USA > Ohio > The plan of union: or a history of the Presbyterian and Congregational churches of the Western Reserve; with biographical sketches of the early missionaries > Part 2
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At Hudson he organized a church, in which Deacon Thomp- son, Esquire Hudson, and twelve other persons were embraced. This tour was completed in September. Mr. Badger attended a meeting of the Synod at Pittsburg, upon the last Wednesday of that month ; and in October returned home "to build a chimney, chink and plaster the cracks in his cabin, put a floor over the vacant half, and otherwise prepare his family for win- ter." This done, he started upon another preaching tour, which occupied the whole winter. A church was organized at Poland during this tour. Of course, great toils, hardships and sufferings were encountered during these peregrinations, of which the reader may find an account in the Biography.
Under a mistaken view of the destitution and trials of mis- sionaries on the Reserve, the Trustees of the Connecticut Mis- sionary Society in January, 1803, voted to reduce their pay to six dollars per week. Mr. Badger, by letter and through friends, represented to them the impossibility of supporting his family on such a salary; but they persisted in this blind and cruel policy, and he continued to toil on, amidst all conceivable trials and straits, until January 1st, 1806, when he felt compelled
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to close his labors, under the Society of Connecticut and offer himself to the Western Missionary Society at Pittsburg. Under their patronage he went as a missionary to the Wyandotte Indians, in the Sandusky region, where he toiled faithfully for many years.
For the latter years of his laborious and useful life, es- pecially at Gustavus, after his return to the Reserve, see Me- moir. A few paragraphs only need be quoted to show the sen- timents of this venerable Father upon some of those subjects which have since distracted our churches. "He was a mem- ber of a Congregational Association in Massachusetts, and retained his ecclesiastical preferences; yet he was the first to unite with a Presbytery on the plan of union."
"When the subject of Temperance came up he took an active part in forming a Temperance Society, pledging the members to abstinence from ardent spirits as a beverage." His sentiments on the subject of Americn Slavery are represented to have been "in decided opposition to it as a sin; a moral and a natural evil; while he thought that harsh measures and severe denuciations would never induce the slaveholder to relinquish the right granted to him by the Constitution and the National Government; and if mild means and moral suasion would not convince him of the evil, it must remain until some Divine Providence should interfere. He accordingly said but little on the subject."
"In the Winter of 1744 he removed to Perrysburg, where he closed his long and useful life." He was asked a few hours before his death, if the Saviour was still precious to him ; he answered in the affirmative.
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EARLY MISSIONARY EFFORTS.
" At ten o'clock on Sabbath evening he expired without a strug- gle, with a smile resting on his countenance, in his ninetieth year." So sinks the Christian hero, calm and beautiful, to his rest.
Mr. Badger has left us the following tribute to the compan- ion of his youth, who was "taken suddenly ill," in July, 1818, and after "a few days of painful sickness, departed this life on the fourth of August."
" She had endured with unusual fortitude the trials and privations of leaving her beloved friends in Connecticut, and removing, in 1802, into this, then almost unbroken, wilderness. She became a member of the Christian Church in early life, in the same Society with her father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters; from whence her relation was transferred to the church in Blanford, Massachusetts, then to that in Austin- burg, and from that to Ashtabula, where she closed the days of her earthly pilgrimage, to join the Church triumphant. She was a discreet wife, an affectionate mother, a consistent Christian, beloved as a friend and neighbor. She bore with Christian fortitude and patience the trials we had to encoun- ter. On her devolved, almost exclusively, the task of forming the minds of our children, and storing them with the principles of piety and virtue; and this she performed with unwearied fi- delity." Hallowed be the memory of the first Missionary's wife, who came to plant roses in our savage wilds.
REV. E. F. CHAPIN.
In November, 1801, Rev. E. F. Chapin left Hartford, Connecticut, as a missionary to New Connecticut. He arrived in December, and from that time till the Spring of 1803,
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occupied himself in missionary labors, similar to those per- formed by Mr. Badger.
September, 1802, Mr. Chapin wrote, after narrating his own labors : "In places where the ordinances are not administered ; where the means of Public Worship and religious instruction are not enjoyed, religion insensibly looses ground; prayer in the family and closet is generally neglected; and the consequences are, infidelity, stupidity and licentiousness. I have been kindly received in many places which I have visited, and favored with the best accommodations the country affords." In the Spring of 1803 Mr. Chapin returned to New England, and we hear of him no more. At the Annual Meeting of the Missionary Society, in June, 1803, it was resolved to fill Mr. Chapin's place, and also send a third missionary as soon as possible.
REV. THOMAS ROBBINS.
In May, 1803, Rev. Thomas Robbins was appointed to suc- ceed Rev. Mr. Chapin. He was ordained on the 20th of July by the North Consociation of Litchfield, and started West, instructed to preach by the way. He was detained by sick- ness in Western Pennsylvania and did not reach the Reserve until the end of November. He immediately joined Mr. Badger in his laborious tours and efforts to plant the seed of truth in the new settlements. About this period churches were organized at Hartford, Warren and Vernon and a marked religious interest appeared in nearly all the eastern town- ships of the Reserve. At Austinburg, Morgan and Harpers- field, there were cheering revivals, as the result of which many were added to the church in Austinburg.
CHAPTER III.
REMARKABLE REVIVALS.
The seed scattered by the missionaries upon this new soil soon germinated, and produced striking results. Very peculiar manifestations of religious enthusiasm and intense feeling were exhibited, which were in accordance with what appeared in other parts of the country, and which generally appear only where the Gospel is newly preached, and attains a sudden and powerful hold upon the popular mind.
Peter's Pentecost has never been repeated ; yet the first out- burst of many a peoples' spiritual life, has been almost as re- markable. The human mind, when first filled by, and given up to, the great truths of Christianty, like a tree or forest shaken by a tornado, astonishes the beholder with its strange exercises and mighty agitations.
In November, 1802, Mr. Badger wrote to the Trustees of the Connecticut Mission Society, as follows :
"Upon the last Sabbath in August, the Sacramental Supper was ad- ministered at Youngstown. On Monday near the close of the exercises, there appeared an unusual movement in the minds of many. It was
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found afterward, that many were hopefully the subjects of a genuine awakening, which has since terminated apparently in a saving change."
Individual cases are described, and the letter then proceeds to delineate Mr. B's visit to Pittsburg, and some remarkable revivals that had occurred within the bounds of the Synod.
Beyond the ordinary means of grace, the only instrumen- talities employed to produce these revivals, were the "Three- days meetings," or communion seasons, which are described by Mr. Robbins in a letter, dated Canfield, December 7, 1803, as follows :
" The custom of Presbyterians, in this western country, of meeting in large numbers on sacramental occasions, is an invariable practice. Dr. Nesbit, of Carlisle, told me it was introduced in Scotland in the reign of Charles I., when a great number of their ministers were silenced. One or two would administer to several churches. The present practice is, to have a Sacrament at every Congregation, once, and sometimes twice, in a year ; generally twice in a minister's charge.
"Three or four ministers attend, and the most of the people within twelve, fifteen or twenty miles.
"Their ordinary custom is to preach Saturday afternoon, twice on the Sabbath, with the administration of the Supper between ; a prayer meeting on Sabbath evening, and a sermon on Monday; after which the people disperse. The people belonging to the congregation where the meeting is, all keep open houses for any that come."
" On Thursday preceeding the Sacrament " a fast was gene- rally observed. At times of peculiar interest, more numerous and extended meetings were often held, forming a kind of pro- tracted meetings, similar to what are still held in some places.
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REMARKABLE REVIVALS.
In the absence of churches, the woods were frequently re- sorted to, and the meetings conducted somewhat in the manner of the Methodist camp-meetings, but in a more quiet and orderly manner. Thus they illustrated the sentiment of the Poet, who says, that "the groves were God's first Temple." And, doubt- less, the meeting of a vast congregation in the primeval forests, the illumination of such a place at night by candles fastened to the trees, and fires built around the camp, together with other animating incidents, greatly hightened the exhilarating and exciting influences of the services.
Mr. Robbins, in his letter to the Missionary Society, says of one of these sacramental seasons -
" It was the most solemn scene I ever witnessed. I never conceived any thing which appcared so much, as some parts of the solemnities, like the judgment day. The administration of the ordinance lasted three hours and a half. Mr. Porter fenced the tables, which is done as follows : - Every communicant previously receives a token, which is a small piece of lead. This they get by applying to any elders present, who know them. None may come to the tables without their tokens. In fencing the tables, the minister shows from Scripture, who have, and who have not, a right to that holy ordinance. It is an address to the consciences of those who have received tokens ; that they may decline, if they do not feel clear to come to the table. But the principal object in fencing the tables is, to let the world know, that if wicked men do come to that ordinance, the Scriptures do not authorize it, nor does the church allow it. The number of communi- cants was about three hundred."
This was at a church in Pennsylvania. The ministers on the Reserve frequently assisted those in Pennsylvania, at such
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seasons ; and were in turn assisted by them. By this fraternal interchange, Presbyterians and Congregationalists were drawn into closer sympathy.
From a letter written to the editors of the Evangelical Mag- azine, of Connecticut, from Austinburg, dated Nov. 29, 1803, we get the following account of the commencement of the revival in that place. The writer with his family had gone 60 miles into Pennsylvania, to attend a sacramental occasion. Re- turning home deeply impressed, they appointed a meeting the same evening :
" And notwithstanding the shortness of the notice, God so stirred up the hearts of the people, that more than sixty attended. The night was spent in prayer. None went from the place. A solemn night ! A number were deeply impressed in their minds ; some lost their bodily strength. The next Sabbath Mr. Badger preached with us. As the assembly was dismissed and began to go out, behold three young men, each about 16 years of age, were fallen down together near the door. Some of them had been remarkably careless. They were in such agony of mind, that every beholder was struck with as- tonishment. Mr. Badger immediately went to prayer. A number of young men who had begun to boast of infidel principles, were struck at that time, and one person fell. Three little girls walking from the place of meeting with locked arms, fell on the ground and lost their bodily strength. The night was spent in prayer. At times to the number of eight lost their bodily strength ; but little was heard from them except deep sighs. These marks of power are not limited to awakened sinners. Many Christians, where the work has prevailed, have also been thus affected under a sense of Divine truth."
Another writes from Austinburg, Nov. 21, 1803 :
" Such scenes I never saw before. The Lord of all will do just as he pleases. Many are very thoughtful, some struck down. Some
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REMARKABLE REVIVALS.
appear to be as it were faint, but most are seized with a kind of convulsions ; some to a very great degree. Some are in that situation longer than others ; no two alike. After recovering, they appear to have received no injury from being held to prevent struggling; and although entirely helpless, they have a retentive memory, and have a full knowledge of all that is said or going on near them. Some have immediate relief, others are in great agonies of mind for many days."
Mr. Badger says of his preaching during this revival -
" I endeavored in all my sermons to hold up to the sinner's mind the doctrines of total depravity, repentance as a present duty, sub- mission to God, faith in the Redeemer as the only possible way of salvation, with practical application. All addresses to the passions were carefully avoided."
Meetings were held in different neighborhoods, in private houses, in barns, or in the woods. In some cases infidels and others, who had mocked and sneered, were seized with the common convulsions. Mr. Badger continues -
" It has been said by opposers, that New England people would never become subjects of this falling work; they were better in- formed. But we begin to have facts alarming to opposers ; education and strength of intellect were found to be of no avail."
About 40 were added to the church in Austinburg, as the fruits of this awakening; other churches on the Reserve also re- ceived additions. In a letter dated July 19, 1803, Mr. Badger describes scenes similar to the above, which occurred at sacra- mental seasons, at Salem, and Cross Creek, Pa., which he and Mr. Wick attended. As this was before the beginning of the revival on the Reserve, Mr. Badger says that -
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
" Taking into view the extraordinary circumstances attending the work, and the clamor raised against it by enemies full of subtlety and unrighteousness, I determined to spend a Sabbath in each Pres- bytery," (the Ohio and Erie Presbyteries. )
When they arrived at Salem they found a congregation of four or five hundred assembled in a grove, where a stand, ta- bles, sheds and seats had been erected. Mr. Badger says -
" I preached from Luke 11: 21, 22. Several fell in time of prayer, and more in time of sermon ; some were greatly agitated, cried out suddenly as they fell, and for a few moments struggled violently. After struggling a few moments, they lay for hours more resembling a dead corpse than living creatures. Others fell without noise or struggle, and some as suddenly as if they were dead."
At evening Mr. Wick preached. The sermon and devo- tional exercises were continued till about one o'clock ; many remaining on the ground all night. The morning service commenced with a sermon by Mr. Wick, during which many fell. About 180 communed, one of whom had to be helped away from the table on account of his overwhelming impres- sions.
" A gentleman of education and of medical skill attended through the whole season, apparently candid, believing he could account for all the extraordinary exercises on philosophical principles. But on Monday morning he acknowledged his error, and declared himself fully convinced that it was, in the main, the work of God. Those who were distressed complained much of the hardness of their hearts, and viewed themselves totally opposed to God, and in imminent danger of eternal ruin. Those who had obtained hopes spoke of the purity of the law, of the nature and tendency of sin, &c. Many seemed to be
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REMARKABLE REVIVALS.
swallowed up in views of the justice and glory of the Divine govern- ment, and the plan of salvation."
Similar scenes occurred at Cross Creek, in Erie, afterward Hartford, and now Beaver, Presbytery, to which Mr. Badger and Mr. Wick belonged. Here there were about 800 commu- nicants assembled. And the congregation was so large that two or three ministers could speak at the same time, in differ- ent parts of the camp, without disturbing each other. "It was thought about 5000 people attended." Late each evening ef- forts were made to dismiss the meeting, but they would not retire, and exercises were continued all night.
A sturdy physician declared that he could easily account for these phenomena, and repaired to the meeting to confirm bis belief that " only weak women" and men of tender nerves fell. But he was, during the meeting, himself alarmed from his security and lost his strength. At first he requested to be carried away, but soon after exclaimed, " Oh, carry me back, God is here. I cannot get away from God. I know now that this is God's work."
Of course these strange operations were the subject of much curiosity and scepticism amongst people at a distance, as well as of ridicule by the irreligious at home. The Trustees of the Connecticut Missionary Society, requested an account of them from their missionaries and others in whom they could confide.
Mr. Robbins, in the letter from which quotations have al- ready been made, says -
"You once observed to me, you wished to have an account of this work from one who had been an eye witness, and who was acquainted
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
with Connecticut ideas, modes of thinking and expression. I conceive this work in many respects to resemble the great revival in New Eng- land in 1740-41-42. In extent of territory, it exceeds that. With respect to the number of subjects in the several societies where the work is, I believe the present hardly equals the former. The op- position, ridicule and reproach which the present work receives, are not less, than in the work of the same spirit sixty years ago. The manner of the ministers' preaching is also much as it was then - Calvinistic in sentiment, serious, earnest and pathetic. The state of society, in these back counties, is, in some aspects, similar to what it then was in New England. In the general attention and commotion which are produced among all classes of people, the two cases are quite similar. If there were any excesses among ministers who were great instruments in that work, it doubtless was owing to the violent opposition they experienced. In the present revival I have not known any thing of the kind ; but they appear to conduct with great moder- ation and propriety. People at a distance may say what they will, but when they come to be eye witnesses, every reasonable man is ef- fectually restrained from declaring it to be any thing but the mighty power of God.
" It is proper to remark that this work is in many respects mysteri- ous and remarkable. By far the greater part of those who are sub- jects of the work fall. But there are many who are evidently made subjects of the work of the Spirit, and have deep and powerful con- victions, who do not fall, and are not at all affected that way."
He adds that persons of all classes and characters fall - old professors of religion, ministers, elders, as well as young con- verts, impenitent persons, and some who still persevere in a vicious life.
" Persons fall also on all occasions - most generally at public wor- ship -frequently at family prayer- sometimes alone - sometimes in merry company, being suddenly struck by the truth. Sometimes they
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REMARKABLE REVIVALS.
fall when they are in their ordinary business. I use the word fall in- discriminately ; but it must be remembered that the degrees of bodily affection are indefinitely various - from the least nervous agitation, every grade to the most violent you can conceive, or to a death-like weakness and inaction. The bodily affection is of two kinds - a loss of the strength, and animal powers; or nervous affection and convulsions. The latter is much the more common. The duration of the affection is very diverse ; in some cases it is but a few moments, in others several hours, or even days. Though they continue this time without sustenance, they feel no inconvenience afterward ; they are not sensible of any pain, or any other than mental distress. When they are so agitated that two or three persons have to make the greatest exertions to hold one, and are held by violence, they feel no soreness afterward. They never lose their senses. Their minds ap- pear to be more active than ever, and all their powers seem intent upon the things of religion and the interests of eternity. They are never in so good a situation to receive instruction. Their minds are fixed and their memories uncommonly retentive. The ministers uni- formly inculcate the idea that there is no religion in merely falling down. Indeed it appears to be nothing more than the effect of the affection of the mind. All agree, friends and foes, that it is a reality, and not feigned - nothing which is the effect of design in the subject. That is placed beyond all doubt.
" The great inquiry in New England is, 'Why do they fall ?' For five weeks I took great pains to enable myself to answer this inquiry."
His conviction was that in the case of the impenitent, it was the overwhelming conviction of their sins and God's holiness and justice ; and in the case of Christians, some peculiarly clear and impressive views of the glory of God's character, or of some feature in the plan of salvation. He says at last, "I will conclude' this subject by observing ;that I firmly believe this to be a conspicuous and glorious work of divine grace."
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I have given these lengthy extracts from Messrs. Badger and Robbins, because they were not enthusiasts, but men in whose calmness and good sense confidence could be placed.
Of course we do not believe that there was any miraculous influence exerted; nor that there was any merit or peculiar advantage in such exhibitions. But we must see in them a striking exhibition of the power of religious truth when ac- companied by the Holy Ghost, and brought fairly home upon the mind.
A curious feature in these exhibitions was the fact, that " wicked men would be seized with them while sedulously guarding against an attack, and cursing every jerk when made."
The different forms of the affection received from spectators the facetious names of the falling, the jerking, the rolling, the running, the dancing and the barking exercises; and lastly visions and trances."
A somewhat humorous account of these exercises may be found in the Historical Collections of Ohio, page 46.
CHAPTER IV.
PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARIES.
The departure of Mr. Badger from the Reserve, and the policy of the Society, which drove him away, was probably a principal reason why the missionary work in this region rather declined for a few years; though it was never abandoned. Probably this partial desertion of the field by New England Missionaries also led the way for the introduction of more Presbyterians, as the Synod of Pittsburg occasionally sent missionaries out, on limited tours, even before Mr. B's depart- ure. And from that time, to 1812, most of the new laborers were Presbyterians ; sent out by the Presbyterian Society. Of course where their influences prevailed, Presbyterian Churches were organized ; as at Youngstown, Vienna, Poland, Springfield, Euclid, and Warren, to which Mr. Boyd preached. Generally the minister had the molding of the church.
Respecting the missionaries who occupied the field from 1804 to 1812, I have been able to collect but few facts. The general impression is, that they were good pious men, of sound doctrine, and laborious habits, but not as thoroughly educated, nor per-
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haps generally as energetic and enterprising as the New Eng- land missionaries.
Yet, occupying the field during a period when the churches were taking form and complexion, their influence was very important. The Presbyterian features of our polity were de- rived from them, as also somewhat of that decided Calvinism, which has ever characterized the Presbyteries and Synod of the Reserve.
REV. NICHOLAS PETTENGER.
Mr. Nicholas Pettenger commenced laboring at Poland in June 1804; and upon the 24th of October following was ordained by Erie Presbytery, at Westfield Pennsylvania. Mr. Badger preached the ordination sermon. He complains that in Mr. Pettenger's trial sermon, " there appeared a great want of theological training." Mr. James Boyd was at the same time and place licensed to preach the Gospel.
Mr. Pettenger continued to labor at Poland till 1810, when he removed to Chilicothe, where he died.
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