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 4
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REV. THOMAS BARR.
and children were instructed in the catechism; public worship was well attended on the Sabbath; schools were in a good condition, and the state of morals and order in the society conspicuously superior to any other in all the region.'
" The prosperity of the little parish soon, however, received a seri- ous check, upon the breaking out of the war of 1811. Many of the inhabitants were soon 'on the wing.' At one time, under the influ- ence of a false alarm that the enemy were landing at Cleveland, the whole community, pastor and all, hastily packed what they could of their goods, and betook themselves to flight. The roads were almost impassable ; they, however, advanced but a few miles before learning the mistake relative to the enemy ; whereupon they very gladly re- turned home.
" Afterward Mr. Barr proposed to remove his family to a place of greater safety, while he remained with the remnant of the flock in the wilderness. But the faithful wife and sister would not consent to a separation. The good providence of God kept the enemy from in- vading the place, and preserved the little church and its pastor.
" But a fatal arrow visited the parsonage on the ninth of October, 1812, releasing the toil-worn wife and mother from her service, and leaving the rest in mourning. The account of this bereavement may be best given in Mr. Barr's own words : - ' The second of October my wife was delivered of a son; was well as usual until the third day, after which the puerperal fever commenced, and carried her off on the ninth of the month, her babe being only seven days old. This was to me a sore calamity. Valued justly as she had ever been by many, I felt and knew a value in her beyond what others did or could. In ad- dition to her efforts for my conversion, she well answered to God's original design of being indeed an " help-meet for man." She was not only the mother, but the pious, faithful, affectionate trainer up of my children in the way that they should go. From the circumstances of my life, first working at my trade, oft from home, next when pursuing studies, and lastly my ministerial labors keeping me from home half of the time, this important duty devolved mainly upon her. She knew and
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
felt its importance, felt her own insufficiency, girded herself to the work in the name of the Lord, to him she looked for aid, and offered up many prayers with strong crying and tears for the spiritual welfare of her children. Of these agonies of her soul they were frequently the wit- nesses as well as the subjects. For in addition to those many seasons in which she daily kneeled and prayed with them around the family altar, she often retired to some sequestered spot with one or more of them, there in a special manner to commend their case to God. Those of them thus privileged can never forget those tender, solemn and im- pressive scenes.'
" Several of these children early gave evidence of piety. Joseph, the second son, prepared for the ministry and received an appointment as a missionary to Western Africa, but was suddenly cut off by cholera, at Richmond, Va., Oct. 28, 1832. Thomas, another of the sons, is now in the ministry. John, the third, is well known as a lawyer in Cleveland. Mary, the only daughter, made a profession of religion at twelve ; and 'aiming to walk in the steps of her good mother, has also been permitted to see her own eldest child, a daugher, giving evidence of piety at about the same age.'
" Mrs. Barr ' died as she had lived, in the exercise of a humble, spiritual faith and hope. At the hour of her departure, the family being gathered around her, she addressed the children most solemnly and affectionately, enjoining upon them to meet her at the right hand of the Judge at the last day. Her last words to me,' says Mr. Barr, ' were-Be faithful in the ministry, especially be mindful to warn parents of their duty to their children. She closed the scene with a most appropriate and fervent prayer, and in a few moments breathed her soul into the hands of her Redeemer.' "
Thus closed that beautiful and heroic life. Let her success- ors cherish her fragrant memory, and in her faithful life read the true mission and noble destiny of woman.
For the next four years the bereaved father toiled on alone
and is buried just
C
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REV. THOMAS BARR.
with his motherless children. In 1816, he was again married, to Mrs. Ann Emmett Baldwin, who also proved to be one of the faithful and excellent of the earth.
By his first wife, Mr. Barr had nine children, six of whom were living in 1833, at the time of writing his biography. By the second wife he had ten, eight of whom were living at the same date. We readily see that to support such a family, upon such a salary as ministers generally receive, must have required almost superhuman fortitude, economy and self-de- nial, on the part of both husband and wife. Mr. Barr's sec- ond wife had almost equal toils with the first, without the aid of a devoted sister. Of her, also, he testifies that having the responsibility of training up the children mainly devolved upon her, "with all the domestic concerns of the family of every kind, in these trials and labors she hath acquitted herself with great fidelity, wisdom and piety. Daily family worship, and the important catechetical exercises of the Sabbath have been maintained whether I was at home or abroad." As Mr. Barr was most of the time either a missionary or an agent, he was necessarily much from home. " Ah," exclaims he, "how little do most of the members of our congregations know of the la- bors, privations, trials and various hardships of the wives of ministers. Too often, instead of stepping in, as the members of a congregation in numerous ways might do, to cheer the heart and lighten the burden of a minister's wife, laboring to her utmost that her husband may be acceptable and useful, too often instead of relieving, they add to a burden too heavy now to be borne, by cold, unkind neglect, or by uncharitable, unjust and ignorant censures. Of all classes of wives, those
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
of drunkards excepted, the wives of poor ministers, with large families and small salaries, have the hardest earthly lot. But great shall be the reward in heaven of every such pious wo- man, who, in obscurity, poverty, toil and neglect, if not scorn, yet in faith, hope and love, struggles hard to encourage the heart and strengthen the hands of the husband, that so he may be a 'good minister of Jesus Christ.'" To all which, who does not respond, Amen ?
At the close of the war and shortly after the organization of the Grand River Presbytery, of which Mr. Barr was, in a sense, the father, he went as a delegate to the General Assem- bly ; and spent a few weeks in soliciting funds for the erection of a church in Euclid. He raised $800. Encouraged by this, the people went forward and " erected a good two story frame building, with a steeple," the same I believe that is now used in that place, and the first of its kind ever built on the Reserve.
An account of Mr. Barr's agency, in the formation of the Presbytery, will be found elsewhere in this history. His dis- satisfaction and disappointment at not securing pure Presby- terianism, was one of the prominent reasons that induced him eventually to seek a field of labor south of the Reserve. His dismission from Euclid occurred in February, 1820. Imme- diately afterward he removed to Wooster, Wayne County, and was installed over the two churches in Wooster and Apple Creek. Here he labored efficiently and successfully for sev- eral years, though much embarrassed, by the failure of the people to meet their engagements as to salary. A prominent reason for his eventual separation from these churches was the influence of a certain itinerant evangelist, who was injudi-
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REV. THOMAS BARR,
ciously admitted to the churches, to hold a kind of protracted meeting. Proceeding upon the high pressure system, which generally characterizes that class of irresponsible agents, the common evils resulted from this man's labors. Mr. Barr, like many others who have seen the fruits of such efforts and agents, records his testimony against them.
Another reason that operated for the close of Mr. Barr's connection with these churches, was the failure of his health, and the thought that perhaps traveling might restore it. A journey to Philadelphia, as Commissioner to the General As- sembly, in 1828, encouraged him. Shortly afterward he re- ceived an urgent solicitation to undertake an agency for the General Assembly's Board of Missions. This was accepted, and in his new employment, he found a cure for dyspepsia, a pleasant field of labor, and proved an efficient and successful worker.
After the close of this agency, Mr. Barr preached awhile in Rushville, Indiana, where, on the 28th of August, 1835, he died in the 60th year of his age. His excellent partner still lives, I think, in Fairfield, Iowa.
The brave and good man whom we have followed so far, is, these many years, " asleep in Jesus." But his influence and memory live. His hard, earnest life, has left cheering foot- prints. Let it never be forgotten that it was in part by his self-denying toil, that our wilderness was made to blossom as the rose. And especially let the young man, who stands with irresolute step, at the threshhold of life, beset by a dangerous appetite, learn here how to subdue the tempter, and become a blessing to his age.
5*
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Old acquaintances speak of Mr. Barr as a good and effective speaker, a very decided and somewhat headstrong man, and a rather ultra Presbyterian ; but all testify to his piety and zeal for God.
The exceeding interest and value of Mr. Barr's autobiogra- phy, and the fear that it may never be published, must excuse the length of this sketch, compared with the meager notice given of many of his cotemporaries, who left no such record.
CHAPTER V.
INCREASE OF NEW ENGLAND MISSIONARIES.
At length the Connecticut Society began to find more New England ministers ready to venture into the far west, and henceforth the Congregational element gained upon the Pres- byterian.
REV. DAVID BACON.
Rev. David Bacon, father of Leonard Bacon, D. D., of Con- necticut, was born at Woodstock, Ct., in the year 1770. He studied Theology with the Rev. Levi Hart, D. D., and served for several years as a missionary amongst the Indians at De- troit. In the fall of 1807, he commenced a settlement in Talmadge, Summit Co., O. Assisted by one E. Frink, he erected a log house on the south line, half a mile west of the north and south center road.
" As soon as there were any inhabitants for hearers, he commenced preaching, organized a church in his own house, Jan 1, 1809 ;" and continued to labor for its growth and the prosperity of the town until Jan. 1, 1812. About that time he removed to New England, and in August, 1817, died at
(55)
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
Hartford, Ct. The church in Talmadge, and the orderly char- acter, marked intelligence, and prosperity of the people, have ever been standing monuments of the advantages of a settle- ment begun by a Christian minister.
Those who pass through the village of Talmadge, may see a curious illustration of Mr. Bacon's geometrical planning in the convergence at that point, of roads from eight points of the compass.
REV. N. B. DERROW.
Rev. Nathan B. Derrow, was born at New London, Ct., in 1773, studied at Hamilton College, and afterward studied Theology at Clinton, N. Y. ; was licensed by the Oneida As- sociation in 1801; received a missionary appointment in the Spring of 1809 ; was employed as stated supply at Painesville, in June, 1810, and installed pastor of the church at Vienna, in 1811, where he remained four years. He then left the Re- serve, buried his wife during his absence, returned after six years, and was reinstalled over the Vienna church ; and con- tinued until his death, in 1828. He was called an eccentric man, but his Vienna pastorate speaks well for his fidelity.
In the Spring of 1810, the Western Reserve Mission re- ceived an invaluable addition in the person of Rev. Giles H. Cowles, D. D. Indeed this was the beginning of a new era in the history of this region. Mr. Cowles was the first of a constellation of ministers from New England, that soon en- tered the field ; bringing with them, if not deeper piety, at least an invincible energy and perseverance, and an intellectual and theological culture unequalled by most of their predeces-
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INCREASE OF MISSIONARIES.
sors. This department of our subject shall be closed with brief sketches of the lives and services of Rev. Messrs. Cowles, Seward, Woodruff, Hanford, H. Coe, Treat, Pitkin, and two or three others who entered the field between 1810 and 1816 ; and who were permitted by Providence here to labor long and successfully, and establish the religious and educational insti- tutions of the Reserve on a permanent and comprehensive basis. From these men, perhaps more than from any others, the church of the Reserve has taken its character ; and to them under God is most largely indebted for the richest of her history.
Several of these fathers have, or have left, diaries and other material, from which it is to be hoped satisfactory biographies may be hereafter constructed and published.
The present writer regrets that he could not, amid the cares and labors of his pastoral charge, find time to enter upon this pleasant task, so as to furnish adequate sketches. But he trusts that the work will be better done by some other person, in due time. Let those journals be sacredly preserved.
REV. GILES HOOKER COWLES, D. D.
One of the most efficient and notable of the early mission- aries was Dr. G. H. Cowles.
Mr. Cowles was born at Farmington, Connecticut, in August, 1766. Upon his mother's side, he was a lineal descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker, D. D. He was educated at Yale Col- lege ; after graduation taught school one year, at North Salem, New York, and then studied Theology with Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D. D., and was licensed to preach by the New
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
Haven West Association in May, 1791. He preached a short time in Vermont; and declined a call for settlement in that State. On the 17th of October 1792, he was ordained as pastor of the church in New Cambridge, near Bristol.
In 1799 a powerful revival of religion occurred in his parish, and about one hundred persons were added to his church, as its fruits. Other seasons of marked religious interest also occurred during that pastorate.
Mr. Cowles continued pastor of this church nearly eighteen years ; and in May, 1810, with mutual consent and good feel- ing on the part of both pastor and people, he was dismissed, and accepted an appointment to spend the following summer, as a missionary to the Western Reserve.
Returning in the fall, he labored during the winter in Goshen, Litchfield County, and in May, 1811 started with his family to Ohio. He reached Austinburg in June; and upon the 25th of September was installed pastor of the united societies of Austinburg and Morgan.
The council called for his installation consisted of Rev. Jos. Badger of Ashtabula, J. Leslie of Harpersfield, T. Barr, of Eu- clid, J. Beers, of Springfield, N. B. Derrow, of Vienna, and Rev. Mr. Spencer of Fredonia, N. Y. These brethren constituted probably the entire ministry of the Reserve at that time.
Although installed over these two churches, he spent much of his time as an itinerant missionary ; and assisted in organ- izing fifteen churches on the Reserve.
He took an active part in the organization of the first Presbytery in this region; and was an efficient helper in founding the Western Reserve College, in which he felt the
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INCREASE OF MISSIONARIES.
liveliest interest, as the hope of the churches for ministers. He discharged faithfully the duties of a pastor to his charge at Austinburg until February 3d, 1830; making his second pas- torate a trifle longer than the first.
In 1816, a powerful revival occurred in Austinburg and adjoining towns, under Mr. Cowles' preaching, and about one hundred converts were added to the Austinburg church. Other awakenings, less marked followed at different times. His labors were remarkably successful; and he must be long remembered as the father of many of the churches in Ashtabula.
After his dismission from this charge, he still resided at Austinburg, and labored faithfully as a missionary amongst the feeble churches, until April, 1834, when failing health compelled him to desist. He died July 5th, 1835, aged sixty-nine ; lamented by his brethren in the ministry and by the churches generally."
" His death, like his life, was peaceful, serene and happy. The mild virtues of the Gospel adorned his life and shone forth yet more benignantly as he drew near the grave." As a Christian, he was meek and humble; as a minister he was faithful and untiring, ever watching as one that must give account; as a theologian sound and systematic ; judicious and conciliatory as a counselor ; his labors could not fail to be-use- ful to the Church and the world." "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."
February 5th, 1793, Mr. Cowles was married to Sally White, of Stamford, Connecticut. They had five sons and four daugh- ters. The third son died, at twenty-one years of age, the others are all still living.
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
Mrs. Cowles' death occurred in August 1830, five years before that of her husband. Her children are her monument.
The above narrative is compiled partly from Mr. Clarke's notes, and partly from facts furnished by Dr. Cowles of Cleve- land, a son of Rev. G. H. Cowles. Some of the family still live in Austinburg.
REV. JOHN FIELD.
Rev. John Field, of Hardwick, Mass., born 1780, graduated at William's College in 1807, was ordained by an Association in Massachusetts, and came to the Western Reserve as a mis- sionary, in the winter of 1810-11. Desiring to enlarge his knowedge of the country he travelled over a larger territory than other missionaries of the same period ; and seems to have had no permanent settlement until the fall of 1823, when he engaged for one year at Atwater, Portage Co. After the ex- piration of that year he "removed into one of the southern states, where he taught school for a time, and died near Natchez, on the 7th of August, 1827."
The Directors of the Connecticut Missionary Society, in their report for the year 1812, say of him : - " Mr. Field resides in Burton, and from that place makes frequent excursions into the destitute settlements. With much self-distrust and appar- ent humility, he has labored in season and out of season, ac- cording to his ability and health."
REV. JOHN SEWARD.
One of the most estimable of the venerable fathers of the church of the Reserve, is the Rev. John Seward ; who still
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INCREASE OF MISSIONARIES.
lives to connect the past and the present, ministering, as in early days, to " the few sheep in the wilderness."
Mr. Seward was born in Granville, Mass., in 1784. He graduated at Williams College in the year 1810; studied The- ology with Rev. Ebenezer Porter, D. D., then of Washington, Ct., and " came to Ohio in Oct., 1811 ; under the patronage of the Connecticut Missionary Society." At the time of his ar- rival, there " were but eight ministers upon the Reserve."
He commenced his labors, as did most of the early ministers, as an itinerant missionary ; but within a year after his arrival, he received and accepted a call for settlement, as pastor of the church at Aurora, Portage Co. His installation occurred Au- gust 5, 1812. The church at Aurora had been organized three years before. Mr. Seward was its first pastor ; and the rela- tionship continued with mutual affection and confidence for the third of a century. Large numbers were added to the church under his ministry ; and the advantages of a permanent pastor- ship were very evident, in its prosperity.
If there were any fault in Mr. Seward as a pastor, it was in his extreme leniency and tenderness for his flock, particularly in respect to his own pecuniary dues. Having a small family and economical habits, he indulged his people in curtailing his sti- pends, until his charity well nigh superseded and eradicated theirs.
After his settlement at Aurora, Mr. Seward still performed much missionary labor in adjacent towns; and was truly a father to many churches ; of which he assisted in organizing at least fourteen.
He was also a prominent agent in all ecclesiastical, benevo- lent and educational movements of general interest and utility ;
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
and did perhaps as much as any other to mold the sentiment and institutions of all this region.
Wielding a facile pen, and ever observant of the course of things upon the Reserve, sound in judgment, conservative in sentiment, zealous for the cause of true religion, and earnest yet tender in his persuasions and expostulations, Mr. Seward probably exerted more influence upon the churches through the press, than any of his fellow laborers. He has also re- corded much historical matter, relative to the settlement of the Reserve, and the experience of early immigrants, of great interest and value. It is much to be regretted that Mr. Seward has not written a full history, which should supersede the present effort. Many of the facts contained in this work were furnished by him ; and from his journal, and the journals of other early missionaries, it is to be hoped, that valuable treasures may yet be gleaned, for the benefit of posterity.
These journals will be found peculiarly rich in illustrations of the self-denying, persevering toils, and extreme privations incurred by those who planted and nurtured our churches in their infancy. The present and future churches and ministers of this region, would be greatly interested and profited by the perusal of full biographies, and specimen sermons of these fa- thers, whose voices are failing, and will soon cease to be heard amongst us.
Special notice should here be taken of Mr. Seward's con- nection with the Western Reserve College ; of which he has been a Trustee, from the beginning until very recently. In all its history he has borne a part ; and probably it has from no one received more earnest sympathy and good will.
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INCREASE OF MISSIONARIES.
In ecclesiastical sentiment and feeling, Mr. Seward has ever been a Congregationalist ; yet he entered heartily and sincerely into the plan of union; and remained a fast friend of the Western Reserve Synod, and a regular attendant upon its convocations, until within a year or two.
Shortly after his settlement at Aurora, Mr. Seward married Miss Wright, daughter of Esquire Wright, of Talmadge. Though never blest with children, they two still walk hand in hand, similar in amiability and meekness, and admirably adapted to support and cheer each other. "Lovely in their lives," may they "in death not be divided." Many are the spiritual children, who shall rise up to call them blessed.
REV. HARVEY COE.
Rev Harvey Coe was born at Granville, Massachusetts, October 6th, 1785. He graduated at Williams College, Sep- tember, 1811; studied Theology with Rev. Dr. Fitch and Dr. Cooley, and was licensed to preach at Monson, Massachusetts, October 1812.
The Winter after his licensure Mr. Coe preached at Southwick and Sheffield, and was solicited to settle as pastor at the latter place. But having turned his attention to Ohio, he was ordained at Westfield in May, 1813, as a missionary, and im- mediately set out for New Connecticut, under the patronage of the Connecticut Missionary Society. He reached the Reserve and commenced his labors in June 1813, and spent most of the year as an itinerant, visiting most, if not all, of the infant churches, and assisted in organizing some new ones. In April 1814, Mr. Coe was installed pastor of the church and united
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THE PLAN OF UNION.
congregations of Hartford, Vernon, Kinsman and Gustavus. These towns united into one church, consisting of about forty members, at the time of Mr. Coe's installation ; but they had three preaching stations, at cach of which he alternately preached.
Mr. Coe was the first minister settled in Northern Ohio, for the whole of his time and labors. During a visit made by him to New England for the purpose of bringing Mrs. Coe to her new home, "the Kinsman Society built a small meeting house, which was the first building erected in Northern Ohio exclusively for the worship of God, made of any better mate- rials than logs."
Of his field and labors here Mr. Coe writes as follows : "My pastoral charge embraced territory enough to constitute a mis- sionary field, and my labors were very great and exhausting in my own charge. But God greatly blessed them. We lived in great harmony and frequently enjoyed refreshings from the presence of the Lord. In the Winter of 1820 we had a very powerful revival, which extended through my whole charge; as its fruits about one hundred and seventy-five were added to the church." In consequence of excessive labors, Mr. Coe's health failed, and he was obliged to spend the summer of 1822 in traveling. By this time the united church numbered three hundred and seventy-five members, and "Hartford had become so strong that they were organized and set off as a separate church ;" Gustavus followed the example in 1823; but Kins- man and Vernon remained united until about the time of Mr. Coe's dismission, which occurred in November, 1830. This event took place by the advice of physicians and in con-
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