USA > Ohio > History of the Central Ohio conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, 1856-1913 > Part 6
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Among the notable circuit riders and excellent presiding elders and, as well, practical preachers, Samuel L. Roberts is widely remembered and esteemed.
He was not learned in the sense of the schools, never given to intense study of literature, not a wide reader of books, but a man who did much thinking embracing general knowledge.
He was the honest, unassuming product of nature, spun out of common sense and from a hardy ancestry, and a child of God's grace.
He possessed a voice which at times was unduly loud and people heard him not only physically, but spiritually, and fled from their sins and turned to the Lord. His voice was often full of pathos, notwithstanding its stentorian power, and, under certain trains of thought and circumstances, characterized by a weirdness that greatly added to his success as a preacher. His evangelistic spirit and note gave him great influence and effectiveness in re- vivals, and many werc those whom he turned to righteousness.
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His memory is widely cherished for his brotherly and optimistic spirit, for his friendly hand was always outstretched to help and support his brethren and any others that were in need in the com- munity.
If occasion called for it, he could wield a sharp sword and with its strokes of power cause the wicked to cry out.
His faculty of administering the affairs of the Church was above the ordinary, and during his terms as presiding elder it found large and approved illustration.
He was elected to the General Conference four sessions. He crowned his ministry by traveling a large circuit, where he found plenty to do and a sense of gratification that he could preach the gospel to the last. He died as he had lived, with his eye on the cross and his faith in God.
His widow, who gladly shared with him the toils and triumphs of a long and useful ministry, survives, living in the peace and comfort kind sons and daughters bestow.
One of the prominent and busy men of the Conference was Leroy A. Belt, who died when but seventy years of age, after giving a half-century to the Conference he helped to build.
His stature was above six feet, his avoirdupois some two hundred and sixty pounds; stalwart in frame, vigorous in health, and stand- ing head and shoulders above his brethren like Saul of old.
His early ministry was spent on large and difficult circuits, where, in addition to preaching, visiting, holding revivals at all the societies of extensive charges, there were churches to erect; and it was no uncommon thing for him, in order to provide new com- munities with houses of worship, to handle shovel and wheelbarrow to bring sand and stone for foundation and structure. Monuments to his push, his energy, and his devotion to the Church mark many spots in country and town where he labored and served.
He served as presiding elder on the Toledo, the Delaware, the Findlay, and the Bellefontaine Districts.
During his incumbency of the Toledo District the Churches were multiplied, the societies strengthened, and the prominence and influence of the Church greatly increased. His administration of the work on the districts was marked by the same activity and energy which characterized him in whatever position he occupied. He was a strong and influential factor in bringing about the union
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of the Ohio Wesleyan University and the Female College, and as financial agent of the university he gathered large sums for the increase of funds. His trusteeship of the university spread over a number of years and aided in the standing and prosperity of the institution.
He was prominently and officially connected with the Lakeside Camp Meeting Association, and one of the originators of the enter- prise. In the taking over by purchase and control of the Ohio Northern University he occupied an important relation and per- formed a noble service. He was elected the first president of the college, and while in the office the Brown auditorium and other material improvements were added to the school. He was elected seven times a delegate to the General Conference, was a member of the Book Committee from 1884 to 1888, and a candidate for the position of Book Agent at several quadrenniums.
He lies in Oak Dale Cemetery, Delaware, Ohio, where others of his family are buried, awaiting the resurrection of the just.
Another name I call up, Joseph Ayers-tall and erect to the last, who as a member of the Conference contributed, by the gen- erous talents he possessed, the long service he rendered, and the noble life he lived, large things to the growth of Methodism in Ohio. His preaching abilities were of a high order, developed and emphasized by patient study, wide reading, and practical piety. As a presiding elder he made a record of wise administration and evangelistic fervor. As counselor and Christian brother he exhibited prudence and showed affection.
The time God gave him to spend for the Church and in the furtherance of education, philanthropy, and religion was far more than that allotted to most men, being, when he said good-bye to loving friends, almost one hundred years old. He entered the New York Conference in 1830, and passed to his reward in 1903.
Others-as, for example, Gershom Lease-are worthy of un- stinted praise. Lease gave almost fifty years to the Central Ohio Conference, entering the ministry in 1852 and dying in 1901.
His pastorates in the Conference were on circuits, in county seat towns, and for a year in Toledo. In the presiding eldership he showed fine executive ability, and on the Conference floor, in the direction and shaping of business, he evinced great wisdom and won encomiums from his brethren.
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He was a man whom one must know in order to appreciate liis talents and character. He gave himself to obligation and duty, unfurling no banner to the breeze to herald his coming, and carried no billboard to publish his purpose or to proclaim his abilities. He was a worker rightly dividing the truth and faithfully fulfilling his mission.
These delineations of the men named present a variety of talent and character, and they have been given not only to make merited mention of the persons described, but to indicate the wide range of personality God has called and the Church has employed to spread the gospel and to establish the Kingdom.
So long as society exhibits in nature and temperament such widely varying traits, so long will there be chosen men of differing individuality to reach the multitudes, no two of whom are alike.
REV. ELIAS D. WHITLOCK, D. D.
The Rev. Elias D. Whitlock was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, near Dayton, November 12, 1834, and died in Cleveland, Ohio, in St. Luke's Hospital, December 23, 1913. He had five brothers and one sister. Three brothers, like himself, became ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Stephen H., who is still living, and Jolin W. united with the Illinois Conference, and William F., so well and widely known as professor at the Ohio Wesleyan University and chairman of the Book Committee, entered the North Ohio Conference, and Elias D. joined the Central Ohio Conference in 1873. Each achieved distinction in his own Con- ference. Stephen H., William F., and Elias D. were each elected to the General Conference of 1900 and met as delegates in Chicago.
Dr. Whitlock served as pastor the following charges: Ansonia, DeGraff, Bellefontaine, William Street, Delaware; First Church, Findlay ; St. Paul's, Toledo; Asbury, Delaware; First Church, Kenton ; Bellefontaine a second term; Trinity, Lima; Defiance, and Fremont. As presiding elder he served on each of the following districts: Toledo, Bellefontaine, and Findlay.
On account of serious illness he asked to be placed on the list of retired ministers two years ago, at the close of his pastorate in Fremont, but, regaining his health, he served St. Paul's, Toledo, with great acceptability last summer, during the absence of the
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pastor on a foreign tour. Since the last Conference session he served as pastor of Spring Street Church, Toledo, where he greatly endeared himself to the people and rallied them with a fine en- thusiasm for a new church.
Dr. Whitlock received his college education at the Ohio Wes- leyan University. While a student there the Civil War was on, and he enlisted in the army, and after completing his term of service, returned and graduated in 1866.
After graduation he entered the profession of teaching, and served as superintendent of the public schools in the following places: Urbana, Canal Dover, Barnesville, and St. Paris, from which place he entered the ministry.
While superintendent of the Urbana schools he was united in marriage with Miss Mallie L. Brand, daughter of Major Joseph C. Brand, of Urbana, Ohio. There were born to them four children- three sons, now grown to manhood, and a daughter, who died at the age of twelve. Two sons, William and Frank, reside in Cleve- land, Ohio. The eldest son is the Honorable Brand Whitlock, former mayor of Toledo, but recently appointed by President Wil- son as Minister to Belgium.
The Rev. Elias D. Whitlock, D. D., was a man of such physical appearance as to attract attention-tall, broad shouldered, sparely built, erect of figure, with a massive, finely shaped head and . squarely set jaw, expressive of his strength of will and determina- tion. His open, manly face; clear, strong voice, and commanding, dignified bearing made him a striking figure in any assembly. He was a manly man, a man among men, and he loved to be in the thick of things.
He was a man of rare intellectual gifts; a ready, logical, and forceful debater, with strong convictions and the courage to main- tain them against all opposition. His rare talents showed best upon great occasions. When his great soul was deeply stirred he could mount up casily and gracefully to sublime heights of oratory and pour forth, in sermon or address, profound thoughts in most beautiful, polished, and chaste language, perfectly appropriate to the theme and the hour.
Dr. Whitlock was always recognized by his Conference as a safe and wise leader whom his brethren delighted to honor. The highest honors of the Conference were repeatedly bestowed upon
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him. He was continuously kept in the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Wesleyan and Ohio Northern Universities, the Flower Hos- pital, and the Conference, and was always chosen as a member of the most important commissions and committees. Five times he was elected a delegate to the General Conference.
In all positions of trust and responsibility he discharged his duty with a high, noble, and unselfish purpose, seeking ever to further the best interests of the Kingdom.
Dr. Whitlock was chosen by the Conference and appointed by the bishop as editor and historian to prepare a history of the Central Ohio Conference. He had entered upon this difficult task with zeal and deep interest, and had, with the help of his associate, Dr. N. B. C. Love, collected much valuable data and had written many of the leading articles of this history before his sudden and unexpected death.
VII. The Beginning of Missionary Movements.
Gone are the Fathers, gone to rest, Their mighty work of faith is done, Their conflicts past and glory won, Green be their graves, their memories blest. -T. C. READ.
Soon after Columbus discovered America the French caught from the Portuguese and Spaniards the spirit of discovery.
The English also became competitors for the gain and glory of new explorations. Verrezano, as early as 1524, landed in North Carolina and went northwest to Newfoundland.
Cartier started in where Verrezano left off and explored the St. Lawrence as far as where Montreal now stands, and went on into the wilds of Canada. Soon after Champlain founded Quebec, and in 1608 made it the capital of New France. Out from these points the French explored much of the Great Lakes region. There stood in their way no European colony. They had the vast area to themselves.
The Jesuit Fathers of France were inspired with the thought of capturing and holding the North American continent for their king and the conversion of the aborigines to the faith of the Roman Catholic Church. They were sincere in their endeavors, and pene- trated the northern parts of what are now Maine and New York, and going westward, established a chain of missions along the shores of Lakes Erie and Michigan to the distant region of Lake Superior.
The glory of these discoveries and occupancy must be divided between Rome and France. All Europe heard of the wonderful evangelization of the savages. Wherever the French went the ardent Jesuit was sure to go.
The Huron tribe became a special object of missionary zeal. It occupied the region extending from the southern shores of Lake Erie to the ice zone of the North.
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The Iroquois, the Wyandots, and other Indian tribes were the subjects of Jesuit teaching.
These Fathers were intensely loyal to the cause of Christ as they understood it, and true to the interests of the French king and government. On the other hand, they hated the English and Prot- estantism as intensely as they loved the French Government and the pope.
Among these Fathers were Druellettes, Jaques. Many of their missions did not continue, and the memory of them had almost perished with the Wyandots after a hundred and more years had passed, when John Stewart visited the Wyandots and found a few whose grandparents had been baptized and taught by these Fathers.
We give great credit to these early propagandists of Roman Christianity. In the wilds of New York and Pennsylvania, among the Iroquois, they underwent great hardships. They had the desire to Christianize, first as Marquette, Ryambault, Jolliett, and Bibeuf had, who at great sacrifice went farther north, west, and south.
They endured hunger, cold, and cruelty for the sake of the cause they represented. They raised the crucifix wherever they went; baptized candidates, taught pupils to use the rosary. Some of these Fathers were put to death, and others driven off.
The accounts of these and other Catholic enterprises are known as the "Jesuit Relations."
They were taught to hate the English and the Protestants. This is no reflection upon the Roman Catholic Church in America to-day, but a statement of the facts of history.
After thesc came the Protestant missionaries of the Moravians, the Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches. Following these came the Methodist itinerants.
During the colonial period Protestantism, excepting in Mary- land, was planted and prospered. The emigrants were nearly all Protestants-English, German, Huguenot, Scotch, and Scotch-Irish.
The contests in the New World for supremacy by Spanish, French, English, and American in turn culminated in the cstab- lishment of Protestantism in numbers and influences, so that at the close of the American Revolution the Christianization of the new nation was the task of the Protestant Churches.
At the close of the Revolution the missionary spirit took hold of the older denominations.
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The Beginning of Missionary Movements.
The Methodists were a small people and engaged in evangelistic work among the whites and colored, but did nothing for the con- version of the Indians.
At this time there came to the new nation a spirit of toleration that had not existed everywhere in the Colonial States. All creeds and confessions came into full possession of civil and religious rights, and have so continued to this day.
In 1619 Virginia passed a law requiring the instruction of Indian children, but it had little observance.
In 1636 Plymouth Colony undertook preaching to the Indians and teaching their youth, and young men in Harvard received special training for Indian missionaries.
For many years these efforts continued in New England. We have all read of the missionary work of Rev. John Eliot in New England. The account is most interesting.
In other Colonies the Reformed Church and the Episcopal Church also engaged actively in this work.
David Brainerd did a great work, beginning in 1742, giving his life. He was assisted by Hawley, Forbes, Kirkland, and Spencer, who were strong and successful laborers among the "Six Nations ;" but all this work declined because of the frequent mas- sacring of the whites by the wild Indians and, in turn, the Indians by the no less cruel backwoodsmen.
In was revived again after the Revolution, and the history of thirty to forty years after in the Central West and the Northwest shows that many bloody deeds were enacted by white and red. The Indians remaining in New York and other States submitted to the situation.
After the battle of our army under Harmar at Ft. Wayne, in 1791, and under St. Clair at Ft. Recovery, 1792, although both were defeated by the Indians under Little Turtle, and after they met with signal defeat by Wayne at Fallen Timbers, at the rapids of the Maumee, 1794, they were ready to end the war, and met in 1795 at Greenville and made a treaty of peace with the chieftains and tribes of these great outlying territories, which was well kept.
During this period some missionary work was done by the Moravians.
With the ending of the War of 1812-1815 with England, an era of lasting peace began and continued.
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History of the Central Ohio Conference.
At that time there was no organization of missionary enter- prises in behalf of the Indians. The awakening of the Churches by the Holy Spirit was followed by the calling of individuals.
JOHN STEWART LISTENING TO THE "VOICE" WHICH CALLED HIM TO PREACH TO THE WYANDOTS. From a painting by Rev. N. B. C. Love, D. D.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was slow in seeing her duty to the Indians. The first movement of the Church was in 1818, in the city of New York. where a meeting was called in the home of Rev. Laban Clark. It elected officers, organizing a Home Mis- sionary Society. Drs. Nathan Bangs, Freeborn Garrettson, and James Clark drew up a constitution and by-laws, which were adopted by the New York Preachers' Meeting.
Another public meeting was called for Forsythe Church early in April, 1819. Here the "Missionary Society of the Methodist
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The Beginning of Missionary Movements.
Episcopal Church" was organized: Bishop McKendree, president ; Rev. Thomas Mason, secretary ; Rev. Joshua Lord, treasurer.
The following year the General Conference endorsed and recom- mended the organization to the whole Church.
Of course, the remarkable success of John Stewart with the Wyandots, commencing in 1816, was reported and known through the Eastern papers of the day by the whole Church, and his suc- cess for three years in no small degree inspired the organization of this great society.
VIII. John Stewart,
PIONEER MISSIONARY OF THE METHODIST EPIS- COPAL CHURCH.
THE Methodist Episcopal Church from its organization, in 1784, was missionary in its spirit. It made continuous efforts towards the conversion of the whites and blacks, but the red men of the
SQUIRE GREY EYES, Chief among his people, and a local preacher.
"BETWEEN-THE-LOGS." An Indian Chief of the Wyandot tribe and a licensed preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
forest were passed by. The Minutes of the Annual Conferences, at the beginning of the last century, reported in separate columns the numbers of whites and blacks in each society, but no figures for the Indians.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was aggressive in the older
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John Stewart, Pioneer Missionary.
States and passed into the Northwest Territory and the greater West and South. In the providence of God, John Stewart was the apostle to the heathen Wyandots and the founder of the first Methodist Episcopal mission among the heathen.
Before the advent of Stewart the most cruel and bloody prac- tices obtained among the Wyandots. In this respect they were not different from the other Indian tribes of the Northwest. The burning of Colonel Crawford, when a prisoner, is evidence of this. Even the women and children participated in torturing him. We need not repeat the story here. The Wyandots were the leaders in this savage deed. Between-the-Logs, it is claimed, was a par- ticipant, and such were the people to whom Stewart carried the gospel of love and peace.
The Wyandots for a long period stood politically at the head of an Indian federation of tribes, and so were recognized by the United States Government in the treaties made with the Indians of the old Northwest Territory.
The names of chiefs of the Wyandot nation appear first and prominently in the treaty made at Greenville, in 1795, between the Government and the Indians, General Wayne acting for our Gov- ernment.
While the itinerant bishops, Asbury and McKendree, and their worthy helpers were denied the honor of inaugurating the great missionary movement among the heathen, they are to be honored for their unselfishness in giving their co-operation and support to John Stewart, an humble mulatto layman, who had been converted through their preaching, and whom they recognized as having re- ceived the call of God.
John Stewart's parents were free colored people who resided in Powhattan County, Virginia. They were Baptists, and of good repute. John went to winter school while a boy at home, and was more favored in this than many Negro boys. In his early man- hood he learned the dyer's trade and earned some money, but a highwayman robbed him of all. The fear of destitution worried him, for he felt that to be poor was to be in disgrace, and he pur- posed to commit suicide. Hesitating in this, he drank intoxicants to drown his sorrow, until a kind Christian friend persuaded him to desist and reform, and after repeated efforts he at last suc- ceeded.
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He listened to the preaching of the gospel by the Methodists and was converted. Finding no Baptist society convenient, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Here he was at home. The prayer and class meeting were a delight to him, and all his prejudices against the Methodists gave way. He also pros- pered in business and saved some money. The grandfather of Bishop McCabe was his class leader and personal friend.
Stewart, as described to me (by two pioneers who knew him well), was a light mulatto, about five feet eight inches high, weigh- ing about one hundred and forty pounds; well-formed, erect in carriage, easy and graceful in movement. His features were more European than African. He had a tenor voice, and was gifted in song.
He often went into the fields or forests to meditate, to study the Bible, and to pray. One Sabbath evening he was in the edge of the woods by the side of a rivulet that ran into the Ohio, when a voice from the sky seemed to say to him in audible tones, "Thou shalt go to the northwest and declare My counsel plainly." As he listened and looked, a peculiar halo appeared to fill the western sky. This summons was repeated. The first was the voice of a man, the second that of a woman. That he was honest in the thought of this calling there need be no doubt.
A deep impression was made on his astonished mind. He had no thought of preaching; he felt he would obey fully by teaching and exhorting, but when a friend told him he was called to preach he rebelled, feeling he was not prepared nor worthy. He resolved to go to Tennessee, but sickness came to him, and for awhile his life was despaired of, but finally recovering, the impression that it was his duty to go to the northwest was intensified.
The northwest, beyond a fringe of settlements, was a vast, illimitable wilderness, occupied by savage beasts and savage men. He resolved to go, not for gain, nor for fame, nor for pleasure, but to save souls from the bondage of heathen darkness. The risks were many, but he felt that an unseen hand was over him. Starting on his journey, he knew not whither he went any more than Abra- ham of old. His friends tried to persuade him not to go, and having started, those whom he met in the settlements also tried such per- suasion, or laughed at his folly, but to no purpose. The red men of the forest, neglected by the Government and despised, feared,
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and hated by the frontiersmen, were upon his mind; he believed they were dear to the heart of Jesus.
He went on, keeping towards the northwest, wading streams, camping alone at night, unarmed in the primeval forests, enduring hunger and many other hardships. After the severe toil of days the exposure of nights he came to the village of the Delawares, on the head-waters of the Sandusky River. The Indians extended to him the hospitality of their cabins. Here he held religious worship, singing, praying, and telling the story of the dying love of Jesus until late at night, when, retiring, hc fell asleep, feeling that his mission was accomplished and that he would start on his home- ward journey in a day or two. With the dawn of the morning, however, he awoke and heard an inward voice telling him to go farther. Having inquired the way, he started again on his pil- grimage.
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