History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 82

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998

USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 82

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

or the illy-cooked and sometime loathsome messes of the Indians. The result of these many jour- neyings was, however, a great extension of the scope of the mission, which was soon gotten into manageable shape. The missionary force was increased ; the whole field was gradually divided up into ten large districts, over each of which a chosen member of the clerical body was put in charge, and at four carefully chosen points mis- sion Indian boarding schools were established, viz: St. Paul's School, Yankton agency; St. Mary's, Santee agency, afterward removed to Rosebud agency; St. John's School, Fort Ben- nett; St. Elizabeth's School, Standing Rock re- serve. All the workers united very heartily with the Bishop in his desire to raise up from the Indians themselves men who should gradually, according to the measure of their ability and ac- cording to the divine plan "First the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear," take part with the white clergy in the work and a native force has been by degrees worked up which now numbers twenty-five helpers, twenty catechists, six senior catechists, besides twelve deacons and four priests. The growth of the Indian mission has been remarkable, there being now (1904) ninety congregations, three thou- sand seven hundred and seventy-five communi- cants, nine thousand three hundred and forty-one baptized persons. This growth has been due chiefly to the steadfastness and good sense with which, despite all difficulties and discourage- ments, the presiding presbyters kept to their several spheres of work. Difficulties and dis- couragements there were not a few, as can be easily imagined if the fact is recalled that it was the Sioux Indians among whom they worked who were engaged in the famous Indian troubles which culminated respectively in the Custer mas- sacre and the fight on Wounded Knee. It was in connection with the former trouble that the Rev. R. Arthur B. Ffennell, of the Cheyenne River mission, was killed by a hostile Sioux September 27, 1876. Mr. Ffennell was a young and most enthusiastic missionary, giving up his life to the welfare of the Sioux, but they were excited by the invasion of the Black Hills by the gold hunt-

582

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

ers and inflamed by the Custer fight. Some of the young men had been confined in the guard house at the agency and a bloodthirsty relative vowed he would, in retaliation, kill the first white man he saw. Mr. Ffennell therefore fell his vic- tim

The discovery, in 1875, of gold in the western part of the great Sioux reservation, known as the Black Hills, soon made it apparent that it would be necessary to secure from the Indians a re- linquishment of that part of their country. This was accomplished and the Black Hills were thrown open to settlement. Two of the clergy of the Indian mission, Messrs. Cleveland and Ashley, visited the Hills in 1877 and a service was held by Mr. Ashley. In June, 1878, the Rev. E. K. Lessell, of Connecticut, opened up mis- sionary work in the Hills, making Deadwood his central point. The bishop made his first visit to the Hills in the following November. Mr. Les- sell took up his work with enthusiasm and bore its peculiar trials and hardships with cheerful- ness : but his health gave way and after some eighteen months of service he was forced to with- draw and died not long afterward. Frequent changes in the missionary force greatly hindered the work in the Black Hills, until Mr. G. G. Ware, a layman, offered his services to Bishop Hare, took up work as a layreader at Rapid City and adjacent points. He prepared himself for holy orders, was later assigned to Deadwood and Lead and became the bishop's representative as archdeacon in the Black Hills. There are now six church buildings in the Black Hills.

As soon as it became apparent that the ter- ritory of Dakota would be divided into the two states of North and South Dakota, measures were taken to divide the territory into two missionary districts and at the general convention of 1883 the name of the missionary district of Niobrara was changed and the district made coterminous with the new state of South Dakota, retaining. however, the Santee reserve in Nebraska, and Bishop Hare was put in charge of it. Thus the field came to have two distinct divisions; the work among the whites and the work among the Indians. Difficulty in securing missionaries and

frequent changes in the staff have greatly hin- dered the development of the church among the white people. In 1887 the work was much strengthened by the coming of Rev. John H. Babcock, who has remained in South Dakota ever since. He soon became the president of the standing committee, the bishop's council of ad- vice, and is now as well the rural dean for the eastern part of the state. Despite all hindrances there have been erected thirty-four church build- ings, on only three of which is there any debt, and All Saints' School at Sioux Falls, with its noble buildings and commanding site, has won for itself, under the principalship of Miss Helen S. Peabody, a place second to none of the high- grade boarding schools in the northwest. The clergy staff of the Episcopal church in South Dakota is characterized by zeal and intelligence, and there are few members of that sacred craft who are not worthy and entitled to honorable mention in the history of the upbuilding of the church. Bishop Clarkson, Father Hoyt, Father Himes and Rural Dean Babcock will always be looked upon with the love and reverence we reserve for the founders of a sacred edifice.

While his labors in the white churches have been abundantly blessed and he is honored and beloved by everyone, within and without his church denomination, it will always be as the apostle to the Sioux Indians that Bishop Hare's fame will chiefly rest. Upon the Indian ques- tion no other person is entitled to speak with so great authority and it is therefore altogether proper that the following paper, written by Bishop Hare, in response to inquiries relating to his work in Dakota should appear here:

"I was not sent out as missionary bishop to Indians only, but to all persons whether Indians or whites, so far as they might be willing to receive my ministry, who resided within a certain district which, generally speaking, was the west- ern portion of Dakota territory. As I afterwards came to see, I had been led through a course of preparation for such summons. Though born and bred in the east, I had spent six months in Minnesota in 1863 and there saw something of the Indian problem. I had discovered that there

583

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

was nothing in the van of civilization to amelior- ate the condition of the red man, because the van of civilization is often made up of the vilest off- scourings ; that its first representatives often de- spise the Indian and condescend to them in nothing but the gratification of inordinate ap- petites and desires ; and that when civilization of · a better class appears, it is often so bent upon its own progress, and so far from helpful or kindly, that its advance, like that of a railroad train at full speed, dashes to pieces those unlucky wanderers who happen to stand in their way, and leaves the others' with only a more discouraging sense of the length of the road and the slowness of the way along it. In cases like that of the In- dian, real and permanent good can be effected only by persistent effort devoted specifically to these persons whose good is sought.

"I returned to the east the Indian's advocate ; and while on many subjects connected with In- dians I was not in haste to reach a conclusion, I had become convinced of this, that the Indians claim upon the church of Christ is most sacred, and that I have seen nothing to lead me to think that there was anything in the Indian problem to drive us either to quackery or to despair. It would find its solution, under the favor of God. in the faithful execution of the powers committed by God to the civil government, and a common sense administration of the gracious gifts de- posited with his church.

"Now a few words as to my general views on the Indian question : I thought then, as I think now. that good and patriotic men cannot blink the Indian problem. It stares them in the face. If ever the warning of the wise man be in season it is in this case. 'If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest. "Behold we knew it not:" doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it, and He that keepeth thy soul, doth He not know it, and shall He not render to every man according to his works?' Discussions of the probable future of the Indians are, it seems to me, beside the question and dangerous, be- cause they down the call of present duty. Sup-

pose these people are designed by providence to be hewers of wood and drawers of water. Our duty is to fit them for that lot. Supose they are to be merged in our more numerous race. . Our duty is to fit them for that absorption by intermarriage, and so arrest the present vicious intermingling. Suppose they are to die out. Then our duty is to fit them for their departure. Our duty is plainer, because the treatment which will fit these people for any one of these lots will fit them for either of the others.'.

"After a study of the field, and much con- versation with the clergy, I reached some con- clusions and began to lay out settled plans of work. I soon saw that my work was not to be that of a settled pastor in daily contact with my flock: but that of general superintendent whose duty it would be to reach the people through their pastors ; not so much to do local work, as to make local work easy for others. The whole field was therefore mapped out into divisions, these divisions being ordinarily the territory connected with a United States Indian agency. The special care of each of them was entrusted to one ex- perienced presbyter, and around him were grouped the Indian ministers and catechists and others who were engaged in evangelistic work within the division.

"A visit to the Indian Territory and my study of the Indian problem in my own field convinced me quite early that the boarding school ought to be one of the most prominent features of the Indian work. I thought that children gathered in such schools would soon become in their neat and orderly appearance, increasing intelligence. and their personal testimony to the loving and disinterested lives of the missionaries with whom they dwelt, living epistles, known and read of their wilder brethren. They would form the nuclei of congregations at the chapels connected with the schools and learn to carry on with spirit the responses and music of the services. But some will say: "Why boarding schools? Does not the great Creator indicate in nature that the place for children is with their parents and in a home?" Yes! but it is left with the Creator's

584

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

representatives on earth, namely, intelligent man, to take up and deal with exceptional cases. The case of the Indian children seemed exceptional. while it was evident that they could be civilized only through education and that the older peo- ple could be best reached through their children, it was equally plain that education could not reach the children while they were running wild and were scattered over vast stretches of coun- try, which could be traversed only by journeys of ten or twelve days' duration. But what should be the character of these boarding schools? To take little children from their free life by com- pulsion and gather them in large institutions where the most prominent characteristics are not paternal love and home-like influences, but the movement of a great machine engenders sus- picion, hardens their hearts and stimulates the natural disposition which any creature has to escape from or to get the better of those who oppose it. No such boarding schools did I want. I therefore called for volunteers who would identify their lives with the Indians and try to establish such boarding schools as, while putting the children through training, manual, intellect- ual and spiritual, would be a practical reproduc- tion of the act of Christ when he took little chil- dren in his arms and blessed them. Thus grew up the St. Paul's, St. Mary's, St. John's and St. Elizabeth's Indian boarding schools, which under their respective heads have won a deservedly high reputation. St. Paul's was the first venture in this line in Dakota.

"How shall crude Indian life be reduced like crude ore and made malleable? I soon came to look upon everything as provisional, which if permanently maintained would tend to make Indian life something separate from the common life of the country ; a solid foreign mass indigestible by our common civilization. I say that because it has been an indigestible mass has our civilization all these years been trying to vomit it and to get rid of a cause of discomfort. Ordinary laws must have their way. All reserva- tions, whether the reserving of land from the ordinary laws of settlement, or the reserving of

the Indian nationality from absorption into ours, or the reserving of old tribal superstitions and notions and habits from the natural process of decadence, or the reserving of the Indian lan- guage from extinction, are only necessary evils, or but temporary expedients. Safety for two hun- dred and fifty thousand Indians, divided up into several hundred tribes, speaking as many languages, scattered on about seventy different reservations, among eighty million of English- speaking people, can be found, if only the smaller people flow in with the current of life and ways of the larger. The Indians are not an insulated people like some of the islanders of the South sea. Our work is not the building up of a native Indian church with a national liturgy in the In- dian tongue. It is rather that of resolving the Indian structure and preparing its parts for being taken up into the great whole in church and state. From the first, therefore, I struggled against the notion that we were missionaries to Indians alone and not missionaries to all men. I pressed the study of the English language, and its conversational use in the schools, and however imperfect our efforts, the aim of them has been to break down the 'middle wall of partition' be- tween whites and Indians, and to seek, not the welfare of one class, or race, but the common good.

An opportunity for testing these principles oc- curred not long after my arrival. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills set a large part of our western population aflame and hundreds of adventurers, in 1875, in open violation of law and the proclamation of the executive, invaded this portion of the Indians' land and took possession of it. The government had at first been prompt and decided in requiring the removal of the in- truders; then it weakened and prevaricated. I was outspoken in my denunciation of this flagrant violation of the sacred obligations of a great to a weak people. I foresaw, however, that no power on earth could shut our white people out from that country if it really contained valuable deposits of gold or other minerals. I went there- fore to Washington and urged upon the Presi-

585

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

dent that a commission of experts be sent out to explore the country and that, should they report the presence of gold, steps should be taken to secure a surrender of the tract in question from the Indians upon equitable terms. This was eventually done. The Black Hills were thus thrown open to settlement."

The following statistical table gives the latest statistics of the Episcopal church in South Dakota for 1902-1903 :

Western Deanery

Other Deaneries

Total

Clergy

Parishes and Missions

129

Baptisms-Infants

431

164

595

Baptisms-Adults

169

Baptisms-Total

526

238

754

Whole Number of

Baptised Persons

9,341

3,919

13,160

Confirmed

283

431

Ordinations

Communicants

3,775

2,219

5,985

Sunday School Schol-

are

1,363

1,409

2,772

Contributions

$7,433.02

$22,746.44

$30,179.46

. .

It seems eminently fitting that at this point should be incorporated special mention of some of those whose lives have been closely linked with the upbuilding and progress of the Episco- pal church in South Dakota, though without invidious distinction as to others who have also borne important part in this work.

Archdeacon G. G. Ware was born in England January 27, 1857, and educated at St. Michael's College, Tenbury, Worchestershire, and Bladfield College, Berkshire. In 1882 he came to the United States and took up church work in the Black Hills. Mr. Ware was or- dained deacon in 1888 and advanced to the priesthood in 1891. His zeal and earnestness won for him, in 1893, advancement to the dean- ship of the Black Hills and in 1896 he was ap- pointed archdeacon of the Black Hills.

Rev. Marshall F. Montgomery was born in Marash, Turkey in Asia, June 14. 1868, his parents being American missionaries. Most of the first fifteen years of his life were

spent in Turkey. He fitted for college at the St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Johnsbury, Vermont, after which he entered mercantile life, traveling quite extensively. Mr. Montgomery came to South Dakota (Black Hills) in 1892, and realiz- ing the necessity of missionary work, offered himself, soon afterward, to Bishop Hare, under whom he became a candidate for holy orders and entered Seabury Hall, Faribault, Minnesota, graduating in 1897 with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. He was ordained deacon in 1897, at Sioux Falls, by Bishop Hare, and sent to take charge of Grace church, Huron, South Dakota, working west as far as Pierre and east to Arlington. On February 28, 1900, he took charge of St. Mark's, Aberdeen, where, on Oc- tober 17, 1900, he was advanced to the priest- hood. Mr. Montgomery's wide acquaintance through the state is due to the fact that he took all the necessary steps leading up to the priest- hood while living in South Dakota, also because he is chaplain of the Second Regiment, South Dakota National Guards, and assistant editor of the Aurora, the official organ of Scottish Rite Masonry in South Dakota.

Rev. John H. Babcock was born at Ballston Spa, New York, August 11, 1826. He was educated at St. Thomas Hall, Flushing, Long Island, and graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1845. He was or- dained deacon in 1853 and priest in 1856. He has been constantly engaged in clerical work and teaching in New York, Connecticut, Pennsyl- vania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, California and Oregon. Principal of the Episcopal Academy of Con- necticut, at Cheshire, and of the Oregon School for the Blind, at Salem. Came to Mitchell, South Dakota, in 1887. Resided in that city thir- teen years, having charge of Mitchell, Cham- berlain, Woonsocket, Plankinton, Alexandria and Scotland. Removed to Sioux Falls, Novem- ber, 1900. Since then has been doing general missionary work. Is president of the standing committee, and rural dean of the Eastern dean- ery.

Rev. J. M. McBride began his ministry

586

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

here in 1870. He possessed the agreeable man- ners and persuasive speech which characterize the gentleman whose good fortune it is to have been born in Erin's green isle and which natu- rally win the good will of one's neighbors, and sometimes give one great influence over his fel- lows. Good results of his diligent labor may be seen in Canton, Sioux Falls, Dell Rapids, Hu- ron, Pierre, Aberdeen and other places.

In 1879 the Rev. Joshua Himes, being full seventy-five years of age, took charge of Ver- million ; in 1886 he removed to Elk Point, where he resided until his death, in 1895. The fifty years of his life that immediately preceded his coming to South Dakota were crowded with discussions of questions, social, political and re- ligious, in which he, as a Christian, a citizen and a philanthropist, took an active part. Those whose memories run back to 1846 will recall the prominent part that "Elder Himes" took in the excited discussions about temperance, the abolition of slavery, and the Second Advent. Old in years though he was when he came to this state, he was still young in heart, still sound in mind and body, and "strong for service still." Compared with his brethren, young or old, high or low, broad or narrow, it may justly be said of him that he labored more abundantly than they all. As a diligent student of the Bible, rightly comprehending and rightly divining the Word of Truth, he was excelled by none; and very few were those who could preach and ex- plain with his fervor and eloquence. Especially successful was he in teaching the young. He knew how to train up the children in the way in which they should go.

Rev. Melancthon Hoyt, then residing in Sioux City, Iowa, accompanied Bishop Talbot on the first missionary exploration of Dakota territory. That was in 1860. In 1862 he came to Yankton, making that town his home and the headquarters of his small detachment of the army of the church militants. In 1875 he was appointed general missionary, which office he held until his death, in 1888. During the twenty- eight years of his ministry he traveled over

all that portion of the territory east of the Mis- souri, visiting nearly every dwelling place, preaching, baptizing, caring for the sick, com- forting those that mourned and carrying good news to all the people of the land. Bishop Clarkson says, in his report to the Board of Mis- sions in 1876: "The amount of work done by Dr. Hoyt is simply surprising, and for a man of his years truly wonderful." Bishop Hare, in 1884, says: "Dr. Hoyt has been in orders over fifty years ; he is now in his seventy-sixth year. Years before railroads were known in Dakota he traveled over its plains in a buggy." In one of his letters to the Spirit of Missions, Father Hoyt writes: "Thursday, April 15, 1875 .- Wind N. N. west, blowing a perfect hurricane, cold and piercing; but I must start or else fail in my appointments. Punch and Cap,-the ponies of which our Bishop in former reports has made honorable mention,-harnessed before a buck- board are brought round to the door. As I look at them I cannot but exclaim, 'Poor fel- lows! Your work is too much for you. You have to drag these missionaries on their long trips, and the labor is telling. You have before yon a journey of two hundred and twenty miles, and the roads in places are very rough and miry, in others very miry, owing to overflows.'" He died in Scotland in January, 1888. The church there was nearly completed before his death, and was consecrated in November, 1903. The mention of his name anywhere in the two Dakotas will call forth expressions of love and esteem that show how enduring is the work and how fragrant is the memory of Father Hoyt.

Rev. Edward Ashley came to this country from England in the early 'seventies and began his missionary labors in Niobrara in 1874. He was located at Crow Creek from 1874 to 1879, and from here he went to take a post-graduate course at Seabury Divinity School. He earned his degree of Doctor of Divinity and returned to the Indian work, taking charge at Sisseton agency. He left Sisseton in 1889 and took up the Indian work west of the river in Cheyenne

587

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

agency. Besides being dean of Niobrara dean- ery, Mr. Ashley publishes a paper in the Sioux language. Mr. Ashley was made deacon in 1877 and priest in 1881.

Rev. William J. Cleveland took his degree of Master of Arts at Hobart College in 1869, was ordained deacon in 1872 by Bishop Howe, and advanced to the priesthood in 1873 by

Bishop Hare. Mr. Cleveland was missionary to the Sioux Indians from 1872 to 1888, and from 1888 to 1897 had charge of the churches at Madison and Howard. He left for the east in 1897, but after a short time returned to the In- dian field at Pine Ridge. Mr. Cleveland, as well as Mr. Ashley, speak the Sioux language and use it in their work.

CHAPTER C

THE REFORMED CHURCH IN SOUTH DAKOTA.

REV. HENRY STRAKS.

Rev. E. T. Corwin, D. D., in his Manual of the Reformed Church in America ( 1628-1902), gives a very concise sketch of the history of said church in his book, issued A. D. 1902, from which book most of our information is obtained. Introducing his history, he says of the Reformed church in general, that "It is the technical name of that division of Protestantism which had its rise in Switzerland, in 1516, under Zwingli. It was contemporary with, but independent of, the Lutheran Reformation. It was subsequently more fully developed and organized under Calvin, with a distinct type of doctrine and policy. While the name, The Reformed Church, was chiefly confined to churches on the continent. this term also embraced Protestantism under all its forms in the British isles. Cranmer gave doc- trinal shape to English Protestantism in the Anglican communion, in the days of Edward VI, 1547-53, being the principal compiler of the Thirty-nine Articles and the Prayer-book. The persecutions under Mary drove the best of the English reformers to Switzerland, whence some of them brought back the principles which de- veloped into Puritanism, while John Knox car- ried back to Scotland with him the principles of Presbyterianism."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 82

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen Number of Pages: 998

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998