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 3
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REV. JAMES BOYD.
Mr. Boyd was born in 1773, at Easton Pennsylvania; gra- duated at Jefferson College; studied theology with Dr. McMil- lan, was licensed by Erie Presbytery in 1804, at Westfield ; and in 1808 was settled over the three churches of Milton, Newton, and Warren, " in which connection he remained until his death, which occurred March 8. 1813. Some portion of his time, he spent as a missionary under the patronage of the Connecticut
PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARIES. 37
Missionary Society. His piety and zeal were highly commended. " We thought a mighty heap of Mr. Boyd," said a good hearted woman in Milton. What better testimonial could a shepherd desire from his flock ?
REV. ABRAHAM SCOTT.
Rev. Abraham Scott commenced missionary service upon the Reserve early in 1808. In March of the same year, he was joined by Rev. Jonathan Leslie. These brethren, though Presbyterians, were under the patronage of the Connecticut Society, which as we have seen in a letter to Mr. Wick, was unable to get men to come here from Connecticut. No wonder, when six dollars per week was all they offered. In May, the Trustees passed the following vote :
" Whereas, Messrs A. Scott, and J. Leslie, are appointed to labor as Missionaries in the territory called New Connecticut ; and whereas, it is expedient, in the opinion of this Board, that they should be ordained as Evangelists :
" Voted, that the Presbytery of Ohio be requested to ordain them, provided, upon examination, they should be found qualified for the work of the Ministry !"
They were, after the usual forms of trial, ordained on July 12th. "Rev. Andrew Gwin preached the ordination sermon, and Rev. J. McMillan D. D. delivered the charge."
Mr. Scott wrote to the Trustees of the Society in Connec- ticut in 1808, as follows :
" Although there are many things here truly distressing, yet there are some that are encouraging." (He speaks of " the awful stupidity of many - the dangerous heresies of others, and the open and blas- 4
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phemous infidelity of a few.") "But I find that, even amongst the worst, there are some who, at times, are not past feeling. They appear willing to hear what may be said against them. Not only the seri- ously inclined, but many others also profess, and, in many respects, evi- dence, a desire for the Gospel. I have been almost universally received and treated by all sorts, since I came into this country, with the greatest civility and friendship. There has been an unexpected attention to, and, in many places, an apparent solemnity, under, preaching. In- quiries have frequently been made respecting the prospect of other missionaries coming into this country. I trust I need not mention the arrangements, that have been made in almost all the churches here, to have the Gospel statedly among them. Many settlements that are unable to support preaching statedly among them, have evinced a de- sire to have it occasionally, at their own expense. - In other places where they are able to support it, at least a considerable part of the time, they have attempted it apparently to very little purpose. The extreme difficulty of obtaining suitable preachers has been the uniform cause of their disappointments.
" They appear solicitously to look up to you (the Trustees), as under Christ, to sympathize, and still continue to do for them in this respect, thankful for what you have done; at the same time not doubting but you are using your utmost efforts, for their spiritual welfare."
Shortly afterward Mr. J. Leslie writes as follows : -
" I visit the schools and find them in tolerably good order. In most of them the Holy Scriptures are read a part of the time; and some attention is paid to the Shorter Catechism, though not so much as I could wish. This perhaps is owing, in some measure, to the want of books. The attention paid to preaching in every place where I have been, is a very great encouragememt to me in my labors. I believe we are not to expect much open opposition from any on the Reserve. The enemies of the religion of Jesus, find, that to oppose it, destroys their influence.
"Individuals are in some places awakened and inquiring for salva-
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tion. Some few are lying at the threshold of soverign mercy, and two or three have given recent evidence of having obtained a hope of salva- tion through Jesus Christ. This appears to be a seed time, but we want the rain. Unless the influences of the Holy Spirit attend the means of grace, sinners can not be saved.
" Although I have lodged in one hundred and thirty different fami- lies, I have been uniformly received with respect as a minister of the Gospel; and especially as one sent by your benevolent Society."
The Trustees in noticing these letters, remark that, " no por- tion of the vast missionary field in the United States, is sup- posed to have stronger claims to missionary attention than the Connecticut Western Reserve. It is calculated that upon that tract, there are not far from twelve thousand people." (This estimate was probably too low ; in 1810, the population of the Reserve was reported to be 16,241). " And there has been be- fore the present year (1808) but one settled minister of the Congregational or Presbyterian denomination. Its great dis- tance has rendered it impossible for the Trustees to employ as many laborers there as they have wished. But their prospects in that district are brightening. The Rev. Messrs A. Scott and J. Leslie have wrought in that field, almost the whole, and the Rev. Wm. Wick, a part, of the present season."
"Near the close of last May (1808), the Rev. Enoch Burt was, at the request of the Trustees, ordained an Evangelist by Fairfied Eastern District Association, preparatory to a missionary tour through New Connecticut. From the labors of that mission he returned near the end of October, having preached forty-one sermons, baptized twenty-seven children and one adult; organized one church, once administered the Lord's Supper, and traveled two hundred and twenty-one miles."
"It is pleasing to add that in several instances the present year, the
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people of that country have supplied themselves with regular, evan- gelical preaching, that one minister has been ordained there to a stated pastoral charge ; and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, and the neighboring Presbyteries, have supplied them with several months of missionary service."
The Trustees add, in their narrative at the close of 1808, that " the Rev. James Scott, of Granville, Ohio, was appointed, in September, 1808, to labor in the service of the Society such a part of the time as he can be spared from the people of his stated charge."
"On the whole in relation to missionary efforts, in New Connecticut and parts adjacent, you will perceive that they are in a train of desirable prosperity and success."
REV. MESSRS. JAMES SCOTT AND J. LESLIE.
Respecting Mr. Scott I can learn nothing more than is given above. Mr. Leslie was born in Adams County, Pennsylvania, in 1780. He graduated at Jefferson College in 1806; studied Theology with Rev. J. McMillan, D. D., was licensed in June, 1807 ; came to the Reserve, and was ordained, as we have seen, in 1808 ; was installed over the church in Geneva and Harpers- field in November, 1810; and continued in that connection ten years. He afterward preached in Batavia and some other places on the Reserve for a few years, and then removed to Centreville, New York, where he died, several years since.
An old acquaintance speaks of him as a very " clever man, a Pennamite who preached in a peculiarly nasal tone, and was not quite as judicious in some respects as would have been desirable."
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REV. JOHN BEER.
Rev. John Beer was born in 1772, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Without a collegiate education, he studied Theology with Rev. T. E. Hughes of Beaver County, Pennsyl- vania ; was licensed October, 20th, 1808; received a missionary appointment for the Reserve early in 1809; was settled as pastor of the church in Springfield, Summit County, for several years ; afterward preached for some time as stated supply in "Newton, Trumbull County, and subsequently was settled south of the Reserve, in Middle Sandy."
REV. JOHN BRUCE.
Rev. John Bruce was born in New York in 1771; without a collegiate course, studied Theology with Rev. T. E. Hughes ; was licensed and commenced preaching at Ellsworth in 1809, and was pastor of that church five years. " After his dismis- sion he preached as stated supply in Newton one year, and died in that place in November, 1816."
A cotemporary speaks of him, as "a man of moderate abil- ities, something of a farmer, in person a heavy man, and severely afflicted, before his death, with paralysis in his lower extremities." Difficulties in the church at Ellsworth made his situation there unpleasant and led to his removal.
REV. THOMAS BARR.
Mr. Badger, in October, 1804, speaks of finding a Mr. Thomas Barr at Youngstown, "a pious man, determined, if possible, to get an education in referenc to the work of the ministry; has a pious, excellent wife and five children." 4 *
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This man afterward became one of the leading ministers of the Reserve. Mr. Barr has left an excellent autobiography, which it is to be hoped may sometime be published. Lest it should not, extracts are given at some length, condensed and abridged. His early life is singularly instructive and in- teresting.
" Mr. Barr was born in Derry, Westmoreland County, Pa., April 2, 1775. When about two or three years old, his father, Colonel Barr, was called to serve in the revolutionary struggle, and took his family to his wife's father's, near Fort Loudon, Franklin County. Here Thomas was sent to school, and instructed in Dilworth, the Bible, and the Catechism, which composed the list of school-books used at that time. The body of truth at that time acquired from the Bible and Catechism he never lost. It was, indeed, the instrument of early and pungent convictions ; afterward had some connection with his conver- sion; and finally, many years afterward, was of special value to him as a minister. The absence of the father in the war, and, afterward, his murder by the Indians, and the stories of British cruelty related in the boy's hearing, soon fired him with patriotism and abhorrence of tyranny, producing impressions that time could not eradicate.
" At the close of the war, Col. Barr again returned to Westmore- land ; but in 1785, going on an expedition down the Ohio, with others, to negotiate, if possible, with some hostile Indians, he was lost. The only intelligence ever received of him came from the Indian who after- ward sold what was judged to be his scalp. We can not linger on the griefs of the bereaved family. It was Col. Barr's request, expressed before his departure, that, should he never return, his oldest son, Thomas, might be 'put to college, to receive a classical education.' To this the attention of young Barr was frequently turned ; being fond of books, he was pleased with the suggestion, and property enough fell to his share to carry out the design.
But such was the reputation of colleges as schools of mischief and
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REV. THOMAS BARR,
vice, that the considerate guardian set himself resolutely against the project. 'Without murmuring, yet not without a mental struggle,' Thomas submitted to the advice of his ' pious and intelligent ' guard- ian. The substitute fixed upon for a collegiate education was an ap- prenticeship of five and a half years to a Mr. Pollock, to learn the carpenter and joiner's trade. Though Mr. Pollock was a worthy man, his apprentice experienced the common trials of that kind of life ; but went through his course with honor, won the confidence of his em- ployer, and, according to his own testimony, proved, by his success, that perseverance and fidelity may secure success in that for which one has no natural taste or adaptation.
Much pious counsel and influence were bestowed upou young Barr by his 'boss ;' yet, while in his employ, he formed an appetite for ar- dent spirits, which came nigh ruining him for time and eternity. It was the custom of the times to have ardent spirits amongst all work- men. Mr. Barr's account of his experience, from moderate drinking to confirmed intemperance, is deeply interesting and instructive. I ministered peculiar unction and fire to the pleas which he afterward made for total abstinence.
" Providence provided for his final escape from this evil, by grant- ing him a guardian angel, in the person of Miss Susannah Welch, to whom he was married in the Spring of 1797. Within a year from the time of their marriage, the young wife, led to seriousness by reading Dodridge's Rise and Progress, 'obtained a good hope of eternal life.' Her life, henceforth, seems to have been that of the model Christian wife and mother. In process of time Mr. Barr became pecuniarily in- volved, sold his interest in Westmoreland, and in the Spring of 1800 removed to Youngstown, on the Western Reserve. The habit of in- temperance still grew upon its victim, though frequent efforts were made to reform. Of course, the pious wife ceased not in her prayers and efforts to reclaim her husband. Mr. Barr bears the following tes- timony to her faithfulness, at the time of their removal to the Reserve : ' My wife had now brought me two children. Her counsels and pray- ers for my good were never withheld, and without entering into the
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details of her patient, prudent, pious efforts, I would say, that, so far as human instrumentality was concerned in effecting my deliver- ance, I believe she was the main instrument - and from my own ex- perience and knowledge of her course, I would say to every wife so circumstanced, faint not, nor grow weary in well-doing.'
" The year 1800, it will be remembered, was the year in which Rev. William Wick commenced his labors at Youngstown. 'This,' says Mr. Barr, ' was a source of great satisfaction to my wife. She be- came early known and highly esteemed by the pious in the community. She abated none of her pious and prudent efforts for my spiritual ben- efit, but as yet, for nearly three years more of anxious and oft disap- pointed hope, she had to hope against hope.' At the expiration of that period, during the general religious interest prevailing in that re- gion, Mr. Barr became serious. Mrs Barr, with a few neighbors, started a prayer meeting at their house. Mr. Barr for some time tried, as self-righteous sinners are apt to do, to become a Christian. Gradu- ally he assumed the duties of family worship, and even led in the prayer meetings, and was fast becoming self-complacent, and likely to settle down upon a false hope, when, under peculiar temptation, his old appetite for alcohol overcame him, and he was led to see his impo- tence, and in deep self-loathing, to break down in true penitence be- fore God. 'I was,' says he, 'stripped naked and bare of that good- ness in which I had trusted. I was self-condemned, overwhelmed with the vileness and greatness of my sins. Lord save or I perish, was my only plea.' This was the 'fearful, tremendous, joyful hour ' from which he ever afterward dated his conversion. The providence of God, in leading him to see the vanity of his self-righteousness, by lapsing into intoxication, and thence guiding him to a true faith, is notable. From this time all things were made new. 'Henceforth,' said he, thirty-two years afterward, 'I have never had any longing desire or appetite' for ardent spirits. After seven years of prayer and anxious effort, the good wife received her reward, in seeing her husband reformed and pious. 'Entire abstinence' was ever afterward Mr. Barr's motto. And he was often deeply grieved to find himself
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REV. THOMAS BARR.
discouraged and opposed in his efforts for this cause, by many ' tem- perate drinkers,' who had before reproached him for his intemperance, and tried to reform him upon the ' moderate' plan. His firm convic- tion and testimony was, that there is safety only in total abstinence.
"""" A longing desire for the salvation of souls,' now took possession of Mr. B.'s mind ; and in view of the pressing need of more ministers, there being only two or three Presbyterian or Congregational ministers on the whole Reserve, and about as many Methodists and Baptists, he began seriously to think of the ministry. Mr. Wick and Mr. Badger encouraged the thought ; and, of course, she, who had so long labored and prayed for his conversion, could desire nothing more earnestly than this. 'There were however many opposing considerations. I was nearly thirty years of age, had a wife and five children, also a sister of my wife's living with us ; had not property sufficient to enable me to remove and support myself where I might receive, to the best advan- tage, the education necessary for the work.' But he was not a man to be kept back by trifles. In accordance with his energetic and de- cided character, he soon made arrangements to commence his prepar- atory studies. The little farm was sold for what it would bring; and after various discouragements, we find Mr. Barr and his family at Greensburgh, Pa., ' where was a small Academy under the superin- tendence of Rev. T. E. Hughes, designed especially for the benefit of those having the ministry in view.' Here the faithful wife and sister heartily joined with the father, husband, brother and student, to struggle against poverty, and aid him in acquiring an education for the ministry. One year boarders were taken ; but this proved a los- ing business ; besides so overtaxing the time of Mr. Barr that, allow- ing himself only four hours out of 24 for sleep, he was just able to keep up with his class. 'The next two years' he wrote - 'I erected a cabin, with some accommodation, a mile and a half from the village, and with what I had coming from the sale of my land, was enabled to continue my studies until I was taken under the care of Presbytery, as a candidate for licensure.' Of his wife and sister he says - 'they fainted not, neither grew weary, in using every effort in their power,
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of labor, industry, economy, care, counsel and prayer, to forward me in my course ; and without this self-denial, work of faith and labor of love on their part, humanly speaking, I should never have succeeded.' Sometimes in discouragement he would inform the Rev. Mr. Wick - ' my pious and wise pastor '-that it was of no use to go on - his means would not allow him to go through. But the latter would re- ply - 'Go on till you come to the stopping place, and then when you can go no further, it will be time enough to stop.' The advice was obeyed, albeit under sore trials. Three of the five children had to be kept at school. Another child was added to the little family, while at Greensburg. The toils and self-denials of the 'beloved helper,' were increased by the severe ' sickness of two children ;' add a ' miscar- riage by which she was brought nigh unto death,' and a fall from a horse, by which Mr. Barr was rendered for some time insensible, and a much longer time ' unable to attend to any thing ;' and we can read- ily see how it was ' a wonder to many,' that they were 'supported and carried through.' Some assistance was secured during the latter part of the course, through the efforts of Mr. Hughes, of whose friendship Mr. Barr speaks in the warmest and highest terms. The charming family meetings where they two used to meet and 'pray together, with and for their dear children,' must not be forgotten.
"Finally the ordeal was passed, and Mr. Barr was licensed to preach, by the Hartford Presbytery, at their meeting in Brookfield, Trumbull Co., Sept., 1809.
" After visiting Westmoreland, and receiving from old friends a present of a horse, some months were spent in itinerating on the Re- serve, traveling through the woods, through storm and cold, mud and ' beech roots,' preaching from house to house, and in school-houses, after the manner of those days. Mr. Barr had made up his mind to go to the Sciota and Miami vallies, where he heard that there were a number of vacancies. But this purpose was defeated, and an ur- gent call given him to settle in Euclid, which he at length accepted. The engagement at Euclid covered only half the time; the rest was to be employed in missionary labors under the patronage of the Connect-
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icut Missionary Society. Mr. Barr speaks in high terms of the ef- forts of this Society, ascribing it to their fostering aid, that the Reserve so early became far better supplied with ministers and churches, than any other part of the State.
" At the time of Mr. Barr's settlement in Euclid, the township con- tained ' about thirty families.' 'Most of these were favorable to re- ligious society, though several of them were infidels or universalists. The members of the church, when I visited it were, all of them, origin- ally Presbyterians ; but when first organized there were two families originally Congregationalists among them ; so they adopted the mixed plan entered into between Presbyterians and Congregationalists in 1801. These two families had now moved to other places.' This left the way clear for the adoption of pure Presbyterianism, which was afterwards done through Mr. Barr's influence. We shall see that he is to be regarded as the principal father and defender of Presbyterian- ism on the Reserve. The man who works his way into the ministry as Mr. Barr did, may be expected to hold his opinions firmly, and to be a leader, who will leave his mark where he goes. Such at least was Mr. Barr.
" Through the assistance of the people at Euclid, a cabin was erected for Mr. Barr's family, upon a piece of land which he bought, near the spot where it was designed, sometime, to erect a church. They moved to this place in June, 1810, and Mr. Barr was ordained and installed in August of the same year. His family at this time con- sisted of nine persons, five sons, one daughter (a second daughter had been buried at the age of four years), and the sister of Mrs, Barr, who still remained with them, sharing through life the toils and trials of the missionary brother and sister. The salary upon which this family of nine persons were settled was, from the Church in Euclid, $180, from the Missionary Society $200. 'It will be supposed,' writes Mr. Barr, 'that our means of sustenance were small. Our oldest child, a son, was twelve years old, our youngest four. We had three cows, and one horse; we sat down in the woods, not even a garden spot was cleared off when we entered our cabin, without any
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floor but the earth.' During the few years that intervened before the little boys, aided by their father, when occasionally he could be at home and help them, could clear off a few acres of land on which to raise their bread ; says Mr. Barr, ' I never got a bushel of wheat under two dollars, corn generally seventy-five cents, and fresh pork from eight to ten dollars per cwt., other things in proportion. In such cir- cumstances I labored in the ministry at home and abroad, in all parts of the Reserve, for seven years in succession; then for about two years and a half I missionated but little, being one year half my time in Newburgh, one year half the time at Cleveland, and for six months half my time near Painesville. In my"missionary excursions, I usu- ally averaged five or six sermons a week, besides family and school visits ; for I endeavored, wherever there were schools, to visit them, address the children, and pray with them. I was sometimes oppressed with calls to preach funeral sermons at a distance even of thirty miles from home. Persons who would never think of calling for the minis- ter to visit, converse and pray with their sick while living, now that they were dead, could not endure the thought of burying them with- out a funeral sermon. For a number of years after I was settled, there was no minister on the Lake Shore, nearer than forty or fifty miles ; nor for two or three years, any on the south nearer than forty miles. Hence I was often called upon for this (funeral) service. At times, when the minister had just returned from a long tedious tour, weary and worn, and was about to make some provision for the comfort of his destitute family, an urgent call would come for a funeral sermon ten miles off; and no apology or excuse could avail ; he must go.'
"Speaking of this laborious period of his ministry, Mr. Barr says- ' The Lord in his providence previously disciplined me for my labori- ous service, and carried me with an uninjured constitution through the whole. I believe, too, the Lord owned and blessed my labors in many places, and to many individuals. The day will declare it; my work is with my God. The little church in Euclid grew, and, although several deaths of members occurred, increased from twelve to between forty and fifty members in the course of about three years ; the youth
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