Nathan Bangs · 19 of 28

Chapter 8. From the Close of the General Conference of 1824 to the Commencement of That of 1828. · Part 1

Having, in the preceding chapter, detailed the doings of the General Conference at its last session, we will now proceed to notice the movements of the Church in her various departments of labor for the year 1824.

This year the Rev. Charles Elliot was appointed as an assistant to Mr. Finley on the Wyandot mission. Through their united labors the work of God spread both among the adults and the children of the school.

The mission was visited this year by Bishops McKendree and Soule, who made a thorough examination of the premises, the state of the Mission-church, and school; and the report of their interview with the converted chiefs gave a most gratifying view of the general aspect of things.

Through the influence of these labors, and that of the missionaries who had the immediate charge of the establishment, the number of Church members had increased this year to one hundred and sixty, and the school, now under the care of William Walker, the subagent, a man fully competent to his work, was in a prosperous condition. The farm also was improving, and yielding a partial supply for the consumption of the mission family. And what contributed mightily to the prosperity and stability of the work, while it gave irrefutable evidence of its depth and genuineness, spirituous liquors were, by a solemn decree, banished from the nation. Benevolent individuals, excited by reading the good news of this great work, as well as auxiliary missionary societies, poured forth their stores to aid the cause of Indian missions.

The mission among the Mohawks, in Upper Canada, was equally prosperous. The particulars, however, relating to this and other missions in that province, will come more properly under subsequent dates.

Since the commencement of the Missionary Society, most of the new ground which was brought under cultivation was through the medium of missionaries, as well in the older parts of the country as in the new settlements in the west and southwest, though in most instances but a partial support was received from the society.

This year the Rev. George Pickering was sent to form a new circuit in Newburyport and Gloucester, in Massachusetts, a region of country hitherto inaccessible to Methodist preachers, except flow and then to a transient visitor. His labors were accompanied with an outpouring of the divine Spirit, and about one hundred souls were brought to Christ in the course of the year; and thus a foundation was laid for continued preaching, the people soon contributing to their own support.

The Rev. John Lindsey was appointed as a missionary to South Hadley and Sunderland, Massachusetts, where he labored with such success that the following year the mission was taken into the regular work.

Piscataquis, in Maine, was occupied as missionary ground by the Rev. Oliver Beale, and at the end of the second year it was included in the regular work, with a membership of eighty souls as the fruit of his labors.

The work of God in the various domestic missions mentioned under date of last year was in delightful progress, and was extending in various directions among the new and destitute settlements. Nor were the older parts of our work without the reviving influences of the Spirit of God. In various parts of Delaware state, in New Jersey, the Susquehannah and Ontario districts, in the bounds of the Genesee conference, the New Haven and Rhinebeck districts, New York conference, there were encouraging revivals of the work of God, begun generally through the agency of camp meetings, and then carried forward by a faithful attention to the means of grace in the circuits and stations.

In Telfair county, in the state of Georgia, where religion had been at a low ebb for several years, the work of God commenced at a camp meeting held near the fork of the Oconee and Oakmulgee rivers, and thence spread in various directions through the adjacent neighborhoods. The presiding elder, the Rev. John J. Triggs, relates the following anecdote respecting a Baptist preacher who attended the meeting and participated in its exercises: — “In the midst of the work he arose on the stand, and declared to the congregation that he had no doubt but this was the work of God; and warned the people, especially professors of other denominations, of the dangerous consequences of opposing God’s work and of fighting against him. He then told them that he felt as solemn as death, and, lifting up his eyes and hands toward heaven, prayed God to send holy fire among the people. An awful solemnity rested on the assembly, and the power of the Highest overshadowed them. Some fell to the ground, and others cried aloud for mercy.” The meeting resulted in the conversion of thirty-four, and a number returned to their homes under deep conviction for sin, resolved on a reformation of heart and life.

The cause of education was daily advancing from one annual conference to another, and exerting an enlightening influence both on the young and the old. This year an academy was established in Cazenovia, in the bounds of the Genesee conference, a portion of our country fast increasing in population, wealth, and civil and religious enterprise. It was incorporated by the state legislature, and opened its doors for the education of youth of both sexes; and such has been its prosperity, that it has continued, enlarging its dimensions and extending the sphere of its influence, from that day to this, much to the credit of its founders and patrons, and greatly to the advantage of the rising generation. This, as well as the others which have been named, was brought strictly under a religious influence, so that the principles of Christianity might be embodied in the heart, as far as practicable, simultaneously with the growth of literature and science. And the pious objects of its patrons have been in a good degree realized in the conversion, from time to time, of quite a number of the students.

In proportion to the increase of preachers the number of locations was diminished, there being this year only forty-eight; whereas, as might be expected, the number of supernumeraries and superannuated was gradually increasing in nearly all the annual conferences, there being this year of the former forty-three, and of the latter sixty-seven. Three had been expelled and nine had died during the past year. These last were, Charles Trescott, David Gray, John Wallace, Joseph Kinkaid, Peyton Anderson, Enoch Johnson, Richard McAllister, Mordecai Barry, Louis R. Fetchtig, and James Akins. It is no slight evidence of the truth and excellence of the gospel, that it enables its advocates to die in the full possession of its promised blessings. Of the above-mentioned brethren it is recorded that, having discharged their Christian and ministerial duties with fidelity, they all made a peaceful and triumphant exit from time to eternity, thus sealing the truths they had preached to others with their own lips in that most trying hour.

Of Peyton Anderson, particularly, excellent things are said. He was born February 9th, 1795, in Chesterfield county, Virginia. Favored with the advantages of a good education in his youth, and being brought under the influence of gospel truth, at an early age he was made a partaker of pardoning mercy by faith in Jesus Christ. In his nineteenth year he commenced the work of an itinerant minister, and gave early indications of those talents as a preacher, and of that zeal in the cause of God, which afterward distinguished him in his short career of usefulness. In his public exercises, as well as in his private intercourse, he was remarkable for the seriousness of his manner, arising, no doubt, from the sincerity of his heart, and his deep devotion to the cause of God.

He had a discriminating mind, and could therefore easily distinguish between truth and error, and nicely balance the relative claims of the several objects which were lawful for mankind to pursue. And his deep solemnity in the pulpit, his ready command of appropriate language, the fervor of his spirit, and evident sincerity of purpose, gave an impressiveness to all his discourses, which fastened the truths he uttered upon the hearts of his hearers. Though comparatively young in Christian experience and in the ministry of the word, yet he had learned much in the school of Christ, having passed through some severe struggles of mind, and wrestled in the strength of mighty faith and prayer against the violence of temptation, in which he was “more than a conqueror through Him who had loved him.” He was therefore able to administer spiritual consolation to those who were in trouble, and to admonish such of their danger who were “wrestling against principalities and powers,” as well as to point them to the only source whence their help was to be derived.

Having drunk deeply at the fountain of divine love, his heart expanded with benevolent feelings toward mankind generally, for whose salvation he longed and labored with all diligence. Hence the Missionary Society found in him a warm friend and zealous advocate, and he was instrumental in promoting its noble objects by the formation of branch societies, and by stirring up a spirit of liberality among the people of his charge. And what rendered his precepts more weighty and influential, they were constantly enforced by his own example, both as respects the piety of his heart, the uniformity of his life, and the burning charity with which he exemplified the living principle of his faith.

In his last sickness and death the graces of Christianity shone out with luster, and eclipsed in his view all the fading glories of this world. While his friends were standing around his dying bed, and watching with anxious hearts the issue of his conflict, and beheld the fitful ebbings and flowings of animal life, he said to them, in the language of faith and hope, “Farewell, brethren. When we meet again it will be in heaven.” He thus ended his mortal career August 27, 1823, in the twenty-ninth year of his age, and tenth of his public ministry.

Thus a bright light in the church militant became extinguished ere it had attained its meridian splendor. Mysterious are the ways of Providence! Had our brother Anderson lived to the common age of man, and gone on improving as he had begun, under the smiles of his heavenly Father, he doubtless would have risen to eminence in the church of God, and been a great blessing to his fellow-men. But He who “sees the end from the beginning,” and whose “thoughts are not as our thoughts,” in thus fulfilling the original decree denounced upon fallen man, in calling his servant to his eternal reward in early life, manifested his sovereign right over the work of his hands, and challenged the pious submission of his people to the wisdom and goodness of his dispensations.

Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 280,427; Last Year: 267,618; Increase: 12,809 — Colored This Year: 48,096; Last Year: 44,922; Increase: 3,174 — Total This Year: 328,523; Last Year: 312,540 — Increase: 15,983 — Preachers This Year: 1,272; Last Year: 1,226; Increase: 46.

1825

A work of grace commenced this year among the Mississauga Indians in Upper Canada. These were among the most degraded of all the Indian tribes in that country. From their habits of intercourse among the depraved whites, they had bartered away their land for intoxicating liquor, had debased themselves by intemperance, and were consequently lazy, idle, poor, and filthy to a most disgusting degree. They seemed, indeed, to be abandoned to a most cruel fate.

Among others who had embraced the Lord Jesus during the work among the Mohawks was Peter Jones, a half-breed, his mother being a Mississauga and his father an Englishman. Mr. Jones, Peter’s father, had been the king’s surveyor, and his occupation leading him much among the Indians, during the days of his vanity he formed an intimacy with two Indian women, the one a Mohawk princess and the other a Mississauga woman. About the year 1801, Mr. Jones, under the Methodist ministry, was awakened and converted to God. He then felt it his duty to repudiate one of his women, and he separated himself from the mother of Peter, the Mississauga, and married the other, who also embraced religion, and became a pious member of the Church. Peter followed his mother into the woods, and remained with his tribe until he was about twelve years of age, when his father brought him from the wilderness and sent him to an English school. While here, through the preaching of the gospel, he also was brought from darkness to light; and, understanding both languages, he was at first employed as an interpreter, and finally became eminently useful as a minister of the Lord Jesus.

Feeling, after his conversion, for the salvation of his wretched tribe, he hasted away to them, and told them what great things God had done for his soul. This had a powerful effect upon their minds, and led them to attend the meetings on the Grand river.

A relative of Peter Jones, one of their chiefs, while attending these meetings, was led to the Lord Jesus for salvation, and his family soon followed his steps. Others followed their example, and, through the pious exertions of this converted chief and Peter Jones, a reformation was effected this year among these degraded Mississaugas, of such a character, so thorough and genuine, that all who beheld it were astonished, and could not but acknowledge the hand of God. They abandoned the use of intoxicating liquor, forsook their heathenish and immoral practices, were baptized and received into the communion of the Church, and demonstrated, by their subsequent conduct, that the work was indeed the work of God. A white man, who had made his house the resort for drunken whites and Indians, seeing the visible change in the temper and conduct of these Indians, could but acknowledge the finger of God, was struck under conviction, became a sincere convert, banished from his house his drunken companions, became sober and industrious, and devoted both himself and his house to the service of God. The whole number converted at this time was fifty-four, seven of whom were whites.

About the same time that this good work was going on so gloriously among the Mississaugas, a similar work commenced among a branch of the Delawares and Chippeways, who were settled at Muncytown, on the river Thames. This work began through the instrumentality of a Mohawk by the name of Jacob, who had raised himself to respectability among them by his sober and industrious habits. Until he heard the truths of the gospel he thought himself a very good and happy man, and was so considered by his brethren; but when the light of divine truth shone upon his mind he saw himself a sinner against God, his fancied goodness and happiness fled, and he rested not until he found peace with God through faith in the Lord Jesus. No sooner did this great change take place in Jacob’s heart than he went among his brethren, who were wallowing in the mire of iniquity and heathenish practices, addressing them from one cabin to another, warning them, in the most affectionate manner, of the danger to which they were exposed, and beseeching them to be reconciled to God. “The Great Spirit,” said he, in imperfect English, “is angry. You must die. Now consider where the wicked man must go. We must be born new men. Our heart new. His Spirit make us new heart. Then, O! much peace, much joy.”

Another among the first converts was an Indian of a very different character, and therefore the change was the more apparent and convincing. He was so given up to intoxication that he would barter any thing he had for vile whisky. At one time he offered his bullock for whisky, and, because his neighbors would not purchase it, in a violent rage he attempted to destroy the creature. At another time, having sold his clothes from his back for whisky, he stole from his wife the seed corn she had carefully preserved for planting, and offered it for the “fire waters,” but was prevented from thus robbing his wife of the means of future subsistence by one of our friends, who purchased it and returned it to the squaw, upon whose labor in the field the family chiefly depended for bread. But even this man, vile as he was, who, in his drunken fits, was one of the most quarrelsome wretches that could haunt a human habitation, became reformed by the power of the gospel. That his reformation was thorough, was evidenced by the soberness, piety, and industriousness of his subsequent life. The conversion of two such men had a most powerful effect upon the whole tribe. Many of them embraced the gospel, and a school was soon established for the education of their children and youth.

The labors of Peter Jones were highly useful in conducting these missions. He interpreted for the missionaries, and often addressed his Indian brethren, from the fulness of his own heart, with great effect. Many were the objections which the pagan Indians raised against the gospel, some of them founded in truth, and some from false representations circulated among them by the enemies of Christianity. These objections were obviated by distinguishing between real and nominal Christians, and by showing that the latter disgraced themselves by abusing the holy doctrines and high privileges to which they were called, and in which they professed to believe. It was, indeed, painful to be obliged to concede the fact, that hitherto the Indians had been imposed upon by the cupidity of white men, under the garb of Christianity; but this conduct was disclaimed and condemned by the missionaries, and the example of those who now came among them, and of the new converts, was presented as an ample refutation of all the slanderous representations of their adversaries. This silenced the clamor, and gave confidence to the friends of the cause.

Several attempts had been made, but with little success hitherto, to establish Methodism in the city of New Orleans, a place which needed the reforming influence of the gospel as much, perhaps, as any on the continent.

This city, which is now equal in importance, in a commercial point of view, to any in the United States, was first settled by the French, toward the close of the seventeenth Century, and the Roman Catholic religion was incorporated with its civil regulations. The progress of the settlement, like all the others in that region of country, for a number of years was extremely slow, owing to a variety of causes, but chiefly to the wars between France and Spain, to the unhealthiness of the climate, and the want of industry and enterprise among the original settlers. In 1763, that part of Louisiana west of the Mississippi and Pearl rivers, of which New Orleans was the capital, was ceded to Spain, and so remained until 1801, when it passed into the hands of the French republic, from whom it was transferred, in 1804, by purchase, to the United States. At this time the population, chiefly French Roman Catholics, numbered about twelve thousand; but from that period the increase of its citizens was much more rapid, by emigrants from various parts of the Union, so that, at the time of which we now speak, there were probably not less than forty thousand. These Anglo-Americans, mingling with the Creoles of the country, gradually introduced their habits and modes of living, as well as their religious tenets.

But though New Orleans was thus early settled, and possessed so many local advantages for commerce, as before said, its progress was slow, and the population were encumbered with all those embarrassments arising out of the peculiarities of the Roman Catholic religion. In 1815, three years after the memorable victory of the American army under General Jackson, the City contained about thirty-six thousand inhabitants, most of whom were descendants of the French and Spaniards. And until about the year 1820, when a Presbyterian church was erected, there was no place of worship besides the two Roman Catholic churches. It is said, indeed, that the sabbath was generally desecrated by profane sports and plays, the principles of morality exceedingly relaxed, pure religion little understood, and its precepts less exemplified in practical life.

Among others who were lured to New Orleans for the purposes of traffic from the other states were some members of our Church, who spent the winter months in the city, but, on account of the insalubrity of the climate, retreated to their former places of abode during the heat of summer. These, however, beholding the degraded state of society, and feeling the deleterious influence of such a general inattention to religion, called upon the authorities of the Church for help. Accordingly, in the year 1819, the Rev. Mark Moore was sent to New Orleans, and he preached, under many discouraging circumstances, to a few in a room which was hired for that purpose, and some ineffectual efforts were made to build a church. In 1820 the Rev. John Manifee was sent as a missionary to New Orleans, and in the same year the place was visited by the Rev. Ebenezer Brown, who, being disappointed in his attempts to gain access to the French population in Louisiana, assisted Mr. Manifee in preaching to an English congregation in t he city. From this time until 1824 New Orleans seems to have been forsaken by the Methodist preachers thinking probably that it was useless to spend their strength to so little purpose, for I find no returns of any members of the Church until the year 1825. In 1824 the Rev. Daniel Hall stands as a missionary for New Orleans, but the prospect was yet but gloomy.

This year, 1825, the Mississippi district was placed in charge of the Rev. William Winans, whose eminent talents as a preacher, and indefatigable labors as a presiding elder in that part of the country, gave a more vigorous impulse to the work of God; and New Orleans was blessed with the labors of the Rev. Benjamin Drake, who was instrumental in reviving the hopes of the few pious souls who prayed and sighed for the salvation of Israel in that place; for we find that in 1826 there were returned on the Minutes of conference eighty-three members, twenty-three whites and sixty colored. But still the work of God went on slowly, the preachers having to contend with a host of opposition from without and feebleness within the Church, with the unhealthiness of the climate, and the want of suitable accommodations for holding their meetings. The next year, however, the society had increased to one hundred in all. From this time the work has steadily advanced, and they have finally succeeded, by struggling bard with difficulties of various sorts, in erecting a large and elegant house of worship, so that in 1835 they numbered six hundred and twenty-five members, five hundred and seventy of whom were Colored, chiefly, I believe, slaves.

Mobile and Pensacola, about fifty miles apart, the former in Alabama and the latter in Florida, were supplied last year and this with the preaching of the gospel. Under the patronage of the Missionary Society, the Rev. Henry P. Cook was sent to these places. His deep piety and faithful exertions in the cause of Christ soon gave him a commanding and salutary influence among the people of his charge.

Since Mobile has been connected with the United States, by the cession of Louisiana, it has filled up rapidly with inhabitants, has become an incorporated City, a port of entry, and a place of considerable trade; but, like most of the towns included in that tract of country, the people generally were quite neglectful of their spiritual and eternal interests until visited by the Methodist itinerants. Mr. Cook, however, was cordially received by a few, and he succeeded in raising a flourishing society, adopted measures for building a house of worship, which was finally completed, and the society has continued to flourish to the present time. Nor will the name of Henry P. Cook be soon forgotten by the inhabitants of Mobile. He fell a martyr to his work in that place this year, leaving behind him the savor of a good name, and numerous evidences of his deep devotion to his work, and of his love to the souls of men.

Pensacola was also becoming a town of considerable importance in that part of Florida, and Mr. Cook was instrumental in raising a small society in that place, which, however, has fluctuated from time to time, struggling with various difficulties, until, in the year 1828, they succeeded in building a meeting-house, in which they assembled for the worship of God.

While attending to these two places, as the principal scene of his labors, in passing from one to the other, Mr. Cook preached to some scattered inhabitants along the Escambia river, in West Florida, which was afterward occupied as a separate mission field.

Tallahassee, in another part of Florida, was also provided with the means of grace this year. The Rev. John Slade was sent to this region of country as a missionary, and he succeeded in forming a society of seventy-three members, sixty whites and thirteen colored.

The Early mission, in a neighboring region of country, was so successfully cultivated by the Rev. Morgan C. Turrentine, who was sent to form the circuit, that he returned no less than one hundred and thirty-six members, eighteen of whom were people of color. This year was the commencement of a work which has continued to spread in that part of Florida until several circuits have been formed, on which are large and flourishing societies. Such were the blessed results of the missionary spirit pervading our ranks at that time, and which has continued to rise and diffuse its hallowing influences in every direction among the people.

In addition to those missions which included the more remote settlements in the exterior parts of our work, it was found, on examination, that there were many places in the older countries which had been overlooked by all denominations, being too remote from the center of population for the people to attend the stated places of worship. Such were the Highland and Hampshire missions, in the bounds of the New York conference; the former embracing a destitute population in the midst of the Highlands, a mountainous and rather poor region of country, about sixty miles north of the city of New York; the latter a district of country in the northwestern part of Massachusetts. The Rev. John J. Matthias was this year appointed to labor in the Highlands, and such was the success of his zealous efforts, that at the end of the first year he returned one hundred and thirty-four Church members, and at the termination of the second the people manifested a willingness and an ability to support themselves. It has accordingly since been included among the regular circuits.

The Rev. Parmele Chamberlin was sent to the Hampshire mission. This was found a more difficult place to plant the tree of Methodism. Success, however, finally crowned the persevering efforts of God’s servant, so that, at the end of four years, this was also taken into the regular work.

While the work was thus extending itself in new places, and causing “the wilderness and solitary places to be glad for” the coming of these heralds of salvation, the older circuits and stations were blessed with the reviving influences of God’s Spirit. Indeed, it was the vigorous action in the heart of the body which gave such a lively pulsation to the extremities. And what contributed not a little to diffuse this healthy action throughout the entire body was the publication of the Methodist Magazine, now arrived to the eighth volume, and which conveyed in its monthly numbers the news of what God was doing for the various tribes of men. Many testimonies to the salutary influence of this periodical on the interests of religion might be adduced from those preachers and others who were the most actively engaged in building up the walls of Zion. From the pages of the volume for this year, it appears evident that God was pouring out his Spirit on various parts of his vineyard, watering and reviving the souls of his people, and converting sinners from the error of their ways.

A glorious work of God commenced in the latter part of last year in Chillicothe, Ohio, which resulted in an addition to the Church in that place, by the month of February of this year, of two hundred and twenty-eight members. From the time of the revival in this town in 1818 and 1819, there had been a diminution in their number, owing chiefly to removals still farther west; but this gracious work not only made up their loss, but also added new strength to the society, and increased their numbers very considerably.

Through the means of camp and quarterly meetings there was a great work of God on the Ontario district, then under the charge of the Rev. George Lane. This good work spread through all that region of country, so that the increase of members on that district for this year was upward of one thousand.

The Genesee district was also visited with showers of divine grace, and most of the circuits shared in their refreshing influences.

In Bridgetown, New Jersey, where religion had been languishing for some time, a gracious work of God commenced, which resulted in the conversion of about one hundred souls, most of whom became members of the Church.

In Newark, New Jersey also, there was a manifest display of the grace of God in the awakening and conversion of souls, under the labors of the Rev. William Thacher. It began by urging upon believers the necessity of “going on unto perfection,” or the seeking after holiness of heart and life; and no sooner did they feel the enlivening influences of the Holy Spirit in their own souls, than the work spread among the unawakened part of the community, and very soon fifty souls were added to the Church, and great seriousness rested on the congregation generally.