USA > Ohio > Early history of the Disciples in the Western Reserve, Ohio : with biographical sketches of the principal agents in their religious movement > Part 26
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"Whereas, We have learned with great sorrow of the unexpected death, only day before yesterday, of our be- loved fellow-laborer in the gospel, Bro. Sterling McBride ; therefore,
"Resolved, That we fully appreciate the great loss we have sustained in the sudden demise of that brother, of gentle and amiable spirit, a highly appreciated preacher of the gospel. With great assiduity he struggled under pecuniary embarrassments till he gained a college diploma, and with it a clear and sound education. Of modest man- ners, an earnest and confiding heart, firm and decided in character, he possessed a high and honorable friendship, and a well regulated Christian character. As a preacher he already controlled a wide influence. We feel that the churches in Ohio have suffered a great loss in the fading from our sky of a bright star ; and we in this meeting
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also, as he was one of the most diligent members of this association.
"Resolved, That we have a deep sense of the loss sus- tained by his afflicted wife and children, in the early de- mise of her devoted husband and their affectionate father.
F. M. GREEN, Sec.
A. S. HAYDEN, E. H. HAWLEY, & Com. L. COOLEY,
THE CHURCH IN AURORA.
This church was established October 17, 1830, by the indefatigable William Hayden. He laid his plan and pursued it. He visited the community at regu- lar intervals, and by much private conversation, as well as by his cogent and instructive discourses, he laid the foundation of a permanent work in the solid instruction of the people. No man has less confi- dence in mere revival processes. No one ever had more in the illumination of the understanding as the method of reaching the heart and persuading the will. Discarding the arts of revivalism, he was strong in reasons for his statements, and often at- tained a high degree of argumentative eloquence in his appeals. To such a nature, a measure of opposi- tion was necessary to awaken his reserve forces and to marshal them in the best position and order. This stimulus was not wanting in Aurora. No won- der, then, that the city of the great King was built up there on granite, and that it has remained to this day. The earlier converts included some of the most sensible, shrewd, and intelligent citizens of the community. Upon the organization of this congre- gation, they had such men as Gamaliel Kent, Russell G. McCarty and Samuel Russell, to whom, as elders,
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they committed the management of their affairs. For four years the church met in the south school- house, by Eli Cannon's ; after this they moved, the meetings to the center of the township.
Bro. Marcus Bosworth was early on the ground. Happy the people who heard the weeping Bosworth. He was brimful of tenderness. " Little children, let us love one another, for love is of God ;" came as nat- urally from him as from the lips of the beloved dis- ciple. He and Hayden were greatly attached, and they were counterpointed in a most admirable man- ner to be co-workers in the gospel. Soon after the church got under way the serene and stately Bentley came among them, adding the weight of piety, ex- perience, and great personal dignity, elements both needful and rare, to enforce and carry on the work of reform.
The following were the original members : Isaac H. Streator and his wife Clarina Streator; their chil- dren Charity, Cyrus and Marius Streator ; Alonzo Root and his wife; Whitney Smith and his wife; Simon and Sally Norton ; Polly Ruggles, Mary Lake, Ga- maliel H. Kent and his wife; Russell G. McCarty and his wife ; Samuel Russell, Joel Giles, and So- phronia Stanton. In a short time, both Henry and Alanson Baldwin, with their wives, came in. For many years they were leading men, and their boun- tiful hospitality was an efficient means of sustaining the cause. Bro. Henry Baldwin, for many years one of the overseers, moved twenty years ago to Niles, where he fell peacefully asleep June, 1875, aged 82 years.
The next year, June, 1831, following the outburst
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of Mormonism, there was held a grove meeting in Aurora, east of the center. Mr. Campbell was pres- ent, as were likewise many of the preachers. Hon. A. G. Riddle, in his recent work, entitled: "The Portrait : a Romance of the Cuyahoga Valley," has written so truthfully concerning it that I transfer his description to my page :
" The woods were full of horses and carriages, and the hundreds already there were rapidly swelled to many thou- sands ; all of one race-the Yankee; all of one calling, or nearly-the farmer ; hardy, shrewd, sunburned, cool, thoughtful and intelligent. The disciples were, from the first, emancipated from the Puritan slavery of the Sabbath ; and, although grave, thoughtful and serious, as they were on this Sunday morning, it was from the gravity and se- riousness of the occasion, and little from the day itself- an assemblage that Paul would have been glad to preach to.
" At the hour of eleven, Mr. Campbell and his party took their places on the stand, and after a short, simple, preliminary service, conducted by another, he came for- ward to the front. He was then about forty years old, above the average height, of singular dignity of form, and simple grace of manner. His was a splendid head, borne well back, with a bold, strong forehead, from which his fine hair was turned back ; a strong, full, expressive eye, aquiline nose, fine mouth, and prominent chin. He was a perfect master of himself, a perfect master of his theme, and, from the moment he stood in its presence, a perfect master of his immense audience.
"At a glance he took the measure and level of the average mind before him-a Scotchman's estimate of the Yankee-and began at that level ; and as he rose from it, he took the assembled host with him. In nothing was he like Rigdon ; calm, clear, strong, logical, yet perfectly sim-
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ple. Men felt themselves lifted and carried, and wondered at the ease and apparent want of effort with which it was done.
" Nothing could be more transparent than his statement of his subject; nothing franker than his admission of its difficulties; nothing more direct than his enumeration of the means he must employ, and the conclusions he must reach. With great intellectual resources, and great acqui- sitions, athlete and gladiator as he was, he was a logician by instinct and habit of mind, and took a pleasure in mag- nifying, to their utmost, the difficulties of his positions, so that when the latter were finally maintained, the mind was satisfied with the result. His language was copious, his style nervous, and the characteristic of his mind was direct, manly, sustained vigor ; and under its play he evolved a warmth which kindled to the fervor of sustained eloquence, and which, in the judgment of many, is the only true eloquence. After nearly two hours, his natural and logical conclusion was the old pentecostal mandate of Simon Peter, and a strong, manly and tender call of men to obedience. There was no appeal to passion, no effort at pathos, no figures or rhetoric, but a warm, kindling, heated, glowing, manly argument, silencing the will, cap- · tivating the judgment, and satisfying the reason ; and the cold, shrewd, thinking, calculating Yankee liked it.
"As the preacher closed and stood for a response, no answering movement came from any part of the crowd. Men were running it over, and thinking. Unhesitatingly the orator stepped down from the platform upon the ground, and moving forward in the little open space, began in a møre fervid and impassioned strain. He caught the mind at the highest point of its attainment, and grasping it, shook it with a half indignation at its calculating hesi- tation, and carrying it with a mighty sweep to a still higher level, seemed to pour around it a diviner and more radi- ant light ; then, with a little tremor in his voice, he im-
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plored it to hesitate no longer. When he closed, low murmurs broke and ran through the awed crowd ; men and women from all parts of the vast assemblage, with streaming eyes, came forward ; young men who had climbed into the small trees from curiosity, came down from con- viction, and went forward to baptism; and the brothers and sisters set up a glad hymn, sang with tremulous voices, clasping hands amid happy tears.
"Thus, in that far off time, in the maple woods, under the June sun, the gospel was preached and received."
For the next three years there was a steady in- crease. In June, 1834, the yearly meeting was in Aurora. It was one of much historic importance ; a large number of preachers attended it, many of whom, before this, were nearly strangers. Hymns and tunes, known by leaders, were caught and trans- fused throughout the mass of eager disciples, and carried home to animate the rising churches every- where. Chauncey Forward, from Somerset, Pa., was present as the chief speaker. Aurora was his home in his youth. He had attained a distinguished posi- tion at the bar and in Congress ; but having confessed the Lord Jesus, he renounced the professions of law and the rulership of men, and he appeared on this occasion among the scenes of early years, to plead the cause of primitive Christianity. His abilities as a reasoner and eloquence in appeal, commanded the profound attention of large audiences daily. There were thirty-one converts, some of whom afterward became public advocates of the gospel.
In the year 1837, under the charge of Henry and Alanson Baldwin and A. V. Jewett, as building com- mittee, the meeting-house was erected, and dedicated by John Henry. The next year, brethren Clapp and
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Green held a meeting in it, with thirty conversions. In 1855 it was burned. A better one was immedi- ately erected at a cost of $1500, and dedicated by A. S. Hayden. In 1843, a great meeting was con- ducted by Bros. J. H. Jones and John Henry, which brought in thirty additions. The same year, M. L. Wilcox came and preached for two years with great acceptance.
There were churches formed in Streetsborough and in Bainbridge in the year 1845, which drew mem- bers from this church and reduced its strength. These societies, after flourishing a number of years, have both become extinct; but the parent church, though weakened, has never failed to keep the light burning. "From first to last the church has had as teachers, William Hayden, M. Bosworth, A. S. Hay- den, A. Bentley, J. J. Moss, John Henry, Charles McDougall, J. T. Smith, T. Munnell, J. Hartzel, A. Allerton, A. B. Green, W. Collins, B. F. Perky, M. L. Wilcox, N. Dunshee, T. J. Newcomb, H. W. Everest, J. A. Garfield, C. P. Bowler, E. Doolittle, S. A. Griffin, B. A. Hinsdale, O. C. Hill, and some others." But to the home membership all credit is due for faithfulness and devotion to the cause in all times and amidst many trying discouragements.
A good story went the rounds, in early day, of one David Shepherd, a blacksmith, who came into Aurora about the beginning of this Bible reform. His wife and a female relative of hers, professors of religion, were, before coming into town, warned by their friends against the "Campbellites," and straitly charged, and were put under formal pledge, not to hear them. Having received so strict a charge, they
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retired into the inner prison, secured by high and strong walls of prejudice. Isaac Streator, Esq., already a convert to the faith, coming to Shepherd's shop on business, talked freely about the preachers, the preaching, and the interest aroused on all sides. He concluded by inviting Shepherd to come to the south school-house and hear John Henry, a man of native wit, of good sense, and great power. Shep- herd went, timidly. Unexpectedly he was greatly pleased, hearing for the first time a gospel he could understand and read in his Bible. Buying a cheap · testament, convenient for the pocket, he examined the passages referred to in the sermon, and found, truly enough, the doctrine of baptism of the repenting per- son for the remission of sins clearly and fairly taught by the apostles. He ventured to read the portions of Scripture containing this truth in the presence of his family. They "pitched into" him. "There, you have gone and got one of those Campbellite testa- ments, which they have made just to suit their doc- trine ! I wonder you are not afraid to have it about you. That reads so, of course, and teaches the doc- trine, for they made it so." Shepherd smiled, but only inwardly, willing to bear the reproach, for he wished to enjoy the joke a little longer. At length, he asked them to take the old family Bible, which they were sure contained no such awful heresy, and carefully compare the two. They consented, and the compari- son began. Passage after passage was slowly read over, word by word. To their utter amazement and confusion the good old trusty Bible actually con- tained the very words and language, and of course the doctrine, denounced as "Campbellism !" What
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was to be done? They could scarcely believe their own eyes. His testament was then examined. It was found to contain the imprint of the " American Bible Society !" They saw the "situation "-their igno- rance of their own Bible and its plain teaching. He relished their confusion, but was generous enough to listen to their earnest and repeated charges to "tell nobody!" But it told itself. They came out to hear, and all of them obeyed the gospel, despite pro- tests, vows, and cautions, choosing nobly and rightly to obey God rather than man.
Another incident is related of a woman of good sense and intelligence, who came to Aurora from the State of New York to visit her relatives. She was at once told of the new heresy-that they took the people, and if they just said they believed, they bap- tized them without any change of heart, and then they were sure of heaven.
This woman, in deep astonishment, said : “Surely they get no persons of intelligence or respectability to follow them?" "O, yes, some of the best and most substantial people in town are among their con- verts." She replied, "There is certainly something wrong about this ; for no person of common sense can believe such things as you tell me they preach : I must hear them myself." She went, heard, saw the truth, obeyed it, and returned home rejoicing in the new light of gospel truth which shone upon her heart.
RISE OF THE CONGREGATION IN STOWE.
In 1831, the gospel was introduced into Stowe by William Hayden. David Darrow was the first fruit. All who knew him counted him just the man to
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break ground. Honest, frank and decided, he grasped the gospel with wonderful energy. The cause owed much to his zeal and decision. John Henry was also early on the ground. At one time Henry, Hay- den, and E. Williams met here by agreement, when many heard the truth and several converts were gained. Rev. A. Bronson, presiding elder of the M. E. Church, had an appointment in the house at the same time. No little stir was created, as the militant elder had already gained a reputation for zeal against the disciples. He used every opportunity to attack the new doctrine, as he represented it. In this case the appointment of these brethren was prior to his, but they yielded to his contentious de- termination, and sat down to hear him. In opening, he announced with full voice the hymn :
" Jesus, great Shepherd of thy sheep, To thee for help we fly, Thy little flock in safety keep, For O, the wolf is nigh !"
No one doubted to whom he meant to apply the term wolf. But like the terms orthodoxy and heter- odoxy, its meaning depends much on who uses it. The shrill-voiced singers in the audience, looking up to the large, dark form of the preacher, sang " wolf " as well as he. Henry, in reporting it, said they all sung "wolf," "wolf," but himself; and he neither sung wolf nor howled! The sermon which followed was a perversion of the views of the disciples. But ample correction followed, and the cause of reform gained by the opportunity.
In September, 1833, Green preached here and bap- tized his first convert. The cause gained constantly,
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forcing its advancement through intense opposition Students, and occasionally a professor, from Hudson college, only a few miles distant, practiced their skill in attempted refutation of an imaginary novelty which they styled " Campbellism." The converts, however were too well grounded in the Scriptures to be alarmed by these misdirected assaults. If the school- houses were closed, private houses were opened The Darrows, the Sawyers, the Starks, the Stowes the Thomases, the Lindsays, and the Gaylords received the truth in the love of it, and soon united to sustain meetings on the Lord's day. In June, 1834, Timothy Wallace obeyed the gospel in Aurora, at the yearly meeting. These principles were making progress at the same time, and by the same agencies, in Frank- lin, and in Hudson township. In the north-west part of Hudson, Williams and Hayden were successful in teaching the people the difference between the church of Christ founded on the New Covenant, and all ec- clesiastical organizations established on human foun- dations. Zina Post and his family, with his son-in- law, Bro. A. E. Foote, " hearing, believed and were baptized ;" Sherman Oviatt also, and others, in such numbers that they founded a church there which con- tinued many years. In Franklin the Converses, the Wadsworths, the Clapps, and the Burts were the be- ginning of the congregation known afterward as the church in Kent.
Among the proclaimers who aided in planting the churches of Stowe, Hudson, and Kent, were Allerton, Hubbard and F. Williams also, of Ravenna. Wm. Hayden and A. B. Green were the most frequently with them. Several times in the great yearly meet-
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ings Bro. D. S. Burnett, of Cincinnati, has plead here, with his great abilities, the claims of the Lord Jesus.
Over the most of this region the sentiments of Universalism prevailed. With these the principles of the gospel came in sharp collision ; constantly in private, and several times in public, there were dis- cussions on the subject. A debate of several days was held in Franklin between A. B. Green and Rev. Davis, which opened the eyes of many to the dan- gers of the slippery rock on which they were stand- ing, and led them to Christ.
After several years, the church in Stowe suspended meetings as the result of removal and other causes. But the remaining members kept the fire burning, and a reorganization of the church was made Janu- ary 9th, 1844. It was effected during a meeting held by Charles F. Bartlett, J. P. Robison and A. S. Hayden. The members then, were David Darrow, Zebulun Stowe, Eli Gaylord, B. Stark, C. Thomas, J. C. Willis, Datus E. Lendsay and Constant Rogers, with their wives, and Miss C. Stark-sixteen mem- bers. In April, 1873, twenty-nine years after, it had one hundred and twenty members.
This church has long been a light to the county. With lavish hospitality the members have repeatedly welcomed the great Tent meetings, and have been richly repaid in the fruits of edification and conver- sion. Among its honorable and most useful names now gone to rest, should be mentioned David Darrow, Zebulun Stowe and Edwin Wetmore, faithful leaders, who long, zealously, and cheerfully gave a powerful support to the cause. These, with the names of many others, are cherished in grateful hearts.
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As resident preachers, they have had W. T. Horner, S. R. Willard, A. C. Bartlett, H. J. White; while scarcely any of the preachers known in north-eastern Ohio can be named who have not aided them in meet- ings. This church is the religious birth-home of L. Southmayd and J. C. Stark, brethren who have done, and are still doing, effective service as preachers of the gospel.
Her present elders are U. Marvin, A. S. Wheeler, and William Southmayd. Deacons, A. C. Stowe, J. R. Ream, and L. Hartle. They have sustained a lively Sunday-school for twenty years, and have a valuable church property with a parsonage.
Perele
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CHAPTER XIX.
Origin of the Church in Bedford-Yearly Meetings-Sermon by A. Campbell-Bartlett-Robison-Jones-Prominent Preachers- The Gospel in Newburg-Great Yearly Meeting-Quarterly Meeting-Incidents.
T HE congregation in Bedford arose in the follow- ing manner: E. Williams came in May, 1830, and preached the way of salvation, where formerly he had taught Restorationism. Newell C. Barnum was the first convert. He came monthly during the summer ; and in June, Enoch Allen and some others were baptized. In July, Mrs. William Williams, of Newburg, Livonia Payne, " Grandmother Barnum," Julia Barnum, and Laura Gould came in. In the fall, Wm. Hayden held a meeting and baptized eight, and from this time he held the ground. In Novem- ber, 1832, he held a meeting with Bro. Moss, and in the following month he formed the church with twenty members. Thomas Marble was chosen the overseer, and Enoch Allen and Geo. M. Payne, dea- cons. Bro. Green, on his first tour of preaching, came in September, 1833. The next year Moss be- came a resident of Bedford, and for five years he as- sembled with them and taught many.
In August, 1835, a new appointment of officers took place. Allen Robinett and Enoch Allen were elected overseers ; Samuel Barnes, N. C. Barnum, and W. W. Walker, deacons. These served till December, 1837, when Sidney Smith and James Young were
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chosen to serve as the bishops, and Enoch Allen, Alanson Gray, George Comstock, and Charles F. Bartlett, who was baptized the month before, came in as deacons.
In July, 1840, James Young and Sidney Smith were re-appointed elders, together with C. F. Bartlett and R. S. Benedict, while the ever-faithful Enoch Allen continued to serve the church as a deacon, his co-deacons being now S. F. Lockwood, Augustine Collins, and S. A. Hathaway. The congregation had now become numerous, and in her board of rulers were men of much solidity and judgment.
The year 1837 was one of marked prosperity for the church. In August, James Young and his wife united, also Dr. J. P. Robison, Sidney Smith, and others, whose position gave weight to their influence. In November, Chas. F. Bartlett and John S. Young came to Christ. Two of these, Robison and Bart- lett, arose to extensive usefulness as proclaimers of the gospel. About thirty souls united between August and December. The church, thus lifted up to great strength, and filled with a zeal "according to knowledge," added constantly to her numbers, seldom a week passing without accessions.
The year 1838 was no less prosperous. In March, of this year, James Egbert, moving in from Salem, and finding the liberty of the gospel as a ground of union and fellowship among Christians more con- genial to his views than the creed basis of his former profession, he gave up the sect for the church of Christ. Mrs. Fanny Willis, a person of intelli- gence, and a worthy member of the Baptist church,
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laid aside the name and terms of party in favor of the union of Christians in the new covenant.
This enterprising church opened a "door of faith" in school-houses and private dwellings, in all avail- able places, and by unremitting appeals the com- munity became thoroughly leavened.
The yearly meeting for Cuyahoga County was held with the church in Bedford, in the year 1839, its first assembling in that town. It was held on the Lord's day beside the meeting-house which was erected by the generosity of Sister Willis, a house intended for the use of the Baptists, but which, with her change of views, became the property of the Disciples. This house was filled on Friday the first day of the meet- ing. After a discourse by Bro. J. Hartzel, and an exhortation by Bro. M. Bosworth, Bro. Campbell fol- lowed with a eulogium of much power, beauty, and eloquence on the Holy Scriptures.
This meeting was noteworthy for several reasons : The principal men of the Western Reserve who had risen up for the advocacy of the gospel were present. Some came from Canada and the State of New York. Bro. Joseph S. Havener, now of Barnwell District, S. C., then young, recently arrived from Ireland, added interest by his gentle and genial speech. But the overmastering attraction of the occasion was due to the presence and discourses of Mr. Camp- bell. With all the great powers of his manhood in full energy, he came before the vast auditory as comes a man only once in an age. His attendance at the first yearly meeting in the county, in Newburg, in 1835, at the still greater occasion at Euclid, in 1837, and more especially his defeat of the allied forces
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of infidelity in the city of Cleveland, in June, 1836, gave him a reputation all along this region of the lakes, as the first and ablest of living orators.
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