USA > Ohio > History of the Central Ohio conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, 1856-1913 > Part 4
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Harrison, watching the men running to their own destruction,
47
The Black Swamp.
is said to have exclaimed in tones of anguish: "They are lost ! They are lost! Can I never get men to obey my orders?"
The British returned again in July, at the earnest instance of Tecumseh, who had formed a plan for the destruction of the fort during the absence of General Harrison.
The garrison did not fall into the trap Tecumsch had set for it. The English account says: "Either they [the Americans] had obtained information of the plot, or they suspected the nature and object of the ruse, and we had the mortification to find our- selves utterly foiled in the grand design of the expedition."
The British then passed on their way to Fort Stephenson, situ- ated at Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, which was under the com- mand of Major Croghan. In the British report it is admitted that the force in the garrison was greatly inferior in numbers to their assailants. Croghan (pronounced "Crawn" at that date) was then in his twenty-first year, and his gallant defense of the fort was highly praised ; he was immediately made a lieutenant-colonel, and the ladies of Ohio presented to him a handsome sword.
The British army once more returned to Malden.
PERRY'S VICTORY.
On the 10th of September, in that same year (1813), at sunrise, while at anchor in Put-in-Bay, Commodore Perry got under way with his fleet to meet the British vessels, that had been in control of all the lakes and rivers, from the St. Lawrence to the Maumee. This great battle, with its consummate victory, gave the United States the mastery of the water. The English historian of the battle says:
"With the loss of our fleet vanished every hope of maintaining our positions against the enemy, who, already assembled in the neighborhood of Forts Sandusky and Meigs, to the number of 10,000 men, only awaited the result of this action to decide on their future movements."
General Harrison was in close touch with Commodore Perry, both before and after the great naval battle. Soon after the vic- tory, General Harrison crossed to the Canadian shore, and in the course of a short but brilliant campaign, drove the British from the Northwestern frontier.
MONUMENT AT FORT MEIGS, PERRYSBURG, OHIO.
49
The Black Swamp.
The victory of Commodore Perry having given the United States the command of the lakes, the British army having been routed, and the Indian confederacy broken up by the death of Tecumseh, noth- ing of special interest occurred during the remainder of the war. Colonel Cass was left with a brigade for the protection of the frontier, which he effectually accomplished until the treaty of peace, concluded at Ghent, December 24, 1814, put an end to all further hostilities.
INDIAN TREATY AT FORT MEIGS.
On September 29, 1817, one of the most important Indian treaties ever negotiated in the United States was concluded and signed at Fort Meigs, between Generals Cass and McArthur and the chiefs of the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Potta- watomie, Ottawa, and Chippewa tribes, by which was ceded to the United States nearly all the land which they claimed in Ohio, a part of Indiana, and a portion of Michigan Territory-being nearly four million acres of a country beautiful and valuable, fertile, well watered, and handsomely situated.
In 1818 the first steamer built on the lakes, named "Walk-in-the- Water," made its first trip from Buffalo, but the first steamboat ever launched upon Western waters was on the Ohio River in 1811, sailing from Pittsburgh to New Orleans.
In 1820, Captain Riley recommended to his superiors in Wash- ington that a survey of the lands from the mouth of the Maumee to Fort Wayne be made, "which would superinduce a rapid settle- ment and give spur and energy to agriculture, commerce, and manufactures."
4
V.
Organization of Central Ohio Conference.
IN the year 1796, by an act of the General Conference, six Con- ferences were organized, designed to embrace the entire territory of the Church.
One of these was the Western Conference, comprising an all- extensive area and for some years the only Conference in the Mississippi Valley.
As early as 1803 the Ohio District was formed, with the Rev. William Burke in charge. It included all the settlements from the Big Miami to the neighborhood of Steubenville, which was then known as the West Wheeling Circuit, and territory down the Ohio River, including the Little Kanawha and Guyandotte Circuits in Virginia, and also some settlements on the Licking River in Kentucky.
The first Conference session in Ohio was that of the Western Conference, held at Chillicothe in 1807, Bishop Asbury presiding; Ohio District, John Sale, presiding elder.
The Ohio Conference was organized by the General Conference of 1812, out of the Western Conference, and including the Ohio, Muskingum, Miami, Kentucky, and Salt River Districts. The Con- ference held its first session in Chillicothe, Bishops Asbury and McKendree presiding.
In 1816 the boundaries remained the same, excepting that a part of Scioto District was substituted for Salt River District. In 1820 the whole of Michigan Territory was included in the Ohio Conference, together with a part of Pennsylvania and Indiana.
In 1824 the Pittsburgh Conference was formed, including the eastern part of Ohio, from a point near the Cuyahoga River southerly to the Ohio. The Ohio Conference embraced the re- maining part of the State and portions of the Michigan and Kanawha Districts.
Up to 1832 the boundaries of the Ohio Conference were the
50
--
51
Organization of the Central Ohio Conference.
same except that Elizabeth, the Kanawha, St. Joseph, and Kala- mazoo Missions were excluded.
In 1836 the Pittsburgh Conference was divided, the northern part forming the Erie Conference, whose western boundary from the southern line of the Western Reserve was the Ohio Canal to Lake Erie, including Cleveland West Side.
In 1836 the Michigan Conference was formed. It included the Territory of Michigan, except Laporte, and so much of the State of Ohio as lies north of a line running easterly from the north line of Darke County, excluding Elizabethtown and the Leb- anon, Urbana, Columbus, and Zanesville Districts. These districts, with any south of the Ohio River and west of the Muskingum River, together with the Kanawha District, formed the Ohio Con- ference.
In 1840 the North Ohio Conference was formed, embracing that part of the Michigan Conference extending into Ohio, together with some additions on the south from the Ohio Confer- ence, and including Ohio City, Bishop Hedding pre- siding.
The Central Ohio Confer- ence, at first and until the year 1860 called the Dela- ware Conference, was formed out of the western part of the North Ohio Conference, at its session held in Lima, Ohio, in 1856, Bishop Bev- erly Waugh presiding, and Bishop E. R. Ames present.
The change of name from the Delaware to the Central Ohio Conference seems to have been for ecclesiastical rather than for geographical reasons.
BISHOP BEVERLY WAUGH, Presiding Bishop, First Session of Central Ohio Conference.
Formerly until the spirit of democracy began to be exercised somewhat in Conference proceedings, the Annual Conference dele- gations chose their seats in the General Conference in alphabetical
52
History of the Central Ohio Conference.
order, and the nearer they chanced to be at the head of the alphabet. the better their position in that body.
William L. Harris, professor in the Ohio Wesleyan University at the time the Conference was or- , ganized, was elected Secretary of the Conference, and was continued in the office until 1860, when he was chosen Missionary Secretary.
The charter members at the or- ganization of the Conference were the following: Simon H. Alderman, Samuel M. Allen, Joseph Ayers, Wil- liam A. Baker, Horatio S. Bradley, John Brice, Wesley Brock, Jacob F. Burkholder, Henry M. Close, George W. Collier, James S. DeLeal, Darius Dodge, Jacob Fegtley, John K. REV. WILLIAM L. HARRIS, Secretary of Conference at First Session. Afterwards Made Bishop. Ford, James W. Fribley, William Gardner, Elnathan C. Gavitt, John Graham, David Gray, Samuel B. Guiberson, Leonard B. Gurley, William L. Harris, Benjamin Her- bert, Moses B. Hebbard, Thomas F. Hildreth, Leonard Hill, Am- brose Hollington, Jacob MI. Holmes, James A. Kellam, Oliver Kennedy, William Knapp, Gershom Lease, Na- thaniel B. C. Love, William S. Hunt, Samuel Lynch, Harrison Maltbie, Franklin Marriott, Thomas J. Mon- nett, George Moore, Edmund B. Mor- rison, James M. Morrow, Samuel Mower, Henry L. Nickerson. Alex- ander Nelson, Reuben D. Oldfield, Thomas Parker, Henry E. Pilcher, Lewis M. Pounds, Uri Richards, Lorenzo D. Rogers, Hiram M. Shaf- fer, Stephen D. Shaffer, John A. Shannon, Samuel P. Shaw, Henry O. REV. JOHN K. FORD. Sheldon, Nathan Taylor, William H. Taylor, William Thatcher, John M. Thompson, Phillip Wareham, Henry Warner, Lorenzo
53
Organization of the Central Ohio Conference.
Warner, Wesley J. Wells, Jacob Wilcox, Edward Williams, Amos Wilson, William W. Winter, and Joseph Wykes.
Those ordained deacons and ap- pearing in the list of appointments were: Douglas D. S. Reagh, Martin Perkey, Loring C. Webster, Charles G. Ferris, Charles W. Ketcham, Abraham B. Poe. Aaron J. Lyon, Isaac H. Beardsley, Samuel L. Rob- erts, Richard Lawrence, Samuel Boggs, and Joseph Goode.
Those in the class of the sec- ond year on trial were: John T. Bower, Ebenezer Lindsey, Joshua M. Longfellow, Enoch G. Longsworth, George O. McPherson, Nathan S.
REV. GERSHOM LEASE, D. D.
Morris, William J. Peck, Francis Plum, and Joseph O. Shannon; and those in the class of the first year on trial were: David Bulle, Derrick P. Darling, Andrew J. Fris- bie, Joseph Good, William S. Lewis, George W. Money, Isaac Newton, Benjamin B. Powell, John N. Priddy, Barton A. Webster, and Wil- liam G. Williams.
But four brethren who were charter members of the Conference are now living: N. B. C. Love, Loring C. Webster, Andrew J. Frisbie, and Joshua M. Longfellow. all now past eighty years of age, and after long years of arduous toil and noble serv- REV. L. D. ROGERS. ice in the Master's Kingdom, are greatly honored and revered by their associates and the Church.
-
54
History of the Central Ohio Conference.
Dr. N. B. C. Love still wields an informing and facile pen as correspondent of the Western Christian Advocate, and as his- torian of important incidents and facts, ecclesiastical and archæo- logical, in the history of Northwestern Ohio.
Dr. L. C. Webster, living in quict and peaceful retirement in Marion, Ohio, is still delving, as has been his interest and delight through most of his life, in a study of the philosophers, and in the victorious contemplation of having jarred Dr. McCabe's theory of "The Divine Nescience" by his remarkable book, "The End from the Beginning."
Rev. Joshua M. Longfellow, lonely and alone so far as any immediate relatives are concerned, is spending the evening of his life in Bellefontaine, Ohio, where for many years he has resided. enjoying the estcem and confidence of the community and the Church.
In his earlier ministry, and indeed until quite well advanced in years, he had great revivals and brought many hundreds into the Church.
The revivals he conducted were as a rule scenes of deep con- viction for sin and of the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. Being of compact and solid build, vigorous in health, pos- sessing a voice of unusual compass and force, and vital with the grace of God, he was able to achieve great usefulness in the Mas- ter's Kingdom; and now, as he awaits the sunset of life, his chief joy is found in the rich memories and reminiscences of an active and triumphant ministry.1
Andrew J. Frisbie, another of the charter members still living, resides in St. Johns, Auglaize County, Ohio, where, in the quiet and rest of a contented life, he finds pleasure in the Book so long his guide and enhancing joy in fellowship with Him who lights up the way.
It has been many years since he was privileged to enjoy the kindly salutations of his brethren in the Conference, and for him to look into faces long familiar and to clasp hands with brothers beloved in the service and ministry of God.
With all of these surviving brethren the sounds of the day they have been given to spend on the earth in the building of the Church and the spread of the Kingdom are already under the hush
1 Rev. Joshua M. Longfellow died in peace February 21, 1914.
55
Organization of the Central Ohio Conference.
of life's evening, while through the gathering shadows, if there be any, there stream and fall about them the rays of that other day and life, eternal as God.
Jacob F. Burkholder, Leon- ard B. Gurley, Thomas F. Hil- dreth, James M. Kellam, William Knapp, Aaron J. Lyon, Thomas J. Monnett, and Samuel Mower, after spending varying periods in the Conference, were transferred to the North Ohio Conference, where, by an active and conse- crated service for many years. they added greatly to the splen- did history of the Conference to which they returned and by which they were welcomed.
REV. WILLIAM G. WILLIAMS, D. D., Secretary.
The Central Ohio Conference is bounded practically by the same lines to-day which defined its territory at the time of its organization, except that the South Delaware Charge, now St. Paul's, in the Ohio Conference; Port Clinton and Lakeside, and Asbury, Delaware, by action of the General Conferences of 1860, 1892, and 1896, respectively, have been trans- ferred to the North Ohio Confer- ence.
Other than the instances of Port Clinton and Lakeside, and Asbury, Delaware, there has been, so far as known, no further effort on the part of the mother to despoil the daugh- ter.
The Conference, as now con- structed, is bounded on the north by REV. CHARLES W. TANEYHILL, Secretary. the north line of the State of Ohio; on the east by the North Ohio Con- ference, excluding Asbury Church in Delaware; on the south by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Indianapolis Railroad to
56
History of the Central Ohio Conference.
the west line of the Ohio Conference, yet so as to include Marys- ville; thence to the west line of the State of Ohio, by the north line of the Cincinnati Conference; and on the west by the west line of the State of Ohio, including Emmanuel Church, Williams County, Ohio.
The territory of the Conference comprises, either in whole or in part, some nineteen counties, within which is to be found some of the richest and most fertile soil with which nature has ever blessed the country. The counties wholly included are: Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Logan, Lucas, Mer- cer, Paulding, Putnam, Shelby, Van Wert, Hardin, Henry, Williams, and Wyandot; and Champaign, Darke, and Miami in part.
In 1856 the Conference was divided into five districts, as follows: Delaware, Henry E. Pilcher, Presiding Elder; Sidney, Simeon H. Alderman, Presiding Elder; Lima, El- nathan C. Gavitt, Presiding Elder; Findlay, Wesley J. Wells, Presiding Elder; To- ledo, David Gray, Presiding Elder.
There were 98 preachers; REV. DANIEL CARTER, D. D .. Secretary. 67 pastoral charges; 12,643 members ; 1,440 probationers; probable value of church property. $170,410; the total allowance for ministerial support. $26.000: the amount contributed to mis- sions, $3.150: the amount to the fifth collection, $330-not an in- considerable sum when the times then and now are considered.
The highest salary paid. 1856-57, was $600, to the Rev. Joseph Ayers. by the First Church (St. Paul's) of Toledo, Ohio.
The presiding elders received about $400 each. The allow- ance to preachers fifty-five years ago was made under two heads, so much as quarterage and so much for table expenses. Then the
57
Organization of the Central Ohio Conference.
stewards fixed the preacher's table expenses; now the trusts do it. The preacher's appetite is no more voracious now than when the Conference was organized, but it takes more money to satisfy it.
The districts embraced, on an average, twelve charges each, and what a happy jaunt it would have been then for the presiding elder to travel his district if he had had the good roads of to-day and a "Jehu" automobile to ride in !
During the fifty-seven years since the Conference was formed the number of pastoral charges has increased to 180; the number of preachers to 263; the number of members to nearly 64,000; probationers to 1,640; probable value of church property, $2,714,- 800; the total allowance for ministerial support to $187,548; given to missions, $43,000; for Conference claimants, $9,640. When the Conference was organized there were no women's mis- sionary societies; now the Woman's Home and the Woman's For- eign Missionary Societies gave last year $20,000. The largest salary now paid in the Conference is $3,000, by St. Paul's, Toledo; then comes Trinity, Lima, $2,700; Marion, $2,200; William Street, Delaware, $2,000; Epworth, Toledo, $2,100; First Church, Findlay, $2,000; Sidney, $2,000; Van Wert, $2,200; Bowling Green, $2,000; Bellefontaine, $2,000; Broadway, Toledo, $2,000; Fostoria, $2,000, and on down.
And then, to show that, even in these days of soaring prices that make many people sore, we have not wholly departed from ancient traditions, there are "salaries" as low in a number of charges as $600, and one as low as $429-quite an allowance, too, for the charge that paid it; but, if another dollar had been added to it to make it an even figure, it would have been saved from association with store goods marked forty-nine cents, but marked for another reason.
The Conference now (1913) is divided into six districts: the Bellefontaine-David H. Bailey, District Superintendent ; salary, $2,487 ; stations, 9; circuits, 26. Defiance-Jonas F. Harshbarger, District Superintendent; salary, $2,482; stations, 12; circuits, 18. Delaware-Benjamin F. Reading, District Superintendent; salary, $2,752; stations, 9; circuits, 20. Findlay-James H. Fitzwater, District Superintendent; salary, $2,572; stations, 13; circuits, 15. Lima-Melvin M. Figley, District Superintendent ; salary, $2,800; stations, 10; circuits, 20. Toledo-Elwood O. Crist, District Su-
LAST CABINET OF THE CENTRAL OHIO CONFERENCE
REV. D. H. BAILEY, D. D., Bellefontaine District.
REV. J. F. HARSHBARGER. D. D., Defiance District.
REV. B. F. READING, D. D .. Delaware District
REV. J. H. FITZWATER, D. D., Findlay District.
REV. M. M. FIGLEY, D. D., Lima District.
---
REV. E. O. CRIST, D. D., Toledo District.
59
Organization of the Central Ohio Conference.
perintendent ; salary, $3,033; stations, 27; circuits, 10. Combined salaries to-day, $15,760, and pastoral charges, 189, with 82 stations and 107 circuits.
The number of members in what is called the rural Churches is 29,825; and in the urban, 34,646. It will be seen from these various figures that the "Rural Church" is not as near its demise as is sometimes prophesied.
The largest membership of any one Church is 1.189. with a salary of $2,200-about one dollar and a half per member: while one Church, with a membership of sixty-five, pays over six dollars per member. The largest average amount per member for minis- terial support is paid not in the cities and larger towns. but in the country, by circuits; and the same ratio of giving between the Churches with the largest numbers of members and those having medium membership and paying medium salaries obtains in the amounts given to benevolent objects.
When these facts and others similar in import are considered, it does not seem to be in strictest accord with the actual conditions to be saying all that is sometimes heard about the rapid decadence of the "Rural Church."
The best solution of the "Country Church," as it is often termed, is to man it with good, practical preachers who are not in too great a hurry to occupy a metropolitan pulpit, and who know how to conduct revivals, and in this way and by all other sensible things a wise man will do, keep the ranks in the country filled up and have some converts left over to supply the city congregations. And it must not be assumed that the rural communities, except where the Roman Catholics have possessed the land, and the trend in this direction is strong enough to awaken concern among Prot- estants in the country, are so far depopulated of non-Catholic people as to warrant the abandonment of the Methodist church in outlying territory.
There are still many families and individuals in rural sections, of Protestant antecedents and affiliations, who might be gathered into the Methodist fold if the country communities were as patiently and carefully looked after as the inhabitants of large towns and cities.
And it should be remembered that the Methodist Church is not the only Protestant denomination in the country, so that the neglect
60
History of the Central Ohio Conference.
of the "Rural Church," as is sometimes assumed and even charged. is not always strictly true.
Subtract the membership of the urban Churches-and this will include the larger towns-from 64,000 members, and the showing for the "Rural Church" will not present such a pessimistic aspect as seems apparent on first thought.
LAST REPORTS, 1912.
REV. SAMUEL GIVEN, Statistical Secretary.
REV. JOHN PARLETTE, Conference Treasurer for Twenty-seven Years.
STATISTICAL SECRETARY'S REPORT.
This Year.
Increase.
Decrease.
Number of Probationers
1,640
77
Number of Full Members.
63,763
5.306
Number of Local Preachers
91
5
Number of Children Baptized.
1.465
184
Number of Adults Baptized.
3,375
37
Number of Sunday Schools.
406
2
Number of Officers and Teachers
7,147
106
Number of Scholars in Schools
60,169
2.166
Average Attendance
38,313
120
Number in Home Department.
2,697
4S
82
Number of Officers and Teachers Church Members
6,844
256
Number of Epworth League Senior Chapters
131
1-
Number of Members in Senior Chap- ters
S,S76
40
Number of Junior Chapters.
46
4
Number in Cradle Roll ..
5,590
61
Organization of the Central Ohio Conference.
STATISTICAL SECRETARY'S REPORT-Continued.
This Year.
Increase.
Decrease.
Number in Junior Chapters
2,151
31
Number of Churches
402
Probable Value
$2,714,800
$93,850
Number of Parsonages
153
3
Probable Value
$361,350
$8,865
Paid on Building and Improvements
$112,947
$77,071
Paid on Old Indebtedness
$34,552
$9,228
Present Indebtedness
$150,202
$2,282
Support of Pastors-
(a) Salary
$171,788
$8,678
(b) House Rent Total
$198,427
$9,069
Receipts on Claims. Incl. House Rent!
$197,272
$8,896
Deficiencies
$1,467
$170
Support of Conference Claimants ..
$9,650
$464
Support of District Superintendents.
$15,760
$548
Support of Bishops
$1,843
$47
Total Support
$220,498
$6,028
Missions, Foreign-
(a) Churches
$16.383
$1,149
(b) Sunday Schools
$5,034
$320
(c) Special
$3,306
$1,021
Total for Foreign Missions ..
$24,723
$1,850
Missions, Home ---
(a) Churches
$12,854
$511
(b) Sunday Schools
$4,742
$282
. .
(c) Special
$378
$64
Total for Home Missions ..
$17,974
$293
Total for Home and Foreign
$42,697
$2,140
Board of Education-
(a) Churches
$536
$12
(b) Sunday Schools
$92
$49
(c) Children's Fund
$1.229
$120
Board of Sunday Schools-
(a) Churches
$587
$89
(b) Sunday Schools
$549
$54
Board of Conference Claimants
(a) Connectional Fund
$204
$7
(b) Permanent Fund
$9S
$73
Freedmen's Aid Society
$1,741|
$166
American Bible Society
$409
Woman's Foreign
$11,053
$2,216
Woman's Home
(a) Cash
$8,453
$606
(b) Supplies
$1,538
$445
Total Disciplinary Collections
$68,401
$745
Local Education
$10,658
$3,807
Deaconess Home and Hospital.
$3,330
$80
Temperance
$3,521
$841
Other Benevolences
$6,572
$2,091
General Conference Expenses
$434
$853
Central Office of Epworth League.
$200
$4
Grand Total
$93,017
$1,752
...
$26,639
$391
......
$26
.
62
History of the Central Ohio Conference.
TREASURER'S REPORT.
AGGREGATE OF BENEVOLENCES FOR CENTRAL OHIO CONFERENCE FOR THE YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 25. 1912.
Total for Foreign Missions $24,407 00
.6
..
Home Missions and Church Extension. 17,712 00
16
66
General Educational Society 561 00
..
66 Children's Day 1,214 00
..
66 Sunday School Board
1,0S9 00
.. Connectional Fund
282 00
Permanent Fund
27 00
66 Freedmen's Aid Society
1,819 00
American Bible Society
542 00
66
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society.
11,428 00
¥ Woman's Home Missionary Society.
9,475 00
66
Local Educational Society
7,542 00
66
Central Ohio Epworth League Expenses.
205 00
46
Episcopal Fund
1,816 00
Other Benevolent Causes 15,172 00
66
66
Conference Claimants
9,505 00
66
Incidental Expenses, etc.
487 00
66 Balance from Last Year
137 00
Grand Total for this year $104,968 00
Grand Total last year. 111,221 00
Decrease
$6,253 00
DISBURSED AS FOLLOWS :
Paid Homer Eaton. Treasurer Foreign Missions $19,303 00
Samuel Shaw. Treas. Home Missions and Church Ex .. 75,739 00
General Educational Board 543 00
Children's Day Fund 947 00
66 Board of Sunday Schools S48 00
Connectional Fund
2S1 00
Permanent Fund
27 00
Freedmen's Aid Society
1,484 00
66
American Bible Society 395 00
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. 12 00
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