with Germany.
The man whom we bury to-day was an object of interest in himself. He was no ordinary man; his was no tame or common life. What he was in himself, the relation in which he so long stood to this community, and especially to this church, make the present an occasion of unusual interest and solemnity.
HIS EARLY HISTORY.
SYMONDS RYDER was born in Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont, on the 20th of November, 1792. He was of
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Puritan stock, being a lineal descendant of a Ryder who came over in the Mayflower. His father, who had moved from Cape Cod to Vermont, was a man of considerable influence and property. The decay of his father's fortune threw young Symonds wholly upon his own resources. At the age of fifteen he entered the service of Elijah Mason, the father of Carnot and John Mason, long citizens of this town ; the father, also, of Mrs. Charles Raymond and Mrs. Zeb Rudolph, who are present with us to-day. So soon as he had attained his majority, having served Mason six years, Ryder started for the West. His entire prop- erty consisted of the clothes he wore, the horse he rode, and a little money in pocket-all together amounting to one hundred and thirty-three dollars. It is worth remark- ing that he passed through the village of Buffalo on the 28th of December, 1813, the evening before it was burned by the British. The next day the fleeing population over- took him, while yet in sight of their burning homes. He arrived in Hiram, January 6, 1814. He purchased some land, and set to work to create a home in the forest. In the winter of 1814-15, he returned to Vermont.
Gathering the family about him, he started a second time for the West; now to plant his father and mother, brothers and sisters, in the new home which he had par- tially prepared for them. Here, in due time, the Ryder family found themselves in Hiram, surrounded by the wil- derness, surrounded too, by old acquaintances ; for Hiram was a Vermont colony.
In his efforts to restore the fortunes of his family, he was supported by his younger brother, Jason, long a dea- con of the church.
In 1818, he married Mehetabel Loomis, who struggled up the rugged steeps of life side by side with him for more than fifty years ; who survives her husband, and is here to- day to weep over his bier.
In the early history of Hiram, he was, perhaps, the
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best educated man in the township, and was, of course, well fitted for the public duties which his townsmen called him to discharge.
HIS RELIGIOUS LIFE.
His early teachings and impressions of religion were of the severe puritanical sort which prevailed in New England during the last century. His nature was susceptible to re- ligious ideas, and he recognized the necessity of religion as a conservative influence on society.
One of the oldest churches of the Mahoning Association was the Church of Bethesda, in Nelson, Portage County, founded in 1808. The reformed views effected a lodg- ment among the members of this church early in 1824, and after a series of struggles to reconcile differences of opinion on the question of creeds, and on some points of doctrine, seventeen members were excommunicated for heresy. The heretics represented the largest share of the intelligence and piety of the Bethesda Church ; moreover, but eight votes were cast for the exscinding resolution. They were citizens of Nelson, Hiram, and Mantua; and being devoted to the Bible and the religion of the New Testament, they met successively for worship on Lord's days in these townships. In those meetings they studied the Word, and strengthened each other by prayer and ex- hortation. There was at first no man among them of suf- ficient age and experience in public speaking to warrant his election to the office of Elder or Overseer. But Dar- win Atwater, John Rudolph and his two sons, John and Zeb, (and we have reason for gratulation that the first one and last two are with us to-day), were leading members. The little band continued to meet and increase in num- bers, though without any regular and formal organization. They were occasionally visited by evangelists and preach- ers, who had adopted the advanced views of Campbell and Scott, whose preaching, together with the reading of
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the " Christian Baptist," kept them informed of the prog- ress of the new movement.
In June, 1828, Bosworth preached in Hiram. Symonds Ryder heard the sermon, and at its conclusion, called Zeb Rudolph aside, and asked his opinion of the views sub- mitted. The subject was briefly talked over, and they agreed to meet on the following Saturday to consider the matter further. It is worth remarking, however, that at this interview he expressed himself as being better satis- fied with this presentation of the gospel than with any other that he had heard. Suffice it to say, it presented something tangible to the hearer, and appealed powerfully to the objective mind.
On the Saturday appointed, it so happened that Thomas Campbell was to preach in Mantua, and on his way to the meeting Rudolph called on his friend Ryder early in the morning. He found him with the New Testament in his hand, studying the theme of Bosworth's discourse. On the following day Ryder went to hear Mr. Campbell, who preached in the barn of Jotham Atwater. The vener- able preacher read the two first chapters of Genesis and the last chapter of Revelations-chapters which give the history of the creation of man, and an account of the New Jerusalem. He then remarked-holding the inter- vening portion of the Bible between his thin hands-that had it not been for sin there would have been no need for any other revelation than the three chapters he had read ; all the rest was to unfold the scheme of redemption. He said that in his earlier years he had often wished he had lived in the days of the Jews, that he might offer his sacrifice at the altar, and know by the direct assurance of God that his offering was accepted. Then, quoting from the sixth of Jeremiah the words: "Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls," he proceeded to unfold the law of Pardon as taught in the
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gospel, and concluded with an invitation to sinners to obey. Before the first line of the hymn was sung through, Symonds Ryder went forward to confess his Master, and the same day was baptized in the Cuyahoga River by Reuben Ferguson, of Windham.
The accession to the cause of a man of Symonds Ry- der's age, influence, and force of character was the signal for a more systematic organization ; and before one year had elapsed, the hitherto floating band of worshipers was divided into two churches. One of these was the Man- tua church, at Mantua; the other the Hiram-Nelson, at Hiram. Of the Hiram church, Bro. Ryder was chosen and ordained the first overseer. This church continued to maintain its joint character till 1835, when the Nelson element withdrew and formed a separate organization at Garrettsville. So far as I have been able to ascertain, the Mantua and Hiram-Nelson churches were the first which were established in this part of the Western Reserve dis- tinctly and avowedly on the basis of the Bible alone.
From the moment Bro. Ryder obeyed the gospel, he expressed himself satisfied with the views taught by the Disciples on all points save one. He read in the New Testament of the gift of the Holy Spirit ; and, in his mind, it was in some way associated with the laying on of hands, and with some special spiritual illumination. The words, " These signs shall follow them that believe," seemed to him not yet to have been comprehended or realized. For years, this mystery of the Word was the subject of fre- quent thought and conversation. I have been careful to state this fact, because it furnishes the key to a remarkable episode in his life.
In the latter part of 1830, the founders of Mormonism began to effect a lodgment in northern Ohio. Sidney Rigdon, a preacher among the Disciples, of great elo- quence and power, had joined them, and commenced preaching their doctrine. Whatever we may say of the
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moral character of the author of Mormonism, it can not be denied that Joseph Smith was a man of remarkable power-over others. Added to the stupendous claim of supernatural power, conferred by the direct gift of God, he exercised an almost magnetic power-an irresistible fascination-over those with whom he came in contact. Ezra Booth, of Mantua, a Methodist preacher of much more than ordinary culture, and with strong natural abili- ties, in company with his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, and some other citizens of this place, visited Smith at his home in Kirtland, in 1831. Mrs. Johnson had been af- flicted for some time with a lame arm, and was not at the time of the visit able to lift her hand to her head. The party visited Smith partly out of curiosity, and partly to see for themselves what there might be in the new doc- trine. During the interview, the conversation turned on the subject of supernatural gifts, such as were conferred in the days of the apostles. Some one said, "Here is Mrs. Johnson with a lame arm; has God given any power to men now on the earth to cure her?" A few moments later, when the conversation had turned in another direc- tion, Smith rose, and walking across the room, taking Mrs. Johnson by the hand, said in the most solemn and im- pressive manner : "Woman, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command thee to be whole," and immediately left the room.
The company were awe-stricken at the infinite presump- tion of the man, and the calm assurance with which he spoke. The sudden mental and moral shock-I know not how better to explain the well attested fact-electrified the rheumatic arm-Mrs. Johnson at once lifted it up with ease, and on her return home the next day she was able to do her washing without difficulty or pain.
In addition to this striking occurrence the Mormon Bi- ble professed to be a continuation of the revelations which God had made to the Jews and their descendants. Two
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questions of great historic interest, which appealed strongly to the imagination of all students of sacred and profane history, it professedly solved. It gave a history of the lost tribes of Israel ; and it accounted for the red men of the new world, the mound-builders of Mexico, and of the great valley of the Mississippi. The revelations made to these wandering Israelites, it was claimed, had been pre- served for the saints of the latter day, who should inhabit the new wilderness of the West, and upon whom God would pour out his Spirit in fullness and power. Ezra Booth became a convert and an elder, May, 1831. Com- ing to Hiram in the same month, he attended church, and at the conclusion of Elder Ryder's sermon, sought and obtained permission to make an address, in which he stated in the strong, clear language of impassioned enthu- siasm, the ground of his new faith, and the inspiring hopes which it gave him. A deep impression was made upon the minds of many who heard him. Elder Ryder was himself staggered ; and " lest haply he should be found even to fight against God," he sat in silence, neither ap- proving nor disapproving. Determined, however, to know the truth and follow it wherever it might lead, he made a journey to Kirtland, and heard for himself. On his return, he seemed for a short time to have rejected the claims of Mormonism ; but in the month of June, he read in a newspaper an account of the destruction of Pe- kin, in China, and he remembered that six weeks before, a young Mormon girl had predicted the destruction of that city. Shortly after this, he openly professed his ad- hesion to the Mormon faith ; but he and Ezra Booth, who were most intimate friends, promised that they would faith- fully aid each other in discerning the truth or the falsity of the new doctrine.
Booth was soon commissioned to go to Missouri to ex- plore the new land of promise, and lay the foundations of the new Zion. Ryder was informed, that by special
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revelation he had been appointed and commissioned an elder of the Mormon church. His commission came, and he found his name misspelled. Was the Holy Spirit so fallible as to fail even in orthography? Beginning with this challenge, his strong, incisive mind and honest heart were brought to the task of re-examining the ground on which he stood. His friend Booth had been passing through a similar experience, on his pilgrimage to Mis- souri, and, when they met about the Ist of September, 1831, the first question which sprang from the lips of each was-"How is your faith ?" and the first look into each other's faces, gave answer that the spell of enchant- ment was broken, and the delusion was ended. They turned from the dreams they had followed for a few months, and found more than ever before, that the re- ligion of the New Testament was "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." A large number of the citizens of Hiram had given in their adhesion to the doctrines of Smith and Rigdon, but the efforts of Ryder and Booth went far to stay the tide, and lead back those who had been swept away on its current.
It may seem strange that a man of Father Ryder's strong mind and honest heart, could even temporarily have fallen into the Mormon delusion. Let us not fail to remember, however, that Mormonism in northern Ohio, in 1831, was a very different thing from Mormonism in Utah, in 1870. It then gave no sign of the moral abom- ination which is now its most prominent characteristic. Besides, it was a formative period in religious history : new ideas were fermenting in the minds of men; and, considering the facts before stated, it is not inexplicable that so strong a nature should have given way to the fa- naticism. It is greatly to his credit that he so soon dis- covered its true character, and had the honesty to say to the community that he had been deluded. He did not, like so many others who found that their faith had been
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trifled with, renounce religion. He immediately returned to the church, but in contrition and meekness. His con- duct showed plainly that he felt he had in some degree forfeited the confidence of the brethren. Had he been repelled as an apostate, his heart might have broken, or he might have drifted off into godlessness. But the brethren treated him kindly-he regained confidence, took his old place in the church, and labored for its wel- fare with increased energy. Counting from the date of his election as overseer, for a full third of a century he was the strong tower of the church-its defender, teacher, preacher, and, till 1852, its only elder. In addition to his work in Hiram, he labored extensively in other fields. He was well known to most of the churches in north-east- ern Ohio.
HIS LATER LIFE AND RELATIONS TO THE HIRAM CHURCH.
Here the facts are less striking, and they must be passed over in silence. They are familiar to many of you. You remember the giving way of his constitution-his retirement from public duty-his confinement at home- his terrible suffering from disease-his happy faith-his triumphant and blessed death.
Here I should speak more particularly of Father Ryder's relations to the church, especially with reference to one point. As he was an influential citizen at the time of his conversion, he was justly regarded as an important acqui- sition to the cause. He took from the beginning, the leading position. The brethren were few in number, and poor in goods. He served the church, as was his duty, with little or no reward. The more the church grew, the more it seemed to need him. He was first the eldest brother, then the father, finally the patriarch. What fol- lowed was natural : he did too much for the church ; the church did too little for themselves. Their sense of sat- isfied dependence, together with his thrifty maxims, led
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to illiberal contributions for the support of the gospel, and to inefficient business management. A mistake was made, into which almost all the old churches fell: no suitable provision was made for a new and different age. The church failed to discern the signs of the times. He, too, failed to discern them ; or discerning them, gave no warning ; or, the warning being given, it was not heeded. At all events, the church was not educated up to the wants of the coming time, and its force is weakened, and its usefulness impaired to this hour.
HIS CHARACTER.
I pass on to present a hastily prepared analysis of his character. I shall seek to speak of him as he was. This is the only course he would approve if he could be con- sulted ; for he was of the Cromwellian class, whose motto is, " Paint me as I am."
First of all, his physical constitution.
His large frame, powerful muscular organization, and great power of endurance, furnished the physical basis of his long and laborious life. If this were, as is sometimes falsely charged, an age of physical degeneracy, it were the more worth remarking that Father Ryder never could have done his work as a citizen and a Christian without his great vital power. The picture of him that I shall carry through life is the one which he stamped upon my mind when he was about sixty years of age. I was then a young student, and he alternated with the principal of the school in the preaching. I remember him as he stood in this pulpit-rather in the pulpit in the midst of whose ashes this pulpit was reared-hale of body and vig- orous of mind, scourging popular errors and follies, and exhorting to righteousness, temperance, and preparation for the judgment to come. It seemed that nature had stored up in his strong body force enough to supply the vital mechanism for a century. He lived, indeed, to a
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good old age. Nevertheless, I find myself asking, why did he not attain to the age of one hundred years? Two facts are a sufficient answer to the question. He was one of the most laborious men of that generation which bore off upon its broad shoulders, as Sampson did the gates of Gaza, the heavy forest which covered this land-the gen- eration that made possible that home in which we live to- day-the generation which performed the most wonderful work of the kind that history has witnessed ; for in no age, and in no country, has the face of nature been so suddenly transformed as in the Northern States of the American Union. He was also identified with a religious work, somewhat akin to the other, and no whit less labor- ious. To this he gave his time, his energy, and, no doubt several years of natural expectancy of life. If the pion- eers gave us the homes in which we dwell, no less did these pioneers of religious reform give us the churches in which we worship.
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