History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 41

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co.
Number of Pages: 666

USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 41

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In June, 1845, the general assembly of the Presby- terian church met in Cincinnati for its second meeting in the west. About two hundred ministers and delegates were present, "generally fine looking men," said Mr. Cist in his Miscellany, "with much less of the rigorous Scotch and Scotch-Irish cast of features than might be expected from the great element of their descent.

METHODISM. *

As we have seen above, Presbyterianism was first of all denominational religions on the ground in Cincinnati. For about thirteen years thereafter no Methodist church was organized in the village. But in 1798 one of the vigorous, rugged pioneer preachers, the Rev. John Kob- ler, presiding elder of a district in Kentucky, embracing the Lexington, Danville, and Cumberland circuits, and who had been sent by Bishop Asbury as a missionary to the Northwest Territory, came riding out of the wilder- ness, no one knew whence, to scout the field for Method- ism on the site of Cincinnati. In a communication long afterwards to the Western Historical society, he wrote:

I rode down the Miami river thirty-six miles to explore this region of country. I found settlements very sparse indeed, only now and then a solitary family. About four o'clock in the afternoon I came to an old garrison called Fort Washington, situated on the bank of the big river,

which bore very much the appearance of a declining, time-stricken, God-forsaken place. Here are a few log buildings extra of the fortress, and a few families residing together, with a small printing office just put in operation, and a small store opened by a gentleman named Snodgrass. This, I was told, was. the great place of rendezvous of olden time for the federal troops when going to war with the Indians. Here, alas, General St. Clair made his last encampment with his troops before he met his lamentable defeat; here I wished very much to preach, but could find no opening or reception of any kind whatever. I left the old garrison to pursue my enterprise, with a full intention to visit it again, and make another effort with them on my next round; but this I did not do for the following reasons, namely : When I had gone a second round on my appointment, and further explored the set- tlements and circumstances of the country, there were some places where the opening prospects appeared much more promising than what I had seen in Fort Washington; and I was eager to take every advantage of time and things, by collecting what first was already ap- parent, by forming societies and building up those already formed; so that in a few rounds I had nearly lost sight of old Fort Washington, and finally concluded that it would be most proper for me, under the existing circumstances, at least for the present, to omit it altogether.

Judge McLean, in his biographical sketch of the Rev. Philip Gatch, furnishes the following reminiscence of this pioneer preacher :

I frequently heard him, and shall never forget his appearance and manner. My curiosity to hear him was excited by the account given of him by the son of Captain Davis, who was a few years older than I was. His time was almost wholly taken up, as represented by young Davis, in reading and praying; that, although he was kind in his manner and sociable, yet a smile was seldom seen on his face, but he was often seen to weep. I heard him often, and was always impressed much with his discourse, and especially with his prayers. He was tall and well-pro- portioned; his hair was black, and he wore it long, extending over the cape of his coat. His dress was neat, with a straight-breasted coat, and in every respect as became a Methodist preacher of that day. He had a most impressive countenance. It showed no ordinary intellectual development, united with sweetness of disposition, unconquerable firm- ness, and uncommon devotion. His preaching never failed to attract the deep attention of every hearer. His manner was very deliberate at the commencement of a discourse; but as he pro- gressed he became more animated and his words more powerful. He awakened in himself and in his Christian audience a sublimated feeling in the contemplation of Heaven, and in those who had a foreboding of future ill ur.speakable horrors. On these topics he was eloquent. In- deed, his mind was well stored with information, and in every point of view he was a most useful and excellent preacher. His aims were more at the heart than the head. The Methodist preachers of that day be- lieved if the heart were made right, it would influence the life and con- duct of the individual.

The next year (1799)-traditions, not official minutes, say-came Lewis Hunt to ride the Miami circuit, which, with Scioto circuit, embraced the entire southern and western parts of the present State of Ohio. He broke down in the summer of that year, and Rev. H. Smith was sent to take his place; but, meeting him on Mad river, Smith found him so far recovered as to go on with his work, and left him for the Scioto, to form a circuit there. Hunt and another of the pioneer Methodists in this region, Rev. Elisha Bowman, are known to have preached at the fort occasionally, notwithstanding Kob- ler's ill-success in getting even a temporary lodgment there; also Rev. William Burke, who, as presiding elder of the Ohio district, preached in the court house here in 1805, and over a year before that, soon after the Meth- odist society was formed in the village, preached in the dwelling of Mr. Newcome, one of the early Methodists, on Sycamore street. He was still living in Cincinnati in 1854.

It is well known, at all events, that a Methodist class was formed at Fort Washington at an early day, even be-

* Our principal authority for that part of this section dealing with the beginnings of Methodism in Cincinnati, and its growth for fift ycars, is Finley's Sketches of Western Methodism.

154

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

fore the eighteenth century went out; but by whom has not yet been discovered, although the inquiry has been actively pushed in various directions. Methodism in Cincinnati, however, is considered properly to date from the visit to the village, about 1803, of John Collins, a young and active farmer, residing far in the wilderness on the East fork of the Little Miami. He had been licensed in New Jersey, his old home, as a local preacher, and exercised his gifts as such frequently after his arrival in the Miami country, making his own settlement partic- ularly a stronghold of Methodism. Visiting Cincinnati to buy salt, he found that Mr. Carter, in whose store he had called, was a Methodist; and, after a joyful greeting, it was arranged that young Collins should hold a preach- ing service before he departed. The upper room of Mr. Carter's house, on Front street between Walnut and Vine, was provided with benches, and as wide notice as possi- ble given of the appointment; but when the evening came, only twelve were present, most of whom were Methodists. To this handful Collins preached, it is be- lieved, the first Methodist sermon ever spoken in Cincin- nati, outside the stockade of the fort. A small class formed "as the planting of a handful of corn on the tops of the mountains, the increasing and ever multiply- ing products of which were to shake with the fruitage of Lebanon." He also organized the first classes in Colum- bia and Dayton, was admitted to the itinerancy in 1807, was appointed at once to the Miami circuit, then em- bracing nearly all the region afterwards included in the Cincinnati conference, and labored with great power, es- pecially in the camp meetings, for more than a quarter of century in southwestern Ohio. It was at one of his re- vivals that John McLean, afterward one of the justices of the Federal supreme court, and his brother, Colonel Mc- Lean, were converted. Two years before he closed his effective labors he was regularly stationed in Cincinnati, his colleague then being the Rev. J. B. Finley.

The writer of A Sketch of the Life of Rev. John Col- lins makes the following interesting reflections upon the scene attending the preaching of the first Methodist ser- mon in Cincinnati:

Will the reader linger a moment on that remarkable congregation of twelve-not remarkable for their positions in society, but as the first as- semblage of Methodists, to hear a sermon by a Methodist preacher, in a town which, in a few years, was to become noted for Methodism? In the small apartment, lighted with one or two flickering candles, sat the twelve. The preacher performed his duty most faithfully and affec- tionately. Many tears were shed. Some wept under a conviction of their sins, others from a joyful hope of the future. The speaker had a word for each hearer, and it took effect. There were no dry eyes nor unfeeling hearts in the congregation. How small and how feeble was this beginning; and yet who can limit the consequences which follow- ed it?

Mr. Carter took his text for this sermon from Mark xvi, 15, 16:

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is babtised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

Mr. Carter was the only one of those present who was able to entertain the preacher during his stay in the village.

In 1804 the Rev. John Sale, who had been travelling

the Scioto circuit, was assigned to the Miami circuit, with Rev. J. Oglesby. The Ohio district, the first in the State, had been organized the previous year; Rev. Wil- liam Burke, presiding elder. Sale soon visited Cincin- nati, and preached to a congregation numbering thirty or forty, in a house on Main street, between Front and Second. Mr. Finley, in his Sketches, thus continues the narrative:

After preaching, a proposition was made to organize a society in the usual way, and according to the discipline of the church. Accordingly, a chapter was read from the Bible; then followed singing, prayer, and the reading of the General Rules of the society. All then who felt de- sirous of becoming members of the society, and were willing to abide by the General Rules as they had been read, came forward and gave in their names. The number who presented themselves on that occasion was only eight, consisting of the following, namely: Mr. and Mrs. Carter, their son and daughter [the latter afterwards Mrs. Dennison, mother of Governor Dennison, and long a resident of Cincinnati], Mr. and Mrs. Gibson, and Mr. and Mrs. St. Clair. Mr. Gibson was ap- pointed the reader.

A regular church being organized, arrangements were made to have prcaching regularly every two weeks by the circuit preachers. The so- ciety received an accession in the ensuing spring by the arrival in town of two Methodist families, namely, those of Messrs. Nelson and Hall, and their families. Meetings were held in the little old log school-house below the hill, and not far from the old fort. The location of this school-house was such as to accommodate the villagers; and as its site was somewhere not far from the intersection of Lawrence and Congress streets, it is presumed that this portion of the town was the most thickly inhabited. Sometimes the rowdies would stone the

house; and on one occasion Ezekiel Hall, a zealous Methodist, and one who was always present to lead the singing, was taken by the rowdies after meeting, and carried to his home on Main street, where, after giving him three hearty cheers for his zeal and fortitude, they left him. The rioters were followed by two very strong young men, who were mem- bers of the church, and had determined at all hazards to protect their feeble brother. The young men were Benjamin Stewart, now [1854] living near Carthage, in this county, and Robert Richardson, now living on Broadway, in this city."

After serving through his first appointment on the Miami circuit, and several years in the Kentucky and Ohio districts, Mr. Sale was sent to the Miami district upon its creation in 1808, again in 1815, and finally in 1819, end- ing a useful life near Troy, Ohio, while on the Piqua cir- cuit, January 15, 1827. He was a worthy man to be among the founders of Methodism in the Queen City.

The next year (1805) the Rev. John Meek was ap- pointed to this circuit, in place of Mr .. Sale, who was re- turned to the Lexington circuit in Kentucky.

The first love-feast the Methodists here enjoyed was at a quarterly meeting this year, held in the court house, under the direction of the Rev. William Burke, presiding elder. Soon afterwards, in the same year, a large lot for a church edifice and a cemetery, after the custom of those times, was purchased on Fifth street, between Syca- more and Broadway, the present site of Wesley chapel. The erection of a stone church was promptly begun upon the lot; and it was finished and dedicated in 1806. Mr. Finley says :

From this point the society increased rapidly, and it was not long till the native eloquence of the backwoods preachers and the zeal of the membership attracted large congregations, and the church was too small to hold the crowds that collected there to hear the word of life. The building, however, was too small, only being about twenty feet wide and forty long. To accommodate the increasing masses, who . crowded to the "Old Stone," the rear end was taken out and twenty feet of brick added to it. Notwithstanding this enlargement, still there was not a sufficient room, and it was resolved to make arrange-

155

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

ments for other enlargements. It was concluded to take out the sides of the brick part, and extend the building out each way twenty feet, this giving the church the form of a cross. After some time this last improvement was made, and though the congregations still continued gradually to increase with the ever-increasing population, yet it was many years before any movement was contemplated to meet these wants. At length, however, it was resolved to tear down and build on the site of the "Old Stone" a mammoth church, which would not only be the parent Methodist church in Cincinnati, but which would be suf- ficiently large for all occasions.

Colonies had already gone out from the old parent church, and had located preaching places in several parts of the city. One of these was located on the northeast corner of Plum and Fourth streets. Here the brethren erected a plain, substantial brick church, which in progress of time was called the "Old Brick," to distinguish it from the "Old Stone;" and it was also designated by a certain class as " Brimstone Corner." Another charge was formed in the northern por- tion of the city, which was called Asbury, and also one in Fulton, de- nominated McKendree Chapel.

The time had at length come for the erection of a large central church ; and, the arrangements being made, the "Old Stone," with its brick ap- pendages, was torn down, and from its ruins arose a mighty structure, denominated Wesley Chapel. It was dedicated in 1831 ; at that time the largest church in the place, and at the present time [1854] capable of holding a larger congregation than any building in the city. On ac- count of its capacity, as well as its location in the heart of the city, it is selected on all great occasions. The address of the Hon. John Quincy Adams, on the occasion of laying the corner-stone of the Astro- nomical Observatory, was delivered here. Here the various large be- nevolent societies hold their anniversaries. It was here, to listening thousands, the eloquent Bascom delivered liis lectures on the evidences of Christianity ; and it was in this old cradle of Methodism the log- ical and earnest Rice delivered his course on the subject of Roman- ism.

The "Old Brick," of which we have already spoken, was built in 1822 ; but after several years, during which it became a place of hal- lowed memories, on account of the numerous conversions which had been witnessed at its altars, it was necessary to enlarge the borders of our Western Zion in this place, and hence preparations were made to erect a new church. In the meantime, however, a colony had gone out from Fourth street, and had built a fine church edifice on Ninth street. Instead of tearing down and rebuilding, it was determined to purchase a lot on Western Row, between Fourth and Fifth streets. Here the congregation built a very neat and commodious church, which was de- nominated Morris Chapel, in honor of our beloved Western Bishop.

But Methodist enterprise did not stop here. Asbury Chapel, in the northern part of the city, was consumed by fire ; but the zealous brotherhood erected near its ruins a new and handsome edifice. Colo- nies from Morris Chapel and Ninth street went out, having among their number some of the most zealous and efficient of their member- ship, and founded Christie Chapel and Salem, York Street and Park Street Chapels, all having now energetic and active memberships. And last, not least, in that direction, from these, in their turn, was formed Clinton Street Chapel, a young but vigorous branch of Methodism. In the meantime Bethel Chapel was founded by a colony from old Wesley and Mckendree ; and the trustees are now [1854] engaged in erecting a new and beautiful church on Ellen street. Nor do we stop here ; col- onies from the different charges have founded societies and erected churches on Walnut Hills, in the Mears neighborhood, and Mt. Auburn.

In addition to these was the Union Chapel society, composed originally of a few members of various charges, who wished their families to sit together, instead of sepa- rating the sexes in the old way, as the discipline pre- scribed; and so founded the first pewed Methodist church in the city, buying for the purpose the Grace church edi- fice, on Seventh street, till then owned by the Episco- palians. On account of their new departure, this society was long disowned by the annual conference, and was compelled to employ local preachers and set up a pro- visional government. At length the case was submitted to the general conference, which struck out of the disci- pline the old regulation-"Let the men and women sit apart, without exception, in all our churches ;" and then

Union Chapel was gladly admitted to full Methodist fel- lowship. In 1854 it had the largest Sabbath-school in the city, and pledged itself to support a missionary to Rome, as soon as Papal toleration would permit it.

About this time Dr. Finley notes the Methodist Epis- copal Church South as having in Cincinnati a large and flourishing congregation; and the Protestant Methodist church, on Sixth street, as "a large, intelligent and en- terprising society, supporting one or two mission churches in the city."

In 1836 the Cincinnati Methodists undertook a mis- sion to the numerous and increasing German population of the city, under the direction of Dr. William Nast, who had been a student and Professor of Greek and Oriental literature at Tubingen, in association with the celebrated skeptical biographer of Christ, Dr. Strauss. In this coun- try he became a professor at Kenyon college ; but, being converted to Methodism, he came to Cincinnati to labor, in the face of many difficulties and much persecution, among his fellow-countrymen. He became editor of the Christliche Apologete, a German religious journal of large circulation, and otherwise engaged laboriously in the formation of a German Methodist literature. Within twenty years the influence of the mission had spread far and wide. Says Mr. Finley, writing in 1854: "It went back to the east; and the large cities and towns, as far as Boston, had missionaries sent to them, and societies were organized all over the land, from Maine to Louisiana. From this mere handful of corn what a mighty harvest has already been gathered! In Cincinnati there are four churches, some quite large; and in almost every large town where there are Germans, churches have been erected. No mission was ever established since the days of Pentecost that has been attended with greater suc- cess." He considered this, down to that time, as "the crowning glory of Methodism in the city, if not in the en- tire west."

Another Methodist enterprise, taking its start in 1840, was the establishment of the Wesleyan Female college. The story of this will be narrated elsewhere.

The following-named Methodist preachers were among the itinerants of the early day on the Cincinnati circuit : 1811 .- Rev. William Young. One of his charges was at North Bend, and while riding from Cincinnati to his appointment there one extremely cold day in December, he took a cold which resulted in consumption and ter- minated his very promising life at the age of twenty-five.

1812 .- Revs. William Burke and John Strange. The former says in his Autobiography :

At the conference held at Chillicothe in the fall of 1811, I was ap- pointed to Cincinnati station, it being the first station in the State of Ohio. 1 organized the station, and many of the rules and regulations that I established are still [1854] in use. We had but one church in the city, and it went under the name of the Stone church. I preached three times every Sunday, and on Wednesday night; and while sta- tioncd in that house my voice failed me. The Methodists being too poor to buy a stove to warm the house in winter, and on Sunday morn- ing it being generally crowded, their breath would condense on the walls, and the water would run down and across the floor. The next conference 1 did not attend, but was appointed supernumerary on the Cincinnati circuit. . . . I was the first married preacher in the west who travelled after marrying.

Elder Burke preached for nearly sixty years, and his is

156

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

a great and venerable name in the annals of western Methodism. Mr. Strange was also an able and useful laborer, but was called away when he had attained scarcely half the years of his former colleague in Cincin- nati.

1816-17 .- Rev. Alexander Cummins. Rev. Russel Bigelow, who had labored with Mr. Cummins on the Miami circuit, bears testimony to "his zeal, piety, and usefulness, his devotion, his fervor, his diligence, his watchfulness, his anxiety, his pathetic ser- mons, his fervent prayers." He afterwards became a presiding elder in Kentucky, and died at his home in Cincinnati September 27, 1823, aged only thirty-six years.

A remarkable incident occurred during the session of the western conference in Cincinnati, in 1813. It is thus related by Mr. Finley :

There being no church on Sabbath large enough to hold the congre- gation, or rather the vast crowds which attended upon the ministrations of the occasion, we adjourned to the Lower Market space, on Lower Market street, between Sycamore and Broadway. The services com- menced at eleven o'clock. The Rev. Learner Blackman preached from the third petition of the Lord's prayer, "Thy kingdom come." He was followed by brother Parker [presiding elder of a district embracing the whole of the present States of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, and a preacher of great eloquence and power] with a sermon on the fourth petition of the same prayer, "Thy will be done." After he had con- cluded, brother James Ward gave an exhortation, after the manner of olden time. Then followed brother John Collins [he who preached the pioneer sermon of 1803], who, from the same butcher's block whereon the preachers had stood, commenced, with a soft and silvery voice, to sell the shambles, as only John Collins could, in the market. These he made emblematic of a full salvation, without money and without price. It was not long till the vast assembly were in tears at the melting, mov- ing strains of the eloquent preacher. On invitation a large number came forward and kneeled down for an interest in the prayers of God's people. We joined with them and other ministers who were present heartily in the work; and before the meeting closed in the market-house many souls were happily converted to God.

The tragic fate of one of the participants in this memorable scene, the Rev. Learner Blackman, is also a part of the history of Cincinnati. In the fall of 1815, having been re-appointed to the Cumberland district, in Kentucky, and returning thither with his young wife, to whom he had been but a short time married, from a visit to his brother-in-law, Rev. John Collins, he took the ferry boat at Cincinnati, to cross to Covington. It is described as "a crazy craft, with sails and paddles;" and while crossing, the hoisting of the sails by the ferryman so frightened the horses attached to Mr. Blackman's vehicle that, despite all his efforts, they plunged overboard, drag- ging him with them. He was a good swimmer and a strong man; but must have become entangled in the harness or under the carriage, or perhaps was struck and stunned in the mad rush of the affrighted animals; for he sank at once to rise no more. He was a young preacher of uncommon energy and ability, and his loss was deeply mourned by the denomination.

About 1822 Rev. John Flavel Wright was stationed in Cincinnati, with Rev. Leroy Swormstedt as his colleague. Upon his return to this station in 1827 occurred the mem- orable secession from the church which resulted in the organization of the Methodist Protestant church. There was much excitement in the city, and many influential

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 41

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co. Number of Pages: 666

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co.
Number of Pages: 666